“If “It’s the economy, stupid” applies as strongly to the midterms as Republicans hope, they just got good news from the Commerce Department. For the first time in more than three years, the US economy grew at an annualized rate of 3% in GDP in two successive quarters. The third quarter expansion measured 3.5% following Q2’s 4.2%:
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018 (table 1), according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 4.2 percent. …
The increase in real GDP in the third quarter reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), private inventory investment, state and local government spending, federal government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from exports and residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased (table 2).
The deceleration in real GDP growth in the third quarter reflected a downturn in exports and a deceleration in nonresidential fixed investment. Imports increased in the third quarter after decreasing in the second. These movements were partly offset by an upturn in private inventory investment.
“A Republican-led U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday held the second of two unusual hearings during a congressional recess in an aggressive push to confirm President Donald Trump’s conservative judicial nominees including to a liberal-leaning California-based court he often criticizes.
Democrats, who mounted an unsuccessful effort to block Senate confirmation this month of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, have slammed the president’s fellow Republicans for holding the hearings. Only two senators on the 21-member Judiciary Committee, both Republicans, showed up for the hearing in Washington on Wednesday in which four judicial nominees were considered.
Democratic Senator Patty Murray, who had asked Republicans to postpone the hearing while the Senate is in recess ahead of the Nov. 6 congressional elections, criticized “the shameful partisan path they have taken on what has always been a bipartisan process.” She accused the Republicans of a “mad dash” to secure confirmation.
Two of the nominees considered on Wednesday – Bridget Bade and Eric Miller – were picked by Trump to serve on the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles cases arising from several western states including California.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican, said the committee scheduled the hearing dates with the agreement of the panel’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein. She disputes that.”
“Texas law enforcement officials have arrested four women for allegedly targeting elderly voters in the 2016 elections in a “voter fraud ring” that was funded by a Democratic Party leader, according to court documents filed this week by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“The defendants were members of an organized voter fraud ring and were paid to target elderly voters in certain northern Fort Worth precincts in a scheme to generate large numbers of mail ballots, then harvest those ballots for specific candidates,” NBC DFW reported.
A grand jury indicted Leticia Sanchez, 57, Leticia Sanchez Tepichin, 39, Maria Solis, 40, and Laura Parra, 24, on a cumulative 30 felony counts of voter fraud on Oct. 10 following an investigation by Paxton’s office. Breitbart Texas reported:
The state’s newly filed notice of intent to introduce evidence in the Sanchez criminal case alleged that Stuart Clegg, then Tarrant County Democratic Party executive director, funded the alleged voter fraud ring’s criminal activities.”
Twitter has removed many people from my account and, more importantly, they have seemingly done something that makes it much harder to join – they have stifled growth to a point where it is obvious to all. A few weeks ago it was a Rocket Ship, now it is a Blimp! Total Bias?
This is always the debate between liberals and educated conservatives: Is Trump really evil (the liberal view) or is he just embarrassing and stupid (the correct perspective)?
Media are attempting to lump together various phenomena: #BombScare, #KhashoggiMurder, Trump's attacks on "fake news" & praise for body-slamming MT Rep #GregGianforte. But distinctions are crucial: first 2 are EVIL,last 2 just embarrassing & stupid. Hardly equivalent–or related.
Further proof that it’s not about seeking asylum and safety, and that these migrants are seeking financial gains that only the US can/does provide.
And international law says those fleeing violence and strife can only claim asylum in the next country. That would be Mexico, not here, so I’d question the veracity of these claims for those claiming it here.
“‘We’re heading north!’ Migrants nix offer to stay in Mexico”
“Hundreds of Mexican federal officers carrying plastic shields blocked a Central American caravan from advancing toward the United States on Saturday, after a group of several thousand migrants turned down the chance to apply for refugee status and obtain a Mexican offer of benefits.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has announced what he called the “You are at home” plan, offering shelter, medical attention, schooling and jobs to Central Americans in Chiapas and Oaxaca states if migrants apply, calling it a first step toward permanent refugee status. Authorities said more than 1,700 had already applied for refugee status.
But a standoff unfolded as federal police officers blocked the highway, saying there was an operation underway to stop the caravan. Thousands of migrants waited to advance, vowing to continue their long trek toward the U.S. border.
At a meeting brokered by Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission, police said they would reopen the highway and only wanted an opportunity for federal authorities to explain the proposal to migrants who had rejected it the previous evening. Migrants countered that the middle of a highway was no place to negotiate and said they wanted to at least arrive safely to Mexico City to discuss the topic with authorities and Mexican lawmakers.”
——————–
Yep, with the handlers egging them on, they’ll try to be here just in time for an October surprise, as was always the intent.
It’s time to stop playing nice with these invaders.
“Police from across the city of Pittsburgh are responding to an active shooting situation at the The Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill.
KDKA’s Andy Sheehan reports that at least seven people have been confirmed dead, possibly more.
Police have requested that residents stay inside their home as they have exchanged gun fire with a suspected gunman.
When officers arrived the gunman reportedly shot at them, forcing officers to use their vehicles as a shield.
Two police officers were reportedly shot.
The Synagogue was reportedly full of people for a Saturday service and police say they’ve received several calls from people barricaded inside the Synagogue.”
I believe there are spiritual forces at work (always) that right now are bringing anger, discord, violence and devastation in our midst, all in what is seemingly a downward spiral, but all within God’s sovereignty for his purpose — judgment and/or part of a wake-up call to repent, we can’t fully know God’s secret decrees or the exact and specific ‘why’s’ for it all. But we should always be seeing events through that reality of the spiritual world, knowing something deeper is going on here.
And repentance and prayer are always an appropriate response.
"May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the goodwill of the other inhabitants–while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid." – President George Washington, 1790
“However, by the time Trump began delivering remarks before the FFA convention, he said that he decided to move forward with the rally.
“At first, I was thinking ‘I’ll cancel’ and then I said we can’t let evil change our life and change our schedule,” the president said. “Otherwise, we give them too much credit, we make them too important.” “
“Our minds cannot comprehend the cruel hate and the twisted malice that can cause a person to unleash such terrible violence during a baby-naming ceremony,” Trump said. “This was a baby-naming ceremony at a sacred house of worship. Anti-Semitism and the widespread persecution of Jews represents one of the ugliest and darkest features of human history. The vile hate filled poison of anti-Semitism must be condemned and confronted everywhere and anywhere it appears. There must be no tolerance of anti-Semitism in America or for any form of religious or racial hatred or prejudice.
