Locked-Y'all remember @MorningVent on Twitter and he used to host...

[futaba.79]

On Gallo............

McDaniel said Melanie Sojourner woke him to tell him "there is a problem involving Cochran's wife." McDaniel says he told her he needed to take a shower and she could brief him later. He then claims to have waited until he saw Sojourner in Hernando hours later to get his briefing. I find that hard to believe. If I'm running for the US Senate, I'd want to know about a problem involving my opponent's wife immediately. My shower could have waited 5 minutes.

 

[Shmuley]

Cochran wins by double digits. ...........................................................................................................

And that was internal polling BEFORE that idiotic asshat jack bauer'd into St Catherine's and violated Rose Cochran's privacy. Say hello to your chairman of appropriations.

 

[natchezdawg]

The people that brought down Nixon were fairly intelligent.

Smart people do dumb things....

 

[seshomoru]

I am no fan of our governor and I even agree with this.

Besides... Haley will appoint them.

 

[johnson86-1]

Smart people do dumb things....

Absolutely but until there is a reason to think otherwise, I'm going to assume what they have said is true. It's plausible and makes more sense than the speculation that they were involved with the ad. I won't be shocked if it turns out they were involved with the ad (meaning he or a trusted advisor, not a low-level campaign staffer or volunteer), but I will be a little surprised.

 

[seshomoru]

Yep, lots of crime involved in the production and distribution of booze.

Solid point.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

I've been very reluctant to go that far because... What was it that Tip O'Neill said: "All politics is local?"

I went to the same high school as McDaniel and while I do not know him well since I'm a few years older than him, I know a quite a few people who were in the same class as he and they support him. At the same time, there are people who are older alums, formerly associated with the school, etc., who have long supported Cochran. Essentially it's a contest between pragmatists and purists.

And chalk me up as a pragmatist because I certainly am not in favor of Mississippi getting rid of Cochran and in the process, spiting its face by cutting off its nose.

 

[johnson86-1]

Solid point.

Actually the point wasn't made until you posted, but thank you. I agree that it is 17ing ridiculous to restrict access to corn when the vast majority of the alcohol related crime was due to prohibition, and that it's similarly 17ing ridiculous to restrict access to cold and allergy medicine because it is tangentially related to crime resulting from essentially the same idiotic gov't policy applied to drugs besides alcohol. If you don't like crime resulting from stupid public policy, change the stupid public policy, don't restrict access to valuable products that make people's lives better.

 

[patdog]

I agree. I don't think this race is nearly as close as people are trying to make it out to be.

 

[Arloguthrie]

I don't really have an opinion of McDaniel because frankly I haven't been paying attention thus far, but I thought he came across as a defensive, thin-skinned asshat on Gallo this morning. He must've said "Paul" 200 times in that whiny voice during the course of the interview. "But Paullll . . . But Paullll . . ." And while I'm inclined to believe he didn't have anything to do with the dude breaking in and taking the picture beforehand (unless he is monumentally stupid), it insults my intelligence to believe that, in the day of cell phones, his staffer didn't tell him until he arrived in Hernando hours later. That explanation defies logic and it pisses people off when politicians think we're all dumb enough to believe whatever they say.

 

[xxxWalkTheDawg]

Can't be fixed.

I sure hope so - Obamacare must go (and - there's your lockable comment).

Speaking of, both of these guys are going to vote to repeal it...so in that light, I guess Senator Cochran doesn't want anyone to have Sudafed. He is anti-sudafed. There's an idea for the next attack ad.

Its like a Rubik's cube. Change one thing and other things go out of place. My wife is in the medical field and there is some eye opening stuff already coming down. Latest thing is that there is a cap on the amount of PET scans you can be reimbursed for. The limit? Three in a lifetime. Not a year... For life. This came from a radiologist's office manager. If you get cancer you can burn through three real quick. Then it's about 7 to 8 grand out of pocket after that. This is not just for insurance on the federal exchange... It's all of them. Again, this was from an office manager from a large radiology clinic.

