A.M. Links: House GOP Releases Obamacare Replacement Bill, White House Defends Trump's Wiretap Tweets, Deputy Attorney General Nominee Faces Senate Judiciary Committee

• 

  C-SPAN

  House Republicans have released their Obamacare replacement bill.

• "The White House on Monday attempted to defend President Trump's unfounded claim that former president Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower near the end of the presidential campaign, sending out several administration officials—both on and off camera—to reiterate the assertion without providing supporting evidence."
• Senate Judiciary Committee hearings are scheduled today for Rod J. Rosenstein, Donald Trump's nominee for deputy attorney general.
• North Korea has barred Malaysians inside North Korea from leaving that country.
• Lawmakers in Alabama may impeach Gov. Robert Bentley.
• Today is National Pancake Day.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

House Republicans have released their Obamacare replacement bill.

Trumpcare is born.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

[Dark Lord of the cis]

Morning.

[XenoZooValentine]

Gutentag!

[Memory Hole]

Townhall protests have consequences.

[XenoZooValentine]

The townhall protests were the fault of an offensive YouTube video.

[BigT]

Ultimately, it doesn't do much to foster the development of a free market system. Under GOPcare, individuals would not be able to take insurance with them from job to job, because tax credits would not be available to people who have an offer of job-based insurance. They would not be able to purchase whatever plan they want, because the federal government will still be dictating what has to be in insurance policies, making insurance more expensive then it needs to be. If this bill passes, everybody would have to get their insurance either through government, their employer via tax subsidy, or be left to purchase government-designed health policies using federal subsidies.

-Philip Klein of the Washington Examiner

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

The Republicans have embraced the premise that it is the role of the government to design a nationwide health insurance system and that all Americans should have health insurance.

Thus, their philosophical foundation is identical to the Dems.

It should be no surprise, in fact pretty much inevitable, that the GOP plan will be more or less the same as the Dem plan.

There are very few ways to get Health Insurance to every person at a rate they "can afford".

As soon as Obamacare was passed, this country was fucked.

[DanO.]

President Trump exhibits classic signs of mental illness, including 'malignant narcissism,' shrinks say

Partisans have been warning about Trump's craziness for months, but rhetoric from political opponents is easily dismissed; it's the water of the very swamp the President says he wants to drain. But frightened by the President's hubris, narcissism, defensiveness, belief in untrue things, conspiratorial reflexiveness and attacks on opponents, mental health professionals are finally speaking out. The goal is not merely to define the Madness of King Donald, but to warn the public where it will inevitably lead.

Not that Obama isn't a secret Muslim.
https://tinyurl.com/zakqfl9

[Citizen X - #6]

President Trump exhibits classic signs of mental illness, including 'malignant narcissism,' shrinks say

And this makes him different from almost everybody else who's ever held or wanted the office how?

[DanO.]

The others were not malignant narcissists? Or is Trump just like John Quincy Adams, but with hair plugs?

[Rufus The Monocled]

What the fuck do you know besides repeating effen Democrat talking points?

[Domestic Dissident]

"DanO" is Shriek.

[Rhywun]

And he's turning it up to 11. My comments haven't ever been so full of holes.

[CPRM]

It's the first time I blocked a handle in reasonable. More annoying than any other sock I've seen.

[Citizen X - #6]

Malignant narcissism is part and parcel of the presidential gig, yo. Who but a solipsistic psychopath would ever do what it takes to get elected?

[DanO.]

So you're actually saying that Trump's illness is no different than that of the previous 44 presidents and the thousands of wannabees. Nothing to see here, move along? Wow.

[Citizen X - #6]

I'm saying that it's not a surprise, and is an argument against the imperial presidency.

[DanO.]

Oh, I see. You're not defending Trump. You're moving the goalposts and railing against an "imperial" presidency. So Trump is a malignant narcissist, but so what because everybody does it, and besides, the presidency is "imperial." Gotcha.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

43, please. You can't count Grover Cleveland twice in this context.

[DanO.]

He was fat, so he gets counted twice.

[Gadfly]

This is a good point. Trump is clearly a massive narcissist (he loves putting his name on everything and claiming everything he does is the best), yet he somehow managed to refer to himself less frequently in his last major address than the previous occupant of the office, who while being more understated in his expression of it was clearly massively self-obsessed. But given the nature of the office, it is no surprise that our imperial presidency attracts such characters, and given the nature of our electorate it is no surprise that the people demand such characters. You cannot desire to be ruled by a God-King and expect that man not to view himself as a god.

[rudehost]

Hmmm

Do I consider Obama to be a narcissist? Yes
Do I consider him malignant? Yes.

Trump is certainly dumber but the malignant narcissism thing seems to be in place as part of an effort to ensure continuity in government.

[american socialist]

Yep. Obama was passive aggressive while trump is an open blowhard

[DanO.]

Clinical diagnoses have actual meanings outside of politics. The silly Trumpkins, in an effort to defend the indefensible, are now attempting to obliterate the dictionary. Sad!

[Citizen X - #6]

Oh. AddictionMyth/dajjal identity confirmed. Feel free to ignore this one, guys.

[Not a True MJG]

It took this long to confirm, X?

[rudehost]

They also happen in the context of evaluation and treatment not by watching sound bytes on CNN.

[DanO.]

One needn't be a trained psychiatrist to evaluate Trump's personality disorders. Hell, commenters in this very room do it all the time with their ideological enemies with very little pushback. What I find striking is the lengths to which Trump's "non-supporters" will go to support and defend him, including the embarrassing over-use of the the tu quoque fallacy.

[rudehost]

Yes we comment on them all the time including Trump but you brought up the term clinical diagnosis. A clinical diagnosis can't be made based on CNN sound bytes. That should be uncontroversial. Outside of a clinical diagnosis I think it is fair to also label Obama a malignant narcissist. If you simply hate Trump and love Obama show some courage and say that instead of projecting your blind partisanship on others especially on other people who think Trump is an idiot.

[DanO.]

Again, tu quoque for the loss. And for the record, I never voted for or defended Obama. Or Hillary. Or any of the Democrats demons of your world.

[rudehost]

It would help if you understood the term. I never actually tried to discredit your argument by calling you a hypocrite. I discredited your argument by pointing out you misused the term "clinical diagnosis" to try to defend your position. But hey if it makes you feel good to think you won you hold on to that sparky.

[Mr. Flanders]

Stop feeding the troll.

[Hihndication]

Why are you feeding Mary?

[rudehost]

Stopping although in my defense the popcorn was laced with arsenic.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Riiiiight.

And because Obama wasn't a narcissist.

Who is this guy?

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

Who is this guy?

