The problem is, at least as of today, Kav says he wasn't at that party, and Ford says she can't remember where the party was.

Yes, that is EXACTLY the problem..

And the so-called "victim" first claimed that there were 4 boys in that room, but then the story became 2 boys...

This is so obviously an orchestrated 11th hour smear campaign...

The Underpants Gnome analogy to OneDemand/VoucherVendetta never grows old. :)
Ah...good times.

Sisyphus, Ron...Ron, Sisyphus. Now push that rock boys!

According to Snopes:

Martha Kavanaugh did preside for certain parts of a 1996 foreclosure case involving Ralph and Paula Blasey, who are indeed Christine Blasey Ford’s parents. However, Kavanaugh actually ruled favorably toward the Blaseys, who ended up keeping their home. These two facts cause the logic of the conspiracy theory, such as it ever was, to collapse.

Background

Maryland state land records show that Ralph and Paula Blasey purchased a house in Potomac, Maryland, in June 1977. According to Montgomery County Circuit Court records, in August 1996 a company called UMLIC-Eight Corporation initiated foreclosure proceedings against the couple.

However, by December of that year the Blaseys were able to refinance the mortgage, and in January 1997 UMLIC filed a motion to dismiss their earlier petition. Judge Martha Kavanaugh granted that motion on 4 February 1997, thus formally bringing an end to the foreclosure proceedings against the Blaseys.

The claim that Kavanaugh “ruled against” Ralph and Paul Blasey, central to the conspiracy theory about their daughter’s sexual assault allegations made 21 years later, is therefore false.

ok, so why aren't salesmen called profitmen?

Good luck. I think you've got some pretty big leaps of faith there myself, which is not to say that you should give up, but rather try fleshing the concept out further before trying to launch.

I hope you can listen less defensively to other poster's comments. No one has suggested that doing nothing is a better option, at least in the time I've been lurking here. No one has suggested that big money in politics is not an issue. No one has suggested that the plan won't fix everything and is therefore useless. There are angles you haven't worked through yet, though, and, just like any business plan, you want to have answers when someone asks how we get from point A to point B or makes a comment about a perceived shortcoming.

Rather than deflecting these comments, maybe you can consider the substance and how you can use it to tighten up the plan and your pitch. You are getting free consulting in the responses to your posts. Maybe you don't like the format, but there's value there, nonetheless.

Just to lighten things up, I think something you will want to avoid at all costs is a proposal too much like:

The Underwear Gnomes Profit Plan

Ask Kevin Spacey if either a thirty-year gap or personal level of intoxication at the time of the offense gets a pass anywhere these days.

My brain is mush

Wrong Christine Ford. You've been reading to much Drudge.

Great post! :)

Kavanaugh physically pushed me into a bedroom as I was headed for a bathroom up a short stair well from the living room. They locked the door and played loud music precluding any successful attempt to yell for help.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/16/politics/blasey-ford-kavanaugh-letter-feinstein/index.html

This is the Supreme Court. No one is entitled to an appointment to it. These accusations aren't occurring in a vacumn - they are just one more reason why this man should not be given a lifetime appointment to a position that has so much power over American lives.

The problem is, at least as of today, Kav says he wasn't at that party, and Ford says she can't remember where the party was.

That just about says it all, and is why the FBI really does have to track it all down (which they are fully capable of doing, given even the public details of the accusation) or else it ends up a He/She Lied pick-em outcome, and a fraught vote for some senators on both sides. Nobody in this entire senate class wants that outcome.

Do you have ANY facts that prove Kavanaugh is lying??

No, you do not...

You have NOTHING but a partisan agenda..

Of course that's what they SOUND like to you..

Because you are looking at it from the perspective of a Party ideologe..

So Kavanaugh was one of these big jocks who gets drunk before showing up at parties with his buddy, in this case ironically named Judge.

Do you have ANY facts besides the bullshit claim of a hysterical NeverTrumper activist..

No, you do not...

But the girl was traumatized.

So she says...

