No you ninny. I wasn’t putting down accountants. I am one, and I was feebly trying to say that a court develops, say, the earnings expectations of Nicole Simpson based on evidence, that evidence being developed from her actual earnings being received in a bank, etc. over a number of years, and an accountant testifying to the examination of the records. The court doesn’t rely on bluster from MBAs speculating on her career etc., that would be as useless as say a Pulitzer award winning newspaper writer purely speculating on it, haha. The court allows this testimony. After the hard evidence is developed by accountants.
The gleeful references here to male membership (largely in snigger-worthy surnames) and a "question" about having been in the porn industry, gave rise once again to the memory of a flirtation with the movie biz, as previously mentioned. During this period of deciding what I wanted to be when I grew up (and still deciding btw...), I wrote two “quality” porno films ---"quality" in that they had actual sets and professional lighting. Also, I say “wrote,” but it was almost exclusively a matter of setting or describing the non-erotic action, rather than dialogue. As might be imagined, dialogue is not a critical consideration to begin with. But wanting to make certain my literary efforts were not in vain, I made sure I was on set every one of the four hours it took to shoot each of them. This included lighting and lunch. We're not talking "Dr. Zhivago" here. I can confirm that the cast uh...members... who spoke English had a sense of humor and a sophisticated one at that, as I recall. I also recall, being on set turned out to be a completely, and disappointingly, asexual or nonsexual experience. All matter-of-fact and professional down to the "fluffers." Now, most of us are adults here, but how to describe a "fluffer" in the genteel way expected of habitués of these pages ? Well, think of the craft this way --- its practitioners were part of the makeup department and specialized in getting male actors ready for their close-ups. Apparently with advances in pharmaceuticals and prosthetics, the "fluffer" has gone the way of black socks.
I do not favor sending Trump to prison because it’s too hard to keep him and the rest of the prison safe. I’d rather see him with an ankle bracelet in a tiny-house style shed that he is forced to build on one of his properties. He’d be ordered to put up a fence, and the Secret Service can guard the cell, or, er, tiny house. As for the food, maybe it could be delivered from the country club’s kitchen … or the nearest jail’s. ;-)
I’m not like some who I call prison fetishists. Experts are in charge. I would prefer Trump be immunized in exchange for having gerrymandering and the filibuster be outlawed, the SC be expanded, and have a fair constitutional convention to outlaw assault weapons and allow abortion. And even let Trump run on his policy of getting out of jail free. Let the people decide if the election is fair. Dems are afraid of Trump and are being negatively reinforced to not have the courage, we have had in history, to truly make change.
Trump and his son-in-law dragged their feet during COVID when they learned about the death rates in blue states and for Black people. Offhand I don’t know if that was illegal, but it certainly qualified as a crime against humanity.
Even if I didn’t regard Trump as a monster without a soul or conscience, someone who has no regard for anyone but himself, I would still favor sending him to prison. He has proven repeatedly that he is incapable of respecting laws or limits. In that sense, even a spoiled toddler has more emotional maturity.
While I haven’t read a Von Drehle column for a while, I remember that sometimes he would argue against straw men, instead of actual positions held by liberals or progressives. Not a regular habit - he is too intelligent for that. At least he wasn’t Kathleen Parker, who is frequently an apologist for the religious right, and whose recent column on trans rights parroted that movement’s despicable falsehoods.
I don't know what creeps me out more: the idea of Henry Kissinger sobbing, or the more general idea of people being sorry that Nixon was dead. And on an unrelated note: The Washington Post has a locker room?
Well, it has men's rooms, in which men sometimes remove their pants and expose their bellies. This should not shock you, Tracy. I am thinking you aware of this. . Also, you once wrote a really good story for me on a not-unelated subject, which I am not going to mention, only because you might want to forget. But I ne
ver forget a good story written for me by a good writer.
While I would love nothing better than to see a reality remake entitled, "Orange is the New Orange," the value to me of the Trump indictments and a conviction or two (which would not legally keep him him out of office, unless Smith & Co. add that possibility with an insurrection or seditious conspiracy charge) is as a deterrent. To start with, to deter the non-kool-aid addled from voting for Trump and his acolytes --- or simply not to vote if they can't be convinced that another Biden administration would be in the best interests of the country. The "Kool-aid Kult" would vote for him if he shot himself in the middle of 5th Ave. and they had to support an even more embalmed Trump so --- convictions would be irrelevant to some 30-37% of the electorate. The real question is who would be the hair apparent for the party formerly known as Republican. A true Machiavellian would be far worse than an aspiring third rate tin-pot dictator --- as bad as that would be.
