Master-Debater131

She doesnt really need to do a whole lot in order to either win or to destroy the Dems chances at winning though. If, and this is an absolutely gigantic IF, the GOP nominate someone who is fairly reasonable moderate then it sets up 2024 to be Center-Right, Center-Left, Hard-Left. Gallego seems like a pretty pure progressive, which may not play well in a purple state like AZ. If he runs a progressive campaign then all she would have to do here is pull off 5% of the Democratic vote and that hands the seat to the GOP. 2024 also should be a more favorable GOP year with the Presidential elections and an unpopular Biden running for reelection (Im still assuming he is). Or, if the GOP go pure wacko then she can pick up the sizeable GOP non-wacko vote and 5-10% of the Democratic vote and win that way. She really isnt as weak as people online are trying to make her sound. By going independent she basically warned the Dems to either back her, or hand the seat to the GOP.

This is just so amazing. On sooooooooo many different levels.

No word yet, but I bet its not long after his return to Twitter than news of "truth" going out of business breaks.

Sure sounds like Trump is about to return to twitter. Lots of talk this morning about him making some sort of grand spectacle of returning to Twitter.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/18/putin-could-be-ready-to-announce-a-second-mobilization-drive-analysts-say.html Putin could be ready to announce a second mobilization drive Putin is hellbent on destroying his country for multiple generations to try and win an unwinnable war. His first mobilization failed to change the outcome of the war, and this one will be no different. The weapons that the West is giving to Ukraine are proving to be so far ahead of anything Russia has that its laughable. All this is is throwing more bodies into a meat grinder. Really have to wonder at what people do the people in Russia, or someone close to Putler himself, say "no" and take him out.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/16/world/europe/german-defense-minister-resigns-after-weeks-of-criticism.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes Its paywalled. The TL:DR is that Germany's defense minister has resigned due to her handling of the Ukraine war, among other things. This probably also signals a shift in how the EU handles weapons shipments to Ukraine. Germany has been stonewalling the delivery of some of the more modern and advanced systems, including Tanks. Now that she is out that could change. Good news for Ukraine, and the rest of Europe really.

Yup. And thats because hes being a good leader. He knows any +1 is good for him and his party. Not to mention all the power that comes with being Speaker/Majority Leader. That +1 gets you control of the Senate, and that control is extremely powerful.

The hardliner position of "better a complete hardliner than no one" will never make sense. Your choices are take someone who votes with you 80% of the time, or someone who votes with you 0% of the time and you side with the 0%? In no sane world does that make sense. I made the same argument to Dems complaining about Manchin. You can get a guy that votes with you 80% of the time, or a GOP Senator who votes with you 0% of the time. Which one would you choose?

40 years later we finally get Part II! Its a 4 part mini-series that releases March 6th on Hulu.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/12/joe-biden-classified-documents-00077822 Biden is in a hole of his own making "The two cases are markedly different. But some Democrats privately concede that their coexistence gives the president’s critics a chance to denounce him as negligent, hypocritical or careless right at a time when things were moving Biden’s way. “I think it takes the whole Trump scandal off the table,” said one Democratic Party operative, granted anonymity to speak freely about the delicate situation unfolding around the president. “Most polls show that voters don’t give a fuck about this stuff,” they added. “But the media momentum is real.”" This unnamed Democrat also hits on a key point, most people don't care about this. For the vast majority of people Trump is already an afterthought, and Biden having classified material in his house is far down the list of things people are concerned about. This really is only an issue for people who are really into politics or permanently online.

These are political people in political positions of power. Of course they care about the optics and politics of things. Obama recognized this during his time and he masterfully used it to his benefit. The man was a genius at playing the political game in DC. Garland is a product of the political machine in DC. Hes playing the political games just like everyone else.

If that was the case then Hillary would have been charged. You can scoff at that all you want, but she set the modern precedent for mishandling classified materials and trying to get around investigators. That's another reason that Trump wont be charged. Nothing ever came of that other than a bunch of political bloviating, and the same will happen here. 10 years from now you, and other Democrats, will basically be doing to Trump what the GOP has been doing to Hillary for years. "But her emails!" "But his Resort!" As for who sees the documents, thats a problem, and now its a problem that Biden shares with Trump. Hunter claimed to own the house where these documents, he also had his drivers license registered at Bidens house. Thats another complication in this whole mess. Hunter claims to have had access to the house with these materials. Your claim that optics dont matter also is just flat out wrong. They absolutely do matter. There is zero chance that the DOJ could survive indicting Trump but not Biden. Publicly their support and image would collapse, and politically they would be Target 1 for the GOP. The second the GOP had unified control in DC again (and that will happen at some point) they would either tear down the DOJ or use whatever apparatus exists there to target Democrats. If they do it now while the GOP holds the House then everything they do would be subject to oversight. And the House can make your life miserable if they really want to. This is as much a political matter as a criminal one at this point, and the DOJ knows it.