Yet she was SOOOOO traumatized that it sat for 35 years.. :^/

Kavanaugh's buddy made a career out of documenting his experiences from those days, writing two books that describe this time in his life specifically: Wasted: Tales of a Gen X Drunk, and God and Man at Georgetown Prep (2005), which describe in both fiction and nonfiction formats nights of debauchery and blackout drunks.

And the so-called victim was a 15 yr old drunk..

But THAT doesn't matter to you, right??

You STILL have NO FACTS that support her version of events..

What's the difference between Donald J. Trump and the Hindenburg?

One's a giant Nazi gasbag, while the other's just a dirigible . . .

They sound like bullet points from an oppo research folder to me.

So Kavanaugh was one of these big jocks who gets drunk before showing up at parties with his buddy, in this case ironically named Judge.

So they show up at this party one night, hammered as usual, and grab this little chick and pull her into one of the rooms. Kavanaugh throws her onto the bed and starts trying to undress her, but he's too drunk, and both guys can't stop laughing. The girl is trying to scream, but Kavanugh has his hand over her mouth, making his feeble attempt to undo buttons and zippers nearly impossible. Finally, Judge, still laughing, jumps onto the two of them on the bed, releasing the girl, who rushes away. The two boys just collapse laughing.

But the girl was traumatized.

The event derailed her for 'four or five years', she said. Her resultant insecurity affected her academically and socially, especially with men.

It eventually affected her marriage, too, and her husband learned of it eventually in couples' therapy.

Kavanaugh's buddy made a career out of documenting his experiences from those days, writing two books that describe this time in his life specifically: Wasted: Tales of a Gen X Drunk, and God and Man at Georgetown Prep (2005), which describe in both fiction and nonfiction formats nights of debauchery and blackout drunks.

Mark Judge went on to become a conservative commentator and public scold. He's defended Kavanaugh, saying that he doesn't remember any such incident, but his writings suggest that there isn't any reason why he would. Blackout drunks are like that. It's taking responsibility that's the hard part.

Detailed enough?

Facts to support???

No???

Of course not..

It's funny how, if you toe the "proper" ideological line, you can get away with spewing ALL SORTS of bullshit.. :D

And when the other person supports Kavanaugh's claims??

What then??

Pull this justice appointment, and let the base know that if they want their 5th vote, they damn well need to get out and vote in November.

I don't know. This is not a legal issue in any case. This is not about provable, falsifiable facts. The bells ringing are all politics and perception.

Well said...

To all of it..

I could see Kavanaugh's school buddies not being too thrilled - they could be dragged into this. Dr. Ford claims she escaped because K's friend jumped on top of them and they slid off the bed (something like that) - so she places another person in the room who's going to have to confess or deny and more cans of worms will be opened.

And Kavanaugh isn't polling well anyway - I suppose the deplorables/evangelicals might rally around but no one else will.

[I wrote the following early this morning, before the announcement of the accuser is willing to testify. There's a lot of intervening news, but nothing here changes my thinking. Collins just called for public under-oath hearings.]

I don't know. This is not a legal issue in any case. This is not about provable, falsifiable facts. The bells ringing are all politics and perception.

Now Mitch and Grassley are in a box. If the accuser testifies to JudiComm, there are no R women to cross examine her. If Flake stands firm, they can't get it out to the full Senate.

That's the first political point: it's now the role of men to listen, and if 11 male Senators on Judiciary were to vote it straight out now with no public hearings, they'll have more chicken feces on them than if they were working cleanup in the Carolina factory farms. No, make that pig feces. Simile holds, and that's how they'll be painted.

A tone deaf senate right now could be disastrous. While there are many conservatives fully willing to risk losing the Senate to get him seated, McConnell has an entirely different mapping of priorities. There's plenty of commentary about Mitch having been worried about Kavenaugh from the start.

Right now he's going to keep the senate, maybe even by an additional seat or two. In the next 36 hours, if it looks like the cost of the confirmation is becoming prohibitive, Mitch will pull it, regardless of what the WH wants.* He lives to fight another day.

If I had to guess, I'd say the confirmation vote right now has about a 7-day half life. If they can't get it done in 7 days, it becomes twice as unlikely.

