Gromnir

have mentioned previous how our views on affirmative action have changed. am not suggesting one need be straightjacketed. nevertheless, if views change, is good to ask why. explanation is required, yes? otherwise appears, at best, fickle. at worst? we were sympathetic towards bill clinton's impeachment, right up until he perjured himself. the idea the whitewater investigation would lead to a stained dress were kinda embarrassing and we chastised republicans for indulging such obvious overreach. even so, we couldn't accept clinton lying under oath. failure o' republicans to play fair did not exonerate clinton's perjury. am not seeing how so many republicans who sought to political crucify clinton could simple change their mind 'bout what constitutes impeachable offenses and what is a President's duty to comply with Congressional oversight. if you tell us such were an evolution o' thought process you are gonna understand our lack o' faith, yes? reasons offered so far do not appear to be so much fickle as they is mercenary and self serving. from start this whole ukraine thing were all kinda ugly as the wh tried and bury the ig report on the whistleblower complaint regarding the july call 'tween trump and zelensky. ig needed to step up and step forward 'cause wh were not following requirements imposed on them by law regarding an ig report once it were determined to be urgent and credible. am not certain how that issue keeps getting swept aside. is noteworthy such were only the first o' many acts by the wh which had our head spinning. is no excuse whatsoever for burying the ig report, and yes, as is violation o' statute, is technical a crime to fail such reporting. pretty much a day 1 fail... and went downhill from that point. can change mind. however, when the change appears on its face to be partisan or self serving or biased, then am thinking is appropriate for people such as Gromnir to be suspicious o' motives. is hard to believe so many republicans and democrats evolved. w/o some evidence, am not believing the motivations o' either group. however, like it or not, this is one situation where consistency adds credibility in our mind, particular when is consistent and against interest. woulda' been far easier for romney on 2/6/2020 if on 2/5/2020 he had voted not to convict. imagine motives which is contrary to interests is less than compelling and require a bit of imagination, yes? is another situation we ain't gonna change hearts and minds. doomed. nevertheless, am thinking romney is right 'bout history. yeah, republican voters will forgive, but history's rebuke will be felt by more than one senator who did not do as romney and vote their conscience. HA! Good Fun!

well, that and conscience, but am agreeing history is a big factor. romney no doubt believes history will not look 'pon the trump Presidency favorable. the thing is, am wondering when medicineD's opinion o' romney changed. were policy stands on medicare or deficit spending? converse, if what changed your opinion o' romney is his position on trump, then am thinking you might have reason to reflect. isn't first time we posted the following: did you mock obama and perhaps cheer romney when we posted in the past? while not a voting republican in 2020, am a conservative as anybody following these boards for a few years could attest. we had more than a few choice words for hillary clinton and barack obama, particular in matters o' foreign policy. 'course we also preffered john kerry to george bush. am a free agent but am, for the most part, a rational fiscal conservative with libertarian views o' fundamental rights. our views has been, for the most part, consistent regardless o' who is running for President. just as our views on deficit spending and national debt didn't change when trump became President, our views o' mitt romney also remained constant. if medicineD's views o' romney has changed, and essential reason for the shift is the utah senator's views o' trump, then am thinking medicineD needs take a step back and reflect a bit, 'cause such would on its face appear to be a condemnation o' medicineD as 'posed to romney. HA! Good Fun!

"Were I to ignore the evidence that has been presented and disregard what I believe my oath and the Constitution demands of me for the sake of a partisan end, it would - I fear - expose my character to history’s rebuke and the censure of my own conscience."

the 'bove linked foxbiz article is amusing. it ignores actual effects o' school vouchers and who tends to use. is a bit like a tax break on non-pickup motor vehicles exceeding a certain weight which is not used predominant for work. were actual a thing which a few states used in past years. sure, anybody may use the tax break, but it quick becomes apparent the tax incentive is geared towards luxury suvs. now perhaps there is good reasons why a state would wanna encourage luxury suv ownership, but pretend as if the tax break is anything other than a rich guy incentive is skeevy. were also curious 'bout claim democrats had been in favor o' school vouchers. perhaps maybe one or two democrats somewhere, but any kinda general support for vouchers in the past 50 years were unknown to us. did some digging and discovered the current administration lumps in gi bill as being a school voucher program when making claims o' previous democrat support. there is legit arguments for favoring school vouchers, but am not certain why some proponents need so obvious skew and indulge in alternative facts silliness to make a point. HA! Good Fun!

so did you pony up 10k? am seeing the "party with the devs in moscow" reward at the 10k tier. HA! Good Fun!

