George Rebane
The long-awaited report from special counsel Robert Mueller has turned out to be a disappointment on all counts to all sides. The following summarize my initial take on it.
- From a legal perspective, the report is an iconic nothing-burger. A 400-page embarrassment that documents the failure to conclude anything definite about the commissioned purpose for the drawn-out investigation. It is a collection of legal pabulum as a CYA disguise for spending tens of millions over two years to no avail.
- From the gitgo the Mueller investigation was an obviously composed effort to nail the president and derail his administration. The composition of the investigative team and its flailing, off-the-mark, subsequent indictments gave evidence that it really was a desperate witch hunt which had to fire off a few legal pyrotechnics now and then to keep the effort looking credible to the light thinkers.
- From a political perspective, the report is a success. Since there was no credible prosecutorial evidence for either ‘collusion’ or ‘obstruction’, the investigation’s redoubt terminus was always to deliver a product that would dissemble its conclusions so as to invite and enable follow-on probes which the Democrats took every opportunity to specify during the 22-month fiasco. Team Muller got its marching orders early and often from the Left and its lamestream.
- President Trump and his administration have been isolated, perhaps, like no other administration in our history. The Dems could never accept the election results, and the Repubs have carried on a feckless relationship with a president who obviously was not their first choice from their retinue of available candidates. And Trump’s incurable foot-in-mouth disease did not endear him to anyone in the Washington political establishment. Mueller’s investigation was drawn out for the obvious collateral damage it was inflicting by hobbling and diverting Team Trump from governing.
- Mueller’s work has also served 1) to firmly entrench the public’s longstanding opinion of the dodgy legal profession and our convoluted and corrupt justice system in which it operates, and 2) to highlight and further widen our country’s ideological divide. The report’s dearth of evidence and painfully wordsmithed syntax made sure that it would change no minds already secure in their beliefs about Trump’s guilt or innocence. All sides can now put their own particular spin on it, and never look back.
WSJ Washington columnist Kim Strassel adds more meat to these points in her ‘Mueller’s Report Speaks Volumes’.
[20apr19 update] Upon reflection on Volume 2 of the report dealing with obstruction, it strikes me as more than utter bullshit that would be below the standards of any other profession other than those populated mostly by sleazebag lawyers. I add point #6.
- “… while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” A little thought immediately causes one to ask, ‘is there ANY investigation that cannot have such a codicil appended to its conclusion, should the investigator desire to leave a cloud over the individual investigated without the finding of any illegality or indictable criminality??’ To conclude with such an unnecessary assertion is an act of desperation which confirms that the investigation was carried out with an agenda unfulfilled. Such a dangling innuendo strongly implies that guilt could yet be uncovered with more effort, and forces the so accused into having to prove his own innocence – not exactly the way our system of jurisprudence was intended to operate. (That is one of the many reasons I assess our judicial system to be invitingly corrupt.)
In Mueller’s case he was not able to indict someone for not obstructing an unobstructed investigation that terminated without finding any evidence of an indictable crime. About that the Dems are pissed to the gills, and will now do everything to correct the situation. Go figger.
Another good report from John Solomon......the political document and “discoverable influence operations.”. Who get the last laugh? He’s laughing right now.
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/439907-and-the-winner-of-the-robert-mueller-sweepstakes-is-vladimir-putin
Posted by: Bill Tozer | 21 April 2019 at 10:26 PM
Oh great pony tail of ignorance, ITS THE ECONOMY STUPID! Bush the first had a 'peace dividend' recession post gulf 1. DUH!
That they let the pony tail of ignorance prattle on the airwaves cements po' ol' fakenewsman as the resident liar.
;-)
Posted by: Don Bessee | 21 April 2019 at 10:46 PM
Posted by: Don Bessee | 21 April 2019 at 10:46 PM
Yeah Don you didn’t note Palookas 9:11.....
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 06:56 AM
It’s only been a couple of weeks since the circuit court’s ruling on release of grand jury transcripts, but few are talking about this. At first glance it appears Nadler & Co are subpoenaing William Barr to break the law, lol.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/summary-dc-circuit-rules-grand-jury-secrecy-mckeever-v-barr
Posted by: Bill Tozer | 22 April 2019 at 07:35 AM
re BillT 735am - Don't know why the obvious point, much discussed here, does not make national headlines. Congress itself is not above the law, and cannot use it powers to force others to break the laws it has made. Why does not one of the guys with a mic ask Nadler if it's even legal for his committee to subpoena the AG to violate the law and release an unredacted version of the Mueller report revealing grand jury investigations and testimonies? Are Nadler and his Democrats promoting an obvious crime?