“We are praying for the families of the victims, and our hearts go out to the wounded law enforcement officers in Pittsburgh—very badly wounded and very brave,” Trump said. “We mourn for the unthinkable loss of life that took place today, and we pledge in their name to fight for a future of justice, safety, tolerance, morality, dignity and love. We must all rise above the hate, move past our divisions and embrace our common destiny as Americans. That doesn’t mean that we can’t fight hard and be strong and say what’s on our mind, but we have to always remember the element of love and dignity and respect.”
He also remarked that ““If they had some kind of a protection inside the temple maybe it could have been a very much different situation,” he said. “They didn’t, and he was able to do things that unfortunately he shouldn’t be able to do.” ”
After the Baptist church shooting last year that killed 26 people, Dad’s church instituted new security protocols. It’s a large church like ours (about 1500 people on Sunday) and I had noticed they already had some kind of armed security. But after last year, the pastor told the congregation that there would be people selected to be armed in every section of the church—the back, the balcony, even the pulpit and choir.
AND NOW, THE PITTSBURGH SHOOTINGS
________________
… Watching the interview of the synagogue’s immediate past president on FOX News, I was disheartened to learn that the synagogue had no security for Shabbat services. At Temple of Aaron in St. Paul, which I take it draws a comparable or smaller crowd than Tree of Life at Shabbat services, we have had regular police presence for the past several years. Indeed, I became friends with Officer Lou Ferraro — this year’s St. Paul Police Officer of the year — pausing to thank him for working overtime and to kibbitz on Saturday mornings when I attended services. …
__________________
A very sad reality, and one that doesn’t address the heart of our issue. But in the meantime, it might have to become part of our new normal.
David French makes a distinction between the bomber and the shooter.
The bomber was a Trump cultist. He joined the cult and then believed and parroted everything Trump said.
The shooter was a Nazi. Although he was obsessed with hatred of immigrants and used the terms “globalist” and “nationalist”, he did not use those terms as Trump and most Trumpkins do. He even denied that Trump was a “nationalist” and accused him of being a “globalist”.
TLDR — Based on available evidence (important caveat) these two terrorists are not the same. Unless the evidence changes, if you’re lumping them together, you’re making a serious mistake. /end
This is how French started. If you click on the first Tweet, you will be able to see the whole thread, even if it doesn’t all immediately become available. French is somewhat of an expert on this subject as he has been a big target of various segments of the alt-right for the last three years.
Short thread. It’s important to make distinctions.
This should go without saying, but a shooter who hates Trump is different from a bomber who loves Trump. 1/
“Mail bomb suspect Cesar Sayoc was a mentally ill man searching for a way to fit into American society, and he found it by acting on President Donald Trump’s vengeful rhetoric, said the Miami lawyer who represented Sayoc in a previous bomb threat case.
Sayoc, who was living in Hollywood, Florida, out of a van plastered with stickers glorifying Trump and superimposed with rifle scope crosshairs on the faces of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, was arrested Friday in Plantation and charged with sending pipe bombs via the U.S. Postal Service to prominent Democrats.
But Sayoc, 56, who used to live in Aventura with his mother and graduated from North Miami Beach High School, was no criminal mastermind, said Ron Lowy, a family friend who defended Sayoc in 2002 when he was charged with threatening Florida Power & Light employees over a pricey bill and in 2004 when Sayoc was charged with possessing steroids with intent to sell.
Lowy described Sayoc as an unsophisticated loner who wanted to impress people but failed at everything he pursued, from strip club dancing to bodybuilding to professional fighting to the dry cleaning business.
“He wasn’t successful in anything he did,” Lowy said. “He’s been bankrupt, gone into foreclosure. He’s 14 years old living in an adult body.”
Sayoc’s claim of affiliation with the Seminole Tribe of Florida was an example of Sayoc’s desire for a sense of belonging. He said Sayoc used to drive a vehicle plastered with Seminole Tribe and Native American stickers and showed him a scrapbook filled with photos of Sayoc as an exotic dancer and aspiring pro wrestler.”
I didn’t see any of the network news shows this morning before church, but I predict that this is an outline of the discussions we will hear over the next few days:
1. There is a broad consensus among educated liberals, moderates and conservatives that Charen was right to describe Trump as “malice tempered by incompetence”.
2. Medved, as quoted above, went further and contended that Trump’s embarrassing stupidity is “not related” to “evil” such as the acts of the Trumpkin bomber or the assault on the reporter by the Trumpkin Congressman.
3. The mainstream media and the left side of America never accepted Medved’s argument.
They always thought that Trump’s demagoguery, his attacks on the press as “the enemy of the people”, his constant lying, his attacks on law enforcement and other institutions, his calls for prosecution of political opponents, his xenophobia, the demands for cultlike loyalty from his Cabinet and other Republicans, etc. were dangerous.
4. As late as early yesterday morning, Medved’s position looked solid. Though the Trumpkin bomber was converted from a regular nitwit into the ultimate Trump cultist, in true Trumpian fashion he proved to be harmless as he was mentally incapable of constructing a functioning bomb.
5. Unfortunately, the fellow in Pittsburgh was “malice not tempered by incompetence”.
6. Over the next few days, the mainstream press will make much of the fact that the triggering facts that led the Nazi to shoot people yesterday appear to have been:
A. The existence of the Jewish charity that helps refugees resettle in the US;
B. The Honduran “caravan” that Trump, Fox News and high priests of The Trump Cult have been hyping in hopes of boosting voter turnout among Trumpkins.
7. You may think the Trumpkin bomber is unique, but to over half of America, the Trump bomber looks much like the other millions of Americans who have joined the Trump Cult, attend the cult rallies, believe Obama put “tapps” on Trump’s phone, distrust the FBI, etc.
He swallowed all of the garbage which Trump, Hannity, Breitbart, the Black Sparrow, etc fed to him. This may sound harsh, but liberals, conservative NeverTrumpers and educated moderates are pretty much in agreement that most Trumpkins (not just the Trumpkin bomber) appear to have been brainwashed. We talk about it to each other, laugh about it and shake our heads.
8. French’s argument is that the Nazi is something different. Trump may have turned the Trumpkin bomber from an ordinary criminal nitwit into a crazed Trump cultist, but the Nazi was always a Nazi. The left will respond that the Nazi may have always been a Nazi, but that Trump’s demagoguery motivates Nazis and other bad people to commit bad acts.