tactical nukes launched from stealthy submarines. am feeling safer already. perhaps not the most creative response to the growing list o' asymmetric threats the US faces, but at least it's worse than nothing. HA! Good Fun!

did a fair 'mount o' fishing for channel cat near clinton. spent a 4th of july in clinton, one o' our favorite 4ths. can honest say we like iowa based on our clinton time. job stuff had us visit iowa city and ames. wanted to catch a football game in both towns, but didn't happen. can tell you more 'bout our hotel rooms than the respective cities. have never been to des moines, but we learned name in school and am suspecting it is one o' the more common mispronounced state capitals... probable right behind pierre, sd. drove through multiple towns and used restrooms and ate at roadside diners, but am doubting such counts. enjoyed clinton a whole bunch. at least in the 80s it were a prototype midwestern town. we paid especial close attention to trump's state o' the union. beyond the predictable web of lies we anticipated, there were a whole lotta appeals to religious right. from pointless claims 'bout school prayer (school prayer he is talking 'bout is already legal everywhere) to abortion, were frequent appeals to religious right. added: as mentioned already, am thinking we made a mistake. just as trump were clear making an appeal to minorities with many o' his speech promises and observations, the religious appeals is not limited to the far right. appeal to christian values (not necessarily our notion o' christian values) may appear to be an appeal to his base, but am suspecting we are failing to recognize how widespread is views we do not share. like gd and others, we cannot figure out why voters should be offended by rainbow colors, but it may be a mistake to ignore how many nevertheless is bothered by such even in 2020. ... so what does hurl think 'bout those "failing government schools" from which children need be saved? HA! Good Fun!

in iowa at least, buttigeg appears to be the moderate's choice instead o' biden. ... the rolling stone article we recent linked had an impact 'pon us. we don't take the article as gospel (bad pun) but am recognizing how in spite o' fact we speak with hardcore catholics multiple times a week, am suspecting they is being restrained with a few o' their criticisms o' stuff californians in general is overwhelming accepting. an exchange from the article: “As Christians, do you feel like you’re under attack in this country?” I ask. “Yes,” my mom says adamantly. “When did you start feeling that way?” “The day that Obama put the rainbow colors in the White House was a sad day for America,” my aunt replies. “That was a slap in God’s face. Abortion was a slap in his face, and here we’ve killed 60 million babies since 1973. I believe we’re going to be judged. I believe we are being judged.” now am recognizing the ladies in the article ain't the catholic women we see at the food bank, church or the school for homeless kids where we volunteer. a few o' our catholic grandma friends is... salty. have never questioned if we were getting honest from our catholic friends. article portion we quote is anecdotal representing views o' two women from alabama. even so, am suspecting our personal experience and dialogues has misled us 'bout how strong the religious right feels concerning issues other than abortion and the penumbral and elusive concept o' religious freedom. am beginning to believe Gromnir may not be aware o' the degree to which a large % o' americans is offended by "the rainbow colors." a month ago we woulda' beleived buttigeg being in a same-sex marriage were an extreme minor issue for all but an extreme small group o' voters who would never have voted for any democrat anyways. so what? am not so sure today. is easy to forget just how religious is a large % o' 2020 americans. is tougher to forget how such religious folks represent an even larger % o' reliable voters. how many moderate and even liberal christians is genuine offended by the rainbow colors? am not a huge fan o' buttigeg, but such is 'cause we prefer booker and klobuchar as more experienced and capable moderates. may not be fair, but in spite o' booker no longer being in the race we still compare buttigeg to booker and find the mayor o' south bend wanting in most ways that matter. *shrug* being moderate, for Gromnir, is honest the only thing other than military service which buttigeg brings to the table. if many christian voters, christian voters who is democrat and independent, see the devil hoisting the rainbow colors everytime they consider voting for buttigeg... is not fair, but neither was the nightmare the press put geraldine ferraro through... or swift boating. rainbow colors shouldn't be an issue and it will not be an issue for us personal. even so, we didn't think rainbow colors were a serious issue for a 2020 democrat party candidate for President. am no longer certain. HA! Good Fun!

