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[Cow Poke]

But doesn't "it's" actually count as two words?

It depends on what the meaning of the uncontractuated word "is" in "it is" is.

[Cow Poke]

Or the Cowboys actually beat the Falcons in spite of the score being 9-10 Falcons, because the Cowboys not only had more yards but actually scored three times whereas the Falcons only scored twice!

Endless analogies showing how bird-brained stupid it is to cry about the Electoral College when even the dumbest politicians know (or should know) that it's the EC Votes that count.

[rogue06]

It depends on what the meaning of the uncontractuated word "is" in "it is" is.

Thank you Bill.

[Sam]

Well, actually, they're divided by a comma.

Ah, but not by a semicolon; qualifications aren't separations.

But doesn't "it's" actually count as two words?

Contractions are single words; it's in the Constitution.

-Sam

[rogue06]

Endless analogies showing how bird-brained stupid it is to cry about the Electoral College when even the dumbest politicians know (or should know) that it's the EC Votes that count.

One would think that the left has figured this out after 2016, but apparently the crowd that can no longer identify what a woman is and insists that biological males can get pregnant and give birth, has just gotten stupider across the board.

[Cow Poke]

Ah, but not by a semicolon; qualifications aren't separations.

Yup - separations...

While a period ends a sentence, a comma indicates a smaller break. Some writers think of a comma as a soft pause—a punctuation mark that separates words, clauses, or ideas within a sentence.

[Sparko]

Ah, but not by a semicolon; qualifications aren't separations.



Contractions are single words; it's in the Constitution.

-Sam

Durn you Constitution!!!!

[rogue06]

The Constitution also refers to making something "more perfect," so there is that.

[JimL]

Endless analogies showing how bird-brained stupid it is to cry about the Electoral College when even the dumbest politicians know (or should know) that it's the EC Votes that count.

Oh, but I'm not whining, I'm just pointing out that Republicans need depend on the unfairness of the system, outrageous gerrymandering and whatever voter suppression tactics they can come up with just in order to stay in the running. We would never have ended up with a narcissistic, treasonous wannabe dictator as presedent who would later attempt to overthrow the government and the will of the people. And we wouldn't have more representation in Congress representing the minority than we have representing the majority.

[rogue06]

Oh, but I'm not whining, I'm just pointing out that Republicans need depend on the unfairness of the system, outrageous gerrymandering and whatever voter suppression tactics they can come up with just in order to stay in the running. We would never have ended up with a narcissistic, treasonous wannabe dictator as presedent who would later attempt to overthrow the government and the will of the people. And we wouldn't have more representation in Congress representing the minority than we have representing the majority.

They "rely" on the same rules that have been in place for over 200 years. Rules that everyone knows (or at least should know).

It only becomes unfair when a Democrat loses. But then again, there has not been a presidential election in this century where the Democrats lost and that they don't still maintain was rigged in some manner.

[carpedm9587]

His approval rating, polls on the economy, polls on his foreign policy, etc. As far the economy, Ukraine war, and the Israel war, it will only get worse for him because those situations will get worse. The only possible way I can see him getting bailed out in regard to the mid east conflict is if there's a terror attack here in the states and they can connect it to that situation. But even in that situation, Not only will he get blamed for the border, but I still doubt the left will forgive him for his stance on Israel; in fact, they might even blame him for it.

This is a reasoned response, and I thank you for it. I continue to think we are way too early to start calling the fall election, but I will note a few things. First, the latest numbers seem to show Trump and Biden almost equally disliked. Trump may have an edge here because Biden lacks Trump's somewhat fanatic "base." Unlike Trump, Biden CAN do things that will lose him the support of his base. As far as I can tell, Trump cannot.

I think it is perhaps a little early to suggest that the Israeli conflict, Ukraine, and the economy will all get relentlessly worse. The economy, frankly, is actually doing quite well. People don't see it that way because a) prices are still high and b) the message coming from Republicans and most people on the right is relentlessly "economy bad." Of course, one way to increase the probability of an economy getting bad is to relentlessly scare people that the economy is going to get bad. And the latest message from so many on the right, that prices cannot just stabilize, they have to go DOWN, just flat out ignores the reality of economies. If prices start to go down, the risk of a spiraling recession and deflation goes through the roof, as any student of Economics 101 will tell you. As for the two wars, a lot can happen in six months. But it is not Biden that is standing in the way of funding Ukraine. I do agree that his exclusive focus on Israel with little real thought to Palestine has hurt him, and I do not agree with his position.

As for the border, I might have agreed with you a few weeks ago, but the Republicans in Congress handed Biden a gift when they obeyed their cult leader and shot down the bipartisan immigration bill. Biden now has seemingly endless video and audio of frustrated Republicans decrying that choice by their own colleagues.

