Politics

[375 Ruger Fan]

 

[John Wasmuth]

The more the left squawks and decries trumps picks the better the picks sound…… if you think for one minute they wouldn’t hang Gaetz out to dry you’re living in an alternate dimension……….

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

completely concur..

the Biden DOJ would have loved to take down as many prominent MAGA types as possible.. that would have further defamed Trump and further alienated him and his loyalists from the typical centrist voter..

I think if that jackass of an AG currently serving thought he even had a 10% chance of a conviction, he would have swung for the fences on Gaetz..


All of that said.. the opposite may well be true as well... Gaetz may have been seen as a useful idiot by the Biden Administration.. he kept the R party in turmoil for the better part of the last 4 years and was constantly in the MSM headlines for things most people (D and R) opposed... its all too possible they knew they had him dead to rights, but chose not to prosecute him.. because they wanted him to keep on doing what he was doing in congress.. (just another version of lawfare... prosecute those that are a detriment to your political cause.. and dont prosecute those who benefit your cause)..

Sort of an a quasi “the enemy of my enemy is my friend situation”. If they got rid of him he might be replaced with someone easier to deal with for the Rs

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I like John Bolton! A lot of people don't, but he's smart and makes compelling arguments based on facts.

 

[wesheltonj]

Being charged with a crime and being found guilty of a crime are 2 different things...

Thomas and Kavanaugh were both accused of things they didnt do.. trumped up charges for the intent of not allowing them to be confirmed to USSC...

Im not saying Gaetz didnt do anything wrong.. he certainly comes across as a scum bag (most politicians do to me)...

But.. IF there is any actual hard evidence that he committed those crimes, I feel pretty certain he would have been charged in a court of law and would be facing prison time..

I'd guess we're looking at circumstantial evidence and/or testimony coming from unreliable witnesses... so unreliable that no court would be willing to hear a case against him...

Never doubt the idiocrasy that is the US senate or US House of Representatives they are all too happy listen to cases that dont pass even the basic sniff test in the absolute most liberal or conservative courts in the country... they LOVE kabuki theater on Capitol Hill..

IF you read the article that was posted by someone else, the "informant" was unreliable. If they had the goods, the DOJ would have gone forward.

 

[HookMeUpII]

The more the left squawks and decries trumps picks the better the picks sound…… if you think for one minute they wouldn’t hang Gaetz out to dry you’re living in an alternate dimension……….

I've kind of come to the conclusion it boils down to:

1) Was he guilty of child sex trafficking and/or sex trafficking in general? The answer is almost certainly no. Biden's DOJ, in light of who he is, would not have let that slip through the cracks.

2) Was he more than likely in a room, more than once or twice, with hookers and blow? Probably. Let's just call it for what it is. Not a great look.

I still don't like him, but I hope he gets confirmed only because I'd rather be united than divided.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

"2) Was he more than likely in a room, more than once or twice, with hookers and blow? Probably. Let's just call it for what it is. Not a great look."

One man's 'not a great look' is another man's 'Gee, he was in a situation with illegal activities and now he wants to be the top cop." I guess we can agree to disagree.

Honestly reading that reminded me of Jake Spoon and Lonesome Dove. Maybe Matt, like Jake, was just trying to get by until he could get to Kansas. In the words of Augustus: "You know how it goes, Jake. You ride with an outlaw, you die with an outlaw. Sorry you crossed the line."

There have got to be better options than Gaetz for this position. I want to believe the process will push the decision in that direction. I respect your attitude about uniting, and I want that too, but not through appointing people that are poor choices. I hope for unity through good choices.

 

[HookMeUpII]

"2) Was he more than likely in a room, more than once or twice, with hookers and blow? Probably. Let's just call it for what it is. Not a great look."

One man's 'not a great look' is another man's 'Gee, he was in a situation with illegal activities and now he wants to be the top cop." I guess we can agree to disagree.

Honestly reading that reminded me of Jake Spoon and Lonesome Dove. Maybe Matt, like Jake, was just trying to get by until he could get to Kansas. In the words of Augustus: "You know how it goes, Jake. You ride with an outlaw, you die with an outlaw. Sorry you crossed the line."

There have got to be better options than Gaetz for this position. I want to believe the process will push the decision in that direction. I respect your attitude about uniting, and I want that too, but not through appointing people that are poor choices. I hope for unity through good choices.

Can't say I disagree with you...but...prove it. Anyone in that same room going to say: "Yeah man, I was there with Gaetz. He had a hooker on his lap and one on mine"??? Probably not.

There's definitely, for a fact, more of that going around than people would like to believe. Everything from town council government all the way to federal. Not saying it's right or should we adopt the "when in Rome" concept.

Let the process run its course, I say. I think a lot will come out during confirmation. If he gets burned, so be it. Wasn't meant to be. At that point, I would feel the process worked and had run its course.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

"2) Was he more than likely in a room, more than once or twice, with hookers and blow? Probably. Let's just call it for what it is. Not a great look."

One man's 'not a great look' is another man's 'Gee, he was in a situation with illegal activities and now he wants to be the top cop." I guess we can agree to disagree.

Honestly reading that reminded me of Jake Spoon and Lonesome Dove. Maybe Matt, like Jake, was just trying to get by until he could get to Kansas. In the words of Augustus: "You know how it goes, Jake. You ride with an outlaw, you die with an outlaw. Sorry you crossed the line."

There have got to be better options than Gaetz for this position. I want to believe the process will push the decision in that direction. I respect your attitude about uniting, and I want that too, but not through appointing people that are poor choices. I hope for unity through good choices.

Cinematic masterpiece. Just finished watching it a few days ago

 

[Scott CWO]

I like John Bolton! A lot of people don't, but he's smart and makes compelling arguments based on facts.

