blungld said:

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In my life this is broadly true of the people I've met: Liberals are interested in learning about things different than themselves, and look to be challenged by life's experiences. Conservatives are interested in those things that are different learning to be like themselves, and look to be comforted by life's experiences.

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That might be true in your orbit, but it might be over broad for the world at large. I know lots of conservatives who enjoy the new, the different, and the personally challenging, so mileage varies here.

Personally, I like this theory: conservatives place emphasis on (and indeed may be obsessed by) the notion that personal responsibility is paramount. Almost any conservative policy position can be explained this way. Guns? I'll be responsible for my self, you be responsible for yourself, so keep your hands off my guns. Abortion? She wouldn't need an abortion if she exercised personal responsibility in her sex life. Taxes? Why should I pay for someone less industrious than me. Health care? If you work hard, you'll get a job that has health insurance. Truly, nothing drives a conservative more bonkers than the idea that someone who is personally irresponsible is getting a free ride from society. To the point where they are willing to look at the sick and the poor and say, Tough luck.

Liberals, on the other hand, are more apt to believe that society has a far greater influence on our lot in life than does the individual's personal responsibility. Sure, an exceptionally talented person born into less fortunate circumstance might occasionally have good things happen to him or her, but 99% of the time the deck is so stacked against that generally speaking almost no amount of personal responsibility will change anything. Societal intervention is necessary if they are to break free of the chains of their unfortunate circumstance. Meanwhile, a mediocre person born into exceptionally fortunate circumstances is probably going to be fine, no matter how personally irresponsible they might be. This is fundamentally unfair to a liberal, and the playing field must be leveled through more progressive taxation, subsidized health care, subsidized housing, etc.

In the extremes, it's "everything is your fault" versus "nothing is your fault."

B.A. Bearacus said:

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BearDevil said:

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Scavino ran one of Trump's golf clubs. Trump wants his private pilot to run the FAA!?! Despite his promise to hire only the best people, Trump never had access to top tier talent, so he's had to turn to cronies and family. Most of them have already been fired or left. Scary who the next wave of Trump fkunkies will be.

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In many cases he is going for loyalty or the prospects thereof above all else, and by else I mean intelligence, experience, capability. Give someone an amazing job they didn't really earn? That's gonna be someone who will have reason to be awfully loyal to you!

Other nice-to-haves for Trump:
- They don't make him feel stupid for his lack of knowledge and capacity to learn.
- They don't make him feel like a crook for doing and having done things against the law to enrich himself.

So I guess Jared gets a crack now at fixing our prison system?

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Predictably Cohn bailed. Trump claims that people are clamoring to work for him and that he can choose any of the ten best people in any given field to work in the White House!?!

FuzzyWuzzy said:

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Personally, I like this theory: conservatives place emphasis on (and indeed may be obsessed by) the notion that personal responsibility is paramount.

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This sounds nice but doesn't feel representative of Trump or the dominant conservative movement. I don't think any serious person would say that Trump personally embodies this mythical conservative value of personal responsibility. To the extent Trump ever takes responsibility for anything it's in the form of taking credit for perceived wins, regardless of whether he was involved.

I don't think his base does either given that they seem so focused on protectionism, restoration of obsolete industries and trades, the opioids epidemic, etc. I consider rent seeking to be antithetical to personal responsibility and more than anything that's what the new conservative movement seems to be about. If conservatives cared more about personal responsibility they would ask the firearms industry to stop selling weapons instead of asking hollywood to stop making movies.

Finally, and I say this only because you brought it up, but christian conservatives demanding everyone else live according to their religious preferences is not a good example of personal responsibility.

I applaud anyone who takes personal responsibility but just paying lip service to the concept isn't enough and I think that it's just become a phrase that conservatives like to use as opposed to a governing value that drives their decision-making. Sometimes when it fits their agenda, they will rationalize it that way but in reality it's a dog whistle for abandoning everyone who isn't white and wealthy.

Traditional conservatives believe in personal responsibility and small government as doctrine...until it costs some money or makes them do something, or shorts the military budget. It's mostly hot air like a balance budget...pure BS policy line that is ignored, disregarded and crapped on regularly by the GOP.

