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Chuck S's avatar

Had to pause here to say that _anyone_ who plays guitar and is looking for a nice amp should seriously consider the Carr. I have for the past decade or so owned a Carr Mercury, which is currently on loan to a friend whom I'm sure would vouch for it as well, and I cannot speak more highly of Carr amplifiers or its support.

They are hand-made with point-to-point wiring, solid pine cabinets with dovetail joints, and exceptional workmanship. Truly beautiful amps with phenomenal tone. (I realize that is subjective, but Carrs are widely beloved by those who've owned them.) And the customer service is, in my experience, superlative. I had an issue some years ago with noise in the amp; I reached out to Carr and asked about sending it in for service. They had a tech call me and, over the course of three phone calls and a total of about 45 minutes, help me diagnose and correct the problem (turns out it was a bad tube). I commented on the amount of time he spent with me - at absolutely no cost - and he told me that he prefers to make every effort to diagnose and repair by phone to avoid the expense and risk of shipping an amplifier.

I really cannot speak more highly of Carr amplifiers. Anyone looking for a boutique tube amp owes it to themselves to give this one serious thought.

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Jul 31
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John Van Stry's avatar

You know that the project 2025 is just a propaganda ploy, right? Trump has nothing to do with it, and what's actually in it bears no relation to all the propaganda that the dems are releasing?

I mean seriously, after four years of RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA! and 81 Million votes, AND Covid killing a 100 million people, AND the most blatantly inept secret service protection in the history of the service, how in the world can you BELIEVE the project 2025 stuff?

Seriously? How can anyone believe any of that crap from a group of people who have ALWAYS LIED to us?

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Jul 31
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Scott A's avatar

There's plenty of evidence. Hand waving and saying "There's no evidence!" doesn't mean there wasn't any evidence. The the mystery votes, the pipe exploding, people being caught on camera magically taking votes out. All of that evidence is there. You can believe that it didn't shift it but "THere's no evidence" is willfully blind

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Ataraxis's avatar

Biden campaigning from his basement got more votes than Obama. That’s all the evidence I need.

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John Van Stry's avatar

Despite any evidence? Where have you been? It's been proven in several courts that there WAS rigging. Also, suddenly tens of millions of votes show up after ALL the counting sites are closed at the same time and ALL of the observers are forced out, AT GUNPOINT in some cases?

Dude, there were more votes than registered voters.

It's been proven it was rigged.

It's just that there's NO system in place to deal with that, and once swore in, none of that matters - there are NO penalties for rigging and winning.

Also, most of the GOP is perfectly happy with Joe over Trump, because they get bribes from Joe, but not from Trump.

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Ice Age's avatar

Rigged like an 18th Century schooner.

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Speed's avatar

stealing this

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Ice Age's avatar

STOP! THIEF!

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A. Brooks's avatar

In good faith, can you please show me some of the evidence? I am legitimately curious because in the past 4 years I haven't come across anything concrete. You (and who ever else) might think mail in voting is bad but that doesn't make it illegal.

You realize that when you say the democrats are lying and everything they said bad about republican agenda is propaganda, the reciprocal is also true and democrats say the same thing about the brainwashing of the right? How can you really be so sure that YOU are right and YOUR version of the facts is the true one? It honestly seems more likely that both sides are just taking advantage of their opportunities

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John Van Stry's avatar

Democrats LIE. They are the most corrupt by far. The republicans? Not even close. Remember, the Media, which is all run by the Democrats (so many media heads are married to Dem politicians) ALWAYS goes after republicans. Always. And they always cover for Democrats.

Understand I am NOT a Republican, never have been.

But it's blatant, and if you haven't figured it out, well, you're not paying attention.

As for the evidence and proof? Find it yourself. You're not going to believe anything I put up, so do the work yourself. It's out there. Just come at it sideways, because google will censor it.

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A. Brooks's avatar

I honestly can't tell if you are being serious or trolling me with that type of response so I guess we'll leave it at that.

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Amelius Moss's avatar

Mailman here. I'm not going to get into specifics again here this close to the election but I will say mail-in voting standards changed severely four years ago and while many states have tried to fix some of the problems not enough has been done and it still allows massive fraud.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2023/04/02/new-ohio-voting-law-takes-effect-ahead-of-may-election/70038610007/

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-Nate's avatar

Of course the _FACT_ that every single witch hunt probe done by the gop proved there wasn't any fraud, well I guess it's okay to ignore that , right ? .

-Nate

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Donkey Konger's avatar

Here is a great list to get started, from an attorney: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20588/most-secure-election

Here is documentary evidence from all over the country, poorly compiled:

https://hereistheevidence.com/

Here is a nice report, by state in states that biden won by a variety of means, varyingly dishonest, fraudulent, outright unconstitutional etc: https://cdn.nucleusfiles.com/e0/e04e630c-63ff-4bdb-9652-e0be3598b5d4/summary20of20election20fraud20in20the20swing20states.pdf

I could go on and on with these. Is there a specific thing you're looking for? A specific state?

People capable of examining the evidence themselves, in my experience, all come to one conclusion.

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Hex168's avatar

Regarding the first link (Atty John Eastman), I have not spent the time to verify his claims and am not sure how I would, but I discovered something fascinating. I recommend reading his entire posting and then reading the Wikipedia entry on John Eastman. The two different versions certainly illustrate something.

Anybody know why Trump did not pay him?

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Amelius Moss's avatar

John's gone woke. He said Dude.

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-Nate's avatar

But, he didn't yet say "AWESOME !" .

-Nate

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sgeffe's avatar

Well played! 😂

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John Van Stry's avatar

That's cause I'm old and a former stoner and we used to say that all the time!

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MaintenanceCosts's avatar

"It's been proven in several courts that there WAS rigging." Citations, please.

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Ark-med's avatar

"Dude, there were more votes than registered voters."

Sir, we address each other as sir or man here. Wipe the dude off. So. To. Speak.

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Jack Baruth's avatar

COTD

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John Van Stry's avatar

I've never been into the whole pronoun thing.

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Ataraxis's avatar

I think it was John Nolte who said “my pronouns are Fuck and You”.

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MaintenanceCosts's avatar

Are you really arguing that this list of authors, who include pretty much everyone who came out of the first Trump administration still on good terms with Trump, are all just engaged in a Dem psyop?

See starting page xv https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

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John Van Stry's avatar

All of the stuff the dems are saying in there, ISN'T. Also, Trump has nothing to do with it. But no one wants to read it because it's boring and huge.

Well, almost no one. I know someone who has, and has gone through and pointed out all of the bullshit.

Look, Democrats lie. About everything. At this point if you're believing anything they say, you're gullible.

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MaintenanceCosts's avatar

I've read the whole thing myself, because I'm a public policy nerd. It has Schedule F, it has mass deportations, and it has abolishing two cabinet departments. What else are you referring to?

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John Van Stry's avatar

Mass deportations? Wow! I'm liking it already!

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

I actually took the time look at the Project 2025 document, though I'm not going to read the entire 900 pages. It's all basic conservative Heritage Foundation stuff and is no more granular in terms of policy proposals than anything put out by left wing think tanks. Nothing really new. Just the latest boogeyman.

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Scott's avatar

Hoping your daughter can have an abortion? That is a summary of what you said except you should keep the less rights singular since abortion is the only issue where the left is for more freedom (in that case to murder). Every other issue they are for less freedom for you, assuming you are an American who is not a chosen minority. Illegals can do what they want. BLM can do what they want. Etc. You/me do that, we go to jail. That is the current democrat platform.

I know almost nothing about the platform 2025 and I know you are wrong. Please actually look into it instead of copy paste from whatever leftist site you visited.

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Jul 31
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Speed's avatar

but the problem is that it isnt being used like that

its supposed to be a last ditch effort for emergencies and women decided that it was cool to use it to escape accountability and responsibility instead

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Jeff R's avatar

I'd believe the pro life argument was in good faith a lot more if it didn't boil down to "gotta punish the sluts" quite so often.

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Speed's avatar

not interested in good faith arguments

when considering the ramifications of laws and policy the question is or ought to be how to we build and maintain a heathy society because this is critical to the wellbeing of a nation and its populace

obviously a large influence on that wellbeing is the government and one job they have is to protect that populace which means threats externally and internally by which i mean at times protecting the people from themselves

this sounds insane and overreaching to some which is fine but the point i want to make is that the government should make some self destructive behaviors and actions illegal for the betterment of everyone else

like being a hoe

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Ice Age's avatar

The State has a vested interest in cultivating its own future, and discouraging behaviors that threaten it both now & down the road.