I agree with Bolton. These two picks are jokes. There’s a legit reason for Senate confirmation and it is picks like these. Trump could find better candidates that can pass his loyalty test.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Cinematic masterpiece. Just finished watching it a few days ago

The book is beyond stellar as well, something I would say of all 4 of them in the series.

 

[barryk]

"2) Was he more than likely in a room, more than once or twice, with hookers and blow? Probably. Let's just call it for what it is. Not a great look."

One man's 'not a great look' is another man's 'Gee, he was in a situation with illegal activities and now he wants to be the top cop." I guess we can agree to disagree.

Honestly reading that reminded me of Jake Spoon and Lonesome Dove. Maybe Matt, like Jake, was just trying to get by until he could get to Kansas. In the words of Augustus: "You know how it goes, Jake. You ride with an outlaw, you die with an outlaw. Sorry you crossed the line."

There have got to be better options than Gaetz for this position. I want to believe the process will push the decision in that direction. I respect your attitude about uniting, and I want that too, but not through appointing people that are poor choices. I hope for unity through good choices.

Perhaps you are right....personally, I want a rapid dog to rip the throats out of the DOJ....IMHO.

 

[Wheels]

The issue is the senate votes to go into recess. And the house can play games to force them to stay in session. The President can not force them into recess. There are republicans and Democrats publicly stating they will not allow a recess long enough to appoint cabinet member. So the Trump team is now bargaining and using political capital. (Giving things away) to get these people through. I hope it’s worth the disruption and they clean house as promised.





“The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Senate has to recess or adjourn for 10 days before a president can make unilateral appointments. That’s resulted in a practice where the Senate — even during weeks-long breaks from Washington — still holds pro-forma sessions where one senator opens and closes the chamber, but no legislative business is conducted.”

The House also holds some power over recess appointments by refusing to allow the Senate to adjourn.

You are making good points. I agree with you that this would take the support of Johnson/House to trigger Article II Sections 2 and 3. My point in posting Article II was to show what McConnell did to Trump in his first term, not going into recess while actually being in recess, may not work in 2025.

At this point it seems this is all part of the preconfirmation negotiations.

Another point regarding how this plays out is that 2025 SCOTUS is completely different than the 1998 Court which ruled on the 10 days.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I agree with Bolton. These two picks are jokes. There’s a legit reason for Senate confirmation and it is picks like these. Trump could find better candidates that can pass his loyalty test.

I like John Bolton! A lot of people don't, but he's smart and makes compelling arguments based on facts.

Bolton is a lunatic and ex-Cheney crony. Bolton was oil, Trump was water, in his admin. You take a guy who looked to exit wars, mix him with an adviser that wanted to start every war he could...not a good mix. Trump's biggest mistake was listening to the person who advised him to pick him. He even says it in his Rogan podcast. He flat-out admits it, "I got bad advice. Everyone said pick Bolton, that guys crazy, so I picked him."

Bolton was way, way to the far right in terms of USA involvement in foreign conflict. I mean...the guy served in the Secretary of State from 2001-2005. Seriously? That's the same admin that got us into decades long conflicts. One of which we remained in, long after we accomplished our set objective. Yet, he was a draft dodger in Vietnam. He student deferred. Then played the numbers game, joined the ANG, and avoided combat. All while supporting the war LOL.

So it seems like he's great at sending people to war, not really great at actually going. He's the LAST person who's opinion I'd consider on Gabbard.

Now Tulsi? Served AND deployed to a combat zone. What Gabbard said about Assad isn't, factually, wrong. He never threatened the USA. Neither did Saddam, to my knowledge. So what about that is untrue? CNN is still cherry-picking clips and omitting facts I see.

Lets also not forget that Bolton is on CNN, as an ex-war hawk, who got fired by Trump, criticizing an ex-Dem turned GOP who supports our president-elect, who fired him, and is going to serve in his cabinet. Oh man, what a time to be alive.

Bolton is the type of guy where if a dictator Googles something crooked, he wants boots on the ground. The guy is real dangerous.

Gaetz, I tend to agree. I also wipe my rear end with anything Bolton or CNN says.

 

[Wheels]

The charges against Gaetz are already being leaked. Apparently he had sex with a 17-year-old and drug charges.

How can he prosecute anyone for those charges in the future?

Gaetz wouldn't have been my first choice and I am in no way standing up for Gaetz's moral character but the DOJ had all this information and determined not to prosecute it. Good article by Mollie Hemingway regarding details here.

House Gaetz Probe Relies On Witnesses DOJ Found Not Credible

A convicted felon said he was paying the legal fees of attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz's accuser and controlling her.

thefederalist.com

 

[Wheels]

Well, aren’t we all slipping a bit as we get older? No real surprise here other than Zeihan exaggerating about the degree of how much Trump will slip.

Zeihan was wrong, just like most of his ilk, about the degree of disappointment and disgust with the Biden/Harris administration, the border, men in women’s sports and all the DEI crap. Zeihan might be interesting to listen to but he’s never been as enlightened as he and many others think he is. I’m no Trump fanboy but I voted for him because of my disgust of where this country was headed. Is it going to be a bumpy ride? Absolutely, but still better than the alternative.

Zeihan has a good grasp of geopolitics. One thing about Zeihan is he is always 100% certain of everything he says. It would be interesting to go back 5-10 years on his comments and see how accurate he actually is.

 

[mdwest]

He very much takes a maco economist view/stance on things..

While I really like Zeihan, I find that he often ignores or doesn’t pay attention to micro economic factors that have the ability to significantly impact his assessments..

He’s also extremely well versed in recent geopolitical (last 100 years?) events and concerns… but often I question whether he really understands how certain cultures and climates (and how they have changed over time) impact things…