The thing is, Trumpophiles have moved away from this traditional, fake personal responsibility ideas to fascism and authoritarianism in the name of destroying government, because it can't do anything right. It's a very odd and frankly r e t a r d e d argument...hate government because it can't do anything right, but put in its place fascism and authoritarian regimes.

This just in: Stormy Daniels files lawsuit against Trump

https://www.google.com/amp/www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-elephant-trophy-ban-trump-20180306-story,amp.html

This more than anything convinces me that tRump is like Hitler in the bunker fighting the feeling of knowing it is over and engaging in bat sh@t crazy, unhinged antics. IMPEACH tRUMP!

Another Bear said:

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This just in: Stormy Daniels files lawsuit against Trump

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Unit2, you mentioned that you worked on your fair share of NDAs. Think Stormy may have a case here?

B.A. Bearacus said:

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Another Bear said:

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This just in: Stormy Daniels files lawsuit against Trump

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Unit2, you mentioned that you worked on your fair share of NDAs. Think Stormy may have a case here?

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She can also sue him for defamation.

B.A. Bearacus said:

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Another Bear said:

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This just in: Stormy Daniels files lawsuit against Trump

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Unit2, you mentioned that you worked on your fair share of NDAs. Think Stormy may have a case here?

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I don't know the facts but sounds like Cohen is trying to enforce the NDA through confidential arbitration and she's challenging it in court declaring that it's not a valid agreement. Given that she presumably was paid, I don't know if her argument is going to work.

However, I suspect that the motivation here was to disclose facts publicly in connection with the litigation and it appears she was successful there.

Even if Trump wins he has already lost, to the extent a bankrupt narcissist whose followers hold him to no standards other than "hate Hillary" can ever really lose.

Thank you to the Off Topic legal eagles, Bearister and Unit2, for the free legal advice!

Neil Young is on that now.

FuzzyWuzzy said:

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blungld said:

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In my life this is broadly true of the people I've met: Liberals are interested in learning about things different than themselves, and look to be challenged by life's experiences. Conservatives are interested in those things that are different learning to be like themselves, and look to be comforted by life's experiences.

---

That might be true in your orbit, but it might be over broad for the world at large. I know lots of conservatives who enjoy the new, the different, and the personally challenging, so mileage varies here.

Personally, I like this theory: conservatives place emphasis on (and indeed may be obsessed by) the notion that personal responsibility is paramount. Almost any conservative policy position can be explained this way. Guns? I'll be responsible for my self, you be responsible for yourself, so keep your hands off my guns. Abortion? She wouldn't need an abortion if she exercised personal responsibility in her sex life. Taxes? Why should I pay for someone less industrious than me. Health care? If you work hard, you'll get a job that has health insurance. Truly, nothing drives a conservative more bonkers than the idea that someone who is personally irresponsible is getting a free ride from society. To the point where they are willing to look at the sick and the poor and say, Tough luck.

Liberals, on the other hand, are more apt to believe that society has a far greater influence on our lot in life than does the individual's personal responsibility. Sure, an exceptionally talented person born into less fortunate circumstance might occasionally have good things happen to him or her, but 99% of the time the deck is so stacked against that generally speaking almost no amount of personal responsibility will change anything. Societal intervention is necessary if they are to break free of the chains of their unfortunate circumstance. Meanwhile, a mediocre person born into exceptionally fortunate circumstances is probably going to be fine, no matter how personally irresponsible they might be. This is fundamentally unfair to a liberal, and the playing field must be leveled through more progressive taxation, subsidized health care, subsidized housing, etc.

In the extremes, it's "everything is your fault" versus "nothing is your fault."

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I agree. Conservatives consider personal responsibility to be paramount, which is why they staunchly support Donald Trump, who is the embodiment of personal responsibility.

Trump always admits when he is wrong. He never blames his shortcomings or mistakes on others.

And, most importantly, Trump never gets a free ride from society. And neither do most conservatives!