At least, a FUNCTIONAL state does.

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Ataraxis's avatar

Government also has the responsibility to protect those who are the most vulnerable solely due to non-behavioral factors, namely the unborn, the handicapped, and the aged. The US is absolutely horrible on this, and it’s disgusting especially since we are the richest nation and we have the money to do this, but politicians elect to take care of themselves first.

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JasonS's avatar

When is "accountability" the same as "punishment"?

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Ice Age's avatar

When it's aimed at normal people?

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Ice Age's avatar

Kinda like how "Legalize Marijuana" would have more credibility if they'd dump this 1,001 Uses For Hemp garbage and just admit they wanna get high without risking arrest.

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-Nate's avatar

never, _EVER_ gonna happen ~ I was black listed off nextdoor for nearly year because I had the temerity to point out that the stoners who vociferously complained about illegal pop up dope shops were, well _Stoners_ who were too lazy / stoned to drive 15 minutes to the legal dope shops in the next city over .

I'll leave it to the best and brightest here to discern if stoners are lefties or righties .

-Nate

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

I didn't get my medical card for a long time because it was bullshit. Since I started growing I've only been to dispensaries to buy edibles and frankly my butterscotch cherry pistachio brownies taste better.

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-Nate's avatar

Thank you .

In truth it's all about who gets to control those scary women .

Just like "state's Rights" is only about racism yet they lie endlessly about that .

-Nate

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

The United States is a federated republic and the voters in each state now have the right to determine abortion policy.

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anatoly arutunoff's avatar

they aren't 'connected.' slavery was godawful BUT the south had a right to secede

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Ataraxis's avatar

Now that I live in The South, I love the independent streak my Scots-Irish neighbors have. Many of my neighbor’s families have been here for 200+ years.

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Jack Baruth's avatar

Society works better when you punish the sluts. Which in turn reduces their number. So much of governing properly consists of balancing individual freedom against social responsibility. I can think of fifty activities that are harmless or even beneficial to an individual while being caustic to society, from doing 100 in a 65 to being a slit.

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Flashman's avatar

So, were you a slut? Or a “cocksman”?

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Henry C.'s avatar

Being a 'slut' is the biggest part of the platform. The ones who actually brag about killing their own unborn is not small enough to be a fringe. There is no bigger tell of a female sociopath.

They are the female version of the young male budding serial killers that torture and kill small animals.

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Speed's avatar

we need common sense hoe control

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-Nate's avatar

Really ? how many women so you personally know who did this ? .

I thought so ~ mindlessly repeating the alt-right lies doesn't show you to be very clever nor smart .

-Nate

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Speed's avatar

i wouldnt base my opinions on anecdotes because those are usually biased

https://lozierinstitute.org/fact-sheet-reasons-for-abortion/

anyway heres a chart but all the usual caveats involved in surveys and whatnot apply

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-Nate's avatar

Thanx .

To make it _absolutely_ clean then : you're wiser than any woman ? .

Yep, that's what you just said, tryo to obfuscate that .

Me, I am not afraid of women although my past should have made me so .

Because I'm a true Conservative and was worried about having any unwanted babies after being sand bagged in high school, I had my tubes tied right after my son was born 45 years ago and no, I have never regretted it .

It also doesn't reduce your potency or any of the other wild fear mongering crap the gop says .

-Nate

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Scott's avatar

Ok, I am pro choice- if a woman becomes pregnant without consenting then I agree she can chose what to do, assuming the attack is real and prosecuted. But come on, that is a tiny percent of abortions. That is not a serious argument.

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Speed's avatar

a fraction of a percent if i remember correctly

building a policy on a incredibly small outlier is a terrible idea

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Scott's avatar

This is the democrat platform. We need abortion all 9 months because someone may be raped (by an illegal?), or we need to make Trans surgery available to every 4 year old because one of them may kill themselves if they don’t get what they want. I can’t believe people who aren’t left wing progressives don’t see this, but a whole lot of them vote for leftist progressives.

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Speed's avatar

the solution is to simply have everyone transition and then if they survive long enough we can take them off hormone blockers and sew everything back on that was cut off

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Scott A's avatar

Heres a thought ladies. I am 100% anti abortion. Two birth control babies and a child out of wedlock l. I never once thought to suggest killing my daughter. But, 8 week ban is reasonable. If youre sexually active and your period is late, GO GET A PREGNANCY TEST! Theyre $7. At 12 weeks my daughter had arms, legs, a head and a heartbeat. Thats a child. As distraught as i was with my wife’s miscarriage 5 months ago, it was pre heartbeat. I still thought it was a baby but i can at least see the disagreement it wasnt. At heartbeat time? Nope

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anatoly arutunoff's avatar

i read in a national magazine several years ago that 1200+ rape victims were interviewed at multi-hour length by a major/reputable organization. although no reference was made in any part of the interview, 5% volunteered they had an orgasm during the rape. the researchers were trying to figure out how to delicately introduce that subject in their next project; obviously the actual percentage was higher than that.

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Speed's avatar

ive heard of that too but with a far higher number

very hard to get that kind of kind of inf out of women for obvious reasons of course

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Scott A's avatar

Like the wonderful

Michelle obama says. Theres rape and there is rape rape. Not really a lie. Now that i have daughters, all premarital sex is wrong! Only slightly joking. Ok its whoopi.

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Drunkonunleaded's avatar

Someone pulled the dirty delete. Do you recall what it said? Looks like I missed something interesting.

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Scott's avatar

The comment was essentially Trump is going to take all of women’s freedoms. And you can see where that went. He followed up with his wife or daughter could be raped and need an abortion.

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Jack Baruth's avatar

I wish he hadn't deleted the comments. I think he was coming from a place of good faith and serious belief.

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-Nate's avatar

YIKES ! .

-Nate

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anatoly arutunoff's avatar

i vaguely remember a german guy like that...

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sgeffe's avatar

Not Bertel Schmidt, I presume!

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Ataraxis's avatar

Exactly. I want to know what others are thinking, and it’s obviously OK to agree to disagree here.

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

At the Nat'l Black Journalist Assoc. grilling of Trump, he made it very clear that he's a moderate on abortion and that he has no problem with some states having liberal laws and some more strict. I think he referenced 16 weeks, but that's less strict than the 12 weeks most European countries permit.

Regarding the NBJA panel, they were all women. I wonder how that all played with black men, many of whom already have some issues with black women.

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Ataraxis's avatar

The clip where he said that he just found out that Kamala is black was telling as about half the crowd appeared to laugh, and the stuck up questioner was surprised and did not know how to react, so she just got more strident and raised her voice, not realizing that she had already lost. Mocking and shaming the Left is so, so powerful.

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

He did something that Pierre Poilievre does in Canada, question the reporters' premises. When asked a question about DEI, he told the interrogator to define it. She kept saying "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion," as the answer without actually defining the terms.

Because of DEI and related matters, for all its talk about critical theory, the left is prohibited from criticizing any member of one of their favored groups. Donald Trump is a horndog but Willie Brown is a respected community leader. DEI hires are protected, no matter how incompetent they may be. We end up with "journalists" who don't even know they are using circular reasoning.

It's telling that very few of the people criticizing Trumps appearance before black journalist are actually showing the full clips with the audience responses.

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Ajla's avatar

So they are democrats supporting the democrat party nominee then?

Being against abortion isn't a new thing for the republican party. It was part of the platform starting in 1976, not something Trump devised.

I'm not sure what is in P2025, but I'd be surprised if it different than things the heritage foundation has been doing for decades.

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Gianni's avatar

P 2025 is warmed over Reagan era GOP platform apparently:

https://substack.com/home/post/p-146549204

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Jack Baruth's avatar

Project 2025 appears to be the left equivalent of "you'll own nothing and be happy", in the sense that in both cases the material is out there but has little traction with actual candidates. Trump was fairly unequivocal today regarding his distaste for it.

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Amelius Moss's avatar

Project 2025 is dead. The Director of that nonsense resigned yesterday.

