On 10/5/2019 at 8:49 PM, Brisbot said:

I think it'll cause a portion to break off, but remember Trump has said before that "he was just working in the system" and I'm sure his excuse will work again. I think he'd keep most of his support.

No, I think we’ll find out how much debt he’s in with sketchy entities as well as more details of his ineptitude as a businessman.

  On 9/30/2019 at 10:20 PM, ignatius said:

stands like a centaur w/o its hind legs. 

his twitter shit is off the rails of course. threatening a whistleblower is illegal and in itself an impeachable act under normal circumstances but wtf is normal these days.. who the hell knows. 

 

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  On 10/6/2019 at 4:16 PM, Candiru said:

No, I think we’ll find out how much debt he’s in with sketchy entities as well as more details of his ineptitude as a businessman.

From what I understand, he's been in the pocket of Russian interests since his multiple bankruptcies in the 90s.  No one legit would touch him after that.

^ Did you know? Bankrupting casinos is a great way to launder large sums of money

Did you know? One out of three Trump supporters is just as stupid as the other two

More tax return shit-go-downs

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49963910

  On 10/7/2019 at 4:54 PM, BobDobalina said:

More tax return shit-go-downs

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49963910

wow

  Quote

In his 75-page decision on Monday, Judge Victor Marrero said he could not allow a "categorical and limitless assertion of presidential immunity from judicial process".

"The only truly absolute about presidential immunity from criminal process is the Constitution' s silence about the existence and contours of such an exemption," he wrote.

Judge Marrero concluded that the president's argument, at its core, was "repugnant to the nation's governmental structure and constitutional values".

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this could work against that OLC opinion memo about presidents not being indictable, which the constitution says nothing about, even though the framers certainly thought about the question. already we seem to have a ruling from a judge that may bear more weight, and is explicitly in contradiction with it.

  On 10/7/2019 at 5:32 PM, very honest said:

this could work against that OLC opinion memo about presidents not being indictable, which the constitution says nothing about, even though the framers certainly thought about the question. already we seem to have a ruling from a judge that may bear more weight, and is explicitly in contradiction with it.

Don't think that is the case. Criminal process (or rather, an investigation) is different to an indictment of a sitting president. Just like Mueller already did an investigation into the presidents behaviour, but couldn't indict him (or rather, couldn't come to a "guilty" verdict because indictment wasn't an option). The investigation itself was not the issue.

  On 10/7/2019 at 6:32 PM, goDel said:

Don't think that is the case. Criminal process (or rather, an investigation) is different to an indictment of a sitting president. Just like Mueller already did an investigation into the presidents behaviour, but couldn't indict him (or rather, couldn't come to a "guilty" verdict because indictment wasn't an option). The investigation itself was not the issue.

i think you're incorrect to define criminal process as investigation alone. also, the term "judicial process" clearly does not refer to investigaton.  "judicial process" and "criminal process" include indictment.

donnie makes a thoughtless decision to pull military support in northern Syria, essentially giving Vlad's boy Assad the green light to invade. a lot of R's are pissed off about it:

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/07/trump-turkey-syria-invasion-037052

donnie don't care of course, because donnie already knows how this shit will play out, and if you don't listen to him then he will just fuckin kill you:

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“As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!),”

  On 10/5/2019 at 5:51 PM, Candiru said:

I think it’ll be a big deal when we get his taxes in some form and people can see just how mobbed up/fake rich he is. It will seem even more ridiculous to defend him and his whole image will disintegrate right in front of all his supporters. 

This is why the impeachment is a good move, there have already been insanely damning reports destroying the perceptions of Trump wealth being substantive investment and real estate, the NYT piece in October particular, and yet these incredible journalistic efforts of years are sidelined after a few days, maybe a week, in the news cycle. If scandals can't do it alone then everything legally possible until Nov. 2020 to at least show on record that he is corrupt and force the GOP to make a decision on whether to finally turn or to stick with the path to being full-on authoritarians with a despot leader. 

People should just ignore him. I think that would hurt him the most. Just like in that episode of The Simpsons where the only way to kill brand mascots is to simply not look.

Copying and pasting this from my own FB:

This will probably be buried by domestic news by the end of the day, but as an occasional military history aficionado here's a FYI about US approval of Turkey's operation to occupy a buffer zone in Northern Syria, know in the region by it's citizens as Rojava.