False Idol — Why the Christian Right Worships Donald Trump Conservative pastor: Jesus would have 'beat the crap' out of John Bolton we read stuff like the 'bove and lament how the religious right indulges the perfidy and mendacity o' not only the current wh administration but o' too many o' their so-called religious leaders. the thing is, 40% o' the country reads such stories and nods head sadly at how Gromnir just doesn't get it. am s'posing if the zealotry were limited to religion, we could be more understanding. the folks who helped make abortion a wedge issue in the late 70s and early 80s is honest believers with a certainty they are complicit in the deaths o' thousands if they do not fight for the lives o' the unborn. say what you will, but such folks honest believe if they do not fight with every tool available to them 'gainst wholesale murder o' those most helpless, they will be damned along with all those more intimate and direct involved in abortion. criticize the belief if you will, but recognize the sincerity and the intentions. as impossible as it may be to communicate with the religious zealots (some, not all,) we at least respect their motivations and their beliefs... up until the point where their actions do actual harm to others more than bruised egos and hurt feelings, we kinda/sorta sympathize. am just not able to understand how those same folks who on their knees may literal weep in prayer for the unborn, the impoverished and any in pain are able to look past trump's obvious mercenary motives and his methods which are so antithetical to any kinda christian teaching. regardless, the rolling stone article led us to trump's campaign liaison for christian policy, frank amedia. "touch the ant." HA! Good Fun!

there has been something like a half dozen different locations for the state capital o' california. san francisco were capital for 'bout a year when floods wiped out sacramento before even Gromnir were born. for practical reasons which were more important before instant communication and advances in motor travel, were a tendency to make state capitals geographical centered in a state. denver, for example, is an exception to malc observation, but if you look at a map you will notice how denver is also central located w/i the state o' colorado. 'course maps may be misleading as is the case with oregon and nevada. central located is not just a matter o' as-the-crow-flies geocentric but is also a recognition o' where people actual live. try and have centered in nevada would result in a capital situated in otherwise inhospitable making pre 20th century development and travel prohibitive. none o' which provides an excuse for President o' the USA, and a guy who also wanted to own an nfl team at one time, to be unaware the chiefs play in misery... or missouri for those who have never been to the state in question in january. no, is not a big deal, but am kinda surprised the tweet were corrected rather than the wh attempting a mind bending excuse for why the mistake were actual accurate. unrelated, but more relevant to thread, in spite o' the yard short being the most memorable super bowl moment for us when game clock were running, the following remains our favorite super bowl memory. HA! Good Fun!

might not be as convincing as you believe to rando lump Court decisions together which depend 'pon complete different jurisprudential reasoning. is little basis to analogize the two cases. however, we will observe how dumping the entire fail on citizens is an oversimplification as is hardly a single case which has broken campaign finance. and sure, it resonates as fair that if michael bloomberg or some other billionaire may spend hundreds o' millions o' dollars on a commercial/film temporal proximate to primaries, is no reason a corporation composed o' less wealthy people should be prevented from doing so. the thing is, citizens reasoning depends on twin pillars o' anticipated disclosure requirements and the existence o' corruption laws. is not citizens but rather a complete different line o' cases which undercut traditional notions o' campaign finance corruption and made so outright bribery is actual required to trigger corruption protections. furthermore, Congress could enact meaningful disclosure laws. immediate following citizens there were a push to enact such legislation, but it failed. citizens is not the only problem, but invocation o' the particular fraught decision is convenient shorthand when lamenting current state o' campaign finance and the Court's complicity in the problems which plague election spending. idealized notions o' free speech w/o any recognition o' realities has never been the Court's mo. after all, were 100 years o' cases which citizens functional overturned, cases which warned o' the obvious dangers o' faceless corporations and anonymous donors generating war chests to functional buy elections while simultaneous avoiding tax and disclosure laws. ignore reality has never been an admirable trait in a Justice. ok, now let's talk 'bout SCOTUS recent gerrymandering decisions... HA! Good Fun!

ignoring the obvious solution. HA! Good Fun!

the shnook selective posted those social media examples he were thinking were particular egregious, so we are hardly getting a fair showing. even so, +1000 flagged strikes us as a large number, even if is broad categorized. as abrasive as is Gromnir, take all our posts from this board, near 15 years worth, and only a small fraction o' posts and likes could conceivable get flagged. heck, we dogged avoided wot for many years, so were limited to game development posts for more than a decade. how many such posts would be flagged under any categorization scheme? look at the victim's examples. is all from last few months o' 2019. didn't need dig deep into yesteryear, eh? yeah, if you are jobless then you are having much free time, but the thing 'bout compulsive behaviours is they don't stop just because you got a job. serious, wash this guy off and don't look back is our advice. even so, am recognizing we are old, so we don't get social media. need for people to post personal thoughts public and then reciprocate with likes o' 140/280 character epiphanies from rando bob or betty is beyond our capacity to fully grasp. we purposeful own an old flip phone so as to avoid smartphone umbilical syndrome. am admitting to being out of touch. HA! Good Fun!