Posted by: George Rebane | 22 April 2019 at 08:48 AM
Wow
Trump drops 8 points in RR's favorite poll, Rasmussen, since the release of the Mueller Report. The bottom is falling out and the swamp is draining!!!
+4 April 5
-4 April 22
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/trump_administration/trump_approval_index_history
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 10:03 AM
Wow!
Paul still can't think straight!
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 10:08 AM
Beat me to it Paul - and all bets are that he continues to fall. Trump thinks impeachment will help him?? Maybe he should look at these numbers. The more contemptible he becomes, the less inclined people will be to give him their vote. They may not vote for the Democrat, but out of disgust for his character they won't vote for Trump either. Let him rage and rant and tweet. All unbecoming of a leader and not working to curry any favor beyond his cud chewing base. Relentless dripping is a proven technique for sowing contempt. Drip on!
Posted by: Ozz | 22 April 2019 at 10:13 AM
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 10:08 AM
Wow!
Paul still can't think straight!
Might as well let him have it Gregory.....polls keep him going while waiting for god to call him home.
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 10:24 AM
"Paul still can't think straight!"
I just bothered to look at his link (a rarity, I assure you), and I just see a random walk with little real change over time. I expect that it's about par for a modern President at this point lacking a war. It's easier to be against something than for it.
That's the beauty of the Blue Mob, it's more fun to be outraged than to justify. Intellectual laziness usually is the best path for maximum utils of satisfaction, so I can't blame them.
Posted by: scenes | 22 April 2019 at 10:26 AM
Look at the graphed daily Presidential poll at Rasmussen...
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/trump_administration/prez_track_apr22
It's just noise in a trading range. And Trump is exactly where Obama was at the same day in his first term... 47% approval.
No Paul, you can't double count every percent drop and not be laughed at. Easy go, easy come, easy go, easy come...
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 10:27 AM
Gregory@10:27AM
Damm it, you beat me agin. I was going to post this:
https://cdn.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/trump-and-obama-approval-ratings2.jpg
I'd love to take Mr. Ozzzz's bet "and all bets are that he continues to fall.". Too funny.
What say? Even over/under odds that Trump hits 70% disapproval in a month? It'll be like taking candy from a baby.
Posted by: scenes | 22 April 2019 at 10:31 AM
as an aside. Smooth that line a bit and the local bolshies wouldn't like it so much.
Posted by: scenes | 22 April 2019 at 10:32 AM
8 point drop Gregory. Do you deny that?
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 10:45 AM
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 10:27 AM
It's just noise in a trading range. And Trump is exactly where Obama was at the same day in his first term... 47% approval.
...and Obama had a conciliatory......dare I say "fellatial" mainstream press. Were it not for the "resistance" in newsrooms Trump might very well have the best historical numbers at this point in any presidents term!
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 10:47 AM
8 point drop since the release of the Mueller report. Do any of you deny that? You can wrap it in a smiley but the math is the math.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 10:47 AM
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 10:45 AM
Do you deny that?
Uh oh........Palooka as "Evangelical Preacher" is in the house!
"Do you deny that?........Do you deny that YOU walk with SATAN? (oops......I typed that first as STAN.....which probably would have been confusing) YES OR NO?!?!?! Yes or No?
Can I get an AMEN???
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 10:50 AM
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 10:47 AM
Do any of you deny that? You can wrap it in a smiley but the math is the math.
Punchy....if I was on fire and you told me, I'd track down somebody else who had a better grasp on reality for a second opinion!
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 10:53 AM
I watched the Sunday talking heads yesterday at my leisure, before going to bed.
Giuliani was making the rounds... I saw him first on Fox News Sunday, last on Meet the Press.
Chris Wallace kept asking questions and interrupting Giuliani when he tried to rub two facts together to make the case.
College drop out Chuck Todd tried to debate Giuliani and came out badly. Sometimes gotchas don't work.
Thinking about talking heads of old, I still miss both Tony Snow (Fox) and Tim Russert (NBC). Their dying in the months before the '08 election (Snow of metastatic colon cancer, Russert of a massive heart attack) deprived the country of good natured, fair and knowledgeable questioning of politicians in a timely manner.
