U.S. Politics megathread (merged)

[Watt-Zeefuik]

3 hours ago, Maple Leaf said:

 

In Trump's eyes Venezuelans are brown people, therefore a threat to the southern border of the USA.  I very much doubt if he's losing any sleep over their deaths.  

 

More than that, they have oil that they for some reason demand to have control over rather than hand it all over to US-based oil corps.

 

Maduro's government is a mess but US-backed coups rarely end well.

[Bindy Badgy]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mueller-testimony-congress-trump-russia-report-investigation-nadler-a8894761.html?fbclid=IwAR07WU420VFhy1UQ0LowkXYQXwJHZFqLTUHL7jgJ25q8X9V5WFv_En5BQic&utm_source=reddit.com

Quote

 

A deal has been brokered for Robert Mueller to testify to Congress about his report into Russian election interference and possible obstruction of justice by Donald Trump – an event that has immediately become the latest, most eagerly anticipated appearance of an official on Capitol Hill.

 

As it emerged Mr Mueller had written to the department of justice to say he did not believe attorney general William Barr’s four-page summary of his 450-page report correctly captured its context and content, a Democratic congressman said the 74-year-old special counsel would likely appear some time this month. It would be the first public appearance by Mr Mueller for more than two years.

 

 

 

 

[Maple Leaf]

If Trump and his acolytes can shout "Witch Hunt" at every opportunity, when referring to the Mueller report, I guess it's OK for Trump opponents to shout "Cover Up."

[Sidelight]

Witch-Hunt!

[JackLadd]

Liar Barr refusing to appear in font of the House committee or release the unredacted report to them .This is the biggest cover up in history. 

[ri Alban]

7 hours ago, alfajambo said:

Witch-Hunt!

Cover Up!!

[Maple Leaf]

15 hours ago, alfajambo said:

Witch-Hunt!

 

Hi Donald.

[Sidelight]

4 hours ago, Maple Leaf said:

 

Hi Donald.

Acolyte, what a beautiful word, really very beautiful.

Adding it to my limited vocab.

Acolyte a beautiful word.?‍♂️?‍♂️

[milky_26]

pelosi calls barr a liar

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-48138433

[Maple Leaf]

1 hour ago, milky_26 said:

pelosi calls barr a liar

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-48138433

 

You know that the country is messed up when the Attorney General of the USA lies to Congress in order to protect a lying President.

 

If I remember Sunday school correctly, "Thou shall not bear false witness" is one of the Ten Commandments. It's not clear to me why Trump's stalwart Evangelical allies give him a pass on that.  

[Sharpie]

On CNN it showed Barr making a wee slip up yesterday when refrerring to Executive Privilege he used the term we when discussing whether it should be implemented by Trumps aides. Of course there is no  "we" in  this matter, he Barr is the Attorney General of the United States as such he will not be part of that decision by the President, his lawyers of which Barr is not one will make the decision"

[Sidelight]

Don’t like the message, lets shoot the messenger.

The democrat acolytes are exploding in their own smoke.

With the Mueller Report coming up short, they are living in fear and dread that coup men will be hauled over the coals and held accountable for their tyranny by the justice system. Its happening.

[Maple Leaf]

Several hundred former Justice Department officials have signed a letter saying that Trump should be charged with obstruction of justice. Some of them are stating publicly that the case would be easily provable and easily winnable.  These people are both Republicans and Democrats, have worked for different administrations, and come from nearly every state in the union. They say that any person other than the POTUS would already be under indictment.  All of this is based on what is written in the Mueller report.

 

However, Trump appointee AG William Barr is not only NOT charging Trump, but he is refusing a request from Congress to provide an un-redacted copy of the Mueller report.  At the same time, Trump appointee Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, has declined a request from Congress to provide a copy of Trump's tax returns.  

 

I remember when Trump won the election many of us were saying that the checks and balances in the US government would keep the President Con Man under control.  We were wrong.  The Con Man has the so-called checks and balances working on his behalf.

[Sharpie]

Senator Lindsey Graham in 2015 referred in a disdainful mocking way to presidential candidate Donald Trump as a cook.  He now panders to that same cook, who is actually proving the 2015 Graham correct. So much for the quality of the potential checkers and balancers.

 

I am sure he, Graham with the other Senate Republicans will support Trump the cook, in his request for reparation for the two years of his presidency that were wasted because of the Russia probe, he Trump feels that two years should be restored to him.

I do have some sympathy for Trump if Bolton gets his way U.S. will instigate military action against Iran, poor Donald if he hears the word war, will immediately be struck down with painful bone spurs.

[Maple Leaf]

29 minutes ago, bobsharp said:

Senator Lindsey Graham in 2015 referred in a disdainful mocking way to presidential candidate Donald Trump as a cook.  He now panders to that same cook, who is actually proving the 2015 Graham correct. So much for the quality of the potential checkers and balancers.