dead people can be so inconsiderate. there were a time when we were making monthly 500 km trips from santa barbara to berkeley in a 78 cherokee which were always seeming one rusted bolt away from falling apart somewheres on the 101. only broke down twice in 1.5 years o' such trips, but were nerve wracking even so. HA! Good Fun!

is likely not the point o' the post, but with 351 pages o' documented social media silliness, Gromnir is not hiring the guy regardless o' contents. 351 pages? 351 pages is only the flagged material? is too likely this shnook is gonna be spending a portion o' his working day responding to social media as 'posed to getting work done. don't care what he thinks 'bout billionaires or pronouns or even the seeming endless stream o' new poodle hybrids people thinks is the keen new dog they gotta own 'stead of going to pound and adopting an animal facing euthanization. ... ok, the last one is Gromnir-centric, but fact remains that kinda voluminous social media footprint should be source of shame-face. and yes, we get this opinion is coming from a guy with 7800 posts on a game development message board at the armpit end o' the internet, but am retired. so there. HA! Good Fun!

citizens united decision once again rears its ugly head. the super pacs spawned in a post citizens united America has even senators scrambling to cozy up to any number o' interests, transparent trading integrity for campaign dollars needed to finance increasing expensive reelection campaigns. super pacs exist 'cause o' citizens united and super pacs is one o' the most terrible realities o' 2020 fed politics. mccain-feingold were a once in a generation bit o' legislation in that it had bipartisan support (though hardly universal support)and were fundamentally altering the political landscape in washington. took many congressmen, working against their personal interests, to get mccain-feingold passed. literal once-in-a-lifetime legislation. the Court, in its naivety, appeared convinced disclosure requirements would counter the parade o' horribles imagined by supporters o' mccain-feingold and enumerated by J. stevens. the explosion o' dark money political contributions following the citizens united decision reveals just how wrong were the Justices o' the majority. terrible reality is it is unlikely Congress takes another shot at serious campaign finance reform in any o' our lifetimes. as we noted, mccain-feingold were a once-in-a-lifetime aberration o' Congressmen acting against interest. perhaps worse is recognition even if Congress did try again, the Court might obtuse refuse to look to reality and instead focus 'pon utopian views o' First Amendment standards regarding political speech. HA! Good Fun!

hunter biden had no business getting the job with burisma. truth. bad optics. however, conspiracy theory o' getting the prosecutor fired to somehow help biden's son is just complete and utter nonsense. is questionable shokin, the corrupt ukrainian prosecutor, were even investigating burisma at the time he were fired, and is no evidence at all hunter biden were being targeted, so is weird how this story endures 'mongst the conservative radio crowd. funny thing is, the conspiracy theory mighta' been been more believable if biden had somehow undermined attempts to get shokin fired. IF joe biden had interfered with US efforts and european union demands to get shokin removed so as to keep a corrupt prosecutor in place, one who might be convinced to go easy on burisma just to protect his son's job, then we might have a story. but somehow the conservative radio ilk complete reverses plausible and implausible. *shrug* conspiracy theory nutters is just so weird. is absence o' evidence which sets their brains afire with suspicion. HA! Good Fun!

started laughing as soon as we recognized the old newhart show set. kept laughing when they closed with old newhart show theme music. worked precisely 'cause it were satire o' dallas and st. elsewhere dream sequence stuff. HA! Good Fun!

