quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
I’m hearing Trey Gowdy dismantled Rosenstein today. He’s always a good sound bite and the old prosecutor comes out in him. But it’s just Trey running to the end of his chain and barking and nothing more.

Why does that man (the latter) still have a job.

This "deep state" crap is completely out of hand, and until these people start getting fired, nothing is going to change. It boggles the mind that they aren't ferreted out and shit-canned immediately.

The big loser in Tuesday's Alabama's special Senate election was not the Republican Party. They had already lost weeks ago, the moment the Washington Post wrote their (carefully vetted, in this instance) exposé of the thirty-year-old sexual proclivities of Judge Roy Moore.

It was checkmate from the start. In this #MeToo era with politicians flying out the window as fast as you can say Conyers and Franken, the Republicans were damned if they did and damned if they didn't -- support Moore, that is. And Moore didn't do himself any favors with an execrable performance during an interview with Sean Hannity shortly after the allegations. He was, to put it mildly, not ready for prime time. To be honest, Moore sounded pretty dopey, even if he was innocent, which he didn't come close to proving.

In many ways, the Republicans are lucky not to have Moore to deal with in Congress. They can face obvious White House aspirant Kirsten Gillibrand and her merry band of hypocrites with a straight face.

No, the big loser Tuesday is Steve Bannon, the sometime movie producer cum finance expert cum political strategist that some claim put Donald Trump in office and then left the White House to better support the president from without, or so he said. In this instance -- purportedly to do that, I guess -- he went against Trump, who originally backed the more establishment candidate Luther Strange, to back one of Bannon's own, Judge Moore.

Why?

Was it indeed to protect the president's agenda? I would bet my house that Strange and Moore would vote the same way in the Senate ninety-nine times out of a hundred, as would just about any other Alabama Republican candidate you can think of. No, it was about power. For Bannon, Strange bore a Scarlet Letter -- the support of Mitch McConnell.

While the mainstream media suffers from TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome), Bannon suffers from MDS (McConnell Derangement Syndrome). He stomped around Alabama convincing anyone he could find that Strange was a shill for McConnell, whom Steve wanted out as majority leader at any cost. And any cost it was, because the result has been a hugely embarrassing and pointless defeat -- with a ton of substantive issues left to suffer for it, the Senate teetering in the balance.

Now I'm not a huge McConnell fan. He has his pluses and minuses like everyone in and outside of Washington. He's accomplished some things (Gorsuch) and failed at others (healthcare). But I'm not even sure the healthcare debacle was entirely his fault. As of now, I blame John McCain.

On the larger issue of the Swamp, yes, it absolutely should be drained. But we have to be careful who's draining it -- otherwise you have a Revolving Swamp, a particularly unattractive ride for some future Disneyland. You might even name that the Robespierre Ride as the revolution spins on and on until your head flies off.

We're not quite there yet, but the tendency exists. The Tea Party had its problems with nominees in the past, that ditzy woman in Nevada who led to the reelection of Harry Reid being a notable example.

Nevertheless inside the GOP, there still seems to be a need to choose up sides, irrespective of the capabilities of the individuals within them. Trump himself seems able to escape that. He's largely done a terrific job of choosing his cabinet. Some are establishment types, some less so. But most (with some exceptions) seem to be picked with surprising care.

We all might consider emulating the ecumenical pragmatism of those selections. Enough of this GOPe vs. alt-right blabla civil war. It just plays into the hands of the enemy and wastes time that could be better spent looking for solutions (and better candidates)..

My guess is that very few who actually voted for Moore really wanted him. It was a defensive vote. Otherwise he would have won. This is not the kind of man most of us would want in the U.S. Senate, sexual predator or not. Can't we do better? (I know Bannon can. Come on, Steve.)

This Alabama defeat is a learning opportunity for the GOP, as was Virginia. They both must be taken seriously. Next year the real fight begins.

Link

quote:

And Moore didn't do himself any favors with an execrable performance during an interview with Sean Hannity shortly after the allegations. He was, to put it mildly, not ready for prime time. To be honest, Moore sounded pretty dopey, even if he was innocent, which he didn't come close to proving.

He should have brought a broom and a short person.

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
I’m hearing Trey Gowdy dismantled Rosenstein today. He’s always a good sound bite and the old prosecutor comes out in him. But it’s just Trey running to the end of his chain and barking and nothing more.

So honest question...what power does he have to do more than what he's been doing? Seriously, I want to know what I should be expecting from legislators like Trey Gowdy.

Well, to start the committee he is on should be issuing subpoenas for the documents they have asked for. Oh wait they already did, and were ignored. So now they issue contempt of congress charges. Which will also be ignored. (this is usually as far as it goes). Then Trump orders the DOJ to follow up on the charges and enforce the order, and when they don't (because they won't) he starts firing people. Sessions, Rosenstein, and on down the line until someone says yes, they will enforce the law.

