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OOTB's Political Thread . ..

I saw some clips on Kimmel of Bill Clinton in Columbus, GA. I found a local news video of the whole speech. That dude has gotten OLD! He is looking like Jimmy Carter! His left hand has a noticeable tremor/shake. I think this is his last roundup!

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That was great.

He's had that tremor for years. Not good but not an indication of sudden decline.

I wish he'd been a better president (did too little and was too "Republican" for my tastes), but he's still one the smartest and most likeable presidents in my lifetime.

OOTB's Political Thread . ..

For the last four years, a network of right-wing activists and Trump allies, like Clements, has crisscrossed the country and held thousands of organizing meetings in order to create an army of tens of thousands of community activists to collect proof of alleged fraud for lawsuits or to pressure local election officials to not certify the election. In many places, their efforts have already begun with lawsuits and a flood of information requests.

The training for local activists − held at churches, libraries and civic organizations − largely relies on baseless claims and conspiracy theories that have been debunked in the courts, by fact checkers and independent experts, or by nonpartisan audits.

OOTB's Political Thread . ..

Do you know your electors really well? You trust their judgment and competence?
To answer your direct questions, I have actually known a couple of the electors over the years, but that didn't matter one way or the other. MD's system has them pledging to candidates initially and, once the election is held, they must, by law, cast their vote to whomever receives a plurality of the votes regardless of their support for any given pres/vp candidate. Here, that means the D candidates get 10 electoral college votes. Thus, it is irrelevant whether I trusted any given elector's judgment and competence. Each state is different and able to set up their own system for their electors.

But your questions focus on a different set of issues.

OOTB's Political Thread . ..

"Popularity" one way or the other doesn't equate to something being a good or bad idea. Perhaps something like the EC should be considered in other situations. Any entrenched power structure isn't about to let their skin in the game get changed (surely there are better ways to assess and collect taxes, but don't kid yourself for a second to think the IRS is getting modified).

It's anecdotal, but MD is a good example. You win the populace of five counties around DC/Balto and Balto City, well, the race for governor is over. They "rule" the entirety of the state. The other 18 counties literally do not matter. As a result, since 1959, the R gov's have been Spiro Agnew for 2 years before becoming VP, Bob Ehrlich for 4 years, and Larry Hogan for 8. That's 14 years R versus 50 years of D's. It's only happened when the D's ran the worst candidate imaginable and even with Hogan, he got re-elected because he was smart enough to be anti-orange in an area that's deeply blue. The central area of MD is far, far different from the western portion and the eastern shore/southern MD areas. If there wasn't a geographic blob stuck in the middle, I feel certain that those unrepresented areas would have tried to form a new state eons ago.

But like I said before, all good.
Do you know your electors really well? You trust their judgment and competence?

OOTB's Political Thread . ..

Like I argued with bluetoe... in NO OTHER election process is it needed or used or even considered. Governors, mayors, sheriffs, any executive office. Republicans still manage to win those elections despite the "unfairness of urban voting populations" or tyranny of the majority. They'll have to adapt and reform their presidential platform, that's all.

And, eventually, they will find away around it.
"Popularity" one way or the other doesn't equate to something being a good or bad idea. Perhaps something like the EC should be considered in other situations. Any entrenched power structure isn't about to let their skin in the game get changed (surely there are better ways to assess and collect taxes, but don't kid yourself for a second to think the IRS is getting modified).

It's anecdotal, but MD is a good example. You win the populace of five counties around DC/Balto and Balto City, well, the race for governor is over. They "rule" the entirety of the state. The other 18 counties literally do not matter. As a result, since 1959, the R gov's have been Spiro Agnew for 2 years before becoming VP, Bob Ehrlich for 4 years, and Larry Hogan for 8. That's 14 years R versus 50 years of D's. It's only happened when the D's ran the worst candidate imaginable and even with Hogan, he got re-elected because he was smart enough to be anti-orange in an area that's deeply blue. The central area of MD is far, far different from the western portion and the eastern shore/southern MD areas. If there wasn't a geographic blob stuck in the middle, I feel certain that those unrepresented areas would have tried to form a new state eons ago.

But like I said before, all good.

Bennett retires at UVA

Weeks before the season without an interim in place tells me it’s not a stance on what bball has become. If so that would be a shyt way to treat the current team. He doesn’t seem like that kind of guy. I would think something serious in his personal life.
It's his life and choice... but, the timing is really strange. I can understand that he may dislike the way the kids have newer opportunities and options that don't align with his style of building teams. I understand why all of the older coaches left. Bennett is much younger than them, but still very old school. If he's just up and leaving on impulse, without having some kind of backup in place, that's definitely going to hurt the school and players.
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