Will Trump be a Good President? - Page 632

Blueangel · #**12621** 12.04.2018, 12:55

Oh FFS... All kneel before Zod

#**12622** 12.04.2018, 13:47

	Quote:	marton
	Must admit it is hard to believe in the "Douma chemical attack", it does not seem a logical thing to do; unless it was done out of sheer spite?

"WMDs" all over again... this may well be Trump's GWB moment, with it all ending Nixon-style.

slammer · #**12623** 12.04.2018, 16:28

	Quote:	me.anon
	If President Nixon had access to Twitter, we'd have seen this in a tweet: "I could leave this room, and in 25 minutes, 70 million people would be dead." from: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/t...ge.single.html Let's just hope that this latest Syrian crisis ends by the deep state acknowledging that the "Douma chemical attack" is the work of fiction and false flag that it obviously is. I can imagine that Trump is going to share Nixon's fate and quickly too.

Good job Reagan didn´t have Twitter...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFCABnWlN8E
Remember when the planet shat a collective brick?

Urs Max · #**12624** 12.04.2018, 17:15

	Quote:
	That makes four times too many. And it's interesting to note that on every one of those four occasions, it was the Republican candidate who benefited from the Electoral College rules to take the Presidency, despite losing the popular vote.

The really crazy thing is that in half the states the electors aren't legally bound to vote according to the popular vote.

I wonder what would happen if enough electors who should vote for the winner (e.g Obama) turned unfaithful and
a) voted for the other candidate, giving him/her the necessary absolute majority, or
b) voted for a 3rd person or didn't vote at all, so that no candidate gets the absolute majority. According to the constitution the House has to determine a winner among the 3 who gained the most elector votes, with each state having one vote.

In the current climate don't see either happen without major civil unrest even though it would all be perfectly legal.

marton · #**12625** 12.04.2018, 23:19

	Quote:	Urs Max
	The really crazy thing is that in half the states the electors aren't legally bound to vote according to the popular vote. I wonder what would happen if enough electors who should vote for the winner (e.g Obama) turned unfaithful and a) voted for the other candidate, giving him/her the necessary absolute majority, or b) voted for a 3rd person or didn't vote at all, so that no candidate gets the absolute majority. According to the constitution the House has to determine a winner among the 3 who gained the most elector votes, with each state having one vote. In the current climate don't see either happen without major civil unrest even though it would all be perfectly legal.

Trump garnered more than the 270 electoral votes required to win, even as at least half a dozen U.S. electors broke with tradition to vote against their own state’s directives, the largest number of “faithless electors” seen in more than a century.

At least four Democratic electors voted for someone other than Clinton, while two Republicans turned their backs on Trump.

marton · #**12626** 13.04.2018, 09:49

GOP unveils mock cover of Comey book with ‘ego’ attack

Source

GOP are mounting a big campaign to discredit the Comey book!
After reading the excerpts published so far the book reads exactly like something written by an ex-policeman, maybe there will be more interesting stuff later?

Meanwhile MSNBC host Rachel Maddow drew more viewers on Wednesday night than Fox News’ Sean Hannity, despite President Trump promoting the latter’s broadcast about "deep state crime families".
Maddow's show was mostly about Trump but not praising him.

Source

It is claimed MSNBC is the only cable news network gaining viewers and is now No. 2 behind Fox News.

Reb77Br · #**12627** 13.04.2018, 10:27

The Iraq WMD situation seems to have been a classic example of the boy who cried wolf, causing people to disbelieve any similar pronouncements.

I see that Comey has compared Trump to a "mob boss". Maybe not such a surprise, if he did business with them for his concrete.

James Comey: Republican website trashes 'lyin' FBI memoir

"In an interview, Mr Comey likens Mr Trump to a "mob boss".

According to excerpts of the book obtained by the Washington Post, Mr Comey writes that interactions with Mr Trump gave him "flashbacks to my earlier career as a prosecutor against the Mob. The silent circle of assent. The boss in complete control. The loyalty oaths. The us-versus-them worldview. The lying about all things, large and small, in service to some code of loyalty that put the organisation above morality and above the truth"."

FrankZappa · #**12628** 13.04.2018, 10:28

Here's a thoughtful article on American conservative politics. A pleasant change from the ranting on both sides:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/o...ight-gop.html?

From it I learnt the expression "ecstatic schadenfreude". There's been a lot of that around here lately.

Urs Max · #**12629** 13.04.2018, 13:36

	Quote:
	Trump garnered more than the 270 electoral votes required to win, even as at least half a dozen U.S. electors broke with tradition to vote against their own state’s directives, the largest number of “faithless electors” seen in more than a century. At least four Democratic electors voted for someone other than Clinton, while two Republicans turned their backs on Trump.