A certain dual-troll disappeared right as this guy appeared. I have my suspicions.

[american socialist]

Dajjal?

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

That's my guess. I could be wrong as there are some notable differences. But there are quite a few similarities also. Some variation of Trumpkins was used several times yesterday.

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

And it looks like it will continue today.

[DanO.]

I'm seeing the connections now. Trump is a delusional paranoiac, Trump's defenders are delusional paranoiacs. It makes so much sense, why didn't I think of it before?

[Fatty Bolger]

You're not wrong. He's been doing his "pretending to be libertarian" shtick, but it was just too difficult to keep up.

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

but it was just too difficult to keep up

I suppose you're right. Trolls gotta troll.

[Citizen X - #6]

I took the needful action and now, from where i'm sitting, this thread is full of holes. It's sort of peaceful.

[Not a True MJG]

My first reaction to this morning's comments was, "Wow, that's a lot of white."

[Domestic Dissident]

Yes, "DanO" is indeed Shriek / Palin's Buttplug / AddictionMyth / dajjal / Dave Weigel.

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

DanO" is indeed Shriek / Palin's Buttplug / AddictionMyth / dajjal / Dave Weigel.

Don't put words in my mouth. You're the only moron asserting the other nonsense.

[Citizen X - #6]

Mikey, you still have provided exactly no evidence that any of our trolls are Dave Weigel.

[DanO.]

You have to pick one, Short Bus. Might I recommend Obama himself? I'm that sick!

[Konima]

Oh. Is someone else someone else now? If everyone someone else? Have you ever provided proof that everyone is someone else? Why do you insist that everyone is another person? A paranoid delusions a symptom of your broken brand of libertarianism?

[american socialist]

Hey Bo Cara!

Why did you change your name again? Want a A NU Start?

[DanO.]

^^ Still the dumbest pinhead on the short bus.

[Konima]

I'm kind of curious as to what it's like to be a pathological liar. If you could tell me how it feels for you, I would have a better idea of what's going on in Trump's mind.

[Citizen X - #6]

The quality of his contributions certainly went into the negative real fast.

[DanO.]

Pick on Trump, stir up the hornet's nest!
Not that anyone here is defending trump. No sir!

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Everything's a hornet's nest.

[Mr. Flanders]

Yeah, at this point he's just kind of yelling random stuff about Trump. He used to be somewhat more focused with his trolling.

[DanO.]

Tu quoque for the loss. Sad!

[Rufus The Monocled]

You're like a pigeon that keeps shitting.

[DanO.]

Why so negative, One Eye?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Now have these doctors who have never met with him tell me Trump's IQ. Every president gets remotely diagnosed, which says more about the mental health profession than the presidents.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

I've diagnosed you as being an obsessive-compulsive.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I've diagnosed you in need of a meticulously washed knuckle sandwich.

[BigT]

I've diagnosed you as an habitual, congenital masturbater...

...just like almost everyone else on this blog. TWTANFL

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

I've diagnosed you in need of a meticulously washed knuckle sandwich.

An obsessive-compulsive who is prone to violence. Got it.

[XenoZooValentine]

I'm not prone to violence, I do most of it standing up. (I do worry that it may lead to dancing.)

[Dark Lord of the cis]

The most important thing to keep in mind about the mental health profession is that a very large number of the people in it got into it to fix their own head's.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

The most important thing to keep in mind about the mental health profession is that a very large number of the people in it got into it to fix their own head's.

Funny thing is that a medical group commander I know basically told me the same thing a few weeks ago. He said there's a lot of people in the mental health field who really shouldn't be there because they end up getting triggered quite a bit by their patients' experiences.

[Jerryskids]

You ever run into a psych major in college? That's the whole reason many of them are interested in the field, because they've got a few loose screws. One basic assumption I've seen is that there's a psychological explanation for everything, they can't accept that some people are assholes just because they enjoy being assholes. There's no deep meaning to Trump's behavior beyond that he's a spoiled-brat asshole that didn't get his ass beat often enough as a kid so he grew up entitled and self-absorbed and thinking the world revolved around him.

Speaking of which, I've read several different articles about the Yalies demanding a name change for their new student center because it was built with dirty, dirty money. Note the fuckers aren't offering to give the money back, they just want to hide the source of the money so they don't have to acknowledge the gift. They're ungrateful bastards who think they're entitled to both take the money and spit in the face of the guy offering the money.

So where are these kids' parents that they're not dragging their rotten crotchfruit out by their ear and beating their ass for being gigantic dickweeds? Or, barring that, where are the mob of peasants not beating the asses of the parents for raising such spoiled brats that would display behavior you'd beat a 4-year old's ass for?

[Mr. Flanders]

These same people demand that you give your children participation trophies and never let them do anything on their own... which causes your child to grow up to be a psych major or Trump, etc.

[Conchfritters]

^^ +1 my psych major ex-gf

[Not a True MJG]

A member of my extended family is apparently a well regarded psychologist, specializing in troubled teens.

Is also a huge crazy who, as a teen, regularly called the cops alleging parental abuse.

[Konima]

You can make some judgement about someone's mental state simply by observing them. It's especially possible when someone likes being seen as much as Trump. Judging his IQ would be a different deal, though I'm not sure anyone things that number would be very high.

[Zeb]

Of course you can make some judgement. Clinical diagnosis seems questionable.

[Konima]

I recall arguing with at least four regular posters here, whose names I have forgotten, who basically said I was a lunatic for thinking that Trump had obvious mental issues, and that I wasn't a professional so everything I said was baseless.

I'm not holding out on Trump allowing a psychiatrist to diagnose and release the findings to the public, so I guess I'll have to stick with what's possible within this reality.

[american socialist]

Ok cool! What do you plan to do with said info?

[DanO.]

People here offer mental-health diagnoses all the time to their ideological enemies. It's part of the language in this culture. One commenter in this room routinely calls his opponents "halfwits." It's nothing new. So why the outrage when Trump's obvious personality disorder gets called into question? The answer is obvious.

[Hihndication]

Watching you whiteknight yourself is hilarious

[prolefeed]

Judging his IQ would be a different deal, though I'm not sure anyone things that number would be very high.

I would think the large pack of GOP prez candidates who got beat by him might include a few who would grudgingly admit he's fairly smart.

[XenoZooValentine]

It's malpractice to "diagnose" anybody you haven't examined.

Sadly, agitprop using this gimmick is common.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

frightened by

::Triggering Intensifies::

[Zeb]

Come on, "Gersh Kuntzman"? That's not a real article.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

That's the histrionic shitlib who, you may recall, claimed he got PTSD and a bruised shoulder from firing an AR-15 last year.

