Will somebody please punch Ted Cruz in the face?

K, thx

PredictIt just opened a market for the 2020 Dem primaries...

Sanders - .19
Warren - .19
Harris - .16
Biden - .15
Booker - .13
Kaine - .06
Gillibrand - .05
Cuomo - .04
Klobuchar - .04
Zuckerberg - .03

Booker seems low. Sanders and Warren too high. Fuck Cuomo.

Along that same line and closer to home for me:

KY Governor: Charlottesville Happened Because We Took the Bible Out of Schools – Friendly Atheist


He's pretty much mini-Trump in KY. Or as I call him, Dear Leader. The funny thing is, I think he's only on this religious march, because he knows it plays well here. His big effort to fight crime in bad areas of Louisville was to send people to the street corners to pray for people.

I'm surprised Bevin doesn't have a job in the Trump admin yet-he would seem to be a perfect fit. And don't let anything like the separation of church and state get in the way of your preaching governor.

How is that working out for the crime rate?

they were too busy dodging bullets to have the time to pray.

If only there was a way to check and see if the Klan was prevalent while school prayer was allowed.

We didn't take the bible out of schools. We didn't take prayer out of schools. Anyone making such an argument is either lying or ignorant.

Jim Bakker Warns That All Six Of His Followers Will Start Civil War If Trump Impeached

So they will rise up if the anti-christ is impeached?

Must stand by the thrice married philanderer. Not hypocrites at all.

That's a funny link. You wouldn't think he'd have many followers left after what he's done, but that whole forgiveness thing and all...

Yeah I think that's what so funny/ironic/sad about the whole thing. If Trump had been running as a D instead of an R, that's exactly what they would have called him. All these preachers who praised him would have villified him-and they never would have voted for him.

I think Biden would be great if he was 4 years younger. Not a fan of Warren or Harris. I'd probably be for Kaine but he seems like a giant charisma vacuum.

Zuckerberg is really interesting to me. I think he's a smart guy who'd surround himself with smart people. Feels like he'd be a bit of a centrist. Has some skeletons and would be tough to appeal to the general population, but I like that he's young.

Maybe I'm in the minority and maybe it's ageist, but I feel like we should be looking for younger candidates. It's a stressful job, the mind starts to go as we get older, and it requires a ton of energy. I know there are plenty of people who can handle it but maybe we shouldn't be looking in that direction.

Younger people might be more inclined to give a shit about the not-so-distant future too, policy-wise.

Please no Zuckerberg.

I dont think Sanders or Warren are the answers. Unless a loss it was the dems are shooting for.

Those 2 get the same voter turn out for Trump as the last election.

Surely they have someone young and charismatic like B Clinton or Obama.

No Zuckerberg or Cuban. We don't need our own Trump. Also, fuck Cuomo.

I honestly thought all the Obama/Katrina stuff was the work of trolls or bots. I really didn't think anyone could actually make that argument with a straight face, but then a high school friend posted this is a Facebook thread:

I think it's clear that 'cult of personality' has done well in any regard. Obama had it, Trump has it, it's a new winning methodology. Who else?

Strong personalities, and leaders on the left would most likely do well, regardless of their political experience or motivations. People who can connect, ala Sanders, or Zuck or Cuban, hell, even the Rock could be a viable candidate. Doesn't mean they'd make good Presidents, but they could go deep. The playing field has changed. If they fail to recognize that they are set to lose again.

I like Biden. Too old by the time 2020 rolls around.

Sanders/Warren will have the age thing as well, but they also violate my "ideologues in the Senate, moderates on the ticket" rule for how you Get Shit Done (tm). Politically speaking, you want someone in the White House who'll sign what you send him/her, but you want your firebrand ideologues in Congress where they can shape that legislation. In reverse, you wind up with a central polarizing figure and a Congress that isn't all that attached to your policy goals. Warren and Sanders might excite the base but they'd be polarizing enough that it's a legit question whether they'd attract the middle.