“What’s shocking about what we’ve seen from Sayoc’s social media feeds is just how ordinary they are in the Trump online ecosystem. The slurry of conspiracy theories (particularly all things Soros), birtherism, xenophobia, boomer memes, and MAGA spank-bank material in his Twitter and Facebook feeds is the raw distillate from Infowars, Breitbart, and Fox.
I could find dozens of similar feeds just by scanning my latest crop of trolls. Sayoc isn’t a one-off loner radicalized by a few edge-case media outlets; he’s the inevitable product of an alternative-reality media silo that increasingly defines the intellectual landscape of the Trump right.
By now we’ve all seen Sayoc’s van. The vehicle, covered with a thick layer of pro-Trump, anti-media bumper stickers, signs, and memes, is a perfect symbol of this moment and his movement. This material isn’t an outlier; it’s definitional to Trump Republicanism. The era of Trump ended the GOP branding as the party of limited government, fiscal discipline, constitutional loyalty, and moral probity. Trump’s base defines the GOP as a party of ranty Facebook groups, garishly overwrought conspiracy theories (hello, QAnon!), and raging oppositional defiant disorder.
This is the future of the GOP under Trump; it’s not a party; it’s a backwater sub-Reddit careening from crisis to crisis, chasing an increasingly elaborate set of conspiracies to paper over the raging inconsistencies of the Dear Leader’s message and conduct.
Cesar Sayoc isn’t just some loner gone wrong. He isn’t merely a one-in-a-million Unabomber with a cabin in the woods, a crazed manifesto, and too much black powder. Sayoc is the future. Donald Trump’s famously loyal base has been radicalized, and while only the tiniest fraction will resort to political violence, neither the president nor the hollow shell of the GOP will do anything to stop it.
This is a president with obvious mental and moral deficits who will say and do anything to retain power. He’s backed by a runaway “conservative” media feeding his rabid base a daily dose of conspiratorial lunacy. There is no mechanism to stop Trump’s division, radicalization, and calls to arms against his enemies.
America was lucky this week; none of the weapons exploded, and the FBI and state law enforcement moved with amazing speed to apprehend the bomber. We might not always be so lucky, particularly if this president continues to give what future Sayocs see as their marching orders.”
We talk about it to each other, laugh about it and shake our heads.
Words cannot describe the heroism of you and those other guys you laugh with. I daresay you are saving civilization as we know it. And you do this without ever calling attention to yourselves, except for all the time.
Trump may have turned the Trumpkin bomber from an ordinary criminal nitwit into a crazed Trump cultist
He didn’t. Trump didn’t have anything to do with crazy guy sending harmless stuff in the mail.
What’s shocking about what we’ve seen from Sayoc’s social media feeds is just how ordinary they are in the Trump online ecosystem.
This is shocking to no one, and the phenomenon of loners is no more a problem now than it’s ever been.
SolarP doesn’t think that Trump turned the Trumpkin bomber from an ordinary criminal nitwit into a crazed Trump cultist.
Could anyone explain how that transition happens without Trump? Without Trump, there is no Trump Cult. If you read the article about the guy, without Trump it is reasonable to expect that the Trumpkin bomber would still have been putting up pictures of food on Facebook.
“This is shocking to no one.” I am not sure everyone understood Wilson’s point. Wilson’s point is that from an ideological standpoint, the Trump bomber was absolutely in the mainstream of the Trump Cult. He made the same points in posts that we see from Trumpkins every day. He attacked the same “villains” that we see attacked by the cult every day. When a demagogue and his cult constantly call people “traitors” and “enemies of the people”, is it not reasonable to expect that the most weak-minded of the cult to respond as the Trumpkin bomber did?
DJ, Not really. However, it is not possible to have a bizarre personality cult of a dishonest imbecile without the existence of said dishonest imbecile.
Let me try again to explain why Wilson was shocked. Generally, people who commit acts of political terror are motivated by bizarre ideologies:
1. Oswald the communist killed Kennedy;
2. The 9/11 bombers were radical Muslims;
3. Dylan Roof was a white supremacist who killed blacks.
4. The Pittsburgh shooter was a Nazi who killed Jews.
Wilson found that ideologically Sayoc was a mainstream Trumpkin. He could have filled in for Sean Hannity and blasted (verbally) the usual villains and ratings would not have dropped. Even Rick Wilson found that to be shocking.
SolarP doesn’t think that Trump turned the Trumpkin bomber from an ordinary criminal nitwit into a crazed Trump cultist.
Um, right. He didn’t.
Could anyone explain how that transition happens without Trump?
It’s funny how often you try to school people on logic when you commit such silly gaffes. The nominal *focus* of the guy’s craziness was, in part, Donald Trump. You want to make that fact mean that Donald Trump *caused* the craziness. Can someone explain to Ricky how that doesn’t follow? It’s pretty simple.
When a demagogue and his cult constantly call people “traitors” and “enemies of the people”, is it not reasonable to expect that the most weak-minded of the cult to respond as the Trumpkin bomber did?
No. It’s reasonable to expect crazy people will do crazy things, latching on to whatever means at their disposal may add some psychological justification or facilitation of those things. It’s the same reason why many child molesters take jobs as teachers or priests.
Or maybe DJ’s (tongue in cheek) theory is correct: Trump is all-powerful. I would only add that it’s not just some of his “followers” that believe that, but deranged souls who blame every evil on the man’s existence.
Wilson found that ideologically Sayoc was a mainstream Trumpkin. He could have filled in for Sean Hannity and blasted (verbally) the usual villains and ratings would not have dropped. Even Rick Wilson found that to be shocking.
Looks like Rick Wilson is careless in establishing cause and effect.
SolarP, You are assuming we are dealing with what we heard so much about in 2016: a binary choice. You think either a person is “crazy” or they are “not crazy”. I would suggest:
1. It is more of a spectrum; and
2. That everyone in the Trump Cult is at least a couple of notches away from the “not crazy” end of the scale.
Hmm. Cause and effect? Is it a coincidence that Roof only killed blacks? Is it a coincidence that the Pittsburgh shooter only killed Jews? Is it a coincidence that Sayoc sent Trumpkin-quality bombs to thirteen of the people most hated by the Trump Cult?
