Wideleft

For sure - the polling trends show that the second Comey investigation is what did her in, but there were a lot of people who didn't like her and were just looking for a reason to not vote for her. This despite being literally the most qualified person to ever run for the office. Personality does matter in elections, and she refused to show any of hers. She's actually quite likeable and clever when she just shows her true self.

While I will not deny that Clinton ran a terrible campaign, history will look back with horror on Trump's campaign. The warning signs were all there.

Enough people stayed home because of the reasons you mentioned, apparently. No argument that there weren't nefarious characters and groups fueling anti-Hillary sentiment, but there are a lot of voters who aren't sophisticated enough to even understand the basic ideologies of the parties they're voting for. Making a protest vote to elect Trump is as stupid as staying home because the candidate of your preferred party didn't pass your purity test - you end up with the same orange result.

Trump didn't only win on anti-Hilary sentiment, but his margin of victory was so small it could be argued that there was enough anti-Hilary sentiment to give him the electoral college. Don't ignore the Democrats who opted out of voting altogether due to Clinton dislike.

And we're not talking about his weight in this case.

https://sites.uci.edu/zlabe/arctic-sea-ice-volumethickness/

Untangling Gun Violence from Mental Illness "The news often portrays people with psychiatric disorders as a danger to others, when suicide is the much greater risk." "Unfortunately, a consistent and dangerous narrative has emerged—an explanation all-too-readily at hand when a mass shooting or other violent tragedy occurs: The perpetrator must have been mentally ill." “We have a strong responsibility as researchers who study mental illness to try to debunk that myth,” says Jeffrey Swanson, a professor of psychiatry at Duke University. “I say as loudly and as strongly and as frequently as I can, that mental illness is not a very big part of the problem of gun violence in the United States.” The overwhelming majority of people with mental illnesses are not violent, just like the overwhelming majority of all people are not violent. Only 4 percent of the violence—not just gun violence, but any kind—in the United States is attributable to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression (the three most-cited mental illnesses in conjunction with violence). In other words, 96 percent of the violence in America has nothing to do with mental illness." https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/06/untangling-gun-violence-from-mental-illness/485906/

I get what you're saying, but the current paranoid rhetoric of the NRA and its supporters is a much more recent thing. The "right" of an individual to own a hand gun wasn't even enshrined until 2008. (Excerpts from) "So You Think You Know the Second Amendment?" By Jeffrey Toobin December 17, 2012 "Enter the modern National Rifle Association. Before the nineteen-seventies, the N.R.A. had been devoted mostly to non-political issues, like gun safety. But a coup d’état at the group’s annual convention in 1977 brought a group of committed political conservatives to power—as part of the leading edge of the new, more rightward-leaning Republican Party." "The re-interpretation of the Second Amendment was an elaborate and brilliantly executed political operation, inside and outside of government. Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980 brought a gun-rights enthusiast to the White House. At the same time, Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican, became chairman of an important subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and he commissioned a report that claimed to find “clear—and long lost—proof that the second amendment to our Constitution was intended as an individual right of the American citizen to keep and carry arms in a peaceful manner, for protection of himself, his family, and his freedoms." "And so, eventually, this theory became the law of the land. In District of Columbia v. Heller, decided in 2008, the Supreme Court embraced the individual-rights view of the Second Amendment. It was a triumph above all for Justice Antonin Scalia, the author of the opinion, but it required him to craft a thoroughly political compromise. In the eighteenth century, militias were proto-military operations, and their members had to obtain the best military hardware of the day. But Scalia could not create, in the twenty-first century, an individual right to contemporary military weapons—like tanks and Stinger missiles. In light of this, Scalia conjured a rule that said D.C. could not ban handguns because “handguns are the most popular weapon chosen by Americans for self-defense in the home, and a complete prohibition of their use is invalid.” This stuff gives me headaches.... https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/so-you-think-you-know-the-second-amendment Also read: https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-second-amendment-721379