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 10:58 AM
Do you deny an 8 point drop fish?
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 10:59 AM
Here is the po' ol' fakenewsmans greatest rancid Russian dressing misses. Read em and weep -
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2019/04/22/top-51-fake-news-bombshells-media-spread-russiagate/
;-)
Posted by: Don Bessee | 22 April 2019 at 11:03 AM
Paul, work your magic with January 3 as your start point. Or March 12, or the 18th. Or a number of other dates where Trump's approval and disapproval numbers, according to Rasmussy, were exactly the same as today's.
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 11:07 AM
"Do you deny an 8 point drop fish?"
Heck, I'll answer for both of them.
You don't know how to read that chart. No, it's not an 8 point drop.
Posted by: scenes | 22 April 2019 at 11:08 AM
Posted by: scenes | 22 April 2019 at 11:08 AM
You don't know how to read that chart. No, it's not an 8 point drop.
It's worse than that.......I couldn't care any less! Punchy will be boring us with polls until Trump is overwhelmingly relected or until Punch goes the way of Ira Einhorns girlfriend.
Either way works for me!
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 11:14 AM
Huh scenes? What is the difference from + 4 to - 4? George, you are a math guy, help him out. Is this what you refer to as the decline in numeracy in America? Gregory these sets of numbers are reflection of his drop since the release of the Mueller Report and Barrs blather.
Actually Trump has slumped 17 points since Jan 26 2017 when he was + 13. That is established fact. You can interpret any way you like but the numbers are what they are.
I'm even using RR's favorite poll so you can't blame it on bias in the polling service.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/trump_administration/trump_approval_index_history
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 11:19 AM
(Slams door. walks down corridor, opens next door. Gets hit on head as he steps through.)
Man: Hello, I want to... Ooooh!
Spreaders: (Terry Jones) No, no, no. Hold your head like this, then go Waaah. Try it again. (hits him on the head again)
Man: uuuwwhh!!
Spreaders: Better, Better, but Waah, Waah! Hold your hands here.
Man: No.
Spreaders: Now..
Man: Waaaaah!!!
Spreaders: Good, Good! That's it.
Man: Stop hitting me!!
Spreaders: What?
Man: Stop hitting me!!
Spreaders: Stop hitting you?
Man: Yes!
Spreaders: What did you come in here for?
Man: I came here to complain.
Spreaders: Oh no, that's next door. It's being-hit-on-the-head lessons in here.
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 11:33 AM
What are you talking about Gregory? Goodness, you're losing it. I guess you can't deal with simple math.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 11:38 AM
Gregory@11:33AM
It occurs to me that he doesn't know what a 'point' is.
Posted by: scenes | 22 April 2019 at 11:42 AM
I mean we all know Monty Python but what does that have to do with poll numbers???
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 11:42 AM
scenes 1142am
He only sees places to possibly land a punch.
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 11:47 AM
"He only sees places to possibly land a punch."
That is a boring way to lead your life.
Posted by: scenes | 22 April 2019 at 11:48 AM
It works for Punchy.
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 11:56 AM
Gregory
My jabs have opened up a huge opening in RR's pathetic defense and that is a total lack of numeracy and literacy. I am content to just jab away. Thanks for sparing.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 12:07 PM
If you truly believe your 1207, you are delusional.
But I doubt it... you're more likely just throwing punches.
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 12:24 PM
Thanks for jabbing Paul. It's nice to let them know that they are a minor blemish on the community and don't represent the vast majority of us sane and compassionate True Patriots.
Posted by: Ozz | 22 April 2019 at 12:48 PM
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 12:07 PM
My jabs have opened up a huge opening in RR's pathetic defense and that is a total lack of numeracy and literacy. I am content to just jab away. Thanks for sparing
Oooh......embarrassing! “Sparing”.....you would think that the single word central to the point you are trying to make would be spelled correctly! I guess not!
.......you oughta consider taking a dive!
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-sugar-ray-leonard-micky-rooney-bob-hope-1979-photo-by-john-barrett-176681531.html
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 12:53 PM
It continues as a matter of humorous interest as to why all these members of the "sane and compassionate True Patriots" continue frequenting a website that they acknowledge is only a voice of the "minor blemish on the community" that does not "represent the vast majority". There must be some profit in it for them since their sentiments appear nowhere else hereabouts. What could that be?