SolarP, Most people I know who have graduate degrees would contend that Trump and his entire cult are “demonstrably crazy”. That is why we shake our heads and laugh. In Texas, about 90% of the white people without college degrees are Trumpkins. These are our friends and relatives. It is truly like living in a zombie movie.
Was Roof crazy? Was Oswald crazy? Was the Pittsburgh Nazi crazy? Were all the 9/11 bombers crazy? A bad ideology and a little craziness can produce some very bad behavior – particularly if there is someone feeding the fire.
Something we Christians need to remember is that one of the things the Bible says that God hates is a haughty spirit. It is hard (impossible?) to be humble when denigrating other people, be they of the “other party” or “Trumpkins” or whoever.
Ricky’s mention of people talking down and laughing at “Trumpkins” made me feel uncomfortable.
I have to watch out for my own attitude towards people I disagree with (such as YA). One thing I have been convicted of is simply clicking the laughing emoji on Facebook on posts that make fun of our president or others, even if I find them funny. I don’t do that anymore.
Mentally disturbed people often latch on to a movement or a religion, and then do violence in the name of that movement or religion. There have been people who have done violence in the name of our God, but He is not to blame for that.
Spent the weekend in Grand Rapids. In fact I attended a wedding in the same church which has the DeVos family as members.
It takes a certain amount of cognitive dissonance not to understand and/or agree with the views raised by French and Wilson. The dissonance is especially acute when commentors who chide Democratic politician’s statements somehow don’t see the same causal chain in Trump’s comments.
Its usually note in the left wing world that a white guy committing acts of terror is deemed crazy and a loner but if black or Muslim, the group is somewhat defective and partially to blame. To be consistent, the Trump led Republican party needs to wonder if the group is somewhat defective and partially to blame.
-Has criminal record going back to 1991.
-Made felony bomb threat in 2002.
-Convicted of fraud, larceny, selling controlled substances–crimes committed over the past *decades* (that’s before Trump, ya know)
-Certainly, he *used* such substances
-Neighbors and his estranged family attest to his being mentally unstable; his own lawyer says, “He doesn’t seem to recognize reality. He lives in a fantasy world,” and that “he’s 14 years old living in an adult body.”
I’m sure it goes on and on.
Donald Trump didn’t cause this. It’s looney to compare this guy to a student of Islam who spends his life studying the doctrine and embracing the rationale that motivates flying planes into buildings. The guy was crazy. That’s why he did what he did.
SolarP, Most people I know who have graduate degrees would contend that Trump and his entire cult are “demonstrably crazy”.
Yes, I know the rest of us would be lost without your care behind the scenes, keeping the world safe for (and from) the rest of us mental midgets. Hail, you and intelligent people.
“Somewhat defective and partially to blame.” That is a nice way of putting it, HRW.
I hope you had a good time in Grand Rapids. I once spent a pretty spring day there as my son and a buddy visited Calvin College. The boys were shown around campus by a very pretty and statuesque Navajo girl. Calvin and nearby Hope College play high quality Division III basketball. Calvin has a reputation for good academics and sound theology. As at Wheaton, coeds from Texas saw the maps of Texas on the boys’ letter jackets and wanted to visit. I think it just made both boys realize how homesick they would be that far from home.
Yes, SP, he was mentally unstable and he did commit other crimes and socially unacceptable behaviour. And he would’ve committed more even without the Trumpian Republican party but he would not have sent package bombs to those individuals. Its these specific crimes that came about because of Trump’s rhetorical excess. He gave him targets and focus.
The weather was horrible but family get togethers are always good. My parents spent time with their great grandsons and my daughter partied with her cousins.
Grand Rapids is a nice place but the I-96 and I-69 were hard on my car. One of my nieces attended Calvin on a swimming scholarship.
SolarP, Go back and read my paragraph 8 @ 12:51. I said that “Trump may have turned an ordinary criminal nitwit into a crazed Trump cultist.” You then spent the rest of the day proving he had been a criminal nitwit. Even Debra admitted he is now a Trump cultist and you state that he is crazy. It seems we are all in agreement.
Cousin time and great-grandchild time are both important. My mother got to spend two whole days with my grandson this week and she was fired up. In between my wife kept her out until 1:00 a.m. at a Josh Grobin concert in Dallas.
Ricky you’re losing track of your arguments. What’s the whole point of your “cause and effect” theory, if not that Trump caused this guy to mail the bombs? You said, “is it not reasonable to expect that the most weak-minded of the cult to respond as the Trumpkin bomber did?”
The guy does crazy things. That in this *one* instance of many he has done, it just so happens Trump was the proxy, but you make him out to be possessed by the spirit of DT. That’s baloney.
hwesseli at 10:15: None of that makes Donald Trump culpable for the guy’s crazy acts, or do you ascribe moral blame to the electric company for shutting off his power, or whatever it was that prompted him to send a threat in that case?
HRW already gave the proper response to your question @ 10:15. I had a smart-aleck response prepared for that anticipated question, but I have already given too many of those today.
In any case, the acts of this mentally ill person say nothing of Trump or right wing ideology or any of that. I’m a never-Trumper, I think he’s an awful moral example, and all that. But what this bomb mailer did has nothing to do with Trump’s rhetoric, an ideology, or anything beyond the addled thoughts of this one guy’s damaged mind.
Wandering Views 
Still….
https://hotair.com/archives/2018/10/26/boom-economy-stupid-q3-gdp-growth-3-5/
“If “It’s the economy, stupid” applies as strongly to the midterms as Republicans hope, they just got good news from the Commerce Department. For the first time in more than three years, the US economy grew at an annualized rate of 3% in GDP in two successive quarters. The third quarter expansion measured 3.5% following Q2’s 4.2%:
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018 (table 1), according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 4.2 percent. …
The increase in real GDP in the third quarter reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), private inventory investment, state and local government spending, federal government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from exports and residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased (table 2).
The deceleration in real GDP growth in the third quarter reflected a downturn in exports and a deceleration in nonresidential fixed investment. Imports increased in the third quarter after decreasing in the second. These movements were partly offset by an upturn in private inventory investment.
The BEA chart shows the dynamism of the result:”
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Obstruction no longer works. The work goes on….. 🙂
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-judges-idUSKCN1MY2SN?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5bd0f4c704d3016fe677db4f&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
“A Republican-led U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday held the second of two unusual hearings during a congressional recess in an aggressive push to confirm President Donald Trump’s conservative judicial nominees including to a liberal-leaning California-based court he often criticizes.