This line was brilliant and really hits home: "The list goes on, a reverse image of the Boy Scout Law. You know: A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, etc., etc., etc. Trump is mendacious, selfish, heedless, grandiose and all the rest. Always has been, always will be."
In regard to the person who wrote about the colleague with the funny name--years ago when I started dating my wife, she told me that her sister once dated a guy named Harry Shaft. No shit! Really his name. Parents must have been morons to saddle the guy with that name for his entire life.
At least they didn't name him Roddy Shaft. Or Dick Shaft. Or Bigelow (Big) Shaft. Or Spiro Shaft. Honestly, there are a lot of worse possibilities. Although there are quite a few that might inspire one-time partnerships because they just wanted to, y'know, check. Observe for themselves.
Re the poll: I voted “should” to both options. But the bigger question is “will.” I’ve been saying for years that it takes only one juror--who wants his 15 minutes, is stubborn, who distrusts the government, or who has been promised a huge payment under the table--to hang the jury and give TFG a big win. There was a progressive guy on Twitter who ridiculed this idea but I don’t care. I still think I’m right. I think TFG will plead, there will be a big fine, and MAYBE a symbolic stay in jail for the photo-op.
I said convicted but not imprisoned, not because he doesn’t deserve it but because his martyrdom depends on it. House confinement with an ankle bracelet maybe? Something that would rankle severely for him but look not-so-bad to the people who actually took the fall for him at the Capitol.
It’s a no-win situation and the best I can hope for is that his apparent cognitive decline accelerates until he is hustled out of sight for good.
That article was clickbait. Read the comments to the article. A number of commenters suggested Gitmo or the ADX facility. Either place would offer tRump all the security anyone could need, while enabling his Secret Service detail to easily monitor his safety 24x7.
The "house confinement" would have to be prison-like -- the same rules re: communications devices, no playing golf (they don't have golf courses even in Club Fed-type prisons, do they?), no guests dropping in for dinner, etc., etc.
His "apparent cognitive decline"? I have trouble telling it apart from the endless pack of lies that he tells. Can you give any examples of the decline?
His inability to find words seems much worse than it was ten years ago. As has been analyzed in Agatha Christie’s last novel (as she declined due to dementia), he uses fewer and fewer complex words, a smaller vocabulary, repeats simple phrases over and over, and returns to the same very few topics constantly. It’s hard to tell of course if these are his strategy to create sound bites for his base, but he really does sound much worse than he did during the 2016 campaign.
I am not a professional regarding this, but it is a topic I follow related to my volunteer work in a memory care unit, where people can look and sound just fine until you hit a topic where their synapses no longer fire. So, just offering it up.
"Prosecuting Donald Trump for being Donald Trump is not like prosecuting Jesus for being Jesus. It is like prosecuting Snidely Whiplash for tying damsels onto railroad tracks and gleefully watching as their heads are severed."
Isn't it more like prosecuting Carlo Gambino for saying "That guy is really a pain in my ass. I wish he would just go away," and then a week later that guy shows up face down in the East River? Isn't that EXACLY what RICO is for?
Jail time would be only fair, but probably a logistical nightmare. I'd rather house arrest, even if it has to be at one of his clubs, with no interest access permitted. If we can't jail him then we need to defang him.
The Post article about the difficulties involved with incarcerating tRump was clickbait. As more than a few commenters pointed out, there already exists a place where tRump's security would never be in doubt, and where his Secret Service detail could easily monitor his well-being, 24x7: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADX_Florence
If what you are doing is killing people, maybe the answer isn't doing more of it (bad headline writing department):
https://www.fredericknewspost.com/public/ap/csx-plans-extra-training-after-deaths-of-2-trainees/article_adcbf0b6-c458-52c2-848b-073d7efaa32c.html
No you ninny. I wasn’t putting down accountants. I am one, and I was feebly trying to say that a court develops, say, the earnings expectations of Nicole Simpson based on evidence, that evidence being developed from her actual earnings being received in a bank, etc. over a number of years, and an accountant testifying to the examination of the records. The court doesn’t rely on bluster from MBAs speculating on her career etc., that would be as useless as say a Pulitzer award winning newspaper writer purely speculating on it, haha. The court allows this testimony. After the hard evidence is developed by accountants.
The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia was not a drummer. Was it Mickey or Billy? I can’t believe that none of your Baby Boomer fans have pointed this out.
The baby boomer fans read what Gene wrote. The nuns beat reading comprehension into us.
Alas, I am a Gen X slacker, and I missed the part where Gene said that the band was there as well as Bill and Justin.
I said the BAND stayed there. It was Bill Kreutzman.