Posted by: George Rebane | 22 April 2019 at 12:59 PM
Fish, you know the saying, "spar the rod and spoil the Paul".
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 01:09 PM
If you truly believe your 1207, you are delusional.
Oh, rest assured he does! Every word!
Then again he earned his moniker by taking too many blows to the head!
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 01:14 PM
George
My sparing reveals the delusional optimism about Trump that the RR's embrace. The lack of any concern as to Trumps poll numbers that have declined so dramatically since Jan 2017 are an example. I mean he did win the election but barely and any decline from that level of support would have to be a concern. I mean dealing 17 points in a friendly poll is a pretty big deal but not to the RR's that live in a bubble of ignorance. \
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 01:14 PM
However as sparring partners they are adequate but predictable and take a punch rather well making for a good workout.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 01:17 PM
sp " I mean dropping 17 points"
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 01:18 PM
I think he might be loose in the head about numbers. Too many hits.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 22 April 2019 at 01:27 PM
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 01:17 PM
Wow old timer.....pretty good “sparing”.....guess you sure showed us young whippersnappers just what was what!
https://giphy.com/gifs/funny-lol-wtf-1n3Icv3iptOCmN7uYh
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 01:42 PM
Yeah fish, I hope you learn something
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 01:44 PM
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 01:44 PM
Yes.....your Kung Fu.....just.....too.....strong.
https://giphy.com/gifs/fight-Y3AwGfxlDbkPu
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 01:47 PM
PaulE - Here's something that might put into perspective all of your many outrages about using "stolen information" against your political opponents.
https://dailycaller.com/2019/04/22/adam-schiff-180-ethics-stolen-info-political-foes/
Posted by: George Rebane | 22 April 2019 at 03:04 PM
re: GeorgeR@3:04PM
That's a good one. Keep in mind that Paul thinks that a change in the difference between two numbers is the same as a change in a number, so you might lose him on that one too.
This is too funny. It turns out that Hillary (not just her good friend Obama) use the term 'Easter Worshipper'. You'd think there'd be a more straightforward way to say that.
https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/1120013694073810944
Posted by: scenes | 22 April 2019 at 03:34 PM
@334 - Didn't you hear? The 2019 talking points for socialist dems outlawed using the word Christ and all of its associated words like Christians. LOL
;-)
Posted by: Don Bessee | 22 April 2019 at 03:41 PM
I'd wager that if we added up all of Paul's breathless reports of drops in Trump's numbers, Trump would be at negative 327% approval.
The old account of Schiff getting a woody over dirt on Trump from Ukraine is very on point. Also... there's multiple stories in the news about Giuliani saying there's nothing wrong with using stolen information against a political opponent... but the Trump tower meeting didn't result in any dirt on Clinton being transferred, and Giuliani was nuanced about using Wikileaks that might have been based off of Russian thefts... that the information was spot on truthful, undisputed, unembellished, the Trump campaign had nothing to do with the theft and Wikileaks had already spread it to anyone in the world who wanted to read it.
This is me talking now... it would be political malpractice to pretend not to have read such information and to use it.
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 04:36 PM
,,,20april19 update,,, The report was never going to result in a charge...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r3sELVQr5SE
,,,but that doesn’t mean the Orange Man with the Guilty Conscience won’t get charged in the future...
Posted by: AVMan | 22 April 2019 at 04:41 PM
P.E. at 1:14 - "...delusional optimism about Trump that the RR's embrace."
Oh, let's see...
Trump wins the election.
So I'm happy that Hilary didn't.
Paul calls me delusional.
Despite Paul's constant certainties that Trump will be gone 'soon', Trump is still POTUS.
I note that fact.
And once again, Paul calls me delusional.
So - where or what is my delusion?
If we count up all the times Paul declares that Trump can never be POTUS or the number of times that he declares that Trump won't last long, it seems pretty darn clear who's delusional.
But of course he doesn't see it.
That's the definition of some one who is delusional.
Posted by: Scott O | 22 April 2019 at 04:57 PM
Six months before Trump won the election, Paul was saying to me that the "pubbies" would be crushed so completely that good people would have to work to bring them back into society, to let them feel useful again.
Remember those days of blissful delusional ignorance, Paul?