*Remember, Anita Hill took an 80-20 vote on Thomas to a final 52-48, and they would have lost it if it hadn't been for Biden, ever the defender of the institution over the politics. He talked the nominee off the ledge and let the Republicans know they could relax. I remember this exchange clearly across 20+ years: "Judge, until the end, the presumption is with you." There's no such statesman left; this is pure blood sport politics.

They're stuck. They can't say accusations of sexual abuse from the past don't matter, because, if not, what the hell was Franken about? His alleged waist-grabbing, kiss-stealing behavior was too much for the Senate, but 'mere allegations' of rape are no bar for the Supreme Court? For good reason, Franken still maintains his innocence too.

Pressure building to delay the confirmation vote, and have a public hearing.

Republicans are wary. If it becomes a spectacle - and that's a very good possibility - it could divide households by gender, which would play directly into the Democrats' 'year of the woman' motif.

On the other hand, some might want to bank on using the fight to rally around Kavanaugh. Trouble with that is that conservative dominance on the Court was assured by Gorsuch's appointment. It literally doesn't matter whether this seat is filled by Kavanaugh or by some other conservative.

Which isn't much to rally around.

These are **ALL** facts..

To which you have none..

Factually not accurate..

It's a FACT that Kavanaugh's mother was judge at a trial that didn't go well for the so-called "victim"'s parents..

It's a FACT that the so-called "victim" is a NeverTrumper activist..

It's a FACT that the so-called "victim" tried to scrub her online social media postings..

It's a FACT that the so-called "victim" laywer'ed up with a NeverTrumper activist...

It's a FACT that the victim told a different story to a therapist than she is telling today..

All of these are FACTS that support this is nothing but a Democrat created character assassination...

And what facts do you have???

:D

You've gotta admit, it's a brave, brave woman who opts to enter such shark-infested waters in order to tell her story.

Yep.

Meanwhile, a number of conservatives on twitter are trying variations of the "should we hold against him something he did at age 17?" defense -- which, to me, sounds an awful lot like admissions he DID do it. Or, more accurately, that they think he did it.

Of course they say nothing about him now denying he did it. He's an adult and he's denying something they think he did.

When enough citizens are only voting for small contribution candidates (candidates without Superpacs) which could be much sooner than any legislation or amendment then Superpacs will be much less effective.

Candidates do not have any direct control over the SuperPACs and PACs that support their campaign. Nothing prevents a SuperPAC from buying TV ads on behalf of a candidate, even if the candidate does not want the ads. If small donation campaigns gain popularity, you can bet opposing parties will start SuperPACs that appear to support the small donation campaigns; thus making the candidate look like a hypocrite. Or it could just be gung-ho supporters who want to be able to donate a large amount to help the person win. Bernie had something like this occur during the 2016 Primary.

The bigger issue is that OneDemand seems to suggest that we should back candidates based on how they run their campaign and not on where they stand on the issues important to us. How can I pledge my support of the OneDemand candidate and then discover that the only OneDemand backed person on my ballot is a Republican who believes gays deserve to be rounded up and executed? Or do I not support the candidate running against someone wanting to kill all the gays simply because they accept $1000 donations?

On the flip side, why would any candidate believe that the only reason voters refused to vote for them and chose to write in their own name was because they didn’t limit the size of the campaign donations they accepted?

“I loved everything this guy had to say! He supports everything that I believe in! Oh wait... he accepts campaign donations over $50?!?! Never mind!”

OneDemand is only concerned with how the candidates run their campaign, not with the quality of the candidates themselves.

You have no FACTS either, only snippets culled from conservative press, and presented without context.

Until the witness is allowed to speak in an open forum and be subjected to cross-examination, you haven't got anything.

Any facts to support??

Kavanaugh looks like a mommy's boy. Hell, maybe his mommy told him to do it.

That's just character assassination based on Party bigotry and is beneath you...

Makes as much sense as your theory.

Except I have FACTS that support my theory and you have none..

Or maybe, Kavanaugh was channeling the animosity his mother had for that family by assaulting the daughter.

Kavanaugh looks like a mommy's boy. Hell, maybe his mommy told him to do it.

