caulfield12

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 07:37 PM) Deporting hundreds of thousands to a country they've never known and tearing families apart entirely because of who they are is exactly what America represents to the rest of the world right now, with good reason, because that's who we are. I think the huge fear of the GOP House is that Trump would backtrack at the last second (think Cohn, Javanka taking that side of the argument against Kelly/S.Miller/Mulvaney/Short)...and call such a move "mean" like he did in the middle of the ObamaCare negotiations, undercutting their position. Of course, it would completely piss off his base, but you could see Trump taking a wishy-washy position somewhere in the middle. Charles Koch donated $500K to Ryan days after GOP tax plan passed I think everyone acknowledges the Senate could easily work out a deal that would be more moderate, whereas Ryan's GOP Congress and Trump are pulling everything way too far to the right at the moment to work out a deal. And then you have the parsing of words like "authorize" and "appropriate" $20 billion of funds for either "border protection" or a "physical border wall." The GOP wants to cram so many things like e-verify, more agents, the end of "chain migration," on top of a border wall itself (that most Americans and most GOPers in private don't believe will even work)...to make any type of compromise nearly impossible to reach. Let's not forget Trump a year ago promised to deal with this issue of the Dreamers (we'll take care of these kids, or words to that effect), then punted it in September back to Congress because he didn't want to lead or be accused of selling out his conservative immigration position.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 07:32 PM) Could the Brewers be making a run for Yelich? A package deal of Yelich/Castro could make sense for them and makes some of their younger OF prospects expendable. Plus Castro is a 2B and fills an immediate need for them and wants out of Miami as well. If I wanted to compete against the Cubs, I'd want a veteran player with experience playing in that division...versus gambling on Yolmer Sanchez making the transition. It all depends on the cost-benefit analysis of the situation...Castro and Yelich are a lot more expensive players, but that would definitely excite their fanbase. Where the Jacoby Ellsbury stuff is coming in, no idea. At any rate, no seeing how the White Sox would be involved if that was the trade (Yelich/Castro).

The comment line, which can be reached at 202-456-1111, is supposed to allow citizens a chance to leave a voice message for the President. Callers on Sunday were greeted by these recorded words: "Thank you for calling the White House. Unfortunately, we cannot answer your call today because congressional Democrats are holding government funding, including funding for our troops and other national security priorities, hostage to an unrelated immigration debate. Due to this obstruction, the government is shut down." cnn.cm Between crap like this and the advertisement from the Trump Re-election campaign accusing the Dems of being responsible for all illegal immigrants doing harm to citizens (despite the Gang of 6/8 efforts being rebuffed by the House since Ryan doesn't ever want to legalize any of the Dreamers even)...there's going to be a longer and longer standoff if they don't get this solved tonight. The Democratic base has been itching for a fight like this, and they're not going to back down without forcing the issue somehow on DACA before early March. As much as it would be incredibly painful and make the US an object of ridicule all around the world as 100's of thousands of kids/teenagers/young adults are forcibly deported back to Mexico (making Trump look like a bully/super villain)...it's not what America represents to the world, and it's not fair to those whose lives would be torn apart as they've become a political football to be tossed back and forth.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 07:13 PM) The MLBtraderumors article says they'd like to sign Cain for CF. If true, I could definitely see Brinson moved. Just kind of a weird move, unless they don't believe in either Brinson or Broxton. That makes them older and more expensive, they'd have to pay Cain at least $50 million over 3 years...and there are SOME doubts about his ability to stay healthy when he has to play center on an everyday basis as he gets older. In the last four years, he's played RF 100 times, but he did make it through 151 games in CF with Dyson gone to the Mariners last year. It's a pretty good risk at age 31, but they must feel it's worth it, especially if they can get a discount on the signing.

Well, Garoppolo's success is another argument, and Jacoby Brissett being serviceable to a lesser extent. Everyone watching just had a feeling that NE was going to come back, despite the Jags' stout defensive numbers. Even without Gronkowski, it wasn't even all that dramatic. I think part of the problem is nobody 100% believes in Blake Bortles...if you had Aaron Rodgers leading the Jags in the 4th quarter, then you'd really have some drama on your hands, or Cam Newton. In the end, the Patriots had one of the easiest paths to a SB in recent NFL history. One way or the other, the NFL is breathing a huge sigh of relief with the playoff tv ratings being down in the 14-16% range, Jacksonville would have been a disaster, except for British football fans who have developed a loyalty to that team. Philly or Minny both provide compelling storylines, so that's another plus for the NFL.

