Posts Made By: Brian McFarland

Originally Posted by James Lacey

Trump is so obviously severely narcissistic. He never admits wrongdoing for anything. Even if he admits to something, like posting the image in question, he has to lie about who posted it (the coffee boy), what he thought the image actually depicted, or blame the whole controversy on someone else, like the "fake news." What's really amazing, too, is if you look at his Truth Social account, he spends a good portion of his day, especially from around midnight until 4 AM, just shit posting. The image he posted recently, showing a Trump Tower on the moon, was pretty bizarre.

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

Well you might want tell the truth and not LIE in your header and claim that the Wall St. Journal put forth this Made up hit piece by the leftist rag, the DAILY BEAST, that came up with this BS.  

I guess gullible fools will believe anything.  Funny that when the left gets desperate, they resort to this stuff.  Gee, the world never has seen made up stories about Pres. Trump or any other Republican has it?

What's next from you leftists iiars.  A WEEKLY WORLD tabloid story that you are going to pass off as factual?

Originally Posted by James Brown

After a a week or two of reflection Jim, this story is reassuring.   Trump was handled by competent, if unnamed “adults in the room.”  An extremely difficult rescue was planned and executed by extremely competent people.  Chalk up one for the “system”.

Originally Posted by James Brown

One sad thing is that Davis’ inane rants hide some interesting topics.    I want Collins to win, I admire her independence.   Therefore, I am not too fussed that the Ds nominated Platner because he is arguably flawed and certainly, unarguably, untested.   Anyone who strongly cares about D control of the Senate should worry about Platner because he could be a repeat of Biden's midterms where the Rs lost winnable races by nominating MAGA whack jobs in vulnerable races.   Any thoughts?

Originally Posted by David Cotterell

....open the Gordie Howe Bridge.  The entire construction of which was paid for by Canada.  The use of which would improve the efficiency of goods flowing across the #1 busiest crossing  between the USA and Canada to the great benefit of both countries...

But Trumpf's buddy owns the old, rapidly deteriorating, narrow and outdated Ambassador Bridge and will lose a lot of money if the new bridge is opened,  so he gave a $million to Trumpf and the opening is put off. 

Aside: how is it that important international infrastructure, such as the Ambassador Bridge, is under private, for-profit ownership?

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is jointly owned by the Government of Canada (through the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority) and the State of Michigan. While ownership is shared equally, the Canadian government funded the entire construction cost upfront. Canada will collect toll revenues until its investment is recouped, after which toll profits will be split with Michigan. 

Dave

Originally Posted by James Brown

Speaking of Richard, I would have made a small wager that he would have a posted a new thread here this morning, since Plattner is flaming out in Maine. How could Rich resist the temptation of fabricating a gloat or two here, premised in his false alternative universe where we have all been vocal Plattner supporters all along?   I reckon there is still time, maybe Rich is sleeping in.

Originally Posted by James Lacey

Did he lie, or did his view change over time as new evidence became available? Regardless, it seems to me that the true nature of MAGA's obsession with Fauci is that they need someone to blame for the pandemic, and they are still upset about the vaccine mandates, mandatory masking, and so forth that they view as government overreach. Rather than take responsibility for who was in charge when COVID hit and their failures, they need a scapegoat so they don't have to admit uncomfortable truths.

Originally Posted by David Cotterell

Dead or alive?

My vote is alive but in a vegetative state....

Dave, living on the north shore of Lake ONTARIO.

Originally Posted by James Lacey

Your nitpicky arguments that it isn't a bribe ignore the obvious context of how the promise was made. For example, Trump didn't just promise a policy outcome, like a better economy; he explicitly tied the cash payout to an election outcome. This is pay-to-play politics, plain and simple, which is not acceptable. Besides, fulfilling the promise would take around $1.3Tn, which we all know is money Trump does not have available, or, if he did, the authority to apportion. Hence, it clearly looks like nothing more than a desperate attempt to influence (bribe) voters before they head to the polls. You have to ignore a lot to claim that Trump's words do not amount to a political bribe.

Originally Posted by James Brown

Just checking in to see if there were any new posts.  Not surprisingly, Rich has gone dark.  Everyone should try to wrap their heads around something I noticed upon re-read.  Rich basically, regurgitates my positions, and then accuses me of dodging!  That is a special kind of weird.  If you don't believe me, consider that Rich posted the above (in post #34) after I posted:

 "This  little  example of pedantic gamesmanship is instructive, because I don’t think Trump‘s statements would ever be prosecuted as criminal bribery. On the other hand, it is clear to everyone with half a brain that Trump was trying to buy votes. I’m not as fussed about it as some since I think all politicians do this. For example, Biden was trying to buy votes when he canceled student debt. Trump was trying to buy votes when he passed the big beautiful Bill. Biden was trying to buy votes when he passed the inflation reduction act, and so on and so on and so on."  Post #24

"1. In my opinion, Trump would not be convicted of criminal bribery, because his offer to buy votes with government money was vague enough to be characterized in court as a routine “political promise” that he has no intention and no means to keep.  He carefully did not offer his own money for votes.  He offered my money, Rod’s money, and so on.  Maybe even yours.  (Do you pay taxes?).  There is enough ambiguity in his speech that I’m sure he would weasel out of actual criminal charges.

2.  In my opinion, Trump’s offer as made in his speech was a shameful heavy-handed lie, poorly conceived to buy votes.  It is an embarrassment and proves for the umpteenth time that he lacks any integrity. "  Post #31