Friday Talking Points -- Epic Failure Everywhere You Look
This weekend will mark the end of the third month of Donald Trump's second term in office. Only 45 more fun-filled months to go!
Sorry if that's a bit disheartening, but at this point it's hard to find much in the way of optimism in the political world. And we're certainly not alone in this view.
Let's start with the economy. Trump continued his "red light, green light" tariff game this week, first announcing that smart phones and other electronics were exempt from his insanely-high tariffs on China. Green light! But within a day or so, the administration was contradicting itself -- tariffs would be slapped on electronics, but they're still mulling over a number to choose. Red light!
Countries attempting to cut deals with the Trump administration have no earthly idea what Trump is even looking for, leading to utter chaos in the negotiations. China is (so far) not interested in cutting a deal on their own, preferring to wait and see if political/economic pressures force Trump to backtrack some more. Manufacturers in this country are getting slammed by all their foreign orders drying up -- since right now the "Made in America" brand is pretty toxic worldwide.
The chair of the Federal Reserve indicated that inflation is pretty likely with all the tariff chaos, and Trump immediately threatened to fire him (which he cannot legally do). For what could be the first time in Trump's second term, he got some major pushback on this notion from the Treasury secretary, who (quite rightly) pointed out that the markets would crash in a spectacular and epic way if Jerome Powell were to be fired for no reason.
All of this is taking a big toll on American consumers:
As consumers and businesses face widespread uncertainty around the Trump administration's whipsawing trade policies, a widely followed survey from the University of Michigan found that consumers' expectations for the next year's inflation jumped to 6.7 percent, the highest reading since 1981. It's the fourth consecutive month that consumer sentiment has worsened, as people across demographics say they believe unemployment and inflation will get substantially worse.
"The Trump trade war is terrifying consumers who cannot make up their mind between what is more likely, a recession or an inflation outbreak," Chris Rupkey, chief economist at the research firm Fwdbonds, wrote in a note to clients. "The economic outlook looks increasingly grim."
This is reflected in Trump's own sagging poll numbers as well. Depending on which poll-of-polls average you look at, Trump's job approval numbers are underwater (more people disapproving than approve) by anywhere from 4.2 to 6.7 points. There's only one president in modern history with a record that is worse, and that is Donald Trump, in his first term. His polling on the economy and inflation is now underwater by double digits -- even though a big reason he was elected was to fix the economy and tame inflation.
If you look deeper into the numbers, things only get worse for Trump:
A CBS/YouGov poll shared earlier this week found that a majority of Americans believe the economy is backsliding in the early days of Trump 2.0. 53% of respondents told pollsters that they believe the economy is getting worse under Donald Trump and a majority of Americans expected the economy to slow or enter a recession in the next year.
56% of respondents said they disapproved of Trump's handling of the economy, up from 49% in March. Nearly 60% of those polled said they opposed new tariffs on U.S. imports. 65% of Americans said they expect the tariffs to make things worse in the short term and 42% expected the duties to have a negative impact in the long term. Compare that to just 8% of respondents who said tariffs would improve the economy immediately and 34% who thought they would have a positive effect given time.
CNN data analyst Harry Enten called the results "the worst set of polling data that Donald Trump has had in his entire second term as president."
"The majority of Americans think that the economy is getting worse," Enten said. "It's an 11-point jump from November to now, and of course Donald Trump won the 2024 election because he promised to fix the economy."
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post got a jump on everyone (us included) who will soon be writing to mark Trump's first 100 days in office, with his first-out-of-the-gate article titled: "Trump Is Wrapping Up 100 Days Of Historic Failure." His list is a pretty comprehensive condemnation of Trump's performance to date:
By any reasonable measure, President Donald Trump's first 100 days will be judged an epic failure.
He has been a legislative failure....
He has been an economic failure....
He has been a foreign-policy failure....
He has been a failure in the eyes of friends, having launched a trade war against Canada, Mexico, Europe and Japan; enraged Canada with talk of annexation; threatened Greenland and Panama; and cleaved the NATO alliance.
He has been a failure in the eyes of foes, as an emboldened China menaces Taiwan, punches back hard in the trade war and spreads its global influence to fill the vacuum left by Trump's retreat from the world.
He has been a constitutional failure....
He has been a failure in public opinion.
One of Trump's grandiose campaign promises was that he would -- in the blink of an eye! -- end Russia's war of aggression and conquest against Ukraine. Now it appears he is just going to give up on this effort and "move on" from it. Here is Secretary of State Marco Rubio explaining Trump's new stance: "I think the president's probably at a point where he's going to say, 'Well, we're done.' We're not going to continue with this endeavor for weeks and months on end." So much for being able to get a ceasefire within 24 hours of being sworn in (which is what Trump explicitly promised on the campaign trail). Trump found out this wasn't true, and he is bored with the whole thing now, so he's just going to walk away. Talk about an epic foreign policy failure!
Trump's "constitutional failure" is currently front and center in the eyes of the country, as Department of Justice lawyers argue in court that Trump should be allowed to snatch anybody he wants (even, according to Trump, "homegrown" citizens) off the streets, not bother charging them with any crime in a U.S. court of law, and then send them to the worst foreign prison he can find where they will be held for an indeterminate period. The U.S. is paying millions of dollars for this service, but Trump is also arguing that he simply cannot do a thing to get anyone back, even if the administration admits in court that that person was sent due to "an administrative error."
Whenever Republicans (including even Trump) used to demagogue against immigrants, they'd always be careful to qualify their scapegoating by saying: "Of course, we support legal immigration," but that no longer applies. Marco Rubio can cancel anyone's visa he feels like, even if his own State Department finds there were not sufficient grounds to do so. Having a green card doesn't help either, because Rubio and Trump simply don't care. A U.S. citizen just spent more than 24 hours in jail in Florida, for the apparent crime of "being Hispanic." Government emails are being sent to U.S. citizens which begin with the ominous line: "It is time for you to leave the United States," giving people seven days to "self-deport." Students are having their visas revoked for exercising their constitutional right to free speech -- because Marco Rubio and Donald Trump don't agree with what they say. Judicial orders to the administration are either being outright ignored or mocked by the president and his administration. Judges are being demonized by Trump himself, as he gets bolder and bolder in his defiance.
This could all be about to get a whole lot worse, too. In two days, on Easter Sunday, Trump is due to get a report from the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security, on the situation at the southern border. In a little-noticed move, the administration has put U.S. soldiers in charge of a thin strip of the entire border in all border states except Texas, which could be a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. But Trump's got an answer for that too:
On that date [April 20], the president will receive a report from the secretary of defense and the secretary of homeland security "about the conditions at the southern border of the United States and any recommendations regarding additional actions that may be necessary to obtain complete operational control of the southern border, including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807." That act gives the president broad authority to use the military on American soil. As the Brennan Center explains, "The statute... is the primary exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, under which federal military forces are generally barred from participating in civilian law enforcement activities."
The president can do so "when requested by a state's legislature, or governor, if the legislature cannot be convened, to address an insurrection against that state... to address an insurrection, in any state, which makes it impracticable to enforce the law, or to address an insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination or conspiracy, in any state, which results in the deprivation of constitutionally secured rights, and where the state is unable, fails, or refuses to protect, said rights."
. . .
The president alone gets to decide what constitutes an "insurrection," "rebellion," or "domestic violence." And once troops are deployed, it will not be easy to get them off the streets in any place that the president thinks is threatened by "radical left lunatics."
. . .
If Americans take to the streets to protest the president's invocation of the Insurrection Act, the president might use those protests as an excuse to extend the deployment of troops. The prospect of using the military against Americans is a nightmare and would mark a further descent into authoritarianism.
The Washington Post ran a sobering article this week, where they went out and talked to people in America who had come here to escape tyranny. They had some chilling things to say about what they see happening to America:
The Washington Post spoke with 12 people from six authoritarian countries -- some who fled left-wing regimes and others right-wing ones. They described an unsettling feeling of déjà vu in the initial months of the Trump administration: the attacks on courts and the press; the threats to universities and law firms; the hollowing out of agencies; the scapegoating and mass deportation of immigrants; the marginalization of transgender people.
. . .
"It honestly feels like I just switched rooms on the Titanic," said Miguel Mendoza, a former political prisoner in Nicaragua who lives in Orlando.
. . .
Mendoza fears the United States could be on a similar path as his native country. The Trump administration's targeting of immigrants, and the way it has disappeared and deported some without any court hearing, remind him of how [former Nicaraguan leader Daniel] Ortega flouted due process laws. The detention of noncitizen students for social media posts hits close to home.
"That's exactly how they came for me in Nicaragua," he said.
This is where we are, as a country. People who fled tyrannical dictators are seeing exactly what took place where they came from. Except it's happening right here in America this time. This is an outrage. Resistance to much of this is growing, which is a good sign because it means most Americans agree that this should not be who we are as a nation. For the time being, we still have the constitutional right to protest such abuses of power. Because staying silent is no longer an option.
Democratic resistance to Trump appears to be growing. We have to give both Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Honorable Mention awards this week, for continuing to pull in overflowing audiences to their "Fight Oligarchy!" political rallies. One such event pulled in a crowd of 36,000 -- the largest crowd Bernie Sanders has ever raised (which, knowing Bernie rallies, is pretty impressive). But they're also pulling in huge crowds in places like Idaho and Montana as well -- it's not just blue states or even blue cities. Bernie even made a surprise appearance at the Coachella music festival, and A.O.C. was named the most likely Democratic nominee for president in 2028 by Nate Silver.
But this week's Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week goes to Senator Chris Van Hollen, from Maryland. Van Hollen, using the political weight of being a United States senator, went down to El Salvador and essentially shamed their government into allowing him to meet with one of the prisoners being held in perhaps the worst prison in the Western Hemisphere.
Kilmar Abrego García is at the heart of the unfolding constitutional battle between the judiciary and Donald Trump. His name might eventually become as famous as Brown (v. Board of Education) or Dred Scott, since it seems certain that a monumental Supreme Court decision is needed, at this point.
Neither Donald Trump nor the leader of El Salvador (who calls himself "the world's coolest dictator") had even given proof that García was still alive -- because they don't really care if he is or not. So Van Hollen flew down to El Salvador and browbeat their government into allowing him to visit with García. This included attempting to drive to the prison only to be halted by a military checkpoint set up to prevent him from getting there. Eventually, the political pressure worked and Van Hollen was allowed to meet with García.
This was a highly symbolic victory, but it hasn't changed the facts -- García is still being held in the prison and Trump is fighting tooth and nail to keep him there. Van Hollen explained the reason for his visit very simply: "We need to make sure that the court system works and due process works, because if you take it away for any individual it's a very short road to taking it away for every American."
Either we live in a country where the rule of law is supreme and every person gets to have their day in court if they are accused of wrongdoing, or we live in a country where the leader can disappear anyone he feels like, without any consequences whatsoever for doing so (even in error). One is democracy. One is a dictatorship.
We can't have both, and the time is coming when the Supreme Court weighs in on which one America is going to be, moving forward.
Chris Van Hollen didn't just issue a strongly-worded statement. He didn't just do the minimum. He didn't just sit back to see what would happen. Instead, he took it upon himself to shine a spotlight on the abuse of American justice in a very personal way. He did not give up when his efforts were first thwarted by the Salvadorian government. He persisted.
For doing so, Senator Chris Van Hollen is easily our Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week this week.
[Congratulate Senator Chris Van Hollen on his Senate contact page, to let him know you appreciate his efforts.]
This is somewhat of a repeat award, or more of a followup award from last week. Last week we provided all the reasons why Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's appearance at the White House was so problematic.
But we didn't mention the photo.
The year isn't even one-third over, but we have to say this is a good candidate for our annual "Worst Photo Op" of the year award.
The photo shows Whitmer, in the gaudily remade Oval Office (you can just hear Trump ordering: "More fake gold! Make everything gold!" just by looking at the photo), being so embarrassed to be lending her political support to two truly odious executive orders Trump was signing that she actually covered her face in shame when photographers tried to take her photo.
So it's not really a new award, but we did want to point out that the whole thing was so awful that Whitmer tried to block even being photographed at it. We don't know if it'll eventually win this December, but it's easily the Worst Photo Op of the year so far....
[Contact Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on her official contact page, to let her know what you think of her actions.]
Volume 792 (4/18/25)
We find it necessary once again to present our talking points in the form of a rant this week. We simply couldn't contain it all in separate talking points.
Stand up for America
The rest of the world used to look up to America. Now they don't even want to vacation here. We used to lead the world. Now the world looks on in horror at what we have become. We used to collectively stand for: "Truth, justice, and the American way." Now we get a firehose of lies from our president, justice is whatever he feels like at the moment, and even the courts are being ignored by him.
Investors are fleeing government bonds and the U.S. dollar. The stock market seems to head downward every day. Nobody has a clue what's going to come from the White House next, since Trump quite obviously has no idea what he's doing. If the economy looks so grim three months into his term, what's it going to look like in six months, or next year? Even people who voted for Trump because they thought he could do good things for the economy are getting pretty disillusioned with all the chaos. And that's before all the farmers take a big hit on the world's markets with this year's crops -- meaning Trump will probably have to bail them out again with taxpayer dollars, just like he had to do last time.
But the worst part is watching Trump trample on the rule of law. He has weaponized the Department of Justice to the point where all they care about is persecuting Trump's enemies. They do not respect the rule of law, they defy it.
According to Trump, anyone he says is evil deserves anything Trump wants to do to them. According to the Republicans, we should all just go along with all of this. They join in demonizing this person or that, while these people sit in jail, despite having done nothing wrong. But they're missing the point. It's not the individual people involved -- it is the core principle that people should not rot in prison on the say-so of one man. Accusations of wrongdoing require presenting evidence of that wrongdoing in a court of law. If the evidence is convincing, then punishments are appropriate. But if there is no evidence -- if it is all supposition or insinuation or just lies made up out of whole cloth -- then no punishment can rightly be applied.
