How does one conduct political research? What are the sites and sources used to look up connections between politicians, their families, their corporations their charities?

There is ALWAYS something extremely selfish and personal behind it, always... It is human nature. And THAT is the envelope and wrapper behind it all that always holds true... Human Nature that cannot be changed. It is the ultimate and final Occam’s Razor factor that dictates everything.

And the Founders knew that, and tried to create a system that could compensate for it. They didn't fight it, or pretend it didn't exist. They tried to balance it with another aspect of human nature.

Thomas Sowell said: “There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.”

bump

And because of human nature rule one we have even screwed up what they tried to put in place. Had we just left it alone we would be fine. Now it is all just garbage that has been thrown out to satisfy rule number one.

Human nature ALWAYS wins over morality and common sense.

Lawfare has become the most dangerous attack on our country.
Throughout Trump’s presidency a single judge or court would
overturn Trump’s actions.
So, I’m researching judges on my voter ballot.
I’m using https://freespoke.com/
as a search engine. I find their web page if they have one to see
where they stand on the issues, then I go to their social media page.

I find that FreeRepublic is still the best for searching.
Many articles have been removed from the internet.
But there are still excerpts on FR.

FreeRepublic 7/14/2024 3:30 PM
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=4251263
Trump assassination attempt

https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=4044069
200306 Ukraine Russian War

https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=4043395
200303

8/20/2022
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=4087063

9/1/2022
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=4090198

3/21/2022
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=4048593

3/15/2022, 10:24:02 AM
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=4046944

3/6/2022
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=4044312

3/1/2022
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=4042876

10/3/2020
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3890100

9/26/2020
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3888043

4/29/20 Covid
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3840000

3/30/20
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3830000

3/9/20 Covid mentioned
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3823000

3/5/20
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3822000

2/27/20
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3820000

1/22/20
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3810000

12/15/19
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3801100

12/11/19
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3800100

10/30/19
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3790100

11/06/16
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3490100

01/29/16
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3390100

05/15/15
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3290100

11/11/13
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=3090100

9/15/2010
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=2590100

3/5/2009
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=2200100

9/25/2008
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=2090100

3/22/2008
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=1990100

9/1/2007
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=1890100

10/10/2005
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=1500100

10/12/2003
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=1000100

10/12/2003
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=999840

5/12/2003
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=910000

7/2/2002
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=710000

8/4/2001
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=500000

12/13/1999
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=200000

7/8/1999
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=150000

6/22/1999
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=145000

6/15/1999
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=143000

6/14/1999 and the first 1969 page
https://freerepublic.com/tag/*/index?more=142664

https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/
Is still very good.

I quit posting on GAB about a year ago when they quit letting
us post graphics.
But I posted articles on many politicians.

People in Politics
Page 1 https://gab.com/Agitators/posts/108487037613807087
Page 2 https://gab.com/Agitators/posts/107516516891731581
Page 3 https://gab.com/Agitators/posts/107929299124056049
Page 4 https://gab.com/Agitators/posts/107929324500107612
Page 5 https://gab.com/Agitators/posts/108487048951079907

I get your point, but two instances of honesty proven against temptation in South Florida come to mind. I knew and was friendly with both. One, a conservative Democrat State Senator, was a faithful Christian who deliberately steered clear of crooks and never profited from office. The other was a similarly honest GOP State Representative who famously refused to accept a thousand in cash casually passed to him in a handshake.

The offeror, a Cuban American businessman named Alberto San Pedro, was secretly a drug smuggler and was astonished at the refusal of a cash gift. When caught, the FBI's trove of tapes, transcripts, and witness statements had San Pedro repeatedly describing the two legislators as the only honest politicians he had ever met. Otherwise, San Pedro was so adept at bribery that he thoroughly compromised local and state law enforcement and many politicians.

One can say, well, honesty was just the two legislators' brand in politics. In both cases though and several others as well, I know the legislators habitually acted based on principle and had aides who were thoroughly honest as well. Over the years, there were several times in which I asked such legislators to act in the public interest and was not disappointed.