Makes as much sense as your theory.

And, when one doesn't??

Will you concede how contrived and orchestrated this all is??

Of course you won't..

Your defensive response to my attempt to understand your concept is very telling. Message received. What you label as my "logic" and take as a put-down was a statement about current status. I read on your site that the intent is to provide counts at the national, state, and congressional district level. How did you derive any prescriptive "logic" from this? As for the privacy issue, it seems clear that I misunderstood your response regarding write-ins and FOIA requests. So, as I now understand your vision:

1. Encourage the disaffected to send a shot across the bow by voting by write-in until information on small donor candidates is more available, then switch to voting for identified small donor candidates.

2. Encourage these voters to tell all their friends to join and encourage those friends to tell all their friends.

3. The above should not only vote as pledged, but are encouraged to support candidates with small donations themselves, whether or not there are such candidates on their ballot.

4. When 20% of eligible voters nationwide join the effort, election outcomes will start to change.

5. When losing candidates do a postmortem and discover all the other/disallowed votes and/or votes for small donor candidates that could have made the difference, those candidates will come to One Demand, look at the count of registered voters in their district or state, and determine that accepting only small donations would have resulted in a win.

6. One Demand will change the narrative to one where a candidate can’t win an election if they do take the large contributions. (source: http://www.onedemand.org/)

Do I have it right?

Wow. Not twenty four hours after castigating Democrats for 'abusing' the accuser by 'forcing' her to testify, you've flopped completely over to this.

Not exactly consistent, but hardly surprising.

What's inconsistent about it??

Both claims are factually accurate..

So you see, all along it wasn't 'abuse' from the Democrats that she was worried about - it was the right wing "abuse the witness" machine. Of course.

I never claimed she was worried about the abuse from the Left..

She surely saw the slurs and arrows directed toward FBI agents Strzok and Page and thought: do I dare to try to tell the truth, with this character assassination as my reward?

And if her claims are NOT the truth???

You've gotta admit, it's a brave, brave woman who opts to enter such shark-infested waters in order to tell her story.

I admit no such thing..

From all the FACTS, she is a hysterical NeverTrumper activist trying to get back at Kavanaugh for the actions of Kavanaugh's mother..

It's CLEAR from the facts that her entire spiel was carefully orchestrated from the git go...

Wow. Not twenty four hours after castigating Democrats for 'abusing' the accuser by 'forcing' her to testify, you've flopped completely over to this.

Not exactly consistent, but hardly surprising.

So you see, all along it wasn't 'abuse' from the Democrats that she was worried about - it was the right wing "abuse the witness" machine. Of course.

She surely saw the slurs and arrows directed toward FBI agents Strzok and Page and thought: do I dare to try to tell the truth, with this character assassination as my reward?

You've gotta admit, it's a brave, brave woman who opts to enter such shark-infested waters in order to tell her story.

Alumnae Of Christine Blasey Ford’s High School Circulate Letter Of Support

Ford’s allegations against Brett Kavanaugh are “all too consistent with stories we heard and lived while attending Holton,” they wrote.

Do 200 signers of letter-of-support for Dr. Ford trump 65 - many of whom are back-pedaling?

In the realm of Karma and unintended consequences - Mitch McConnell said Kavanaugh was a bad choice - Blotus overruled. Now dirty laundry keeps overflowing GOP baskets and BK's reputation is significantly damaged. Blotus's reverse-midas-touch is still operative.

Of course that's NOT a fact...

But, according to this so-called "victim", she WAS drunk.. And she was 15... So, right there, her credibility is shot to hell..

Meanwhile, there's that list of 65 women offering support to Kavanaugh. I'm reading that only 2 are continuing full-throated support now. Many are refusing to comment and several have withdrawn their support.

FACTS to support???

The fact that BK was drunk while he allegedly did the deed is another interesting point of contention - does it make it worse or less bad?

Also of note: how young white men at prep schools who drink til they pass out are portrayed differently than young black men who hang out in pick-your-stereotype areas and drink. The former are just "being teenagers" etc., the latter are "thugs" and worse.

