Swam@Texas

You say that like The Donald just loaded $400 million in Euros, Swiss francs and other foreign currency onto a pallet and sent it to Moscow in the dead of night.

Anthony Bourdain... not a fan. (Though depending on the state he's registered in, he may end up voting for her again in 2020.) https://www.dailywire.com/news/33103/explosive-anthony-bourdain-interview-released-james-barrett

Because everything in a Hollywood screenplay has to be verified for truthfulness and authenticity before it gets marketed to production companies, right? Yeah... that's how Hollywood works. Because, just imagine how great movies like "Training Day" and "End of Watch" would be if the dialogue were edited to not be offensive. “When I was making up dialogue, I spoke in the first person. But these weren’t my own words, my own experiences, or my own sentiments. They were the words of fictional characters I had created based on my imagination and experience. I knew I had to exaggerate things to make the screenplay dramatic and commercially appealing…And since Laura and I sometimes drank wine while we had our recorded conversations, occasionally I got a little carried away. As I mentioned, Laura was extremely innocent, and I got a charge out of shocking her with some of the things that I said and making her laugh with others. When I testified in the Superior Court trial, I did not think about the tapes. Bailey asked me if I had ever used the ‘N’ word in addressing a person. I could truthfully answer that I had not. I never thought that screenplay notes and character dialogue could be misinterpreted as my own words.”

I could totally buy the objectivity/didn't influence my work/just my opinions defense up to the point where he says, "Fuck Trump." When you've done that, you've intentionally chosen the second- or third-most vile word in the American language to express your complete contempt for a fellow human. At that point, however, just shy of calling a woman the c-word or a black the n-word, you've completely made your disparaging view of the individual crystal clear and surrendered all claims to being an objective party. It also doesn't help Strzok's case that he can't own what he said in the case of the "smell" of Trump supporters in the South Virginia Walmart. Anybody with a three-digit IQ (i.e. most people in that room with the exception of those named Sheila Jackson-Lee) understands that's an unequivocal insult. It was sad yet hilarious to watch him try to dismiss it simply by saying it was late at night or a flippant remark or it just seemed so different how people in one part of the state were supporting Trump. He clearly was insulting Trump voters and his inability after preparing for weeks for his testimony to just say, "Yep, I implied in a private conversation that I think Trump voters are primarily lower-socioeconomic status Wal-Mart shoppers who need to bathe more often," indicated that he wasn't going to be truthful about anything he said on Thursday.

Completely unrelated to this thread, but you do realize the tapes of Mark Fuhrman using the n-word and disparaging women were all from a screenplay development in which he was asked to audition to play a corrupt/dirty cop, right? This is the equivalent of claiming Will Ferrell is homophobic based on a scene from "Get Hard" or Steve Carrell is a racist based on what Michael Scott did during "The Office" Diversity Day episode.

1) They are elected officials with clearly understood adversarial agendas, not law enforcement officials who are tasked with objectively acting on behalf of the American people. 2) So if there was no problem with Strzok's texts, why did Mueller dismiss him?

For some reason, it's taking more than five minutes for every member of Congress and every American citizen to understand the incredibly simple concept that someone who texted "Fuck Trump" to his mistress and was subsequently removed from the Mueller team for having texted, among other things, "Fuck Trump" to his mistress should not have been representing the people of the United States in an investigation of Donald Trump. To make today and last week's behind closed doors testimony about anything other than that -- as members of both parties so embarrassingly did today -- just further demeans a nation that what was once upon a time a shining light on a hill. It wasn't too long ago that there was a legitimate argument that could be made for American Exceptionalism. For the last decade the only concepts American political leaders have embraced have been divisiveness, vitriol and violence. Now, return to your corners and either put on your MAGA hat so you can "innocently" stir up trouble at Whataburger or hide your face with the ANTIFA mask and go chase some obscure Cabinet official out of a restaurant. Because that's what the United States of America has devolved into. And it absolutely fucking sucks to witness it.