 

[ckDOG]

Have you kept up with the Texas Lt. Gov race?

Listened to a debate between Dewherst and Patrick a couple of weeks ago. Those are 30 minutes of my life I want back. Not one minute of policy or an idea discussed. Just personal attacks and broad strokes of "I'm a bold conservative", "I will lower taxes", "I will secure the border". I have no clue who the Democrat candidate is, but I'm voting for him or her out of spite and my assumption they couldn't possibly be more dumb or dramatic than either of these two jerks.

I've only lived in the state a few months. I should have known it was going to get bad when I saw commercials for Comptroller highlighting the candidates' pro-2nd amendment stance, commitment to secure the border, and desire to lower taxes. Hilarious. The last I checked, Comptrollers collect the money owed to the State among some other budgetary/cash flow related items. They don't interpret the U.S. Constitution, have control over border control, or write legislation. People are dumb.

 

[seshomoru]

So legalize meth?

Guess we really can call McDaniel the pro-meth candidate then.

 

[coach66]

I have a couple of friends that have large wallets that are supporting the hell

out of McDaniel. I have come to the conclusion that I am a Libertarian and hate all politicians basically but I will vote for Thad because he may control the purse strings if the Republicans take back the Senate. I wish all politicians served one term and that was it.

 

[johnson86-1]

Guess we really can call McDaniel the pro-meth candidate then.

In the same way that the people think sodomy shouldn't be a criminal offense are pro-sodomy.

I actually probably wouldn't decriminalize meth until we had decriminalized several other drugs first and seen the results, but if we can't handle the fruits of prohibiting meth without criminalizing cold medicine, bring on legalization.

 

[johnson86-1]

I don't really have an opinion of McDaniel because frankly I haven't been paying attention thus far, but I thought he came across as a defensive, thin-skinned asshat on Gallo this morning. He must've said "Paul" 200 times in that whiny voice during the course of the interview. "But Paullll . . . But Paullll . . ." And while I'm inclined to believe he didn't have anything to do with the dude breaking in and taking the picture beforehand (unless he is monumentally stupid), it insults my intelligence to believe that, in the day of cell phones, his staffer didn't tell him until he arrived in Hernando hours later. That explanation defies logic and it pisses people off when politicians think we're all dumb enough to believe whatever they say.

They don't think we're all dumb enough, they just believe a majority of us are. I wish I felt strongly that they were wrong...

 

[patdog]

Every time you post, your argument gets dumber and dumber.

 

[johnson86-1]

Every time you post, your argument gets dumber and dumber.

So you follow up your previous response where your reading comprehension failed you with this insightful comment?

I will give you that it's hard to have an argument about the drug war that's not dumb. While there are reasonable arguments to be had, most people don't think about the drug war at beyond the 'drugs are bad...um kay...' stage or perhaps 'but think of the children' so you end up with people that don't do any cost benefit analysis or mistakenly believe the satisfaction of any goal (such as reduction of meth labs) justifies their policy without thinking about why their goals are important, what the real reason justifying their goal is, and whether there might be other more human ways to reach them.

 

[Wooly17er]

Calling McDaniel a "pro-Meth" candidate based on the arguments of johnson - who may or may not be a McDaniel supporter or work with his campaign - is about the same as declaring McDaniel guilty of breaking into St. Catherine's because of the actions of Kelly (see what I did there??)

 

[Wooly17er]

Honestly - I haven't made up my mind who I'm voting for yet, so this is an honest question. Why would you rather allow Governor Bryant select our Senator as opposed to have McDaniel elected by the people of Mississippi? What is so bad about McDaniel that you are willing to risk having a Bryant-esque Senator representing Mississippi? Is Bryant not a prototypical conservative red-meat machine? Aside from "media red meat" that came out during the public vetting of McDaniel, what is there to point to that is so bad? It can't be seniority here, since the new Senator would be stepping in even if appointed by Bryant. I give you my full attention, and I'll hang up for the comment.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

^^^This is all that needs to be answered.