Sure, it's nothing new. But so far the faithless didn't change the outcome.

marton · #**12630** 13.04.2018, 14:20

	Quote:	FrankZappa
	Here's a thoughtful article on American conservative politics. A pleasant change from the ranting on both sides: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/o...ight-gop.html? From it I learnt the expression "ecstatic schadenfreude". There's been a lot of that around here lately.

From your link

	Quote:
	about 300 years ago something that he calls “the Miracle” happened. “the Miracle ushered in a philosophy that says each person is to be judged and respected on account of their own merits, not the class or caste of their ancestors.”

300 years ago??
The author seems to have missed more recent events like

June 19, 1865, announcement of the abolition of slavery
Native American reservations and Indian wars
Legal segregation of schools was stopped in the U.S. after Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
All legally enforced public segregation was abolished by the Civil Rights Act of 1964

marton · #**12631** 13.04.2018, 14:29

	Quote:	Reb77Br
	The Iraq WMD situation seems to have been a classic example of the boy who cried wolf, causing people to disbelieve any similar pronouncements. I see that Comey has compared Trump to a "mob boss". Maybe not such a surprise, if he did business with them for his concrete. James Comey: Republican website trashes 'lyin' FBI memoir "In an interview, Mr Comey likens Mr Trump to a "mob boss". According to excerpts of the book obtained by the Washington Post, Mr Comey writes that interactions with Mr Trump gave him "flashbacks to my earlier career as a prosecutor against the Mob. The silent circle of assent. The boss in complete control. The loyalty oaths. The us-versus-them worldview. The lying about all things, large and small, in service to some code of loyalty that put the organisation above morality and above the truth"."

Respondents to an ABC News-Washington Post poll taken April 8-11 said that Comey is “more believable” than Trump by a 48-32 margin.
Source

From the same poll

The public by a broad 69-25 percent supports Mueller’s initial thrust, to investigate possible collusion between Trump campaign officials and Russian government attempts to influence the 2016 election.
Americans by 2-1, 64-32 percent, also support Mueller’s investigating Trump’s business activities.
by 58-35 percent, a 23-point margin, they support investigators’ latest apparent direction, looking at allegations that Trump’s associates paid hush money to women who say they had affairs with him.

FrankZappa · #**12632** 13.04.2018, 14:56

Here are some quotes from Comey's book. They are not about Trump's appalling acts, but about his mob-boss character. So the Republican sponsored website (LyinComey.com) accusing him of lying is off target.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...xcerpts-522042

taduncombe · #**12633** 13.04.2018, 15:03

	Quote:	FrankZappa
	Here's a thoughtful article on American conservative politics. A pleasant change from the ranting on both sides: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/o...ight-gop.html?

	Quote:	marton
	300 years ago?? The author seems to have missed more recent events like June 19, 1865, announcement of the abolition of slavery Native American reservations and Indian wars Legal segregation of schools was stopped in the U.S. after Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. All legally enforced public segregation was abolished by the Civil Rights Act of 1964

I also have a hard time taking this seriously... IMO, "identity politics" is a lazy pejorative used to dismiss political movements. Brooks disagrees with the right's ethnonationalism and the left's focus on racial inequality (e.g. criminal justice reform or affirmative action), and he should just come out and make the argument explicitly. The holier-than-thou "both sides are tribes but I'M THE honest, rational, and moral broker" is tiresome. Especially when it comes from a guy who's spent his career arguing that his political solutions are derived from the right set of Christian values. Identity politics is his career, he needs to look in the mirror.

Reb77Br · #**12634** 13.04.2018, 15:37

Can't help but think of that scene in the Dead Zone. Hopefully it won't come to this.

The Missiles Are Flying - The Dead Zone (9/10) Movie CLIP (1983) HD
Donald Trump in The Dead Zone

taduncombe · #**12635** 13.04.2018, 15:57

Uh oh, Trump's morning briefing: https://twitter.com/MattGertz/status/984773385598242818

	Quote:
	"If the President, and France and the UK decide to strike Syria, don't you think that story would be a bigger story than Comey's book that's released on Tuesday?"

Pst Fox News. You're not supposed to suggest PR strategies that involve starting a war.

I would not be surprised if this was their strategy. Though I'd bet they'd time it with firing Rosenstein.

marton · #**12636** 13.04.2018, 17:38

Claimed to be a preview of the April 23rd © Time Magazine cover
I assume he will fill his club houses with copies.
Name: stormy.jpg
Views: 308
Size: 89.4 KB

taduncombe · #**12637** 13.04.2018, 18:05

	Quote:	Reb77Br
	The Iraq WMD situation seems to have been a classic example of the boy who cried wolf, causing people to disbelieve any similar pronouncements.