This comment is dishonest. The GOP repeatedly fights any restrictions on gun ownership to serve their lords in the NRA, while the Dems have proposed measures (including mental health considerations) time and time again only to have the GOP reject or undo them. Speaking more broadly about mental health, you'll also find that Democrats do much more to address the issue than Republicans as they do with every single health issue that you can name. Took me 2 seconds to disprove your comment, by the way. "Updated | Within his first two months as president, Donald Trump repealed without public display an Obama administration gun regulation that prevented certain individuals with mental health conditions from buying firearms." https://www.newsweek.com/trump-set-overturn-guns-mental-health-regulation-557237

Both answers can be correct in this case.

"The Biggest Little Farm follows two dreamers and their beloved dog when they make a choice that takes them out of their tiny L.A. apartment and into the countryside to build one of the most diverse farms of its kind in complete coexistence with nature. The film chronicles their near decade-long attempt to create the utopia they seek, planting 10,000 orchard trees, hundreds of crops, and bringing in animals of every kind– including an unforgettable pig named Emma and her best friend, Greasy the rooster. When the farm’s ecosystem finally begins to reawaken, their plan to create perfect harmony takes a series of wild turns, and to survive they realize they'll have to reach a far greater understanding of the intricacies and wisdom of nature, and of life itself." Heard an interview with the farmers/documentarians this morning on NPR and it's an amazing story. Beautifully shot as well.

According to Zontar herself, Trump and Putin discussed whether or not Don McGahn would be allowed to testify before Congress. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-putin-discussed-mueller-report-agreed-no-collusion-white-house-n1001706

And don't forget that Obama wanted his government to advise the American people of Russian influence in a joint statement from all branches of government as impartially as he could, but Mitch McConnell would not agree to it. Trump is dangerous in his incompetence and ignorance whereas McConnell is absolutely shameless and cynical about the functions of government. Biden: McConnell Refused To Sign Bipartisan Statement On Russian Interference In the meeting, the Post reports: "The Dems were, 'Hey, we have to tell the public,' " recalled one participant. But Republicans resisted, arguing that to warn the public that the election was under attack would further Russia's aim of sapping confidence in the system. ... McConnell (R-Ky.) went further, officials said, voicing skepticism that the underlying intelligence truly supported the White House's claims. Through a spokeswoman, McConnell declined to comment, citing the secrecy of that meeting. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/24/580171396/biden-mcconnell-refused-to-sign-bipartisan-statement-on-russian-interference

What exactly is Sarah Huckabee Sanders doing on this board and how did she even find out about it?

I'm sure the FBI would like nothing more than for this to go to discovery.

A prominent conservative's take on this: So...you're the FBI in 2016, and you discover: 1) Russia is interfering in our election to help get a certain candidate elected. 2) A troubling # of contacts between that candidate's campaign team and Russia. It would've been a dereliction of duty for you NOT to investigate. — Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) May 3, 2019

I'd be willing to bet a lot, but it's not just foreign countries he's improperly making money from. This is Sam Katz on steroids. TRUMP PROPERTIES HAVE EARNED NEARLY $5 MILLION FROM REPUBLICAN GROUPS, CAMPAIGNS SINCE PRESIDENT'S ELECTION "According to public disclosures highlighted by Quartz and Center for Responsive Politics, pro-Trump super PACs, the Republican National Committee and the presidenet’s own reelection committee have spent at least $4.7 million on Trump owned hotels, golf courses and restaurants since January 2017, when the president was inaugurated. About $100,000 of that has been spent in 2019." "While Trump was campaigning for president in 2015 and 2016, his campaign paid out $13,348,846 to his own properties. Other Republicans and GOP groups paid out about $175,000 to Trump owned businesses during that time, while Democrats spent $1,111." "Prior to 2015, political spending at Trump properties had not surpassed $80,000 within a two-year election cycle. The highest previous level was just $77,922 between 2011 and 2012." "Although precedent has seen modern-day presidents place their personal businesses into blind trusts while serving in the White House, Trump chose not to do so." "Ethics experts have raised concerns that the president has used his clout as head of state of one of the world’s most powerful nations to enrich himself and his family. Foreign nations, such as Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, Kuwait and Turkey, have reportedly booked rooms or hosted events at Trump properties." https://www.newsweek.com/trump-properties-millions-republican-groups-1402253

