Guy Chamberlin

I honestly can't keep score anymore. Democrats have held the same line and rhetoric on illegal immigration forever, and for years they could swap lines with Republicans because it's the easiest political position to take. The Obama/Biden administration was often derided by the Latino community for being deportation happy. Talk was cheap and action was wildly expensive and problematic. So when political and drug-cartel violence in Latin America sends the number soaring, the solutions get even dicier. Trump scores electoral points with doomed over-reaches like walls and mass deportations, fed with the ugliest possible stereotypes. Democrats naturally denounce all things Trump and start quoting the Statue of Liberty, declining to acknowledge that they've spouted the same boilerplate tough-on-immigration/pathway to citizenship position for years. Something has to be done. Republicans use the situation to demonize immigrants and scare voters. Democrats get to say "hamana-hamana-hamana" as they dare Republicans to pass the tough immigration rules that will give Democrats the credit in an election year. If nothing is done, the chances of the immigrant surge receding and things going back to much as they were in the still-problematic and largely bipartisan past remain high.

There's zero doubt that the Biden Team is playing with numbers to put the rosiest picture on things, which often mean pretending the global pandemic had nothing to do with it. But the global pandemic obviously had a massive influence, including major supply chain disruptions with lag times, which Biden opponents are also keen to ignore. An inflationary period was 100% predictable. If both sides stopped pretending that these numbers are comparable to "normal" economic metrics, we'd be left with the fact that lingering inflation drags down some of those rosy numbers for average Americans in a very real way. We'd also be left with the fact that whatever the U.S. did in response to COVID, America has emerged economically stronger that virtually all our allies and rivals. We're really s#!tty at mixed messages in this country, but if you had to pick a POV at election time, the latter is a better indicator of policy and prognosis moving forward.

Yep. It was a combination of the automobile and white flight that sent people, money and development out to the suburbs, a move very much supported and engineered by politicians and business interests. Once in the suburbs, you still had to travel by car to the malls that were springing up. Those new houses typically got rid of the front porch and allowed you to drive into your garage and enter your house without being outside. Architecture played to the private rather than the public sphere. There's been a movement to change that. One of the struggling malls in our bedroom suburb plans to follow a new template where they replace the anchor retailers at each end of the mall with apartment units. The pedestrian part of the mall is turned into a park or greenspace. That greenspace is lined with the mall stores much like before, but now it looks like a small town and has the residents/pedestrians already built in. Anyone remember the film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" Obviously a big silly comedy, but the plot was closely based on the true story of how political and business forces in Los Angeles sabotaged public transit in order sell cars, suburban tract homes, and huge highway developments.

Snappy comeback, Mav.

Katie Britt and Lara Trump will have the same effect on Donald Trump's support as the 1,328 other jaw-dropping deal breakers since 2015.

I do think Pop is one of the great NBA coaches of all time, but like you I'm a bit mystified by his inability to get more from less, or simply improve when handed the rookie superstar who, by all indications, is the real deal. There was some sniping that other Spurs players weren't assisting Wemby out of spite or hazing, and it's hard to imagine Pop letting that happen. Not sure where you're going with the "entertainment value" comment, though. Sure it's entertainment, but it generally comes from great players earning it on the court. Lotta hyped players lose their minutes to less-heralded guys playing their asses off, which includes fundamentals like ball hawking and defense.

Wemby had a bit more hype than Zion Williamson, a bit less than LeBron. Lotta hype for all three. If we're talking about generational, franchise altering #1 draft picks a team would be willing to tank for, those are the only three I can think of in the last 20 years or so.

This may not get talked about enough, but in issues of extreme importance to the American people, the bill presented to Congress may be loaded with ancillary or even totally unrelated riders that either party will stick in as political gamesmanship. The headline is about the party who rejected this seemingly wise proposal and not the behind-the-scenes horses#!t. It's no secret that most Americans aren't well informed about the issue or policy in the first place. Probably moot anyway, as we've moved into 100% partisan silos on virtually everything presented. We've always had partisan bickering, but it's never been this feverish and absolute.

Who knows, right? But given that the GOP's SOTU response echoed things you often post in here, does it really stand up to scrutiny? All the talk of elderly men and struggling housewives and the working poor taking multiple jobs.....and the cost of health care....and the diminished sense of security.....and the American Dream itself....does anyone truly believe that policies put in place starting January 2021 altered their trajectory for the worse? Could you have dropped that exact same narrative into any SOTU over the last 40 years regardless of the party in charge? I know Democrats certainly have. The policies that might conceivably address these systemic problems will likely be considered extreme, given that systemic problems are pretty well entrenched. If you're talking about banning abortion, that will actually make the bad stuff worse in a multitude of under-reported ways. If you're talking about student debt forgiveness, that actually comes with a pro-business benefit. If you're not actually talking about policies, but about woke language regarding race and gender, that's just silly. Although......yeah, that's the kind of stuff that influences voters. Geez, we've become a silly country.

What grades and subjects do you teach?

Gas in California is around $4.35 a gallon. It has never occurred to me that the price of gas would affect my vote, or that it was even political. I used to work for Chevron and have a basic idea how that sausage is made.

Why do you keep associating the deaths at Kent State with partying teenagers? You sure it wasn't something more than that?