 

I am sure he, Graham with the other Senate Republicans will support Trump the cook, in his request for reparation for the two years of his presidency that were wasted because of the Russia probe, he Trump feels that two years should be restored to him.

I do have some sympathy for Trump if Bolton gets his way U.S. will instigate military action against Iran, poor Donald if he hears the word war, will immediately be struck down with painful bone spurs.

 

I wonder if any Republican will ask Trump for reparations to the American people for Trump's excessive golfing while in office?

 

As of May 4,2019, Trump has played golf on one of his own properties, or elsewhere, 187 times during his Presidency. The cost to the taxpayers for his travel and security runs into tens of millions of dollars.  This is the guy who conned the voters during the election campaign by saying that he would be too busy to play golf, or even leave Washington.  

 

https://thegolfnewsnet.com/golfnewsnetteam/2019/05/05/how-many-times-president-donald-trump-played-golf-in-office-103836/

[Watt-Zeefuik]

4 hours ago, Maple Leaf said:

Several hundred former Justice Department officials have signed a letter saying that Trump should be charged with obstruction of justice. Some of them are stating publicly that the case would be easily provable and easily winnable.  These people are both Republicans and Democrats, have worked for different administrations, and come from nearly every state in the union. They say that any person other than the POTUS would already be under indictment.  All of this is based on what is written in the Mueller report.

 

However, Trump appointee AG William Barr is not only NOT charging Trump, but he is refusing a request from Congress to provide an un-redacted copy of the Mueller report.  At the same time, Trump appointee Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, has declined a request from Congress to provide a copy of Trump's tax returns.  

 

I remember when Trump won the election many of us were saying that the checks and balances in the US government would keep the President Con Man under control.  We were wrong.  The Con Man has the so-called checks and balances working on his behalf.

 

Technically, they didn't say he *should* be charged with a crime, they said if he weren't President, he *would have been* charged with obstruction. It's standing Justice policy that the President can't be indicted by the Justice department. The proper mode of prosecuting Presidential crimes is impeachment, at least under DoJ policy.

 

And yet the chief arch-villain behind all of this, Mitch McConnell, stood up in the Senate to say it was "case closed" and the Democrats should stop investigating.

 

The current GOP is the most corrupt major political party in American history, at least since the Federalists imploded.

[Unknown user]

Tax returns incoming

 

Actually, scratch that, not the full returns, but enough for a laugh!

 

What a successful businessman!

 

Edited May 8, 2019 by Smithee

[Jambo-Jimbo]

28 minutes ago, Smithee said:

Tax returns incoming

 

Actually, scratch that, not the full returns, but enough for a laugh!

 

What a successful businessman!

 

 

The returns are for the period of 1985-1994 and many of those losses were known about back then.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/07/us/politics/donald-trump-taxes.html

 

The returns which everybody wants to see are the ones from the last decade or so.

[Unknown user]

21 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

The returns are for the period of 1985-1994 and many of those losses were known about back then.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/07/us/politics/donald-trump-taxes.html

 

The returns which everybody wants to see are the ones from the last decade or so.

I'll take your word for that, I haven't seen most of this before, I didn't know that in some years he lost more money than nearly any other taxpayer in America.

What buffoon!

Edited May 8, 2019 by Smithee

[Jambo-Jimbo]

20 minutes ago, Smithee said:

I'll take your word for that, I haven't seen most of this before, I didn't know that in some years he lost more money than nearly any other taxpayer in America.

What buffoon!

 

Forbes article from 2011 about Trump and his bankruptcies etc etc.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2011/04/29/fourth-times-a-charm-how-donald-trump-made-bankruptcy-work-for-him/#15e126377ffa

Edited May 8, 2019 by Jambo-Jimbo

[Unknown user]

3 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

Forbes article from 2011 about Trump and his bankruptcies etc etc.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2011/04/29/fourth-times-a-charm-how-donald-trump-made-bankruptcy-work-for-him/#15e126377ffa

This I've read before, the information from 85-94 in the article you posted from yesterday I hadn't.

 

But what a ridder!

 

[Bindy Badgy]

 

 

1

19 hours ago, Maple Leaf said:

I remember when Trump won the election many of us were saying that the checks and balances in the US government would keep the President Con Man under control.  We were wrong.  The Con Man has the so-called checks and balances working on his behalf.

 

The whole checks and balances thing that kept being trotted out before the election never made sense to me. People seemed to be talking about voting for him because he wouldn't be able to **** things up too badly. Why not vote for someone that wouldn't attempt to **** things up in the first place?

[JackLadd]

Biggest loser and conman in America from 85 to 94. You can see why this lying crook is keen to hide more recent returns. 

