Like I said, I doubt the DOJ will indict.. Obama is the ultimate in narcissism and if he allows his DOJ to indict, the Clintonistas (who are already a few fries short of a happy meal) will lose their frakin' minds.. And they can do a LOT of damage to Obama's legacy..

And THAT is the ONLY thing that Obama cares about...

If after the election, we must endure months of an impeachment circus.

Yea, can't argue with that...

My sources tell me that Comey will issue his recommendation within the next week... I am going with 4 May because it's Star Wars Day and an anniversary (of sorts) for me and Weigantia... :D

On the other hand, there hasn't been any word of actual interviews taking place, so the 1st Week Of May "deadline" is looking somewhat impossible...

On the bright side, that could give us President Warren.

We obviously have a different idea of what constitutes the "bright side".. :D heh

But that's what makes life interesting.. :D

Michale

Siamese twins walk into a bar in Toronto and park themselves on bar stools.

One of them says to the bartender, "Don't mind us; as you can see, we're joined side by side at the hip.

I'm John, he's Jim.

Two Molson Canadian draft beers, please."

The bartender, feeling slightly awkward, tries to make polite conversation while pouring the beers.

"Been on vacation yet, boys"?

"Off to England next month," says John. "We go to England every year, rent a car and drive for miles. Don't we, Jim?"

Jim agrees.

"Ah, England !" says the bartender. "Wonderful country ... the history, the beer, the culture ..."

"Nah, we don't like all that British crap," says John. "Hamburgers and Molson's beer, that's us, eh Jim? And we can't stand the English - they're so arrogant and rude."

Bartender asks: Then why keep going to England?

"It's the only chance Jim gets to drive."

baa daa da..... :D

I'll be here all week. Be sure and tip your waitresses :D

Michale

Yep... :D

Michale

This is why Trump is so personally popular...

He is not an ideological leader...

We have had ideology shoved in our faces for 16 years...

We're sick of it and we'll be damned if we're going to put up with it any more...

It's that simple...

Michale

I have to ask.... As Americans, what is wrong with that??

Is there really a problem with an American President putting his country and her people FIRST???

After 8 years of being IGNORED by our leaders, I think an AMERICA FIRST policy is going to be welcomed by tens of millions of Americans who have been crapped on by Obama and the Democrats...

Michale

The only way my faith in the system will be restored is if the DOJ indicts her before the Democratic convention. I'm not holding my breath.

It really doesn't matter if the DOJ indicts her or not..

If FBI Director Comey recommends indictment of Hillary and/or Senior Staff, the she/they WILL be indicted..

The only question is whether it will be thru the Department of Justice or the Court of Public Opinion..

Hillary would probably get a better shake from the DOJ than the CPO...

Personally, I don't think Obama's DOJ will indict.. But it won't matter.

The damage will be done with Comey's recommendation and, when the DOJ refuses to do the right thing, there will be a massive walk-out of FBI agents up to, and probably including, Director Comey...

But, based on Director Comey's recommendation, Hillary's campaign will be toast...

Michale

Hillary claims she never sent or received classified material on her private server. She also claims she never used the government server. Just how did she send and receive classified information? Carrier Pigeon?

The only way my faith in the system will be restored is if the DOJ indicts her before the Democratic convention. I'm not holding my breath.

I don't think I have ever meant this as much as I do right now..

"WELCOME TO THE PARTY, PAL!!!"
-John McClane, DIE HARD

:D

Michale

"This is who we are. These are our generational values. This is how Millennials plan to govern. We want everyone to see the doctor and we want everyone to go to college or trade school and we want less war and more infrastructure. Your ideas have had their fair chance and they failed. It is time for something different.
So, yes. Bernie may not win the Presidency. But it would be foolish to write him, or his policies, or his supporters, off. In fact, anyone who wants to stay in politics should be listening very closely right now, including Hillary Clinton. Because Millennials won’t settle for the same old solutions. You’ve raised us to be smarter and more compassionate than that." -- By Melissa Gustkey

https://somuchforgravity.wordpress.com/2016/04/27/a-generation-berning/

Yes, and the peak impact carried on for years afterwards.