The gleeful references here to male membership (largely in snigger-worthy surnames) and a "question" about having been in the porn industry, gave rise once again to the memory of a flirtation with the movie biz, as previously mentioned. During this period of deciding what I wanted to be when I grew up (and still deciding btw...), I wrote two “quality” porno films ---"quality" in that they had actual sets and professional lighting. Also, I say “wrote,” but it was almost exclusively a matter of setting or describing the non-erotic action, rather than dialogue. As might be imagined, dialogue is not a critical consideration to begin with. But wanting to make certain my literary efforts were not in vain, I made sure I was on set every one of the four hours it took to shoot each of them. This included lighting and lunch. We're not talking "Dr. Zhivago" here. I can confirm that the cast uh...members... who spoke English had a sense of humor and a sophisticated one at that, as I recall. I also recall, being on set turned out to be a completely, and disappointingly, asexual or nonsexual experience. All matter-of-fact and professional down to the "fluffers." Now, most of us are adults here, but how to describe a "fluffer" in the genteel way expected of habitués of these pages ? Well, think of the craft this way --- its practitioners were part of the makeup department and specialized in getting male actors ready for their close-ups. Apparently with advances in pharmaceuticals and prosthetics, the "fluffer" has gone the way of black socks.
In college, we used to have big parties with lots of friends and watch soft porn with the sound off. We supplied the dialog. Man, was that fun!
This is priceless--thanks for my laugh of the day!
Ever see the movie Inserts with Richard Dreyfuss?
I do not favor sending Trump to prison because it’s too hard to keep him and the rest of the prison safe. I’d rather see him with an ankle bracelet in a tiny-house style shed that he is forced to build on one of his properties. He’d be ordered to put up a fence, and the Secret Service can guard the cell, or, er, tiny house. As for the food, maybe it could be delivered from the country club’s kitchen … or the nearest jail’s. ;-)
I’m not like some who I call prison fetishists. Experts are in charge. I would prefer Trump be immunized in exchange for having gerrymandering and the filibuster be outlawed, the SC be expanded, and have a fair constitutional convention to outlaw assault weapons and allow abortion. And even let Trump run on his policy of getting out of jail free. Let the people decide if the election is fair. Dems are afraid of Trump and are being negatively reinforced to not have the courage, we have had in history, to truly make change.
As long as the election is fair.
Or perhaps a 40-foot high see-through wall
Trump and his son-in-law dragged their feet during COVID when they learned about the death rates in blue states and for Black people. Offhand I don’t know if that was illegal, but it certainly qualified as a crime against humanity.
Even if I didn’t regard Trump as a monster without a soul or conscience, someone who has no regard for anyone but himself, I would still favor sending him to prison. He has proven repeatedly that he is incapable of respecting laws or limits. In that sense, even a spoiled toddler has more emotional maturity.
While I haven’t read a Von Drehle column for a while, I remember that sometimes he would argue against straw men, instead of actual positions held by liberals or progressives. Not a regular habit - he is too intelligent for that. At least he wasn’t Kathleen Parker, who is frequently an apologist for the religious right, and whose recent column on trans rights parroted that movement’s despicable falsehoods.
I don't know what creeps me out more: the idea of Henry Kissinger sobbing, or the more general idea of people being sorry that Nixon was dead. And on an unrelated note: The Washington Post has a locker room?
Well, it has men's rooms, in which men sometimes remove their pants and expose their bellies. This should not shock you, Tracy. I am thinking you aware of this. . Also, you once wrote a really good story for me on a not-unelated subject, which I am not going to mention, only because you might want to forget. But I ne
ver forget a good story written for me by a good writer.
While I would love nothing better than to see a reality remake entitled, "Orange is the New Orange," the value to me of the Trump indictments and a conviction or two (which would not legally keep him him out of office, unless Smith & Co. add that possibility with an insurrection or seditious conspiracy charge) is as a deterrent. To start with, to deter the non-kool-aid addled from voting for Trump and his acolytes --- or simply not to vote if they can't be convinced that another Biden administration would be in the best interests of the country. The "Kool-aid Kult" would vote for him if he shot himself in the middle of 5th Ave. and they had to support an even more embalmed Trump so --- convictions would be irrelevant to some 30-37% of the electorate. The real question is who would be the hair apparent for the party formerly known as Republican. A true Machiavellian would be far worse than an aspiring third rate tin-pot dictator --- as bad as that would be.
This line was brilliant and really hits home: "The list goes on, a reverse image of the Boy Scout Law. You know: A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, etc., etc., etc. Trump is mendacious, selfish, heedless, grandiose and all the rest. Always has been, always will be."