Blotus famously demanded the death penalty for the Central Park Five who were erroneously accused of rape. Now he'll back Kavanaugh all the way to the Supreme Court. He will also do his level best to destroy Kavanaugh's accuser.

Meanwhile, there's that list of 65 women offering support to Kavanaugh. I'm reading that only 2 are continuing full-throated support now. Many are refusing to comment and several have withdrawn their support. Given the GOP presented this thing in an effort to clear their candidate's name, we, the public, really deserve to know all there is to know about the entire production. Clearly the possibility of accusations of this nature coming out was anticipated by someone. Why?

Kavanaugh accuser...

Brett Kavanaugh’s Mother Presided Over Foreclosure Hearing Involving Accuser’s Parents
mediaite.com/online/brett-kavanaughs-mother-presided-over-foreclosure-hearing-involving-accusers-parents/

Ahhhhhh Payback...

This so-called "victim" is also a NeverTrumper activist who lawyer'ed up with a NeverTrump activist..

Yea... The partisan machinations in this are blatant and obvious

"so it's reasonable to assume that someone whose death occurred as a result, whether by a tree falling on them or, because the power grid was woefully mismanaged after a hurricane and they couldn't receive dialysis are both effects of the same cause?"

Yup, follow (reconstruct) the chain of causality leading to earlier than expected deaths.

Kick-197

One more thing. The Milken Report is a high level summary. It is by far the most credible analysis of the Hurricane Maria mortality I've seen, but it does not give details about the generalized linear models used, the statistical software used to analyze the models, or if there has been any independent peer review of methods and inferences up to the point of publication. Big Science grinds slowly.

Yea, Brady was visibly frustrated...

As I mentioned before, the defense could carry the game.. All Bortles had to be was 'eh'....

But holy testicle tuesday, it was lightning in a Bortle!!! :D

Curious if your opinion has changed regarding Kavanaugh and the alleged sexual assault in light of the so-called "victim" coming forward..

To me, it smacks of a carefully orchestrated smear campaign against Kavanaugh...

Every step is simply too "perfect" and contrived to be a natural flow...

"There doesn't seem to be any sort of real effort underway to do that. I'm not even sure what such an effort would look like. Could Congress pass legislation that would remedy this problem - or would citizens united prevent that?"

Since Citizens United was a Supreme Court ruling it would take more than just Congress passing legislation.

It would take either:

1) Another Supreme Court Ruling OR

2) A Constitutional Amendment

As an example. Congress could pass as many laws as it wanted to making abortion illegal nationwide, but they would have no effect at all unless:

1) The Supreme Court itself changed its own ruling regarding the legality of abortion OR

2) A Constitutional Amendment was passed to force the Supreme Court to change its ruling.

I'm still waiting for the bigly check for $2,000,000,000+ where Trump made the claim he was "successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico."

Nice post... nice research, TS. Thanks for taking the time to post this. :)

I say EVERY year that the Jags are going to the Super Bowl..

This year, I actually may be factually accurate!! :D

I think Michale is dead on balls accurate here too... barring any unforeseen multitude of injuries, of course. The Jags are on fire!

I just calls them the way I sees them. :)

Beto! Beto! Beto!

Sounds like something a Minion might shout....but makes sense. Beto better represents the real world minions-the 98%. Unlike Ted Gruze with his blazing fart guns.

Oh, you're right... Ted Gruze… and he looks like Gru too! *laughs*
And now I got this going through my head:

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

Liz was here from the very start and worked very hard with CW and JL to *CREATE* the dynamic on this board..

If I was discussing CW and JL, you might have a point, but I wasn't... so you don't. But seriously, your need to invoke CW and JL and longevity into the comment is fairly indicative of your regular modus operandi where others are informed ad nauseam by you that they are perceived as subordinate posters... in more ways than one... whether adjective, verb, or noun.

"A modicum of {respect and} gratitude would not be outta line here."
-Joe Pesci, MY COUSIN VINNY

A commenter like yourself who presumes to be owed "a modicum of respect and gratitude" for whatever reason just might want to perform a whole lot less of the "preaching about what you're practicing" and at least a "modicum" more of the "practicing what you preach."

