When will Hillary Clinton give up her candidacy ?

I think that's giving her too much credit. "Influence and sway" connotes that all her nasty blather has some kind of real-world impact. On the several political threads on A2K and wherever else she brings her blight of negativity and divisiveness she makes a big splash with the other political junkies who get off on political banter. But actually influencing others' actions? Their votes? Any other activities they would normally be doing whether Lash posts 100 times a day or got hit by a bus today? No .

She thrives on rancor and attention, and she gets it by trying to be the nastiest person on the political discussion forums. She "influences" people like me to respond because we can't countenance her nasty warping of facts and her disingenuous sowing of needless division between people who agree about 90% of the issues. To me, it's the same level of "influence" that anyone who is publicly and intentionally mean has - I hate bullies and will stand in their way anytime I see them. Any other "influence and sway" she garners would just be with the voices in her head.

Osso, I'd be honored for you to speak for me and to me if you think I get out of line. Your posts mean a lot to me.

To me osso is someone whose sweet nature comes through, even on the mean streets of these political talk threads. Hope to meet (almost) all of you some day.

When I was driving up to Oregon last year she kindly without promting offered to host my wife and myself in her home if my route took me near Albuquerque.

You both are people I would just love to meet.

There are several people here - you among them - who get far "nastier" than I ever came close to.

Don't talk to me. As wretched a persona as you depict here, you have at least not (often) been a liar. You said we wouldn't speak to each other.

A wise person once told me, if I get up in the morning and most people I meet are assholes, the problem is probably me. Lash sure seems to meet a lot of assholes here.

Just perusing the site after a long absence. In response to Setanta, it is now clear that there is a strong case for indicting and prosecuting Hillary for her systematic lapses in protecting classified information ( some of it so-called "compartmented special Intel" info.). The statute involved (and under which Gen. Petraeus was convicted) does not require criminal intent - negligence is sufficient. It is also equally clear that the fix is in and she knows it: there will be no indictment and no prosecution - the president has, in effect, said as much, and as we have seen under Obama the Justice department has been politicized far more than in any Administration in memory (including Nixon's).

Meanwhile the development of events in both Democrat and Republican primaries continues to surprise. Bernie Sanders has become a truly credible leader of a newly emerging wing of the Democrat party, though it increasingly appears he will not win the nomination. There appear to be few who really support Hillary for her own sake or merits. Rather she is the least undesirable alternative for a large number of potential voters, but the likely winner nonetheless.

Among Republicans the rather reptilian nature of Ted Cruz is becoming increasingly clear while Trump continues to surprise. He is certainly no conservative, though he has managed to a surprising degree to both confound predictions of his imminent collapse and to redefine the nature of the current debate along new lines, and apparently mobilizing new cadres of potential Republican voters along the way.

How will all this turn out? I have never felt less able to make a reliable forecast.

It appears the personal attacks are continuing and escallating both in the public debate and among the commentors here. That's unfortunate for everyone involved.

One is reminded of Yeat's wonderful poem, "The Second Coming" (written, I believe in about 1919 - a similar time). An excerpt;

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity
..."

You spend an inordinate amount of time discussing me - I'll do as I please as well.

I pay attention to diseased things, so they don't spread unnoticed. Rashes, tree rot, cavities, you......I'll talk about you as long as you continue to be a hate mongering blight. I'll try to avoid addressing you directly for the same reason I wouldn't talk to a babbling drooling madman on the street. Nothing in it for me but maybe getting spat on and dirty.

The same reason I decided to ignore you - and it was peaceful for a while.

But, you insist on mentioning me.

And, as usual, you very ably show who is the "nastiest." Thankfully, not a contest I seek to win.

I prefer Bernie to Hillary Clinton. Hardly as diseased as you like to pretend so you can get your hate on.

Poor sad man.

You deluded harpy. In the nastiest ways possible, you lay waste to anyone who disagrees with you then you are so lost that you actually say you are just discussing things.The scary thing is that you don't even notice how many enemies you have made here, or worse, you don't care.

Lash, I like you well enough, but you do over-react a bit. I agree with a lot of what you say. But you let anger get control over your better judgement.

It is not that you are directly nasty, it is the way you phrase things you oppose which is not helpful to any meaningful discourse. There is no reason to divide democrats/independents or left leaning voter up into sections with labels attached. Going by the records of votes of Hillary and Bernie considering Hillary was not in the senate very long, there really is not that big of a difference. Max is able to vote for her and so are a lot of Bernie supporters as exit polls have proven. Bernie himself said Hillary on her worst day is better than a republican on his or her best day and he will vote for her if she wins. Hillary has said more than once there is more to unite us than to divide us and she is right. If Hillary wins if you continue to trash her, then you are not interested in promoting a leftist agenda as you will only be helping whoever wins the republican ticket.

I hear your opinion.

I think others over-react on purpose because it's fun for them. It's part of the devolution of dialogue between people who disagree.

The actual question is completely ignored, and partisans focus on minutiae around the periphery of the question at hand purposefully for sport. Then, they feign great righteous indignation and try to pack as many low personal insults as possible in a line or two, taking care to blame the whole thing on the one they insulted.

It's an art form.

I think you're splitting hairs here a little bit. It's like when Michael Richards got caught calling people n*gger, and then started professing to the high heavens he wasn't a racist. You judge people by their actions. If someone "phrases" things in a nasty way, they are being nasty.

One that you could teach.

I am glad you at least admit that I'm not the personally nasty one.

And, as the content of your post suggests, I am being treated as I am because of the vast difference between my view of HRC and the view of the majority here.

I'm unwilling to be censored - unless mgmt bans me from the site.

So, there we are.

Amazing, really. With all the delusions of grandeur and Hillary derangement, she's still able to shoehorn in a persecution complex. That's some prodigious crazy.

No, you are being treated the way you are because of the way you phrase Hillary supporters and have nasty labels for everything.

Democrats and Bernie supporters however they label themselves have got to come together to fight for Hillary to win the WH so that Trump or Cruz does not win.

I am not saying the movement Bernie has started has to quit, I think a lot of it is good, just the Hillary trashing needs to stop. I think Bernie has let up on it, going by some of his more recent rallies. He is making it more about the democratic party as a whole. Which in itself is not helpful either if we want to help down ballot candidates win seats in the house and senate.

Bernie Sanders, Shifting Tone, Takes On Democratic Party