Lord Liaden

If Trump hadn't politicized the wearing of protective masks, the pinheads would never have gotten so worked up about it. In fact if their Dear Leader had told them at the start to wear them, we wouldn't hear a peep about it now.

I would argue the first step on the current road started even earlier, with Newt Gingrich's tenure as Speaker of the House from 1995-99. It was Gingrich who crafted the strategy of casting Democrats as the enemy, of demonizing them as opponents. Arguably that strategy helped GWB win the White House. But it tolled the death-knell for bipartisan compromise. The political objective of both parties became to win power, at any cost, and then force through an undiluted agenda as far as possible.

And to be equally blunt. If Trump stays in power, you folks will have more than enough conflict within your own borders to occupy you, without looking for it with us. Besides, if we have to we'll just burn Washington DC again.

These last few years have really pressed home the reality that if the officials given responsibility to enforce our laws choose not to, those laws are impotent. Now we have to wait to see whether or not the other shoe -- the voting public's responsibility to hold those officials to account -- actually drops. If not, I think we Canucks will have to make room for Old Man and many other Yankee expats.

Didn't the madman causing all the trouble die at the end of that movie? We're not in the final act yet.

That makes good sense. I just don't expect Republicans to wait for nominees to take potshots at. Trump and his chief enablers have already gotten in the habit of inventing Democratic "leftist" bogeymen to frighten people with. I doubt Democrats and Biden will be left with any choice but to defend themselves. Like I said, this is going to be a cage match. BTW if you're thinking of heading north, you should start practicing pronouncing the last letter of the alphabet "zed" instead of "zee."

Mitch McConnell is going to try to ram through another conservative justice confirmation before the election, in complete repudiation of his stand during President Obama's last year. Because principles aren't even a pretense any more.

Have to respectfully disagree. There were cost-efficient break points, which are less efficient under 6E. But the "optimal range" is set by a given campaign's baseline and maximum, not by the system itself.

Do you really expect complete silence from national Republicans? It's a sure bet Mitch McConnell will try to ram through another Conservative justice confirmation before the election, in complete repudiation of the stand he took during President Obama's last year. Because principles aren't even a pretense any more. Brace yourself for unabashed political pit-fighting. Remember the recent SCOTUS decisions, and who voted for what. "Conservative" doesn't necessarily mean "hopelessly partisan." He still has an election to win.

I always consider it a dumb-ass fluke when I happen to make sense at all.

I guess we all took our cues from the published example characters, with the stats their creators considered appropriate for their own games. Eventually they became self-perpetuating standards.

Variation of an old joke which I saw updated on YouTube: How many Trump supporters does it take to screw in a light bulb? None. Trump just says it’s screwed in, and they’ll all stand in the dark and cheer.