The move by the Trump administration is completely and utterly in the economic and strategic interest of appeasing Turkey. The bulk of their press release is deceitful, it is neither saving money nor withdrawing US military operations in the greater region. It comes at the expense of Kurdish-lead SDF allies who were crucial in containing ISIL and protecting secular citizens and ethnic and religious minorities in Syria. It falls in line with the administration's cynical and immoral pragmatism to support Saudi Arabia. Many opponents will point to this being related to Russian and Iranian appeasement, but this argument is missing the bigger issue, which is the threat of Turkish invasion of the most secular and progressive de facto state in the middle east.

The decision to move American forces out of Rojava completely is being touted as a pragmatic, cost-saving move by Trump and a move toward non-intervention. Neither is true. The administration doesn't completely hide his cynical "America First" tone but it does effectively mask the ultra-realpolitik reality of the decision. ISIS is not defeated, it's been contained by proxy allies ground forces with NATO and the US assistance via air strikes, select intel, and planning. The claim of saving taxpayer money is an outright lie. The US military overseas operation budget has ballooned from $69 billion this year to $174 billion allocated for 2020, not including additional $26 billion in operational spending. It will likely be higher, compounded by redundant and ineffective spending and private no-bid contracts.

Turkey, not any of the countries Trump has criticized, has been the least consistent adversary of ISIL. Experts note that further Turkish interventions will likely spur an ISIS resurgence. Kurdish forces hold many imprisoned ISIL fighters whereas Turkey has notoriously been on of the biggest enablers of the group, fighting them as needed but ignoring them while targeting Kurdish forces in past skirmishes. In many cases Turkish entities have supported ISIL financially through corrupt oil purchases and by letting captured fighters free. Turkish goals domestically and beyond it's borders have been overtly nationalistic and authoritarian with a specific goal: prevent a autonomous and independent Kurdish state from existing.

This post is not making the case for or against greater US involvement in Rojava or Syria overall. I posted this because I think it's crucial to be reminded that the spin surrounding US foreign policy is so warped that most of the public is finding itself debating issues not grounded in comprehensive understanding but instead with the confines of political maneuvering by elected officials.

^ thanks @joshuatxuk. I, like probably so many others, don't know a lot about the background with what's going on in Syria/Turkey. I'd also bet that trump hasn't a clue either and made the decision just to spite Obama/the dems, and to get a pat on the back from boss Putin. 

  On 10/7/2019 at 9:11 PM, Squee said:

People should just ignore him. I think that would hurt him the most.

I agree, but easier said than done. I mean I'd ignore it all if I could, but that would pretty much mean not using the internet.

I've said it before - the media is to blame for a huge chunk of this shit show. On one hand they hate him, because he's such a loud mouth unlikable idiot that makes himself such an easy target, but they also are addicted to him because he creates such incredible headlines. And then of course there's the train wreck aspect of all of it, that the media reports on everything he does because it's just so peculiar and fascinating for everyone to watch. But yeah, if the media could come to a consensus to stop covering him so intensely (or an outright ban on trump stories), then he would lose a huge chunk of power he currently controls. Of course that's never going to happen, so we'll just keep doing this over and over for the next 1-5 years. One thing I'm afraid of is that even after he's done playing president, we're still going to have to read about the stupid shit he tweets out...

  On 10/7/2019 at 10:53 PM, zero said:

I've said it before - the media is to blame for a huge chunk of this shit show.

Yeah, my comment was directed at the media as well. But they need cra-aaa-aa-aaazy headlines to pull in readers.

i like how this syria/turkey thing is the last straw for some conservatives. 

  On 10/7/2019 at 11:53 PM, Nebraska said:

i like how this syria/turkey thing is the last straw for some conservatives. 

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lol wtf

700 Club and Pat Roberterson have always been a cancer.. a scam. a con. truly.  there's stories about that guy and chartered planes going to africa to get diamonds and shit. al kinds of insidious shit. 

he's said so much stupid shit over the years. 

"in my great and unmatched wisdom"?? flol

re: negative press covfefe pros and cons, I agree that the major media outlets gonked up the 2016 election pretty hard with the constant trump stories and false equivalency with Hillary's blunders. however, at this point, most of the stories about trump's incompetence and lies are actually important and have historical implications. they'd be wrong to ignore his behavior in hopes that he pipes down when ignored (i don't think that's a typical response for a shunned narcissist anyway). and at this point they're pretty self aware about their impact - ari melber, for instance, often speaks of his network's past behavior and the trouble it has caused, and I'm pretty sure I even saw a bit where he mused on how/if the media can responsibly navigate this greasy horror show. opinion pieces aren't really worth watching or reading unless you're a politics junkie, but investigative journalism, shitty as it may be sometimes, has definitely exposed a lot of deeply serious issues with this administration. i don't think plugging our ears is gonna help us out of this mess. just my 2. i also feel like I've written this post before. chalking that up to timewarp trump fatigue. 