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 05:49 PM
George
Other than the Daily Caller what is the source of this information? Besides I don't claim to share Schiffs ethics on this matter as you apparently do.
Gregory the Pubbers lost 40 seats in the House, several Governors races and disappeared in California. More to come next election.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 06:07 PM
Gregory 5:49
Paul was talking about California. He was, and is, correct.
The country will take a bit longer, but disgust with Trump is climbing by leaps and bounds. Character will be a defining factor in the next elections, and aided by Trump's legacy we will speed forward on the path toward a more perfect union.
Posted by: Ozz | 22 April 2019 at 06:07 PM
Ooooze - "...but disgust with Trump is climbing by leaps and bounds."
The last time I heard that was right before the last presidential election.
Posted by: Scott O | 22 April 2019 at 06:28 PM
Scott
All polls show that Trump has declined since then. He has lost 17 on Rasmussen since Jan 2017 as I have documented earlier in this post.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 06:35 PM
Paul - You have 'documented' a constant drop in the polls of Trump for months on end.
You might take note that he is still in office and the country is doing better than when Obummer was in office - particularly among non-Anglos.
Is that what is actually bothering you?
Posted by: Scott O | 22 April 2019 at 06:40 PM
Posted by: Scott O | 22 April 2019 at 06:40 PM
Hmmm......sounds like Steve.......err “Ozz” has a case of Pauline Kael Syndrome....nobody he knows voted for Trump.
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 07:03 PM
The GOP has disappeared in California? Let me check... hmmm, no, Audrey Denney definitely lost badly in her Congressional run, to LaMalfa.
Denney is running again... A glutton for punishment... I guess she had more fun as a Congressional candidate than as a remote "learning designer" for a tiny company headquartered in a house in the suburbs of Lincoln NE.
The GOP had to be asleep at the wheel for them to not challenge Denney's claim for her occupation listing on the ballot as a Farmer and educator, since she didn't have a farm to farm or a classroom to teach in. She is a "learning designer" and she should explain to voters what that is.
She also called for semiautomatic guns to be banned in California and the country. Good luck with that.
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 07:10 PM
The putin party parrot has noting new to add beyond dementia. Sad decline to watch. Time to hand off the device....
;-)
Posted by: Don Bessee | 22 April 2019 at 07:14 PM
The GOP lost 40 seats in the House with the titular head of the party tied down by the Lilliputians with a bogus investigation in an election cycle that historically is a loser... Just ask Bill Clinton about his party losing the House to the Gingrich revolution. Or Obama losing his House two years into his first term.
"Paul was talking about California. He was, and is, correct." -Ozzie
Paul is and was wrong.
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 07:24 PM
Fish 703pm
No, Ozz is sounding a lot like Mandersonation, aka Michael P. Anderson, as of late. A very mean fellow, given to tantrums and threats.
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 07:37 PM
More bad polling news for Trump-all time lows...
"President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped 5 points, equaling his presidency’s low-water mark, since last week’s release of the special counsel report into the 2016 election, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.
Despite his sinking poll numbers, however, there is little support for removing Trump through the impeachment process, the poll shows.
Only 39 percent of voters surveyed in the new poll, which was conducted Friday through Sunday, approve of the job Trump is doing as president. That is down from 44 percent last week and ties Trump’s lowest-ever approval rating in POLITICO/Morning Consult polling — a 39 percent rating in mid-August 2017, in the wake of violence in Charlottesville, Va."
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/22/trump-approval-mueller-report-1286386
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 07:46 PM
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 07:46 PM
Ok Punch.....whatever you say. I mean you are so rarely wrong about these things.......
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 07:54 PM
Not only boorish but boring @746! Squawk! Stomp feet and hold breath.... why, why, why......
;-)
Posted by: Don Bessee | 22 April 2019 at 07:54 PM
I wonder who all are the believers in the long-term prediction reliability of public opinion polls, other than PaulE of course.
Posted by: George Rebane | 22 April 2019 at 07:57 PM
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 07:37 PM
You think? Not as rage-alicious as I grew accustomed to from Michael. Plenty smug, pedantic and self-satisfied enough to be Steve.
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 08:02 PM
George
You'd better believe that Trumps and the Republican Pollsters are paying close attention to the polling trends. That's what they do, it's their job.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 08:09 PM
”You'd better believe that Trumps and the Republican Pollsters are paying close attention to the polling trends. That's what they do, it's their job.”