Democrats, who mounted an unsuccessful effort to block Senate confirmation this month of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, have slammed the president’s fellow Republicans for holding the hearings. Only two senators on the 21-member Judiciary Committee, both Republicans, showed up for the hearing in Washington on Wednesday in which four judicial nominees were considered.
Democratic Senator Patty Murray, who had asked Republicans to postpone the hearing while the Senate is in recess ahead of the Nov. 6 congressional elections, criticized “the shameful partisan path they have taken on what has always been a bipartisan process.” She accused the Republicans of a “mad dash” to secure confirmation.
Two of the nominees considered on Wednesday – Bridget Bade and Eric Miller – were picked by Trump to serve on the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles cases arising from several western states including California.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican, said the committee scheduled the hearing dates with the agreement of the panel’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein. She disputes that.”
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Vote fraud is a myth.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/37661/texas-democratic-party-leader-funded-voter-fraud-ryan-saavedra
“Texas law enforcement officials have arrested four women for allegedly targeting elderly voters in the 2016 elections in a “voter fraud ring” that was funded by a Democratic Party leader, according to court documents filed this week by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“The defendants were members of an organized voter fraud ring and were paid to target elderly voters in certain northern Fort Worth precincts in a scheme to generate large numbers of mail ballots, then harvest those ballots for specific candidates,” NBC DFW reported.
A grand jury indicted Leticia Sanchez, 57, Leticia Sanchez Tepichin, 39, Maria Solis, 40, and Laura Parra, 24, on a cumulative 30 felony counts of voter fraud on Oct. 10 following an investigation by Paxton’s office. Breitbart Texas reported:
The state’s newly filed notice of intent to introduce evidence in the Sanchez criminal case alleged that Stuart Clegg, then Tarrant County Democratic Party executive director, funded the alleged voter fraud ring’s criminal activities.”
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This guy fits the stereotype perfectly. We are going to be hearing about him a great deal between now and Election Day.
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Dear Leader pouts.
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And pouts.
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Last night, I thought he was part of an evil scheme.
Now, I think he’s a nut.
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The Trumpkin terrorist reminded me of Mona Charen’s description of Trump himself: Malice tempered by incompetence.
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This is always the debate between liberals and educated conservatives: Is Trump really evil (the liberal view) or is he just embarrassing and stupid (the correct perspective)?
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Soooooo…
He’s like a pro-Trump version of you, the fanatical Never-Trumper.
I do see a resemblance in the writing style and the need to tweet about meaningless things every 10 seconds……
So tell me, do you have any bumper stickers on your vehicles?…….
😀
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Further proof that it’s not about seeking asylum and safety, and that these migrants are seeking financial gains that only the US can/does provide.
And international law says those fleeing violence and strife can only claim asylum in the next country. That would be Mexico, not here, so I’d question the veracity of these claims for those claiming it here.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/migrant-caravan-members-reject-offer-040211669.html
“‘We’re heading north!’ Migrants nix offer to stay in Mexico”
“Hundreds of Mexican federal officers carrying plastic shields blocked a Central American caravan from advancing toward the United States on Saturday, after a group of several thousand migrants turned down the chance to apply for refugee status and obtain a Mexican offer of benefits.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has announced what he called the “You are at home” plan, offering shelter, medical attention, schooling and jobs to Central Americans in Chiapas and Oaxaca states if migrants apply, calling it a first step toward permanent refugee status. Authorities said more than 1,700 had already applied for refugee status.
But a standoff unfolded as federal police officers blocked the highway, saying there was an operation underway to stop the caravan. Thousands of migrants waited to advance, vowing to continue their long trek toward the U.S. border.
At a meeting brokered by Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission, police said they would reopen the highway and only wanted an opportunity for federal authorities to explain the proposal to migrants who had rejected it the previous evening. Migrants countered that the middle of a highway was no place to negotiate and said they wanted to at least arrive safely to Mexico City to discuss the topic with authorities and Mexican lawmakers.”
——————–
Yep, with the handlers egging them on, they’ll try to be here just in time for an October surprise, as was always the intent.
It’s time to stop playing nice with these invaders.
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More bad news. 😦
https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/10/27/heavy-police-presence-near-synagogue-in-squirrel-hill/
“Police from across the city of Pittsburgh are responding to an active shooting situation at the The Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill.
KDKA’s Andy Sheehan reports that at least seven people have been confirmed dead, possibly more.
Police have requested that residents stay inside their home as they have exchanged gun fire with a suspected gunman.
When officers arrived the gunman reportedly shot at them, forcing officers to use their vehicles as a shield.
Two police officers were reportedly shot.
The Synagogue was reportedly full of people for a Saturday service and police say they’ve received several calls from people barricaded inside the Synagogue.”
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Horrifying
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One hardly knows what to say anymore.
I believe there are spiritual forces at work (always) that right now are bringing anger, discord, violence and devastation in our midst, all in what is seemingly a downward spiral, but all within God’s sovereignty for his purpose — judgment and/or part of a wake-up call to repent, we can’t fully know God’s secret decrees or the exact and specific ‘why’s’ for it all. But we should always be seeing events through that reality of the spiritual world, knowing something deeper is going on here.
And repentance and prayer are always an appropriate response.
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Well, who’s the author of confusion, bitterness and destruction?
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I think of Isa 6:5
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“However, by the time Trump began delivering remarks before the FFA convention, he said that he decided to move forward with the rally.
“At first, I was thinking ‘I’ll cancel’ and then I said we can’t let evil change our life and change our schedule,” the president said. “Otherwise, we give them too much credit, we make them too important.” “
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Trump’s remarks about the synagogue shooting:
“Our minds cannot comprehend the cruel hate and the twisted malice that can cause a person to unleash such terrible violence during a baby-naming ceremony,” Trump said. “This was a baby-naming ceremony at a sacred house of worship. Anti-Semitism and the widespread persecution of Jews represents one of the ugliest and darkest features of human history. The vile hate filled poison of anti-Semitism must be condemned and confronted everywhere and anywhere it appears. There must be no tolerance of anti-Semitism in America or for any form of religious or racial hatred or prejudice.