I agree with this take. I think Bush's lies about WMD's & Tony Blair's complicity with the Iraq War have had a big impact on our psychology. I despise Trump, but until he lies us into an armed conflict that kills 250k people Bush will forever hold the mantle as the worst president in modern history.

	Quote:
	In October 2002, Bush said that Saddam Hussein had a "massive stockpile" of biological weapons. But as CIA Director George Tenet noted in early 2004, the CIA had informed policymakers it had "no specific information on the types or quantities of weapons agent or stockpiles at Baghdad's disposal." The "massive stockpile" was just literally made up. In December 2002, Bush declared, "We do not know whether or not [Iraq] has a nuclear weapon." That was not what the National Intelligence Estimate said. As Tenet would later testify, "We said that Saddam did not have a nuclear weapon and probably would have been unable to make one until 2007 to 2009." Bush did know whether or not Iraq had a nuclear weapon — and lied and said he didn’t know to hype the threat. On CNN in September 2002, Condoleezza Rice claimed that aluminum tubes purchased by Iraq were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs." This was precisely the opposite of what nuclear experts at the Energy Department were saying; they argue that not only was it very possible the tubes were for nonnuclear purposes but that it was very likely they were too. Even more dire assessments about the tubes from other agencies were exaggerated by administration officials — and in any case, the claim that they’re "only really suited" for nuclear weapons is just false. On numerous occasions, Dick Cheney cited a report that 9/11 conspirator Mohammed Atta had met in Prague with an Iraqi intelligence officer. He said this after the CIA and FBI concluded that this meeting never took place. More generally on the question of Iraq and al-Qaeda, on September 18, 2001, Rice received a memo summarizing intelligence on the relationship, which concluded there was little evidence of links. Nonetheless Bush continued to claim that Hussein was "a threat because he’s dealing with al-Qaeda" more than a year later. In August 2002, Dick Cheney declared, "Simply stated, there's no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction." But as Corn notes, at that time there was "no confirmed intelligence at this point establishing that Saddam had revived a major WMD operation." Gen. Anthony Zinni, who had heard the same intelligence and attended Cheney’s speech, would later say in a documentary, "It was a total shock. I couldn't believe the vice president was saying this, you know? In doing work with the CIA on Iraq WMD, through all the briefings I heard at Langley, I never saw one piece of credible evidence that there was an ongoing program.

Worth mentioning that the man Trump just pardoned, Scooter Libby, played a major role in this deceit.

me.anon · #**12638** 13.04.2018, 21:38

So, what is the truth about the Duoma alleged "Chemical Incident" trumpeted by Trump as the works of some depraved animal ?

Is it that it is as presented at the UN, in the main stream media and elsewhere that Assad, despite having an assured victory in immediate grasp, suddenly loses control of his senses, deliberately launches a chemical weapons attack in an area he is just about to take control of, knowing that it would invite massive retribution from those seeking his downfall?

Is it that Britain in a high energy battle with France to retain its title as the US's most devout lackey, connives in the fabrication of the Duoma incident (and maybe also the Salisbury incident) to present these as a trophy to the US deep state to fill the gap now that the Trump/Russiagate marathon appears to run out of steam?

Is it something in between ?

I am, of course, completely neutral on this and prepared to keep an open mind, that is apart from the desire not to see this metaphorise into WW3. But now that Russia has been able to interview some of the chief actors in the "Chemical Scene" I'm sure that some interesting details will emerge which may help to clarify the situation.

#**12639** 13.04.2018, 23:11

So how about this as an alternative:

http://www.facebook.com/indycargordo...4608657901783/

discuss.

Blueangel · #**12640** 13.04.2018, 23:50

	Quote:	me.anon
	Is it something in between ?

That's about the size of it.

Video evidence comes from a dodgy source, the White Helmets. UN make the logical step of proposing that the Security Council set up a Syria chemical weapons probe (who the hell would want that job?!!) Russia and Bolivia vetoed this and China abstained (quelle surprise).

Russia turns round and claims that it was all a set up job by the UK in league with the White Helmets

Do they mean the same Uk that has spent the last 20yrs shrinking it's armed forces to a size that could probably just about thwart an attack by Iceland?

St. Jeremy of Islington wants to have peace talks before things go any further. What do you think the UN Security Council have been trying to do Jezza, you total wazzock? Is anyone else reminded of George Galloway going off to meet Saddam, claiming to represent the people of the UK?

It's all gone Pete Tong.

But why is Putin being such a dick about all this? Is the East Med pipeline a threat to his plans for the Turkish pipeline, so he needs to keep Syria unstable? I can't see that it is, but who knows what goes on in his head. I don't see what anyone's got to gain by all of this, and have a sneaking suspicion that Trump is ridiculously and scarily out of his depth.