Welllllllll I hate to break it to you but criminals go free all the time if they have the right connections. We dont know what the investigation will show, but the results will be no charges. No way is Biden charged for something that happens to literally every former Pres/VP. I totally agree on finding why its so easy for materials to move like this. It happens to all former Presidents and VPs, why? usually its just a case of an intern throwing documents into a box and walking out the door. That raises its own questions, but isnt nefarious. Theres also the problem where a document becomes classified after they leave and have no way to know. The entire classification system needs an overhaul.

It doesnt matter that they are different. All most people would hear is Trump was charged with mishandling classified documents and Biden wasnt. People who pay attention would recognize the difference, but the vast majority of people dont dig into details and read past headlines. It sounds like they have found material in 3 separate places now. His library, garage, and some other place in his home. So the odds that they find more is probably fairly high. Im not disagreeing with you on the differences between the cases. Im just pointing out that if they charge Trump but dont charge Biden the appearance of hypocrisy will simply be overwhelming. Its not something that the DoJ could survive.

Because they cant charge him with that either. Theres no smoking gun to prove he did it that will hold up in court. It doesnt matter what public opinion is, or what sort of circumstantial evidence there is, theres not enough hard evidence to make it stick in court. The end result is either no charges, or he gets charged and acquitted in the end. The dreams of him being perp walked into a jail cell were always nothing more than that, dreams. Mishandling classified materials was one of the best chances they had at convicting him of some crime, and those odds were always small. The single most likely result of all of this has always been a statement from the DOJ saying that the investigation is complete and no charges are forthcoming.

Memes still going strong here.

This isnt a huge surprise. Classified material was found in an unsecured location. They need to figure out how that happened, what the material is, and if it spread. It does really complicate things politically for Biden and the DOJ though. I stand by what I said yesterday, this all but guarantees that Trump will not be charged for mishandling classified materials. Either the DOJ charges both of them, or neither gets charged. And with precedent being what it is, theres no charges coming.

Ive maintained that the odds that Trump was ever indicted for anything was low, and this just pushes it lower. Its going to be extremely difficult to make anything stick to him. Theres no smoking gun that would hold up in court. Politically? Yes, all sorts of smoking guns. Legally? Nothing substantial enough to make it stick. At some point I expect Garland to put out a statement on a Friday afternoon saying the investigations are over and no charges are coming. Probably before a holiday weekend to really bury it. Itll get picked up on blocks and some places, but for most Americans it will simply vanish.

Just to be clear, I'm not trying to shift anything. Its a relevant story because of all the other stuff thats out there. My personal opinion is that these two things are not the same and this appears to be a fairly routine thing. Its very common for this to happen to former Presidents and VPs. Happened to Bush and Obama, it'll happen to Biden again, and whoever the next president is. With how we over classify documents in this country its a near impossibility anymore to not accidentally take something with you. Its what happens when you find that material that matters. Practically and politically though this massively complicates Garlands decision on what to do with Trump. It probably makes it impossible for him to indict Trump for mishandling classified materials. The appearance of hypocrisy would simply be too glaring for the public to ignore. It doesnt matter that the two cases arent the same, the public will only see one person indicted and another not for the same thing. People wont look into the details or nuances of this, they will simply see two standards at play.

Havent seen this posted yet, but they have now found two separate batches of Classified documents that Biden apparently took with him after his time as VP was over.

Its insane the amount of hate that the wackos are throwing at McConnell. Hes the reason any of those failed candidates even had a chance to begin with. He is a fundraising machine and pumped millions into races trying to save horrible candidates. The GOP would have the majority right now if they wouldnt have nominated such garbage candidates. There were easy wins on the table, but they couldnt take them. Rather than being smart they decided to double down on the MAGA stupidity that cost them 2020. McConnell warned them that this would happen, and now hes being attacked for being right.

Broncos ended the year with a Win. And more importantly, we looked halfway decent. After the last two weeks I think that its pretty clear that the majority of our problems were coming from Hackett, and not from Russ. Russ isnt as young as he used to be, but he still looked good once we got out of the Hackett offense. We saw flashes of vintage Russ yesterday and had some of those huge plays he is known for. Im more optimistic for next year after seeing that than I was like 5 weeks ago. I think if we fix some things, and get a real coach, we will be pretty competitive. We arent the dumpster fire that I thought we were during the Hackett experience.

Funniest part about this is he knew he was getting fired so he went for 2 and got it. That play screwed Houston out of the 1st overall pick.