Comments by "MarcosElMalo2" (@MarcosElMalo2) on "The Bulwark" channel.

  1. Does Bill Barr believe those things he says about liberals and moderates? Does he sincerely fear that non-white, non-Christians occupying the political space to the left of right wing extremism are trying to oppress us? Is he conscious of how much he is projecting his own agenda onto his invented enemy? He can’t be that ignorant and brainwashed, can he? Surely he’s just a cynical grifter helping to perpetuate a crime? His position is insane, even for a conservative. That’s not hyperbole. Whether he’s aware of what he does or not, the bottom line is that Bill Barr has lost his mind.
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  2. JD Vance was supposed to be assassination insurance back when Trump looked like he was winning.
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  3.  @debc2237  Maybe it killed the worm?
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  4.  @fastenit27  Classic Sealion.
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  5. I’d like to see some evidence of your claim.
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  6. Who Trarted?
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  7. Trump should have nominated Desantis, who was already well known as an awkward weird jerk.
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  8. The Republican Senators did something brilliant. They insisted on tying a border plan to Ukraine aid and they stuck to their guns. Biden and the Democrat senators blinked. This gave the GOP the leverage to squeeze every demand they wanted out of the Dems. The Republican minority frikkin won a major victory, getting the deal they wanted. I don’t know how involved McConnel was with creating this strategy, but it’s certainly his cutthroat style. It was a brilliant strategy. And the GOP walked away because it would mean they’d lose a campaign issue. It defies logic.
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  9. If this is a real concern of yours, start with a google search.
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  10. Free speech for me, not for thee.
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  11. I don’t think Biden was so cognitively impaired that he can’t be President, I think he was cognitively challenged by being president AND running for re-election. Both are very challenging jobs and he wasn’t up to doing both.
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  12.  @sharonsmith1360  Are you a member of Putin-simps Anonymous? Are you a friend of Paul M.? The first step to recovery is admitting you are the problem.
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  13.  @catbb1000  It’s funny how the bankers don’t trust the valuations Trump wrote on the bond application.
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  14. That wasn’t a dog whistle. That was a dog foghorn. It’s a reminder to always precede “Christian Nationalism” with the word “white”.
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  15. If that’s what the Dems want, then the ball is in their court to negotiate with moderate Republican Congresspeople. Are the Dems willing to make compromises to their liberal agenda? Can they offer assurances that they won’t stab them in the back in 2024? To make Jeffries the speaker, you’d basically have to form a coalition with the “moderate conservative” faction. Are you willing to do that? Can you do that without splitting your own party?
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  16. If they don’t grant cert, there’s nothing to send back or remand. The appellate panel’s decision stands.
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  17.  @llkellenba  lol, but my question is serious. What if there’s a brokered convention? Who gets nominated? Does Nikki Haley have an edge if DT is out of the running (for whatever reason)?
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  18. I want to see an MTV “Where are they now?” about Paul Ryan.
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  19. What’s that on Mexican TikTok? Casa de jaip?
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  20. No Christian is a hypocrite who believes that Christ has redeemed his or her soul by Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. If a Christian holds that faith, there is no limit on their behavior that excludes them from being a Christian. A Christian can be a bad person, but that has no impact on whether they are Christian or not. It is theologically safe for a Christian to ignore the ministry of Jesus, or to pick and choose what parts of Jesus’ teachings to venerate and follow. This is why I distinguish between followers of Christ and followers of Jesus. One can certainly be both, but one can also choose one over the other.
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  21. Bill is an OG conservative intellectual from back when the GOP was the party of ideas, not the party of whining. Shapiro and other conservatives “intellectuals” are indeed pseudo intellectuals and sophists at best. They don’t hold a candle to William Kristol.
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  22. It is NOT conservative.
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  23. Sadly for the firm, billable hours are not always equal to paid hours.