[Zeb]

Oh, yeah, I remember that. Seemed to think that an AR-15 was a large gun with lots of recoil.

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

Well, if you were an unathletic geek like Kuntzman, you're probably consider an AR-15 to be the equivalent of a battleship cannon.

[Zeb]

And if you'd never fired any kind of gun before.

[XenoZooValentine]

Given proper mockery here:

http://monsterhunternation.com.....-kuntzman/

[Fatty Bolger]

You can always rely on a mental health professional who is willing to make a diagnosis without seeing the patient. Especially if you need a quick score on some Adderall.

[Fist of Etiquette]

North Korea has barred Malaysians inside North Korea from leaving that country.

Why should they get privileges that Norks themselves don't enjoy?

[Bubba Jones]

I can't imagine why they are there.

[Mongo]

I have a fetish for hot Asians rubbing chemicals on my face with a cloth.

[XenoZooValentine]

"Does this rag smell like cloroform to you?"

[Mongo]

"You like chloroform applied with tiger-stripe panties or leopard spot, gyeong?"

[Citizen X - #6]

"The White House on Monday attempted to defend President Trump's unfounded claim that former president Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower near the end of the presidential campaign, sending out several administration officials?both on and off camera?to reiterate the assertion without providing supporting evidence."

Psh. Obama wiretapped everybody. It is known.

[DanO.]

Besides, Clapper lied. CHECK AND MATE.

[rudehost]

One certainly does have to wonder how trotting out James Clapper as a source of truth on this was supposed to reassure anyone.

"I may have lied to you about spying on everyone else but really this guy was the only one I wasn't spying on and that statement is backed by my reputation for honesty and integrity"

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

One certainly does have to wonder how trotting out James Clapper as a source of truth on this was supposed to reassure anyone

Sort of like when the left argues we should believe CIA claims that the Russian government hacked the DNC and Podesta's emails for the express purpose of releasing them, with memories of the Iraq debacle still fresh in everyone's mind.

[Zeb]

I also thought it was funny how Claper kept talking about FISA court orders as if that were the only way wiretaps could possibly happen. Because no one in the government has never conducted any warranties or illegal wiretaps.

[rudehost]

"Because no one in the government has never conducted any warranties "

I hate it how your illegal domestic spying program always breaks right after the warranty runs out.

[XenoZooValentine]

"An unauthorized wiretap is a felony, pard..."

"...and you're doing it twenty times a day! So don't give me that crap! Just do it."

[dantheserene]

He wasn't in that scene, but RIP Bill Paxton.

[colorblindkid]

You forget that the press has been parading around Dan Rather again lately, trying to hold him up as a hero of journalism. Why is he even a thing anymore? It is absolutely insane.

[Citizen X - #6]

Dan Rather is still alive?

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

He's rather be.

[BigT]

Wasn't the Secret Service (SS) tasked specifically with surveilling Candidate and President-Elect Trump? Therefore, of course they were watching him, and since they come under the President via the Treasury, at 'Obama's direction.' It would not surprise me if they recorded some conversations, maybe in reasonable fulfillment of their tasks, that include Trump's phone or private conversations.

I think the facts are likely true, but the implication that they are 'spying' on him for nefarious purposes,, are likely wrong.

(sorry for the re-run, I'm too lazy to make a fresh comment)

[spqr2008]

Obviously the government should appoint Preet Bharara as the lead investigator of an independent inquisition. Preet can become the honey badger of assistant attorneys general

[Fist of Etiquette]

Senate Judiciary Committee hearings are scheduled today for Rod J. Rosenstein, Donald Trump's nominee for deputy attorney general.

Trump accidentally nominated a Jew lawyer? Alt-right cred RESCINDED.

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

House Republicans have released their Obamacare replacement bill

That which has been created can never be destroyed.

[Citizen X - #6]

I can't wait until they cut out this cancerous tumor and replace it with a slightly different cancerous tumor.

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

It's naht a tumah!

[XenoZooValentine]

Just wait until that bill gets sent to collections.

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

Repubs: We're going to create a health insurance system that enables low cost health insurance to every American, but it's not going to look like Obamacare....

[Fist of Etiquette]

...sending out several administration officials?both on and off camera?to reiterate the assertion without providing supporting evidence.

"It was a YouTube protest, not terrorism!"

[XenoZooValentine]

Well, terrorism is theater, so...

*starts a let's play, cats, and/or terrorism vlog*

[american socialist]

"sending out several administration officials?both on and off camera?to reiterate the assertion without providing supporting evidence."

How did the press report on all these connections and intelligence without taps in the first place? On msnbc recently there was a person saying press never pushed the russian-trump connection lol

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

'Some days I don't want to leave my house': Women who had their nude photos posted on Marine Corps revenge porn Facebook group speak out

Semper sleazy?

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

The lesson never to be learned: maybe saving and sending naked pics via phone isn't a good idea.

[Anomalous]

To the whores of Tripoli?

[BigT]

[Narrowed gaze.]

(Swiss on leave)

[Dark Lord of the cis]

I'd also be too embarrassed to leave the house if I had a throat tattoo.

[Idle Hands]

As always some men are pigs, not all but some and it's probably not a good idea to send nudies to someone unless you're comfortable with everyone with online access or within close proximity to see it.

[Idle Hands]

In addition this is why I never show my face in my "Polaroids".

[XenoZooValentine]

Sound advice. You're still taking a risk no matter what, and once the photos leave your control they can end up anywhere. Like "don't write anything in an e-mail you wouldn't want to see in the newspaper" for example.

I am rather perversely satisfied that the NSA has almost certainly archived selfies of my junk, however.

[Anomalous]

Today is National Pancake Day.

I celebrate Pancake Day on March 16, the anniversary of Rachel Corrie's death.

[XenoZooValentine]

+1 we'll all be flat

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

'I sleep pretty good at night': Casey Anthony says daughter Caylee would be a 'rock music-loving badass' if she were alive and claims she has no idea how the young girl died six years after murder trial

Anthony, giving an interview for the first time since the trial, said in halting, sober tones: 'I'm still not even certain as I stand here today about what happened.'

She resembles Maggie Siff.

[Anomalous]

Slightly.

[Kristen Abides]

Is this fucking giraffe ever gonna have this fucking calf? I feel like it's a game of poker and I already have a ton of money in the pot, so it's hard to let it go, and I just keep on playing.

Fuckin giraffe.

[Citizen X - #6]

These masturbation euphemisms are getting positively baroque.

[BigT]

Does a giraffe deep throat?

[Rufus The Monocled]

Ever since Swiss left things have gone off the rails.