Turkey:

EXCLUSIVE: OFFICIAL WHO HEARD CALL SAYS TRUMP GOT 'ROLLED' BY TURKEY AND 'HAS NO SPINE'

https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-official-who-heard-call-says-trump-got-rolled-turkey-has-no-spine-1463623

'The President eats his own': Military veterans in Congress unload on Trump for abandoning a US ally in the ISIS fight

https://www.businessinsider.com/military-veterans-against-trump-abandon-kurds-turkey-2019-10

Just Hours After Trump Bends to Erdoğan, Reports Indicate Turkey's Bombing of Syrian Kurds Has Begun

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/07/just-hours-after-trump-bends-erdogan-reports-indicate-turkeys-bombing-syrian-kurds

even that slicked up shit stain lindsey graham came out against trump on this. 

pretty sure Erdogan has some tapes of trump or something.. and is using them as leverage. is there any country out there that doesn't have leverage over trump? he's compromised everywhere. 

  On 10/8/2019 at 12:31 AM, ignatius said:

700 Club and Pat Roberterson have always been a cancer.. a scam. a con.

Interesting that Trump's adultery, lying, cheating, and stealing are somehow ok, but removing troops in Syria/turkey are what's going to keep him from going to heaven. Fucking lol

  On 10/8/2019 at 2:43 AM, zero said:

Interesting that Trump's adultery, lying, cheating, and stealing are somehow ok, but removing troops in Syria/turkey are what's going to keep him from going to heaven. Fucking lol

goD uSeS iMpErFEcT vESsELs but fuck w/the jesus plan and oh well you get a tongue lashing from a puffed up geriatric religious con who's smoothed over with vaseline, probably. 

  On 10/8/2019 at 2:40 AM, ignatius said:

 

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You know I've always found it odd that conservatives like a president who they would HATE to be around if they actually knew someone like him. No one likes a narcissistic sociopath, but for some reason people think they make great authoritarian leaders.

I recently asked a conservative buddy of mine  why he voted for him and he flat out said "No one voted for Trump for his moral character, they voted for him because he said he would drain the swamp." and I just replied "He is the exact type of person who owns the swamp. Why would you expect this guy with horrible morals to be telling you the truth when he says he wants to get rid of the corruption? Why would you expect this super rich guy with zero moral character to give a crap about some random workers from a random state?" 

Then he just changed the topic instead of answering then I just dropped the political talk.

  On 10/8/2019 at 12:31 AM, ignatius said:

700 Club and Pat Roberterson have always been a cancer.. a scam. a con. truly.  there's stories about that guy and chartered planes going to africa to get diamonds and shit. al kinds of insidious shit. 

he's said so much stupid shit over the years. 

There's a morning show I occasionally listen to and they rag on megachurch and grifter pastors in general but they are obsessed with Pat in particular. He's like a Crypt Keeper puppet in stature in a David Bryne size suit, and for as much stupid shit he's uttered at this point it's hard for me not to feel a little bad for this shell of a shell of a person regurgitating his clusterfuck of religious dogma and warped worldview in this kind of endless, circular, algorithm-esque soup of words. I have to remind myself how much he's help brainwash the US public and appeased right-wing leaders to eliminate that inherent empathy. In that sense there's even a bit of schadenfreude for me seeing these televangelists struggle with the mental gymnastic routines. 

  On 10/8/2019 at 3:51 AM, joshuatxuk said:

There's a morning show I occasionally listen to and they rag on megachurch and grifter pastors in general but they are obsessed with Pat in particular. He's like a Crypt Keeper puppet in stature in a David Bryne size suit, and for as much stupid shit he's uttered at this point it's hard for me not to feel a little bad for this shell of a shell of a person regurgitating his clusterfuck of religious dogma and warped worldview in this kind of endless, circular, algorithm-esque soup of words. I have to remind myself how much he's help brainwash the US public and appeased right-wing leaders to eliminate that inherent empathy. In that sense there's even a bit of schadenfreude for me seeing these televangelists struggle with the mental gymnastic routines. 

not to mention all the gay bashing, taking money from old people, dogma against  any kind of cultural 'progress'.  for a long long time he's spewing the hate. he doesn't deserve your pity. if he's stuck in a loop of horse shit it's his own fault. maybe on his deathbed he'll realize but i doubt it.. i'm sure he thins he's doing the lords work and he's somehow relevant and important and deserves the position he has. 

his son is also a shit stain. he's following in his dad's footsteps. 

The GOP are basically the al-Qaeda of Christianity at this point