Cliff Varnell

4 dissenting votes: Stevens, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor

No she didn’t, Ben. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC But Glen Greenwald did. https://www.theusconstitution.org/blog/what-glenn-greenwald-got-wrong-about-the-constitution/

Because the Citizens United Supreme Court case in 2010 declared money is free speech, striking down common sense regulation of campaign finance.

The outcome in the House is in doubt. Smart people outside our country stfu about things where their knowledge is shallow.

Matthew, that’s an unfair attack on the Republican-run Pennsylvania Legislature, and the decisions it made regarding state voting procedures. Another unwarranted attack on a majority Republican Legislature. Buck up, lad.

Yeah? Whattaya see’n?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962_United_States_elections

Purple Tuesday

Right. Since you are not saddled with a binary view, what disturbs you about Biden should also unsettle you about Trump. No? You don’t find his frequently slurred speech and off-on-a-tangent, meandering delivery alarming? How can that be, given your declared non-partisanship? He claims he has a right to possess state secrets at his private residences. Doesn’t impress me as someone with a full set of marbles.

At what point in Trump's tenure did his aggressive deterioration of cognitive function similarly alarm you?

A Blue Tuesday makes this moot.

It means Fancy Bear penetrated the DNC computers and left them vulnerable to hacking by non-state actors. They knew the Russians were involved in leaving the DNC e-mails vulnerable to hacking. Why Hillary Lost: #1 Kris Kobach’s Crosscheck voter purge program. https://www.gregpalast.com/crosscheck-overwhelmingly-purges-legitimate-voters/ #2 James Comey re-opening the Clinton e-mail investigation even though the FBI knew the e-mails were duplicates. #3 Hillary was a poor candidate. #4 Bill went to say Hi to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who’s department was investigating Bill’s wife. She had to recuse from the case, giving Comey a free hand to shiv the Hill 11 days out. #5 Trump turned cable news into a reality TV show and the big media companies loved the ratings and helped extend the show four years. #6 Roger Stone and Julian Assange.

There are times when we can see data exfiltrated, and we can say conclusively. But in this case, it appears it was set up to be exfiltrated, but we just don't have the evidence that says it actually was. Their conclusion was that the exfiltration was “set up.” That’s a penetration apart from the actual exfiltration. So what? I’m waiting for an argument that Fancy Bear didn’t set up the exfiltration.

Greenwald loved Citizen’s United, making billions of dark dollars “free speech”, amplifying the political power of the mega-rich. Taibbi thought the big unexplored story of the 2016 campaign was Uranium One, a bureaucrat non-entity. Both full of sht as a Yuletide turkey. They both claim there was no hostile penetration of the DNC but Crowdstrike found Fancy Bear set up the exfiltration. Can Greenwald and Taibbi offer a technical rebuttal? Read the whole thing cover to cover? So what? Can any of your heroes offer a technical rebuttal to Crowdstrike’s conclusion that Fancy Bear penetrated the DNC? You admit your thinking is shaped by 3 guys. Sounds like a painful case of confirmation bias to me. Let’s avoid the pitfalls of hero worship and do our own research and thinking.

And yet you routinely refer to RussiaGate as a “hoax.” Conclusions prior to investigation. And so you automatically conclude such is the case with RussiaGate? You call it a hoax on the basis of nothing but your own bias. Assange said his sources were non-state actors who feared for their lives. I think there’s a better chance one of the JFK shooters is still alive than Roger Stone’s IT guy.

For what? Crowdstrike said Fancy Bear set the DNC e-mails up for exfiltration, but there’s no proof the e-mails were exfiltrated. But RussiaGate Deniers claim there was no hostile penetration of the DNC at all. If you have a counter-argument that Fancy Bear did not set up the exfiltration let’s hear it. Durham was a bust out. You didn’t hear? It was in all the papers... Julian Assange told Dutch TV he had nothing to say about his sources except to say they were non-state actors and they were paranoid because of what happened to Seth Rich. Wanna-be “deep state analysts” claim Seth Rich was Assange’s source, meaning Julian Assange is a l-i-a-r?? No. Fancy Bear set the e-mails up, a non-state IT actor exfiltrated them. The e-mails were given to Assange. Roger Stone was found guilty of perjury when he denied visiting Assange. Makes him a suspect. Good chance the IT ace he hired (allegedly) for the job is dead. Look what happened to Seth Rich.

A confirmation bias test. If you cannot process the information in bold, and only seize upon the passage under-lined, you’re a RussiaGate Denier. Crowdstrike prez Shawn Henry before the House Dec 5, 2017: MR. SCHIFF: lt provides in the report on 2016, April 22nd, data staged for exfiltration by the Fancy Bear actor. MR.HENRY: Yes, sir. So that, again, staged for, sure which, I mean, there’s not -- the analogy I used with Mr. Stewart earlier was we don't have video of it happening, but there are indicators that it happened. There are times when we can see data exfiltrated, and we can say conclusively. But in this case, it appears it was set up to be exfiltrated, but we just don't have the evidence that says it actually was.

As rocknroll history it’s bunk. The Counter Culture was not born in Laurel Canyon. Frank Zappa, David Crosby, John Denny and Jim Morrison didn’t start the Counter Culture. Ken Kesey, the Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and Bill Graham started the Counter Culture in San Francisco in 1965. LA was a year behind. With the 13th Floor Elevators, Austin had more of an impact on the Counter Culture than LA. Laurel Canyon gave birth to MOR.

6’1” 210. You know it!

I’m the luckiest mofo in Frisco! (”Frisco” is acceptable, “San Fran” déclassé). Seriously. Gotta roomy one bedroom pad I converted to two, one block from Golden Gate Park, half-block off Haight St.. My rent has gone up less than $24 in 33+ years. Gavin Newsome got me very affordable health care when he was mayor. SF is kinda socialist. Fair enough.

Ben Cole wrote: “Better to tax imports, better to tax property, better to tax inherited wealth.” Care to square that circle? Price gougers aren’t bad guys? When do *you* ever see Dem messaging when it’s not filtered thru right wing narratives? One party addresses the issue, no matter how imperfectly.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/31/joe-biden-threatens-higher-taxes-on-oil-companies-amid-high-gas-prices.html

Fear mongering? If your house catches fire are you fear mongering when you call the Fire Dept.? GOP candidates in Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona have declared they won’t certify any Dem victories no matter what the votes are. There’s a Supreme Court case coming up to determine if State Legislatures can overturn the vote without any judicial review. Who was the last President to add 10+million jobs in less than two years? None of them until Old Joe. Because with a 60 vote requirement in the Senate none of that would pass. Such proposals are routinely condemned as socialist and/or inflationary. 2020 was the most free and fair election in America’s history.

Co-incidence? October COVID Death Rate In Reddest Tenth Of Nation Six Times Higher Than Bluest: Report https://www.huffpost.com/entry/red-states-high-covid-death-rates-npr-study_n_61ad43bbe4b025be1af941d3