[XenoZooValentine]

+1 driving that train, high on cocaine

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Today is National Pancake Day.

I haven't had a pancake in coon's age.

[Citizen X - #6]

One week AFTER Fat Tuesday? Sad!

[BigT]

"Stay Fat" Tuesday.

[Not a True MJG]

And a week before Pie Day!

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

Any time is a good time for pie.

/Fabianne

[Not a True MJG]

Time to make a full serving of pancakes.

[Ken Shultz]

"The White House on Monday attempted to defend President Trump's unfounded claim that former president Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower near the end of the presidential campaign, sending out several administration officials?both on and off camera?to reiterate the assertion without providing supporting evidence."

I guess this "no proof" angle is what everyone in the media is pushing.

The question isn't whether Trump has enough evidence to convict Obama in criminal court beyond a reasonable doubt.

The question is whether there is sufficient evidence to open an investigation of whether the CIA, FBI, and NSA violated the Hatch Act.

And there most certainly is.

Why was wiretap information sent to the White House while Obama was campaigning for Hillary Clinton?

How could evidence that the CIA, FBI, and NSA were digging up dirt on a presidential candidate's campaign team in the weeks before an election be insufficient grounds for an investigation--to a libertarian?

[american socialist]

Check out Hillary's tweet on 10/31. It talks about how computer scientists or someone determined there is a server connected to trump tower and a connection to russia.

The "claims" threw the boomerang back at them.

[VG Zaytsev]

In her tweet she said "computer scientists discovered" the connection not "semi literate bureaucrats stumbled onto" the discovery, so she obviously was talking about the private sector, not government.

[Ken Shultz]

I dug it up. Here's the link:

https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/ 793250312119263233

Here's another Hillary tweet from the same day on the same subject:

https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/ 793234169576947712

She's linking to media sources for this information in both cases. It doesn't "prove" that Hillary had inside knowledge, but it shows that someone at the NSA, FBI, CIA, or the White House was leaking this information to the press. And the NSA, FBI, CIA are all specifically barred by name from interfering in elections by the Hatch Act.

There needs to be an investigation.

[John]

Everyone thought that the Lynch Bill Clinton meeting was about the FBI deciding not to indict Hillary. Maybe it was Lynch passing on the wiretapping information? That is the sort of thing you wouldn't want to risk writing down or having a subordinate convey.

[Ken Shultz]

They didn't necessarily need to give it to Hillary.

They just had to leak it to the press.

[John]

True. But Hillary apparently knew more.

[Memory Hole]

Ken, I hope you realize it's the Republicans in Congress and Trump who are resisting a comprehensive 9/11 type investigation of all of this.

[american socialist]

Why does there need to be a 9/11 type investigation on this?

[Memory Hole]

In order to be credible the investigation has be conducted by serious, professional, and impartial investigators not these hacks in Congress.

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

"Why does there need to be a 9/11 type investigation on this?"

It's the blue ribbon gold standard.

[Ken Shultz]

Actually, there's going to be a congressional hearing on the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, and Donald Trump has requested that they expand that hearing to include the subject of his campaign being abused by the intelligence services under the command of the White House.

Are you Tulpa?

[Memory Hole]

Republican controlled investigations are not credible investigations. I thought you were a serious person but I guess I was mistaken. And no dude I'm not Tulpa. Jesus fucking christ.

[Ken Shultz]

Well, you might as well be.

Being willfully obtuse is his calling card.

[DanO.]

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean everyone is not Tulpa.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Re-posting from last night: Morning Joe's Mika Brzezinski tearfully addresses Trump's wiretapping accusations: 'This presidency is fake and failed'

I had hope and an open mind. I am losing hope, and my mind is closing," Brzezinkski said. "This presidency is fake and failed."

A teary-eyed Brzezinski repeatedly emphasized the severity of Trump's baseless claims against his predecessor, which she called a "new low." "This is not funny," Brzezinski said. "This is really bad. Just for the record, we are all really nervous."

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

A teary-eyed Brzezinski repeatedly emphasized the severity of Trump's baseless claims against his predecessor

It's just unfortunate that so many have utterly lost their grip on sanity.

[John]

To be more accurate, it was more of a loose grasp or maybe light touching. They never had a grip.

[VG Zaytsev]

How exactly is the accusation "dangerous". Especially if it's groundless?

[Rhywun]

Just for the record, we are all really nervous.

...about not being invited to any more DC cocktail parties.

[american socialist]

So how was this intelligence gathered on and reported in the first place

[XenoZooValentine]

"This presidency is fake and failed."

Honey, that's all of them.

Which reminds me, I really need to get Damon Root's book.

[Juice]

The stupid melodrama is the worst thing about the anti-Trump tears. Oh, you're crying because someone you don't like is in the White House? Welcome to the fucking club. Shit, we've been here for decades.

[XenoZooValentine]

Who shall bell the cougar? In the spirit of bipartisan* cooperation, I volunteer to privately comfort Mika in her time of need. For science, cheesy basic cable news, and America. Kleenex, a backrub, maybe some Netflix and chill...

* Because bipartisanship always means you're just getting fucked even harder than usual, of course.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

What Romantic Regime Are You In?

David Brooks wrote about relationships. It concluded with this sentence:

The deepest joy sneaks in the back door when you are surrendering to some sacred promise.

[Citizen X - #6]

Welp, i feel we've all learned something about David Brooks that we did not want to know.

[XenoZooValentine]

Abstract Euphemisms Hardest Hit

[Citizen X - #6]

That is barely a euphemism.

[John]

surrendering to some sacred promise.

So that is what the old folks are calling it these days.

[prolefeed]

I'm gonna guess that "sacred promise" means "I promise to call you tomorrow after I bone you today".

[BigT]

Brooks is anal fan! Who knew?

[John]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk_ilymWo4s

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

Someone ought to talk to that dude about euphemisms.

[Zeb]

Phrasing.

[John]

http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/259100/

So the woman that was beaten up by the fascist mob at Middlebury College has an account of it up on her Facebook. The punch line is that it was all Trump's fault.

To people who wish to spin this story as one about what's wrong with elite colleges and universities, you are mistaken. Please instead consider this as a metaphor for what is wrong with our country, and on that, Charles Murray and I would agree. This was the saddest day of my life. We have got to do better by those who feel and are marginalized. Our 230-year constitutional democracy depends on it, especially when our current President is blind to the evils he has unleashed.

Forgive them, father, because they know not what they do I guess. It is more than a bit ironic to read our resident Prog trolls accusing Trump of being mentally ill when they by virtue of being Progs are suffering from one themselves.

[VG Zaytsev]

So victims of violent mobs have to engage in ritual self accusation too.