It's not about one person jailed for writing an op-ed in the school newspaper. It's not about one person mistakenly sent to a foreign prison for no reason at all. It's about the fact that this is all so wrong and un-American. It's about freedom, and justice, and basic legal rights guaranteed to all by the U.S. Constitution.
More than that, it is about who we are as a country. Are we a country where people wearing masks and no uniforms can snatch you off the street, even if you are in this country legally and have broken no law, or are we a country who condemns such tyranny? Are we a country where anyone can be jailed just because of their ethnicity, even if they are a U.S. citizen? Or are we a country where people still have rights?
Are we a country where the president dictates what universities can and cannot study, or discuss, or protest? Or are we a country where the freedom to do so is guaranteed to all by our founding document? Are we a country that erases the parts of our own history that the president doesn't like to hear about, or are we a country that cherishes the truth above all else, even when it is an uncomfortable truth?
Are we a country where the Supreme Court has the final say on what is constitutional or not, or are we a country where such decisions can be flat-out ignored?
America is now flirting with authoritarianism. Donald Trump wants to rule as a dictator. He doesn't want judges ruling against him, instead he wants kingly powers to do as he pleases.
We should speak out against all this -- all of us. "We the people" rule in this country, after all. And now is the time to speak up. There's a very famous poem written by a German pastor right after World War II which warns of what can happen if we don't:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.
Trump is coming for immigrants, legal or not. Trump is coming for universities and law firms and students who protest and media organizations and museums and too many others to even list. Who knows who he'll be coming for next? Who knows how long it'll be before he gets around coming for you?
Don't wait. Speak out. Trampling on anyone's constitutional rights is trampling on all our constitutional rights. It's not about any one person. It's about freedom and justice and truth and the American way.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Cross-posted at: Democratic Underground
according to most news outlets, around 90% of deportees to CECOT in El Salvador had no criminal record. ninety percent! that means for every hardened criminal sent out of the country, there were nine regular joes. i'm sure they weren't ALL wonderful people, but that's a LOT of people to disappear with zero due process to even find out what they actually might have deserved. i'm scared for everybody.
"Trump is coming for immigrants, legal or not. Trump is coming for universities and law firms and students who protest and media organizations and museums and too many others to even list. Who knows who he'll be coming for next? Who knows how long it'll be before he gets around coming for you?
"Don't wait. Speak out. Trampling on anyone's constitutional rights is trampling on all our constitutional rights. It's not about any one person. It's about freedom and justice and truth and the American way."
Excellent rant/talking points.
This is real, folks. You're a US citizen by birth, but you don't care for Trump or his policies as president. You post a message on social media against the president - maybe making fun or him or mocking his unconstitutional executive orders. Next thing you know, you're gagged and bound in a black SUV headed for an out-of-state or out-of-country prison. Does your lawyer know where you are? no. Do you have any venue for showing you're a US citizen, and that your social media post violated no law? no.
You are F**KEd.
Guys. We have to stop this. Protest, Get public. Show the Republican administration that the vast majority of America just DOES NOT agree with authoritarian rule.
Yep, it’s Showtime! It’s Constitutional Crises time — boy, that was quick! Alas for Trump he’s picked fights with three entities that won’t give in: Harvard, China and the Supreme Court. Harvard has the endowment to tell Trump to fuck off. And I’m confident that Harvard knows what’s at stake here. China simply retaliated and stopped three rare earth exports critical to modernity. The Supremes have to know that if they allow Trump to overthrow our Constitutional Republic then they become irrelevant, powerless and moreover, a potential threat to Trump. Likewise, the Republican Congress. It requires only four principled Republicans to join Democrats and impeach Trump. I think the Senate will get it right this time.
Trump has always admired dictators and he’s trying to be like Daddy Vladdy. As an aside I, I’m highly doubtful that our military would obey unlawful orders. I can see some rogue elements but they are the ultimate guarantor of our rights.
I’m hoping enough military recognize that Putin is making Trump blow up America and the whole Western world and remove him. One can hope.
I wholeheartedly agree with this week's MIDOW. Sen. Van Hollen did not go to El Salvador to bring attention to himself, but to bring the attention of the U.S. (and world) media to an egregious injustice - and unconstitutional exercise of power by Hair Furor.
He did what was right and just; Faux News and company will have to twist themselves in knots to demonize Sen. Van Hollen. The rest of us - even those who don't usually pay attention to the news - have been "forced" to take sides.
Bashi,
This is about due process not an appeal to emotion.
Not factually accurate.. First off, this scumbag HAD his due process. He was adjudicated as an ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT and was set for deportation. The ONLY error was that the courts said he shouldn't be deported back to El Salvador.. But he WAS adjudicated and set for deportation..
And WHY shouldn't he have been deported to El Salvador?? Because he was afraid he would be killed *BY A RIVAL GANG*..
The ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMINAL is a gangbanger... This is FACT...
Secondly, from the Democrats, it's ALL about appealing to emotion.
"Oh, the poor Marylander family man!!!"
The scumbag is NOT a Marylander. He is NOT a US citizen.. He is an illegal immigrant. He is a wife beater and he is a gangbanger and a total and complete scumbag..
Like George Floyd, he is the perfect symbol of a Democrat hero.. :eyeroll:
What IS it with you Democrats that you always pick the worst scumbags to venerate and hero-worship?? :eyeroll:
JL,
welcome back. now please don't screw it up.
Back?? Was I gone??
I had some training for work I had to attend... :D
JL,
according to most news outlets, around 90% of deportees to CECOT in El Salvador had no criminal record. ninety percent!
Don't tell me. Let me guess.. WaPoop.. HuffPoop... NY SLIMES... SALON... REUTERS... AP... etc etc etc...
Do you have any REAL news sources to support that claim??
but that's a LOT of people to disappear with zero due process
They are ALL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMINALS and have had their "due process"..
They have ALL been thru the court system and were set for deportation..
You really need to start getting your facts from places OTHER than WaPoop...
I'm just sayin'.. :D
Trump is coming for immigrants, legal or not. Trump is coming for universities and law firms and students who protest and media organizations and museums and too many others to even list. Who knows who he'll be coming for next? Who knows how long it'll be before he gets around coming for you?
There are absolutely ZERO facts to support any of these claims..
Further, the fact is, ALL of the issues you mention are 80/20 issues where 80% of the American people are behind PRESIDENT Trump on those issues and Democrats are the 20% who oppose these things..
Getting rid of scumbag terrorists, murderers, druggies and rapists??
80% of Americans are behind PRESIDENT Trump.. Democrats are the 20% that want to keep those scumbags here in this country..
Getting rid of scumbag HAMAS supporters on college campus???
80% of Americans are behind PRESIDENT Trump.. Democrats are the 20% that want to allow the anti-semites to rage..
All you people have is nothing but fear mongering.. Ya'all tried that in 2016. What makes you believe you have ANY credibility regarding PRESIDENT Trump??
Oh sure, you can find your "facts" in WaPoop and HuffPoop and the like and I am sure their bullshit comforts ya'all in yer hours and hours of despair..
But the FACTS??? The OBJECTIVE REALITY??
They show that 80% of Americans are behind PRESIDENT Trump..
We have to give both Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Honorable Mention awards this week, for continuing to pull in overflowing audiences to their "Fight Oligarchy!" political rallies.
Nothing says FIGHT THE OLIGHARCHS better than flying around in a $15,000 per hour private jet!! :eyeroll:
It's amazing ya'all can simply ignore the blatant hypocrisy..
Well, maybe not "amazing".. More like "par for the course"... :eyeroll:
and A.O.C. was named the most likely Democratic nominee for president in 2028 by Nate Silver.
Oh please, please, PLEASE, PLEASE Democrats!!
PLEASE make Occasional Cortex ya'all's 2028 Standard Bearer!!
PLEASE!!! :D
Ya'all Democrats just got your asses TOTALLY handed to ya'all in 2024 because the Democrats were too far Left..
In TRUE Democrat fashion, ya'all Democrats decided to TRIPLE down on stooped and move FURTHER Left!!!! :D
It's like Democrats are seeing how badly they can lose!! :D
Yes, Democrats.. By all means.. MOVE further to the Left..
THAT'S the ticket!!! :D
Chris Van Hollen didn't just issue a strongly-worded statement. He didn't just do the minimum. He didn't just sit back to see what would happen. Instead, he took it upon himself to shine a spotlight on the abuse of American justice in a very personal way. He did not give up when his efforts were first thwarted by the Salvadorian government. He persisted.
It's a shame that Hollen couldn't muster even a PHONE CALL to Rachel Morin's family..
You remember Rachel Morin, don't you?? She was the AMERICAN CITIZEN who was brutally beaten and raped and murdered by an ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT from El Salvador...
Once again, Democrats PROVE the contempt they have for actual AMERICANS and their "heroes" are scumbag illegal immigrant terrorists and gangbangers and human traffickers... :eyeroll:
It's no wonder Democrats got beaten so bad in 2024...
And NOW Democrats are doubling down on being anti-American....
CW
The U.S. is paying millions of dollars for this service, but Trump is also arguing that he simply cannot do a thing to get anyone back, even if the administration admits in court that that person was sent due to "an administrative error."
Trump is now on record stating repeatedly that there is nothing he can do. The Orange Blowhard admits on multiple occasions to the American people that he is powerless against the president of El Salvador so it seriously should come as no surprise to anyone whatsoever that Trump is equally ineffectual against Putin and Russia. The hot bag of wind can't even bring himself to stop blaming the sovereign nation of Ukraine for the aggressor Russia attacking them. Trump is a total ineffectual bullshit artist.
Democratic resistance to Trump appears to be growing. We have to give both Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Honorable Mention awards this week, for continuing to pull in overflowing audiences to their "Fight Oligarchy!" political rallies
Occasional Cortex’s neglect of her Queens district (Corona, Jackson Heights, and Elmhurst) is a complete and utter disgrace, as she jet-sets around the country chasing fame while her constituents languish in what the locals call a “third-world shithole”.
Streets overrun with illegal vendors peddling stolen goods and hookers openly soliciting sex reflect a community in crisis, yet Occasional Cortex is absent. Out playing progressive savior with Bernie Sanders instead of addressing the crime and chaos and degradation.
Local resident Ramses Frías, a former Democrat now running as a Republican, has exposed blocks of unlicensed vendors undermining legitimate businesses, selling everything from clothes to snacks without paying ANY taxes.
Prostitution, fueled by Venezuelan migrants unable to work legally, thrives unchecked, with hookers operating brazenly on 90th Street.
While Occasional Cortex postures nationally, her district’s leaders have been forced to beg PRESIDENT Trump’s FBI for help. In January 2025, the NYPD raided a dozen brothels posing as massage parlors, exposing “barbaric and inhumane conditions.”
Mayor Eric Adams has linked the surge in illegal activity to the migrant crisis, noting that economic desperation drives such crimes. Frías laments the lack of repercussions, as vendors and sex workers face no consequences, further eroding the community.
Occasional Cortex's continued silence is deafening. Her constituents deserve a Representative who actually fights for them, not one who abandons them to a lawless shithole while she plays progressive rockstar.
Please Democrats.. Oh please please PLEASE...
Make Occasional Cortex your candidate in 2028...
I double dog DARE you!! :D
JL
now please don't screw it up.
Screw what up??
What are you talking about??
Either we live in a country where the rule of law is supreme and every person gets to have their day in court if they are accused of wrongdoing, or we live in a country where the leader can disappear anyone he feels like, without any consequences whatsoever for doing so (even in error).
The facts of this issue aren't the least bit complicated. The United States Constitution is clear:
Due process isn't a hard concept: A person is charged with a crime according to jurisdictional statute and allowed to defend themselves in a court of law, whether federal, state, or even at the local level. If found guilty, they can be fined or imprisoned or both according to said jurisdictional statute. That didn't happen here, and anyone telling you otherwise is either lying or laughably totally ignorant of the United States Constitution and/or law.
Not rocket science.
The claim that this scumbag gangbanger was not afforded due process is so factually not accurate, it's laughable..
On March 28, 2019, Garcia was arrested by Prince George’s County Police in Hyattsville, Maryland, outside a Home Depot while seeking day labor. He was detained for loitering alongside other men, but no charges were filed. Instead, he was transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for being undocumented, a civil violation.
Immigration Hearings in 2019
Garcia’s 2019 immigration proceedings involved two key hearings: a bond hearing and a removal hearing, both before immigration judges at the Howard Detention Center in Maryland.
Bond Hearing (April 2019)
Presiding Judge: Immigration Judge Elizabeth A. Kessler.
Purpose: Garcia’s attorney, Lucia Curiel, applied for his release on bond while his removal case was pending.
ICE’s Argument: ICE opposed the bond, alleging Garcia was a danger to the community due to his purported membership in MS-13, a gang designated as a terrorist organization by the Trump administration. The evidence included:
A Gang Field Interview Sheet (GFIS) from March 28, 2019, by a Prince George’s County Police detective, claiming Garcia was an active MS-13 member of the “Western Clique” based on a “past proven and reliable” confidential informant, his Chicago Bulls hat, hoodie with money-themed graphics, and tattoos.
A federal I-213 form (Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien) reiterating the gang allegations.
Defense’s Response: Garcia and his then-girlfriend, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, denied the gang affiliation. Vasquez Sura, present at the hearing, stated she was “shocked” by the claim, asserting, “Kilmar is not and has never been a gang member.”
Credibility Issues: The detective who authored the GFIS was suspended four days later (April 1, 2019) and later pleaded guilty to misconduct for trading police secrets for sexual favors, undermining the report’s reliability. Garcia’s attorneys noted the Western Clique operates in New York, where Garcia never lived, and the clothing-based claims were speculative.
Outcome: Judge Kessler, despite skepticism about the clothing evidence, found the informant’s claim sufficient to deny bond, citing Garcia as a community risk. The Board of Immigration Appeals upheld this ruling, finding no clear error.