I have faith in Bryant appointing someone of better quality than McDaniel

If you assume Trent may not make it full term and if you think the appointment will stink less than McDaniel, then you vote Trent to keep little old MS in some power until the inevitable. I was initially leaning toward McDaniel out of concern for the potential appointment, but I've come around due to McDaniel buffoonery. Kind of sucks to have the all the pressure of 9th grade civics citizenship lessons on you while you hold your nose to vote...every...single...election...

 

[horshack.sixpack]

For me, I know absolutely nothing about McDaniel but what I've heard on his commercials. He comes across as slimy to me, whereas Trent has managed to be in office forever and just seems dated, but not necessarily threatening and he can swing favor to MS. Quite frankly as much as the government takes away, I'm just cynical enough to like the idea of having a senator who can at least steal some back for the state. I am under no illusion that any politician, from any party will do anything to improve my quality of life, unless it happens incidental to something they wanted for themselves.

 

[patdog]

If you're comparing legalizing meth to legalizing alcohol (which you specifically did) or marijuana, then yes, that's a very dumb argument. They are not comparable at all. As is your claim that we've virtually eliminated the meth problem in Mississippi by making pseudophedrine illegal. It's not. At least not in quantities that aren't that useful in making meth and with a prescription. Most doctors will give their regular patients a prescription for it if you just call and ask them. So yeah, considering the cost-benefit of the law, it's a huge success.

 

[seshomoru]

This is completely irrelevant.

If Bryant has to appoint a Senator it's because McDaniel DIDN'T get elected by the people. So it's not like I have to choose appointment or McDaniel. I choose for Thad to get elected. God forbid something happen, then yeah, I believe a less crazy and lunatic tea party person would be appointed. Some one from the more moderate (still not moderate enough to really make happy though) and less Ted Cruz-ish Republican Party. I actually want the Senate to stay democratic and for Childers to win, but I'm thinking realistically for a less bull headed, ideological, and reactionary option.

 

[seshomoru]

I was super serious.

McDaniel LOVES meth.

 

[thatsbaseball]

Bryant will be strongly opposed by a Barbour backed candidate with a real chance to win. The plan is for the new Barbour lap dog gov to appoint Thad`s successor.

 

[futaba.79]

Possible appointees..............

Harper - He seems to be a decent man and I suppose he has the conservative credential thing going for him. Keenum - I've heard the Thad retiring, Keenum is appointed scenario quite a bit. No clue if it has any validity or if he would even be on Bryant's radar.

I go back and forth on Bryant. I bet I would like him if I knew him. But I have a lot of friends that I wouldn't want holding office.

 

[tb2]

So it doesn't matter that his paid "assistant" lives with him?

Cochran is exactly what is wrong with this country. No matter what side of the aisle you line up on, surely we can all agree that lifetime career politicians are good for no one but the politician. And apparently Cochran is as sleazy as it gets. On top of having a live in girlfriend while his wife is in a nursing home, he also has some shady banking deals being discovered.

 

[Wooly17er]

Well then, he obviously votes with his heart...can't really fault a guy there.

 

[Wooly17er]

My guess is that the less bull headed, ideological and reactionary option (i.e., whomever Bryant is going to appoint) was already deemed too weak to run against and beat McDaniel. Therefore, Thad decided not to retire and stay in the race after being pressed by those that want to appoint his successor - because he has the best chance to beat McDaniel. These things, I'm sure, were already discussed.

 

[FormerlyHighLifeRebel]

No matter what side of the aisle you line up on, surely we can all agree that lifetime career politicians are good for no one but the politician.

I do not agree with this.

 

[FormerlyHighLifeRebel]

The most shocking thing to me about the Gallo interview

Was that a grown man with a job and a family had to be woken up at 7:30 am on a work day.

 

[Wooly17er]

Excuse me, Rebel...since you've decided to voice your opinion and apparently support Thad Cochran, would you be MORE likely to vote for him or LESS likely to vote for him if I told you one of the trips he took with his female assistant was to OMAHA! That's foreign land to your type, is it not? And last year, that place was almost taken over completely by maroon wearing terrorists!