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A. Brooks's avatar

It was my understanding that it was more of a road map, the director resigning seems like a figure head deflection that doesn't have anything to do with the actual implementation of the plan down the road

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-Nate's avatar

Untrue ~

project 2025 is easily found and read, it's a major plank if every gop candidate's platform .

Because it goes against what most Americans want they of course _LIE_ about it .

pretending you don't know or refusing to read and learn doesn't make your lies acceptable, it makes you show how weak and insecure you are .

Al this bullshit makes it very hard for actual Conservatives like my self to get along .

I am _not_ a democrat, I vote across party lines whenever there's a better candidate .

-Nate

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anatoly arutunoff's avatar

the damage done by the right's procedural errors is infinitesiman compared to the problems cause (deliberately?) by the left

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sgeffe's avatar

It’s completely deliberate!

Yesterday’s Tip O’Neil Democrats (and even Bill Clinton Democrats) had wildly different ideas for the country than Republicans.

Today’s Democrats hate America!

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

"project 2025 is easily found and read, it's a major plank if every gop candidate's platform ."

Prove it. Show me where it's "every" platform. I'm pretty sure you can't find it in a single platform, either officially nominated candidates' or county and state party organizations. The GOP national platform says nothing about it.

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-Nate's avatar

As I clearly said, this is deliberate, nice try at deflection though .

Don't be so fearful .

And no, America is a DEMOCRACY, another fearful thing for some but not for me .

-Nate

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Sherman McCoy's avatar

As I wrote on here on Sunday after discussing Project 2025 with a Heritage Foundation employee, it’s “a nothingburger.”

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A. Brooks's avatar

Trump might not like it but JD vance sure seems in favor of it, even if he tries to distance himself now. And let's be real, if they win, JD is the future direction of the party

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Scott A's avatar

Only way jd vannce is president is if trump wins and goes senile and republics insert him as the candidate at the last minute. What are the odds if that happening? Im fine with vance but he is boring

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A. Brooks's avatar

Oh didn't mean this cycle but 2028 and beyond

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Jack Baruth's avatar

This is the last election where Team Red even has a chance. We are headed for a Cali style uniparty. Which, oddly enough, encourages me. Maybe we will get some real populist challenge from the left at that point.

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-Nate's avatar

Jack ;

You of all people know it's not American to live in fear yet you keep supporting the only side that gives us freedom .

-Nate

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Ark-med's avatar

The rest of us will what, cling to God and guns.

But I see your point. Jared Polis in Colorado, to be litotic, is not doing a terrible job. His only personal disqualifier to some on the right is being openly gay.

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JasonS's avatar

I don't know know specifics of p2025, but I'll take Regan ere levels of conservativism over whatever is being decided by the Kamala campaign. She was notoriously one of the most progressive senators.

I was more "classically liberal" but that's just pushed the Overton window so far left that Trump( a Clinton era Democrat) is looked as right wing. Maybe we need a good snap back to Regan era conservativism. Maybe.

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anatoly arutunoff's avatar

he coulda gotten rid of THREE cabinet positions but didn't sign the bill they'd gotten through a democrat congress. also kept the 55 speed limit. i think nancy and her astrologer were getting to him...

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sgeffe's avatar

Which positions? I’d assume Education is one.

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Alan's avatar

That's a fair comparison. It's a think tank wishlist and a lot of it is nothing new.. Given how feckless Republicans are when they scrape together a congressional majority or snag the White House, most of it will never see the light of day.

Thing is though, the Heritage Foundation IS highly influential in Republican administrations, going back to Reagan. Trump's White House was full of people tied to Heritage, and over half the contributors to drafting Project 2025 are ex-Trump officials.

"Trump was fairly unequivocal today regarding his distaste for it." Yeah, because it's generating negative press for him now and his default mode is to deny and disparage. He probably DID never know about it before, because it was of no immediate interest/benefit to him, but he's most certainly been waving through recommendations from Heritage-affiliated sycophants for a long time now.

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anatoly arutunoff's avatar

yaaaay!!

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sgeffe's avatar

Correct me if I’m wrong, the piece causing all the pearl-clutching was the forbidden abortion except in exigent circumstances for the mother? (And that might be exaggerating to a degree?)

Perhaps if we didn’t have a party in control of everything (the major media, education, and culture) that didn’t want to “fundamentally transform this country,” vis-a-vis Bereft Insane Osama, we wouldn’t have an equally opposite reaction from the other side?! Who wants to keep government in its lane—you know, “provide for the common defense, ensure domestic tranquility[,] blessings of liberty” that kind of 💩, instead of telling us what kind of cars we can drive, what kind of toilets we can use, who we can worship (or not), or how to raise our kids!

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Henry C.'s avatar

Project 2025 is a neocon thinktank wishlist and belongs on the bottom of a birdcage.

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MaintenanceCosts's avatar

The authors include virtually everyone who is likely to have a mid- to high-level position in a second Trump administration. They got too cocky, they thought all of America was with their agenda, they were forthright about what it is, and now they are discovering how much of it is unpalatable to the larger public.

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silentsod's avatar

Killing a poison pill bill isn't really a loss.

Anyway we should deport about 20 million people in what I term, "Project It's a Start."

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Jul 31
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Jack Baruth's avatar

The price of unskilled labor will rise dramatically for sure. Which is the literal best thing we could do for Black America.

I am willing to pay more and own less to put unskilled Americans to work.

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Speed's avatar

bet this would also do a hell of a lot for young and white americans too as those entry level jobs open up

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Scott A's avatar

Lower income people making a living wage is bad in 2024 I guess. I don't understand modern politics.

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Ataraxis's avatar

Because you’re not evil.

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Scott's avatar

Absolutely! I agree 100%, pay people what it costs. McCain loved illegal immigrants because he didn’t want to pay more for a head of lettuce. I’ll happily pay more to know our economy is sustaining itself and the money is staying here and not going out of the country via western Union.

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Ice Age's avatar

I would rather be the most destitute member of a Good & Functional civilization than livin' large in a Rio de Janiero-style human landfill.

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-Nate's avatar

Oh, the irony .

-Nate

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Christo's avatar

Me too.

Was that $39 DVD player from Best Buy worth decimating the middle class?

However...

We can blame the CEOs too, but we did this to ourselves -- through buying cheap crap from WalMart, Target, Amazon, etc. When consumers made it clear that low price was paramount, the corporations did what the needed to do to make money.

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sgeffe's avatar

Well, we’re eating less, at least fast food! $5 for a single Big Mac! (Edit: $5.50 minimum in Toledo, OH.)

We need to get back to the distinction of the types of jobs for which a “living wage” is justified.

Fast food was never supposed to be something you’d do for life unless you went into store management or operated a franchise. So why are we trying to do so now? You’re squeezing the juice at both ends by having to charge so much for your product that you lose revenue. Which means you can’t keep your employees! Or franchise! Vicious cycle!

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gt's avatar

I for one welcome the collapse of fast food chains in America.

I agree that it was never designed to be lifetime employment for adults, I'll add to that: in my mind, it was never meant to be consumed *regularly* either. I only ever eat the stuff in a pinch, while road tripping with the family, or an occasional treat to go to the new Culvers with my son for an ice cream (for him, I don't get anything). if I'm going out for an affordable lunch during the week, for the same $10-11 as a value meal I'd rather go to my local thai/mexican/diner etc. Most recently, I stopped by a waffle house on a business trip to Columbus with some coworkers. Fast, cooked to order, affordable.

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sgeffe's avatar

Culver’s is on the order of a Five Guys, a half-step above the normal fast food stuff.

Fast food at least offers an option, of fast AND cheap, and yes, a sense of * personal responsibility * would tell you that overconsumption of said fare isn’t necessarily good for you!

Well, OFFERED an option of cheap!

Never realized that Indy is 2.5 to three hours from Dayton until I was at a convention in downtown Indy for the vendor of our real estate taxation software during the week before the 500, and asked the folks from the Dayton office how long the trip took; I always thought it was around an hour from Indianapolis to Dayton, then another hour to Columbus.

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Speed's avatar

oh no the contractors that prop up illegal aliens might go under

who else could they possibly hire instead

almost makes you wish real americans existed

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sgeffe's avatar

IKR!

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silentsod's avatar

Yes I am familiar with market economics.

It would be a boon to the citizens of the country, whom we should be foremost concerned with, and cost effects for things like farming are smaller than you imagine. Something like $.10 per lettuce head if I remember that one right.

