Kirk Gallaway

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think it's realistic to be so ebullient for the Democrats chances at this time. All that matters is the electoral college. I predicted correctly 49 of 50 states in 2020. I only missed Biden taking Georgia, which was a fluke. Which doesn't mean I couldn't be wrong, but only a handful of states could possibly change. If the election were held today. -I don't see Biden taking any 2020 states from Trump. But as it stands now, Trump will take states from Biden. -I see Georgia as going Trump and Arizona as result of the border. -Biden has to again win all 3 of the midwest battle ground states Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania to get a 270-268 win. The closest electoral victory of all time! -Right now the most Biden can win is a 273-265 victory, and that's if he wins Nevada where he's currently behind. -Pennsylvania is the pivotal state where currently Trump is 2 points ahead, but within margin of error. Wisconsin and Michigan are dead even but have a history of turning blue, but Biden can't possibly lose either of those and expect to win. We have to hope Biden holds his own in the debates and as dumb as it sounds, people decide that Biden not being a crook outweighs the advantage Trump has in key issues. , -The border where Biden was slow and now finally seen to capitulate. -Biden again ends up slow by his appointment of Merrick Garland who dawdles for a couple of years and goes 4 years without a major prosecution. Any sort of vigorous prosecution could have been the icing on the cake! -Biden is slow again on Bibi and his 2 state solution. Israel is starting to crack but if he acted resolutely at the first of the year he would have looked much more formidable. But it's hard to assess what kind of liability that is election wise because the U.S. is somehow so beholding to Israel, they are still financing and giving intelligence for this recent incursion and killing of 240 Palestinians and 4 hostages released. And even though Bibi's power is slowly eroding, both houses of Congress have asked Bibi to speak on July 24th! WTF! We look like sh-t to all the unaligned countries. -The economy even though the U.S. recovery far exceeds nearly all the rest of the world, people want prices to go back down but they aren't going to appreciably. Unfortunately changes from the 2020 census adds more to the red states. If for example New York had registered 5000 more people in the census, they wouldn't have lost one electoral vote. It's going to be a grind. Remember, unfortunately the popular vote means nothing! W. I can show how to delete pm messages if your mail box is full.

W. So you didn't get an error message that you've run out of room? I know i was surprised when that first happened to me. What you have to do is access your previous PM, and delete some old messages. What I got from sending it to you was unclear. It simply said that you're not receiving messages.

That's an interesting article Steve. I don't really see this group no matter how alienated they feel as being able to put together an elective force without Trump. And I think if push comes to shove, without Trump, they will be just a bunch of cowards. Organization wise, I would have tended to think the RNC would abandon Trump after he in essence has been a 4 time loser in the last 4 elections. But now that he completely controls the RNC, I would think the only other person that aging Trump would give the mantle to would be his son and Don Jr. could never be catalyzing force. JMO We'll see how things pan out! W. I tried to send you a message, but it says you're not able to receive any.

Yes, If someone can't appreciate that. Then there's a whole world of things they'll never appreciate.

I think this is pretty touching today in Normandy. A 100 year old D day veteran's conversation with Zelensky.

Did he? I know Talbot says RFK was going to launch an investigation if he was to become President and he actually uses Sheridan's widow as his source on that. At the same time Jim Di discredits Sheridan as a traitor who wasn't kind to Jim Garrison and betrayed the JFK conspiracy cause through his CBS documentary on the JFKA in 1967.

Hi Denise, I think you've dissected this very well. And it's not a grounds for kicking Pat out., or Greg D. or Jean Paul , if they in fact were. Or Sandy, Ron or Mark. I don't know if Jonathan chooses not to come back, but he should be welcomed back. It should be about someone's behavior. It's a delicate balancing act because it's human to get rattled occasionally but for example, if they habitually become abusive, mean, or demeaning. If they come back over time and there's no improvement. You have to know to take action.