“We are praying for the families of the victims, and our hearts go out to the wounded law enforcement officers in Pittsburgh—very badly wounded and very brave,” Trump said. “We mourn for the unthinkable loss of life that took place today, and we pledge in their name to fight for a future of justice, safety, tolerance, morality, dignity and love. We must all rise above the hate, move past our divisions and embrace our common destiny as Americans. That doesn’t mean that we can’t fight hard and be strong and say what’s on our mind, but we have to always remember the element of love and dignity and respect.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/10/trumps-comments-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/574177/
He also remarked that ““If they had some kind of a protection inside the temple maybe it could have been a very much different situation,” he said. “They didn’t, and he was able to do things that unfortunately he shouldn’t be able to do.” ”
After the Baptist church shooting last year that killed 26 people, Dad’s church instituted new security protocols. It’s a large church like ours (about 1500 people on Sunday) and I had noticed they already had some kind of armed security. But after last year, the pastor told the congregation that there would be people selected to be armed in every section of the church—the back, the balcony, even the pulpit and choir.
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Thank you Debra, for the rest of the story.
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From Powerline blog:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/10/and-now-the-pittsburgh-shootings.php
AND NOW, THE PITTSBURGH SHOOTINGS
________________
… Watching the interview of the synagogue’s immediate past president on FOX News, I was disheartened to learn that the synagogue had no security for Shabbat services. At Temple of Aaron in St. Paul, which I take it draws a comparable or smaller crowd than Tree of Life at Shabbat services, we have had regular police presence for the past several years. Indeed, I became friends with Officer Lou Ferraro — this year’s St. Paul Police Officer of the year — pausing to thank him for working overtime and to kibbitz on Saturday mornings when I attended services. …
__________________
A very sad reality, and one that doesn’t address the heart of our issue. But in the meantime, it might have to become part of our new normal.
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The state of our nation and the violence that is erupting should give all of us pause. It’s too easy to always blame “the other” side.
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David French makes a distinction between the bomber and the shooter.
The bomber was a Trump cultist. He joined the cult and then believed and parroted everything Trump said.
The shooter was a Nazi. Although he was obsessed with hatred of immigrants and used the terms “globalist” and “nationalist”, he did not use those terms as Trump and most Trumpkins do. He even denied that Trump was a “nationalist” and accused him of being a “globalist”.
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The bomber’s descent into the cult.
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This is how French started. If you click on the first Tweet, you will be able to see the whole thread, even if it doesn’t all immediately become available. French is somewhat of an expert on this subject as he has been a big target of various segments of the alt-right for the last three years.
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The bomber seems to have been a one-man cult. I have not seen any other cultists for Trump. Where are the others?
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I’ve seen a few conservatives tout the French twitter thread as important and profound. I don’t get it. What huge misunderstanding is it correcting?
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Ricky,
Despite the man’s alleged crimes, your treatment of an obviously ill man for political gain is quite disgusting.
Pathetic really, but exactly what I’ve come to expect from you. Get help for your TDS.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article220714565.html
“Mail bomb suspect Cesar Sayoc was a mentally ill man searching for a way to fit into American society, and he found it by acting on President Donald Trump’s vengeful rhetoric, said the Miami lawyer who represented Sayoc in a previous bomb threat case.
Sayoc, who was living in Hollywood, Florida, out of a van plastered with stickers glorifying Trump and superimposed with rifle scope crosshairs on the faces of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, was arrested Friday in Plantation and charged with sending pipe bombs via the U.S. Postal Service to prominent Democrats.
But Sayoc, 56, who used to live in Aventura with his mother and graduated from North Miami Beach High School, was no criminal mastermind, said Ron Lowy, a family friend who defended Sayoc in 2002 when he was charged with threatening Florida Power & Light employees over a pricey bill and in 2004 when Sayoc was charged with possessing steroids with intent to sell.
Lowy described Sayoc as an unsophisticated loner who wanted to impress people but failed at everything he pursued, from strip club dancing to bodybuilding to professional fighting to the dry cleaning business.
“He wasn’t successful in anything he did,” Lowy said. “He’s been bankrupt, gone into foreclosure. He’s 14 years old living in an adult body.”
Sayoc’s claim of affiliation with the Seminole Tribe of Florida was an example of Sayoc’s desire for a sense of belonging. He said Sayoc used to drive a vehicle plastered with Seminole Tribe and Native American stickers and showed him a scrapbook filled with photos of Sayoc as an exotic dancer and aspiring pro wrestler.”
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Yeah he’s a crazy person and that’s pretty much the end of that story. Political rhetoric had nothing to do with it.
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I didn’t see any of the network news shows this morning before church, but I predict that this is an outline of the discussions we will hear over the next few days:
1. There is a broad consensus among educated liberals, moderates and conservatives that Charen was right to describe Trump as “malice tempered by incompetence”.
2. Medved, as quoted above, went further and contended that Trump’s embarrassing stupidity is “not related” to “evil” such as the acts of the Trumpkin bomber or the assault on the reporter by the Trumpkin Congressman.
3. The mainstream media and the left side of America never accepted Medved’s argument.
They always thought that Trump’s demagoguery, his attacks on the press as “the enemy of the people”, his constant lying, his attacks on law enforcement and other institutions, his calls for prosecution of political opponents, his xenophobia, the demands for cultlike loyalty from his Cabinet and other Republicans, etc. were dangerous.
4. As late as early yesterday morning, Medved’s position looked solid. Though the Trumpkin bomber was converted from a regular nitwit into the ultimate Trump cultist, in true Trumpian fashion he proved to be harmless as he was mentally incapable of constructing a functioning bomb.
5. Unfortunately, the fellow in Pittsburgh was “malice not tempered by incompetence”.
6. Over the next few days, the mainstream press will make much of the fact that the triggering facts that led the Nazi to shoot people yesterday appear to have been:
A. The existence of the Jewish charity that helps refugees resettle in the US;
B. The Honduran “caravan” that Trump, Fox News and high priests of The Trump Cult have been hyping in hopes of boosting voter turnout among Trumpkins.
7. You may think the Trumpkin bomber is unique, but to over half of America, the Trump bomber looks much like the other millions of Americans who have joined the Trump Cult, attend the cult rallies, believe Obama put “tapps” on Trump’s phone, distrust the FBI, etc.
He swallowed all of the garbage which Trump, Hannity, Breitbart, the Black Sparrow, etc fed to him. This may sound harsh, but liberals, conservative NeverTrumpers and educated moderates are pretty much in agreement that most Trumpkins (not just the Trumpkin bomber) appear to have been brainwashed. We talk about it to each other, laugh about it and shake our heads.
