The Next President is...

[Sua Sponte]

1 minute ago, Blue said:

Worst trade in the history of the WNBA.

This trade is now the #1 worst trade, bumping the Russell Wilson trade to the Broncos as #2.

[HeloDude]

So Biden literally colluded with Russia for political gain…

[lloyd christmas]

51 minutes ago, HeloDude said:

So Biden literally colluded with Russia for political gain…

And released one of the biggest arms dealers in history while advocating for a ban on assault/semi-automatic weapons.  

[arg]

[Guest nsplayr]

On 12/8/2022 at 12:06 AM, Lawman said:

Yeah we’ve been here before bro. So you can stop acting like the GOP is some sort of problem to this.

Not saying the GOP is particularly complicit, this one truly is "both sides."

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) is leading the charge for a new bill that I think would help. I'd love to see all federal elected public officials (including the President/VP/Cabinet) and state/territory governors required to fully release tax returns, disclose investments, and place those investments into a blind trust until they are out of office.

Clearly the benefits of and temptation to trade on insider information are overwhelming.

Edited December 9, 2022 by nsplayr

[ClearedHot]

1 hour ago, nsplayr said:

Not saying the GOP is particularly complicit, this one truly is "both sides."

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) is leading the charge for a new bill that I think would help. I'd love to see all federal elected public officials (including the President/VP/Cabinet) and state/territory governors required to fully release tax returns, disclose investments, and place those investments into a blind trust until they are out of office.

Clearly the benefits of and temptation to trade on insider information is overwhelming.

So you want the Biden method where the kid collects 10% for the "Big Guy."

[waveshaper]

23 hours ago, Blue said:

Worst trade in the history of the WNBA.

WNBA: Not sure if she/it/etc - is a real W based on these photos?

 

[Prozac]

8 minutes ago, waveshaper said:

WNBA: Not sure if she/it/etc - is a real W based on these photos?

 

Not new: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/aug/09/facebook-posts/no-basketball-star-brittney-griner-not-man/

I admit, after hearing her speak, I wondered myself. Goes to show that despite our own limited personal experiences, there are people at the extremes of the bell curve. Lo and behold, if you’re a six foot nine muscular woman you just might find your way into the WNBA. 

[Sua Sponte]

 

[SpeedOfHeat]

7 hours ago, Sua Sponte said:

I'm cheering hard for the GOP, I really am.  But they need to put forth candidates that aren't obvious idiots.  So glad that this dumbass lost.  The scariest thing is that it was close.  1.7 million people thought he should be a US Senator.

[bfargin]

40 minutes ago, SpeedOfHeat said:

I'm cheering hard for the GOP, I really am.  But they need to put forth candidates that aren't obvious idiots.  So glad that this dumbass lost.  The scariest thing is that it was close.  1.7 million people thought he should be a US Senator.

No, 1.7 million saw the numbnuts warnock and thought, no way in hell, and then said I'd rather have someone brighter than POTUS but still not all there.

[arg]

1 hour ago, SpeedOfHeat said:

I'm cheering hard for the GOP, I really am.  But they need to put forth candidates that aren't obvious idiots.  So glad that this dumbass lost.  The scariest thing is that it was close.  1.7 million people thought he should be a US Senator.

Warnok is a POS scumbag. This was a case of scumbag vs idiot. I would have voted for the idiot.

[SpeedOfHeat]

I get that to you two, given the decision, it was preferable to take the idiot instead of the scumbag.  But the majority of GA voters didn't think so. 

Inflation out of control, nonsense covid mandates, Afghanistan debacle, shitshow at the border, etc. etc.  A scumbag senator who supports all that should be easy to defeat.  Especially in the South.   

But instead he won.  Because Walker was, among many other things, an insufferable moron.

If the GOP wants to win elections, they have to put forward better candidates.  It's not too much to ask.  The candidate that could have beat Warnock didn't have to be perfect, or a genious.  He or she just had to be someone of decent character who could speak moderately well.  Instead, they put up a complete fool, and this is the price they pay.

[bfargin]

24 minutes ago, SpeedOfHeat said:

I get that to you two, given the decision, it was preferable to take the idiot instead of the scumbag.  But the majority of GA voters didn't think so. 

Inflation out of control, nonsense covid mandates, Afghanistan debacle, shitshow at the border, etc. etc.  A scumbag senator who supports all that should be easy to defeat.  Especially in the South.   

But instead he won.  Because Walker was, among many other things, an insufferable moron.