First off, it is a tough job. When Sandy threatened to suspend several people, including Pat in a recent post. I thought it was ill reasoned . I probably should have said something at the time but I didn't think he'd go through with it. I appreciate Sandy has taken an initiative as I believe for example the narrative of what happened to the 56 year thread was a bit like the Warren Commission findings, but seem to be accepted by most members here. I thought the cause of the threads demise was the neglect of the mods who after I' m sure much exasperation were content to let the thread go to sh-t.. Having said this, I'm not pushing reopening the 56 year thread. What's done is done. But I thought a more hands on approach might be better, but I did find some of Sandy's explanations not well reasoned and could just be an example of intolerance as I thought was his threat to suspend several members. You can't suspend someone for just disagreeing with you. I think Jonathan's style can be abrasive but he's one of the better critical thinkers here and I'm often in agreement with him. I've seen the shock waves to people who in my mind hold on to dogma here. But are we really to cowtow to them? In my mind there was much more dogma here 5 years ago when I thought nearly everybody thought exactly the same in 90% of the JFKA subtopics, and now there is more of a pushback, which IMO is a good thing. I think the RFK assassination should be discussed here. Unfortunately it's been used as opening to discuss the RFK candidacy, but not near as often as before, and to that I credit other members pushing back on it or examining the candidate in more depth and his actual views on the issues, which the RFK advocates didn't really want to do. I do think there's some hot dogging going on in that people post for attention more than they post to discuss the topic at hand so when their post gets moved to "political discussion" for example, rather than to continue to post there, they throw up their hands and whine because they no longer get the attention. Yet if people were earnestly interested in discussing the topic at hand, there's no reason that the dialog can't continue in another place. JMO's

Yeah, i love that Fox host who was wondering why they didn't ask Trump if he was going to open the files and get to the bottom of the U.S. moon landing !!! hah hah hah! That pretty much tells you the audience level! I always thought Oliver used good judgment not being a guest on Alex Jones, unlike his son, who was a fixture on it for awhile. But now he's a guest on that Sly Stallone character Daniel Patrick David or whatever. That guy in Miami who apparently got his millions from working an insurance Ponzi Scheme. That's really slumming it! I have compassion for Stone that he had to phone his collaborator, Kiriakou to confirm that they actually together wrote the first chapter for a documentary he submitted to the History channel, but I don't think Biden is slipping near that bad and you'd think Stone would have a little more sympathy. But after voting for Biden,he immediately became enraged at Biden for resisting Putin's invasion of Ukraine. ( even though I think both Biden and Trump would have done what Biden first did and offer asylum to Zelensky, which was to throw in the towel!) Still if Oliver knew anything about politics it was a good bet that Biden hadn't watched Stone's pro Putin Ukraine film before the invasion! What was he thinking? And we could argue how fair that picture framing of Stone with Salma Hayek was! It's certainly more suggestive than anything you've seen Joe Biden get heat for! heh heh This is so superficial, looking for key words, like "America first" to compare Trump with JFK. JFK would be repelled with Trump! Sorry, JFK was not a radical! His negative rating with the country at the time of his death was not one fiftieth of what Trump's currently is, (that's why it was received as such a shock!) and was largely confined to one geographical area of the country (the South) and a relative handful of rabid anti communists.

Going with the Russia theme. Russia is bribing far right European politicians with cash.. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/03/russia-europe-far-right-espionage/?wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3de6ef0%2F665de83b5f42df0e3eca073a%2F646f594f44d19211b692299e%2F18%2F51%2F665de83b5f42df0e3eca073a These Russian will do anything for the trophy!. Then he still takes a bow afterward!

Whew! Ok. True, I've come into contact with a few schizophrenics but I haven't interacted much with them. I think I know what you're fishing for William, and if I were to seek help in divvying up my many compartmentalized selves. Even though I might find your compulsive reciting of your bonafides as desperately seeking approval and psychologically, rather insecure and inane. Rather than enlist a packaged, mesmerizing "Svengali "type like Brown, I would be much more endeared to your "Frazier" persona. heh heh heh a joke!

That's one thing I couldn't understand, Ben , is that you ended up being very pro U.S. involvement in both these wars in Ukraine and Israel.. Yet for years before you recited your big 3 contemporary influences as Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi and Aaron Mate. All 3 of those guys see any U.S. involvement in those wars as criminal U.S. self interest. Particularly Mate, being Canadian!

You know I think a lot of people have some exposure to this. At first when I was young it was in film in "3 Faces of Eve" and "Psycho". But later on I experienced some incidents of prolonged psychosis among people I knew,. A couple of people died gradually disassociating. Some were drug induced and temporary but some weren't, including someone I was involved in meditation and lots of Eastern Philosophy New Age stuff who one day developed delusions of grandeur and went for months claiming supernatural powers and declaring "he was the one." and I became an agent of evil. I heard he recovered but I haven't seen him in 40 years. Yes everything he said about Sirhan seemed like the boiler plate clinical analysis i would suspect to hear of someone of Sirhan's condition. Nothing he said about Sirhan did I find suspect. Yeah I checked the entire interview out. I also see a lot of shtick.

