2016 Democratic Thread

[iamshack]

You want examples of reasons to hate Rush Limbaugh? Like the time he explained that consent was something only people on the left cared about, and said that the "rape police" were a bad thing?

That was 2 weeks ago.

That isn't a fair characterization of what he said.

 

What he's saying is that consent is the only thing people on the left seem to care about when it comes to sexual mores.

 

To be honest, I think that is a fair characterization for the most part.

[greg775]

I'm getting a kick out of my prediction coming true. The attack on Comey has begun in full force! It's Hillary's best way to get through this and she will get through this and win in a landslide. I don't doubt that for a second.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/28/opinions/fbi...llan/index.html

[greg775]

Caulfield I can't click on your links. Maybe it's cause they coming from a foreign country. But last time I clicked on your link to me my computer went berserk. I had to restart it, etc. cause it went heywire with alert messages.

[Reddy]

I'm getting a kick out of my prediction coming true. The attack on Comey has begun in full force! It's Hillary's best way to get through this and she will get through this and win in a landslide. I don't doubt that for a second.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/28/opinions/fbi...llan/index.html

Bro, it's because Comey legitimately f***ed up. Even Jeanine Pirro on Fox - who is VEHEMENTLY anti-Hillary said she thinks Comey broke the code of conduct the FBI is supposed to uphold, and that it was absolutely unacceptable to do what he did.

 

When that happens, you know this isn't legit.

 

Sorry, greg, but this isn't your big moment of victory.

[caulfield12]

Caulfield I can't click on your links. Maybe it's cause they coming from a foreign country. But last time I clicked on your link to me my computer went berserk. I had to restart it, etc. cause it went heywire with alert messages.

 

Okay, maybe it's different because I use a vpn/proxy to watch most US websites...even SoxTalk is 5-10x slower on average here in China than it was 2-3 years ago. Before, it was similar to the US download speeds.

[bmags]

I don't know if any remember the Vince Gray race, he wasn't a very popular dem, but in his race in mayoral DC race a leak from the FBI came out that he was being investigated in related to a known bribester.

 

Election happened, Gray lost, turned out investigation turned up nothing.

 

This is a good example of the reason why FBI normally doesn't comment on these things.

 

This whole thing has been very annoying because it so plays into the punditry of the media. It has largely come out that there is no way we can evaluate this information because the FBI does not know what's in it themselves, but instead of reinforcing that narrative, it's just going to be the "it looks bad! They have same information probably but it looks bad to undecideds!"

[StrangeSox]

I can't imagine that Comey didn't know exactly what he was doing and what effect his bulls*** letter would have.

[Jenksismyhero]

He's not dumb, so why the vendetta?

[bmags]

I can't imagine that Comey didn't know exactly what he was doing and what effect his bulls*** letter would have.

 

I agree with the line that he was acting political, but it was acting political to "protect the office".

 

It sounds like Chaffetz somehow knew that they found a shared laptop from the Weiner investigation, and so my belief is that Comey was worried that Chaffetz would leak out the FBI "has more emails" and is "investigating" Clinton and if she won they would use it as a rallying cry for years.

 

But, obviously, the problem is he didn't give enough weight to how breaking with dept. procedures does the very thing that the procedures prevent against, and now the FBI will have to deal with if this causes Clinton to lose - what do they think will happen if a dem takes office again?

 

2000 was one thing, but 2016 - if there is any effing evidence of active rigging using instititutional power, damned if it hasn't happened against the democrats.

 

That said, I wish Reid hadn't done his letter. Holder's was better, and when even Joe Walsh is saying this is wrong and unfair, it should get hammered home.

 

A lot of casual voters who may have been likely voters but now will stay home because of this heard "Emails" and "FBI" and that's it. It's too nuanced to get onto local nightly news. Comey is shortsighted as hell.

[bmags]

He's not dumb, so why the vendetta?

 

My post above covers this, but I think it makes most sense here. Comey was a very respected FBI director, but it's that line of thinking that would make him effective to be believed as apolitical that could lead him right to where he was.

[CanOfCorn]

Greg...if you translate John Kass from Newspaperese to English, it would be "clickbait."

 

[bmags]

It's actually "what metaphor can I incorrectly apply to (rahm emmanuel or the clintons) today"

 

Weird definition

[RockRaines]

I find it amazing that people blast me for liking Rush Limbaugh and Meghan McCain and people like that and yet I get reamed over the coals for what many find equally simplistic criticisms of Hillary. It goes both ways folks. You guys just hate on Limbaugh with no examples and I hate on Hillary et all. But I am the bad guy and everybody else can pile on me.

You could counter by saying, "We all know Limbaugh is a joke; he sucks." And I could say, "We all know Hillary is guilty as hell. Hillary sucks." I don't get the double standard.

You love listening to conspiracy theorists and you are writing one in for president. And you wonder why nobody takes you seriously.....

[StrangeSox]

You've got the Libertarian VP candidate/former Republican Bill Weld criticizing Comey's letter, and now even the chair of the conservative Freedom Caucus in the House is saying it was "probably not the right thing to do"

 

And you can add GOP Senator Chuck Grassley to the list.