You are correct. The VonDrehle piece was stunning, I had not seen it before. Thanks for calling it to our attention!
In regard to the person who wrote about the colleague with the funny name--years ago when I started dating my wife, she told me that her sister once dated a guy named Harry Shaft. No shit! Really his name. Parents must have been morons to saddle the guy with that name for his entire life.
I went to college with a guy whose last name was Pecker. At least his first name was Mike so not a total disaster.
That reminds me, I also went to college with a guy whose last name was Hyman, nicknamed Buster.
At least they didn't name him Roddy Shaft. Or Dick Shaft. Or Bigelow (Big) Shaft. Or Spiro Shaft. Honestly, there are a lot of worse possibilities. Although there are quite a few that might inspire one-time partnerships because they just wanted to, y'know, check. Observe for themselves.
I went to high school with a kid named Richard Head. And yes, we called him Dick.
My husband had a high school classmate with the same name! Did you attend Greece-Arcadia?
No the school was in Milton Mass
It was a long shot, but I had to ask. I guess there were at least two sets of parents that thought it would be a good name for their son!
Re the poll: I voted “should” to both options. But the bigger question is “will.” I’ve been saying for years that it takes only one juror--who wants his 15 minutes, is stubborn, who distrusts the government, or who has been promised a huge payment under the table--to hang the jury and give TFG a big win. There was a progressive guy on Twitter who ridiculed this idea but I don’t care. I still think I’m right. I think TFG will plead, there will be a big fine, and MAYBE a symbolic stay in jail for the photo-op.
I said convicted but not imprisoned, not because he doesn’t deserve it but because his martyrdom depends on it. House confinement with an ankle bracelet maybe? Something that would rankle severely for him but look not-so-bad to the people who actually took the fall for him at the Capitol.
It’s a no-win situation and the best I can hope for is that his apparent cognitive decline accelerates until he is hustled out of sight for good.
Ultimately he has to be controlled, since he’s incapable of self-control. At a bare minimum, keep him away from any internet-enabled devices.
..and thermo-nuclear devices. Or at least the codes.
Although I voted for prison, I was keeping in mind the unlikelihood of it--or at least the logistical difficulties--as expressed in https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/08/04/trump-criminal-cases-prison-secret-service/.
That article was clickbait. Read the comments to the article. A number of commenters suggested Gitmo or the ADX facility. Either place would offer tRump all the security anyone could need, while enabling his Secret Service detail to easily monitor his safety 24x7.
Saw your comment after I posted that.
The "house confinement" would have to be prison-like -- the same rules re: communications devices, no playing golf (they don't have golf courses even in Club Fed-type prisons, do they?), no guests dropping in for dinner, etc., etc.
His "apparent cognitive decline"? I have trouble telling it apart from the endless pack of lies that he tells. Can you give any examples of the decline?
He also has lost whatever filters he might once have had. His father had Alzheimer's y'know.
And was an incredible racist.
Oh, I didn't know that. And some things are genetic.
His inability to find words seems much worse than it was ten years ago. As has been analyzed in Agatha Christie’s last novel (as she declined due to dementia), he uses fewer and fewer complex words, a smaller vocabulary, repeats simple phrases over and over, and returns to the same very few topics constantly. It’s hard to tell of course if these are his strategy to create sound bites for his base, but he really does sound much worse than he did during the 2016 campaign.
I am not a professional regarding this, but it is a topic I follow related to my volunteer work in a memory care unit, where people can look and sound just fine until you hit a topic where their synapses no longer fire. So, just offering it up.
I believe that most of tRump's MAGATs suffer from a similar condition, regardless of age.
Thanks, this helps a lot.
"Prosecuting Donald Trump for being Donald Trump is not like prosecuting Jesus for being Jesus. It is like prosecuting Snidely Whiplash for tying damsels onto railroad tracks and gleefully watching as their heads are severed."
Isn't it more like prosecuting Carlo Gambino for saying "That guy is really a pain in my ass. I wish he would just go away," and then a week later that guy shows up face down in the East River? Isn't that EXACLY what RICO is for?
"Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"
Jail time would be only fair, but probably a logistical nightmare. I'd rather house arrest, even if it has to be at one of his clubs, with no interest access permitted. If we can't jail him then we need to defang him.
The Post article about the difficulties involved with incarcerating tRump was clickbait. As more than a few commenters pointed out, there already exists a place where tRump's security would never be in doubt, and where his Secret Service detail could easily monitor his well-being, 24x7: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADX_Florence
Sounds like a plan!
This topic is frightening, like a terrible nightmare from which we cannot seem to awaken.