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Scott's avatar

I made a similar comment, lol. The ol’ John McCain line of “no one wants to pay more for a head of lettuce” so let’s let anyone in who wants to walk across the border.

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Ice Age's avatar

See, I figure that after Us Normals win the American Restoration, we're gonna have to deport about a hundred million people, including:

1 - All illegal aliens AND their families (Hey, I'm not about to break up any families, here).

2 - All H1B visa holders.

3 - All convicted felons serving life or Death Row sentences for violent crimes.

4 - All elected Democrats - city, county, state, Federal - doesn't matter.

5 - All Federal Deep Staters.

6 - All those people who hate America but won't leave under their own power.

Please feel free to add to this list. I know I missed a few groups.

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Speed's avatar

people who chew with their mouth open

people who walk slowly on the sidewalk and hold everyone up

people who enter the highway at 20 under and barely accelerate to merge

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Ice Age's avatar

Ooh, that's good!

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Steve Ward's avatar

people who drive 10+ under the limit in the car pool lane (yes, thats every friggin Subaru in Seattle!)

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Mikal's avatar

That’s not their fault! Subarus aren’t good at highways.

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Ice Nine's avatar

That’s every Subaru ever, everywhere. Minus the occasional STi.

Do they make them sign an oath at the dealership?

“I shall never ever drive at quite the speed limit. I shall always ensure that I hold up a line of traffic behind me. I shall slow down to 13 mph below the posted recommended speed at all corners. I shall post snarky comments on facebook about reckless drivers passing me so they can drive at the posted speed limit. “.

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sgeffe's avatar

I like that last one, @Speed! 😂

And point # 6 above: who promised after 2016 they’d GTFO! I’ll help them pack!

Send them to, hmmmm!! Venezuela?! Iran?!

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

Adults who say "Poop" or "Poo" instead of shit.

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sgeffe's avatar

Remember that sometimes, we need to choose our words carefully in certain situations.

E.g., if I need to express “for shits and giggles,” I will use the Eric O. (“South Main Garage” YouTube) expression “poop and laughter!”

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anatoly arutunoff's avatar

what a breath of fresh air!

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Ajla's avatar

"There’s also something to be said for matching the quality of your product to your reader"

Some feelings of irony when reading this sentence.

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Jack Baruth's avatar

My readers are the best! And brightest!

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Ark-med's avatar

Haha I see the dramattac irony

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sgeffe's avatar

Nicely done! (::Golf clap!!::)

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Ark-med's avatar

The Roberts would be proud (Farago and McNamara)

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Speed's avatar

baruths brainlets

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Dave Lemieux's avatar

I hope RF made a decent chuck of change from TTAC. It was a great site along with TTAG and the short lived TTAW.

My wife and I recently met our son and his friends at a bar in Boston and as we were leaving a group of girls (mid 20s) were dancing to “Let’s hear it for the boy”. We did the math like JB (re his son’s camp) did and concluded we wanted nothing to do with music from the 1950s.

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AK47isthetool's avatar

I do this, i.e. calculate dates, with my kids listening to the radio in the car. There was an ad for "The Voice" with four people (hosts?) singing "Standing in the Shadows of Love" (Four Tops, 1966). The only person I recognized was Snoop (53 years old, first hit 32 years ago). And what the hell is the appeal of Neil Diamond?

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Ice Age's avatar

Dave Barry said he had a graven image of Neil Diamond, and prayed to it daily.

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Jack Baruth's avatar

Neil Diamond is great, he's a Jewish Wagner, he taps into that orchestral power and rides it towards glory.

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-Nate's avatar

Good music like good art, is timeless .

-Nate

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sgeffe's avatar

A few years ago, I, who lives within earshot of our local high-school football team’s home venue, heard “Sweet Caroline,” with all of the extra crowd additions (“so good” x3, etc,) being sung during halftime after the band performed! I’ve done the same thing, especially after a few too many, and will to this day, even when stone sober!

I’ve always liked Neil Diamond, along with Billy Joel (whose semi-annual channel’s Sirius/XM run sadly comes to an end with the turn of the calendar to midnight in the Pacific Daylight Time Zone); the exception is when Neil tries to sing any Christmas songs, ESPECIALLY “Little Drummer Boy!”

OTOH, I’ve read a couple things on radio industry sites (after having Googled a topic) that indicate that instead of the “Oldies” genre passing to the ‘80s (as has happened to the Toledo radio station WRQN (93.5), whose claim to infamy was playing The Kingsmen’s “Louie, Louie” for an entire weekend back in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s during their much-hated-at-the-time switch from Top-40 to Oldies format, and much to my current chagrin, since their morning DJ, Denny Schaffer, who came back to Toledo fifteen years ago after a decade away to Toledo’s Cumulus AC affiliate, then switched from there to the now-Cumulus WRQN, and me having to listen to him on the “Oldies” channel), there’s an entirely new “‘80s Oldies” format! 🤢 IOW, they’re keeping what we Gen-Xers know as “Oldies” around on some stations, but you mean to tell me that OUR stuff has staying power??!!

Is this going to be a passing fad like the “Beautiful Music” format?! Regardless, there’s stuff like Phil Collins, Duran Duran, or Modern English, which is OK, but there’s a wide range of the crap we Gen-Xers grew of age pumping into our Walkmans that should be kept in the dustbin of history (and which I had deservedly repressed), but yet is going to be kept alive after WE start to kick over??!! (Anything by Paula Abdul or “Pebbles” comes to mind!)

I only recall a decade-long period when WRQN featured a lot of ‘70s hits in their playlists. Some of that, which has migrated to the so-called “Yacht Rock” format, is better than some of the 1980s trash! Will the ‘90s stuff get its own format, or will the popular, Top-40 stuff get combined with the 2000s-2020s, a-la Sirius/XM “Pop Rocks,” my go-to if I don’t have their rightie “Patriot” channel on? My guess is “no,” since a lot of the stuff from the 1990s on is generic [c]rap!

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

Neil Diamond was working as songwriter in Manhattan when Ellie Greenwich was hired to sing backup on a demo he was recording. She and her writing partner and ex-husband Jeff Barry (they wrote Do Do Run Run, most of the Crystals and Ronettes hits, and River Deep Mountain High) signed him to a 50/50 publishing deal and introduced him to Bert Berns who signed Diamond to his first record contract at Bang Records. It was Berns who changed Diamond's Latin flavored "Money Money" into Cherry Cherry and got Diamond on the charts. In time Diamond chafed against Bern's commercial tastes and his lawyers figured out how to break the contracts with his publishing partners and with Berns.

Source: Here Comes The Night by Joel Selvin (Berns also discovered Van Morrison).

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sgeffe's avatar

Ronnie, has anyone ever wished to do a Vulcan mind meld on you? You are a priceless treasure trove of all things! 😎👍

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

Thanks for the compliment but I had to take the book off the shelf to get the details. True story: I was doing a search on a topic and had completely forgotten I'd already written about it for Hagerty.

The Vulcan mind meld would likely implant some kind of parasitic mind virus in the other party.

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ZC Kraszewski's avatar

That's ok, a little bit of horse paste will fix that in a jiffy.

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Hex168's avatar

Hey Ronnie - do you have any stories about Ed Chalpin, who contracted Jimi Hendrix, by any chance? Thanks!

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James Burns's avatar

Neil be Cracklin’

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Jeff Winks's avatar

The kids should play music they like. I went through a few guitar teachers until so found one who would teach me stuff I wanted to play. It’s supposed to be fun. Plus how are they going to get girls playing oldies?

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Speed's avatar

i hate seeing lewis win and george robbed but mostly the former

another thing im sick of is the constant shitting on of whites by others who benefit from white inventions and cultures

also if the kids were able to pick literally anything they wanted to play what do you suppose theyd choose because i cant help but think it wouldnt be all that far off of what theyre being told to do

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Jeff H's avatar

"The coin is flipped towards whatever side is most expedient at the moment"

This, of course, doesn't just characterize the Doublethink of identity politics... this characterizes everything - from "news" to social media to entertainment to sports to advertising - that shapes and steers the progressive american* worldview. For that "significant portion" of the readers here who intend to vote for Harris (and if you intend to Make America California Always, then MACA you absolutely should...), I'll only probe this one point into your progressive worldview force field: who is really in a political cult? Is it really the MAGA tribe? In TEN DAYS, Harris has gone from the irrelevance of the political shadow of Biden to the presumptive Party nominee, whose noble purpose is to "save democracy". The media is behind her, the federal bureaucracy is behind her, the celebrities are behind her, the activist organizers are behind her, the global political class is behind her... she has raised a quarter of a billion dollars, her campaign's ground game is in every YouTube ad, she's already hosting rallies as packed as Trump's... all without winning a single presidential primary. Ever.

