2016 elections - because it's never too early

[Valmy]

That seems too insane to be true.

[derspiess]

Yes, let's blame the patriotic whistleblowers, not the corrupt Clinton Machine that did actual wrong

[CountDeMoney]

Lol, save it, Rush.

Never expected the FBI, of all agencies, to actually swallow previously-discredited Breitbart conspiracy crap as "evidence."  Usually the only material the ever trust is what they generate themselves.

J. Edgar Hoover just came in his feather boa.

[The Minsky Moment]

He is essentially the Scourge of God on the American establishment

But of course he isn't - that is part of what is so tragic about this.  He is no neo-Bolshevik out to purge the Tsarist courtiers -he is in fact one of the least likely people to reform the system.  This is a man who made his entire career trading in on political favors and manipulating the system.  A man who up to the very end of a Presidential campaign spends as much time and effort shamelessly promoting his business ventures as he does actually campaigning.  The idea that is a going to suddenly transform into a tribune of honest government and "scourge" DC of corruption goes against the overwhelming evidence of experience.  He may have humbled the "political class" but only as a prelude to bending them to his will and subjecting to them to his interests.  This is just another deal to him, albeit a big one with huge potential rewards in terms of opportunities for self-promotion and influence.

In Trump's mind, it's not corruption if he does it.  It's just "smart"  A Trump administration would be a sewer of corruption not seen since Harding. 

[derspiess]

Lol, save it, Rush.

Never expected the FBI, of all agencies, to actually swallow previously-discredited Breitbart conspiracy crap as "evidence."  Usually the only material the ever trust is what they generate themselves.

J. Edgar Hoover just came in his feather boa.

My honest guess is that there is an internal struggle between two factions.  But I have nothing to go on.  Absolutely nothing.

[The Minsky Moment]

A lot of the leaky faucets in the FBI dripping into the Trump campaign are apparently in the New York field office

No question that FBI guys tend to lean GOP whereas I strongly suspect DOJ guys lean Democrat but that is just part of this.  The bigger issue is more like this

The FBI may be pencilnecked stuffed shirts full of themselves but they're still cops

Right.  There is a division of labor - Law & Order style and thus a division of interest.  Agents are there to investigate and to make a case, but the lawyers in the USA offices or Main Justice make the call on what to prosecute.  And that can be galling because you don't build a career investigating cases that don't get prosecuted.  It's not pleasant to work on an incredibly high-profile and potentially career-defining case ("I was lead on that") only for the shysters to pull the plug on the case.  Not to mention that there is a just a natural tendency on these big investigative teams where the emphasis is entirely on unearthing evidence of guilt (and explaining away exculpatory evidence) to become true believers and fall into prosecutorial groupthink.

That dynamic happens all the time, but in addition to that was added: (1) the extreme levels of political discord associated with this campaign, and (2) the Director's willingness to play fast and loose with the rules in his own communications, thus weakening his ability to keep his troops in line. 

[CountDeMoney]

But I have nothing to go on.  Absolutely nothing.

Then let's hurry up and get rid of media and the press already, so that way we can say that about everything

[derspiess]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/i-dont-vote-with-my-vagina-why-susan-sarandon-is-not-backing-hil1/

[Malthus]

He is essentially the Scourge of God on the American establishment

But of course he isn't - that is part of what is so tragic about this.  He is no neo-Bolshevik out to purge the Tsarist courtiers -he is in fact one of the least likely people to reform the system.  This is a man who made his entire career trading in on political favors and manipulating the system.  A man who up to the very end of a Presidential campaign spends as much time and effort shamelessly promoting his business ventures as he does actually campaigning.  The idea that is a going to suddenly transform into a tribune of honest government and "scourge" DC of corruption goes against the overwhelming evidence of experience.  He may have humbled the "political class" but only as a prelude to bending them to his will and subjecting to them to his interests.  This is just another deal to him, albeit a big one with huge potential rewards in terms of opportunities for self-promotion and influence.

In Trump's mind, it's not corruption if he does it.  It's just "smart"  A Trump administration would be a sewer of corruption not seen since Harding.

Heh, this election reminds me more than anything of the ending to Robert Grave's Claudius the God.

In that book, Graves was attempting to provide a sympathetic portrayal of the Emperor Claudius. He was faced with having to explain why his sympathetic character married his niece and promoted her horrible son, the future Emperor Nero, over his own son Brittanicus.

The author's explanation? That Claudius was so horrified and scarred by the degeneracy and corruption of the system, he deliberately wanted to bring it crashing down by having Nero Emperor first, Then, once rock-bottom had been reached, he'd arrange for Brittanicus to emerge from hiding as the savior of Rome. "Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out!".

The "hope" raised by Trump isn't that he will somehow "reform" the system, it is that the system is so degenerate, so corrupt, that only bringing it down completely will reform it; that Trump will screw things up so completely, that it will crash, and can then be reset - and when it does, the 'true Americans' will emerge in their rightful place, on top, with America purged of the various parasites and anti-American minorities that encumber it. It's the same sort of "hope" that animates survivalist gun nuts. 

[The Minsky Moment]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/i-dont-vote-with-my-vagina-why-susan-sarandon-is-not-backing-hil1/

See people get down on derspiess but then he keeps posting more reasons to vote Hillary. 

[Jacob]

I'm pretty sure most Americans do not vote with Susan Sarandon's vagina. Even derspiess.

[OttoVonBismarck]

Sarandon supporting Hillary would actually be bad, she has a long history of backing losers like Kucinich, Sanders, Nader etc.

[Legbiter]

Watching Fox the big news is that Clinton is under criminal FBI investigation while Trump is forging ahead to a sizable election victory next week.

Then turn on CNN where the Russians are stealing DNC emails to influence the election, rants about the Director of the FBI for announcing stuff he shouldn't announce and on CNN, Clinton has a solid lead in the electoral college and she is likely to be the next US president.

The comedy is that right now you can pick and choose which reality you want to live in. 

[Malthus]

I'm pretty sure most Americans do not vote with Susan Sarandon's vagina. Even derspiess.

For one, it is hard to work a voting machine with one. Particularly if she keeps trying to escape.

[CountDeMoney]

See people get down on derspiess but then he keeps posting more reasons to vote Hillary.

That woman's always been a squirrel.  But I'll wait for derspiess' big announcement about Joan Baez.