Brewers need to be subtracting outfielders, not adding them. They also have no reason to dump Broxton at his lowest possible value. Santana's the only one they might be able to get a decent return on, at the moment (still south of Ozuna and way south of Yelich, due to only one solid season). Brinson's definitely not going anywhere.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 05:33 PM) The F*** Izzo? There's pretty much no way for a man to come across well when he says he's struggling with an issue...or that it's hard/difficult for him personally, when you've got 130+ victims who were raped/assaulted, and, by any definition, have had it MUCH worse than you. Not even Jesus in 2017 could get away with trying to explain the situation in a way that doesn't offend some.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 04:39 PM) Daf***? You missed the 20+ sexual assault allegations against him? And the consequences of it all? He's actually gone up 3-5 points in popularity in the last 2 weeks, despite that WSJ story breaking. But yes, I linked stories in the last week about Stormy Daniels and 1998 PMOY Karen MacDougal, both $130K+ payouts.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 04:34 PM) Woody Allen didn't use Congressional funds Well, in the end...it hasn’t touched Trump. The Missouri governor’s situation (Greitens) is the one to watch for now in the GOP “deny, deny, deny” strategy.

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 03:42 PM) Yes. Cease + Rutherford + another big piece that isn't our top 4. Literally anybody from Anderson to Burger to Giolito to Lopez. I don't think the Marlins are going to get the return they are seeking. We were extremely lucky with what Hahn pulled off. I may be wrong, but I highly doubt they get Acuna or Hansen types. I think they settle for 3-4 pieces. 1 MLB ready player (Lopez, Anderson) . 2 that are very strong prospects (Cease and Rutheford type) and then a throw in (Adolfo type). That's my personal guess. Why would we be dumping our starting SS at we’ll below his max value? To play who there, Leury Garcia? You want to pay top value to Andrus for this year? Yolmer? You have seen Anderson’s offensive and defensive numbers the last two months, yes?

See Woody Allen...

That was for procedural reasons, but they lost 4 (Lee, Paul, Graham, Flake) and McCain isn’t coming back until February at the earliest. Pence is in the Middle East for the moment. Lindsey Graham is blaming Stephen Miller for pulling every single proposal from Trump’s desk. They feel they’re winning the battle of perception and the Dems will cave. While the generic Congressional ballot is narrowing to 5-6 points, the “very enthusiastic” gap about voting in 2018 is still an immense 15 points.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 06:45 AM) If Sox get Yelich, can they contend this year? Nope...their rotation has way too many holes, as does the bullpen. The best would be around 78-82 wins, a middling first round pick in 2019 and a significant chunk out of the farm system/1-2 year players.

Would rather go after McCutcheon than Adam Jones, tbh. But no commitment longer than the 2020 season.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 20, 2018 -> 09:32 PM) Seriously, is there any politician that you guys like? Someone that you really identify with and want to succeed? IMO these guys are all scum. I dont see one guy that I think really has our interests in his/her heart. Sanders, except he’s too old and disinterested in foreign policy. Cheri Bustos, local Congresswoman. Will Hurd and Amash from the Republican side. Jeff Flake is growing on me. I’d almost argue for Biden, but he’s also Mr. Generation Gap and the country needs a leader who can understand what it’s like for Millennials and 30-something’s today while not forgetting to respect the older generation. Pontificates way too much. Blowhard tendencies. Strong understanding of world, diplomacy, military, though. LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, maybe. Sherrod Brown. Paul Wellstone, back in the day. Howard Schultz from Starbucks, on most issues.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Jan 20, 2018 -> 08:17 PM) Those the same polls that had Hillarybilly winning huge before the election?!? Yeah...you carry on Champ lol...nice try. The average spread was 3-5 points...but a lot of that polling was done before the Mueller announcement about Weiner emails. The Democrat outpaced President-elect Donald Trump by almost 2.9 million votes, with 65,844,954 (48.2%) to his 62,979,879 (46.1%), according to revised and certified final election results from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. So the polling was off by just a couple of points, and arguably would have been dead on without Mueller’s late interference. In the end, 87,000 votes in three states (Wisconsin wasn’t polled nearly as much) doesn’t represent anything but nearly everyone overlooking that state as in the Dem column. They already knew there were issues in PA, OH, MI, but reacted too late. Overall, the national polling was fairly accurate.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/fearles...-161849038.html Yahoo picks for Oscar nominations...forgot about The Big Sick earlier Predictions: The Big Sick Call Me by Your Name Dunkirk The Florida Project Get Out Lady Bird Mudbound The Post The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Other contenders: Darkest Hour I, Tonya Molly’s Game Wonder Woman Longshots: Blade Runner 2049 Coco The Disaster Artist Logan Phantom Thread War for the Planet of the Apes

