Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[digitaldog]

Wow!

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday rejected former President Donald Trump's claim that he could have "overturned" the results of the 2020 election, saying, "The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone."

While Pence had previously resisted calling out his former boss by name, he did not hold back in a speech to the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization, in Orlando, Florida.
“I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to overturn the election. President Trump is wrong," Pence said.

Four years of Pence licking Trumps anus (Please sir, can I have some more), now this. How will Trump respond? This is going to get interesting.

[Robert Roaldi]

Wow! Four years of Pence licking Trumps anus (Please sir, can I have some more), now this. How will Trump respond? This is going to get interesting.

It's hard to imagine how dumb one would have to be to expect loyalty from Trump.

[Robert Roaldi]

Wow! Four years of Pence licking Trumps anus (Please sir, can I have some more), now this. How will Trump respond? This is going to get interesting.

I don't mean to drag this nonsense out but I just saw this https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/592878-pence-breaks-with-trump-i-had-no-right-to-overturn-the-election.

Why would he feel that it was necessary to say this? Other than the Trumpster and all the sycophants glued to his butt, nobody sane thought any differently, did they?

I hope people don't look back one day at these shenanigans and say, 'Well, that was the beginning of the end'. I don't know what a failing culture looks like but senior authority figures spouting BS has to figure in there somewhere.

[digitaldog]

Why would he feel that it was necessary to say this?

Alan will have an answer but not one worth listening to. Wait for it, wait for it....

[Manoli]

A witty, satirical op-ed piece in the NYT with a difference. It’s a 7 minute long video, titled ‘The first thing you need to know is Boris Johnson is a liar ‘. Though UK centric, it touches on the much loved 45th POTUS.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/opinion/boris-johnson-party-scandal.html

[Chris Kern]

A witty, satirical op-ed piece in the NYT with a difference.

Needless to say, this species of politician is entirely unknown to those of us on the other side of the Atlantic.  What is a BoJo?  Some kind of bobblehead toy?

[Peter McLennan]

Speaking of autos, I just got an increase of 10% for car insurance.  I suppose home insurance will go up next.

The government managed, government mandated, no-fault insurance scheme in British Columbia rebated insured motorists last year due to greatly reduced claims in Covid times. 

That's right.  Fewer accidents, fewer claims, lower payouts.  So they gave us back some of our premiums.  I got several hundred dollars in refunds.

Like our covid death rate (a third of America's) it's just one of the many unspeakable horrors of "socialism".

[Robert Roaldi]

Speaking of autos, I just got an increase of 10% for car insurance.  I suppose home insurance will go up next.

Consider yourself lucky that there's lots of competition in the insurance industry or your premiums would have gone up a lot more.

[Robert Roaldi]

Here's a talk from 2017 by Thomas Frank about the disintegration of the American middle class. It's kind of old news by now but still worth watching, I think, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPYlE72OzZA. Warning, it's very long but he's a good speaker.

[Alan Klein]

Consider yourself lucky that there's lots of competition in the insurance industry or your premiums would have gone up a lot more.

The problem is I thought I negotiated a one-year agreement.  Six months ago I changed carriers and thought I had two six-month payments.  Well, now is the time for the second six months and Traveler's raised their second six-month period by $100, in effect a $200 increase for one-year's coverage going forward.  I wasn't told they could raise the second six-month period.  That's shady.

[digitaldog]

The problem is I thought I negotiated a one-year agreement.

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance". -Derek Bok

[Robert Roaldi]

The problem is I thought I negotiated a one-year agreement.  Six months ago I changed carriers and thought I had two six-month payments.  Well, now is the time for the second six months and Traveler's raised their second six-month period by $100, in effect a $200 increase for one-year's coverage going forward.  I wasn't told they could raise the second six-month period.  That's shady.

A bit off-topic but the second season of Michael Lewis's podcast Against the Rules (https://www.pushkin.fm/show/against-the-rules-with-michael-lewis/) is all about the loss of referees (consumer protection is one example but there are numerous others), in which he gives many examples of things that didn't used to be problems but became so over time for various reasons. The series is worth listening.