The humorous thing about Liz requesting "people just ignore what they don't want to read here by people they don't like without always making a big issue out of it" is that she's generally the poster not doing that... while I have repeatedly requested she do that! Expecting to post freely from a perch of privilege in a manner for which you regularly admonish others speaks volumes, and the "I couldn't resist" punchline is the ever-present reminder of that perceived sense of entitlement and the "do as we say, not as we do" dynamic that exists on this board.

We teach others how to treat us. If there are posters who aren't receiving the "respect and gratitude" to which you clearly believe they're entitled, perhaps you're requesting receipts for something that they're not willing to proffer. As far as deference, nobody owes us a thing: The respect we bestow is the respect we'll know... each of us reaps what we sow.

So... I've upped my standards; now, up yours! :)

All [Democrats] want to do is monetize white guilt . . . it’s not really productive, man, because we never address the core issues . . . . [Democrat] policies do not work . . . enough is enough. It is time to break the cycle. Me, I made a decision, man, I can no longer support the Democrat Party. Because they are not the party for black people, they’re not even the party of America. They are such a far-Left socialist party . . . I don’t know who they’re working for—it ain’t us. In every state they run . . . opportunities diminish . . . their policies are failed. . . . I can’t do it anymore. I’m conservative. 4/46
https://amgreatness.com/2018/09/14/why-black-voters-are-turning-to-trump/

Time to acknowledge the FACTS... :D

Are American's supposed to take this serial liar at his word that he in no way benefits from any and all restructuring of the IRS?

Oh yea.. We should probably trust the liar who used the IRS to go after political opponents, eh?? :^/

LIGHTNING IN A BORTLE!!!

Very nice, Michale … and, great game!

Yea, it was.. You'll notice I got a little quieter in the second half. Was having January flashbacks... :D

Bortle critics are eating LOTS of crow today... He was unstoppable...

I say EVERY year that the Jags are going to the Super Bowl..

This year, I actually may be factually accurate!! :D

Well, here's the thing, Senator..

Your mind was made up even before the nominee was named..

So, it's nothing but a lack of integrity on your part...

"If Bortles keeps this up, 'THE GOOD PLACE' is going to lose a outstanding punchline"

https://www.google.com/search?q=The+Good+Place+Bortles+Jaguars&num=20&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS772US772&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwigpfP128HdAhUS7lMKHcZ4DXUQ_AUIESgE&biw=2560&bih=1283

:D

I'm doomed where 'knacks' are a prerequisite for success.

LL&DON'T PANIC!

anyone who doesn't believe in vogons has probably never been to a department of motor vehicles, and certainly hasn't been to one in new jersey.

JL

you can use my name - first, last, middle or title. it's on a few guest columns here anyhow.

JL

My point was only that, a two party system gives no quarter to diversity in either camp. In the US of now, the Republicans bay to their supporters that the Democrats are just ultra-socialists in drag and want to tax the pennies on the eyes of the dead, the Democrats decry the Republicans as an old boys network of upper-middle class religious gunslingers, hell-bent on mandating racial purity. If you throw a few more choices in, the radicals splinter into ineffectuality and the moderates see their goals to be achievable.

The two party system gets flogged from within by its extreme elements. John and Jane Doe don't stand a chance of navigating the platform of either party with all the white noise.

Unlike the Golgafrinchans (HGTTG), we can't jettison the vestigial fringe... better to have them hurl abuse at each other, under the umbrella of choice, while the day to day business of political life is undertaken by individuals that enjoy some common ground.

LL&P

Citizens United may be a big windmill to tilt at, but at least it's a tangible goal.

And a worthy and worthwhile goal.

There doesn't seem to be any sort of real effort underway to do that. I'm not even sure what such an effort would look like. Could Congress pass legislation that would remedy this problem - or would citizens united prevent that?

I'm pretty darn sure I provided neither my address nor age to register here, both of which are required at your site. That makes your site a much richer target than the email bonanza that might be hackable here.