Removal Hearing (September–October 2019)
Presiding Judge: Immigration Judge David M. Jones.
Duration and Testimony: The hearing spanned two days, with the September session lasting approximately five hours. Garcia provided testimony, supported by Vasquez Sura and other documents, over two days of proceedings.
Applications: Garcia applied for asylum and withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act, citing persecution fears in El Salvador due to Barrio 18’s extortion and threats against his family.
Judge’s Assessment: Judge Jones found Garcia’s testimony “internally consistent, externally consistent with his asylum application and other documents, and appeared free of embellishment.” He deemed Garcia credible, detailing how Barrio 18 extorted the family’s pupusa business, threatened to kill Garcia’s brother Cesar, rape his sisters, and recruit Cesar.
Outcomes:
Asylum Denied: Garcia’s asylum application was rejected because he filed it too late, beyond the one-year deadline after entering the U.S.
Withholding of Removal Granted: On October 10, 2019, Judge Jones granted
withholding of removal, prohibiting Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador due to a “clear probability of future persecution” by Barrio 18. This status allowed him to live and work legally in the U.S. indefinitely with a work permit, though it did not offer a path to permanent residency or citizenship.
ICE’s Response: ICE did not appeal the withholding order, and Garcia was released from custody. The Department of Homeland Security issued him a work permit, and he complied with annual ICE check-ins.
Additional Context
Gang Allegations: The MS-13 allegations stemmed from the GFIS, which Garcia’s attorneys later challenged as unreliable due to the detective’s misconduct and lack of corroboration. No court fully adjudicated the gang claim, and Garcia was never charged with gang-related crimes. A 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis questioned the evidence, noting it relied on “a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie” and an uncorroborated informant’s claim.
Post-Hearing Life: After the hearings, Garcia married Vasquez Sura in June 2019 through a detention center’s glass barrier. He worked as a sheetmetal worker, secured a five-year apprenticeship in 2024, and enrolled at the University of Maryland.
Subsequent Allegations: In 2021, Vasquez Sura sought a protective order against Garcia, alleging domestic violence, but did not attend the hearing, leading to its dismissal. In 2022, a Tennessee Highway Patrol stop raised suspicions of human trafficking, but no charges were filed. These allegations resurfaced in 2025 but did not alter the 2019 withholding status.
Significance
The 2019 hearings granted Garcia legal protection from deportation to El Salvador, a status violated by his erroneous deportation on March 15, 2025, which the Trump administration admitted was an “administrative error.” The withholding order became central to subsequent legal battles, with the Supreme Court in April 2025 unanimously ruling that the administration must facilitate his return, citing the 2019 order’s enduring validity.
Back to scrolling.
Back to toxic Weigantia.
Back to being reminded that troll documented his own pedophilia.
Good job, Chris!
*laughs*
Not factually accurate.. First off, this scumbag HAD his due process.
He did have his due process, during the first Trump administration ICE gave Kilmer a work permit and status including a background check and they were fine with him staying in the country then and every year since as he had to check in with authorities. Until now when they made a mistake that they admitted too. Every court including the SCOTUS has said the Trump administration is in the wrong and your "scumbag" has no criminal record here or in El Salvador. Your guys are breaking the law, does that make them scumbags?
Don't tell me. Let me guess.. WaPoop.. HuffPoop... NY SLIMES... SALON... REUTERS... AP... etc etc etc...
Then get off your lazy ass and prove they are wrong. Provide a source that proves they are wrong. Ad hominems as an excuse to ignore reality is just weak rhetoric...
He did have his due process,
Yea, that's what I said..
So ANY claims that this scumbag druggie gangbanger didn't have due process is laughably not factually accurate..
I am glad you can concede the facts..
Yawn...
@m,
CW said he had yellow carded you, and then you were gone for a week. no connection?
JL
BashiBazouk
16
He did have his due process, during the first Trump administration ICE gave Kilmer a work permit and status including a background check and they were fine with him staying in the country then and every year since as he had to check in with authorities.
False equivalency that I wouldn't generally expect from you, Bashi.
It's 2025 and a man has been imprisoned without being charged with any crime whatsoever and has not been given a chance to defend himself from said charges in a court of law. For what crime is he being imprisoned in 2025?
I'm not defending him or disparaging him; I'll leave that to the justice system to which he's entitled under the United States Constitution.
JL,
CW said he had yellow carded you, and then you were gone for a week. no connection?
He did??
News to me..
Naw, I was TDY for training.
Garcia is an illegal immigrant and NOT a citizen of the US..
The courts adjudicated that he would be deported, just not back to El Salvador..
To claim that the scumbag gangbanger was not afforded DUE PROCESS is a blatant and obvious lie..
@m
i guess you have some catch up reading to do. start here:
https://www.chrisweigant.com/2025/04/09/trump-blinks-2/#comment-218330
JL,
Interesting...
Several mistakes CW makes, but I'll address those with him...
So, what happened?? Obviously I didn't get banned.. Has CW set forth any new rules that will (hopefully) be applied to all, regardless of ideology??
The courts adjudicated that he would be deported, just not back to El Salvador..
Did they? I have seen no dismissal of his Withholding of removal. Got a link or just making it up as you go along?
To claim that the scumbag gangbanger was not afforded DUE PROCESS is a blatant and obvious lie..
He was, to stay in the US under a Withholding of removal order which the administration defied. As to a "gangbanger" not much of one if he has no criminal record...
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Go2wSnlX0AAI3jk?format=jpg&name=900x900
Yep..
That says it all....
:eyeroll:
Without context it says absolutely nothing, well except the lack of your ability to meme...
Ok, the source of that photo was even dumber than I thought. Right wing twitter garbage but this was under a youtube reading of the story:
Rep. Mike Collins, a Republican from Georgia, has made headlines for altering the plaque outside Senator Chris Van Hollen's office, claiming it now reads that Van Hollen represents El Salvador. Collins shared a photo of the modified plaque on social media, criticizing Van Hollen for his recent trip to El Salvador, where he met with Kilmar Abrego-Garcia...
So, petty vandalism. Which makes Rep. Mike Collins more of a criminal than Kilmar Abrego-Garcia. Does that also make him a scumbag?
So, petty vandalism.
BBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
OR...
Maybe PHOTOSHOP???
You really are a special kind of retread, ain'tcha Bash??
:eyeroll:
Fishing for that red card, eh?
Desperately and hysterically screaming for CW to save you because you can't hang with the big dogs, eh??
:eyeroll:
I mean, honestly...
You actually believed that a US Senator would do something so moronic as commit VANDALISM or pull a fire alarm!!???
What do you think Collins is!?? A Democrat!!???
:eyeroll:
Desperately and hysterically screaming for CW to save you because you can't hang with the big dogs, eh??
You really should get caught up on past threads before saying really stupid shit like that...
No, the "stupid shit" was you actually believing this was an act of vandalism and not a Photo Shopped picture.. :eyeroll:
If calling out stoopidity is no longer allowed in Weigantia... well... That's just silly...
This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such “a fine and innocent person.” They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found that he was a member of MS-13, beat up his wife, etc. I was elected to take bad people out of the United States, among other things. I must be allowed to do my job. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
-PRESIDENT Donald Trump
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Go2dv7oXAAAybJT?format=jpg&name=small
Yea.. Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a model American citizen..
The scumbag is a wife-beater, a gangbanger, an ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT and an all around disgusting and pathetic human being..
Which makes him PERFECT as a Democrat hero...
:eyeroll:
..actually believing this was an act of vandalism and not a Photo Shopped picture..
Are you sure about that?
We will see, but none of the news reports mention photoshop...
Michale [36]
I wondered how long it would take you to post that...
what real MS-13 gang tattoos look like
Your guys are just doing a poor job of covering their asses...
We will see, but none of the news reports mention photoshop...
That's because no one with more than two brain cells to rub together would actually believe the plaque was actually replaced...
I wondered how long it would take you to post that...
what real MS-13 gang tattoos look like
Your own link has the exact same tattoos...
I accept your concession...
:eyeroll:
Wow, a google search comes up with current events. In other news water was found to be wet and the sky blue.
But it does offer a nice contrast to real MS-13 tattoos. Very little subtly or code in the real ones...
You put a link up of what "what real MS-13 gang tattoos look like"..
And, IN THAT LINK, was a picture of those EXACT tattoos that the scumbag gangbanger has....
And NOW, you try and back pedal and make a DIFFERENT claim..
This is exactly why it's simply impossible to have an intelligent conversation with you, Bash....
You are simply INCAPABLE of admitting you are wrong... Like when you thought the photoshopped plaque was vandalism...
The quintessential Democrat....
:eyeroll:
Really? Doubling down on a lack of knowledge of how the internet works? Of course that photo is going to come up. There are a million articles currently posted about it. But if you really need your hand held same search with last week taken out...
And if the plaque was photoshopped, link to something that proves it. Oh, that's right we are talking about incapable...
@m[35],
quite the opposite. other than Liz and I, bashi was the only weigantian who voted against your immediate, permanent removal.
JL
Oh, that's right we are talking about incapable...
Yes, we were talking about how incapable you are of accepting the facts and admitting your wrong...
I used your OWN "THIS IS WHAT REAL MS-13 TATTOOS LOOK LIKE" link to prove that the tattoos on the scumbag's hands were MS-13. And you refuse to accept YOUR OWN PROOF..
Further, if those aren't MS-13 tattoos, why did the scumbag's beaten wife strategically place a HEARTS icon over those tattoos to hide them in her TikTok post???
https://pbs.twimg.com/amplify_video_thumb/1913308669883854848/img/BcxWxDVjWWY2qd_M.jpg
Face it, Bash... You are WRONG on this.. ALL the facts PROVE that this scumbag is MS-13... There are DOZENS of police reports that prove it..
YOUR OWN LINK proves it..
Yet you are incapable of accepting it...
Which is why I never bother providing you proof.. Because even when it's YOUR OWN PROOF... You refuse to accept it...
:eyeroll:
Further, I guess you are conceding that the issue IS this scumbag being a ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT gangbanger and NOT an issue of DUE PROCESS as you initially claimed..
If it WASN'T an issue of the scumbag being a gangbanger why are you so hysterically arguing that he's not???
And if the plaque was photoshopped, link to something that proves it.
YOU claimed vandalism...
YOU link to something that proves it...
MY "proof" is common sense.. The entire area is filled with surveillance cameras...
Do you HONESTLY believe that it wouldn't have shown someone taking off the name plaque and replacing it!???
I mean, HONESTLY... Talking about "STUPID SHIT"!!
Making the claim of vandalism is about as stupid as it gets...
:eyeroll:
JL,
quite the opposite. other than Liz and I, bashi was the only weigantian who voted against your immediate, permanent removal.
Not sure what that has to do with Bash's stoopid claim of vandalism, but OK....
Thank you, Bash... :D
Face it, Bash... You are WRONG on this.. ALL the facts PROVE that this scumbag is MS-13... There are DOZENS of police reports that prove it..
And yet all you can link to is dumb photos.. Interesting that. Linking to these "facts" too hard?
YOU link to something that proves it...
See post [37]. It's even one of your favored outlets...
And yet all you can link to is dumb photos.. Interesting that. Linking to these "facts" too hard?
No... I linked to YOUR "dumb photos"... There are also the police reports from Prince George's County Police.. But, of course, you won't accept any facts that prove you wrong.. :eyeroll:
See post [37]. It's even one of your favored outlets...
No mention of vandalism...
So, you have no facts to support your claim of vandalism...
Got it.. :eyeroll:
After moving to the U.S., a Chinese doctor struggled to find work in a hospital. So, he opened a small clinic with a clever sign out front:
“Treatment for $20 — If not cured, get $100 back!”
One day, an American lawyer saw the sign and thought, “What a scam… but hey, easy money!” He walked in confidently.
Lawyer: “Doctor, I’ve lost my sense of taste.”
Doctor: “Nurse, bring medicine from Box No. 22. Three drops in his mouth.”
Lawyer: “Bleh! That’s kerosene!”
Doctor: “Congratulations — your taste is back. That’ll be $20.”
Annoyed but determined, the lawyer returned a few days later.
Lawyer: “I’ve lost my memory. I can’t remember anything.”
Doctor: “Nurse, Box No. 22 again. Three drops.”
Lawyer: “Wait! That’s kerosene again!”
Doctor: “Wonderful — your memory’s back! That’ll be $20.”
Now thoroughly frustrated, the lawyer made one last attempt to win.
Lawyer: “My eyesight is failing. I can’t see a thing!”
Doctor: “I’m sorry. I don’t have a cure for that. Here’s your $100.”
The doctor handed him a $20 bill.
Lawyer (squinting): “Hey, wait a minute… this is just $20!”
Doctor: “Fantastic! Your eyesight is restored. That’ll be $20.”
:D
When FoxNews first broke the story highlighting a TN highway patrolman had stopped Abrego-Garcia and believed he was involved in human trafficking, they focused on all the ways that he was clearly a horrible and vile person. And then after they have made sure that there is no way that anyone reading the article could ever believe that Abrego-Garcia wasn’t a dangerous hardened criminal who needed to be in prison, they finally reveal how the LE officer dealt with this scum:
After the incident, the officer decided not to give Abrego-Garcia a citation for the driving infractions, but rather to give him a warning for driving with an expired license.
ALL HE RECEIVED WAS A WARNING!?!?! No ticket for speeding thru the state hauling human-trafficking victims?!!? He wasn't even given a warning to NOT TRAFFIC HUMAN BEINGS THRU THE STATE?!?! I would have thought with Michale’s claimed two-and-a-half decades of police work that he would have taken issue with such shitty law enforcement practices as were demonstrated here.
I would have thought with Michale’s claimed two-and-a-half decades of police work that he would have taken issue with such shitty law enforcement practices as were demonstrated here.
I don't play Monday morning quarterback and judge the actions of other LEOs when I wasn't there to witness the entire event..
