The Real timschochet

No let’s not. All of you guys are such cynics. Let’s be clear: 1. Trump is an anomaly. He’s a really corrupt dude. In American history there’s been only a tiny handful of politicians who have reached his level of corruption. Biden isn’t close to being one of them. Not suggesting Biden is pristine (I’ve no idea) but he’s nowhere near to the Trump level. Biden doesn’t deserve to be anywhere near prison (but Bob Menendez does.) 2. Most politicians, on both sides, are not corrupt. Most of them are ambitious, selfish and power hungry but that’s not the same thing. They generally do want to serve those who voted them into office. I believe this. 3. This constant “throw the bums out” mentality is terrible for this country. It defeats all long term planning and creates chaos. If somebody really commits a crime then sure get rid of them. But we don’t need to get rid of most of them.

Upsets can always happen. But the reason they’re called upsets is because they’re unlikely.

Your statement as a general rule is correct. And Trump is still the favorite as I write this. But not a heavy favorite and the odds have tightened: https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/06/03/trumps-betting-odds-to-win-election-take-hit-after-conviction/

Maybe the best offensive lineman of all time. Why do so many of these guys die so young?

A good summary of the polls this weekend: https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/shows/maddow/blog/rcna155152 None of them are good for Trump. The assumption, made by many conservatives, that the conviction would help Trump appears to be false…at least so far. Also false is the assumption, made by many people (including me) that this would make no difference.

Not for this. Maybe for the other stuff, And maybe a few days in jail for contempt of court.

I think that there are still a lot of people not paying attention to the extent that they realize: “hey wait a minute. We don’t like Biden but if we don’t vote for him we get Trump. So we better vote for Biden.” That’s what I meant by realizing it’s a binary choice. Biden will win if enough people think this way. You’re free to disagree.

Well hopefully we won’t.

Eventually. I have a few other trips planned first. But the Mexican Riviera is gorgeous.

Here’s the analogy I would use: suppose you learned that one of the referees for the NBA finals is a lifelong Dallas fan. That wouldn’t make him ineligible, unable to do his job. He’s a professional. Now, if he places a bet down on Dallas before the game then we have a big problem.

Yeah that makes him an a-hole for sure. But the more important part is that he wasn’t flying the flag in connection with Jan 6, so far as we know. So he’s a right winger and wants Trump to win? We already knew that. It doesn’t mean that he can’t judge fairly anymore than Merchan contributing to Biden’s campaign doesn’t mean he can’t judge fairly. Personal convictions shouldn’t come into it. If there is an actual connection to the case in question (as there apparently is with Thomas) that’s differentx

He wrote a letter: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/29/samuel-alito-letter-recusal-rejection/ A lot of folks didn’t like it but I think it was OK.

Now Trump is claiming he never said “lock her up” about Hillary. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/06/02/politics/fact-check-trump-false-claim-lock-up-hillary-clinton “It was the crowds, not me!” Throwing his fans under the bus.

Adele stands up to bigotry: https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/02/entertainment/adele-response-pride-month-heckler/index.html

I will offer my input: 1. I don’t think Merchan needed to recuse himself. The donation he offered was minor but even if it’s larger I’m not sure that’s a big deal. Donating to Biden, being a liberal Democrat, is meaningless. Maybe if he worked for the Biden campaign. But all he did was donate. What his daughter did is irrelevant. 2. I don’t think that Alito needs to recuse himself from anything. I found his explanation of the flags reasonable. For now. If something new comes up I could change my mind but I don’t agree with those who think he should recuse. 3. Clarence Thomas should recuse himself from anything having to do with January 6 because his wife was, apparently, directly involved. This is not like the other two examples above, if your wife is involved in a case you shouldn’t be making decisions about it, IMO. Fair enough?

It’s unreasonable to demand that a judge recuse himself over a $15 donation.

According to this forum, it’s anyone who disagrees with Donald Trump at any time on any subject.

The problem with this is that when it comes to Donald Trump there’s always going to be “collateral issues”. No matter what he’s attacking the judge, the jury, the system. If there is no fault he will create one. There is no judge that would be perfect enough to satisfy him.

You missed that “Kashmir” doesn’t appear on Led Zeppelin IV?

$20?? Come on man. Unlike you I don’t have a law degree. But this seems lame to me. I also read that this was submitted to an ethics review board and they had no problem with it.

On the talk shows this morning the argument is that Merchan should have recused himself because he contributed to Joe Biden’s campaign. I had heard this before all over the place including this forum. What I didn’t know is that the “contribution” was $20 four years ago. Are you freaking kidding me with this???

Yeah Biden needs a resolution to Gaza in time for the election. Netanyahu is not helping.

You seem like a good guy with some sound ideas. Much needed around here; happy to have you back!

Why? Are you undocumented?

These polls are kind of similar to Trump in 2016 right after the Access Hollywood tape was released. If the election had been held a few days later Hillary would have won easily IMO. But weeks later when the voting actually took place, the public had moved on.