Edited October 31, 2016 by StrangeSox

[StrangeSox]

CNBC report: FBI concluded Russia is trying to undermine election but thought it was too close to election to say so

 

FBI Director James Comey argued privately that it was too close to Election Day for the United States government to name Russia as meddling in the U.S. election and ultimately ensured that the FBI's name was not on the document that the U.S. government put out, a former FBI official tells CNBC.

 

The official said some government insiders are perplexed as to why Comey would have election timing concerns with the Russian disclosure but not with the Huma Abedin email discovery disclosure he made Friday.

 

According to the former official, Comey agreed with the conclusion the intelligence community came to: "A foreign power was trying to undermine the election. He believed it to be true, but was against putting it out before the election." Comey's position, this official said, was "if it is said, it shouldn't come from the FBI, which as you'll recall it did not."

Comey took a different approach toward releasing information about the discovery of emails on a laptop that was used by former Congressman Anthony Weiner and his estranged wife Huma Abedin, the official said. "By doing a press conference, and personally testifying and giving his opinion about the conduct, he made this about James Comey and his credibility," the official said. "You can see why he did it, from his perspective, once he had had that press conference."

The official said FBI investigators can get a "preliminary read" of the newly discovered emails within a couple of days and come to an initial conclusion about whether there is classified material in the files. "The questions is whether they will decide to share that read or not," the official said. "Normally in the FBI we would not, but we're not in normal land anymore."

[NorthSideSox72]

CNBC report: FBI concluded Russia is trying to undermine election but thought it was too close to election to say so

Comey's move was political, as well as some CYA. Lynch's previous declarations during the investigation were also, at least in part, political. Clinton's responses to the probe were, of course, very political. I don't think any of this is really in question.

 

[lostfan]

*rubs eyes*

*blinks*

*splashes water on face*

https://twitter.com/WalshFreedom

 

Joe f***ing Walsh is taking Hillary's side?

[Balta1701]

Comey's move was political, as well as some CYA. Lynch's previous declarations during the investigation were also, at least in part, political. Clinton's responses to the probe were, of course, very political. I don't think any of this is really in question.

The FBI director making a political move 10 days before an election seems like the most troublesome part of that statement.

[NorthSideSox72]

The FBI director making a political move 10 days before an election seems like the most troublesome part of that statement.

Yes, sort of. He was also in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't position from a personal perspective. It's true to say that if this came out right after the election, a lot of people would assume he was hiding it for political reasons (which would be at least partially true).

 

That said, I'd think they could prioritize reviewing those "damn emails" so that he could have come to them with something a little more concrete.

 

[Balta1701]

Yes, sort of. He was also in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't position from a personal perspective. It's true to say that if this came out right after the election, a lot of people would assume he was hiding it for political reasons (which would be at least partially true).

 

That said, I'd think they could prioritize reviewing those "damn emails" so that he could have come to them with something a little more concrete.

I could certainly understand stating something, but they didn't even apply for a search warrant until after the letter was sent, and they could have also just asked the owner of the emails for access to them and she'd probably have granted it.

[StrangeSox]

Yes, sort of. He was also in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't position from a personal perspective. It's true to say that if this came out right after the election, a lot of people would assume he was hiding it for political reasons (which would be at least partially true).

 

That said, I'd think they could prioritize reviewing those "damn emails" so that he could have come to them with something a little more concrete.

 

He could easily have chosen not to release that really vague but innuendo-laden letter while knowing precisely nothing beyond "Huma shared her husband's laptop, so there's some emails on it" a little less than two weeks before the election.

 

Ultimately, even if this was "CYA" it's blown up in his face spectacularly as there's no way he continues on if/when Clinton wins.

[Balta1701]

He could easily have chosen not to release that really vague but innuendo-laden letter while knowing precisely nothing beyond "Huma shared her husband's laptop, so there's some emails on it" a little less than two weeks before the election.

 

Ultimately, even if this was "CYA" it's blown up in his face spectacularly as there's no way he continues on if/when Clinton wins.

Can the president actually fire the FBI director?

 

We know people like Greg would go ape-poopy if they did, even if justified.

[lostfan]

Can the president actually fire the FBI director?

 

We know people like Greg would go ape-poopy if they did, even if justified.

I always thought the president couldn't fire the FBI director but apparently they can. Bill Clinton fired Bill Sessions in 1993. Just learned that yesterday.

[StrangeSox]

Can the president actually fire the FBI director?

 

We know people like Greg would go ape-poopy if they did, even if justified.

They're fixed-term but like all high level positions like that, you have to imagine that there'd be tremendous pressure from multiple sides including higher up the DoJ chain for him to resign. Plus, there's been multiple off-the-record FBI sources coming out against this move by Comey, so it seems like things within the FBI itself are unsettled.

 

edit: thanks for making me look wrong, ezio.

Edited October 31, 2016 by StrangeSox

[Jenksismyhero]

I could certainly understand stating something, but they didn't even apply for a search warrant until after the letter was sent, and they could have also just asked the owner of the emails for access to them and she'd probably have granted it.

 

"Ma'am, can you please let us look at your laptop 10 days before election day so that we can see if your boss, a presidential candidate, screwed up more than we previously thought?"

 

"oh sure!"

 

No way she lets them do that without a court order.