Let me put it another way, did you think things were getting better in July 2009?

If you did, then maybe like me you put money into the market (most of mine went in in early 2010, and I was deemed a risk taker at the time). If you didn't was it because you don't have liquid assets or you didn't think late 2009/early 2010 was a good time to invest because we were in the middle of a financial crisis with rising unemployment?

If you reject all that, then your alternative is that it only took Obama six months to turn the economy around. Thanks Barry!

:)

The only way my faith in the system will be restored is if the DOJ indicts her before the Democratic convention. I'm not holding my breath.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=525io_DoZco

Someone had WAY too much time on their hands!! :D

Michale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=525io_DoZco

Apologies.. I didn't permalink to the specific comment, but rather gave a link to the entire commentary..

Michale

Yea... And if you take away my fat belly and my baldness, I'de be a dead ringer for George Clooney...

:D

Michale

Done....

Michale

ahh ahh ahhh...

No re-writing recent history...

The Great Recession officially began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, which determines the start and end dates of U.S. recessions based on a range of economic indicators.Jun 26, 2014
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-fieldhouse/five-years-after-the-grea_b_5530597.html

Obama was POTUS for less than 6 months of the Great Recession.....

Sorry....

Obama and the Democrats OWNS this abysmal "recovery"....

They were more concerned about their agenda and TrainWreckCare than they were about JOBS for Americans..

Don't take my word for it..

Ask Chuck Schumer...

Michale

Chris Willett -

Just wanted to say thanks for your comments, and in particular I was very impressed with how you phrased the following:

I'm ready to put a bookend on this volume, the Bernie presidential insurgency; but I'm already excited for the next volume. This story doesn't end here, but the true climax should be soon; where the movement actually acts like one and continues the fight through the upcoming elections. Where the people who will take up Bernie's cause star running their own progressive campaigns.

Your first sentence is the best metaphor I've yet come across to describe where millions of Bernie voters now find themselves. Seriously, well done -- an excellent turn of phrase!

:-)

-CW

It is all nonsense. "Good" manufacturing jobs, just like "Good" agricultural jobs, are gone, and not just because there is cheaper labor elsewhere.

In the U.S. we are the leaders in healthcare, entertainment, advanced energy, education, etc. all of which are expected to be growth industries in the future. Why are we trying to restore a prior economy that is in worldwide decline?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/business/economy/the-mirage-of-a-return-to-manufacturing-greatness.html

http://sjfm.us/temp/image10.jpg

Here's one for ya, CW for the next holiday fund raiser.. :D

Michale

If you take the Great Recession out of the picture, Obama is over 4% - not bad for a Kenyan Muslim Socialist, I'd say.

Thanks Don! Good one.

Obama's 1.5% looks pretty impressive stacked up to that..

NOT!!!

:D

Michale

Nixon: 3.07%
Ford: 2.28%
Carter: 3.32%

Good old Jimmy, eh!

Growth under Democrats far outpaces growth under Republicans - this is a well known meme - I can't believe you gave me this soft ball Michale ;)

Wrong. Ronnie saw 3.64% real GDP growth, but even though that number is higher, it is still lower than Clinton's 3.82%.

Idiot-boy (Bush 2) achieved 1.8%, basically the same as Obama's 1.78%

It is like there is a systemic change in the economy from the 60's (Kennedy and Johnson both saw >5% real GDP growth), then 80's/90's, and the last 15 years.

If only there was some field of study that investigated these data ;)

Source for data: Bureau of Economic Analysis.

This ranks Obama as the fourth worst presidency on record.
-http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/04/simply-worst-obama-first-president-ever-not-see-single-year-3-gdp/

HA!!!

Tell me again how awesome Obama and the Democrats have been???

I seem to have forgotten, what with all the facts to the contrary...

Michale

So, we're all in agreement...

Cruz is scum... :D

Common ground... A wonderful thing... :D

"Detente... A wonderful thing..."
-Maureen Robinson, LOST IN SPACE

:D

Michale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl_ke85HqII

Carly aiming to piss off the cat people?