GOOD cops are like that...
Of course, I wouldn't expect YOU to know that, Russ...
:eyeroll:
No... I linked to YOUR "dumb photos"...
Lie.
There are also the police reports from Prince George's County Police.. But, of course, you won't accept any facts that prove you wrong.. :eyeroll:
Total cop out. Post a legitimate link and we will see...
No mention of vandalism...
Duh. I called it petty vandalism. No mention of photoshop either...
Lie.
Not factually accurate...
It was your OWN WHAT REAL MS-13 TATTOOS LOOK LIKE link...
Total cop out. Post a legitimate link and we will see...
Yea, I posted a "legitimate link" above.. It was YOUR link..
And yet, you STILL denied it.
So, it's a bona fide FACT that providing ANY proof to you is useless, as you simply CAN'T admit when you are wrong..
Ergo, it's useless to provide you with ANY facts..
Duh. I called it petty vandalism.
So, you concede you have NO FACTS to support your claim of vandalism..
I accept your concession...
Back to scrolling.
Back to toxic Weigantia.
Back to being reminded that troll documented his own pedophilia.
Good job, Chris!
Apparently, I get "yellow carded" if I respond in kind..
So I won't and will let Caddy's disgusting sexual perversions stand on their own (what passes for in Weigantia) merit...
It's been fun, people.. But now my time is my lovely wife's... :D
See ya'all in the morning.. :D
I don't play Monday morning quarterback and judge the actions of other LEOs when I wasn't there to witness the entire event..
You do not judge the actions of “other LEOs” when you weren’t there to witness the entire event??? So then all of your posts against Abrego-Garcia are bogus? Your posts on here prove you are full of shat, once again.
No, you are the type to threaten to file a false police complaint claiming that an officer you’ve never met committed a crime against you! You are also the type to brag about forcing your daughter into having incestuous relations with you. That’s who YOU are (according to you, anyway)!
Not factually accurate...
Ah, yes the prime descriptor of all your posts...
It was your OWN WHAT REAL MS-13 TATTOOS LOOK LIKE link...
And did you compare real MS-13 tattoos with the one you posted? Or are you just weaseling cause' you know you are wrong?
So, you concede you have NO FACTS to support your claim of vandalism..
Ah, no. I labeled it petty vandalism. If it turns out to be real and not photoshop then that is an accurate descriptor even though it will likely go uncharged...
Plus why would you believe anything out of this white house? Trump just lied about both gas and egg prices.
Anything to cover his ass...
@m[44],
it is related because that's the topic on which you're unnecessarily name-calling one of the very few people who are trying to help you avoid a permanent ban from this forum.
JL
BashiBazouk
26
Did they?
No, they did not, and multiple hearings in 2019 does not magically equal due process for any person taken into federal custody in 2025 and then placed in prison after having been charged with no crime whatsoever and given no chance to defend themselves... you know, the definition of "due process."
At this point, we have multiple judges who have issued multiple orders in 2025 stating in no uncertain terms that there was no due process given the imprisoned person. I could quote every single one of them, but I trust that adults on this forum have no need of spoon feeding of incontrovertible facts.
Trying any individual in the court of public opinion also does not equal "due process" afforded to persons by the United States Constitution. If the Trump administration is so sure of its case against the imprisoned man, then charge him with a crime and give him his day in court before imprisoning him without due process.
The United States Supreme Court was unmoved by the Trump administration's allegation that Abrego Garcia is a member of a gang when they ruled 9-0 in favor of the imprisoned man because in America, due process of law is guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.
I reiterate, it is false equivalency and laughable on its face to claim that hearings in 2019 equal due process for any man imprisoned without charge or hearing multiple years later in 2025 and imprisoned without due process.
The Trump administration and the MAGAt minions and helots declaring Abrego Garcia guilty isn't the equivalent of a Court hearing nor anything close to due process under the United States Constitution and never will be. Allow any person being sent to prison due process as constitutionally mandated by law, and if a Court (or jury) determines guilt after presentation of facts, then fine or imprison (or both) the person who was afforded due process.
Still not rocket science.
In point of fact, persons being rounded up and sent to prison have a right to a hearing before removal. The notice must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in the proper venue before such removal occurs... so sayeth the Supreme Court of the United States of America.
Anyone saying otherwise is either lying or hysterically misinformed of current events.
ListenWhenYouHear
48
ALL HE RECEIVED WAS A WARNING!?!?! No ticket for speeding thru the state hauling human-trafficking victims?!!? He wasn't even given a warning to NOT TRAFFIC HUMAN BEINGS THRU THE STATE?!?! I would have thought with Michale’s claimed two-and-a-half decades of police work that he would have taken issue with such shitty law enforcement practices as were demonstrated here.
Keep in mind that the aforesaid person has also admitted on this very forum that he never claimed he was a cop... when quite obviously he had made the claim repeatedly via inference and also (obviously) via directly lying on the forum to CW's guest author and outright making the false claim:
And now apparently he's making the asinine claim he didn't know anything about a yellow card when he obviously discussed it with other posters very recently:
He obviously knew about the yellow card issue, and he's obviously lying in the post to Elizabeth Miller (and in a post to the blog's author wherein he repeats the same lie) because he had obviously made multiple posts on that very same commentary after claiming: "ALL I have been posting the last few months are all my own words.. All my own original content.." Obvious lies when he clearly posted the original works of other authors repeatedly on the very same commentary within hours of claiming he hadn't done it in months.
So as I've stated before and I reiterate now in this post, this commenter is either an obvious blatant liar or is completely losing his mental faculties regarding the ability to discern his own lies from his recent actions and obvious posted comments archived herein.
Does it surprise me he now feigns ignorance regarding the yellow card? Not at all, but then I have no problems whatsoever with recalling past discussions from mere days ago.
So I reiterate what I've already posted regarding this poster in reference to multiple issues: The commenter demonstrably is either lying or has problems with his mental faculties... or both.
nypoet22
56
it is related because that's the topic on which you're unnecessarily name-calling one of the very few people who are trying to help you avoid a permanent ban from this forum.
Is he still posting comments directly toward other posters wherein he's ever ceased his name calling?
How many times must it be demonstrably proven that this poster has no ability whatsoever to connect even the simplest of dots regarding multiple issues?
Listen
53
You are also the type to brag about forcing your daughter into having incestuous relations with you. That’s who YOU are (according to you, anyway)!
So it was the daughter, huh? I pictured it being his son, but I don't play Monday morning quarterback and judge the actions of other Swingers when I wasn't there to witness the entire event..
I feel like the train has entered the station but it hasn't wrecked yet but it's close. So close. The cameras have moved to slow motion close ups...
Chinese airlines are refusing Boeing jets via the Chinese government
Lots of cancelled sailings of container ships out of China. This means not only fewer goods coming to America but slow downs and possible layoffs at ports and a good hit to domestic trucking
Tourism is estimated to take a $90 billion dollar hit
Lots of Canadian snowbirds are selling their American properties
Agriculture is going to be ugly all the way around. Increased potash costs and unprofitable overseas markets due to tariffs. We will see what the labor market will look like but it won't be pretty. And just when you need them crickets at the Department of Agriculture due to all the doge cuts and firings
Target is starting to cry uncle as the backlash to their enthusiastic dropping of DEI policies have dropped foot traffic in stores by 40% and the CEO is about to meet with Al Sharpton
Volvo is laying people off in their US production facilities due to tariffs
Chocolate and coffee are going up in cost and possibly a big spike in banana prices as many of the ships to bring them here were built in China and with Trump and his stupid Chinese built vessel fee
People are pissed with the lack of due process, just wait until it really hits the pocket book. It's going to be pitchforks and torches time
BashiBazouk
55
Plus why would you believe anything out of this white house? Trump just lied about both gas and egg prices.
Trump actually claimed that the price of gas was down to $1.98 in multiple states and that egg prices were down 92%.
So obviously the only state in which the price of gas is down to $1.98 and the price of eggs has decreased 92% is in Trump's state of confusion. I cannot fathom how absolutely devoid of brain cells you have to be to believe this absolute asinine gaslighting buffoon and total orange clown con artist. He either believes everyone else on the planet is stupid or he's demonstrably pathological and cannot stop himself from the pathological lying.
Anything to cover his ass...
Adult diapers would clearly be the most effective since he is quite obviously making multiple claims that prove beyond all doubt that he's definitely full of shit.
Kick-
Well, there was this protest sign in Portland today. Carried by Cassandra Peterson no less (Elvira, Mistress of the Dark)...
You are also the type to brag about forcing your daughter into having incestuous relations with you. That’s who YOU are (according to you, anyway)
-Russ
So it was the daughter, huh? I pictured it being his son, but I don't play Monday morning quarterback and judge the actions of other Swingers when I wasn't there to witness the entire event..
-Caddy
Yea... *I* am the problem here, eh?? :eyeroll:
If CW were to stop crap like that ^^^^^ then ALL of the crap would stop...
In the comment that JL linked to, CW said that him and me were friends..
I always thought so as well..
Then CW started allowing crap like THAT to be said about his "friend's" children...
Which got me thinking that we weren't as good as friends as I thought we were..
CW also said I have become "obnoxious".. Again, who WOULDN'T be "obnoxious" when having to contend with constant bullshit like Russ and Caddy spew???
The facts are simple...
Get Russ and Caddy to stop with all their sexual perversion comments about my kids???
And ALL of it will go away..
It's not rocket science, people.. :eyeroll:
JL,
it is related because that's the topic on which you're unnecessarily name-calling one of the very few people who are trying to help you avoid a permanent ban from this forum.
Slight corrections..
Bash started with the unnecessary name-calling.. I simply responded.. But, unlike the crap with Russ and Caddy, it was all in good fun.. Like the way things used to be in Weigantia..
Bashi, if I took it too far and actually hurt your feelings, then I do sincerely apologize..
But you have to admit.. Having you go straight to "vandalism" when it was obviously a case of a PhotoShop was pretty hilariously stupid... :D
Bash started with the unnecessary name-calling..
Actually, that should read:
Bash started with the unnecessary personal attacks... I simply responded with the name-calling. But unlike the crap with Russ and Caddy, it was all in good fun...
Let's start with the economy. Trump continued his "red light, green light" tariff game this week, first announcing that smart phones and other electronics were exempt from his insanely-high tariffs on China. Green light! But within a day or so, the administration was contradicting itself -- tariffs would be slapped on electronics, but they're still mulling over a number to choose. Red light!
It's called THE ART OF THE DEAL...
Maybe you have heard about it?? :D
And it's WORKING FLAWLESSLY!!
More than NINETY COUNTRIES have approached the US and stated they are ready to make deals to lower their own tariffs...
And, as an added bonus, CHINA is isolated and can't find an economic friend in the world!!
Which was likely the plan all along...
PRESIDENT Trump is making HUGE strides in reshaping the economic world so that the playing field is level and the US is not taking it in the shorts like it was under Basement Biden and Barack Hussein Odumbo..
And PRESIDENT Trump is succeeding beyond all expectations while battling Trump/America hating Democrats 24/7/365!!!
Damn PRESIDENT Trump is good, eh!!??
"These are the facts of the case. And they are undisputed."
-Captain Smilin' Jack Ross, A FEW GOOD MEN
And, once again, I am constrained to point out that the vast majority of CW's information comes from one single and solitary source...
WaPoop....
A source that even it's OWNER has said was out of control when it comes to the spewing of bullshit...
Now, the OLD CW would himself have cautioned about using ONE well-known biased source...
But, this is simply another way that it's been CW that has changed and not I...
PTDS is very real and, unfortunately, it has really infected my old friend.. :^(
In the comment that JL linked to, CW asked what should be done about me..
Let me add my suggestion...
We have tried time and time again, at JL's and Liz's urging, that *I* refrain from all the flame wars.. Of course, it works for a time, but it always fails because the FACTS clearly prove that *I* am not the problem here..
So, why not try something new??
Why not actually try hitting the SOURCE of the problem?? The disgusting and perverse attacks on my family by the likes of Caddy and Russ et al??
So, here is my suggestion..
For a period of CW's choosing (a week, a couple weeks or even a month should do it) whenever Russ or Caddy or anyone else indulge in their sexual-based perverted attacks on myself and/or my family, ya'all come down on THEM as ya'all usually come down on me??
If THAT were to actually occur, then I can GUARANTEE that ALL of the personal hate and attacks would stop... COMPLETELY...
Of course, we would still have the run of the mill hate and bigotry ya'all have against Trump and America and the hate and the bigotry I have against Democrats, but it would all be impersonal. Like it was before the likes of Kick and Russ and Caddy showed up...
And, if I am wrong, if it DOESN'T stop.. Then I will gladly leave Weigantia and never return..
"If I'm wrong, nothing happens!! We go to jail... Peacefully... Quietly... We'll enjoy it!.."
-Dr Peter Venkmen, GHOSTBUSTERS
Ya'all have EVERYTHING to gain and absolutely NOTHING to lose if we give this a try...
I am betting that the people who are ACTUALLY causing the problems will be dead-set against this idea because it will show that they are the ones actually causing the problems..
Which tells ya'all something in and of itself..
Anyways... I don't see any reason why anyone would be afraid to take up the challenge and give it a try.. Unless they are afraid that it would prove me dead on ballz accurate... :D I'm just sayin'.. :D
It's a win win for everyone...
Yea... *I* am the problem here, eh?? :eyeroll:
Yes, I agree you are the problem here, and I also believe you very well know you are.
If CW were to stop crap like that ^^^^^ then ALL of the crap would stop...
BULLSHIT... Bullshit... bullshit! You are the literally the "crap" (your term) who blew back into this forum yesterday and commenced immediately and without abatement to attacking posters and calling them names, and not a single person on this forum forced you to do it. It was your choice to do that despite knowing you've been warned repeatedly.
In the comment that JL linked to, CW said that him and me were friends..
I always thought so as well..
Then CW started allowing crap like THAT to be said about his "friend's" children...