...in ten days.

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Speed's avatar

sounds entirely natural and not at all engineered

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Jeff H's avatar

"Democracy!"

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-Nate's avatar

It is in fact *exactly* how Democracy works, why it scares you guys so much .

-Nate

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anatoly arutunoff's avatar

that's why democracy is properly described as mob rule

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sgeffe's avatar

Or a wolf and a lamb discussing where to go for dinner.

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Henry C.'s avatar

We aren't supposed to be a Democracy. All democracies destroy themselves.

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sgeffe's avatar

We were a Republic..if you can (could) keep it!

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Colin's avatar

More and more, it seems we cannot.

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Jeff H's avatar

Man, you are so completely delusional at this point, it's sort of not worth my time getting into it... but I'll see if you can perhaps latch onto this reality test:

Since you're such a fan of democracy, I'm assuming that means you believe leaders should be chosen by voters... So the reality check is, how many people voted for Trump to be his party's nominee, and how many people voted for Harris to be her party's nominee?

The winner wins the "democracy" test...

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Drunkonunleaded's avatar

You're not supposed to ask these questions, lest you be accused of deflection.

The machine wonders why people are disillusioned, yet anyone who asks questions like yours are immediately dismissed like a 3rd grader.

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redlineblue's avatar

You know that nominees are selected at the conventions, right? That's why Trump's Milwaukee speech was called an "acceptance speech" and why Johnson said he 'would not pursue nor accept' his party's nomination.

In the primaries, voters give instructions to their (actual) delegates. After the debate, large numbers of voters and donors told their elected Representatives and (actual) delegates "you can nominate him, but I'm not gonna Vote for him". So, at the convention, they'll probably nominate someone else. If who's in the running changes between primaries and convention, well: that's why they hold the conventions, and why there's such a thing as a contested nomination *at the convention*, even though primaries are long since over.

"I don't like that" and "That's cheating" now are used interchangeably, but they do not mean the same thing.

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Jeff H's avatar

I understand all of that, but I think you may have missed my point...

1) clearly primary contests have become relevant in the election process... voters register and vote for primary candidates... the media publishes results... a winner is declared. Isn't this democracy?

2) I make that point because the Democratic Party has - and continues to - frame the election as a struggle for democracy... notice the comment I was replying to above.

The basic contradiction here is that if voters were to elect Trump, then somehow "democracy" is over... all of this from a political party who has completely bypassed the primary contests and will simply install a candidate while the other party conducted primary contests. It's of even greater relevance that this candidate never won a single primary when she was running four years ago... in fact, she never even got close.

The conclusion here is that "democracy" to the Democratic Party simply means that they are in power, forever. So actually the opposite of democracy... that's what people like "Nate" don't understand.

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Amelius Moss's avatar

I'm wholeheartedly in favor of parties picking their candidate in their convention. Let's put an end to the monstrous amount of money laundering involved with primary campaigns.

That said, once the contest begins and your champion is smashed to the ground only in fake wrestling is he (she, it) allowed to tag out for the next opponent. Our democracy has devolved from World Heavyweight Championship to WrestleMania SuperSlam 2024.

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Amelius Moss's avatar

"all without winning a single presidential primary. Ever."

All without winning a single presidential primary vote. Ever.

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Christo's avatar

Presidential primaries are a relatively recent invention. The primary system as we know it only dates back fifty years or so. One hundred years ago, candidates would be chosen in a smoke filled room by party leaders or state caucuses. About 150 years ago it was congress that would choose their party's nominee.

As far as I'm concerned, we 'R's shouldn't get too worked up about how the 'D's picked their candidate -- this is their problem, not ours.

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Drunkonunleaded's avatar

And the election runner-up used to be the VP. Which, to a degree, I don't think is necessarily a terrible thing.

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Alan's avatar

I suspect that most of the people concern trolling about the “undemocratic” selection of Harris had no problem with Trump’s refusal to participate in primary debates, his absolute vilification of his two serious challengers, and his general disposition that the primary process shouldn’t apply to him because he was leading in the polls. He even tried to get the RNC to declare him “presumptive nominee” after the first two contests.

The reality both parties are private organizations who are under no obligation, legal or otherwise, to hold a primary or remain bound to the results of a primary. If the voters don’t like it, they can vote for someone else in November or stay home - that’s the democratic part.

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Jeff H's avatar

^^^..and here it is...^^^

...here's the "coin flip", the American Left Doublethink hoping they can deflect to the most convenient narrative for the Democratic Party. Notice Alan can complain about Trump not being sufficiently democratic even as he excuses why the Democratic Party doesn't need to be democratic in literally the exact same contest... notice the face-planting own goal:

"...his general disposition that the primary process shouldn’t apply to him because he was leading in the polls"

Imagine the mental gymnastics required to write that, considering Harris completely bypassed the primary process and has never once led a poll...

As usual, the average Democratic Party voter is fully brainwashed... their idea of "democracy" is whatever process or mechanism puts their party in power.

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Alan's avatar

LOL. I voted for Trump twice and have yet to vote for a Democrat in my life. But I must be a brainwashed, deranged leftist for poking a hole in the tedious hypocrisy of the handwringing over Harris.

Calling me a double speaking idiot doesn’t discount anything I said or change the fact that the only people complaining about Harris getting nominated are the ones who are mad that their candidate doesn’t get to face an unpopular, doddering old man anymore.

Hysterics like this are a big part of why I just can’t take right seriously anymore and am kind of embarrassed I ever did in the first place.

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Jeff H's avatar

My complaint is that there's a much more than "tedious" hypocrisy in a party that frames its opponent as a threat to "democracy" when that party openly and brazenly rejects actual democracy when it doesn't help it win elections...

The true "double speaking idiots" are anyone who acknowledges that Biden is an unpopular doddering old but 11 days ago were fully accepting of him as a viable candidate - which is virtually the entire Democratic Party... much less the fact that the doddering old man is actually still president (apparently) for the next 7 months...

...although I suppose an apology is in order, you are perhaps more confused than I had anticipated...

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Henry C.'s avatar

Firstly, 'serious challengers'? Vivek and Nimrata? The only votes going to them in the primary would be from Democrats crossdressing as Republicans as spoilers. The would be assassin Crook himself was a registered Republican. Or maybe pearl clutching boomers.

Frankly, the DNC can do what it wants for all I care. Duking it out at the convention would have at least been honest and above board rather than this crooked behind the scenes after hours kingmaking. I do take issue with them making up rules as they go along and then enforcing them on the opposition.

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Alan's avatar

DeSantis and Haley. “Serious” is indeed a stretch, but Trump nonetheless bitched endlessly about their “disloyalty.” He felt threatened enough by them that his minions were making noise of blacklisting anyone that dared endorse one of them.

Does that mean I think the GOP primary was rigged? No. But it illustrates how unprincipled their sour grapes over Harris are.

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

" she's already hosting rallies as packed as Trump's"

They papered the hall and people started leaving after Megan the Stallion finished twerking.

At Democrat rallies the celebrities are the draw. At Trump rallies, he's the draw.

Trump's no genius but it's embarrassing to watch Democrats ritually genuflect before a mediocrity like Harris.

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Ice Nine's avatar

She is backed by the same people who, eleven days ago, would have thrown you in a dungeon for even suggesting that Biden was maybe, possibly, not healthy enough to run for office. A day later they are throwing Biden in the proverbial nursing home and crowing “we told you that guy was no good, he can’t do the job!”

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Jeff H's avatar

Exactly.

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Erik's avatar

Man, I wish that someone was stupid enough to not realize the XB-70 was a dead end, and a lousy weapons platform, and actually put it in production. Yes, they would have been widow makers in combat, but I just can’t imagine how great they would have looked and sounded in the air. I saw the Concorde and the Vulcan at low altitude many times, and they were literally awe inspiring. How amazing would the B-70 have been? Even seeing it in its hanger in Ohio is great, but it’s just not the same.