But they aren't fascists or anything.

[Dark Lord of the cis]

Jesus, it's like battered women syndrome applied to an entire political movement.

[John]

For her to admit the truth means admitting her politics are wrong. Since she gets her entire sense of self-worth from her politics, questioning her politics requires questioning herself at a level most people are incapable of doing. Progressivism is strictly speaking a cult. It demands so much of its adherents that it is very difficult for a believer to ever leave.

[Rhywun]

No amount of deprogramming can save that woman. Sad!

[Red Rocks Baiting n Inciting]

Now THAT was some yummy cognitive dissonance right there.

[Free Society]

Our 230-year constitutional democracy depends on it

No matter how many times you tell them what a republic is, they never get it.

especially when our current President is blind to the evils he has unleashed.

Trump unleashed scores of leftist thugs and women dressed like cunts, clearly.

[XenoZooValentine]

He had women dressed like cunts on leashes?

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

"This was the saddest day of my life.'

White privilege.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Carson: 'There were other immigrants who came in the bottom of slave ships, who worked even longer, even harder, for less'

Carson, who was confirmed to lead the department earlier this month, heralded the work ethic of immigrants before implying slaves who came to the United States worked harder than others.
"There were other immigrants who came in the bottom of slave ships, who worked even longer, even harder, for less, but they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great grandsons, great granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land," said Carson, who is black.

"And do you know of all the nations in the world, this one, the United States of America, is the only one big enough and great enough to allow all those people to realize their dream. And this is our opportunity to enhance that dream," he added.

Why?

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

Less than free labor?

[John]

It's true. Don't you think slaves worked harder and longer than everyone else? I don't see what is wrong with what he is saying. And they were immigrants, just not voluntary ones.

[VG Zaytsev]

The badthink is that he said the skaves hoped for a better future for their descendants, and that hope was fulfilled.

[Rhywun]

^This. Hope and betterment instead of victimhood and despair. That is unacceptable.

[Zeb]

Because life under Trump for black people is worse than slavery.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

It is a good p.r. move to talk about slavery your day on the job.

[John]

So what if it isn't? That doesn't make anything he said untrue. And maybe you missed it, but I am pretty sure Ben Carson is black. I thought black people could talk about slavery? Or is that only the right black people?

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

It is a good p.r. move to talk about slavery your day on the job.

[Free Society]

And do you know of all the nations in the world, this one, the United States of America, is the only one big enough and great enough to allow all those people to realize their dream.

That line, at least, is refreshing to see. To hear the leftists tell it, the United States is uniquely awful for everyone who is not a straight white male. Despite that supposedly straight white male dominated societies are almost without exception, the most open, tolerant and prosperous societies where those supposedly oppressed minorities do better than anywhere else.

[Zeb]

It is a good thing to hear said by someone with some prominence (even if he's kind of a weirdo).

There are plenty of things that the US and the West generally have done historically that are terrible and worthy of criticism. It's foolish to deny that. But what is even more foolish is to pretend that that means that the rest of the world is innocent or any better when it comes to things like that when quite the opposite is true in most cases.

[Free Society]

Seems to me that the West in general is the only type of society that puts it's historical crimes on a pedestal ahead of the historical achievements. To a certain extent it's good that the West acknowledges this, on the other hand it has almost certainly crossed the line in to self-flagellation. I don't see the Islamic world beating themselves up over their unparalleled slaving and bloody conquest. The Chinese don't hold up Mao's genocides as the epitome of Chinese civilization, the Bantu South Africans don't beat themselves up over the extermination of the African peoples who lived there before them.

[Not a True MJG]

"That's great... this is the Department of Housing and Urban Development, sir."

[Ken Shultz]

"House Republicans have released their Obamacare replacement bill."

There were a few reasons why a pragmatic libertarian might have voted for Donald Trump.

One of them was that where Hillary Clinton would have insisted on a public option (AKA the road to single payer), Trump would sign a repeal and replacement that rid us of the horribly un-libertarian individual mandate without putting us on the road to single payer.

My understanding is that Trump signed an executive order instructing the IRS not to enforce the penaltax, and now he's poised to get rid of the awful individual mandate if and when Congress passes the damn thing.

And so we can all expect to see the staff at Reason rejoicing, right? I bet they can hardly contain their excitement!

"It's not clear what problems this particular bill would actually solve."

----Suderman

"House Republicans have released their Obamacare replacement bill."

----Root

I bet you guys don't get invited to a lot of parties.

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

I don't know why libertarians aren't jumping for joy about continued government intervention either, Ken.

[Ken Shultz]

How 'bout because no more individual mandate and an end to the Medicaid expansion?

[VG Zaytsev]

Ken, if you don't make perfect the enemy of the good you aren't a true cosmotarian. Their progressive paymasters demand no less.

[Zeb]

Yes, the only reason anyone might have a different view about anything is dishonesty.

You really going with that?

[prolefeed]

Cause nothing says thinking things through like Republicans gaining sweeping control over vast swaths of government based on opposition to Obamacare, and then voluntarily choosing to propose hanging Obamacare Lite around their own necks to reverse the process of political gains.

[XenoZooValentine]

Why stop now?

[T.F.G.]

Doesn't this make it an even bigger house of cards than before?

[Ken Shultz]

I wouldn't see an improvement as endangering anything, and this is an improvement.

Furthermore, understand that Medicaid is the ultimate cause of the problem. If they're getting rid of the Medicaid expansion as early as 2019, then they are addressing the root cause of the problem.

Furthermore, getting rid of the individual mandate is libertarian victory in itself. Even if the "house of cards" couldn't stand without the individual mandate, the house of cards should come tumbling down for that reason alone.

The individual mandate is unacceptable.

I owe you nothing except respect for your rights.

[T.F.G.]

The new version continues penalizing high quality coverage and further incentives waiting to buy insurance until you are sick. It's unlikely that Medicaid expansion will slow down under the new law either.

This plan is built on foolish economics. Possibly even worse than the Democrats version. When this house of cards comes tumbling down, Republicans will get ownership of this disaster, Democrats will come back, and you'll get your individual mandate again.

[Zeb]

Or it will be called a failure of markets and result in stronger calls for single payer.

Despite the fact that that is bullshit, lots of people will buy it.

[T.F.G.]

Ugh. yes.

[Ken Shultz]

Because it doesn't fix everything doesn't mean it doesn't fix anything.

Legislation takes account of the voter market the way manufacturer take account of the retail market. You don't build things the market won't buy--or they won't get sold. Right now, this may be the best they can do given the way legislators are reading the voter market.

