The Political Thread

Change for change's sake is not good. Arbitrary change imposed on an entire populous by the mandate of an anointed political class is not good. Organic change is good.

The way I viewed that election, the dems simply had no one to oppose Hilary, which gave her a strong sense of entitlement that didn’t play well with the voters.

The reps didn’t have anyone at all, which allowed a third party candidate to run under the ruse of being a republican.

Had the Republican Party fielded a strong candidate and Trump been forced to run as a true third party candidate the American voters might have stepped out of their idiot comfort zone far enough to give Trump 20-25% of the vote, which might have been enough to at the least smear the electoral college from the traditional election result.

It was an ingenious protest vote campaign pulled off by Trump, especially considering that his supporters were literally coming out of the woods, many living in shanties and a very different lifestyle from their candidate. Call it anything you want today, but that was the most brilliant sneak attack ever pulled in American politics in my lifetime...or at least since JFK stole the 1960 election with a smile and some family slight of hand...

I’d like to see this country grow a decent following for alternative candidates. One unfortunate aspect of that will be the possibility that the office will be won by an athlete, actor/actress, newscaster, podcaster, etc. as it becomes more a popularity contest than about true qualification. Sadly, “qualification” at this point in time means experience, and the game is more of a shell game than anything else...

President or not, guys like Donald and his cronies are going to get more say about what we do than anyone else. They got their way in high school, they got their way in college, and they get their way now and probably will after the apocalypse. They’ll be putting cockroaches to work gathering all the left over Wal Mart bags and pvc piping...the new wealth of the era...

Figured you'd be all over Kavanaugh by now, DoMe.

Here we have our resident self-proclaimed "independent" repeating far-Left platitudes. This is a text book example of partisan hackery and social justice virtue signaling. The defense of Kavanaugh in this case absolutely does not start and end with "why did you wait so long to come forward?" and has absolutely nothing to do with the age, race, or gender of the Senators sitting on the SJC. There is a difference between an allegation and a credible/corroborated allegation. This is not to say this incident did not actually occur but we truly do not have any way of knowing that at this point, especially given the information and evidence as currently provided. We do not presume guilt in this country and in the absence of any corroborating details it is not acceptable to just say "well she said it so it must be true." Nobody who takes that approach is interested in discovering the truth or protecting due process. This is not even to mention that claims of higher profile and of higher consequence (historic consequence in this case) should be subject to extra scrutiny, not less. Destroying people's lives based on this level of standard is an extraordinarily dangerous game and how you cripple a free society. This willingness to destroy a person's life without all of the facts is disgusting and dangerous.

The fact that the allegation is four decades old and the fact that Feinstein sat on (basically hid) it for two months if we are to believe it was to be taken super seriously, are just a piece of the credibility puzzle. In addition, there are basic details missing (where the party took place, when it was, transportation to/from, etc.), there are no corroborating witnesses or accounts, the story does not reconcile with what was in the supposed psychiatrist notes,  every other person who has been named as being present has firmly denied that this ever occurred, the accuser is basically refusing to go on the record (either saying we wont speak to the committee or saying that will but only after delays and with conditions they know to be non-starters). Then you have Ford saying she never told anyone about this incident for 30 years but then people (like this woman Christina King Miranda) coming out and claiming yea everyone knew about this it was all over school at the time then having to basically back-track that statement saying it wasnt really truthful after all (clearly always just meant to be a poison pill)...this hurts the credibility of the claim even further.

Then you have the Democrat talking heads and politicians screaming that this woman must be heard then two seconds later saying its all a big scam to have her come testify. Kavanaugh and Judge have also made legally binding statements to the Senate with Kavanaugh stating immediately and unequivocally that he is willing to testify about this to clear his name. Blasey Ford (the accuser) and the Democrats, on the other hand, appear to be doing everything possible to ensure she does not have to go on the record. This is another telling part of the equation in the credibility calculus.

There is a reason that a HuffPo poll (hardly right-wing) yielded results showing only 26% of people find these claims to be credible, including just 25% of women. Another 32% of respondents said they need to hear more and 14% were "not sure"...which is to basically say, there is not enough information to destroy this person based on the information currently presented.

If this was like Roy Moore, with evidence and corroboration (even though one major piece of their evidence did turn out to be partially forged), I'd be right there with you. There was enough there, even with 40 year old allegations, to say (at the very least) okay theres serious questions about this person. That level does not exist here with what is currently known yet everyone's minds seem already made up. Blasey Ford should come in Monday and tell her story. Kavanaugh, being granted his constitutional right to due process, should then be granted the same forum to defend himself. The vote should follow as scheduled.

A final thought, especially being Ive rambled on and know I have few (if any) allies on this board when it comes to these topics, is that the judiciary does not "decide on women's issues." The role of the judiciary in our constitutional system is to interpret the law as written and rule on its constitutionality. What you are thinking of is the legislature. We should all be fighting for a constitutional originalist judiciary that interprets the Constitution as written with original intent in mind, and force the legislature (the people's representatives) to make changes to the law or constitution if that is what the population wants (collectively as a nation if there is enough support or on a more localized basis). This is a core foundational tenet of American federalism but its become increasingly clear that what the Left really wants is to impose their will by weaponizing the judiciary (9 unelected individuals in black robes).

I’ve voted a Republican in four of the last six Presidential elections, so I’ll leave that  to the readers imagination to ascertain if that might qualify me as an Independent or not. We know with mich, any ideas much to the left of Alex Smith probably denote unpatriotic, radical sympathies, so most of what he says politically ( he is more importantly a studious Yankee fan) should be taken in that context.
All witnesses should be called in this case if there are any. They should testify under oath. Then and only then can we arrive at the truth. Apparently Ford has been receiving death threats and has had to relocate for fears of her personal safety. One of her supporters has also been harassed for speaking her mind. All of this is part and parcel of the type of thuggery people will resort to in service to this corrupt administration. This is exactly why people are afraid to come forward until years later. Sexual predators not only subject their victims to the inhumanity of violence and subjication during the act itself, but can strike again by destroying the victim’s credibility when they are called out. If the prospective SC justice is really interested in practicing what he says is his dedication to fairness and honesty, then what a more perfect opportunity to model that behavior than now?