[ri Alban]

Surely the American people must be ready to rid the place of Trump. You don't hide the report for no good reason.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

3 hours ago, ri Alban said:

Surely the American people must be ready to rid the place of Trump. You don't hide the report for no good reason.

 

His base don't care what he does, he could shoot somebody on 5th Avenue and they'd still vote for him, this is how fecked up in the heid these people are.

As long as the Republican party back him he's going nowhere.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

And the economy, he'll be in until that begins to falter, then he'll be out on his neck.

[ri Alban]

2 hours ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

And the economy, he'll be in until that begins to falter, then he'll be out on his neck.

Quite soon, I hear.

[Maple Leaf]

3 hours ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

And the economy, he'll be in until that begins to falter, then he'll be out on his neck.

 

57 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

Quite soon, I hear.

 

The Conman still has a couple of aces up his sleeve.  Go to war with Iran or invade Venezuela.  Either of those will see the American people rally around their leader.  It works every time.

[Sharpie]

1 minute ago, Maple Leaf said:

 

 

The Conman still has a couple of aces up his sleeve.  Go to war with Iran or invade Venezuela.  Either of those will see the American people rally around their leader.  It works every time.

 

Venezuela his troops will be possibly facing the presently there , Russians, Chinese and Cubans who support the other side. Iran can be defeated but their miltary are no bunch of poorly trainend and equipped Arabs, they have a very efficient navy and army.

 

His problem with the trade talks with China, is it appears quite serious and could end up in an all out trade war, like the rest of us when the problems hit our wallets we can turn on our heroes.

 

The saddest aspect of the whole Trump saga is that the opposition who should be having an easy time of disposing of him, led by the dentally challenged Pelosi, are doing themselves more harm than they have done to Trump.

 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

21 minutes ago, Maple Leaf said:

 

 

The Conman still has a couple of aces up his sleeve.  Go to war with Iran or invade Venezuela.  Either of those will see the American people rally around their leader.  It works every time.

 

Indeed there is nothing quite like getting the public on your side with a bit of patriotic flag waving as the troops head overseas, of course you have to win the conflict for it to have the desired effect and it can very quickly go south when the body bags start returning, Venezuela should be easy enough, 'the mad mullahs' on the other hand, an altogether harder nut to crack, no pushover there.

[Boris]

31 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

Indeed there is nothing quite like getting the public on your side with a bit of patriotic flag waving as the troops head overseas, of course you have to win the conflict for it to have the desired effect and it can very quickly go south when the body bags start returning, Venezuela should be easy enough, 'the mad mullahs' on the other hand, an altogether harder nut to crack, no pushover there.

 

An incumbent US president has never lost an election while the country has been at war.

 

So an American told me at the time of the 2004 presidential election.

[SpruceBringsteen]

4 minutes ago, Boris said:

 

An incumbent US president has never lost an election while the country has been at war.

 

So an American told me at the time of the 2004 presidential election.

 

Depends on the definition of war...

 

https://www.globalresearch.ca/america-has-been-at-war-93-of-the-time-222-out-of-239-years-since-1776/5565946

[Maple Leaf]

37 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

Indeed there is nothing quite like getting the public on your side with a bit of patriotic flag waving as the troops head overseas, of course you have to win the conflict for it to have the desired effect and it can very quickly go south when the body bags start returning, Venezuela should be easy enough, 'the mad mullahs' on the other hand, an altogether harder nut to crack, no pushover there.

 

Any war against Iran would be a disaster for the Americans, imo. They're much bigger and stronger than Iraq, and the Iranians also have a close relationship with Russia.  But the present Administration wouldn't care about any of that.  They'd see a war as a re-election ploy, and it would probably work.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

54 minutes ago, Maple Leaf said:

 

Any war against Iran would be a disaster for the Americans, imo. They're much bigger and stronger than Iraq, and the Iranians also have a close relationship with Russia.  But the present Administration wouldn't care about any of that.  They'd see a war as a re-election ploy, and it would probably work.

 

Absolutely this, and there is probably a very good reason why any previous American administration hasn't went to war with Iran in the past.

One need only look at the Iran-Iraq war of the 80's and a heavily American backed Iraq failed to overcome much weaker Iranian forces.

[Sharpie]

The Iran, Iraq war was a brutal conflict, and it is well reported that gas and chemical weapons were used. Trump of course did promise that he would get the United States out of all these stupid primarily little Middle East wars, and save billions. It is hard to believe that a man of such sincerity would go against a campaign promise.

[Joey J J Jr Shabadoo]

Trump needs to keep the blood thirsty, religious right on side. Otherwise they'll vote for another patsy. 

[Watt-Zeefuik]

Ultimately unimportant, but seriously, how messed up do you have to be to do this?

 

 

[Watt-Zeefuik]

15 hours ago, ri Alban said:

Surely the American people must be ready to rid the place of Trump. You don't hide the report for no good reason.