I think it's important to recognize that someone can be insulting without directly insulting someone. People who consistently ignore facts and repeat lies do a disservice to healthy discussion and tend to drive conversations into nit-picking, double-speak, whataboutism and hypocrisy. Their arguments are disingenuous at best and dis-informative at worst. What I feared most about a Trump presidency was not policy (although I knew he'd be destructive), but rather the lowering of political discourse to a level we've never seen. There are no alternative facts and the truth matters. If you cannot appreciate facts, provide them or at least comment on them beyond stale talking points, you provide no value to any discussion and are insulting the intelligence of anyone who has the misfortune to read your drivel.

Not sure it backfires politically because it applies to any presidential candidate from either party going forward. If anything good can be said for Trump, he has exposed that guidelines, protocols and norms are not enough to ensure that a president will act in the nation's best interest. Actual legislation is required.

Respectfully disagree. When you have politicians with documented histories of grift and tax evasion who ignore established (40+ years) norms to avoid scrutiny, any measure to formalize the norms is a good one. California is not the only state to consider this. As the Senate is too partisan to do this federally, the responsibility rests with the states. I'd like to see state legislation in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida (the swing states) to see real impact as Trump (or the Republican nominees that follow him) aren't going to get any electoral votes in California anyway.

Your cynicism is well placed. Now let's hear what the defenders have to say.

Emails show Trump admin had 'no way to link' separated migrant children to parents May 1, 2019, 6:29 PM CDT / Updated May 1, 2019, 6:30 PM CDT By Jacob Soboroff LOS ANGELES — On the same day the Trump administration said it would reunite thousands of migrant families it had separated at the border with the help of a "central database," an official was admitting privately the government only had enough information to reconnect 60 parents with their kids, according to emails obtained by NBC News. "n short, no, we do not have any linkages from parents to [children], save for a handful," a Health and Human Services official told a top official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 23, 2018. "We have a list of parent alien numbers but no way to link them to children." https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/emails-show-trump-admin-had-no-way-link-separated-migrant-n1000746

At Trump golf course, undocumented employees said they were sometimes told to work extra hours without pay “It was that way with all the managers: Many of them told us, ‘Just clock out and then stay and do the side work,’ ” Jose Gabriel Juarez, a former head waiter of the Grille Room at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester, said of the overtime he worked without pay. (Joshua Partlow/The Washington Post) By Joshua Partlow and David A. Fahrenthold April 30 HILLSDALE, N.Y. — His bosses at the Trump country club called it “side work.” On some nights, after the club’s Grille Room closed, head waiter Jose Gabriel Juarez — an undocumented immigrant from Mexico — was told to clock out. He pressed his index finger onto a scanner and typed his personal code, 436. But he didn’t go home. Instead — on orders from his bosses, Juarez said — he would stay on, sometimes past midnight. He vacuumed carpets, polished silverware and helped get the restaurant at Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Briar­cliff Manor, N.Y., ready for breakfast the next day. All off the clock. Without being paid. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/at-trump-golf-course-undocumented-employees-said-they-were-sometimes-told-to-work-extra-hours-without-pay/2019/04/30/17f6c9be-65eb-11e9-83df-04f4d124151f_story.html?fbclid=IwAR04LE1CDMZKepMMCICe0YCvT-NAENYPEJ5a0sWUNFAKP6C6GcnmUdV5ltA&utm_term=.02c94e9c7cab