8. French’s argument is that the Nazi is something different. Trump may have turned the Trumpkin bomber from an ordinary criminal nitwit into a crazed Trump cultist, but the Nazi was always a Nazi. The left will respond that the Nazi may have always been a Nazi, but that Trump’s demagoguery motivates Nazis and other bad people to commit bad acts.
The debate should be interesting.
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Rick Wilson wrote this before Pittsburgh:
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From the article:
“What’s shocking about what we’ve seen from Sayoc’s social media feeds is just how ordinary they are in the Trump online ecosystem. The slurry of conspiracy theories (particularly all things Soros), birtherism, xenophobia, boomer memes, and MAGA spank-bank material in his Twitter and Facebook feeds is the raw distillate from Infowars, Breitbart, and Fox.
I could find dozens of similar feeds just by scanning my latest crop of trolls. Sayoc isn’t a one-off loner radicalized by a few edge-case media outlets; he’s the inevitable product of an alternative-reality media silo that increasingly defines the intellectual landscape of the Trump right.
By now we’ve all seen Sayoc’s van. The vehicle, covered with a thick layer of pro-Trump, anti-media bumper stickers, signs, and memes, is a perfect symbol of this moment and his movement. This material isn’t an outlier; it’s definitional to Trump Republicanism. The era of Trump ended the GOP branding as the party of limited government, fiscal discipline, constitutional loyalty, and moral probity. Trump’s base defines the GOP as a party of ranty Facebook groups, garishly overwrought conspiracy theories (hello, QAnon!), and raging oppositional defiant disorder.
This is the future of the GOP under Trump; it’s not a party; it’s a backwater sub-Reddit careening from crisis to crisis, chasing an increasingly elaborate set of conspiracies to paper over the raging inconsistencies of the Dear Leader’s message and conduct.
Cesar Sayoc isn’t just some loner gone wrong. He isn’t merely a one-in-a-million Unabomber with a cabin in the woods, a crazed manifesto, and too much black powder. Sayoc is the future. Donald Trump’s famously loyal base has been radicalized, and while only the tiniest fraction will resort to political violence, neither the president nor the hollow shell of the GOP will do anything to stop it.
This is a president with obvious mental and moral deficits who will say and do anything to retain power. He’s backed by a runaway “conservative” media feeding his rabid base a daily dose of conspiratorial lunacy. There is no mechanism to stop Trump’s division, radicalization, and calls to arms against his enemies.
America was lucky this week; none of the weapons exploded, and the FBI and state law enforcement moved with amazing speed to apprehend the bomber. We might not always be so lucky, particularly if this president continues to give what future Sayocs see as their marching orders.”
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We talk about it to each other, laugh about it and shake our heads.
Words cannot describe the heroism of you and those other guys you laugh with. I daresay you are saving civilization as we know it. And you do this without ever calling attention to yourselves, except for all the time.
Trump may have turned the Trumpkin bomber from an ordinary criminal nitwit into a crazed Trump cultist
He didn’t. Trump didn’t have anything to do with crazy guy sending harmless stuff in the mail.
What’s shocking about what we’ve seen from Sayoc’s social media feeds is just how ordinary they are in the Trump online ecosystem.
This is shocking to no one, and the phenomenon of loners is no more a problem now than it’s ever been.
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SolarP doesn’t think that Trump turned the Trumpkin bomber from an ordinary criminal nitwit into a crazed Trump cultist.
Could anyone explain how that transition happens without Trump? Without Trump, there is no Trump Cult. If you read the article about the guy, without Trump it is reasonable to expect that the Trumpkin bomber would still have been putting up pictures of food on Facebook.
“This is shocking to no one.” I am not sure everyone understood Wilson’s point. Wilson’s point is that from an ideological standpoint, the Trump bomber was absolutely in the mainstream of the Trump Cult. He made the same points in posts that we see from Trumpkins every day. He attacked the same “villains” that we see attacked by the cult every day. When a demagogue and his cult constantly call people “traitors” and “enemies of the people”, is it not reasonable to expect that the most weak-minded of the cult to respond as the Trumpkin bomber did?
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Trump would seem to be all powerful
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DJ, Not really. However, it is not possible to have a bizarre personality cult of a dishonest imbecile without the existence of said dishonest imbecile.
Let me try again to explain why Wilson was shocked. Generally, people who commit acts of political terror are motivated by bizarre ideologies:
1. Oswald the communist killed Kennedy;
2. The 9/11 bombers were radical Muslims;
3. Dylan Roof was a white supremacist who killed blacks.
4. The Pittsburgh shooter was a Nazi who killed Jews.
Wilson found that ideologically Sayoc was a mainstream Trumpkin. He could have filled in for Sean Hannity and blasted (verbally) the usual villains and ratings would not have dropped. Even Rick Wilson found that to be shocking.
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SolarP doesn’t think that Trump turned the Trumpkin bomber from an ordinary criminal nitwit into a crazed Trump cultist.
Um, right. He didn’t.
Could anyone explain how that transition happens without Trump?
It’s funny how often you try to school people on logic when you commit such silly gaffes. The nominal *focus* of the guy’s craziness was, in part, Donald Trump. You want to make that fact mean that Donald Trump *caused* the craziness. Can someone explain to Ricky how that doesn’t follow? It’s pretty simple.
When a demagogue and his cult constantly call people “traitors” and “enemies of the people”, is it not reasonable to expect that the most weak-minded of the cult to respond as the Trumpkin bomber did?
No. It’s reasonable to expect crazy people will do crazy things, latching on to whatever means at their disposal may add some psychological justification or facilitation of those things. It’s the same reason why many child molesters take jobs as teachers or priests.
Or maybe DJ’s (tongue in cheek) theory is correct: Trump is all-powerful. I would only add that it’s not just some of his “followers” that believe that, but deranged souls who blame every evil on the man’s existence.
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Wilson found that ideologically Sayoc was a mainstream Trumpkin. He could have filled in for Sean Hannity and blasted (verbally) the usual villains and ratings would not have dropped. Even Rick Wilson found that to be shocking.
Looks like Rick Wilson is careless in establishing cause and effect.
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SolarP, You are assuming we are dealing with what we heard so much about in 2016: a binary choice. You think either a person is “crazy” or they are “not crazy”. I would suggest:
1. It is more of a spectrum; and
2. That everyone in the Trump Cult is at least a couple of notches away from the “not crazy” end of the scale.
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What a ridiculous mound of conclusion jumping. This guy was demonstrably crazy. He says nothing about Trump or the rest of his “cult.”