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John Van Stry's avatar

It wasn't so much a dead end as they didn't have the budget. That's what really killed it.

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Erik's avatar

I do get that part also, but the high altitude/high speed bomber philosophy was dead already. And it would have been awful at low altitudes.

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Speed's avatar

yeah but think how cool it would be

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Jack Baruth's avatar

Robert McNamara killed the B-70 singlehandedly with a personal vendetta's worth of animus. I can't see it being any less useful during the Cold War than the lower-function B-1.

The stretched passenger SST version proposed by NAA was absolutely bonkers and should have been made.

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John Marks's avatar

When I see the name McNamara I usually think,

"The course of the 20th Century would have been smoother, if the first Atomic Bomb used in anger had been dropped on Harvard Yard, rather than on Hiroshima."

McNamara ordered that draftee standards be lowered so he could draft learning-disabled young men and send them to Vietnam. Where they often couldn't handle the basics of the job and ended up dead.

McNamara did that War Crime in order to try to save the Democratic Party from the backlash, if the College Deferment were to be eliminated. Pure class-based discrimination. The Founders wept.

Insiders called the Project "McNamara's Morons." They died at 300% the rate of other draftees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_100%2C000

Rot in Hell, Mo Fo.

You too, LBJ.

john

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Sir Morris Leyland's avatar

Hamilton Gregory speaking about his book on the subject (this is 100% "listenable"; the video is just a man talking behind a lectern):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J2VwFDV4-g

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Ice Age's avatar

"The world would not be in such a snarl, had Marx been Groucho instead of Karl."

- Irving Berlin

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Henry C.'s avatar

You are absolutely right.

But they still should have nuked Harvard over Hiroshima.

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Erik's avatar

Remember, though, we didn’t get the original high speed/high altitude B1A, but rather the stealthier, low speed/low altitude B1B. At the time, the speed to stealth trade off was view as a good change. The B-70 would have been a worse low altitude bomber then either the B1B or the B52. It would have had the payload of the B52, with no more low altitude speed and a lot less range. All for a lot more money.

And, was there anything after the war that McNamara didn’t screw up? The world’s highest IQ moron?

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John Van Stry's avatar

The B-70 wouldn't have had to fly low altitude. The Russians really didn't have the ability to shoot anything down that high & fast. Look at the SR-71, they tried many times to get it, and the Oxcart, its predecessor, and always failed.

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Erik's avatar

The Russians scared the SR-71 a few times. Plus, shooting down a single, stealthy, SR-71, flying a route to avoid known SAM bases, is much harder then shooting down a hundred huge B-70s, all flying directly at your most important targets.

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Ice Age's avatar

What scared the Russians about the XB-70 was that Curtis LeMay would've commanded the operational ones.

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John Van Stry's avatar

Ah yes, Good ole' McNamara whose policies personally killed thousands of soldiers because he was a complete dumbass and had no idea what the fuck he was doing.

He was a very bad man.

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AK47isthetool's avatar

Often wrong but never in doubt.

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dejal's avatar

A "Numbers" guy. People (draftees) were just bodies. I understand that to a degree someone in his position had to think that way, but he was a lizard.

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John Van Stry's avatar

And that's why he should never have been in the position. He didn't CARE about the people. You're supposed to care.

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KoR's avatar

Not because of Fast Plane Reasons, but the image of Robert McNamara burning hell alongside his good friends Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon are why I continue to choose to believe in a higher power.

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anatoly arutunoff's avatar

what bad stuff did nixon do besides signing the 55mph limit into law?

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ScottM's avatar

He was a Republican. And Bobby Kennedy should have been President. Would have been President if only.....

I also don't understand the boomer hate for Nixon. He got us (mostly) out of Vietnam, he created the EPA, he opened China (bad in hindsight but not at the time). Watergate alone isn't enough to explain it.

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John Marks's avatar

TREASON. Nixon used Anna Chennault as a cat's paw to convince the Govt. of South Vietnam to reject a peace plan that LBJ had worked out in secret. Not that many years ago, the notebooks of Nixon's pet Californian Nazis (Haldeman and Ehrlichmann) were made public, and the evidence is pretty damning that Nixon, as a private citizen, was carrying out his own Foreign Policies, which is a Federal Crime. https://cafe.com/article/not-one-of-american-politics-finest-hours-the-chennault-affair-and-presidential-corruption/ As things turned out, Nixon turned out not to be the war-winner he ran as, and the South Vietnamese paid the price for believing him. And thousands of Americans died.

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Scott A's avatar

The national speed limit for cars should be 110. 80mph for trucks. 55mph for cuvs

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KoR's avatar

NIXON?

I expect a lot of, let's call them "alternative" political philosophies on this website but a Nixon apologist? Seriously?

The entirety of what happened in Vietnam and Cambodia and Laos and whatever else from 1967 -1973 is his fault. He, with Kissinger, is responsible for the deaths of millions. Fuck that guy. Whatever worms are crawling through his dessicated skeleton now are better than what he deserves.

But hey he did create the EPA so I guess that's something.

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Mike's avatar

EPA

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Ice Age's avatar

Ahem. I'll see your B-70 and raise you the CL-1201.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxJXw2Yctzw

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

You should read Disaster in Dearborn, the story of the Edsel. The Whiz Kids didn't save Ford, it was men hired away from GM, and the only good idea that McNamara ever had was suggesting a Thunderbird concept be turned into what became the '61 Continental - primarily because the T-Bird and Contin were both built at Wixom and shared hard points would save money. It was McNamara who killed the Edsel, literally as it was being launched. Ford's reputation as a political jungle had its roots in McNamara's days.

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Ataraxis's avatar

I believe that McNamara was responsible for the 1961 Lincoln Continental having only a 2-barrel carb on its 430 cubic inch V8.

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

When Ford increased the displacement, William Clay Ford had them swap in a 460 for his personal Continental Mark II. It's a gorgeous car, painted in his favorite Detroit Lions' Honolulu Blue.

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John Van Stry's avatar

I don't know that it was dead so much. Though the B-52 mafia might have killed it, just like they killed the Hustler.

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anatoly arutunoff's avatar

hustler was incredible

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Speed's avatar

the strategic bomber or the magazine

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Ice Nine's avatar

Both

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sgeffe's avatar

(::Rim-shot with cymbal-hit!!::)

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Speed's avatar

the one time you wish the govt had more money

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Ataraxis's avatar

Oh, they always have the money, they just spend it on stupid shit.

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Jack Baruth's avatar

Adjusted for inflation, we have sent ukraine the equivalent of a hundred fully sorted Valkyries.

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Speed's avatar

however much you hate them

its not enough

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Ataraxis's avatar

Never forget that Zelensky was named in the Panama Papers for offshore investments in London real estate *in 2012*!

The comedian has also been a crook for a long time. This war is just a money laundering operation.

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Ice Age's avatar

Ukraine and Russia are both nothing but John Wick villians, and what they DON'T know about corruption would fit on a matchbook.

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silentsod's avatar

Well, don't forget that we're killing off Ukraine's prime labor supply so a new one with no citizen's rights can be imported and worked under the US corps who own some of the most fertile land now.

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sgeffe's avatar

I believe it!

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Ice Age's avatar

But, they need that cash to buy the votes of that wily & feral North American species, Welfarus Recipius.

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Speed's avatar

can we legally hunt those yet

i dont want one mounted on my wall i just want to shore up the population

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sgeffe's avatar

It would decimate the population of major American cities!

Though this was pre-ordained when the Democrats created the species!

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Ice Age's avatar

That, and Congress became enamored of ICBMs.

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John Van Stry's avatar

And submarine launched ICBMs.

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Ice Age's avatar

Hey, I like subs but they lack a certain, I don't know...AWESOME?

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sgeffe's avatar

So many varieties, though! Philly steak, meatball, pizza..!! 😋😂

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Hex168's avatar

I believe the entire "strategic triad" thing happened pretty much by accident.

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Harry's avatar

I contend a navalized next generation B1, without variable geometry wings and with some super cruise abilities like a B-70 or TU-160 would be a fantastic missile truck in a conflict with China.

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Ice Age's avatar

If the Air Force wouldn't allow a navalized A-10, I doubt they'd go for a non-flying-wing bomber.