You could argue hatred/vitriol at Clintons has transferred to the Obama’s, then back to Hillary. Roughly that same 25% has always been there on the right. It’s just that the left has become incredibly energized with Trump now. So it’s seemingly even more polarized. I must have posted about politics five times in eight years under Obama or Bush. Many turned against Bush after the war lies and Hurricane Katrina, but the feeling was more apathy/distrust/antipathy than the visceral hatred aligned against Trump now.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 20, 2018 -> 06:32 PM) Here's the problem. Convince me that a #7 seed can even get to the 2nd round, let alone win the title. This is the same problem baseball is starting to see. If a #7 seed has absolutely no shot, then they are stuck in NBA Hell - not good enough to be a finals team, but too good to get a draft pick likely to turn into a star. Unless as a #8 seed you can sign a Lebron James, you have a choice - either be happy filling your stadium as a first round exiting playoff team, or lose. As long as the Warriors and a handful of other teams are superteams, this will remain an unsolvable problem. In baseball, the WC and then the first round of games...the probability of upsets is higher. When you have seven game series (especially with home court advantage in basketball to the best teams), it’s that much harder. Imagine the general feeling about the NBA if Draymond Green wasn’t suspended two years ago and the Warriors had won 3 in a row instead of 2/3.

Deutsche Bank Willing To Report Jared Kushner’s ‘Suspicious Transactions’ To Robert Mueller: Report https://uk.news.yahoo.com/deutsche-bank-wil...-001443755.html And one wonders why his Q popularity rating is 25%, well below the two oldest Trump Brothers.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 20, 2018 -> 07:01 AM) Kelly sunk the deal that Schumer and Trump had worked out earlier in the day. https://twitter.com/samstein/status/9545862...src=twsrc%5Etfw https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/20/i...ss-trump-352222 When it comes down to it, Kelly, Cotton and Stephen Miller are the 3 most responsible for the hardline on immigration. Mulvaney’s probably #4, with Marc Short #5. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/19/g...18-blame-349398 Nonetheless, the failed vote led to the first official shutdown since October 2013. It came after Trump summoned Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to the White House earlier Friday in hopes of an agreement. But the New York Democrat returned without one, saying he and Trump discussed “all the areas” on which the two sides disagree. On the floor, Schumer spoke of that lunch, telling the chamber that "in my heart," he thought he had brokered a tentative agreement. "That was how far we had come. That's how positive our discussion felt," Schumer said. But "even though President Trump seemed to like an outline of the deal in the room, he did not press his party in Congress to accept it." Schumer pointed the finger squarely at the White House: "There is no one ... who deserves the blame for the position we find ourselves in more than President Trump."

Essentially our government now is being run by a general with no political experience (Kelly), Mick Mulvaney, Marc Short (only on the job since November), Stephen Miller and Javanka, with a large helping of immigration advice from Sen. Cotton. Is it any wonder it’s totally dysfunctional?

QUOTE (mac9001 @ Jan 19, 2018 -> 09:59 PM) The longer this goes the more blame will fall on Trump, Ryan and McConnell. It's astonishing a party holding the presidency and both chambers of congress would allow their window of governance to be limited because of a funding bill. Every day this goes on significantly reduces their chances of passing any legislation of substance. You don't get opportunities like this often and wasting months just to keep the government funded instead of using your majority position to advance conservative policy is just an epic failure. They should have taken the political hit, made some deals and moved on to bigger policy goals. Bigger policy deals are going to be tough to pull off with all the infrastructure money given away to tax cuts for corporations and the Top 1%.

Hot take: Trump never wanted to make a DACA deal because he fears losing his base. The far right wing of the GOP (Cotton, Goodlatte from VA, Freedom Caucus) actually wants to send all those kids and young adults back to Mexico and declare victory. I’m guessing none of them have ever even met or talked a Dreamer, nor have a desire to do so. This tweet will be hammered upon over and over from last May... Mr. Trump tweeted: “The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! We…” he continued, “either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good “shutdown” in September to fix mess!”

But they would universally be called cheap and be accused of taking fans’ money without a good faith effort to compete if they never signed studly free agents or just filled out the roster with journeymen and AAAA players...