According to the ideology of the Left Wingery, the ONLY "smart" war is no war at all...

He is meant to follow the policies he stated on his platform, the platform that won the most votes in the 2008 and 2012 elections - you know, that democracy thing ;)

Really?? Like there are no red states or blue states only a UNITED states??

Looks like he failed... EPICLY...

These policies happen to be the best for most people in the country,

Despite all the facts to the contrary....

I'll grant you that Trump is more left wing than Hillary, so perhaps he can be a good Obama 2 for the country - but his temperament doesn't seem to be up to the role of President. We'd be going from no-drama-Obama to tweet-n-bomb-Trump - I'm not ready for that.

As long as the right people get bombed, NOT our own Ambassador, for example, I have no problem with Trump's ideas.. :D

Michale

Once the decks are cleared and the Clinton machine kicks into high gear many of the higher educated supporters of Trump will be sufficiently turned off by the fallacy (or is it phallicy?) of Trump as a successful businessman to not vote for him (what with the Trump university fraud, use of foreign eminent domain, Trump stuff made not in the US, and the affairs should he choose to drop the sex bomb...just to name a few ).

To be clear this probably will not translate to people running to Hillary, but more to people staying at home.

Depending on how Trump takes on Hillary the same can happen to her supporters with the resurrected scandals and the whole wall street ties, with a hint of quid pro quo via the Clinton foundation. I am sure that some gems from her private speeches are all set to surface. As long as attacking her abilities because she is a woman is studiously avoided a sufficiently toxic environment will be created to turn off the less than enthused / motivated voter.

Again I do not see this as people running to Trump, but again more to staying at home.

The whole thing with using disenfranchisement to motivate people to vote is that is can be over manipulated and cause those people to say fucit (time fah whe bucket) I'm staying home it does not matter.

I predict at the end of the day that #sackofdicks2016 (close your eyes reach in and grab one, doesn't matter which one, your gonna get screwed...weather you want to be or not)will be decided by whoever does the best job of not de-incentivizing the responsible citizen middle of the road voter to come over to their line of thinking, or put another way both T and H have their fanatics which overall are a small portion of the electorate and not really sufficient to get the job done. Both T and H will require a small amount of dedicated responsible citizens to push them across the line....which is a small group as well.It is quite possible that a majority of people who want to vote but do not view it as a required responsibility (unlike most of us here)will be sufficiently de-incentivized to not bother with the hassle of going to vote.

After the small election turnout we will see about 30 seconds of thought about why that is, 30 seconds of weeping and gnashing of teeth by the losing party and a prompt return to business as usual and immediately start the 2018 midterm election cycle.

No stupid wars was the correct quote Michale.

Yea, but the problem is that Obama is supposed to be a President for ALL Americans.. Not just the Americans who agree with him ideologically..

He is meant to follow the policies he stated on his platform, the platform that won the most votes in the 2008 and 2012 elections - you know, that democracy thing ;)

These policies happen to be the best for most people in the country, but not the 1% who own the Republican Party and the minds of those outside the 1% gullible enough to fall for the Republican line. Fortunately, that isn't you, because you are not a Republican and all that.

I'll grant you that Trump is more left wing than Hillary, so perhaps he can be a good Obama 2 for the country - but his temperament doesn't seem to be up to the role of President. We'd be going from no-drama-Obama to tweet-n-bomb-Trump - I'm not ready for that.

Donald's whining about the process is asinine - he is benefiting from the current rules and if he had the business smarts to pay attention to the small print (you know, like all business people do because that is where the nasty stuff is) he'd probably be further ahead.

Source:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/clintons-delegate-lead-would-triple-under-gop-rules/

Yea, but the problem is that Obama is supposed to be a President for ALL Americans..

Not just the Americans who agree with him ideologically..

You, inadvertently I am sure :D, hit on EXACTLY the reason why Obama is such a bad leader and a bad POTUS...

Michale

Obama is the past...

No wars???

Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan...

Obama has 2 more wars than when get entered office..