The XB-70 was the word "ambition" rendered in stainless steel and jet engines.

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Amelius Moss's avatar

Well Hell! When I saw Tuesday in the contest details I thought it meant last night. Guess I'll be listening to my Sam's Club soundbar a bit longer.

If Kamala will dress like the chick on the left on the new cover of National Lampoon with Mdm. Vice President perched on a coconut she'll get my vote. Imagine her negotiating with whoever's in charge over at Hamas now.

Think I'll download some Vulfpeck on the Tidal now and jam that while on the two runs I'm doing tomorrow with Miatas at the Gap. You and DG should risk a scratch on that orange Anniversary Edition and come down.

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Speed's avatar

acf does matg would be a great article

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Amelius Moss's avatar

Speaking of Miatas, I renewed at the Platinum Level this time around to get Jack to help me with my comfort level with mine. In my FiST I felt very confident when driving with a little enthusiasm but not so much in the ND2. Listening to one of Sam Smith's podcasts he discussed most drivers drive with the front tires or the rears but only the best race all four so I thought perhaps I needed help understanding rear wheel drive.

Well before I came down to NC I had the ND2 aligned to Flyin' Miatas recommended settings and that fixed everything. The Dragon this week has been an absolute joy. If you've got an ND I can't recommend it highly enough.

https://help.flyinmiata.com/align-your-suspension-chakras-By4oIc2zj

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Gianni's avatar

The factory alignment on the ND is crap. Basically the numbers that cover production tolerances.

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Speed's avatar

heres another alignment source from guys that race miatas almost exclusively if youre curious

https://www.949racing.com/supermiata/tech-info/miata-race-alignment-info/

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sgeffe's avatar

Gives new meaning to “hauling the mail!” 😂

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Morgan's avatar

Thanks - I've been needing to align my NC.

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Wheelview's avatar

The bit about more Fusions and Tauruses bringing Ford back to profitability made me chuckle. Mind you they were great cars. Class-leading in the case of the final generation Fusion, but I was in the Ford business when they were new. With the exception of the Plug-In Hybrids they all sold with massive discounts and were usually barely more than mini deals. That made them the best deal going in new sedans, but financially they were middling for the company.

And as an aside we sold every Super Duty truck we could get our paws on. At a great profit.

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Sir Morris Leyland's avatar

Perhaps there *is* a case to be made for not abandoning the lower end of the market entirely, particularly given the weakening economy.

The original author failed to make that case.

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sgeffe's avatar

If nothing else, the Fusions were something that could be found in a rental lot, which still generated some revenue for Ford.

What will you find now for an actual CAR in a rental lot? Camry, Corolla, the two Hyundais and Kias, and the Nissan Versa. (Edit: forgot the VW Jetta and the Sentra.) These are mainstream “mid-size” class or “full-size” class sedans! Road warriors who are often found in the Emerald Aisle, have the sedan classes at the major rental agencies always described cars a class below? To wit: a Camry is a mid-size, not a Corolla, a Sonata, not an Elantra. A Jetta and Sentra would be compacts, not mid-sizers, as Enterprise seems to indicate. A Versa isn’t a compact either; that always seems to be the lowest tier, along with the Mitsubishi Mirage. (Are they still making the latter?) I’ve not seen Subarus offered at rental agencies—are they around in few numbers like Hondas, or does Subaru do mass fleet sales to the EnterHertzNationalBudgets of the world?

Everything else is a wagon on stilts!

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MarkS's avatar

We had some house guests visit over the past 2 weeks, they had a rental Malibu. Not sure where they got it, though

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sgeffe's avatar

That one is going away, at least if I’ve heard right.

However, it seems like the rental companies are really milking every last mile out of every vehicle, so some of the most recent lame ducks (or dead cars driving) might hang around until they approach “hooptie” status around the rental lots!

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MarkS's avatar

I didn't check what year it was, but seemed in good shape. They were a family of 4, one kid still in a booster, and they did about 750 miles during the visit with no complaints.

Is Rent A Wreck still in business?

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Acd's avatar

I rented a Subaru Legacy sedan in Providence, RI from National back in 2012 and drove it to Northern New Jersey but I don't know how they acquired it. It was a fairly base model but current model year with low miles, not like many of today's beat up high mileage rental cars.

Either earlier that year or the year before I rented a Saab 9-5--new body style--from National in Detroit. I figured that might be my only chance ever to drive one and so far that turned out to be correct.

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Dalzell's avatar

Didn't see Georgie in the cool-down room after the race. I rather expected Lewis to say to him "You had a fast car."

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Speed's avatar

and i want a ticket to the podium

maybe we make a deal

maybe together we can get 1 - 2

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Harry's avatar

On Sainz to Williams.

I am excited for him. I have a very high opinion of Vowles, I see a little Ross Brawn in him. I think there is potential next season for Williams to become everyone's second favorite F1 team a la Minardi or Super Aguri.

For 2026 if they have their aero department on point by this January it is anyone's game. Best choice for Sainz.

He also can get out in two years if the whole thing implodes.

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dejal's avatar

If it implodes he can leave. He wasn't in any position this year to really dictate a top ride. He will be in even a lesser position in 2026. If a driver gets the glory when there's success the team was involved in that success. If the results suck, failure should also be on the driver's shoulders.

Leaving a failed team with a personal failed record may mean he's toast in F1.

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Sherman McCoy's avatar

Unless he gets dismantled by Albon (unlikely), he will be in the frame for desirable seats for 2027 and beyond once the pecking order for 2026+ is established. In fact, if they perform at a similar level, they will both be in the frame. There will be a number of seats available for 2027, as several of the old(er) drivers will have aged out by then.

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Gianni's avatar

I was going to disagree with my fellow Gen X-er about playing 1955 music, but then I looked at the Billboard top 30. Blech. I was thinking Sun Records rockabilly is 1955 music, but none of that charted.

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John Marks's avatar

If you asked people today to name the most-popular female vocalist of 1955, 1956, or 1957, many would guess Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, or Jo Stafford. However, according to Billboard magazine, for all three years, it was Julie London.

What was Julie's Winning Formula?

"Be a pretty White chick with a truly AMAZING rack."

That said... she was a natural talent, and, it seems, her own worst critic.

john

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Ataraxis's avatar

Everyone of those ladies had talent. Auto Tune not needed.

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anatoly arutunoff's avatar

my wife said doris day fooled your ear into thinking she was singing different notes

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Ataraxis's avatar

Hah! My favorite jazz vocalist is Carmen McCrae. At her peak, her voice control up and down the range, sometimes on an individual syllable, was incredible.

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Gianni's avatar

My boomer friend that has a guitar music show on the community radio station plays her jazz standards stuff occasionally because of the session cats that played on them.

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-Nate's avatar

Judging the entire merits of 1955's music is absurd .

What's good stands on it's own and always will .

-Nate

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Scott's avatar

Can we be honest? No one thought Kamala was smart two weeks ago, so let’s all agree she is still stupid. Who wants to vote for that? I guess it is better than senile, but not much. I’m on record here that I don’t like Trump, but his policies are (in my opinion) better than those of whoever is in charge on the left.

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Jack Baruth's avatar

You DO kind of have to laugh at the Indian/Jamaican slaver descendant being sold as "a Black woman". As with white/Kenyan Obama, there's no actual Black American in her.

Just goes to show that power DOES change reality.

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Scott's avatar

Scanning news headlines Trump waded into this today. I’m sure he’ll find a way to offend every potential swing voter in his special way of doing things, even though his point is probably legit.

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KoR's avatar
Aug 1Edited

The man sure can shove his own two feet so far down his fucking mouth like no one I've ever really seen. There are sometimes faint glimmers of things I don't necessarily disagree with with Trump, but it all gets swallowed up by him being the single largest egotistical, blowhard, piece of shit to grace the scene in a very long time. He is singularly unlikable as a person and a politician.

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JasonS's avatar

Sorry, but I disagree. Watch him and Bryson Dechambeau play golf. Most human I've seen the man. At the same time, he's no different than any 70's to 80's New Yorker I've ran into.

I don't care about how a man talks or even behaves. Can he/she run the country?

I ain't having a beer with him. That got us GWB.

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KoR's avatar

"At the same time, he's no different than any 70's to 80's New Yorker I've ran into."

Which is to say one of the worst types of people out there!