If the GOP wants to win elections, they have to put forward better candidates.  It's not too much to ask.  The candidate that could have beat Warnock didn't have to be perfect, or a genious.  He or she just had to be someone of decent character who could speak moderately well.  Instead, they put up a complete fool, and this is the price they pay.

I completely agree, but your ridicule of GA's 1.7 million who voted correctly given 2 shitty choices, was misguided. The GOP def screwed the pooch, but lets be honest, even a good candidate would have struggled given the fervor the leftist have for tanking this nation.

[brabus]

34 minutes ago, SpeedOfHeat said:

If the GOP wants to win elections, they have to put forward better candidates

That’s it boys, right there. Bitch all you want about all the shithead voters in this country, but that will accomplish nothing. This is the only way forward to get the GOP back where it should be, and stop the insanity the Dems (via progressive takeover) have inflicted on our country. 

[ClearedHot]

[Guest nsplayr]

13 hours ago, arg said:

Warnok is a POS scumbag.

I’m genuinely curious if you just think all Democrats are POS scumbags or if you have some issues with Warnock specifically.

Edited December 10, 2022 by nsplayr

[Prozac]

36 minutes ago, nsplayr said:

I’m genuinely curious if you just think all Democrats are POS scumbags or if you have some issues with Warnock specifically.

That’s just it. Republicans & conservative media have perfected the art of absolutely demonizing any D candidate (or sitting representative for that matter) as an existential threat to America & their voters are eating that shit up. Unfortunately, the tactic works quite well. To be fair, liberals seem to be trying the same tactic, but they’re not nearly as good at it. 

[arg]

1 hour ago, nsplayr said:

I’m genuinely curious if you just think all Democrats are POS scumbags or if you have some issues with Warnock specifically.

No I don't automatically think that. This guy is about as reverend as Sharpton and Jackson. 

[ClearedHot]

1 hour ago, Prozac said:

That’s just it. Republicans & conservative media have perfected the art of absolutely demonizing any D candidate (or sitting representative for that matter) as an existential threat to America & their voters are eating that shit up. Unfortunately, the tactic works quite well. To be fair, liberals seem to be trying the same tactic, but they’re not nearly as good at it. 

Liberals are not nearly as good...HUH...You won the Senate.  Ever heard of Deplorables or Mega-MAGA?  Come on man!

[Blue]

11 hours ago, SpeedOfHeat said:

If the GOP wants to win elections, they have to put forward better candidates.  It's not too much to ask.  The candidate that could have beat Warnock didn't have to be perfect, or a genious.  He or she just had to be someone of decent character who could speak moderately well.  Instead, they put up a complete fool, and this is the price they pay.

At first blush, it really looks like both parties are pretty awful at developing any kind of "bench" of up-and-comers.

Then, you realize the up-and-comers are out there, serving in the US House and various state government positions.  It's just that the DNC and RNC do equally awful jobs of elevating people off the bench.  Instead, they seem to reach beyond the bench and grab these oddball outsiders.  Who knows why; there are questions of money, power, conspiracy that I'm sure others can opine on.

To make it worse, both parties are seem to neglect the process of "gracefully" shuffling the "elder members" into retirement.  So all us little people end up with this current crop of geriatric, ossified leadership.  And when one of those fossils finally decides to hang it up, or kicks the bucket, we end up with the Theater of the Absurd like Warnock / Walker.

Before the current Warnock / Walker saga, you had the Georgia Senate race of 2020.  Spent way more time than I wanted to reading about that race , but I just couldn't pull myself away from the train wreck.

A shorth history below as I could summarize it from a couple hours of falling down the rabbit hole.  TL;DR, the Georgia Senate seat that Warnock just won has been a source of all kinds of odd behavior since Johnny Isakson announced his early retirement in 2019.  Like a story arc from the West Wing or House of Cards, but less believable. 

Quote

 

In 2004, Johnny Isakson (R) was elected to the Senate.  He had a pretty decent pedigree of serving in the House for six years, and various other position (Georgia state government, etc).

He was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2016, but announced he'd still run for re-election anyway.  I'm no health expert, and I know living with Parkinson's is a complex topic.  Regardless, at that point he was a 72-year old diagnosed with a degenerative disease, running for another six-year term in the US Senate.  It was painfully clear that there needed to be planning for a successor.  Isakson ended up serving only three years of his six year term, retiring in Dec 2019.  He died a short two years later.

Isakson handily won three elections to the Senate, and by all accounts, seemed to be a pretty talented politician and a decent human being.  Surely with 3+ years of notice, the State of Georgia and the RNC could have come up with a worthy successor, right?  Indeed, they needed to appoint someone who could "hit the ground running," since by Georgia state law, whoever they appointed would take office Jan 2020, and then be up for reelection less than 12 months later.