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  24. In some ways he’s worse. He’s worse because Trump is a lazy delegator whereas Desantis follows through on his cruelties, no matter how insane or repugnant. I know, I know, Trump will be forever tagged with “Children in cages, children separated from their families”, but a lot of that was Trump not being in control of his underlings. In many other ways, Immigration was a continuation of Obama’s policies. Let’s be clear, the Trump Administration enacted a lot of policies that we conservatives should be happy about. But we are right to have misgivings about how they were enacted or whether they were worth the cost. We also must keep in mind that there were adults in the administration that managed to keep a leash on Trump. If Trump were to get a second term, I think he’d be much more unfettered. There would be fewer adults in the room. (Can you imagine Flynn as SecDef? It makes me nauseous to think about it.) Trump slid into a Christian Nationalist movement that now worships him. He views them as victims for his grift as much as he thinks of them as the base of his power, if not more. DeSantis is building his fiefdom of Christian Nationalism in Florida. I wouldn’t call him more competent than Trump. I’d call him more energetic and hungrier for political power. He’s building his base and his bonafides as the leader of the Culture Warriors with his quasi-fascist actions that draw comparisons with 1930s Germany. (Fortunately, his reach seems to be exceeding his grasp for now. His war on Disney is seen as failing, incompetent, and petty. The “Constitutional Carry” bill he just signed is a very bad look in the midst of a gun violence crisis and makes his “don’t say gay” policies look as ridiculous as they are.) With all that said, it doesn’t matter who is leading the MAGA movement. It’s an anti-democratic, anti-American cancer that has metastasized throughout conservatism, and it must be excised. Conservatives (myself included) absolutely must figure this out. Chirping at Democrats that fumble the politics is small potatoes. Speaking out against MAGA and holding our noses to vote Democrat is not enough. We must contribute financially, we must get outside and canvas, and we must organize whatever base we have left. We have to get out the vote, whether those votes are from Democrats, Republicans, or Independents.
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  25.  @direwolf6234  You sound like a hyper-partisan more interested in demonizing than in debate. Such hyper-partisanship is not making a positive contribution.
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  26.  @TerreGates-h2j I didn’t claim you were saying anything, I was asking you for clarification.
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  27. I’ve been a Weigel fan since the mid 2000s, but it feels longer than that. It’s great to hear from him and I hope he becomes a Bulwark regular.
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  28. First of all, academic credentials only go so far, even if you’re not an anti-intellectual. Someone in the role of a political scientist (or any academic, really) makes an argument and supports it with data. When you begin offering an opinion that goes beyond your argument, you’re becoming something else. When you host a talk show, you become something else again. An argument or opinion in 2015/16 that Trump was a criminal authoritarian would not be supported by strong evidence. There were hints, but nothing conclusive (although clearly there was strong evidence he was a racist and misogynist, imho). To someone on the right in 2016, Maddow was a partisan, to say the least. That’s the truth since she began her career in 2004 on Air America. She supported Democrats and railed against Republicans. She was the left wing equivalent of Hannity. It’s not that the right has done an excellent job of casting her as a partisan ideologue, she did that herself. And that’s OK, because the right was never her target audience. And once she had that reputation, it was always going to be an uphill battle to get a fair hearing from the right. It works the other way. Do you know who Sheppard Smith is? He is an excellent journalist that the left never forgave because he worked for Fox News for 23 years. Anyway, wrt to Maddow, I don’t think she’s a left wing firebrand. I think she’s a pretty middle-of-the-road liberal. She’s certainly smarter than Sean Hannity, but she’s also been wrong (Steele Dossier comes to mind). And she seems to be doing fine, so I’m not clear why you feel the need to defend her.
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  29. This preserves the recess appointments for other questionable nominees. Matt Gates was such an egregiously bad pick that the Senate might have not gone into recess just to keep him out.
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  30. 🌙 🦇 My mistake, 🇷🇺 🤖.
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  31. I have to admit, the KGB had a genius strategy. I always figured the KGB would infiltrate and compromise the Democrats and the left. Did anyone see this coming in the 90s?
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  32. The legal difference is that the 20 year old won’t be qualified to be on any ballot until he reaches the age of 35. Someone disqualified under section 3 of the 14th amendment can have the disqualification reversed by an act of Congress. And that’s part of the problem with this case. A party has the right to nominate whoever the heck they want. In fact, the nomination doesn’t happen until the convention. When we vote in a primary, we are actually voting for delegates to the convention. The case was filed and decided (in Colorado) too soon. I’m not sure when it could or should be filed, either after a candidate is nominate by his party or after he’s elected but before he takes office. And here’s the thing to remember: if Trump were elected, and THEN disqualified by the 14th Amendment, section 3, his Vice President would assume the presidency. At least I think that’s how it works, but I could be wrong. Anyway, the case in Colorado was filed and decided too soon. They might have had better luck if the Colorado decision had come AFTER the primary.
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  33. Let’s see the data unpacked. Bruni might be wrong, but if you want to explain Republicans’ opposition to abortion, saying “White Supremacy” isn’t going to cut it. It exists. It’s a major force in the GOP and the MAGA right. It’s been a major force in the structuring of power in our society. I know all this. But if you’re going to stand up in a classroom and make that sort of claim, bring receipts. I also think part of the problem is when we use words as catch all phrases and then try to force whatever thing into the catch all at the expense of describing it accurately. Words lose their meaning.