Not that it's news, but it's actually CW's forum and not yours. And by show of hands, who here among us did not see the victim card being played (again)?
Oh, cry us all an effing river... boo effing hoo.
You need to understand something that shouldn't have to be stated over and over and again and again, but here's the actual way it is: When you attack Russ and his husband and threaten to file a false police report on an actual Chief of Police, you're literally attacking my family. When you continue to attack my new big brother MtnCaddy, you're also attacking my family.
I've got other family here too so it would seem to me that you don't actually have any real problem at all with attacking family. What seems to be your problem is your insistence that you be allowed to attack and attack and attack our family while insisting repeatedly that CW build you a safe space in which you can attack while no one can respond regarding yours. I reiterate: Boo effing hoo.
I may be completely wrong about this, but I do not think CW is going to provide you that safe space you seek with which you can freely attack our family here unabated while everyone else is admonished not to respond to your constant "dishing it out" as you please.
Maybe we could dispense with your standard operational pity party and cut to the chase and CW will let us all know if everyone else will be muffled into silence in order to provide you the safe space you need while you are allowed to attack our family here. I guess we'll find out.
Which got me thinking that we weren't as good as friends as I thought we were..
So you cannot control CW's blog in order to suit your own personal needs for a safe space and therefore deduce you aren't "as good as friends" as you thought? I did ask that you cry us all a river... so I can hardly complain about your resultant yet predictable flood of sorrow.
CW also said I have become "obnoxious".. Again, who WOULDN'T be "obnoxious" when having to contend with constant bullshit like Russ and Caddy spew???
Again, I find myself agreeing with CW's spot-on assessment and your own self-assessment in complete agreement with CW. I also agree with his dead-on accurate statement that you're "toxic." However, I am not constrained to point out that you're again attacking our family in all your toxic obnoxiousness wherein you yearn incessantly for a safe space wherein you hurl whatever "crap" (your term) you wish toward the family here while you whine like a simpering victim if anyone says "boo" right back at you and yours.
The facts are simple...
I cannot disagree with your self-assessment of the simplicity of your whiny little rant. You are nothing if not "simple."
Get Russ and Caddy to stop with all their sexual perversion comments about my kids???
I have a better solution. You stop attacking our family here and cease and desist with the lame and repetitive whiny victim attempts to force CW to conduct his very own blog in a manner that suits your own personal preference.
And ALL of it will go away..
Same absolute predictable and pathetic bullshit from you, just an entirely different day. You're not a victim here.
The point is: You can either control yourself or you cannot, but it's long overdue that you cease and desist in your attempts to control CW to police his forum in a manner to suit your obvious need to disparage our family here while yours is designated by CW as off limits.
In conclusion: Thank you so much for the abundance of your ever-present tears; the moat to the kingdom of Weigantia doth runneth over because the shitter is always full.
Merry Christmas! Shitter was full!
Just as I predicted..
One of the major causes of the problems here is tooth and nail against the solution..
PRESIDENT Trump deserves resounding and effusive praise for his decisive actions in halting illegal border crossings, achieving a historic victory that exposes the Democrats’ deceit.
Under Biden, crossings soared to 250,000 monthly arrests, but PRESIDENT Trump’s policies slashed them to just 7,000 in March 2025—the lowest since the 1960s.
PRESIDENT Trump’s deployment of thousands of active-duty troops, termination of the CBP One asylum program, and targeted expulsions to El Salvador’s notorious prison sent a clear message: the border is sealed.
Further, a Wall Street Journal poll shows A MAJORITY of American voters (53%) approve of PRESIDENT Trump’s border security, a testament to his effectiveness.
Migrants like Yorman Briceño in Ciudad Juárez now see “no hope” for illegal entry, with encampments vanishing and crossings at a standstill.
Biden and Democrats lied shamelessly, claiming Congressional action was A MUST to control the border. Yet PRESIDENT Trump, leveraging executive authority, proved otherwise, building on Biden’s late, half-hearted measures like Mexico’s enforcement and Panama’s Darién Gap deportations.
The contrast is stark: Biden’s inaction fueled chaos, while PRESIDENT Trump’s resolve restored order.
Border Czar Tom Homan reports “gotaways” dropped to 41 daily, aiming for zero, an UNPRECEDENTED level of control that Democrats were INCAPABLE of achieving. Democrats’ excuses were lies and a sham.
PRESIDENT Trump’s success completely and utterly shatters their bullshit lies narrative.
PRESIDENT Trump deserves the thanks of ALL patriotic Americans for securing our borders with unwavering commitment and for proving the America hating naysayers wrong with results that speak louder than the Democrat lies.
"SILENCE GIVES ASSENT...."
-Democrats
I'll even sweeten the pot..
And, if I am wrong, if it DOESN'T stop.. Then I will gladly leave Weigantia and never return..
If I am wrong and I self-deport, CW won't have to feel ANY obligation to refund ANY of my XMAS donation...
Now, if THAT's not a cyber blow-job I don't know WHAT is!!! :D
Just as I predicted..
Oh, did you predict something again? Let me guess. You predicted I scrolled through a ginormous swath of your posts again, and you're now seeking either a medal or a chest to pin it on (or both) for your dead-on accurate prediction.
One of the major causes of the problems here is tooth and nail against the solution..
Since I'm the only one I've seen posting this morning (so far), I will assume you're referring to me. I actually did read your first post this morning because you quoted Russ and MtnCaddy. I predictably scrolled through the remainder of your giant swath of shit postings because no one forces any of us to read them all.
Any assumption on your part that I either agreed or disagreed with whatever is contained in that shit pile I scrolled through is laughably incorrect and side-splitting hysterical.
So, to recap: What I was actually "tooth and nail" against was reading a giant swath of your standard operational pile of predictable monotonous bullshit.
PRESIDENT Trump deserves a heartfelt commendation for his fearless resolve to confront the fiscal End Of Times hurtling toward America...
A $37 trillion national debt, ballooning by $1.3 trillion in just the first half of 2025.
Unlike his detractors, PRESIDENT Trump refuses to ignore this existential threat which, if left unchecked, will devastate BILLIONS of Americans' lives through inevitable unavoidable program cuts.
PRESIDENT Trump's bold reforms, led by DOGE, expose excessively and ridiculously rampant waste, fraud, and abuse, shining a light on a crisis that Democrats have CONSTANTLY ignored and swept under the rug. Basement Biden and his Democrat allies dismissed the pain of inflation, human trafficking, and job losses as mere “statistics,” while peddling crocodile tears for isolated cases to derail PRESIDENT Trump’s vision.
Their claim that Congress alone could fix the border was a blatant and bald-faced lie, PROVEN a lie by PRESIDENT Trump’s actions that showed that Executive testicular fortitude WILL deliver desired results.
PRESIDENT Trump’s courage to act swiftly, eschewing the endless and fruitless commissions of the past, marks him as a TRUE leader unafraid of the “slings and arrows” from an America-hating Democrat Party that believes divine intervention will save the country.
PRESIDENT Trump’s reforms, though imperfect and stuttering, prioritize America’s survival over political expediency. Yes, a SINGLE scumbag gangbanger was mistakenly deported..
Compare and contrast THAT to the THOUSANDS of American citizens who were raped and murdered and assaulted under Basement Biden and the Democrats' "border plan"...
Is ONE mistaken deportation of a scumbag gangbanger who was illegally in this country to begin with such a large price to pay for NOT having thousands of American citizens raped and murdered and assaulted???
REALLY!!???? It's too big a price to pay!!??? REALLY!!!????
The choice is stark and obvious. Endure some pain now or face billions of tragedies later. History may not reward PRESIDENT Trump’s sacrifices, but his willingness to tackle this “wrecking ball” head-on is a clarion call for Americans to support his mission.
Bravo, Mr. President, for choosing action over apathy. For turning certain catastrophe into a fighting chance for prosperity...
"My god, Bones.. What have I done??"
"What you had to do.. What you always do. Turn certain death into a fighting chance for life."
-STAR TREK III, The Search For Spock
@m,
I don't think anybody is interested in making a deal. even those of us who like you and would prefer that you stay are not interested in continuing to explain the difference between what you do and what others here do in response. as bashi (one of the three of us on the side of not banning you) has explained, it's not about your political affiliation, nor even your fallacious reasoning. those things are tolerable, perhaps even beneficial.
gratuitous name-calling is one of the things that simply needs to stop, although it's a fault too many others share. but the other, which nobody but you is guilty of, is excessive VOLUME.
you post too much, too long, and too unfettered by concern over the quality of what it contains. awhile back, CW put you on a post-count, which you spent the entire time trying to lawyer yourself out of. now he's just tired of trying to police the practice, and because you seem unable to summon the self-awareness to even own the fault, much less correct it, he's on the verge of removing you permanently from this site.
i seriously hope you get the message and are able to stay. but when you're standing on the end of the plank with the ocean below you and a sword at your chest, isn't the time to continue shouting about how unfair you think the situation is.
JL
The whiny ABDL mallcop chatbot needs its diaper changed.
try this method:
https://youtu.be/gA-sEfXOaEQ?si=8yi1vRkHy3zUdsey
@jfc,
I know you don't think it likely, but if mike were to summon the will to control himself, do you think you could perhaps do the same?
JL
gratuitous name-calling is one of the things that simply needs to stop, although it's a fault too many others share. but the other, which nobody but you is guilty of, is excessive VOLUME.
And if you people would help stop the gratuitous name-calling, then that would ALSO take care of the VOLUME...
It seems to me that you, Liz and Bashi *ONLY* want to put any effort in fixing Weigantia if it involves jumping all over me..
Ask ya'all to address the others, who by your OWN admission, are ALSO responsible and, all of the sudden, you people are "not interested"..
You see the point??
you post too much, too long, and too unfettered by concern over the quality of what it contains. awhile back, CW put you on a post-count, which you spent the entire time trying to lawyer yourself out of.
Not factually accurate.. I stayed within CW's restrictions and guess what??
Things were STILL piss poor around here...
WHY??
BECAUSE *I* AM NOT THE PROBLEM HERE
The reason you are not interested in the deal is because it will PROVE once and for all WHO actually are the problems here..
and because you seem unable to summon the self-awareness to even own the fault,
Again... NOT factually accurate.. *I* am the ONLY one who has accepted my responsibility here..
You have pointed out that others are responsible as well.. THAT is factually accurate..
But has *ANY* of them ever admitted their responsibility???
NOT A SINGLE TIME...
So your claim that I don't "own the fault" is DEMONSTRABLY false..
isn't the time to continue shouting about how unfair you think the situation is.
I am all about the FACTS...
I can no more stop putting out the facts than I can fly...
It's ironic that I have offered you a 100% Guaranteed plan that would PROVE the facts...
And you are "not interested"...
Which shows you are not interested in FACTS...
Having said all of the afore...
i seriously hope you get the message and are able to stay. but when you're standing on the end of the plank with the ocean below you and a sword at your chest, isn't the time to continue shouting about how unfair you think the situation is.
Yunno, you are more accurate than you know..
It's always the hero fighting against great odds who is at the end of the plank with a sword to his chest.. :D
Thank you JL... That's very nice of you to say..
:D
JL,
I am pleased to see that you have been taking a consistent stand recently against the childish name-calling that has become a veritable hallmark of these comments sections!
And, while Michale has been a big part of the problem around here, he is by no means the only one who engages in personal insults and demeaning attacks against the intellectual capacity of fellow Weigantians when we post thoughts that are contrary to the board consensus.
He is also not the only one around here who can't seem to control their urges to be King or Queen of what passes for the truth of any given matter without even trying to understand the point of view of others. Not by a long shot.
So, I have little faith in the long-term life of these comment sections. Because even if Michale leaves and there is some form of adult-like behavior around here in place of the juvenile name-calling (and sexual inuendo!?) it will only take one of us to suggest a different way of looking at an issue that doesn't conform with the groupthink to touch off another sad episode.
I am pretty close to leaving it all behind myself. There are better ways and, indeed, places for intelligent discussion and debate.
BashiBazouk
63
Well, there was this protest sign in Portland today.
Wow, Bashi. If that isn't the definitive image of the proverbial emperor (almost) having no clothes. You definitely delivered on the adult diaper for Donald. *laughs*
Carried by Cassandra Peterson no less (Elvira, Mistress of the Dark)...
I saw on Instagram where she donated her Tesla to NPR; it was being loaded on a truck and had "ELON SUX" written on the side where "X" appeared the be the symbol for Xitter (ex Twitter).
I almost missed your post and was so glad I found it among the enormous piles of scrollshit, although I definitely can't unsee that picture of Diaper Donald.
Keep them coming, please. :)
And, while Michale has been a big part of the problem around here, he is by no means the only one who engages in personal insults and demeaning attacks against the intellectual capacity of fellow Weigantians when we post thoughts that are contrary to the board consensus.
He is also not the only one around here who can't seem to control their urges to be King or Queen of what passes for the truth of any given matter without even trying to understand the point of view of others. Not by a long shot.
THANK YOU, LIZ...
That's EXACTLY what I am saying...
And it should be noted that, of **ALL** the people who are the problem here, *I* am the ONLY ONE who has accepted any responsibility for it...
So, I have little faith in the long-term life of these comment sections. Because even if Michale leaves and there is some form of adult-like behavior around here in place of the juvenile name-calling (and sexual inuendo!?) it will only take one of us to suggest a different way of looking at an issue that doesn't conform with the groupthink to touch off another sad episode.
Again.. EXACTLY.... Dead on ballz accurate!!
It's going to take a GROUP EFFORT to get things back to the way things used to be.. And I honestly believe that things CAN get back to the way things used to be...
Back then, the sick sexual perverted fantasies/attacks on FAMILY and CHILDREN would have been abhorrent to the entire group.. And those who committed those disgusting acts would have been run out of Weigantia on a rail...
But NOW, those kinds of disgusting acts have become acceptable because they have been allowed to be done unchallenged..