If there were intellectual qualifications for serving in Congress -- such as knowing whether it was Mars or the moon that NASA landed on in 1969 or understanding that the deployment of U.S. military members to an island can't cause it to tip over -- our once-great Republic wouldn't be in the lamentable condition Benjamin Franklin warned a woman on July 4, 1776 that it would end up in.

How is it that not a single person at YouTube got this on video? I envisioned a thousand Millennials running for their lives with their cellphones on "record."

Well, I'll be darned... it was staged to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's discovery of Canada.

Thanks to CBS News, I now have to google the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" question on Cirque du Soleil.

I wonder if anyone's getting this on video?

Again, the post isn't about the kind of car I drive... it's about the fact that we demand people pay their fair share but have no problem giving an $8,000 tax credit -- and thus not demanding they pay their "fare share" for those who buy a "green" vehicle. But now I'm trying to figure out why the credit seemed to kick in for the fully electric when it's a hybrid. I'll get back to you on that.

I can't believe people get so damned worked up over what kind of car I drive. Like I said, I put in the VIN number, and it generated the credit. The main point of this is that I find it amusing that those who demand that Americans pay "their fair share" have no problem knocking $8k off their tax bill if they buy a "green" car. (Especially if you're like me and don't know/don't care if it's a "hybrid," an "Ioniq," or just happened to be a nice ride and a pretty good deal.) But yeah, carry on with the personal attacks. As always, obsession noted.

I hope you don't do tax prep for a living -- or even file your own. (And I'm not sure why my number swung $8k when apparently $7,500 is the credit, but regardless, the point stands. But thanks for the crumbs, Washington!) Important: The credits below were extended as part of a two-year budget deal signed on February 9, 2018. Therefore, you can claim them on a 2017 tax return. Hyundai Sonata Plug-in Hybrid Electric, Ioniq Battery Vehicle https://www.efile.com/tax-credit/hybrid-car-tax-credit/ Hyundai Ioniq Electric $7,500 https://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/the-ins-and-outs-of-electric-vehicle-tax-credits.html

Oh, I agree.... it's just that everyone on the left routinely screams that our tax code isn't fair and that it unfairly rewards the rich, and yet the purchase of a specific type of "green" automobile leads to that kind of a swing in what someone owes is mind-boggling.

I put in the VIN number that TurboTax requested.

She also had not previously bilked the American people out of $4.2 million in a fraudulent tax return scam, so there's that. http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article207176829.html

I bought a Hyundai Sonata hybrid in May. My tax situation went from owing $7,200 before I input that purchase into TurboTax to being owed $800 after. Does anyone want to explain to me why that is "fair"?

Why do the states think they get to dictate the form the federal government uses for a census?

Most days, except for midnight to 3 a.m. On the other hand, I am out of here in seven hours and will be home for Easter.

Or, accept that all humans have both free will and the access to tools of all shapes and sizes that can hurt people.

Isn't that what started all of these protests?

Not one person here has said he doesn't have the right to peacefully protest. But when he inserts himself into the public arena, you shouldn't be playing the "but he's just a kid who's been through so much you can't dare criticize him" card when he says inherently stupid shit. Seriously, this kid wants the Second Amendment repealed while claiming that a clear backpack is a violation of his First Amendment rights. He calls Trump and Rick Scott vile names but wants them to "do something" by taking away the rights of tens of millions of law-abiding citizens, but when his school administration "does something" that somehow adversely affects him he whines about it. Also, to pretend these kids are organizing this independently -- when the events are bought and paid for by adult special-interest groups -- is a farce. They may hold those opinions, and I'm sure many are passionate about them, but without the adults bankrolling these events they would generate about as much attention as a high school chess team bake sale. I do think the comments on Hogg's personal appearance are inappropriate.

Yeah, it's always better when a Democratic president stands up to Russian aggression. Now, where are some Olympic athletes whose dreams Trump can crush?