 

We've never wanted him -- he lost the popular vote by millions, has never had a positive approval rating, and his recent high points in approval rating are closer to previous Presidents' lows.

 

But again, there's a good 40% of the country that actually likes what he's doing, and the geography of the states breaks down that, combined with voter suppression efforts, gives the GOP an advantage in the electoral college and the Senate.

 

A well-run opposition campaign should still be enough to defeat him. But it's not like he's ever ridden any approval high.

[King Of The Cat Cafe]

Last last year, the US postal service created a stamp with a picture of Donald Trump. The stamp was not sticking to envelopes and this enraged the President, who demanded a full investigation.

 

After a month of testing, the investigation commission presented the following findings:

1. The stamp is in perfect order.

2. There is nothing wrong with the applied adhesive.

3. People are spitting on the wrong side of the stamp.

[The Real Maroonblood]

2 hours ago, King Of The Cat Cafe said:

Last last year, the US postal service created a stamp with a picture of Donald Trump. The stamp was not sticking to envelopes and this enraged the President, who demanded a full investigation.

 

After a month of testing, the investigation commission presented the following findings:

1. The stamp is in perfect order.

2. There is nothing wrong with the applied adhesive.

3. People are spitting on the wrong side of the stamp.

[Maple Leaf]

4 hours ago, King Of The Cat Cafe said:

Last last year, the US postal service created a stamp with a picture of Donald Trump. The stamp was not sticking to envelopes and this enraged the President, who demanded a full investigation.

 

After a month of testing, the investigation commission presented the following findings:

1. The stamp is in perfect order.

2. There is nothing wrong with the applied adhesive.

3. People are spitting on the wrong side of the stamp.

That's pretty good!

[Watt-Zeefuik]

This isn't Trump directly, but Ben Shapiro is a right-wing doofus in this country.

 

He stormed out of an interview calling the interviewer a leftist and claiming it was to "make a quick buck" for the network.

 

The network was the BBC.

 

The interviewer was Andrew Neil, chair of the Spectator.

 

 

(oops, forgot the link: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/ben-shapiro-bbc-walks-out-interview)

Edited May 11, 2019 by Ugly American

[Sharpie]

You couldn't make it up, two years of Special Counsel, subpeonas all over the place, all because of alleged collusion with Russians during the election campaign. Suddenly it is announced that the newly dyed dark hair, Rudy Giulianni was planning to go to the Ukraine to try and get dirt on Joe Biden through his son's employment with a Ukrainean company, to supplement Trumps election chances.  Rudy claims nothing wrong with it there is no campaign yet so he can chat with  foreign personnel. Like one commentator said when discussing with a woman who mentioned Rudy was thinking about it, he commented your statement is useless, because you put Rudy and thinking in the same sentence. Rudy is now backing off because he now claims he thinks it was all a set up, how Trump can have this  old fool represent him in anything shows Trumps inability to gather the best people around him, another unkept promise.

[Captain Sausage]

9 hours ago, Ugly American said:

This isn't Trump directly, but Ben Shapiro is a right-wing doofus in this country.

 

He stormed out of an interview calling the interviewer a leftist and claiming it was to "make a quick buck" for the network.

 

The network was the BBC.

 

The interviewer was Andrew Neil, chair of the Spectator.

 

 

(oops, forgot the link: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/ben-shapiro-bbc-walks-out-interview)

 

Watched that. Fantastic viewing. Neil absolutely annihilated him. 

[Joey J J Jr Shabadoo]

Andrew Neil being accused of being a lefty.

 

[ri Alban]

Just a couple of arseholes. 

[Maple Leaf]

18 hours ago, Ugly American said:

This isn't Trump directly, but Ben Shapiro is a right-wing doofus in this country.

 

He stormed out of an interview calling the interviewer a leftist and claiming it was to "make a quick buck" for the network.

 

The network was the BBC.

 

The interviewer was Andrew Neil, chair of the Spectator.

 

 

(oops, forgot the link: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/ben-shapiro-bbc-walks-out-interview)

 

Thanks for posting that.  Huge entertainment!!

 

Shapiro seems to have a very thin skin.

[Sidelight]

25 minutes ago, Maple Leaf said:

 

Thanks for posting that.  Huge entertainment!!

 

Shapiro seems to have a very thin skin.

Yes perhaps.

However, Andrew Neil has spray on hair.

[jake]

 

[jake]

On 11/05/2019 at 20:54, Ugly American said:

This isn't Trump directly, but Ben Shapiro is a right-wing doofus in this country.

 

He stormed out of an interview calling the interviewer a leftist and claiming it was to "make a quick buck" for the network.

 

The network was the BBC.

 

The interviewer was Andrew Neil, chair of the Spectator.

 

 

(oops, forgot the link: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/ben-shapiro-bbc-walks-out-interview)

Andrew Neil rips everyone.