And, (I am sorry, CW, but facts are facts) that is a fault of lack of moderation..
The kinds of comments made by Russ and Caddy would NEVER have been allowed to pass moderation..
That's why I offered the challenge.... It's going to take some effort from ALL of us if we want to get Weigantia back... But the more that make the effort, the easier it will be...
If CW doesn't want to be an Uber-Moderator, then it will be up to the rest of us to moderate... One or two of us won't make it happen... Maybe give Liz and JL moderation capabilities...
Or ya'all can take the easy way out and ban me..
Then, like Liz said, in a few weeks or so, someone else will violate the group mind think and then THAT person is banned..
And so on and so on...
I have made my suggestion... I'll abide by whatever CW decides...
And if you people would help stop the gratuitous name-calling, then that would ALSO take care of the VOLUME...
@m,
that's just not the case. nobody but you is responsible for your decision to continue to post content that is excessively long, frequent, unoriginal and ad-hominem, even with the full knowledge that you're on extremely thin ice with the guy who is contemplating removing your access here permanently.
@liz,
I'm trying, and yes, as you've insinuated, i'm not 100% innocent either. we could all stand to take a good peek in the mirror.
JL
@m
since it may have been lost in the exchange, I'll post this again, with emphasis:
PLEASE WATCH AND TAKE NOTES
JL
Michale,
When I am on the receiving end of those personal insults, I don't respond in kind. If you could do the same, that would help a lot. As you say, let those personal insults stand alone. There is a lot to be said for the old 'when they take the low road, we take the high road' way of operating in comments sections like these, in other words. :)
But I think you are correct to say that this place is in need of some level of (independent) moderation if it is to survive ... at least until all those who engage in the unenlightened practice of tapping out personal insults refrain from that juvenile urge. Of course, that often needs to start from the top.
JL,
we could all stand to take a good peek in the mirror.
That is actually a very good idea and one that we should all commit to and take the time for a little introspection ... especially just before we hit that 'Submit Comment' thingy. :)
that's just not the case. nobody but you is responsible for your decision to continue to post content that is excessively long, frequent, unoriginal and ad-hominem,
I am not talking about those...
I am talking about my RESPONSES to everyone else's comments and attacks..
THIS thread is a PERFECT example..
With ONE exception (#74), each and every comment from me was a RESPONSE. To a comment, to a personal attack....
EIGHTY FIVE comment and only **ONE** was of the nature you are complaining about...
It's a guaranteed FACT that if the gross personal attacks and sick sexual fantasies about my CHILDREN were stopped, then the VOLUME of my comments would be cut by more than half..
All you have to do is do your part...
we could all stand to take a good peek in the mirror.
And yet, you keep saying over and over again that *I* am the only one who should do this..
I'll take a look at your video...
Cute video...
But history doesn't bear out your claims out as factual..
I'll go over it AGAIN with you..
First they complained about my bold...
So I quit the bold...
THEN they complained about the links..
So I quit the links...
THEN they complained about the cut n paste...
So I summarized with my own words...
And so on and so on and so on...
Com'on, JL... You are a smart person..
You just HAVE to realize that the ONLY thing these mor... people object to is the CONTENT...
They don't like the FACTS on how GOOD PRESIDENT Trump is doing...
The FACTS and the OBJECTIVE REALITY is what they really are complaining about..
And, since you know and I know and THEY know that I will never quit on the FACTS and the OBJECTIVE REALITY, the ONLY recourse they have is to get me banned...
And get me banned ASAP before you (and CW) actually consider accepting the challenge and they will be PROVEN to be the problem..
As I said... I'll abide by whatever CW decides...
JL[85],
That's a great and pertinent clip from a great movie!
I have to laugh, though ... I used to be famous for tapping out non-brief comments. And, I still revert back to that, from time to time. Sometimes, non-brief comments are called for, you know. :)
I can remember back in the day at the Huffington Post comments sections, I had to write many of my, ah, contributions in multiple parts due to a nasty word limit. Then I came here and was in seventh heaven. Heh.
Finally, after labouring under some bad influences, I began to self-edit to varying degrees and continue to this day in that vein.
[78] Who is mike and how is he relevant to my uncontrolled commentary?
Liz,
But I think you are correct to say that this place is in need of some level of (independent) moderation if it is to survive ... at least until all those who engage in the unenlightened practice of tapping out personal insults refrain from that juvenile urge. Of course, that often needs to start from the top.
Couldn't have said it better myself...
Although I did try a lot.. :D
I have to laugh, though ... I used to be famous for tapping out non-brief comments. And, I still revert back to that, from time to time. Sometimes, non-brief comments are called for, you know. :)
I can remember back in the day at the Huffington Post comments sections, I had to write many of my, ah, contributions in multiple parts due to a nasty word limit. Then I came here and was in seventh heaven. Heh.
There is nothing wrong with lots and lots of detail to support one's position..
The problem arises when the position is not in accordance with group-think...
Elizabeth Miller
81
And, while Michale has been a big part of the problem around here, he is by no means the only one who engages in personal insults and demeaning attacks against the intellectual capacity of fellow Weigantians when we post thoughts that are contrary to the board consensus.
You have now posted this exact same sentiment to JL quite a numerous amount of times. There is no way on Earth he does not understand your meaning at this point in time. In the future, please do not request "muscular debate" and then bemoan repeatedly the fact that you received it.
I again apologize that Donald Trump has spoken repeatedly about making Canada the 51st state. There is honestly no telling whatsoever when the tanks will begin amassing at your border. Are you and your fellow Canadians entirely sure you won't appease Trump's demands? You can't win, you know.
He is also not the only one around here who can't seem to control their urges to be King or Queen of what passes for the truth of any given matter without even trying to understand the point of view of others. Not by a long shot.
You are again incorrectly claiming/conflating that those commenters who disagree with your points of view don't even try to understand them. That is wholly incorrect, in my opinion. Agree to disagree, but claiming that commenters aren't understanding you and "without even trying to understand" is patently false. Disagreement on the part of others is not the equivalent of misunderstanding you.
So, I have little faith in the long-term life of these comment sections.
So you've said and multiple times.
Because even if Michale leaves and there is some form of adult-like behavior around here in place of the juvenile name-calling (and sexual inuendo!?) it will only take one of us to suggest a different way of looking at an issue that doesn't conform with the groupthink to touch off another sad episode.
You apparently feel there is "groupthink" here because a few posters disagree with you; however, multiple people disagreeing with your points of view is not the equivalent of "groupthink" or (again) the equivalent of misunderstanding, deliberately or otherwise.
I am pretty close to leaving it all behind myself. There are better ways and, indeed, places for intelligent discussion and debate.
You were given intelligent discussion and "muscular debate." You just disagreed with it on multiple occasions and have now basically claimed those who disagreed with you have the problems you've listed above when nothing could be further from the truth.
Disagreement isn't "groupthink" and/or deliberate and intentional misunderstanding of your point of view. Agree to disagree.
There is nothing wrong with lots and lots of detail to support one's position.
As long as that detail, Michale, is not computer-generated in any way, shape or form. I think that is when it's hard - for me, at least - to find the energy required to read through a ton of words tapped out (or worse, cut and pasted from something that we ourselves did not produce in a word document) in the comments sections of a blog.
Liz,
But I think you are correct to say that this place is in need of some level of (independent) moderation if it is to survive ... at least until all those who engage in the unenlightened practice of tapping out personal insults refrain from that juvenile urge. Of course, that often needs to start from the top.
Couldn't have said it better myself...
Although I did try a lot.. :D
As long as that detail, Michale, is not computer-generated in any way, shape or form. I think that is when it's hard - for me, at least - to find the energy required to read through a ton of words tapped out (or worse, cut and pasted from something that we ourselves did not produce in a word document) in the comments sections of a blog.
All of my comments are my own thoughts.. Once in a while, I will want to phrase something different so I refer to AI to give me alternate ways to say exactly what my original thoughts are..
The *ONLY* time I used an entire AI comment was when I created the ELON BOT to answer JL's ludicrous claim that PRESIDENT Trump = Professor John Gill...
I mean, that's simply utterly preposterous...
Even when I used it that ONE time, I notified everyone that it WAS an AI bot created for a specific purpose..
Everything I have written is completely my own thoughts and with a minor phrase or two here or there, completely my own words...
Then you just need to self-edit!
Kick,
Just remember that it is not necessary to tap out a personal insult towards someone when you disagree with them, okay?
Yunno what would be REALLY nice???
Instead of me having to tap out an entire comment to say "EXACTLY!!!" or "I AGREE" have a little THUMBS UP icon that can be clicked on...
THAT would certainly reduce a lot of "VOLUME" that people complain about...
:D
Elizabeth
81
False equivalence and wildly misses the point of what’s going on here. Tell my lying eyes that the rest of us (even collectively) are the problem.
Look in the mirror, Caddy.
John From Censornati
91
[78] Who is mike...
Mike is the poster who trolls repeatedly for attention and posts giant swaths of reading material he lifts from other places while on the same commentary (same webpage) he's lifted and cut-and-pasted what appear to be entire articles written by other people named Alex and also other multiple others not named Mike.
Then on the same webpage he falsely tells the author and other posters he stopped doing that when he obviously never stopped doing that and it's archived for all posterity (on the same webpage) so why lie repeatedly about it?
This is the same Mike who then tells JL -- you guessed it -- on the same webpage the equivalent of (definitely paraphrasing) "the beatings will continue until you and Liz admonish all the others."
... and how is he relevant to my uncontrolled commentary?
He's not... in that context.
I honestly don't believe it's going to be as difficult as ya'all are making it out to be..
Maybe I am just idealistic and see the inherent goodness in everyone, but I think that, once CW lays down the law on what IS and IS NOT acceptable and makes it EMPHATICALLY clear that THAT applies to EVERYONE without fail or favor....
I think that everyone will bend over backwards not to offend the Grand Poobah's edict...
Or maybe it's not my idealism, but rather my cynicism that says everyone will simply bend over backwards to NOT prove me completely and utterly factually accurate.. :D
Either way, the goal is accomplished and Weigantia becomes an intellectual paradise again and we all live happily ever after in discussion bliss..
Works for me.. :D
Elizabeth Miller
98
Just remember that it is not necessary to tap out a personal insult towards someone when you disagree with them, okay?
Isn't this the Elizabeth Miller who literally just conflated disagreement with her points of view into a claim that commenters aren't understanding her (and definitely not for the first time) and also conflating said disagreement of others not "even trying to understand"?
If it is, then it's also the same Elizabeth Miller who conflated the idea that those same multiple posters who simply disagreed with her very easily understood points of view were somehow practicing "groupthink" for the mere disagreement.
Do you think couching those ridiculous conflagrations of yours in the terms that you've chosen there somehow removes it from being a personal degradation of your fellow commenters?
We understand. We disagree. Case closed.
Other than that, I'll take your request under advisement because I just found the Easter egg with the huge wad of Benjamins in it, and I intend to share it all the other clowns still digging around in wet dirt trying desperately to find it. Of course, I'ma definitely watch them dig more before I eggsplain that I already found it. Heh.
There is nothing wrong with lots and lots of detail to support one's position..
that is not necessarily the case. if said information is excessively long, repetitive, frequent, abusive, and copied from elsewhere (and yours most certainly has been all of those fairly consistently), it requires revision, reduction, and hyperlinks prior before posting. if a poster is unwilling or unable to do the work necessary to be REASONABLY concise, that poster may no longer be welcomed.
I am not certain that you quite grasp the situation you're in. your permanent ban from this site does not appear to be hypothetical or negotiable. it's imminent, and your arguments to the contrary don't carry any weight. i'd be truly sorry to see you go, but if it comes to pass, there's no doubt whatsoever that it's your own doing.
JL
This isn't about me, Kick. Though, I do seem to have hit a nerve. You do have a mirror, right?
Michale
You returned to this forum yesterday in your regular routine trolling fashion hurling multiple insults toward a poster who routinely and regularly ignores your prattling repetitive nonsense and then followed that up with another attention-seeking trolling rant toward the author of the blog containing insults and slurs you've been asked nicely and repeatedly not to post.
Meaning: You can seriously dispense with your gaslighting bullshit claims that you're somehow the victim here; it's hysterical on its face and patently absurd and absolute nonsense to anyone with even a scintilla of ability to read and comprehend simple English words.
Lastly, in case you missed it:
*
*
Keep up the trolling insults toward any person in our family here, and you should rightly receive whatever seeds you've sown. That's my opinion. I'm entitled to have it, and I don't give a rat's ass if you don't agree with it.
Now I'm leaving the forum to go wash the sod off my hands so my parting words are apparently yet inadvertently "sod off."
Liz,
This isn't about me, Kick. Though, I do seem to have hit a nerve. You do have a mirror, right?
No.. I don't think she has a mirror...
Heh.
Elizabeth Miller
106
This isn't about me, Kick.
You might be fooling yourself with that claim; however, it might help you greatly to seriously reread your [81] and maybe come to the realization that this isn't the first (or even the 10th) time that you've bemoaned your displeasure regarding said issue... been there and done that multiple times already.
I do seem to have hit a nerve.
Not with me; I'm simply pointing out you are rehashing the same discussion you and I and other posters have discussed multiple times wherein you claim that people (mostly JL repeatedly, MtnCaddy and me) are disparaging your intellect while you simultaneously toss out terms that you find acceptable wherein you're actually denigrating the intellect of those who are simply disagreeing with your easily understood opinions regarding multiple (mostly) historical facts and issues regarding war and peace (not to be confused with the novel by Tolstoy)... lather, rinse, repeat, repeat, repeat... as one does, the blog is definitely archived.
You do have a mirror, right?
And here I thought it was infinitely transparent to anyone with even a modicum of ability at connecting the dots that I was holding up my mirror in your general direction because you were (not out of the ordinary) rather overtly preaching about people tossing out insults while yourself doing a quick run through of your "greatest hits" of the denigration of others that you find acceptable for play on repetitive loop. Guess not.