Incidentally, that's always the way it works. MLK didn't march in the streets because Congress took the bold step of passing the CRA. MLK marching in the streets changed the voter market's mind so thoroughly that passing the CRA became possible.

Right now, this may be the best we can do given what is politically possible. Take a profit and keep fighting. And getting rid of the individual mandate is a huge profit. Winding down the Medicaid expansion is a huge profit. This opportunity may not last forever. We should take it while we can and keep fighting.

[Zeb]

We should take it while we can and keep fighting.

Who is not taking it? I hate to break it to you, Ken, but no one actually asked us and no one give a fuck what we say about it. Some internet libertarians and anarchists commenting on why it isn't that great isn't going to stop it from happening. Our celebrating or poo-pooing some minuscule movement in a slightly positive direction has no effect on anything.

[Ken Shultz]

Don't sell yourself short.

You know why vicious dictators pay so much attention to what people are saying to each other?

It isn't because what people say to each is no threat to them.

You have more influence than you realize.

[T.F.G.]

The problem is you're going to just lose your individual mandate again when this is a disaster.

[BigT]

Ken: "Legislation takes account of the voter market the way manufacturer take account of the retail market. You don't build things the market won't buy--or they won't get sold. Right now, this may be the best they can do given the way legislators are reading the voter market."

Um, is that why Obamacare passed even though 58% of the voters were against it?

Is that why the bail-out passed even though 60% of the voters were against it?

Sometimes legislation passes despite popular opposition.

[spqr2008]

Rand Paul's bill replacing Obamacare is the best I've seen yet. It should be the law of the land, not anything else.

[T.F.G.]

Agreed. His ideas are way too unpopular though. It's frustrating.

[Ken Shultz]

If his ideas are unpopular, that's our problem to fix.

[T.F.G.]

To be optimistic for a second, this is probably the final version of the bill either.

[BigT]

Rand Paul's bill replacing Obamacare is the best I've seen yet. It should be the law of the land, not anything else.

YES!! Very well conceived and presented.

Hence, dead on arrival in the small, perverted, irrational minds in Congress.

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

In the land of the idealists, the pragmatist is king, eh Ken?

[Ken Shultz]

This isn't only pragmatic.

I oppose the individual mandate on idealist grounds.

Don't you?

[Zeb]

I also oppose almost everything the government does on idealistic grounds. Sorry if I don't get too excited about some minor adjustment.

[Ken Shultz]

Getting rid of the individual mandate is not a minor adjustment.

Getting rid of the Medicaid expansion is not a minor adjustment.

[Zeb]

In the grand scheme of things the government shouldn't be involved in, it's pretty minor. Especially when they've been talking repeal of the whole thing for 6 years.

But so what? This is pointless to argue about. It is what it is. If you want to be happy about it, that's great. But lots of other, equally bad things remain like employer mandates, coverage extensions to adult children, etc. that also force individuals and companies to pay for certain things. And as I mention above (I think it's above), I'm not sure that the repeal of the individual mandate, without other large changes to the rules, will ultimately lead things in a direction you or I would like very much.

[John]

I would think that Libertarians wouldn't need it explained to them that getting rid of criminalizing the failure to buy health insurance is a good thing. Wouldn't you? Yet Sudderman tells us ""It's not clear what problems this particular bill would actually solve." Apparently, Sudderman doesn't see the mandate as a problem. Otherwise, he would understand that there is at least one problem that the bill would actually solve. I think that is a pretty big deal. I guess Libertarians don't.

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

Seems to me that people don't understand there may be a difference between reason.com and the Reason Foundation. You know, the kind of difference where the media arm espouses philosophically libertarian ideals while the foundation tries to effect real world change.

Naaahhhhhhhh

[John]

How am I to judge the Reason foundation other than by the things their staff says? If the Reason foundation doesn't endorse Sudderman's position, why are they publishing it in their magazine and paying him a salary to have it?

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

If the Reason foundation doesn't endorse Sudderman's position, why are they publishing it in their magazine and paying him a salary to have it?

That's almost the exact opposite of what I said. They do endorse his position because it's theoretically the libertarian one. That doesn't mean the foundation itself can't be doing things that will have real world outcomes.

It's like saying "Everyone should have a pony" while a group of your friends is trying to buy a ranch with a stable and then someone with a mare that's about to foal and then evaluating the costs for providing these things to everyone.

[John]

The fact is that whatever the bill's flaws, it does solve at least one problem, and a big problem at that. So when Sudderman says he doesn't see what problem it solves, he is either stupid or doesn't see the mandate as a problem.

Assuming he is not stupid, I ask you again, since when is the Libertarian position that the mandate is not a problem worth solving?

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

I ask you again, since when is the Libertarian position that the mandate is not a problem worth solving?

Beats me, ask a libertarian. If Suderman is claiming to be a libertarian then I'd think you can use his answer.

[John]

And his answer is that it is not. And that is a bit curious to say the lease.

[BigT]

The fact is that whatever the bill's flaws, it does solve at least one problem, and a big problem at that.

Indeed, but it also carves into stone that the Feds will be involved very intimately in health care and health insurance for all time.

Roberts gave us this. He deserves to suffer a long, painful, disfiguring, debilitating illness.

[$park? don't care bout yo mom]

but it also carves into stone that the Feds will be involved very intimately in health care and health insurance for all time.

Exactly.

[John]

That means it is a bad bill. It doesn't mean that it doesn't solve some problems, which is what Suderman implies.

[Ken Shultz]

I'm thinking someone new may have come in and made a big donation.

It wasn't like this under the Bush Administration.

[John]

Don't the Koch's pretty much run it as a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries?

[Zeb]

Kochtopus!!

[VG Zaytsev]

Bezos made a big donation.

So now they dance(even more) to his progressive tune.

It's really that simple.

[Zeb]

Is there anything that falls in between "agrees with VG Zaytsev about everything" and "progressive" in your worldview?

[Not a True MJG]

Stop playing dumb, Zeb. You're not new here.

[OneOut]

I think Bezos dumped a load on Reason.

In more ways than one.

[chemjeff]

Fine, Ken, getting rid of the individual mandate is a good thing, I don't think anyone here would disagree.

But Republicans are planning to keep the core idea of ObamaCare - which is, subsidized health care for *everyone*,. not just the poor or the elderly or the really sick. (Except for the really rich of course.) From a philosophical point of view, this bill is an utter capitulation. Now both tribes completely agree with "government takeover of health care". Single payer is now only a matter of time.

After the Republicans campaigned so hard and so fiercely on getting rid of ObamaCare, you'd think that now that they have power, they would propose, you know, actually getting rid of it. But nope. They were gigantic liars from the start.