So, Congress issues the subpoena, it gets ignored, they charge contempt of congress, the DOJ prosecutes. This is how it is suppose to work, and how it could work, IF they wanted it to.

Maybe a stern talking-to and/or add a finger waggle will do it?

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
Well, to start the committee he is on should be issuing subpoenas for the documents they have asked for. Oh wait they already did, and were ignored. So now they issue contempt of congress charges. Which will also be ignored. (this is usually as far as it goes). Then Trump orders the DOJ to follow up on the charges and enforce the order, and when they don't (because they won't) he starts firing people. Sessions, Rosenstein, and on down the line until someone says yes, they will enforce the law.

So, Congress issues the subpoena, it gets ignored, they charge contempt of congress, the DOJ prosecutes. This is how it is suppose to work, and how it could work, IF they wanted it to.

quote:

Originally posted by lkdr1989:
Maybe a stern talking-to and/or add a finger waggle will do it?

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
Well, to start the committee he is on should be issuing subpoenas for the documents they have asked for. Oh wait they already did, and were ignored. So now they issue contempt of congress charges. Which will also be ignored. (this is usually as far as it goes). Then Trump orders the DOJ to follow up on the charges and enforce the order, and when they don't (because they won't) he starts firing people. Sessions, Rosenstein, and on down the line until someone says yes, they will enforce the law.

So, Congress issues the subpoena, it gets ignored, they charge contempt of congress, the DOJ prosecutes. This is how it is suppose to work, and how it could work, IF they wanted it to.

The term I used running to the end of his chain and barking is a good of a description I could come up with. It's all that ever happens in any of these congressional hearings.
Dosen't matter what their powers are if they never use them.
I think many of these hearings are for the publics consumption nothing more.

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:

quote:

And Moore didn't do himself any favors with an execrable performance during an interview with Sean Hannity shortly after the allegations. He was, to put it mildly, not ready for prime time. To be honest, Moore sounded pretty dopey, even if he was innocent, which he didn't come close to proving.

He should have brought a broom and a short person.

Go big or go Homer...

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:

Dosen't matter what their powers are if they never use them.
I think many of these hearings are for the publics consumption nothing more.

Let's not forget that the Benghazi hearings are what led to the revelations about Hillary's private email server.

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
I think many of these hearings are for the publics consumption nothing more.

They are completely that!

My father used to have do a lot of hearings in front of the House Armed Services Committee. 6 months prior to the hearing his office would receive a written list of questions. They had 2 weeks to respond in writing. That meant committee members had 5-1/2 months to prepare and rehearse a rebuttal.

Even better, there would usually only be 2-3 members of the committee in attendance, but the record showed the majority of committee members in attendance. If one watched the testimony on C-Span it looked like the majority of the committee was there asking questions, receiving responses and delivering their rebuttals with all kinds of drama. They weren't. They rebuttals were taped at separate times and it was all spliced together to appear as real time.

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:
So Anderson Cooper responded to Trump's tweet this morning:



Now CNN is trying to say that he was hacked

It was probably hacked by whatever lollipop kid Cooper brought home the night before.



.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:
What did Sheila Jackson Lee botch in this tweet?



https://twitter.com/JacksonLee...s/940790419109105666

Lady's dumber than cow dung.

Doug Moore, eh? Idiot.

ETA: Looks like stupid deleted her tweet.

Hey now. Before you make fun of her, do you know what she got on her LSAT?



.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Let's not forget that the Benghazi hearings are what led to the revelations about Hillary's private email server.

While this is absolutely correct, she faced no legal consequences for her treachery. Did she lose the presidency, sure, but it wasn't do solely to this. She still has faced ZERO legal action. No one on the left has. Know what that says to them? Just don't get caught next time.

It's not enough for the public to just know of these crimes, they need to know that these crimes will be prosecuted. That the law applies equally TO EVERYONE, not just the little people. Nobody gets a pass because they belong to the establishment.

A silver lining ?


Doug Jones’ victory in Tuesday’s special Senate election in Alabama may change Justice Anthony Kennedy’s calculus as he mulls retirement.

The race’s shock result has imperiled the Republican Senate majority ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, and with it the integrity of the judicial confirmation process, which appears nonfunctional under divided government.

Though the justice has recently told prospective clerks that he is considering retirement, the prospect of his departure seemed remote. In a political environment as volatile as this, his power as the Court’s swing vote is at its maximum. It seems counter intuitive that he would retire as his influence reaches its apex. What’s more, Kennedy has a high opinion of the Court’s capacity to bear moral clarity for a restless nation, making his continued service a matter of duty.

However true this may be, the justice is 81 and he is, after all, a Republican. Given his age and political inclinations, it is reasonable to assume he would like to retire and would prefer to do so under a Republican president. Jones’ stunning victory Tuesday betrayed the vulnerability of the GOP’s Senate majority, and the very real possibility that Democrats will seize control of the upper chamber in November 2018.