Michale
108
Liz,
No.. I don't think
I agree.
So much for "leaving the forum"... :^/
But I do see what Kick is trying to do...
She's making the claim of "family" here in Weigantia so she can try and equate my politically based personal attacks with THEIR disgusting and perverted sex fantasy/attacks on my CHILDREN and my GRANDCHILDREN...
That shows a level of desperation that Kick has never exhibited.
Apparently, Kick is beginning to realize that the facts of their gross and perverse attacks on my kids are unjustifiable and she is trying to invent a justification, lame and weak though it may be...
But, if Weigantia *IS* a family as Kick NOW seems to want to claim, that would mean that Liz, JL and myself are the wise old grandparents who are in charge and trying to control the disrespectful and out of control 5 and 6 yr olds...
And that my politically based "attacks" on the unruly and recalcitrant children are nothing but discipline, designed to keep them on the straight and narrow and are fully and completely justified..
OK... If Kick wants to roll with THAT new theory....
I can work with that..
:D
It should be noted that *I* am not claiming disciplinary power here in Weigantia..
I am a firm believer in:
"Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's"
I am just pointing out that *IF* Kick wants to run with the "Weigantia Family" theory, then that would make myself, Liz and JL the wise grandparents of Weigantia and so on and so on and so forth...
That's all I am saying...
Michale
112
So much for "leaving the forum"... :^/
I left the forum. I then returned. I'll be leaving again soon since you seem infinitely obsessed with my location.
But I do see what Kick is trying to do...
This is easily recognized as the part where the attention-seeking troll Mikesplains what everyone else means and puts words in their mouths that they never said... lather, rinse, repeat.
I stopped reading right there because as I've explained and will continue to explain: No one can force any of us to read your invented bullshit.
You reap what you sow.
Have a nice rest of your day. :)
US politics has almost completely devolved into tribalism, so i guess it stands to reason.
It should be noted that *I* am not claiming disciplinary power here in Weigantia..
I am a firm believer in:
"Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's"
So it's henceforth duly noted that you claim to be a "firm believer" in either the government or God, but I feel quite certain that a misquoting of Jesus of Nazareth on Easter at this point is highly unlikely to help your cause, which you (for whatever reason) apparently seem to believe is either negotiable and/or transferable to somebody/anybody for which you desperately seek to place blame.
I suggest you'd be far better served to read (or reread) JL's post at [105].
I am just pointing out that *IF* Kick wants to run with the "Weigantia Family" theory, then that would make myself, Liz and JL the wise grandparents of Weigantia and so on and so on and so forth...
And I'm just seriously perplexed at your asinine assertion and the ridiculous nonsensical notion that my definition of "my/our family" would be something that I would define to include the actual attention-seeking troll who is posting the incessant repetitive prattling claptrap and slurs from which I'm defending said family.
That's all I am saying...
Well then, it's a big swing and an even bigger total miss with one of those newfangled scientific MIT baseball bats since you demonstrably and effectively just torpedoed yourself. The connection of simple dots from one to another (and basic common sense) reveals the fact that you'd obviously get no argument from me if you wished to insult yourself repeatedly in the repetitive trolling fashion with which you obviously and demonstrably cannot stop yourself from trolling my family. (Still) not rocket science.
JL,
US politics has almost completely devolved into tribalism, so i guess it stands to reason.
Yep...
To paraphrase...
"Claims of 'family' is the final refuge of a scoundrel"
I really must have Kick worried..
She's given up ALL pretext of claiming she's using a script to "ignore" me...
And she is even turning to god and jesus...
She must be REALLY worried that her jig is up... :D
First they complained about my bold...
So I quit the bold...
THEN they complained about the links..
So I quit the links...
Or are you just intentionally misinterpreting in order to play the victim?
Chris did say:
Michale -
Oh, and I've been getting complaints. So please, from now on, limit yourself to cutting and pasting *2* (that is *TWO*) paragraphs from any 3rd-party article, and just providing a link, ok? because people are tired of you filling your comments up with cut-n-paste, and I have to agree (plus, y'know, copyright problems too).
That's *2* paragraphs. From now on.
'Kay?
-CW
I think you are allowed to link.
Speaking about playing the victim, what is this "personal attack" you accuse me of?
Michale
117
Yep...
To paraphrase...
"Claims of 'family' is the final refuge of a scoundrel"
I'd be interested to hear your definition of "paraphrase" and whom you're quoting because:
* The quote you claim is a "paraphrase" of JL's sentiment doesn't fit the definition.
* That quote for which you've given no attribute appears to be (another) misquote on your part.
*
And by that, Johnson meant one who claims to be a patriot while not exactly fitting the description. Johnson is famous for A Dictionary of the English Language. I highly recommend it.
Oh, and I've been getting complaints. So please, from now on, limit yourself to cutting and pasting *2* (that is *TWO*) paragraphs from any 3rd-party article, and just providing a link, ok? because people are tired of you filling your comments up with cut-n-paste, and I have to agree (plus, y'know, copyright problems too).
So what did I do in response??
I eliminated ALL cut n paste and simply summarized the facts of the articles in my own words..
And then ya'all STILL complained..
Because the problem wasn't really the cut and pasting.. The problem wasn't really the BOLD or the links..
The problem was, is and always WILL be that ya'all simply don't like the FACTS that prove how completely and utterly WRONG ya'all are about PRESIDENT Donald Trump and about your Democrats..
Kick posts a LOT of comments that are just as long or longer than my comments.
But no one objects because her CONTENT is acceptable to the group-think...
MANY Weigantians have posted a series of comments 4, 5, 6 in a row...
But no one objects because their CONTENT is acceptable to the group-think..
Here is the facts of the issue..
The THREE people that CW has known the longest... myself, Liz and JL are ALL saying essentially the same thing..
The toxicity level is the fault of MANY people, not just me alone.. As JL said, "EVERYONE needs to look in the mirror" to see who is at fault..
Sure, ya'all can (and do!) right off what I say solely because I am a PRESIDENT Trump supporter...
But what about Liz and JL??? Would they LIE to defend me?? Would the put out bullshit???
If the 3 founders of Weigantia are saying essentially the same thing, how can that NOT be accepted as fact???
Whatever CW decides is fine with me.. I just would hope he would take into account what Liz and JL are saying...
I am beat... Been up since 0200hrs... Back on day shift... Going to bed..
G'nite, Bash...
Bashi
119
Or are you just intentionally misinterpreting in order to play the victim?
I'd say you nailed it, Bashi; that's his primary MO. Misinterpreting and outright lying in order to play victim. He repeats over and over invented falsehoods as some kind of justification for his own inability to control himself. Case in point: The forum is littered with him whining about attacks on his children and grandchildren when no one is attacking them at all.
If another poster is referring to any commenter as a "pedophile" or in any other similar manner, that is quite simply and obviously nothing more than the name-calling of a poster. But this ridiculous repetition of the absolute asinine assertion that someone is attacking anyone's children and grandchildren is absolute gaslighting bullshit no matter how many times the invented falsehood is posted.
If that repetitive gaslighting absolute invented garbage isn't "playing the victim," then please provide an example of what is.
I think you are allowed to link.
Everyone is allowed and encouraged to link. In point of fact, he personally has been encouraged repeatedly and for years and years to use links so I'm not sure where he's decided that people complained about the links, but it definitely does fit with his propensity to play the victim regarding things not happening.
Speaking about playing the victim, what is this "personal attack" you accuse me of?
Maybe it's the Trump adult diaper picture... one of my favorites to date. Good work with that one, Bashi. :)
Michale
121
So what did I do in response??
You lied and said you hadn't posted any in months when you'd posted multiple of them on the very same webpage. You continued to lie repeatedly about not doing it when you were demonstrably still doing it.
I eliminated ALL cut n paste and simply summarized the facts of the articles in my own words..
That's provably false.
The problem was, is and always WILL be that ya'all simply don't like the FACTS that prove how completely and utterly WRONG ya'all are about PRESIDENT Donald Trump and about your Democrats..
Opinion aren't facts... even when you capitalize FACTS and even when you insist over and over and over that they're FACTS. Repetition of opinions don't magically cause a metamorphosis of them into either facts or FACTS.
Kick posts a LOT of comments that are just as long or longer than my comments.
Sure, blame me for the length of your own posts. That'll seem juvenile, but not out of the ordinary.
But no one objects because her CONTENT is acceptable to the group-think...
So you're a now a mind reader of every single poster and have decided that every one of us is guilty of groupthink. Again... juvenile.
MANY Weigantians have posted a series of comments 4, 5, 6 in a row...
If you can find a series of comments wherein a single poster has posted 6 in a row, it will be "Michale." In other words, that statement is absolute and total bullshit.
But no one objects because their CONTENT is acceptable to the group-think..
Juvenile. No one objects to the "MANY" posters doing that because you will not find "MANY" posters actually doing that... just one.
If the 3 founders of Weigantia are saying essentially the same thing, how can that NOT be accepted as fact???
Easy answer: Because opinions aren't facts. And what is this "3 founders of Weigantia" bullshit? That's absolutely removed from reality. There's one founder of Weigantia, and you're not him.
kick's posts are long-ish, but not all that frequent, not at all repetitive, mildly abusive on occasion, and pretty much every reference to anyone else's words or ideas is properly credited.
in short, not the same thing.
Are you sure about all of that?
which part do you take issue with?
I'm not taking issue ... just asking a simple question.
okay then, simple question, simple answer:
yes, i'm sure.
Okay.
OK, I couldn't look, all weekend, and I am too exhausted to deal with 129 comment right now, but I will get back to this, promise.
(sigh)
-CW
JL,
kick's posts are long-ish, but not all that frequent, not at all repetitive, mildly abusive on occasion, and pretty much every reference to anyone else's words or ideas is properly credited.
in short, not the same thing.
Not factually accurate..
Kick's comments are long, often times longer than mine. And they are more than mildly abusive, they are downright nasty to me and to Liz and to anyone who disagrees with her..
And, let's not forget that SHE is the one who started all the disgusting and perverted sexual fantasy/attacks about my grandchildren by doing opposition research deep dive (40+ years) into my past SOLELY because she was getting her ass intellectually kicked every day in this forum..
In short, SHE is ultimately SOLELY responsible for the sick and perverted toxicity that is Weigantia in the here and now..
So, while I am sure that you are "sure", the facts clearly show that you are factually not accurate in your claims.
CW,
OK, I couldn't look, all weekend, and I am too exhausted to deal with 129 comment right now, but I will get back to this, promise.
The fact that you are willing to expend the effort to give me a fair shake is very much appreciate..
(sigh)
I remember fondly times when we had 350, 450 comment threads that we relished and enjoyed..
Michale
131
I would say that is a fair assessment.
Not factually accurate..
I would say you seem terminally butthurt. <--- mildly offensive... check
Kick's comments are long, often times longer than mine.
Oftentimes is one word. Also, "oftentimes" longer than yours!? *laughs* That's absolutely totally false.
And they are more than mildly abusive, they are downright nasty to me and to Liz and to anyone who disagrees with her..
You've pretty much described your own posts. I have definitely been known to give my very strong opinion about something, but your characterization that I am "nasty to anyone who disagrees with" me is absolute fiction.
And, let's not forget that SHE is the one who started all the disgusting and perverted sexual fantasy/attacks about my grandchildren by doing opposition research deep dive (40+ years) into my past SOLELY because she was getting her ass intellectually kicked every day in this forum..
I have a better idea. Let's not forget that your characterization that people are posting "disgusting and perverted sexual fantasy/attacks about your grandchildren" is 100% fiction. You're trying desperately to make that repetitive gaslighting BS claim come to life, and it's just not happening. No one on this forum has posted anything like that description that you keep posting. No one. Somebody referring to you as a "cho'mo" (MtnCaddy) or "pedophile" (multiple posters) isn't an attack on your children or grandchildren, it's simply calling you names.
I cannot fathom why you believe that I have done opposition research on you when I simply read between the lines and followed a hint from another poster and found a plethora of your trolling handiwork on another website. Then a completely different poster provided a link another day, and I followed it too. Interesting reading at that link, which lead to another link and another link. Other than that, I regret to inform you that your scenario is entirely invented. It's comical to hear you make things up that never happened. You repeat the same BS so often that never actually happened, that it appears you believe your own lies.
It's obvious you believe yourself to be this intellectual powerhouse, but I regret to inform you that every time I see you post that repetitive phrase of yours stating that you're kicking __________ <--- [insert name here]'s ass every day in this forum, I laugh hysterically. No offense, but your frequent delusions of intellectual grandeur amuse me infinitely and greatly.
In short, SHE is ultimately SOLELY responsible for the sick and perverted toxicity that is Weigantia in the here and now..
Definitely factually accurate. You see, it's like this: You've heard how the Grinch had a heart that was two sizes too small, well my mind is so formidably powerful that it's actually two sizes too big, and I can actually control what everyone posts. So when the poster "Michale" actually refers to my new big brother, MtnCaddy, as a (rhymes with) wussy and is that thing Donald Trump's neck waddle looks exactly like (and I hear he grabs it a lot), it's actually me controlling his mind and forcing his fingers to type it and then invoke the "Submit Comment" button. He cannot help himself, and obviously it's all my doing.
Just the other day at [30] above on this very commentary, I forced him to post variations on that word that JL has asked him repeatedly not to post... and even (especially) after the author of the blog asked him to watch his pathetic language or he might throw a red card over that language alone. Yep, that was all me. I'm sneaky that way. What can I say? I'm a... mastermind.
I could go on forever explaining how I am SOLELY responsible for everyone's behavior, but I know y'all understand, and that's obviously because I'm a... mind reader! Yep, that's the ticket. It's totally true. I am a 100% total clairvoyant savant who can read everyone's mind (if they have one), and I can explain exactly how that happened.