Ron, are you sure you're not just mesmerized after looking at that dude's steely blue eyes for an hour.? Rasputin's got nothing on this guy! I wonder if he's ever not in "hyptnotizer mode?" and maybe he has a hidden neck brace, because the guy just doesn't move his head! As Matt pointed out, Sirhan is lucid and very articulate in that interview with David Frost. Contrary to what somebody posted here, there was never a MSM suppression of Sirhan's reasons for shooting RFK.. Ben, Of course you realize that to some here, that story of harassment just lends him credibility! And generally exotic explanations have more lure. I don't think we could have had such a critical conversation 5 years ago. I'm not saying the "Manchus" ruled the day, but it was left as a strong innuendo and no one was really pushing back. We've all heard the evidence that the fatal shot came from behind RFK's ear. I see the Manchurian Candidate as iffy, but I don't completely discount it. I just don't buy it from this guy.

Hear hear!, Finally the guy doesn't stiff his workers and you guys crow about this verdict!. Now he'll probably never pay anybody again! You should be ashamed of yourselves!

Matt:But I don't think that awareness could have relived him of the pressures that would fall on him had he lived. I agree with you re Vietnam that history was kind to JFK dying just after Diem's death and that JFK's will to get out of Vietnam was much more vulnerable to the political winds than many here who just say JFK "would have gotten out of Vietnam, period, end of story!" But that's not to preclude that he couldn't have achieved that and taken political heat for it, just like Biden did after 17 years, since you and I agree that wasn't the primary cause for his death. Matt: Post-war policy is to achieve self-determination for people's around the world. It is also U.S. policy to achieve de-colonialization. Yes we know FDR much earlier was down on colonialism. Matt:The middle portion was to disrupt America by and large. The reason, as I stated on the other thread, why the Left, whatever part of the spectrum you want to pin them on -- be it the full left (USSR) or the center left (Harriman, Halberstam) -- are all in agreement and want the VN war is because it is the way to ensure de-colonialization. "The middle portion was to disrupt America by and large." The middle portion", what are you saying? Ensure decolonization? Ok But by that time,who was threatening their sovereignty? In VN the French had long since been gone. This is the late 50's and 60's. The issue among the super powers was largely what direction to either influence or subvert ongoing directions of fledgling post colonial countries. Matt: There is plenty of reason -- the self-determination of the Vietnamese above all -- to see the war in that light, now. And in your U.S. vision of VN self determination, that wouldn't include an economic system? There was no U.S. self interest involved at all but the altruistic desire for their self determination?

Too bad Sandy didn't follow up on this, but he is going against the weight of conspiracy superstar authors! Isn't this sort of a "dozens" game between JFKA researchers pimping their composite list to outdo each other on their"inside track?" "Oh Sandy, how naive you are to think it was Felt. It's much bigger than that! If you only knew what I know, there's no way Woodward would reveal his true source because that would truly be the "Unspeakable!"." I'm not saying it couldn't possibly be a composite but Jim's composite list is now up to 4 and counting! Jim believes in giving himself lots of choices and covering all the bases. Re: Moynihan I'm sure if Woodward had divulged that General Alexander Haig was deep throat when he died, That wouldn't have even moved the needle but if Woodward had divulged that Daniel Patrick Moynihan was deep throat. I just can't see how the nation could have survived that! So they waited 15 years to pin it on Felt. pffffffff! Cloud to Di Eugenio: "That's why it's a secret, This is so utterly superficial by you. Are you analysts or what? "You'll have to dig deeper! Follow the money! Matt obviously has delusions of being the the modern day Deep Throat, (or Hal Holbrook?) Well, to each his own, but no thanks! heh heh heh

Interesting observations, Matt! *** That is positively creepy, W. ! Do you think it's, "Cartel been bery bery good to me!?" ***** It's so discouraging to see what's happened over the years in our hemisphere to all but a few countries to the South. I do think we could have embraced the JFK vision and helped out more and not left them so far behind. China is now in position to court them. In SE Asia, they don't particularly like the Chinese. You can tell the Chinese tourist. It was interesting hearing a Thai tour guide and Chinese tourists trying to communicate to each other in each countries broken English! One thing I'll say about SE Asia is that those people are on the go. There is a very positive vibe. Like circumstances have left them behind and they now feel the future will be much better. And yet, except for a few big cities, it's not at all a hustle. For example, there's very little theft.