It's really a shame that "The Buck Stops Here" is a phrase associated with Truman. Because it should be associated with another president whose name starts with TRU -- Trump.

bearister said:

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Neil Young is on that now.

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They look good together.



But getting back on topic...

bearister said:

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B.A. Bearacus said:

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Another Bear said:

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This just in: Stormy Daniels files lawsuit against Trump

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Unit2, you mentioned that you worked on your fair share of NDAs. Think Stormy may have a case here?

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She can also sue him for defamation.

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For sure PETA favorite Michael Vick took more than a few hits to the head, but despite that he picked an awesome alias, Ron Mexico.

Apoarently pesky bone spurs harmed Trump's ability to think up decent aliases since he could only come up with John Barron, John Miller, and David Dennison. Ron Mexico kicks the crap out of all those.

Stormy got paid $130K and gets penalized $1M for breaching the NDA. That's chump change for Tom Steyer, who's running impeachment ads.

Part of the agreement covers texts and photos. Tiger didn't send any dick pics, but Favre and Weiner did. 50/50 that the stable genius used his tiny fingers to send a dick pic.

Ok so I read the NDA and must confess I'm quite out of touch with the state of the art of porn star hush agreements having never seen one before.

It does appear that Trump didn't sign but Cohen did. I'm not sure whether this means the agreement is void or whether it just means it's not enforceable by Trump. Cohen may have some ability to enforce but I would defer to a commercial litigator on whether and to what extent that is the case.

I would also add this - the definition of "confidential information" refers to "private information (i.e., information not generally available to and/or known to the general public)". I think a fallback position if the bush agreement is found enforceable would be that the information about their affair, and in particular everything in the 2011 interview she gave is generally available and therefore she could speak about it.

There are quite a few angles here so will be interesting to see where it goes. Even if Trump is dropped from the lawsuit (which I think is highly likely to occur), Cohen won't be able to squash it so easily so I expect this to continue as to him for quite some time.

The most amusing part of the Stormy Daniels tale (or tail?) to me is the fact tRump stiffed his own attorney that fronted the hush money. Being crooked is so deeply imbedded in tRump's trans fat laced DNA that he will even engage in conduct that is against his own best interest. The last person in the world a crook should piss of is his attorney, especially when he fronts bribe money for you.

"North Korea has been seeking a summit with an American president for more than twenty years. It has literally been a top foreign policy goal of Pyongyang since Kim Jong Il invited Bill Clinton. I wonder if Trump's "aides" have explained that to him. Or, if in their toddler-handling, they have led him to believe that this offer is something unusual. Or perhaps he imagines that only he can go Pyongyang... To be clear -- we need to talk to North Korea. But Kim is not inviting Trump so that he can surrender North Korea's weapons. Kim is inviting Trump to demonstrate that his investment in nuclear and missile capabilities has forced the United States to treat him as an equal."

-Jeffrey Lewis (@ArmsControlWonk)

Stormy Daniels records '60 Minutes' interview

Another Bear said:

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Stormy Daniels records '60 Minutes' interview

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I think she would be much more attractive if she was larger busted.

For the visually impaired:

I will say, though, that this is the first pic I've seen of Stormy since she entered our consciousness (well, maybe some of you guys have known her longer) where she hasn't shown her cleavage. I like this look and her lawyer seems like he can take care of business, so let's do this!

B.A. Bearacus said:

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"North Korea has been seeking a summit with an American president for more than twenty years. It has literally been a top foreign policy goal of Pyongyang since Kim Jong Il invited Bill Clinton. I wonder if Trump's "aides" have explained that to him. Or, if in their toddler-handling, they have led him to believe that this offer is something unusual. Or perhaps he imagines that only he can go Pyongyang... To be clear -- we need to talk to North Korea. But Kim is not inviting Trump so that he can surrender North Korea's weapons. Kim is inviting Trump to demonstrate that his investment in nuclear and missile capabilities has forced the United States to treat him as an equal."