Should Democrats secure a Senate majority, it is highly unlikely that they would confirm any Trump judicial nominee. The speed with which Republicans have processed judicial candidates has been intensely frustrating for Democrats, and the GOP’s refusal to entertain Judge Merrick Garland’s 2016 nomination to the high court still elicits visceral outrage on the left. Where judges are concerned, the reservoir of good will has long since emptied.

As a general proposition, the pace of judicial confirmations has slowed when government is divided between the parties. The last Supreme Court nominee confirmed by an opposition Congress was Justice Clarence Thomas, who won confirmation from a Democratic Senate on a narrow 52-48 vote. The recent record on appeals court nominees is similarly mediocre. The Republican Senate confirmed just two of former President Barack Obama’s nominees in the final two years of his administration, one of whom was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a specialized court which deals primarily in patent law and veterans claims.

And that is the more urgent point — all told, it seems unlikely that an opposition Congress will confirm a Supreme Court nominee for the foreseeable future.

Therefore, Kennedy’s options appear limited. Unless he retires at or before the end of the Court’s current term, there is a reasonable chance his successor will not be confirmed until a single party again controls the White House and the Senate. If Republicans retain their Senate majority in 2018, he will have some flexibility. But if Democrats prevail, it may be years — perhaps a decade — before one party controls both branches of government and another justice is confirmed.

Ever sphinx-like, there’s no way of knowing what exactly the justice is thinking. But we do know that he can count to 51 — and that he can’t count on a functional confirmation process for much longer.

http://dailycaller.com/2017/12...-supreme-court-pick/

Thousands of people wrote in Nick Saban as a write in candidate. Write ins are largely why Moore lost.
Hugh Hewitt has been telling people to write in Nick Saban on his radio show for the last two weeks. Nice job jack ass.

Hewitt's a conservative of sorts but he isn't as smart as he likes to tell you. He thinks Mueller is a straight arrow and that Doug Jones may vote with the Republicans.

Limbaugh at least never directly endorses anyone. He tells you who he doesn't like and why but has never told anyone to write in a candidate or to vote for this one and not that one. Hewitt probably had a direct impact on a close election.

Link

The GDC's whipped our ass in this political propaganda switchblades and lead pipes brawl.



They now have one more new dedicated commie vote in the Senate.

We have one less 'would maybe vote Conservative' Senator.


And Franken can still vote in the Senate. Commie.

I wouldn’t say it was an asswhooping. They beat a horrifically flawed candidate who had baggage and with the help of a complicit media and the full backing of the demonrat party. With all that help they only won by about one percentage point. This should hopefully piss off and wake up the idiotic Republican Party in Alabama. Hopefully it energizes AL republicans to get out next time and elect a republican. Also, allegations don’t tend to work when you continue to use them. Look at Hermain Cane vs Donald Trump. Your tactics only work for so long, if you don’t adapt people will figure it out eventually. Yeah it sucks but hopefully the Dems lose the next time around.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:

quote:

And Moore didn't do himself any favors with an execrable performance during an interview with Sean Hannity shortly after the allegations. He was, to put it mildly, not ready for prime time. To be honest, Moore sounded pretty dopey, even if he was innocent, which he didn't come close to proving.

He should have brought a broom and a short person.

Go big or go Homer...

He ain't lyin'!

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
I wouldn’t say it was an asswhooping. They beat a horrifically flawed candidate who had baggage and with the help of a complicit media and the full backing of the demonrat party. With all that help they only won by about one percentage point. This should hopefully piss off and wake up the idiotic Republican Party in Alabama. Hopefully it energizes AL republicans to get out next time and elect a republican. Also, allegations don’t tend to work when you continue to use them. Look at Hermain Cane vs Donald Trump. Your tactics only work for so long, if you don’t adapt people will figure it out eventually. Yeah it sucks but hopefully the Dems lose the next time around.

I see.
We whipped their ass.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
I’m hearing Trey Gowdy dismantled Rosenstein today. He’s always a good sound bite and the old prosecutor comes out in him. But it’s just Trey running to the end of his chain and barking and nothing more.

So honest question...what power does he have to do more than what he's been doing? Seriously, I want to know what I should be expecting from legislators like Trey Gowdy.

He talks out of both sides of his mouth. That is his schtick. Watch him grill Rosenstein-- just dismantle him-- and then hear him the next day praise Mueller and the great job he is doing. You always see one. And then the other. Not both, side by side.

I was very impressed by him for a while. I paid attention to just the one side of his mouth.

He is just another swamp phony.

So what should we be expecting from legislators like Gowdy? The truth. Mueller is conducting a witch hunt. It is a drawn-out, endlessly oozing, coup looking for a cause.

If all-hat Gowdy were not a phony, he would say so-- loud and clear.