"I don't care about how a man talks or even behaves. Can he/she run the country?"

These two things are not mutually exclusive IMO, and I wholeheartedly disagree. If you are leading the most powerful country and military on the planet, you've gotta act like a leader. Don't have to be beloved by everyone to be sure, but you have to be respectable. He is not.

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Mike's avatar

I agree that Trump is the guy you want to hate. Yet normal people seem to buy his love of the country and it citizens. As far as being respectable when the Orange dude was in office we didn't have wars in the Ukraine and Israel. If it is about our grace in world politics can you really say Joe and Kamala are respected in those forums.

I would much rather vote for many other leaders tham Trump or Harris but Trump's lack of deference is one of his best traits. Rather have a blowhard than an open border, wars and the issues that arise with those problems. Yet I might still vote third party just so I can sleep at night.

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-Nate's avatar

"he's no different than any 70's to 80's New Yorker I've ran into."

You forgot the 1960's ones too sir .

-Nate

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Henry C.'s avatar

Feature, not bug.

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anatoly arutunoff's avatar

he gets things done; amazing considering the number of friendly backstabbers he had in his first administration

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sgeffe's avatar

Jeff Sessions being Exhibit “A” as his (first?) AG?

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Donkey Konger's avatar

If you can try (I realize this may be tough to approach if you’re coning at it from the left, I get it) but if you can try to take it as absurdist comedy the guy is often legitimately funny.

In my discussions with friends, I’ve found that most of my friends who think he’s an insane blowhard haven’t watched a full (lengthy!) rally speech and given themselves permission to laugh

I get that there are people who will never find him funny but I wonder what the breakdown is.

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KoR's avatar

Oh he is incredibly funny. One of the all-time great twitter posters too.

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snavehtrebor's avatar

No question. There's a reason he used to be one of Howard Stern's favorite guests: the inveterate poonhound from NY.

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Gianni's avatar

Or the border czar issue.

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Ice Age's avatar

"...there's no actual Black American in her."

Except for Willie Brown.

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sgeffe's avatar

Hey-O!

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Mike's avatar

LOL

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98horn's avatar

Society and culture are stuck in amber now. With so many avenues for expression, there can be no broad based evolution of culture. There is no Led Zeppelin to displace the Beatles, there is no Alice in Chains to displace punk. Music’s final evolution is Taylor Swift, stepping on your face forever, at least from a popularity standpoint. That being said, there are a plethora of subcultures you can fully immerse yourself in, to the exclusion of all others. We really are all watching different movies. Won’t we be surprised when it all comes crashing down.

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Harry's avatar

It's possible enough music has been recorded and we don't need anything new.

Untill a few years ago the only Gordon Lightfoot I had ever heard was Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, then YouTube music introduced me to more. Same story for a lot or artists from the last 60 years. I listen to a lot less Pearl Jam and Springsteen now because of it (although obviously I haven't stopped enjoying those artists as well)

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Ataraxis's avatar

This meshes well with my belief that “All the best cars have already been made”.

Easy to say, all the best jazz has already been made, all the best rock has already been made, all the best classical music has already been made…….and so on and so on.

Was any great art made in the late stage Roman Empire?

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Ice Age's avatar

Western or Byzantine?

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Ataraxis's avatar

Rome not Constantinople.

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Ice Age's avatar

Then, I'm not sure.

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Ataraxis's avatar

A quick search says the art was no longer good. But the search engines are shit.

I was searching for the meaning of a Japanese word the other day using English letters. Usually the Japanese word appears. The word’s first two letters were “tr”. All of the search results were transgender related. Then I tried adding “Japanese word” to my original search word. All of the results were then on Japanese transgenderism. F these Silicon Valley companies.

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Donkey Konger's avatar

“All the best cars have already been made”

Is one of the most trenchant observations anyone has made on this board or any similar board. It’s very sad. Because a lot of those best cars have a shelf life. What of those of us who wanted to buy an S580 in 2028?

That said, find me in Thomas Hank’s garage in 2033, attempting to LS swap a non-running e63 (if not already in gulag)

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John Marks's avatar

If you like Lightfoot, may I recommend Mickey Newbury?

He's the only songwriter ever to to have Top 5 songs on FOUR different Billboard charts at once. His album "Lulled by the Moonlight" is as good an intro as there is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Newbury

john

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Harry's avatar

Now on tomorrows playlist. Hopefully I can listen to him through some Veri-Fi speakers soon if I get lucky.

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Christo's avatar

Interesting.

Much like I'm wondering why there are so many new children's books each year? It's not like they go bad? Aren't there enough already? If you have Hansel & Gretl, Snow White, Goldilocks, Rapunzel, do you really need another kids book?

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sgeffe's avatar

“Jennifer’s Mommy’s Now Her Daddy,” if some have their way!

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

If you can figure out a way to include Mommy's new LGBTQ+~ polycule, I'm sure that the blue haired childless weirdos at the American Library Association will recommend it to outrage the normies.

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sgeffe's avatar

I assume those women you cite are under 50!

God save us!

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KoR's avatar

The best bands today all have like fewer than six figure followers on Spotify.

There’s SO MANY good bands too. Just none of them will ever really be crazy successful because, as you say, music has evolved directly into Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and for reasons I don’t quite understand mumble rap.

Idk. Whatever. Go listen to Liquid Mike’s last two albums and enjoy some great, new music from a great little band.

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98horn's avatar

There’s alot of great stuff to uncover. Khurangbin (if you’re a dirty hippie like me), the Ohsees, Tif Ginn has some great live versions of Getaway Car, Anna Tivel is great too if you’re into girl folk acts.

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

If you're a dirty hippie, you might enjoy this, though it is almost 50 years old. I was playing The Closing of Winterland DVD and was struck by how a song could be delicate and majestic at the same time. Like Sly said, "It might be old fashioned but it is not a fashion in the first place, it is a feeling, and if it was good in the past it is still good." I particularly like Keith Godchaux's piano on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnnBsBQ72BQ

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98horn's avatar

If you are both drunk and high, you can follow two strains of music in Dead songs at the same time. Or maybe you were just really really inebriated.

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Christo's avatar

Say what you want about record moguls from the 50's and 60's, but they were the gatekeepers for talent. Because of the enormous costs of production and distribution, only the best acts got any airtime.

Now any idiot with a Macbook can upload his latest "creation" to iTunes regardless of whether it has any merit. And the signal-to-noise ratio has plummeted.

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Ronnie Schreiber's avatar

It was also a very dirty business. I recommend Here Comes The Night by Joel Selvin, mostly about Bert Berns but a pretty good look at the pop music biz from the late '50s until the hippies took over.

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anatoly arutunoff's avatar

i remember seeing betty carter and sade on snl. them were the days.

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Ataraxis's avatar

Sade is one of the last genuinely talented female singers to come along.

Here is a powerful and damn sexy performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert. This is a song you would expect to hear in a jazz club, but she somehow makes it work in a stadium! And the live vocal performance matches the powerful studio version. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bFgv8Jq4xN0

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Jack Baruth's avatar

I saw her live a decade ago. She and her band were in top form.

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Ataraxis's avatar

She is also very shrewd. For her recording contract, she did not take all the money upfront they wanted to throw at her, she took a high percentage of the royalties instead, which is very unusual. Made her rich right from the first album.

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sgeffe's avatar

Hmm! Which makes my wordplay in my response below a double-entendre!

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sgeffe's avatar

A true smooth operator! 😉

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Jeff Madson's avatar

I'm not going to go back and check but I believe you had almost the exact same complaint with John's band camp last year. Why do the same thing and expect different results?

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Jack Baruth's avatar

This camp cost five times as much and came much more highly recommended.

It makes me think that maybe I should get into the youth band camp business. Since I'm so clearly RIGHT about all of it!

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Henry C.'s avatar

It could be worse. Most of the 'School of Rock' kids I've seen play Journey and similar.

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Sir Morris Leyland's avatar

"When they taught rock in school, it ceased to be cool."

Sounds like a song that needs to be written.

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Jack Baruth's avatar

This camp cost five times as much and came much more highly recommended.

It makes me think that maybe I should get into the youth band camp business. Since I'm so clearly RIGHT about all of it!

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Harry's avatar

Your finances wouldn't survive the first "one time at band camp"

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-Nate's avatar

Thus, _Corporations_ .

-Nate

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