-Jeffrey Lewis (@ArmsControlWonk)

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I think Putin, after he had the father-daughter team poisoned, told Kim Jong-un to publicly throw tRump a PR bone to distract from Mueller's investigation which is coming to a boiling point. Kim and Putin realize it is imperative to keep the moron behind the steering wheel.

bearister said:

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I think she would be much more attractive if she was larger busted.

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Trump's hands are so tiny, they probably do seem much larger to him. Also, the stock price of that button company has risen in after hours trading.

Hahaha...sent that to a friend. He asked if there would be "B roll" in the 60 mins piece.

Personally, I like this theory: Conservatives tend to be more interested in sexual deviancy and breaking the vows of marriage, while liberals partake in sexual deviancy and sexual immorality to a lesser extent.

B.A. Bearacus said:

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"North Korea has been seeking a summit with an American president for more than twenty years. It has literally been a top foreign policy goal of Pyongyang since Kim Jong Il invited Bill Clinton. I wonder if Trump's "aides" have explained that to him. Or, if in their toddler-handling, they have led him to believe that this offer is something unusual. Or perhaps he imagines that only he can go Pyongyang... To be clear -- we need to talk to North Korea. But Kim is not inviting Trump so that he can surrender North Korea's weapons. Kim is inviting Trump to demonstrate that his investment in nuclear and missile capabilities has forced the United States to treat him as an equal."

-Jeffrey Lewis (@ArmsControlWonk)

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+1, direct US talks with the Norks would be a PR coup for Kim. That is the way it should be explained to Trump; it is the language he understands. Cheeto, you are being played, and Rocket boy will be getting the better of the PR. Not winning.

That regime will never willingly give up their nukes through diplomacy or appeasement. We've been trying that for decades and it hasn't, and won't, work.

B.A. Bearacus said:

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For the visually impaired:

I will say, though, that this is the first pic I've seen of Stormy since she entered our consciousness (well, maybe some of you guys have known her longer) where she hasn't shown her cleavage. I like this look and her lawyer seems like he can take care of business, so let's do this!

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She is at the stage where showing cleavage would be a demonstration of a horrible lack of humility.

okaydo said:

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Personally, I like this theory: Conservatives tend to be more interested in sexual deviancy and breaking the vows of marriage, while liberals partake in sexual deviancy and sexual immorality to a lesser extent.

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If history has taught us anything it is that the more you publicly Bible thump and judge others, the more of a twisted freak you are behind closed doors.

What are the conservative talking points about the North Korea summit?

B.A. Bearacus said:

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For the visually impaired:

I will say, though, that this is the first pic I've seen of Stormy since she entered our consciousness (well, maybe some of you guys have known her longer) where she hasn't shown her cleavage. I like this look and her lawyer seems like he can take care of business, so let's do this!

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I think she's buttoning up the shirt to the same place she always has. It's just that at age 38, her cleavage might be descending.

#internationalwomensday

BearChemist said:

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What are the conservative talking points about the North Korea summit?

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If I were to guess:

"Finally, we have a President who is a man of action, who has some balls, and he is making things happen. He is the greatest deal maker of all time and he's going to negotiate circles around Rocket Boy."

In truth, "strategic patience" hasn't worked. After the USSR fell, so many dominoes seem to follow just by doing nothing. It kind of lulled us into thinking that doing nothing was the best strategy for NK.

BearChemist said:

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What are the conservative talking points about the North Korea summit?

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okaydo said:

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Personally, I like this theory: Conservatives tend to be more interested in sexual deviancy and breaking the vows of marriage, while liberals partake in sexual deviancy and sexual immorality to a lesser extent.

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Depends what you mean by deviancy. Certainly, there have been way more conservative homophobes that turned out to be closeted gays. I sometimes wonder how some of them are doing now.

Kim saw what happened to Muammar Gaddafi when he played ball. Taint gonna let that happen to himself...and we all know what taint is, don't we?

This is just half joking: Since there is no way Trump can retract Obama's Nobel Prize, he is aiming for one himself.

Also since the DMZ was established DJT is the only US president not visiting there. His scheduled surprised trip there last year was cancelled due to weather. This time he may make the DMZ visit a reality show.