It's not clear who the people are that you refer to in your attempted refutation of ListenWhenYouHear's point. The people who count ballots would see the write-in(s); the candidate and the public get aggregate counts. I don't believe I have read election reports that itemized the name(s) and vote counts for write-ins who weren't actively running a write-in campaign. I see an 'Other' category sometimes, which generally doesn't amass a measurable percentage of votes.

As ListenWhenYouHear notes, no one knows whether there is a singular message coming out of the 'Other' category and what, therefore, can be inferred. Same goes for disallowed votes. What's the reason a given vote was disallowed? Who, exactly, is going to put in a FOIA request to every precinct in the country or even to every precinct in a state or Congressional district? Will the brave souls that do be able to come to your site and check names against the FOIA? That's certainly scary. No doubt you are aware that whether or not one has voted in a given election is a matter of public record, but for whom is not.

In short, it appears that the dots don't connect. Candidates would have to know about and come to your site to see, well, a nationwide count of registrants. You aren't at the point yet where you are displaying a national total, state total and a total for each congressional district. Until you do and figure out how to get the word out to all candidates for the national level offices you are targeting, you don't have meaningful data.

Let's not even get started on the privacy issues.

Very nice, Michale … and, great game!

No problemo … that's what I'm here for. :)

… So there/their/they're (')

:P

LL&P

I don't think the problem is with the number of political parties in any given democracy. Rather it is the quality of the people who make up those parties and their ability to communicate with and persuade voters with cogent arguments and ideas.

Based on this, the democratic system in America is in deep trouble.

It didn't start with Trump but, he could be the impetus that underlines a need for positive change.

"Progress is a nice word. But, change is its motivator. And, change has its enemies." … RFK

Arguments of this sort will be with us forever. Blatant fudging of the facts to support a political agenda is a common occurrence.

Not about the number of deaths as a result of a hurricane in America. Which was the precise point I was making.

Before President Trump began his very late questioning of the official death count in Puerto Rico as a result of hurricane Maria, I have NEVER heard of any American questioning such a thing.

And, hopefully, this and other sorts of nonsense emanating from the WH will end with Trump's presidency.

With a third party, or even some law that 'entices' people to speak with their vote, breaks a deadlock and dissolves political inertia.

Obviously, looking at some European political systems, Multi-party systems seem bizarre when they have 10+ organizations all vying for your vote...But consider this, within a ten party system, only society's 'fringe' element go for the seven obscure party platforms.

LL&P

Arguments of this sort will be with us forever. Blatant fudging of the facts to support a political agenda is a common occurance. If people don't call out the lie - in detail- it has a tendency to persist for decades or longer. The Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide are good examples of how a hard it is to quash a lie.....it's like house cleaning, the chore is no fun and never goes away

Citizens United may be a big windmill to tilt at, but at least it's a tangible goal. one of the problems with money in politics is that it's hard to say just how we'll know if and when things get better. good comments by russ and "my voice"

JL

"this is don karnage speaking to you with my voice."
~talespin

Seeing the Patriots at 1-1!!

LIGHTNING IN A BORTLE!!!

:D

But, that was one heck of a quotable paragraph, forever etched in stone ...

Does the solution require that the Citizens United decision be overturned?

If so, that will take a very, very, very concerted effort - the kind of effort that is close to impossible to mount, especially considering the devolutionary state of American politics.

Which is one of Don's arguments for One Demand (I still don't like that name) because it replaces that monumental effort with many individual ripples that can form a current strong enough to break down the mightiest walls of campaign finance resistance, to paragraph RFK.

What Don doesn’t tell you is how, exactly, writing your own name in on a ballot is going to send the message that you are wanting to see candidates that only accept small donations and not the message that they think that they should be elected in whatever category it is in. People already write in names on ballots; are they all sending the same message as OneDemand?

Where candidates get bought are with SuperPACs that can take unlimited amounts of money from donors. Campaign donations directly to the candidate have specific limits. I don’t see anyone being bought by $10,000 donation to a campaign, but $10 million to a candidate’s SuperPAC might get that politician in your pocket! As long as PACs and SuperPACs are allowed to exist as they currently stand, limiting the size of a candidates campaign contributions is just a superficial act that doesn’t do much to stop the corruption.

