Tim Cook going from smugly berating members of the Obama administration to being forced to smile while Trump can’t even getting his name right is really the comic subplot this tragedy needed. https://t.co/hqdo8iueeF

— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) March 6, 2019

BREAKING: A second federal judge has issued an order to block Trump administration plans to include a #citizenshipquestion on the #2020census.

U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg of California rules adding question was unconstitutional & a violation of administrative law👇 pic.twitter.com/9OVS7elcno

— Hansi Lo Wang (@hansilowang) March 6, 2019

A follow-up on that princess' involvement in Thai politics.

 

Thai court bans party for nominating princess for PM https://t.co/XufsuSMh8I pic.twitter.com/5ZjPdRoJuT

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 7, 2019

FYI, this Biden video is currently circulating around social media.

 

NEW: Reviewing Joe Biden's record on crime we found a speech where he said "I don't care" & "it doesn't matter" what the root causes of crime are consensus is criminals needed to be immediately locked up because society doesn't know how to rehabilitate. https://t.co/JA8WJAUAZC pic.twitter.com/JqCk7yP3Bc

— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) March 7, 2019

Wow, as I'm trying to write an essay, I'm finding that there is a lot of news coming out today. I'm sparing a thought for marceline right now and wondering what her thoughts are about this.

 

 

NEW: @SherrodBrown will NOT run for president in 2020. Says he will find more “joy” in the Senate and believes his dignity of work message will live on in the Democratic field. https://t.co/eYNuQNtZ9s

— Henry J. Gomez (@HenryJGomez) March 7, 2019

On 3/6/2019 at 10:27 AM, Khan said:

I, for one, would not mind a ticket that includes Kamala Harris and Sherrod Brown.

Looks like this dream may have died, but to be honest I don't care that much who the nominee is.  There isn't a democrat running who isn't significantly better than what we have now.  I like Kamala because she's a woman (and yeah, I feel we deserve a turn) and because she's smart and competent, but I'll take whoever can raise the money and support to win the primary.

In other news.

 

The nitpicking and drummed up backlash Sherrod Brown got for pretty much nothing likely told him the purity types would never let him win. It's a shame. 

 

Anyway, I saw a clip of Conan on Youtube and he was mentioning this story. 

 

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/700175470/elderly-trump-critics-await-muellers-report-sometimes-until-their-last-breath

33 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

The nitpicking and drummed up backlash Sherrod Brown got for pretty much nothing likely told him the purity types would never let him win. It's a shame. 

 

Anyway, I saw a clip of Conan on Youtube and he was mentioning this story. 

 

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/700175470/elderly-trump-critics-await-muellers-report-sometimes-until-their-last-breath

"It just was quiet for a little while," Walter Tendler recounted, "and then he just sits up in bed halfway and looks at me and he goes, 'S***, I'm not going to see the Mueller report, am I?' And that was really the last coherent thing that he said."

 

 

Yeah, who can blame these folks?  It must be awful to die when the country you love and fought for is in such obvious peril. 

 

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

The nitpicking and drummed up backlash Sherrod Brown got for pretty much nothing likely told him the purity types would never let him win. It's a shame. 

 

It is.

 

I'm tired of those purity ponies (tm @marceline) on the left.  They act like we all could afford to wait for the Second Coming.  Well, you know what happens when you keep picking off people whose hands aren't entirely clean?  You end up with Trump.

 

Nevertheless, if someone from the Purity Police ends up being the nominee (I'm looking at you, Kirsten Gillibrand), I'll just hold my nose and vote for them, because, as @Juliajms says upthread:

 

3 hours ago, Juliajms said:

There isn't a democrat running who isn't significantly better than what we have now.

 

People seem to be complaining that Judge Ellis, Manafort's sentencing judge is grandstanding and showing his partisan bias by claiming that Manafort has "lived an otherwise blameless life". 

 

Given the judges remarks, I guess it's no surprise that he sought to give Manafort the lightest sentence possible.

 

NEW: Paul Manafort sentenced to 47 months, per @NBCNews team in the courtroom. Less than four years.

— Monica Alba (@albamonica) March 7, 2019

Fortunately for justice, Manafort (who is still going away) also has several more charges pending against him.

 

And then there's the Russians. They don't forget.

8 hours ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Wow, as I'm trying to write an essay, I'm finding that there is a lot of news coming out today. I'm sparing a thought for marceline right now and wondering what her thoughts are about this.

 

Marceline is a jumble of mixed feelings.

 

People have been suggesting Sherrod run for years and every time they do I've fought it tooth and nail. More than once I've said, "You'll take my senator when you pry him from my cold, dead hands!" That changed after the midterms. Ohio is just such a lost cause I feel like it doesn't deserve him. That said this was a real Sophie's Choice for me.

 

I really do think he would be a wonderful president but the journey there would be hell and I didn't want that for him or Connie. His 2012 race was one of the most expensive in history because he was the Kochs' top target. It was a nightmare. That would pretty much be a lap dance compared to 2020 because this time he'd also be attacked Berners because of his ties to Hillary Clinton. 

 

One thing I'm grateful for is that his profile has increased. I've enjoyed seeing people "discover" him. I hope that the party realizes what an asset he is and promotes him more.

Edited March 8, 20196 yr by marceline

Amy Berman Jackson, the judge dealing with loon Roger Stone, will be sentencing Manafort next Wednesday. I read the maximum there is just 10 years. Be that as it may, I hope she makes up for s-h-i-thead T.S. Ellis' bias and gives him the full ten, anyway.

17 minutes ago, Vee said:

And then there's the Russians. They don't forget.

 

I'm watching a "Law & Order" rerun that reinforces that fact.

52 minutes ago, marceline said:

 

Marceline is a jumble of mixed feelings.

 

People have been suggesting Sherrod run for years and every time they do I've fought it tooth and nail. More than once I've said, "You'll take my senator when you pry him from my cold, dead hands!" 😀 

 

That changed after the midterms. Ohio is just such a lost cause I feel like it doesn't deserve him. That said this was a real Sophie's Choice for me.

 

I really do think he would be a wonderful president but the journey there would be hell and I didn't want that for him or Connie. His 2012 race was one of the most expensive in history because he was the Kochs' top target. It was a nightmare. That would pretty much be a lap dance compared to 2020 because this time he'd also be attacked Berners because of his ties to Hillary Clinton. 

 

One thing I'm grateful for is that his profile has increased. I've enjoyed seeing people "discover" him. I hope that the party realizes what an asset he is and promotes him more.

 

Yeah, I suspected you might have some mixed feelings about this.

 

Some people say that these presidential races are no more nastier or vitriolic than a hundred years ago but it feels as though the influence of big money and dark money has made the vitriol and nastiness inescapable.  Add to that the use of social media to promote vitriol and it's a pretty inhospitable environment for many people. And the expense of mounting a campaign (as you mentioned) has ensured that the average person who might want to get into public service at a higher tier, won't be able to afford to do so.

It's no wonder that many elected officials often want to stay closer to the grassroots or local political movements where perhaps she/he feels the most positive change can be accomplished.  I'm seeing a lot more politicians veering toward gubernatorial posts because a lot more direct change can be made from that position.