With that challenge before them, surely they'd find a worthy successor to Isakson, right?

Many in Georgia supported Rep Doug Collins.  He held an impressive resume, including serving as a chaplain in both the US Navy and US Air Force, a law degree, and had served in the Georgia Statehouse, as well as the US House.  Certainly Collins, or someone with a similar pedigree and appeal to Georgia voters would be appointed?

Nope.  Georgia Governor Brian Kemp appointed Kelly Loeffler, a political neophyte who's resume essentially consisted of working a couple years in finance, and then marrying the CEO of a financial exchange she worked at in the early 2000s, catapulting her into the 1%.  As an aside, at the time they were married, Loeffler was a blonde in her early 30s, while her husband was a wealthy balding dude in his late 40s.  Who says you can't sleep your way to the top anymore?

Not to be outdone, when the time came for the DNC to put their own candidate in the 2021 runoff election, they chose Raphael Warnock, a candidate with a resume just as think as Loeffler, who's primary accomplishments revolve around being a popular Baptist pastor.

Loeffler lost the election by a slim 2% margin to Warnock, setting up the current Warnock / Walker train wreck.

Walker's ascendancy seems to be just as absurd as Loeffler and Warnock.  He at least had some decent name recognition from an NFL career.  He boasted of success in business and some nebulous claims about working "in law enforcement."  A somewhat decent resume for an "outsider" candidate.  Except that all of those claims were proven to either be outright false or incredibly inflated with just a little bit of vetting.

 

 

[Prozac]

1 hour ago, ClearedHot said:

Liberals are not nearly as good...HUH...You won the Senate.  Ever heard of Deplorables or Mega-MAGA?  Come on man!

Focused on a single candidate/sitting president. Dems have not been successful at convincing their voters that the entirety of the Republican Party is evil like the fruits of the devil, as have conservatives with their voting base. The only reason Dems won the Senate is because of the objective awfulness of Republican candidates (ref. The Herschel Walker discussion), not because voters are convinced Republicans suck. In fact, I’d wager there are many voters out there wishing the Rs would actually put up candidates they could stomach voting for. These midterms were Republicans’ to lose, & they lost spectacularly. 

[FLEA]

1 hour ago, Prozac said:

Focused on a single candidate/sitting president. Dems have not been successful at convincing their voters that the entirety of the Republican Party is evil like the fruits of the devil, as have conservatives with their voting base. The only reason Dems won the Senate is because of the objective awfulness of Republican candidates (ref. The Herschel Walker discussion), not because voters are convinced Republicans suck. In fact, I’d wager there are many voters out there wishing the Rs would actually put up candidates they could stomach voting for. These midterms were Republicans’ to lose, & they lost spectacularly. 

You are fundamentally wrong here. Democrats have done an AMAZING job of convincing their base that Republicans are generally evil. In fact, both parties have successfully contorted their cultural war platform into a morality war platform, which has provided vigor to their base that this is a political fight that needs won for moral reasons. If I don't support democratic/liberal/progressive values I am clearly a racist, a misogynist, homophobic, fascist etc... This has blanket applied to every single Republican candidate in every election and progressives have pushed and promoted it. 

[ClearedHot]

3 hours ago, Prozac said:

Focused on a single candidate/sitting president. Dems have not been successful at convincing their voters that the entirety of the Republican Party is evil like the fruits of the devil, as have conservatives with their voting base. The only reason Dems won the Senate is because of the objective awfulness of Republican candidates (ref. The Herschel Walker discussion), not because voters are convinced Republicans suck. In fact, I’d wager there are many voters out there wishing the Rs would actually put up candidates they could stomach voting for. These midterms were Republicans’ to lose, & they lost spectacularly. 

I disagree with that assessment.  Not only did the DNC push that narrative, they purposely endorsed and DONATED to so called MAGA candidates in the primaries.  While Herschel walker was a horrible candidate, not all GOP options were terrible.   I think the abortion decision tipped the balance, and will likely continue to do so. 

One thing is perfectly clear, the polls are crap and candidates better find new ways to address what is really important to voters.

[Guest nsplayr]

2 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

One thing is perfectly clear, the polls are crap and candidates better find new ways to address what is really important to voters.

FWIW the polls this cycle were quite good, especially if you followed the credible aggregators and especially if they took some of the Trafalgars of the world with a grain of salt. A small Dem over performance that tipped many close senate races their way doesn’t discount the value of polls, especially when considered as a whole.

https://www.axios.com/2022/11/11/polls-performance-midterms-results

Edited December 11, 2022 by nsplayr