Seldom Balanced – Usually Fair
From Hackwhackers:
Demagogue and Kremlin asset Donald “Tovarich” Trump has a casting call out for a confirmable Director of National Intelligence, since his acting Director, Richard Grenell is utterly incompetent for that job, among other factors. Trump said he wanted Georgia wingnut Rep. Doug Collins, who performed for Trump on the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment hearing by trying to obstruct and derail it. Here’s what unfolded…
From JoAnn Williams at Biased Unbalanced and Politically Incorrect:
His political beliefs meet all the qualifications for a so-called “Deplorable.” I first wrote about him this past November.
I ran into him last week and he told me he is recovering from a serious illness. His doctor recommended more tests and a consultation with a specialist.
He has no insurance.
He is not able to work full time because of his illness.
Due to his reduced income, he cannot afford the extra tests or a visit to a specialist.
I did not ask him if his virulent opposition to President Obama and the affordable care act had changed.
From The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser:
I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for many Evangelicals to befriend people just for the sake of friendship. Much like Amway or Herbalife peddlers, zealous Evangelicals always have an ulterior motive when talking to and interacting with the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world. The good news for us heathens is that many Evangelicals aren’t good Christians. They are content to let us go to Hell in peace. That said, there are plenty of Evangelicals who believe they are duty-bound to irritate, bug, and harass non-Christians, all in the name of evangelizing the lost.
Take Larry Dixon, professor of theology at Columbia International University Seminary and School of Missions in Columbia, South Carolina. Dixon is “convinced that there is a major element missing in many Christian’s lives.” That element, you ask? Befriending sinners as Jesus did. Dixon implores his fellow Evangelicals to leave the Christian Ghetto® and “develop meaningful relationships with those who are still outside of Christ!”
She was a civil rights activist when activism was physically dangerous. When human bodies were decorating poplar trees. When they were being found in earthen dams. She was a major participant in the history of central Illinois. She was a founding member of the NAACP in Sparta. Picket lines were often her part-time home, and the after school home of her children.
I was privileged to speak with her many times over the years. When my loved one and I occasionally visited over weekends, I would rise before sunrise for coffee and conversation. She told me of the world of her youth.
Each time we left for home, I would kiss her forehead and ask her to take care of herself. That she was the only mama I had now. And she would smile and tell me she was proud of me. Proud of me.
My wife, her daughter, pretty much moved into her mom’s house, caring for her 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, during her final months of suffering.
She was laid to rest yesterday. Hundreds attended the funeral. The ceremony went a little long – people personally touched by this compassionate woman briefly spoke. The number was impressive.
It is hard for me to imagine a world without Margaret Anderson in it.
In my heart, there is, for the moment, a huge crater where Sparta used to be.
From driftglass:
They have none.
Quit trying to appeal to Republican’s compassion.
They have none.
Quit trying to appeal to Republican’s reverence for the Constitution.
They have none.
From Jonathan Bernstein:
It’s still not likely. But it’s possible.
The final question at last night’s Democratic debate in Nevada, as Dave Hopkins and Ed Kilgore pointed out, was about what should happen in a contested convention — and five of the six candidates on the stage disagreed with Bernie Sanders, who insisted that whoever gets a plurality of votes in the primaries should therefore be the nominee.
I’ve already written about how a contested convention is probably less likely than some believe. But it certainly is possible. So is Sanders right about what should happen, or are the other candidates?
It’s a tricky question: No one is right about this kind of thing. Party conventions are just more of the nomination process. Their decisions are political, and, like the rest of the nomination process, decided along political and not ethical lines.
From Michael Kinsley:
The crooked junk-bond king and his sleazy defenders
But the laws Milken has admitted breaking are not “technical” in the sense that they were broken unintentionally, by stepping slightly over a fuzzy line. He knew he was breaking important, laws. And in a couple of cases—helping an associate to arrange a phony tax loss, and “point shaving” (essentially, ripping off customers by tiny fractions that add up to big money)—the inherent rights and wrongs are not even ambiguous.
But these crimes are just what Milken pleaded guilty to. At the same time, he also settled a civil suit by the Securities and Exchange Commission. That civil suit accused him of a potpourri of classic financial frauds, from straightforward insider trading (profiting from secret knowledge of deals he was involved in) to payola (bribing money managers to buy his securities for their clients) to falsifying and destroying records. In settling—and agreeing to pay $400 million to his victims—Milken does not concede guilt. But he may not assert his innocence, either. We will know next tall, when the government produces its memorandum for Milken’s sentencing, what evidence it had on these other matters. Milken’s defenders say he was bullied into a guilty plea by the unfair threat of prosecution under the racketeering (RICO) law. I bet that when we see the goods, Milken’s jail term and $600 million fine will look like a good deal for him.
So why did he do it when he was making hundreds of millions of dollars legally? The answer, I think, is that the manipulative shenanigans were not just a sideshow.
From Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger:
Voting is the backbone of a democracy. And if citizens are to believe in their democracy, they must believe the counting of votes is done properly and correctly. Sadly, most Americans don’t believe the machines currently being used in most of the country can be counted on to deliver an accurate count.
I understand that people have become used to getting results quickly after the polls close, and they like that. The old way of hand counting each paper ballot sometimes delayed tabulating the results for many hours. That method could be trusted (and is trusted by 57% of voters), but in this fast-paced world it is unlikely to be accepted (and requires a massive amount of manpower).
But the computer voting machines used in many counties are not trusted.
From our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit:
So, I’ve been seeing a lot of stories around that basically say “the Dems are in disarray after failing to remove Trump.”
Everyone saying that, or reporting that, either has brain damage or they’re trolling.