(With reference to another thread, that may be partly what happened at the US Patent Office to send it off the rails.)

[Alan Klein]

A bit off-topic but the second season of Michael Lewis's podcast Against the Rules (https://www.pushkin.fm/show/against-the-rules-with-michael-lewis/) is all about the loss of referees (consumer protection is one example but there are numerous others), in which he gives many examples of things that didn't used to be problems but became so over time for various reasons. The series is worth listening.

(With reference to another thread, that may be partly what happened at the US Patent Office to send it off the rails.)

Caveat Emptor.  I'm sure somewheres in the small print the insurance company is covered. But I wouldn't read their agreement any more than I read software agreements when you download a new app.  (Does anyone do that?) 

But I'm annoyed at my insurance broker of many years who arranged the deal.  He should have known and forewarned me.  So I sent him an email and waiting for his response.  What's he going to say. 

[PeterAit]

Here's a talk from 2017 by Thomas Frank about the disintegration of the American middle class. It's kind of old news by now but still worth watching, I think, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPYlE72OzZA. Warning, it's very long but he's a good speaker.

This disintegration has a lot to do with the union-busting that has been so fervently implemented by corporations and their political hacks.

[Manoli]

Needless to say, this species of politician is entirely unknown to those of us on the other side of the Atlantic.  What is a BoJo?  Some kind of bobblehead toy?

I was reasonably confident, Chrs, that with your transatlantic family connection you’d be abreast of the fiasco on the other side of the pond.  Just when the British Conservatives were drawing level,  the Republicans seemingly up the stakes with

< The Republican Party declared the Jan. 6 attack “legitimate political discourse” and censured Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for investigating it. >

Gobsmacked.

[Alan Klein]

This disintegration has a lot to do with the union-busting that has been so fervently implemented by corporations and their political hacks.

Inflation caused by the The Fed printing and deficit spending by the government is doing away with the middle class. It's destroying what little wealth they have left. You're seeing it in real-time right now.

[Alan Klein]

I was reasonably confident, Chrs, that with your transatlantic family connection you’d be abreast of the fiasco on the other side of the pond.  Just when the British Conservatives were drawing level,  the Republicans seemingly up the stakes with

< The Republican Party declared the Jan. 6 attack “legitimate political discourse” and censured Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for investigating it. >

Gobsmacked.

Legitimate political discourse. 
https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-tea-party

[digitaldog]

Wow! Four years of Pence licking Trumps anus (Please sir, can I have some more), now this. How will Trump respond? This is going to get interesting.

Well that didn't take long:

"Just saw Mike Pence’s statement on the fact that he had no right to do anything with respect to the Electoral Vote Count, other than being an automatic conveyor belt for the Old Crow Mitch McConnell to get Biden elected President as quickly as possible,” Trump said in a statement through his Save America PAC late Friday night. “Well, the Vice President’s position is not an automatic conveyor if obvious signs of voter fraud or irregularities exist.”

As expected, measured, sensible, factual; if you're a Trump sycophant.
One may post any second now....

[Robert Roaldi]

Legitimate political discourse. 
https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-tea-party

What about Kent State then.

How about the BLM demonstrations.

[digitaldog]

How about the BLM demonstrations.

You mean the looters and rioters in his 'mind'? Not legitimate political discourse.
Here is the 'opinion' and it is as usual, hypocrisy in its full glory including a stupid questinon based on a stupid assumption: 

The answer is the police were responsible in many cases of not doing their jobs.  They didn't prevent riots because politicians held them back.  They let looters loot, rioters riot, and thieves steal from businesses and burn them down. The police were told to back off.   In one town, rioters occupied an entire geographic area and practically destroyed the police sub-station.  Nothing was done for days or weeks.  It was like an occupying army. 

It was similar with Jan 6th except, in this case, there weren't enough police because the commander refused additional help offered by the military and other outside police units.  So a demonstration was allowed to devolve into a riot. Why did the commander refuse the help? Were politicians also involved in holding them back like in the BLM riots?