So, yay, no mandate. But the expectations were far higher than just that. And the Republicans utterly failed to live up to the expectations that they set for themselves.

[american socialist]

See i think they thought Trump would lose and the GOP wouldn't have to actually do anything. They wanted it as a campaign soundbite only...they weren't serious

[VG Zaytsev]

Yep, same as their opposition to abortion.

[XenoZooValentine]

It's their best tacticool drill: the Circular Firing Squad.

They might as well stick with what they do best, I guess.

[Not a True MJG]

Even when the criticism is focused on House Republicans, you still find a way to complain about unfair Trump treatment.

[american socialist]

So where did that creature Bo Cara ever scurry off too??? He was a disingenuous troll

[John]

He is around. I think he is now chemjeff. The trolls from Junita to Mary Stack to Shreek to Bo are all the same two or three dedicated morons. The only real troll we ever had was Joe from Lowell, who now crawls back in under the name Jackland Ace and maybe Tony who seems to be a legitimately histrionic and disturbed gay guy in Oklahoma. The rest are just franchises run by the same small group of deranged angry leftists who have been haunting Hit and Run virtually since it started.

[american socialist]

Actually i think it is Konima ==== Bo. Chemjeff has a much different writing style

[DanO.]

Hey John, somebody stole your strawberries. I think it was White Indian.

[John]

And you of course know who Wite Indian was because it was likely your franchise. The truth is what it is. You people are nothing if not stupid and transparent.

[John Titor]

I don't think chemjeff is Bo, he's less of a cunt and more naive. Also, his style is different and he's not really a troll. Konima doesn't really come off as Bo either. Despite being a long-winded and elitist ass, Bo wasn't as open about his personality issues as Konima is. I think they're pretty much new. Dan O. is a resident troll however, either Mary or AddictionMyth/dajjal after they mysteriously 'disappeared.'

who seems to be a legitimately histrionic and disturbed gay guy in Oklahoma.

I don't remember this character in Oklahoma.

[american socialist]

I don't know..the other day Konima said he wouldn't respond to me when i said hey Bo only to then respond to me 20+ times after that. If he wasn't Bo, then i am not sure why Konima is so bothered by it

[John Titor]

See what his views on Jefferson, animal rights, or Batgirl and Joker comic book covers are, those are obvious tells.

[american socialist]

Konima what are your views here?

[Konima]

Thomas Jefferson is dead, so he doesn't matter anymore. "Animal rights" is too broad of a topic for me to even know where you're going with it. I don't read comics.

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

J'accuse!

[Konima]

Dude. You are so persistent that it's creepy. The only thing you've proven is that, whatever this Bo fellow did to you, it got under your skin so much that you dedicated yourself to... whatever this is.

[Konima]

Also, the only reason I stopped ignoring you is because I realized how easy it would be to rile you up with Fox News allegations. Looks like it worked.

[american socialist]

Ya can you prove those again so you won't be like trump?

[Konima]

Did you get that zinger from the comments section over at Fox News?

[american socialist]

What zinger? Huh?

[Konima]

Did you learn to feign ignorance over at the comments section of Fox News?

[american socialist]

Can you elaborate

[Konima]

Can you?

[american socialist]

On what?

[Konima]

Anything?

[american socialist]

Bueller?

[Citizen X - #6]

Worst subthread ever, you guys.

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

I don't know, Konima got AmSoc to make 5 inane replies. He kind of proved his point.

[Zeb]

It's really not that hard to believe that there might be more than three people in the world who might come to H&R and behave somewhat similarly. The troll paranoia around here gets kind of funny sometimes.

Anyway, fuck off Tulpa.

[John]

It is not really paranoia. It is that they always say the same things in the same way. And it is also a recognition that H&R isn't that important or well known. So, it doesn't draw much attention.

Zeb, one of the trolls has a youtube channel that obsesses over H&R and the posters here. That same person hacked my Facebook account. No kidding. It's not paranoia. It is the reality.

[Konima]

The lack of self-awareness is interesting. Do you think you bring something fresh to the comments section here? I've yet to see you say something that my coworkers haven't parroted from talk radio.

What does that obviously insane person have to do with everyone else? Why do you even have a Facebook account? What is wrong with you?

[american socialist]

Is this you admitting of being a troll?

[Konima]

He does seem to be admitting to a long history of trolling.

[american socialist]

So yours is short then?

[Zeb]

Yeah, that person exists and is fucked. It's not all paranoia. I don't mean to imply that there aren't any malicious trolls around.
The certainty that every new person that shows up with unpopular views has to be shriek or Bo or Tulpa or whoever is more what I'm talking about.

[John]

Zeb,

That person is all of these troll accounts. It is the same person using multiple accounts. It is all the same idiot, with the exception of Joe and maybe Tony and shreek. The rest of the screen names are the same troll. And it is the same person with the youtube account and all the rest.

They disappear periodically. If you notice the activity goes up and down. They likely get thrown in jail or committed or lose internet access for some reason. But they always come back.

[Konima]

Sounds like John is a crazy.

[Konima]

Is John fake news?

[DanO.]

That same person hacked my Facebook account.

Then he stole my strawberries.

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

Dude, where's my car?

[John Titor]

It certainly doesn't help that there are the insanely obsessive trolls, but yeah, things get a little 'Red Scare' here. Yes, there's communist infiltrators in the United States, no, they aren't using fluoride to try to mind-control you. I don't think it should really be a surprise that some more new people would jump on after the election, but there's certainly some obvious tells when the insane ones try to make a comeback.

And fuck you, you're Tulpa, trying to draw attention away from yourself. I demand blood tests!

[John]

Dano is clearly our usual insane troll. Chemjeff might be an actual moron and the same moron using a new handle. I give it fifty-fifty on that.

[KDN]

I don't remember this character in Oklahoma.

Tony's backstory involves being from OK, working for an energy company, and having a degree in philosophy. These facts have become less germane to the character's trolling over time. Shriek's being stuck in Dogdick, GA is essential to his, but Tony could pull his schtick regardless of where he's from.

[Sevo]

"who now crawls back in under the name Jackland Ace"

I've been watching, and it seems Jack disappeared 11/9/16.
Just a day or so earlier, he had been bragging about how Obo (and presumably the newly-elected hag) 'don't need no Senate to agree to the "Paris World Fixy Thingy", cause executive action!'
I'd have been more than happy to throw that right back into his face.

[John]

Joe is probably in some kind of inpatient treatment facility recovering from the nervous breakdown he had after the election. I wonder if he and Suderman went to the same place.

[DanO.]

That's some funny blather, considering you do most of your chatting from a DHS rubber room.