Not a huge LeBron fan, but even as an 18 year old who became rich and famous overnight, he seemed to have a lot healthier perspective on life and basketball.

Or --- and hear me out --- it could be having policies that are supported by a majority of Americans being cockblocked by Republicans, including Republicans who supported similar policies back when Republicans would get the credit. Not to mention having America's #1 news network demonizing policies they willfully misrepresent as extreme. I will give you the border crisis, which the Biden administration underestimated and obfuscated until they realized it was perhaps THE electoral hot button. But as you and I both agreed, it's not as though a conservative policy is more easily implemented or likely to succeed.

Agree that Biden's behind-the-scenes governing and even his on-camera (prepared) speeches have been better than I expected, and you can even make a compelling case for his success as President. The Left's criticism of Biden is not dissimilar to its criticism of Obama and Hillary because leaning farther left is what they do. While some fret over the Left's influence (and others the lack of it), you look up decades later and realize some of America's most cherished mainstream values were once derided as leftist utopianism. But I digress. At the end of the day, or end of the term, Biden is being judged not for his governance but for the lack of energy he provides, whether it's a cheap shot about his age, the highly relevant "enthusiasm gap" the Biden/Harris ticket has with voters, or the messaging battle they are clearly losing. There has to be a way to talk about this openly and critically without being considered a Trump enabler. BIden's path to the Presidency in 2020 went from being an underfunded and under-performing primary candidate to being the unifying moderate whose only job was to beat Donald Trump. We would worry about his age and popularity later. Later is now here and when you throw together all Joe's accomplishments and misteps, the #1 reason to vote for him is still Not Trump, and it just might be enough to pull this off.

There were also the rumors that Michael Jordan's dad was killed as payback for Michael's gambling debts. I used to accept that as fact, although I've seen subsequent reporting that strongly discounts it. I don't know if you can tarnish Jordan's career, or if we're even looking the other way. The dude is a competition junkie, and there are tons of anecdotes from golf courses, casinos, and informal practices of Jordan making high stakes bets with anyone who will take them. It's not exactly an admirable quality, but it does explain his incredible in-game performances, and that's what he's remembered for. Not sure if people really looked the other way on Jordan's Hall of Fame induction speech, where he went off on some bitter and unnecessary flexes on anyone who ever doubted him. I recall the reaction as mostly: Whoa. That's what's on your mind when you're receiving the game's highest honor?

Trump soundly defeated all GOP challengers by doubling down on everything Haley accuses him of. Even a non-delusional candidate would be unlikely to change his strategy. But as political calculus goes, Haley made the safe and less-courageous call. It's not hard to envision her crafting an endorsement further down the line.

Regardless of your position on immigration, the simple truth is that the numbers are overwhelming. There are not enough government employees in any capacity to either process or round up the undocumented. And anyone with a proposed policy knows it.

It took Mitt Romney, Chris Christie and others a few years before they finally cut the cord, having already embarrassed themselves with forced displays of fealty to Donald Trump. They will never be welcome at conservative events, and face the rest of their careers as guests and political analysts on CNN and MSNBC, where they can get limited and tepid recognition as Republican turncoats.

The majority of Americans don't understand the roots, the players, or the consequences of any international conflict, and Israel Palestine is more conflicted than most. We generally don't have strong electoral opinions on foreign affairs, although the right is thrilled to have this mess happening on Joe Biden's watch. You can easily find some delusional college student romanticizing Hamas, but if "supporting Isreal" is your criteria, that has become increasingly conditional and gone well beyond "lefty circles." The mere act of calling for a cease fire in Gaza, as Biden and most of the world advocates, is in opposition to the Netanyahu government, which has declared its intention to prosecute Hamas however it wants, regardless of the devastation to the Palestinian people. Netanyahu is a genuine a$$h@!e who hates having his massive military and financial support come with any conditions. Dig a little deeper, and Netanyahu's own right wing circle has made no secret of its longstanding intention to simply take over Gaza. They are a minority in Israel, having gamed the system to avoid a corruption recall. The Tea Party if you will. While early reporting on the war leaned heavily on Israeli sources, subsequent reporting across mainstream and international media has confirmed that some pretty horrific s#!t is being perpetrated on women and children in reprisals that have gone well beyond hostage freeing. Of course there's always something horrific going on the world, so it hardly rates as a single-issue voting priority, but it's still hard to watch and pretend you shouldn't say something. As mentioned, virtually no one is unaware of the binary choice coming our way in November. In the meantime we can wonder why Not Trump is our only position in any discussion, and whether we have the right to ask for more.

I do remember. The only people who thought we should nuke all the commies were ignorant knuckle-draggers rejected by both parties.

They're not stupid. Most will vote for Biden when given the binary choice in November, as they have the last two unhappy elections. Most likely by a larger percentage than disgruntled Republicans, independents and Dems turned RFK lackeys. The backlash against Israeli prosecution of the Gaza War has grown broad and mainstream, for very good reason. Rooting for Trump to show up the leftists is an odd take for a post about virtue signaling at the expense of electoral outcomes.

So what does finishing the problem look like to you?

And now we live in an age where all major sports leagues operate as subsidiaries of BetMGM and FanDuel.

The irony, of course, is overwhelming.