TwiceHorn

Well, how about in a stable relationship with stable finances and a stable-looking future where meeting the costs of child-rearing won't be an epic struggle. Now and for most of recent history, that has not included 18 year olds, who should keep it in their pants or wrapped up tight until they reach the above point. We're hard-wired to do a lot of shit and a lot of it is actually bad for us or for others. A big part of morality, to include ernestly practiced religion, is the struggle to overcome those hard-wired impulses or at least harness them for your own good and that of those around you.

As a former conservative, let me remind you of the "free shit army" that was a very popular political theme at TOS. The sentiment that the electorate is too stupid to vote is a #bothsides thing. But the conservatives criticizing the free shit army was at least criticizing an electorate, or portion thereof, voting in its short-term best interests, at least. Now they're not voting in their self-interest at all. And, only one side is actively attempting to deny votes to the electorate, and by no means just the stupid ones.

No. All civil in nature. Well, at least under the old "rules." Maybe he can here in New Gilead.

For the record, that is well within the scope of appellate judge questioning and any lawyer with any appellate experience or knowledge knows that predicting the outcome of the appeal based on questions during oral argument is hazardous at best. Appellate judges are often the hardest, that is ask the most pointed questions, to the ultimate winner of the appeal. That said, I have always questioned the soundness of the size of the verdict, but for different reasons than this. Although this is certainly an argument.

Oh fuck me. I don't think the policy precludes continuing a prosecution commenced before taking office. They need to make him do the corrupt thing.

Well stated. I am worried about Project 2025. Parts of it are coming, whether Trump really knows it or not. The question is going to be how much.

The delays were inevitable, we never said otherwise. Getting final convictions in four years, even five, was going to be tough. Subsequent events have shown that even bringing the cases in 2021, at the earliest feasible opportunity, would not have changed this outcome. Even had the Supreme Court expedited the immunity appeal/bypassed the DC Circuit, we'd still be where we are. Even had they ruled that immunity exists only for core constitutional functions (which I think was inevitable), we'd still be where we are.

And, even if convictions secured and appeals exhausted, which was wishcasting in any event, see how much the one conviction and Trump's civil woes changed things.

Nothing about my post indicates that rules or norms mean anything. Quite the opposite, it assumes thunderdome. A thunderdome where Trump is out of the picture sooner rather than later. GOP is going to have to find other ways to cling to power. How will they do it? I think short term, they continue to kowtow to him out of fear of some form of retribution. Longer term, I'm not so sure.

Dude, you're a lawyer, you know damn well the cases against him have teeth, real teeth in an unbiased system. All of his motions to dismiss as political or selective prosecution were denied, even by Aileen Cannon. You can quibble about prosecutorial discretion in bringing the cases, but once they have survived motions to dismiss (Cannon's notwithstanding, and which did not invalidate the charges), the only legitimate way out for anyone is trial.

See my edit. They're going to have to do something other than Trump in the near future. What will it be? Yes they need his base, but I don't think they can hold it without the man himself. People don't seem to understand christofacism out in the open (as opposed to a crypto-platform). JD Vance wasn't winning shit without being attached to Trump.

So, the GOP has had to kowtow to Trump to win elections. One way or another, Trump is not going to stand for an election again. He's also going to go out sooner rather than later and I think we agree his unique brand of populism is irreplaceable. How much does the GOP continue to kowtow to him?

The word "should" was doing a lot of lifting there. And I said worldwide. Imagine any other world leader terminating prosecutions against him or her by fiat.

Oh, I don't think they do. I think they like the idea of it, but they obviously don't know-know.

Trump will end the federal prosecutions against him. That should be seen domestically and worldwide as the most corrupt political act in the history of the United States of America. If you're really not guilty, you should want a trial.

That's the other shocking thing, people's memories of how things were under Trump, and Trump himself, are so bad. I really thought more people were sick of his shit than this. Tangentially related thought. I didn't much like Harris back in 2018-2019, I liked Warren and was ultimately ok with Biden, but given the circumstances, I thought she ran a fantastic campaign and was a genuine, likeable candidate. If you vote for the person, not the policies, or against the person, she seemed to be a winner. I am guilty of casual misogyny, but I don't think even deep down I am a misogynist. It barely entered my mind to consider it a negative that she is a woman, or a person of color. My only thought there was "it's about time" and that it would be historic. I think a problem for Democrats is that traditional government appears to have failed a lot of people, or they perceive it that way. But I don't really see how Democrats can campaign except on more or less traditional government grounds. Are they going to have to campaign as more benevolent dictators? What the fuck. And, I had hoped that a Harris win would maybe start undoing some of the shit we've got going on in Texas, which is going to be a long, slow process, regardless. Fucking fuck. Ken Paxton is going to be our governor.

And, Trump didn't do COVID relief because he wanted to help fellow Americans in a time of need. He did it to increase his own popularity, nothing more. We probably would have been ok without that relief and in a less inflationary environment.

I think you might find that rather difficult if you enter the hospital other than by the ER.

Gotta hand it to em, instead of resorting to invective or personal attacks, they just called him too extreme.

Having to find a new doctor pales in comparison to losing anything resembling affordable healthcare. Some politicians are more worthless than others. Some will try to solve healthcare problems, others will come up with concepts of a plan . . . in two weeks.

Look, Project 2025 is some scary shit. The first thing it calls for is loyalists to replace civil servants, Trump did that before and he'll do it again in earnest. Regardless of what he says (lies) about Project 2025. Although he demands loyalty, he's a shitty, shitty judge of who is going to be loyal to him. And he's going to have to delegate that to others. People like JD Vance that are a lot smarter than he is and for whom loyalty to Trump will take a back seat to loyalty to the program, which is some fucked up repugnant shit.

fuuuuck

Well, to be precise, most recent Haitian "immigrants" (you're right they're not really immigrants), have Temporary Protected Status, which is not a pathway to permanent residency or to citizenship. We mostly exclude from most government "welfare" benefits those whose immigration status is less than permanent resident.

What government assistance? All the dipshits seem to think that migrants receive all this government assistance, ie welfare.

Depends on whether Ukraine retains any sovereignty and territory.