Michale

Yet Obama's ratings are still high. Maybe the anti-establishment sentiment is mostly on the right - you know where Fox News and all the AM layabouts have been railing against DC for the last couple of decades.

Washington is doing OK for most on the left (LGBT rights, no stupid wars, push to raise minimum wage, ACA, climate change, etc.), with the exception of the inequality issue, which nobody in the anti-DC crowd has any plans to fix beyond "give you boss another raise and maybe he will be in a good mood and give you a raise too".

Hillary's biggest problem is that she is the ESTABLISHMENT candidate in an election where the electorate wants to line up the ESTABLISHMENT against the wall and shoot it...

Hillary is toast even without Comey's recommendation that she be thrown into the darkest hole and the key be destroyed... :D

Michale

Re: 27

heh :D

Michale

Sanders is not a Democrat. He is under no obligation to support Clinton..

But he probably will..

That being said, it's irrelevant if Sanders supports Clinton or not..

If Sanders SUPPORTERS don't support Clinton, she's toast...

Trump's basic problem is that he scores best with voters the Republicans already own...old, under educated, economically stressed, white folk. A group getting getting proportionately smaller every day.

The same can be said for Clinton...

Hundreds of thousands of Democrats switching allegiance. Oh, happy day, except the Republicans need a lot more to counter the Grim Reaper.

And the Republicans will likely GET a lot more as the election progresses...

Driven snow is not the metaphor I would use to describe Trump's so called purity

It is, when compared to Clinton...

That leaves Comey as the best path to Trump victory.

Perhaps..

But it's not the ONLY path...

I'm not saying Trump can't win, but he's a decided underdog on many, many levels.

And Americans will flock to a politically incorrect underdog by the tens of millions! :D

Michale

Carly won't help him much in California. She is too late and has no ties with Indiana.

My guess - change the story from "came in last in 4 states behind Kasich" to "ooh, look, Carly".

Next week after losing Indiana he'll probably announce his Secretary of State.

As I said, I think Sanders will ultimately support Clinton. There will be some horse-trading involved, but that's how the game is played to win.

Trump's basic problem is that he scores best with voters the Republicans already own...old, under educated, economically stressed, white folk. A group getting getting proportionately smaller every day.

Hundreds of thousands of Democrats switching allegiance. Oh, happy day, except the Republicans need a lot more to counter the Grim Reaper. The "lot more" is going to have to come from groups he's cheerfully pissing off. The Republican Establishment realized this intellectually, in a white paper way, but was incapable of doing anything substantive about it because the party base wouldn't have any of it.

Driven snow is not the metaphor I would use to describe Trump's so called purity. Manure spreader seems more apt.

That leaves Comey as the best path to Trump victory. Or maybe Santa, who is a white guy with access to a lot of chimneys.

I'm not saying Trump can't win, but he's a decided underdog on many, many levels. Not the choice of a party that actually wants to win.

Michale

They are smug in the sense that they "know" their's is the correct path to follow and they cannot even conceive that they are wrong..

In that sense, the smugness of the Right and the smugness of the Left is no different..

Michale

And THAT is the majority of Americans...

Just replay the look on Mary Pat Christie's face Michale, that will tell you everything you need to know about the reaction Trump will get if he starts playing the "You can't talk Hillary, you can't keep your husband from wandering and you are only where you are because you are a woman" line.

I doubt he will be able to stop himself. Look for Paul Manafort face palming in the background.

http://www.redstate.com/streiff/2016/04/27/donald-trump-paul-manafort-acting.-really-crude-ill-bred-uncouth-dimwit/

But then, Manafort is a massive liability on his own:

In particular, multiple sources said Trump was bothered by news stories about Manafort’s representation of Saudi Arabia and for a group accused of being a front for Pakistani intelligence.

“I don’t think [Trump] was aware of the extent of the work that Paul has done in foreign countries that have not always been friendly to the United States,” said a Washington operative with close relationships to the campaign.

Trump can't even choose a sensible 'sensible' person. He got a crooked 'sensible' person instead in Manafort.