To end the week, I offer an addendum in the form of aCartoon I knew would include Paul Manafort.

No need to 'watch that space' any longer.

LL&P

Okay, JTC … I have to call incorrect use of an apostrophe!

Sorry … but, I couldn't resist … mostly because you're going to confuse Michale. :)

"DOMINATION!!!!"
Mortal Kombat

:D

Is that supposed to be a joke?

I think so … but, Michale just forgot to add the :D after it. Heh.

When was the last time that anyone, anywhere had a discussion about how many people actually or estimated to have died as a result of a hurricane which prompted arguments with someone else about the accuracy of that figure?

I think hurricane Maria may be the first. Let's hope she's the last.

:D

And Brady is totally out of his league!!! :D

14-0 JAGS!!!!

THAT is what Jags need to do!!!

DUUUUUUVVAAAAAALLLLLL

Bortles is on fire!!!

So why is Trump making this an issue? He might think he can divert a falling tree or obtain the expertise to fix infrastructure with a wave of a small hand, but no one can.

Who is making it personal? (there are some that say it's the Democrats, but they've pretty much let this one go)

Great factual post, btw.

LL&P

I just finished reading:

Ascertainment of the Estimated Excess Mortality From Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

conducted by the:

Milken Institute School of Public Health

M -"The ACTUAL body count stands, I believe, at 64..."

CW- "In actual fact, the government of PR, led by a Trump supporter, were the ones who commissioned that study, and this govenrment has now officially accepted the 2,975 figure as accurate. That is the ACTUAL bodycount, from a Trump-supporting governor."

Counting bodies is fairly easy, documenting cause of death is complicated, especially during a massive natural disaster where much of the medical infrastructure is dysfunctional, and what's left is doing extreme triage. (The report notes that most physicians don't know how to fill out a death certificate properly, or don't bother). The 2975 figure is the number of excess deaths compared to expected deaths had there been no hurricane, based upon historical seasonal death rates adjusted for immigration. (Puerto Rico lost 8% of its population through post hurricane immigration). This is standard demographic modeling.

The 2975 figure is the most probable estimate of excess deaths attributable to the hurricane, but the 95% confidence interval is 2658-3290. Uncertainty is part of life - people have to accept that.

There are no imaginary dead in the Milken accounting (I expect a few dead were not, and never will be, found). A hurricane can kill you quickly, and it can kill you slowly due to lack of essential services.

thehill.com/homenews/senate/406925-kavanaugh-accuser-breaks-silence-about-sexual-misconduct-allegations-detailed

Buckle up.

LL&P

Is that supposed to be a joke? Of course the tax returns of the individual overseeing tax reform are relevant... to people who actually pay tax. Are American's supposed to take this serial liar at his word that he in no way benefits from any and all restructuring of the IRS?

No one is that stupid.

I've seen some idiotic posts on many sites, but that has to be the most wistfully egregious I've seen here.

LL&P

Bill Clinton, used to say that constant criticism was just a part of the job description. Trump and his followers need to stop whining about it.

"If you are telling me that Trump's tax returns are going to negate DECADES of business success, then you MUST concede that Odumbo's(sic) school records are going to negate 8 years of claims of intelligence.." More unabashed sophistry.

The facts speak for themselves, Trump has shown an abysmal business acumen over the year. His balking over his tax returns is more about how he dug himself out of financial ruin, than how he speculated his wealth.

LL&P

Trumps tax returns have already been "released", though not to the public, have they not?

Beats me.. They are not relevant to ANYTHING other than Democrats wanting another blunt object to beat President Trump over the head with..

Dumbocrats had this info 3 months ago.. They figured they would protect the so-called "victims" privacy and see if their other bullshit actions could derail Judge Kavanaugh..

When they failed at EVERY TURN, Dumbocrats said "Frak the so-called victim!! Our agenda is MORE IMPORTANT!!!"

The so-called victim's story is full of holes, you could drive a starship thru...

This is a pathetic attempt by the Democrats and it will cost them in November...

Word...

OK, if Buffett has "nothing to worry about" why won't he release ALL of his tax returns to the general public now??

Why don't you??