Yeah George! They get paid to know that polls a year and a half before the election are as useless as a weather forecast for the day of the election made today!
Punch.....you’re turning into the Crazy Cat Lady of presidential politics.
Posted by: fish | 22 April 2019 at 08:17 PM
Fish writes "They get paid to know that polls a year and a half before the election are as useless as a weather forecast for the day of the election made today! "
Do you really believe that fish? Where in the hell did you get that idea? You know little or nothing about political campaigns.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 08:47 PM
Any pollster would say that at this time Trump is on a ledge. He has never been above ground in the polls and now he's reached the point where he has to improve. If he goes any lower he may be out of the picture.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 08:51 PM
Gregory writes:
"Paul is and was wrong."
Why are you trying to put a smiley on the Republican total in the House in California? They are down to seven-yes seven seats in California. Not since the 1940s has California had single-digit Republican representation in Congress. You are clinging to LaMalfa's win as some kind of hopeful sign. How naive can you be.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 08:57 PM
Paul - There is no doubt that polls can capture current attitudes, which are very volatile and can turn on a dime. But you seem to believe that such polls have long-term predictive power in political affairs. I haven’t seen any data to support that. But I and perhaps other RR readers would be interested in a longer dissertation from you on the factors you think allow us to glean the future from the contemporaneous performance of the many polls you follow. Such a piece could lead to a profitable discussion, surpassing the back and forth we’ve had on polls for the last many years. What do you say?
Posted by: George Rebane | 22 April 2019 at 09:07 PM
Please refer to Oct.8th... you know the onset of your TDS, you should have gotten thee cbd salve....
;-)
Posted by: Don Bessee | 22 April 2019 at 09:20 PM
Sidestepping polls and moving on to AG Barr. VDH
“The current progressive effort to demonize attorney general William Barr is creepy, but then again not so strange. He came into the office with singular experience and an excellent reputation from past service. As attorney general, he has followed the law to the letter in handling the release, redactions, and dissemination of the Mueller report. His summaries of the report proved factual. They were not contested by Robert Mueller or his team. His decision not to pursue “obstruction” was not just his own, but logically followed from the Mueller report that did not find enough evidence to make such a positive recommendation. His congressional testimony that there was “spying” during the 2016 campaign is, of course, factually undeniable, and Barr added the qualifier of being interested in finding whether such surveillance was warranted or not..
——-
“In sum, the progressives’ preventative efforts to destroy Barr’s reputation take on a certain sort of sick partisan logic, especially as he is neither the sort to recuse himself during cycles of journalistic hysteria nor to appoint a special counsel, after the ill-starred odyssey of the Mueller all-stars and dream team. Given his age, past tenures, reputation, and professional demeanor, Barr does not seem to be much worried over transient unpopularity, partisan criticism, political pressure, or making tough decisions that might adversely affect his future career.”
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/progressive-effort-delegitimize-william-barr/
So the fear is not that Barr broke or will ever break the law, but rather just the opposite: He seems the sort who will follow the law wherever it leads him and without worry over the consequences — and that reality is now apparently seen by some as quite scary indeed.”
Posted by: Bill Tozer | 22 April 2019 at 09:24 PM
The whole thing stinks to high heaven so much that even Bob Woodward can’t ignore it no more. If it was a snake it would have bite him.
Bob Woodward: FBI, CIA Reliance on ‘Garbage’ Steele Dossier ‘Needs to Be Investigated’
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/bob-woodward-fbi-cia-reliance-on-garbage-steele-dossier-needs-to-be-investigated/
Posted by: Bill Tozer | 22 April 2019 at 09:45 PM
George
Trump has a base following of about 30% which will vote for him no matter what. You have to have at least a strong support in the mid 40's to win an election. When Trump starts losing the Romney and Ryan factions of the party for example, which he has, he is done. The Republican Party is dead. It's now the Trump party and they do not represent the majority of Americans which you need to win an election. It will likely be Biden and Harris or perhaps Amy Klobuchar which will lock in the traditional Democrats and the Women's and Black votes. Again if he falls deeper in a hole it will be hard to clime out. With 12 investigations going his way he will have his hands full and he can't "Barr" his way out of all of them.