Once the entirety of the Right Wingery is behind Trump, he will be unstoppable...

Michale

that's odd, i never found the right to be particularly smug. the right's vice of choice i would say is false outrage, the idea that american culture is under attack and we must man the barricades.

JL

It's not the schoolyard bully-types that think this is funny..

It's the victimized-types who cheer when the cheat and liar and crook gets a taste of their own medicine...

And THAT is the majority of Americans...

Michale

That would be this one.. :D

http://www.chrisweigant.com/2016/04/25/calling-tomorrows-primary-races/#comment-74620

Michale

I think I supplied the 538 link if my memory serves me, if not I read the breakdown. Schoolyard bullies are not exclusively in the ranks of low educated white men. By all accounts, Trump himself was a schoolyard bully and my wife tells me women can be a lot more evil than men in this regard. However they are the minority by the time people grow up from middle school and become adults.

I listened to a great "Ted Radio Hour" podcast yesterday about Intolerance. They covered the Dunning-Kruger effect, interviewing Dunning.

Lack of confidence was correlated with increased chance of being right, and over-confidence matched up with being spectacularly wrong.

@nypoet22 is being open to the possibility of a Trump success, and doubting the confidence in a Hillary landslide.

@michale is confidently predicting a Trump win

The Dunning-Kruger effect?

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11451378/smug-american-liberalism

Yep, excellent commentary that nails the problem with liberals today...

They are simply the flip side to the smugness of the Right...

Michale

you should read the comment thread from a few days ago. trump supporters may not be who you think they are.

JL

I disagree. You don't take into account the depth of hatred Republicans have for Hillary...

Most will do ANYTHING in their power to make sure she doesn't win..

Including vote for Trump....

Now, if Hillary is NOT the Dem Candidate (Biden steps in to save the day) then, of course, all bets are off...

Michale

And keep millions of Republican supporters at home.

What happens is that Trump's popularity, such as it is, takes a node dive outside of the schoolyard bully types that think this is funny.

agree that trump CAN win. we ridicule the possibility at our peril. and if he does win, we can blame ourselves for being too smug and self-righteous to recognize that so many people support him for the same reasons they support bernie - they feel voiceless and abandoned.

ridicule and disdain for the candidate may be justified - i would say it IS justified - but the same directed at his followers is rude, unsympathetic and could very well propel trump to an unlikely win.

or more succinctly:

"the wages of smug is trump"
~emmitt rensin

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11451378/smug-american-liberalism

Those who think that Trump can't win are living in a fantasy world..

All of the previously mentioned are real possibilities even WITHOUT the indictment recommendation...

Plenty of Trump's ideas are socially liberal and will attract TENS of THOUSANDS of Democrats...

Trump is going to be Hillary's worse nightmare and President Trump is going to be this country's last best hope to get back on track....

Michale

But the REAL question is...

Will Sanders supporters support Clinton??

I don't think so...

Granted, you have the PUMAs from 2008 which might indicate otherwise, but consider the fact that we now have had TWO forays into the hypocrisy and dishonesty that is Hillary Clinton...

Plus you add to the fact that hundreds of thousands of Americans nationwide are changing their political affiliation from Democrat...

Not to mention that the soon-to-be recommendation from Director Comey will crystallize in the minds of every American the crook that Hillary is...

No... Hillary is going to have a problem on her hands that is YYYUUUUGGGGGGEEEEEEE....

Trump is going to be the candidate that is pure as the driven snow by comparison...

Michale

With the respect to the Presidency of 2016 I rate his policy position a "political bridge too far." Good politics is the art of the possible. You can't always get what you want etc. Contrary to current fashion, compromise tends to result in functional governance.

But, as CW points out, what Clinton DOESN'T say is that she waited days *AFTER* the primary ENDED to encourage her supporters to back Obama....

Implying that Sanders' supporters should support her candidacy NOW is blatant hypocrisy..

Hypocrisy thy name is Clinton..

But ya'all already knew that....

Michale

There is NO hypocrite like a Democrat hypocrite...

Michale

That is an excellent point, and very well put!

:-)

-CW