Kamala Harris and Cory Booker might be able to reactivate the Obama coalition, but you can bet the GOP would hang the 'freshman Senator' label around their necks, remind everybody how little Senatorial experience Obama had when he ran for President and generally scaremonger about "another racial minority feeling entitled to the Presidency without putting in the work," or a dog whistle to that effect.

Kaine is probably bland enough to fit the 'personable moderate who's friendly to your party's legislation' mold.

Gillibrand and Klobuchar are both young enough, female enough, and liberal enough to get the base excited. I don't know enough about either to know whether they can attract moderates/independents.

As far as celebrity longshots go I think you probably need a certain bombasticism to make that work. Dwayne Johnson is charismatic enough, telegenic enough, and has the name recognition to do that, I think. Not sure there are any other left-of-center celebs mulling a run who have that mix. Zuckerberg's got the young, rich, technocrat thing going for him but I don't know if that translates into "can generate enough excitement to win the nomination."

Why not? I'm about putting the smartest people in power. Whether they're Democrat or Republican. I think Zuckerberg and Cuban are smart. Trump is not.

I don't think business success necessarily translates to political skill. Zuckerberg especially seems like he'd be a terrible politician.

Zuckerberg has the charisma and personality of a wet towel, he wouldn't get far.

I bought some Kaine. Don't know if he'll win the nomination, but he seems like he's going to have his generic white guy moment in the sun and bump up into the top tier at some point.

Trump pardoned Arpaio. He did this for three reasons. First, he wanted to. Trump does not seem to have a large core of political beliefs, but whatever that core is, Arpaio embodies it. Second, it was an easy way to strengthen support with GOP voters. Finally, he wanted to send the message that his pardon power is politically unchecked. He pardoned Arpaio, and the GOP leaders in Congress nodded along and said "Great Job, Dear Leader!"

This sends the message to anyone involved in Russian shenanigans, "Hey, don't cut any deals for immunity. I'll pardon everyone at the end anyway, so you can get out of this without admitting any guilt."

Tactically, it was a smart move.

Which is why Mueller's counter move is so potentially powerful:

Politico: Bob Mueller is working with NY AG Eric Schneiderman on his investigation into Paul Manafort. https://t.co/VcLw22qfff

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 30, 2017

I would love to be the fly on the wall when someone has to explain to Trump that he can't pardon anyone for state crimes.

Also, I don't think that I'll be playing chess against Robert Mueller anytime soon.

Yep. LOVE this move by Mueller.

They didn't say "Great Job, Dear Leader," though. Several Republicans have been public in saying "whoa hey no this should not have happened." Some have been more mealy-mouthed, like "I wouldn't have done this but yeah he has the right to do it," but virtually nobody has been like "woo Arpaio pardon party go!"


'Cept that isn't how pardons work. Burdick says that the issuance of a pardon carries with it the imputation of guilt, and accepting the pardon carries with it an "acceptance" of guilt.

A more accurate statement would be "I'll pardon everyone at the end anyway so there won't be any consequences for you."


I'm not sure I agree that it was a tactically sound move, because it has the effect of ratcheting up the heat with Mueller's counter.

And if, say, the President is suddenly facing impeachment (ha ha ha that'll happen but bear with me) the Supreme Court could, in theory, rule that the impeachment exception to the pardon power applies not just to prohibiting the President from pardoning people who have been impeached, but from pardoning people who might otherwise have a material effect on his or her own impeachment proceedings (again, ha ha ha that'll happen but bear with me).

So if that's the trump card up his sleeve (pun absolutely intended), timing could matter on when he plays it.

"Oh my god. It's the most rain ever! It's a disaster quite possibly worse than Katrina! What are we going to do?"

"Take a billion from the disaster relief fund put it towards a useless wall!"

Seriously, the optics on this are something out of Snively Whiplash

President Donald Trump is promising billions to help Texas rebuild from Hurricane Harvey, but his Republican allies in the House are looking at cutting almost $1 billion from disaster accounts to help finance the president’s border wall.