Which gets me to what I think is Biden's true weakness: messaging. They just cannot seem to get their act together to get the message out. Trump, on the other hand, is a master of messaging. He is an savant of marketing. Biden needs someone on his team with similar chops.

[carpedm9587]

So good to see you!

Likewise. I was in your neck of the woods, I think. Tree and I are now full-time RVers, and I have spent a chunk of time in Texas (Sargent, San Antonio, Comstock, Fort Davis, Canyon, and Lone Oak). I am now outside Vicksburg and heading for Florida.

Hope you are well.

[seanD]

This is a reasoned response, and I thank you for it. I continue to think we are way too early to start calling the fall election, but I will note a few things. First, the latest numbers seem to show Trump and Biden almost equally disliked. Trump may have an edge here because Biden lacks Trump's somewhat fanatic "base." Unlike Trump, Biden CAN do things that will lose him the support of his base. As far as I can tell, Trump cannot.

I think it is perhaps a little early to suggest that the Israeli conflict, Ukraine, and the economy will all get relentlessly worse. The economy, frankly, is actually doing quite well. People don't see it that way because a) prices are still high and b) the message coming from Republicans and most people on the right is relentlessly "economy bad." Of course, one way to increase the probability of an economy getting bad is to relentlessly scare people that the economy is going to get bad. And the latest message from so many on the right, that prices cannot just stabilize, they have to go DOWN, just flat out ignores the reality of economies. If prices start to go down, the risk of a spiraling recession and deflation goes through the roof, as any student of Economics 101 will tell you. As for the two wars, a lot can happen in six months. But it is not Biden that is standing in the way of funding Ukraine. I do agree that his exclusive focus on Israel with little real thought to Palestine has hurt him, and I do not agree with his position.

As for the border, I might have agreed with you a few weeks ago, but the Republicans in Congress handed Biden a gift when they obeyed their cult leader and shot down the bipartisan immigration bill. Biden now has seemingly endless video and audio of frustrated Republicans decrying that choice by their own colleagues.

Which gets me to what I think is Biden's true weakness: messaging. They just cannot seem to get their act together to get the message out. Trump, on the other hand, is a master of messaging. He is an savant of marketing. Biden needs someone on his team with similar chops.

CPI is well above 2%, which is the Fed's target rate that they claim is necessary for a stable economy. Whether or not that's true, that's what they claim, which is contrary to what you're claiming and calling "Economics 101." We've had that number below 2% for many months in a row before, even in the negative, and the economy did fine, another fact that blows up your "Economics 101" theory. The typical leftist canard that Reps are brainwashing Americans into believing that the economy's not doing well is the typical gaslighting of the left that is absurd, and unfortunately for you and Biden, folks apparently aren't buying it (and probably feel pretty insulted every time the Biden admin uses that absurd canard). Everything else you said is equally erroneous. As far as Ukraine, Americans know that finding for Ukraine as exceeded 100+ billion in the last two years the war began (funds that could have instead been used to help Americans), and it's been a failure so far. I'm confident Americans aren't dumb enough to believe that more funding significantly less than that will somehow effect the outcome of the war, but we'll see.

[JimL]

They "rely" on the same rules that have been in place for over 200 years. Rules that everyone knows (or at least should know).

It only becomes unfair when a Democrat loses. But then again, there has not been a presidential election in this century where the Democrats lost and that they don't still maintain was rigged in some manner.

No they don't rely on the same rules that were inplace 200 years ago. Two hundred years ago there were not even political parties and the electors, who though appointed by the states were free to vote independently and so the votes were actually allocated according to the the actual electoral vote tally in each state. Only Maine and Nebraska continue to divy up the electoral college votes, but even in their case the the percentage of the elector votes that each Candidate receives is dependent on the split of the popular vote. Two hundred years ago the electors were independent of parties and free to vote their own conscience. Not at all like the electoral college of today.

[rogue06]

No they don't rely on the same rules that were inplace 200 years ago. Two hundred years ago there were not even political parties and the electors, who though appointed by the states were free to vote independently and so the votes were actually allocated according to the the actual electoral vote tally in each state. Only Maine and Nebraska continue to divy up the electoral college votes, but even in their case the the percentage of the elector votes that each Candidate receives is dependent on the split of the popular vote. Two hundred years ago the electors were independent of parties and free to vote their own conscience. Not at all like the electoral college of today.

Um, actually back then supporters of Washington and Adams called themselves Federalists (they supported a strong central government), while the opposition (which favored a weaker central government and the rights of states), and which was led by Thomas Jefferson, had several names including anti-Federalists as well as Democratic Republicans.

Those were the first parties and they were there from the onset.