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Hmm. Cause and effect? Is it a coincidence that Roof only killed blacks? Is it a coincidence that the Pittsburgh shooter only killed Jews? Is it a coincidence that Sayoc sent Trumpkin-quality bombs to thirteen of the people most hated by the Trump Cult?
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SolarP, Most people I know who have graduate degrees would contend that Trump and his entire cult are “demonstrably crazy”. That is why we shake our heads and laugh. In Texas, about 90% of the white people without college degrees are Trumpkins. These are our friends and relatives. It is truly like living in a zombie movie.
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Was Roof crazy? Was Oswald crazy? Was the Pittsburgh Nazi crazy? Were all the 9/11 bombers crazy? A bad ideology and a little craziness can produce some very bad behavior – particularly if there is someone feeding the fire.
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Something we Christians need to remember is that one of the things the Bible says that God hates is a haughty spirit. It is hard (impossible?) to be humble when denigrating other people, be they of the “other party” or “Trumpkins” or whoever.
Ricky’s mention of people talking down and laughing at “Trumpkins” made me feel uncomfortable.
I have to watch out for my own attitude towards people I disagree with (such as YA). One thing I have been convicted of is simply clicking the laughing emoji on Facebook on posts that make fun of our president or others, even if I find them funny. I don’t do that anymore.
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Mentally disturbed people often latch on to a movement or a religion, and then do violence in the name of that movement or religion. There have been people who have done violence in the name of our God, but He is not to blame for that.
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@5:56 Good advice as always, Kizzie.
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In other news, the Hallmark Christmas movies have begun
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Spent the weekend in Grand Rapids. In fact I attended a wedding in the same church which has the DeVos family as members.
It takes a certain amount of cognitive dissonance not to understand and/or agree with the views raised by French and Wilson. The dissonance is especially acute when commentors who chide Democratic politician’s statements somehow don’t see the same causal chain in Trump’s comments.
Its usually note in the left wing world that a white guy committing acts of terror is deemed crazy and a loner but if black or Muslim, the group is somewhat defective and partially to blame. To be consistent, the Trump led Republican party needs to wonder if the group is somewhat defective and partially to blame.
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Cognitive dissonance yeah mm hmm.
About Sayoc:
-Has criminal record going back to 1991.
-Made felony bomb threat in 2002.
-Convicted of fraud, larceny, selling controlled substances–crimes committed over the past *decades* (that’s before Trump, ya know)
-Certainly, he *used* such substances
-Neighbors and his estranged family attest to his being mentally unstable; his own lawyer says, “He doesn’t seem to recognize reality. He lives in a fantasy world,” and that “he’s 14 years old living in an adult body.”
I’m sure it goes on and on.
Donald Trump didn’t cause this. It’s looney to compare this guy to a student of Islam who spends his life studying the doctrine and embracing the rationale that motivates flying planes into buildings. The guy was crazy. That’s why he did what he did.
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SolarP, Most people I know who have graduate degrees would contend that Trump and his entire cult are “demonstrably crazy”.
Yes, I know the rest of us would be lost without your care behind the scenes, keeping the world safe for (and from) the rest of us mental midgets. Hail, you and intelligent people.
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Is it a coincidence that Sayoc sent Trumpkin-quality bombs to thirteen of the people most hated by the Trump Cult?
This is reading your narrative into events, par excellence. And what do you say the cause of all the other crimes and kooky things the guy has done?
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“Somewhat defective and partially to blame.” That is a nice way of putting it, HRW.
I hope you had a good time in Grand Rapids. I once spent a pretty spring day there as my son and a buddy visited Calvin College. The boys were shown around campus by a very pretty and statuesque Navajo girl. Calvin and nearby Hope College play high quality Division III basketball. Calvin has a reputation for good academics and sound theology. As at Wheaton, coeds from Texas saw the maps of Texas on the boys’ letter jackets and wanted to visit. I think it just made both boys realize how homesick they would be that far from home.
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Yes, SP, he was mentally unstable and he did commit other crimes and socially unacceptable behaviour. And he would’ve committed more even without the Trumpian Republican party but he would not have sent package bombs to those individuals. Its these specific crimes that came about because of Trump’s rhetorical excess. He gave him targets and focus.
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The weather was horrible but family get togethers are always good. My parents spent time with their great grandsons and my daughter partied with her cousins.
Grand Rapids is a nice place but the I-96 and I-69 were hard on my car. One of my nieces attended Calvin on a swimming scholarship.
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SolarP, Go back and read my paragraph 8 @ 12:51. I said that “Trump may have turned an ordinary criminal nitwit into a crazed Trump cultist.” You then spent the rest of the day proving he had been a criminal nitwit. Even Debra admitted he is now a Trump cultist and you state that he is crazy. It seems we are all in agreement.
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Cousin time and great-grandchild time are both important. My mother got to spend two whole days with my grandson this week and she was fired up. In between my wife kept her out until 1:00 a.m. at a Josh Grobin concert in Dallas.
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Ricky you’re losing track of your arguments. What’s the whole point of your “cause and effect” theory, if not that Trump caused this guy to mail the bombs? You said, “is it not reasonable to expect that the most weak-minded of the cult to respond as the Trumpkin bomber did?”
The guy does crazy things. That in this *one* instance of many he has done, it just so happens Trump was the proxy, but you make him out to be possessed by the spirit of DT. That’s baloney.
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hwesseli at 10:15: None of that makes Donald Trump culpable for the guy’s crazy acts, or do you ascribe moral blame to the electric company for shutting off his power, or whatever it was that prompted him to send a threat in that case?
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HRW already gave the proper response to your question @ 10:15. I had a smart-aleck response prepared for that anticipated question, but I have already given too many of those today.
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Response where?
In any case, the acts of this mentally ill person say nothing of Trump or right wing ideology or any of that. I’m a never-Trumper, I think he’s an awful moral example, and all that. But what this bomb mailer did has nothing to do with Trump’s rhetoric, an ideology, or anything beyond the addled thoughts of this one guy’s damaged mind.
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Thank you for making the case Solar for sanity and a little decency..
I had to take the “If you don’t have anything nice to say…..” approach yesterday, because I had nothing nice to say to Ricky on the matter.
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