The pending reduction to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief account is part of a spending bill that the House is scheduled to consider next week when Congress returns from its August recess. The $876 million cut, part of the 1,305-page measure’s homeland security section, pays for roughly half the cost of Trump’s down payment on a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

It seems sure that GOP leaders will move to reverse the disaster aid cut next week. The optics are politically bad and there’s only $2.3 billion remaining in disaster coffers.

https://www.apnews.com/83e6782d48e04...um=AP_Politics

I personally really like Kaine, but I'd offer you a gentleman's wager he doesn't ever get to the top tier. I think the VP debate and his general absence from that campaign showed him as fairly weak nationally, and I just don't see him gaining much traction.

I think he will have too much Clinton stigma attached to ever make him a serious candidate again.

Gotta save money to loose money. Wait, that's not how that one goes ... Coincidentily this may be the one chance for the battle against man-made climate change, appeal to people on an economical level: Spend money now to save a lot more money to clean up the mess later.

I'm all in on Booker. I think he's the best all around candidate the Dems have. I could be sold on Gillibrand, Klobuchar, and maybe Harris. But above all else, fuck Cuomo.

I mean, I like Booker, but he's kind of Obama 2.0, right? It's going to be difficult to get the nomination, when you have this faction of Democrats who are going off the deep left end and aren't going to like how cozy Booker is to Wall Street. Booker does have charisma though.

Hopefully the Bernie crowd will realize an imperfect candidate is better than the utter disaster candidate next time.

Last election proved the Bernie coalition isn't enough, even when they have the perfect candidate to run their message against. And I think his charisma can help overcome some of those concerns as well.

Gabbard can't even get .01?

If it's 1 on 1, yeah, the Bernie folks don't have enough, but if you have a whole host of candidates, that's when the craziness can occur (ask the GOP). So, in essense, Booker needs to work on getting some of the suggested candidates back him before the primaries start, so it's just like him vs. Harris and Gillibrand (who is so physically resemblent of Clinton, she'll likely get no votes just on that basis) or something.

I think that it is silly to criticize a President for immediate tele-optics after a disaster. As much as I dislike Trump, he's no better or worse because he went to Texas and didn't get his people to find a displaced family for him to hug.

That said, people did jump on him for going to Texas and not "meeting the victims."

And, then, wouldn't you know it? Look what VP Pence is doing? Make sure to get his good side, OK? The man looks positively G.W. Bush-like there in Texas in his boots and jeans.

Pence helps clean up debris from downed trees in Rockport. pic.twitter.com/ThKVmQqTM5

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) August 31, 2017

If you ask Pence about Trump leaving before his term expires, he will get indignant at you even asking the question and indicate that he remains 100% behind the President.

Because, really, what else is he going to say?

She's not worth .000001

I would vote for Manchin over her.

Absolutely.

I don't know how any of this plays out but Manafort always seemed like the scummiest of the bunch and had a lot of shady people in his pockets.

My guess is Manafort and Flynn get brought up on some kind of charges. Maybe a couple lesser known people as well. They get pardoned on the federal charges.

Bernie Sanders — We Shall Overcome (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube

Bernie Sanders once recorded a folk album.

I just wanted everyone to remember that.

I get its not as easy as Trump said it would be and Mexico is certainly not paying for it (and Winter has already come!) but I'm glad to see any progress with the wall.

Trump Wall Moves Forward With Firms Tapped for Designs - NBC News

With the shift in the electorate & the very expanded nomination process/campaign schedule, charisma & energy are the two most important things.
That said, even while I've been advocating for Booker for awhile, 3 years is an awfully long time for something to happen (remember how Giuliani looked like a lock at times?), so I'm not sure .13 is too low a price for him. I definitely agree .19 is too high for others, Warren in particular. I assume there's no Field option in this one, and I think Cuban would have a better chance as celeb du jour than Zuckerberg.
Better than Jill Stein's.

Wall probably won't do much if it even gets funding. And it just opens the door for a Dem to run on tearing the whole thing down in 2020.

To really appreciate it, you need to listen to the original Russian version.

Booker is so charismatic, even I like him.