Whew! I like this: So the people who were for Civil Rights in the 60's were also most pro Vietnam War? Yes, another one bites the dust!, MLK just knuckled under to Harvard and Rand "eggheads" and the Eastern Establishment" with that "Civil Rights "thing! Right? Another reason it's too bad MLK isn't living so you could ask him and hear his ideas about that. I'm not sure I can do much with your concept of alliances. That's the roster and team lineup change of the 20th century! Cliff: YOU stated -- "The Left wanted Vietnam." But "the Left" opposed the Vietnam War. Were you around in the 60's, Matt? Obviously not. That is the most contrived theory based on premises, many of which have no foundation or really causal links to events. It seems to be straining to put square political covert actions into round outcomes, as you've pointed out Cliff. It can be dismissed from the gitgo for it's pure omnisciency. Obviously in this world, nothing can happen organically. It sounds like a laboriously conceived , straining narrative to justify not getting up in the morning. heh heh

Now: Small tortilla shops are being shaken down as Mexican cartels create vast extortion networks, expanding their grip on the economy. Yikes, what's happened to our neighbor in the South and why aren't we covering this widespread crime state? https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/23/mexico-cartels-tortilla-exortion-crime/?location=alert

The left wanted Vietnam? What?, The Ramparts crowd? What are you talking about? That's sounds like 21st Century right wing revisionism that's probably pigeonholing the left as being only the blue blooded class of international business expansionists or pigeonholing the left as establishment authors or a magazine. The only real resistance to the Viet War came from the left! They were generally young people without great means, and some academics and they were protesting long before 1968!. However I will agree with you, I don't think the JFKA was primarily about Vietnam.. I do think the general comments here are more interesting than the 2 hours, though it did have some interesting points and I was able to speed through it. Newman has become the conspiracy superstar of those who seek to confirm their biases of the CIA -did -it camp. Having said that, of all the possible groups, I do think the CIA as the greatest possibility of aligning with other suspected factions, so I'm not opposed. Bleu later talks of the difficulty of depicting names for the groups in his survey. I think a definite flaw was in his asking "who was behind the JFKA" and providing 2 categories involving the CIA , one was rogue agents within the CIA and the other was just the CIA, which polled 20%! So are we to believe that 20% believed it was the entire 5000 people who worked in the CIA at the time?( I don't have the figures) Obviously that notion is absurd and to an extent discredits the participants in the poll.

Steve, just to let you know I can't open it. But it looks good! Another good one Doug! And we're finally getting the msm to report on the bullying of the Palestinians by settlers while the Israeli government looks the other way! W. Loved that earlier Tom Tomorrow! In fairness to Fox , I am traveling and I was forced to watch Fox Business news for a while which is really just an another Maga propaganda arm and almost nothing about business! They start the story quoting Trump saying there were 25,000 people at the park in NYC, but she then said it looks closer to 1000. I look at that crowd picture and I might estimate 500 people but at least Fox' claim was much closer to the mark than Maga estimates!

Yes, Doncic letting out his Slovenian rage at the Frenchman, just like Draymond! So no love for local Jokic, after he won you a title. W? So you're part Slovenian like Melania? I only traveled through Slovenia to get to Croatia but it was beautiful, pastoral, and maybe the most Old World European country I've been to. It seemed a bit more of a throw back to the Cold War days then Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia Herzegovena. but I haven't been to Czech, Hungary, Romania. or Bulgaria. Some great playoff twists and turns. My only problem with Doncic is that he's too good a player to be continually whining to the refs like he does, and I can't stand Tyreke!. Though I generally like Mark Cuban. But one slimeball Texas politician I hate, to go along with Gov. Greg Abbott, AG Paxton, Gohmert, and even this quack Ronny Jackson, who was Trump's doctor has been elected to office in Texas! But who I'm focusing on is that dangling pos Ted Cruz! Watch how he slimily tries to turn around questions and blame everything on the "media" about the 1/6 riots. His deception is so transparent, it's a wonder he could get elected anywhere! Sorry Doug and Ron, I can only assume you're as pissed off about it as me. Beto is a good hearted guy. I guess he comes off too innocent? The 1/6 segment starts around 4:30. Sometimes it's good to just say, I was expecting an honest answer and if I'm not going to get it, the interview is over no matter what other talking points you were planning! https://youtu.be/JZXlfsjBKZw

Trump movie well received at Cannes. Ends up portraying Trump very badly Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn Legal battles https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2024/05/20/donald-trump-the-apprentice-cannes/?utm_campaign=wp_the_5_minute_fix&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_fix