at times, reduction is helpful. criticize a generalization o' core trump voters, then posit an extreme overgeneralization and finish with a linky from 2016 o' which complete fails to identify core/base-- those who more strongly agree with President as 'posed to those who simple voted for him... or as often as not, against the alternatives. okie dokie. we will note how even trump has identified his base as "poorly educated," no doubt in part as a rejection o' so-called eletists. btw, an oft-cited (democrat and republican) alternative to the maligned exit polls from 2016 is the following: An examination of the 2016 electorate, based on validated voters secret ballot notwithstanding. more recent. Demographic Shift Poised to Test Trump’s 2020 Strategy have pointed out previous how a considerable number o' folks who did vote for trump 2016, and will vote for him again, is transactional voters who do not have particular strong feelings 'bout the President. these folks don't factor into core and is not the target o' his endless campaign rallies. the folks for whom the economy is genuine good are enjoying considerable and continued financial success and thus have an understandable if myopic motivation for wanting to see another 4 years o' trump. 'course educated women who voted for trump in 2016 is ignoring transaction and appear to be leaving trump en masse. however, reality is that educated women were already a notorious small % o' trump voters so their absence will be an only minor loss. perhaps more significant to trump is growing realization working class women is also less likely to vote trump in 2020, and by a significant margin. “If you have lost, in the space of a month, 11 points of support from non-college white women,” said Robert P. Jones, chief executive of the Public Religion Research Institute, “that should give President Trump some pause. That’s a big big group, and they matter in the states where Trump has just got to win — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.” -nyt article from october 2019. The Path to 270 in 2020 working class is, by definition, non college educated. "ignorance" is not a term we used, but is not actual a matter o serious debate as to who the core o' base o' trump voters is. elements o' the trump campaign, no doubt recognizing how the grim reaper alone will be to blame for a loss o' his margin o' victory in numerous battleground states he carried in 2016 is making desperate and illegal efforts to expand the core/base. even so, poorly educated (relative) is indeed synonymous with those identified as the trump base. regardless, trump core/base loyalty is alien to post ww2 US voting history. political landscape in the US is taking on a more european look with greater polarization in spite o' a two-party system which tends to minimize extremism. more curious is how voters who is benefitting little if not at all from s'posed great economy is the bulk o' trump's base. accountability has become a secondary issue? is not a question as to who is trump's base/core. rural working class (i.e. uneducated) is the face o' the base. what is curious is how such folks demanded results from bush 41 and obama but appear satisfied with trump. is proliferation o' highly polarized cable news enough to explain the shift? dunno. HA! Good Fun!

he is representing his constituency. in the past republicans considered the alt-right to be a fringe element filled with "race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot(s)." however, the last three years has forced republicans, particular republicans who are looking to be re-elected, to face reality the alt-right and fringe is now the core. republicans will win or lose their individual state races just so long as they keep the core satisfied. guys such as rand paul, in spite o' the generalized public loathing o' Congress, has never been as popular 'mongst his constituency as he is today. same is true for guys such as the one in the video we linked. what happened? the terrible truth is rand paul started representing his constituency as they are rather than attempting to do what he believed were best for his constituency. circles back to why so many question democracy. shoulda' always been more fear o' democracy, but with untenable income disparity folks is justifiable wondering why it don't matter if you are majority or minority 'cause everybody but the 1% is getting p00ped 'pon. voters is justifiable angry. trump's core is folks who feel marginalized. the trump core is, statistical, uneducated, which might partial explain why they support muslim bans and border walls and ignore warnings from mueller report and impeachment. doesn't matter in long run 'cause trump core is now the core o' pretty much 90% o' national office republicans. is folks who has been told they is part o' the privileged majority for decades but they don't feel particular privileged as they is losing their manufacturing jobs or needing take out another loan they cannot afford to keep their farm viable for one more year. democracy has failed these folks... and every other identifiable group save the 1% has a similar reason to be angry at democracy. alternatives to democracy is worse, and democracy can be fixed in ways other systems cannot. doesn't matter if you feels like you have been taking a beating for decades with democracy as the dominant paradigm. regardless, the terrible truth is rand paul is now representing his constituency. is democracy at work. god help us all. HA! Good Fun! ps Farm bankruptcies jumped 20% in 2019, even with billions in aid from U.S. have made the observation previous how is not shocking the core wanted to believe trump in 2016. the genuine surprise is how Americans, who has always held Presidents more accountable than perhaps is deserved, has ignored trump impotence and incompetence. no other President could fail to deliver so dramatic and consistent and nevertheless maintain a stranglehold on their party.

were more to finale than the last couple minutes o' the newhart finale. regardless, were obvious intentional satire o' dallas. y'know, 'cause it were a comedy and all. suzanne pleshette showing up in finale were brilliant. HA! Good Fun!

we saw a single full episode o' seinfeld and it weren't the finale. while am able to name numerous good tv show finales, am admitting bad ends is even easier to identify. both battlestar galactica finales managed to be terrible? HA! Good Fun!

hurl's dietary issues inspired us to make thai (thaish?) grilled chicken sandwiches with a peanut satay sauce. yummy. in truth, hurl's dietary issues with wheat and nuts and whatnot only occurred to us after making dinner, but were a schadenfreude coincidence. HA! Good Fun!

you can refuse but is pointless. judge will, in every jurisdiction we know, allow alternative service once good faith efforts made for personal service fail. such alternatives include delivery to a responsible agent o' defendant who is over 18 or even mail. am not gonna defend hillary, but for celebs service may be calculated for an embarrassing photo op. refusal is not an attempt to get outta a lawsuit, 'cause chances are you ain't gonna get out o' eventual being actual or constructive served, but such efforts is a way to force mail or other alternative delivery. such alternatives deny the plaintiff a chance to have paparazzi or reporters present for process moment. HA! Good Fun!