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  34. A-holes are a standard part of politics. Conservative a-holes and liberal a-holes are nothing new. But the a-holes would get things done, for better or worse. The “performative politics” was setting the stage for the actual work of working out solutions. Now the performance is the point, a thing unto itself. It’s not setting up the board for a chess game, it’s the clown show to raise money and get re-elected. It’s not completely unique to the GOP, but I don’t know if there’s ever been a time before in American politics when the clowns have been in complete control of a political party.
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  35. Exciting news! Now let’s get Bush and Romney on board!
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  36. You know what it says in the Bible. “It’s better to rule in the House of Representatives than serve in Heaven.”
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  37.  @elainedaprano9130  Si you’re saying the threat to Johnson backfired?
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  38. I’m with you. The term RINO is a weapon used to purge those of doubtful loyalty to the party, just like in any fascist or communist movement. Anyone with the brains to question the party or with the moral center to question the party were eventually purged or forced out. All that is left of the GOP are craven or cowardly cretins. I left the GOP out of disgust over Abu Graib, the Torture Memos, and the debate over “enhanced interrogation”. But the strongest source of my disgust came from discussing “enhanced interrogation” with my fellow Republicans. These were people that I knew, and they were more than fine with techniques such as water boarding. Some thought water boarding didn’t go far enough. They didn’t really care about the interrogation. They just wanted to inflict pain on Muslims and Arabs. And no one was pushing back against these opinions as being morally wrong. I was told that I “sounded like a liberal”. My objections to torture were seen as being disloyal. I don’t think I was actually called a RINO, although I think the word “squish” was used. I think if one or two people had stepped up with me, I might not have left the GOP. But I was the only one in our group that spoke up against the openly pro-torture crowd.
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  39.  @PureBleachFilms  Loving God and Loving your neighbor is a commandment of Jesus. Christians don’t worship Jesus or they’d be called Jesusians. The defining article of faith, the center of Christian worship is the crucifixion and resurrection. If you do not believe that Christ died for your sins on the cross and was resurrected, you don’t get to call yourself a Christian. Embrace and encourage those Christians that follow the teachings of Jesus. But have a clear understanding of the bare minimum requirements to be a Christian.
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  40. That’s how you go out on a limb.
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  41. MST3K, with or without drinking. Do it like a reaction video! 😂
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  42. I’m on the fence. If the SC grants immunity, then yes, that should be a part of SC reforms.
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  43. SOC delivers decision granting the president total immunity the day after Trump is elected. Hours after Trump is inaugurated, he is assassinated by VP Noem. Chief Justice Roberts is forced at gunpoint to swear her in as the new president. Her first act is to pardon herself. Her second act is to declare martial law. 😂 OK, I’ve got a better one, but not as scary. Two days after his 2029 inauguration, President Hakim Jeffries meets with his best friend Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to discuss their respective agendas and how they will hammer out the necessary compromises. MAGA and the pro-Hamas left weep inconsolably. 🎉😂
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  44. RT is going to make a very tempting offer to Tucker. They might even make him an oligarch.
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  45. I’m disappointed that he’s dropping out. He was the only Republican running for the nomination that was telling the truth. He might not have had a path to victory, but he’s giving up the best platform he could have to tell us all that the emperor has no clothes. He wasn’t going to win, but his message was reaching Republicans and slowly eroding support for Trump. Perhaps he can continue in his role as a gadfly, but he’s diminished his role.
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  46. Somebody ask Tom if it’s true that Tom Clancy based the Jack Reacher character on him. 😂
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  47. Christians don’t worship Jesus. They worship Christ.
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  48. I dunno if that’s sarcastic. Many people find stacks of large denomination bills to be adorable. I don’t think the Trump team is dumb enough to try and bribe the P.O. But who knows. They’re pretty dumb. What Trump needs is a positive report/recommendation. And he could get that by showing contrition and taking responsibility. Then he’d need to do the same with Marchan’s court. Odds of Trump showing contrition are the same as the survival odds of a toilet paper moth in a bonfire.
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  49. The majority of the violence in the Black Lives Matter protests was police brutality against peaceful protestors. There really is no comparison, no factual basis for whataboutism.
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  50. I think a good compromise with the anti-choice people would be a 36-week abortion ban.
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