You see, it's like this: I am actually a penguin, and when I was about 114 years old (give or take a few), this panda bear neighbor of mine and I took a trip most excellent vacay up to Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg where I became ill and was diagnosed imminently with a wickedly nasty case of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, and ever since that day, I have been wildly afflicted with the ability to control everyone and everything.
Full disclosure: Elizabeth Miller's mind is the hardest one to infiltrate, and I think that's primarily due to proximity, what with her being all the way up in the 51st state of America, you know. :)
JL,
^^^^^^^^
You see.? In this commentary alone, Kick's comments are much MUCH longer than mine and are filled with nothing but personal attacks against myself and Liz...
Michale
134
You see.? In this commentary alone, Kick's comments are much MUCH longer than mine and are filled with nothing but personal attacks against myself and Liz...
Oh, right; my comment about Liz's proximity being farthest from me (as far as I know) is such a personal insult. You simply cannot be that stupid.
Additionally, you deserved every word of that intentionally circumlocutory comment. Your pathetic attempts to deflect your own vituperative behavior to someone/anyone else is again duly noted.
In conclusion, we all accept your disclosure of being infinitesimally shorter and will henceforth refer to you as "tiny," as you wish. Congratulations, everything about you is "much, MUCH" more microscopic than everyone else.
I remember fondly times when we had 350, 450 comment threads that we relished and enjoyed..
But have you gone back to read them to see the differences between then and now or is that too introspective?
Bash,
Yes. Back then, commenter's weren't allowed to call people pedophiles or drag a commenter's children into gross and perverse serial comments..
Things were a LOT better without that kind of shit.
You don't agree??? You LIKE all that perverse sexual shit???
Also back then Weigantians didn't do deep dive opposition research in other commenter's lives going back 30 40 years because the kept getting their asses intellectually handed to them..
All in all, it was a much better time...
You don't agree??? You LIKE all that perverse sexual shit???
Do you? I would think your Usenet days would have taught you something...
I just assume it's your joy of the internet is to piss people off then get them to do stupid stuff then play the victim since it seems to be a reoccurring pattern. Meanwhile posting excessive amounts in order to drown them out.
You can't pull the wool over my eyes, I've been around here too long, like very low digit months after you. There is a big difference between responding in kind and holding a bazooka in the ready just in case someone pulls out a peashooter. The former is tit for tat, the latter is you are waiting for it and enjoy it. In which case you do like the sex stuff, at least in abstract.
Personally I think ListenWhenYouHear and Kick should layoff that Usenet post as I have a different read of that as I have expressed. But it's a two way street and your side needs a lot more paving...
BashiBazouk
139
I just assume it's your joy of the internet is to piss people off then get them to do stupid stuff then play the victim since it seems to be a reoccurring pattern. Meanwhile posting excessive amounts in order to drown them out.
Bravo, Bashi.
You can't pull the wool over my eyes, I've been around here too long, like very low digit months after you. There is a big difference between responding in kind and holding a bazooka in the ready just in case someone pulls out a peashooter.
Again, bravo; that's exactly his MO... archived herein for all posterity and repeatedly, ad nauseam.
Facts to support your dead-on accurate description? I submit the commentary from this page:
A Post-Apocalyptic Hearing
A "peashooter" with the resultant "bazooka" that makes the Don Harris spew look like a Boy Scout. Is there any other poster who's referred to another as a "cunt" *do word count* that many times? Or a whore *do word count* that many times? Or any other poster who's told multiple posters to commit suicide (and not for the first time or the last time on the forum) and still doing that fairly recently to other posters? No other poster... not even Don Harris.
He's not a victim here and far from it, and, Bashi, you literally nailed his MO like a bag of hammers. I cannot fathom how that absolute violent language imploring others to commit suicide on multiple occasions over multiple years isn't an instant Red Card, but here we are with him still doing it recently to yet another poster recently.
The former is tit for tat, the latter is you are waiting for it and enjoy it. In which case you do like the sex stuff, at least in abstract.
FACTS
Personally I think ListenWhenYouHear and Kick should layoff that Usenet post
Yes they should.. But they are kids who don't understand USENET like you and I do.. Actually, I think Russ is the kid who is ignorant of USENET.. Kick likely knows, but she just doesn't care.. Which is worse, in my opinion. But they use that crap because they can't match me on an intellectual level, so they have to go after my children and my grandchildren...
Typical of the brain-less who attacks innocents because they can't take on the big dog... So they have to go after the big dog's children and grandchildren.. :^/
as I have a different read of that as I have expressed.
Yes you did.. Thank you for that..
But as usual... It doesn't match their group think so they just ignore it..
Just like Kick ignored this part of your comment..
ANOTHER long comment from her written by AI that is nothing but a personal attack.. As most of her comments are in this thread... :^/
Ni ni ya'all..
Another long 12 hr day at the police department where I work... :^)
a lot of commenters in that old thread who aren't here anymore.
JL,
Are you saying that I should drag this to the new commentary thread?
I'm trying to avoid doing that but if you think it's best..
Michale
141
Yes they should..
I actually did.
But they are kids who don't understand USENET like you and I do..
Laughably incorrect.
Actually, I think Russ is the kid who is ignorant of USENET.. Kick likely knows, but she just doesn't care..
Also laughably incorrect.
Which is worse, in my opinion. But they use that crap because they can't match me on an intellectual level, so they have to go after my children and my grandchildren...
Sorry to disappoint you, but your "intellectual level" seems totally oblivious to the fact that no one who posts on this forum actually wrote that post. If you'd like to take up your complaints about the contents of a webpage that was shared in this forum, please kindly let in permeate your "intellectual level" that posting a link and writing the contents of that link are two entirely different things. I reiterate: No one here wrote it.
Typical of the brain-less who attacks innocents because they can't take on the big dog...
You mean the "big dog" pissing routinely and regularly all over the forum marking (what he believes is) his property like he owns it and trying to run off multiple posters from another man's blog because he can't exactly hang with them!? I hate to burst your bubble, but allow me to connect the dots for you: If you're begging others to kill themselves and still doing it to this day (which you are), it's literally and demonstrably you who cannot hang with everyone else; otherwise, why would you plead for their deaths by suicide? Duh.
So they have to go after the big dog's children and grandchildren.. :^/
So the "big dog" requests their self-killing? Your "intellectual level" is front and center and not reflecting well on you at all, and I reiterate that no one on this forum has said a single thing about your grandchildren (that I've seen) except you repeating that invented bullshit ad nauseam, and no one on this forum wrote the words posted at that link. That gaslighting garbage about commenters attacking your grandchildren is 100% fiction invented by you and repeated so many times you actually appear to believe your own invented lies.
But as usual... It doesn't match their group think so they just ignore it..
You got a "new" word from EM and are determined to make that a reality on this forum? *laughs* Sorry to burst your "intelligence" bubble, but that's not happening either. Again, you're putting laughably incorrect bullshit into print and ascribing it to others in your usual fashion. Actively choosing not to speak about something and ignoring it are two entirely different things, and while you're infinitely impressed with your own "intellect" to the obvious point you just make shit up and ascribe it to everyone here, you don't seem all too intelligent to keep claiming repeatedly that you know what everyone is thinking.
ANOTHER long comment from her written by AI that is nothing but a personal attack.. As most of her comments are in this thread... :^/
I will take it as a compliment that you (in all your professed yet misplaced) self-described infinite wisdom seem hysterically to believe the asinine idea that all my comments are written by artificial intelligence when there isn't a single comment I've ever posted on this forum that has been; however, your projection of your own self-admitted behavior is again duly noted.
nypoet22
142
a lot of commenters in that old thread who aren't here anymore.
Yes... and haven't you figured it out yet? MtnCaddy definitely has, and multiple other posters have obviously caught on. Goode trickle certainly spelled it out in no uncertain terms in a comment wherein he posted that infamous link:
https://www.chrisweigant.com/2022/10/21/friday-talking-points-student-loan-relief-in-sight/#comment-199714
Additionally, the self-described "big dog" apparently ascribes to himself and others a perch of higher importance and therefore controls the lawn and will continue pissing all over another man's blog as if it's his... nothing he hasn't played at before.
Michale
143
Are you saying that I should drag this to the new commentary thread?
OMG. No! JL is referring to the old thread that I posted... and your self-described "intellectual level" rears its ugly head and exposes your actual dearth of mental superiority... and not remotely for the first time.
Kick
133
Mistress I am here to serve you! Shall I call him a cho’mo?
MtnCaddy
147
Mistress I am here to serve you! Shall I call him a cho’mo?
And he'll call that an attack on his "children and grandchildren" (the gaslighting BS he routinely spews) when it's obviously nothing more than calling him a name. But that's a lot nicer than the language he hurls regularly and constantly at you and multiple other posters.
You made a comment recently (CW also mentioned it, by the way) wherein you posted what Bashi would describe as a "peashooter," and -- of course -- he responded in usual fashion with a "bazooka" and referred to you with multiple slurs he has been asked repeatedly not to use and, of course, the "p" word:
http://www.chrisweigant.com/2025/04/04/friday-talking-points-trump-singlehandedly-destroys-world-economy/#comment-218078
He's obviously desperate for attention and hoping to blame someone/anyone with his inability to control his own posts... lather, rinse, repeat.
Actually, your idea of ignoring him is the proper response. He obsesses about the thought of being ignored so you're dead on accurate with that call. :)
a lot of commenters in that old thread who aren't here anymore.
Ahh I see now...
I misunderstood...
And least Kick's boringly lengthy personal attack comments served some miniscule purpose... :D
Have you noticed that Kick et al talk more about me than they do about PRESIDENT Trump??
:eyeroll:
Kick,
Actually, your idea of ignoring him is the proper response. He obsesses about the thought of being ignored so you're dead on accurate with that call. :)
And yet, you people are simply INCAPABLE of doing so....
The true mark of a troll... :D
@kick,
I'd forgotten gt's critique. at the time, I felt there wasn't a large sample size of the present dynamic, but it turns out to have been pretty accurate. i've clearly been complicit in failing to recognize and respond appropriately to the change. mea culpa.
but that doesn't mean I approve of the way you and russ have handled it. like bashi, I really don't approve of the use of all that old Usenet stuff.
JL
i wish i hadn't gone back and looked at the link. good god, that is some truly horrible stuff.
i wish i hadn't gone back and looked at the link. good god, that is some truly horrible stuff.
Yes, it is...
That's your brain dead woke progressive Democrats in the here and now.
THAT is what the kind of people that Russ, Kick and Caddy are...
Aren't you so proud of them?? :^/
nypoet22
150
I'd forgotten gt's critique. at the time, I felt there wasn't a large sample size of the present dynamic, but it turns out to have been pretty accurate. i've clearly been complicit in failing to recognize and respond appropriately to the change. mea culpa.
No way do you (or should you) take responsibility for anyone else's choices to post that garbage he chose to post repeatedly that day, and you obviously weren't posting at the time or I suspect you would have. So no apologies accepted. Multiple others asked him repeatedly to stop to no avail. As far as MtnCaddy, he wasn't even a commenter on the forum at the time, and Russ made only two on-topic posts after the fact. So the shit postings are no one's fault but his own.
but that doesn't mean I approve of the way you and russ have handled it. like bashi, I really don't approve of the use of all that old Usenet stuff.
I get that, but the poster in question claimed he was proud of it and laughed about it as archived on the forum. Now he wants to whine and cry and stamp his feet? Spare us the repetitive drama; the victim routine and blaming everyone else for his own posts is just the height of demonstrable ignorance... lather, rinse, repeat and really nothing new. He craves the attention and trolls until he gets noticed and obsesses over losing it.
If nothing changes, the only recourse any of us has is to stop volunteering to finance it. :)
Another long winded repetitive comment that contains nothing bug BS and personal attacks..
As per the norm, others doing exactly what you accuse me of doing... :eyeroll:
OK, I am going to post this before I read it all... I will also post it on today's article, just to make sure it is seen...
================================
Michale -
you want rules? OK, here is a rule for you to follow for the next week. Your continuing presence here depends on it.
Don't be a jerk.
That's it. Ask the internet question "AITA?" before you post, and if the answer is "Yes," then don't post it. Nobody wants to read it.
You are on thin ice, buddy.
I will give you a week.
You have no "benefit of the doubt" from anyone here, anymore. You just don't.
Some of us remember you as the guy who would cheerfully admit when others made a point that you actually either agreed with or at least contemplated (remember when you used to regularly post, with a skewed accent mark: "Touché"?)
Some of us remember you as a fun guy who would shrug off politics to discuss sci-fi and other fun subjects.
Some of us remember you as a decent guy who wasn't just a flat-out bully and would never for a minute listen to an opposing viewpoint.
I am one of them.
If you can manage to channel that pre-MAGA "Trump Deification Syndrome" Michale, I would be willing to bet that everyone here would be fine with you having a seat at the table.
However, the cult-following "I WILL NOT LISTEN to any fact that contradicts my Dear Leader" guy...
...that guy, NOBODY wants.
OK?
So just... here is your test... this is the difference between a yellow card and red...
Don't be a jerk.
(oh, and I personally salute you for voluntarily respecting the yellow card thing and not posting anything for a week... I tip my hat to you for that, ok?)
but seriously, dude, you are NOT adding anything to the conversation... you think you are, but you are NOT "owning the libs" here... you are just being annoying and a giant dick.
I am giving you one last chance. Go back to being polite and not-insulting, or pack it up and go someplace else.
Your choice.
You have been warned.
[now, as for these comments, I may or may not dig through this mountain of dreck... apologies if it is all too much for me...]
-CW
Chris,
I would certainly advise against spending a second of your time reading this particular comments section as there is precious little throughout this long thread that is worthy of the effort it would take ... no apologies required!
Chris
I would definitely advise you to read this particular comments section (or at least skim it paying particular attention to the links therein) if you wish to learn something about the repetitive dynamics of your blog that play out on permanent loop, but there's obviously no need to respond and definitely no apologies required if you neither read nor respond. :)