[John]

Yeah, but the trolls are not all the same person. Nope. not all.

Every day I live well and you don't. The more you whine and cry, the happier it makes me.

[DanO.]

Are you one of Trump's illegitimate brats? The psychosis didn't fall far from the tree.

[LoneWaco]

Chemjeff is a nevertrumper refugee from ace of spades. A libertarian conservative who preferred Hillary.

[chemjeff]

Hey Ace, is that you? Well fuck you. I didn't vote for Hillary, I didn't prefer Hillary, no matter how many times you and your crowd said I did. I simply didn't buy into the HILLARY IS LITERALLY HITLER AND MEANS THE END OF THE REPUBLIC apocalyptic bullshit. Both Hillary and Trump were terrible choices and I proudly didn't vote for either of them. Trump's critics who say TRUMP IS HITLER are wrong, and Ace and his crowd are wrong when they say HILLARY IS HITLER. But since Ace himself admitted that the reason he got into blogging in the first place was to STOP HILLARY back in the 90's/00's, it is not all that surprising that he sold out every principle he had and did everything he could to pimp Trump to stop Hillary, and shame and slam everyone else who stood in the way of that mission, couching everything in terms of "if you don't agree with me that Hillary is Hitler and the worst thing that could ever happen to the Republic then you are on TEAM HILLARY and I'm gonna kick you off my website". To be somewhat fair, pretty much every right-of-center blog did the same thing during the election, so Ace had a lot of company. But Ace formerly stood out as a somewhat free thinker who was willing to challenge the conservative mainstream from time to time. But when it came to the election? Nope. He went all tribal for Trump. So good riddance. Let's see how well Ace does now as just a blog that tries to parrot Breitbart insanity but built on Geocities-era web technology.

[LoneWaco]

See what I mean? And no, I'm not ace. And quit telling people who can and can't stay new guy.

[John Titor]

You got issues man.

[Hihndication]

and the mask comes off. You should have kept control of yourself. You had Tidor defending you and hes one of the real level headed posters.

[chemjeff]

Fuck off, John. You really would be happier at Breitbart or Conservative Treehouse or World Net Daily or another one of the insane right-wing paranoia-filled blogs. Why not go there.

[DanO.]

This place is much smaller, therefore it's easier for a narcissist like John to get noticed. It's really that simple. He hates this place, he hates its writers, he hates libertarianism in general, but he stays because it provides him a free and public soapbox. He would be just so much detritus in the relentless fire hose of commentary at Fox and Breitbart.

[John]

WAAA.

And talking to yourself using one troll handle to another is a sad old trick. And I love this place. Anyone who does enjoy torturing a loser like you has no heart.

[DanO.]

^^ Delusional paranoia on display.

[XenoZooValentine]

I'm just waiting to find out who I am. Tanith, maybe? (We are all Tanith.)

[John]

Go fuck yourself. You idiots have been trying to turn this board into a leftist board for years.

[DanO.]

Persecution complex. Classic.

[chemjeff]

I know, right? Republicans or their appointees now control virtually all levers of power in this country. And yet they still cast themselves as the victims.

[DanO.]

Christians -- America's persecuted minority.

[chemjeff]

Actually, I don't want this board into a leftist board, and never have.

You all, however, do want to turn this place into another "FIGHT THE LEFT" right-wing platform.

[John]

Yes, you never want that. Whatever. No one cares. Really. Go fuck yourself whoever you are.

[DanO.]

Easy, John. In a fetal position and sucking your thumb is the only option left. Pace yourself.

[Sevo]

"Protesters rally against travel ban at SFO"
http://www.sfgate.com/news/art.....982099.php

I guess that's news.

[Rhywun]

But they lacked the numbers that helped drive a nationwide backlash to a first round of restrictions in late January.

LOL more 5-dimensional chess

[XenoZooValentine]

Why is chessmaster some kind of badge of honor, anyway? I think the smartest day of my life was figuring out that I hated that game, I sucked at it, and learning it just to impress other people would be a massive waste of my time.

Seriously, fuck Chess.

[John]

A good number of the greatest chess players in history were flat out nuts. Bobby Fisher comes to mind. And Gary Kasparov has pretty much gone off the deep end lately.

The big myth about chess is that it requires a logical mind. At the highest levels, a logical mind won't help you in chess. Chess is about the ability to recognize patterns. A chess master sees the pattern and knows the move to make. He doesn't think through it "if I do this, my opponent does this" like beginners do. The ability to see patterns and have a savant memory for positions is not really a kind of intelligence that translates well to many other things. So, yeah, the idea that chess masters have some super intelligence over everyone else is not true at all.

[Fascist loofa-faced shitgibbon]

Jesus Christ, is there nothing you don't know?

[Jerryskids]

All I want to know is: where is Robbie's review of the Switch?

[Domestic Dissident]

Wooo doggie, hello "Vault 7" and possibly another Edward Snowden. This is going to be good!

[XenoZooValentine]

Today is National Pancake Day

Relevant:

http://www.theonion.com/articl.....ncakes-835

Also relevant:

http://www.theonion.com/articl.....ds-to-2205

[DanO.]

Only nine more comments to 300 and I get a bonus check from Soros. C'mon, people, you can do it.
Have I mentioned that Trump has a dead skunk on his head?

[BigT]

Someone mentioned the troll Jack-and-ace. He was obsessed with global warming and I frequently swatted him down for his stupidity.

Well, in his memory:

Cold extermination: One of greatest mass extinctions was due to an ice age and not to Earth's warming
March 6, 2017

The Earth has known several mass extinctions over the course of its history. One of the most important happened at the Permian-Triassic boundary 250 million years ago. Over 95% of marine species disappeared and, up until now, scientists have linked this extinction to a significant rise in Earth temperatures. But researchers have now discovered that this extinction took place during a short ice age which preceded the global climate warming. It's the first time that the various stages of a mass extinction have been accurately understood and that scientists have been able to assess the major role played by volcanic explosions in these climate processes

https://tinyurl.com/jjbwknj

[AlexInCT]

Maybe the warmism cultists, after realizing nobody sane was buying into the sky-is-falling paranoia to sell big government and social justice, now are going back to the original argument that we should let them control everything because of global cooling?

The lesson here is that these idiots have no clue about climate but hope we are all too stupid to know better and because of all the fear mongering let them implement their fascist world government dreams.

[Bacon-Magic glib reasonoid]

Great comments! Anyone check out Wikileaks lately?

[AlexInCT]

This is going to be fun to watch... Especially the revelations of how Obama managed to use government to do all the illegal shit Nixon could only dream of ever making it do...

[DanO.]

Can't wait! In the meantime, let's make up some shit!