The main thing is Trump is going to have to gain some middle of the road support and I don't see where that is going to come from if he keeps appealing only to the shrill right which he already has in his pocket
Going to be lots of fun.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 09:45 PM
Lets have a big one handed clap for the comic stylings of the pony tail of ignorance @ 945!
;-)
Posted by: Don Bessee | 22 April 2019 at 09:50 PM
Gregory: "Remember those days of blissful delusional ignorance, Paul?"
Ah yes. We should look back in time using the crystal ball. Eenie meenie, chili beanie, the spirits are about to speak.
Nov 7 2016, Paul Emery sez: "Anyway Hillary will easily win today which is a sigh of relief to the mainstream Pubbers who can toss him out like dead flowers and regroup for 2020."
Posted by: scenes | 22 April 2019 at 10:12 PM
"Anyway Hillary will easily win today which is a sigh of relief to the mainstream Pubbers who can toss him out like dead flowers and regroup for 2020."
-Punchy Nov 7, 2016
Beautiful. Such power, such certainty. So much delusion.
Posted by: Gregory | 22 April 2019 at 10:44 PM
hat was then this is now Gregory. Ever hear of buyers remorse?
Posted by: Paul Emery | 23 April 2019 at 05:57 AM
That was then this is now Gregory. Ever hear of buyers remorse?
scenes, do you have any remorse about siding with Todd in believing the Pubs will the house in the midterms?
Posted by: Paul Emery | 23 April 2019 at 06:21 AM
will win the house-typo
Posted by: Paul Emery | 23 April 2019 at 06:22 AM
Looks like the "predictor" PE is lousy at it as 538. That was then this now buy his skills are now even worse since the onset of dementia. LOL!
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 23 April 2019 at 06:55 AM
Todd
How about your predictions of a red wave in the last elections and that the Pubs would gain in the House?
Posted by: Paul Emery | 23 April 2019 at 07:02 AM
The ever-prescient Paul Emery sez: "scenes, do you have any remorse about siding with Todd in believing the Pubs will the house in the midterms?"
lol. You are welcome to find somewhere where I said that the House would be held by the Republicans (aka, the 'Pubs'). As I've said before, I think that the Blue Mob holds the long-term advantage. We probably need a real failure to rebuild and a culture takes a lot of killing.
Methinks you are inventing something from whole cloth. But as they say, "RUSSIANS RUSSIANS RUSSIANS RUSSIANS RUSSIANS RUSSIANS RUSSIANS".
Honestly, if you didn't exist, we'd have to invent you.
Posted by: scenes | 23 April 2019 at 07:41 AM
Haven't mentioned a word about the Russians for awhile scenes. thanks for bringing it up.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 23 April 2019 at 07:57 AM
We R's saved the country by keeping the Senate and we have the Presidencu and 5-4 on the SCOTUS. Looks like I was on the right track while PE was out in the ozones again.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 23 April 2019 at 08:17 AM
Uh Oh, looks like Hillary is in jeopardy again with the Uranium deal. And Paul Emery supported her vigorously last go around.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 23 April 2019 at 08:18 AM
Didn't vote for Hillary Todd. Voted for Gary Johnson. Who did you vote for?
Posted by: Paul Emery | 23 April 2019 at 08:26 AM
But you defended her everyday and dissed Trump. I think you did and now you are trying to save dace for your huge defeat.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 23 April 2019 at 08:30 AM
So do you admit you voted for Trump Todd?
Posted by: Paul Emery | 23 April 2019 at 08:53 AM
Posted by: Paul Emery | 22 April 2019 at 09:45 PM
Going to be lots of fun.
Yeah……it is! I look forward to the wails of anguish and gnashing of teeth when Trump likely wins another term.
Really the only reason (other than judicial appointments) that I support him….thanks Gregory!
Posted by: fish | 23 April 2019 at 09:06 AM
Paul and Todd sitting in the tree
A-r-g-u-i-n-g!
Posted by: scenes | 23 April 2019 at 09:24 AM
I most certainly voted for DJT!
Posted by: Barry Pruett | 23 April 2019 at 09:26 AM
Yes I voted for Trump and am damn proud of it. PE voted for Hillary and is lying he did not.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 23 April 2019 at 09:35 AM
You guys crack me up. Lots of laughs doing this. thanks
Posted by: Paul Emery | 23 April 2019 at 09:50 AM
Thanks we appreciate your silliness as well. When you get serious we might take you that way.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 23 April 2019 at 09:59 AM