This was bringing back my recollection of the whole event, and I went to find verified reporting to make sure I remembered correctly:
The analysts found that people other than Hunter Biden had repeatedly accessed and copied data for nearly three years; they also found evidence that people other than Hunter Biden had accessed and written files to the drive, both before and after the New York Post story. In September 2020, someone created six new folders on the drive, including with the names “Biden Burisma”, “Big Guy File”, “Salacious Pics Package” and “Hunter. Burisma Documents”. One of the analysts found evidence someone may have accessed the drive contents from a West Coast location days after The New York Post published their stories about the laptop.
I think details like this are why the laptop story was “buried”, or not reported as a campaign-killer. It would look incredibly stupid if CNN went hard on “the laptop is a smoking gun, because Hunter named a folder ‘Salacious Pics Package’!” and then it later came out that somebody else tampered with it to add that alongside “Big Guy File”.
Based on the very fuzzy chain of custody and the number of other people who’d accessed the laptop, it seems it would have been wildly inappropriate to report about it the way Fox did. It’s easier with time and hindsight to write an appropriate report, including the fact it does exist and that multiple outside parties accessed it over a period of years and added information to it.
I don’t hate Biden. There are a few reasons why I won’t vote for him, though.
I won’t support the Democratic Party anymore unless I really like a candidate. They’ve swung too much to the far left for me, and I strongly disagree with many of the main party positions now.
I think Biden is senile, and his overall health just doesn’t seem good. It comes across in the way he speaks, and you can see in his walk that he struggles.
I don’t think Trump is senile, I just think he’s a narcissist, who sees things as if everything revolves around him. That said, I actually think he did a pretty good job as President in the 4 years he had. I’m willing to deal with him saying stupid things if we can get back to where we were when he was President (at least before the pandemic hit).
That said, I still wish he wasn’t the candidate, because there is nobody more divisive for the US. Our country is probably more divided than it was leading up to the Civil War. I really think that Haley is a centrist Republican, who can start building bridges between the two sides. If we can’t do that, then the US’s days are numbered - the country will fall apart.
I think what we really need is to have an amendment establishing term limits for members of Congress, and also abolishing political parties. That would probably do more for the country than any one candidate.
When I think of environmental concerns, Green New Deal is too extensive, but Trump’s promise to gut Clean Air/Water act is too damaging. On balance I would prefer D’s to have the leadership, but not full control.
OK, gutting the First Amendment (freedom of assembly). People with different opinions (from me) should not be allowed to gather together to discuss them or form an association. Got it.
Political Parties are more than just an association. They can allow individuals to get government funding to pay for their campaigns, for example. Why should tax dollars be given to a candidate? You want to run for office, do so at your own expense, or fundraise. Tax dollars shouldn’t be going to candidates.
You can probably make a case now that the two main parties are violating anti-trust laws, because they do keep other parties down.
Giving more handouts to lower income individuals, decreasing the incentives to actually be productive. I’ve seen this firsthand - I’ve had people tell me straight out that they ended up with less money after getting a job than before, because they lost out on all the subsidies they were getting.
Citizenship for illegals in the country, and continued illegal immigration - I think that if someone broke the law, they should be punished for it. We have laws for a reason, and they must be followed. The law states that if someone entered illegally, they are to be deported. I was against DACA, not because I hate kids, but because I think it was an abuse of power by Obama at the time. An Executive Order can’t go against the laws established by Congress. If they want to change something, change the laws. Until then, follow the laws as they are written.
Abortion - this has become a holy grail to the left, trying to protect it at all costs. I’m not completely opposed to abortion in all cases, but I don’t go nearly as far as the left does. I also agreed with striking down Roe v. Wade, because I think it was ridiculous to apply the privacy clause to this issue. I think that each state should decide this, because it’s not a power specifically granted to the Federal government in the Constitution. I also believe the same about Obergefell v. Hodges, because it was a stretch to apply the clauses they used to gay marriage. Again, I think each state should decide for itself, and I’d be fine with an amendment passing that would legalize it nationally. I just fear that when you start twisting the Constitution to fit the views of a select group, it will end up being used against you later on. The Constitution should be interpreted as was intended when it was written, and changes should be made by amendments, not by the Supreme Court.
I also can’t stand the whole woke culture, which is mainly from the left.
If there were term limits on Congress, it wouldn’t be worth it for them to do so. They make more money not being in government, and investing such a huge amount for a limited time in office just doesn’t make sense.
This is a failure of implementation and not ideology. Certain welfare programs have cliffs, and this is stupid and counterproductive. You can dislike welfare regardless, but this reason just means that things can be improved.
You certainly have numerous right-wing opinions and those that aren’t right-wing are moderate at best. I’m not trying to “own you” or present a “gotcha”. It’s simply an observation from what you post. I am very leftist.
Again, term limits would limit this. Why would a company invest a ton of money in a candidate, knowing there’s no guarantee it works out, and even if it does, it’s only for a limited amount of time? It’s definitely better than what we have now. Do you think current members of Congress aren’t bought and paid for?
This can be accomplished without outright abolishing parties though, no? At a minimum, they’re two different issues. Without expressing whether I agree or not on either one, just be ready for one or more people to accuse you of moving the goalpost.
I’m certain that many are, irrespective of party . It would not change with term limits. Just reduce the experience level and bring in a new novice group every few years to manipulate.
I am torn about what level of assistance is too much. I do think we should try to examine what kinds of programs encourage “bootstrapping”, because poverty can be a trap, and market forces can be exploitative.
Whyever wouldn’t they? Who doesn’t want a entirely captured legislator in their pocket? Yeah, lobbying is a big problem, but not quite the same as Senator Mini-Musk.
