Lets see if we can keep this thread a little more civil.

I found this interview very interesting.  A lot of soft balls thrown at Trump, he explained his back pedalling on his more extreme issues as a lot of his claims as opening bids for negotiation purposes.  Which .. whatever .. I still think that those are insincere claims he used to get elected.

He does now come across way more presidential then he did prior to the election.  A lot of his noise, yelling, and rhetoric has been scaled back.

Do respect this one though:

Quote

 

Lesley Stahl: Are you gonna take the salary, the president’s salary?

Donald Trump: Well, I’ve never commented on this, but the answer is no. I think I have to by law take $1, so I’ll take $1 a year. But it’s a -- I don’t even know what it is.

Donald Trump: Do you know what the salary is?

Lesley Stahl: $400,000 you’re giving up.

Donald Trump: No, I’m not gonna take the salary. I’m not taking it.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-donald-trump-family-melania-ivanka-lesley-stahl/

Dude who ran his emails about those kids being actors has been fired.

Trump must have set a record for most number of staff charged with criminal offences. By a large margin. All in just over one year.

The absolutely mildest possible interpretation is that he has simply terrible judgment about who to surround himself with.

This would explain why he has had so many problems running a business.

Hiring terrible staff doesn't work.

 

Edited February 21, 20187 yr by Mark F

In the spirit of fairness, as far as possible collusion with the Russians.......perhaps he is just an "unwitting" tool.

Well, predictably.....those kids are currently getting a box barrage of crap, from a variety of Conservative pundits, outlets and social media posters

A number of alt-right sites - Brietbart, Infowars, Daily Caller, et al......maintain that the students are either the "victims" of mind control or are intimated by "left wing gun control activists.” They are also referred to as "Democratic plants"

Former U.S. Congressman Allen West, (Tea Party) lumped shooter Nikolas Cruz with five Americans of Middle Eastern descent who claimed connections to Muslim terror groups.

 Gateway Pundit, (another far-right, pro-Trump deal) calls one of the leading student voices “a paid plant.” Better yet, it features a picture of student David Hogg with a circle around his head, captioned: “Son of FBI agent.”

.......and as always, when you need real right wing pontification......there is ole Bill O'Reilly ✔ @BillOReilly

Quote

The big question is: should the media be promoting opinions by teenagers who are in an emotional state and facing extreme peer pressure in some cases?

No, the big question is.....should these teenagers be entitled to freely exercise their innate right to free speech and be able to express their honest feelings about a horrific and tragic event.....without their motives being completely politicized and smeared by cretins like Bill O'Reilly.  

If there is "peer pressure" at all .....it just might be..... to simply not accept being shot down like a bunch of chickens by a disgruntled kid who couldn't buy a Bud, in the state of Florida.... but could legally obtain 10 rifles and all the ammo he could carry.   Perhaps they feel that the status quo is unacceptable....and that something should be done
 

 

And on of the better replies to O'Reilly:

Here's a long but interesting thread on the Manafort situation:

 

Edited February 21, 20187 yr by Jacquie

For a total "Nothingburger".......this Mueller investigation appears to be causing a certain amount of indigestion.  
Then again, the concept of Russians interfering with the American election process, was simply "Fake News" and a "hoax"

The attacks on the kids in Florida are particularly despicable and indefensible.  But we are now in an age where everything is fair game.  Its quite sad.  The likelihood is nothing changes but boy I'd love to see a movement that attains critical mass that sees 18-25 year olds who dont normally vote end up coming out in full force for change.

4 hours ago, do or die said:

For a total "Nothingburger".......this Mueller investigation appears to be causing a certain amount of indigestion.  
Then again, the concept of Russians interfering with the American election process, was simply "Fake News" and a "hoax"

one thing I thought about today, many of these Trump associated people would rather make a plea bargain, than depend on Trump to help them out with a pardon, or sentence reduction. 

Who in their right mind would depend on Trump for something so important.

Bush/Cheney  helped "Scooter" Libby I think.

( when they revealed the identity of Valerie Plame, undercover CIA agent, working on Iran, nuclear proliferation as revenge for her husband exposing their yellowcake lies)

Exposing a high ranking CIA undercover agent for nothing more than political gain.

 Republican party is so full of patriots.  

 

Edited February 21, 20187 yr by Mark F

14 minutes ago, Mark F said:

one thing I thought about today, many of these Trump associated people would rather make a plea bargain, than depend on Trump to help them out with a pardon, or sentence reduction. 

Who in their right mind would depend on Trump for something so important.

Bush/Cheney  helped "Scooter" Libby I think.

( when they revealed the identity of Valerie Plame, undercover CIA agent, working on Iran, nuclear proliferation as revenge for her husband exposing their yellowcake lies)

Exposing a high ranking CIA undercover agent for nothing more than political gain.

 Republican party is so full of patriots.  

 

Well presumably Trump would pardon Gates too.  But he flipped.  Same with Flynn.  But Flynn did so to protect his son.  NBC reported that Trump was telling friends he was confident Manafort would not flip.  And the only reason he'd say that is because Manafort could incriminate him.  The issue is, Gates is likely knowledgeable of Manafort wrong-doing.   And could be a witness in any Manafort/Trump wrong-doings. 

Since Manafort is obviously a serious target of Mueller, Gates flipping is bad for him.  If Manafort feels Trump will pardon him no matter what, so be it.  But imagine the push back should Manafort be indicted for some very serious treason-ish behavior and Trump pardons him... So if you're Manafort you have to really be comfortable in that pardon.  If Mueller gets enough on Manafort that he wont take his chances with a pardon, then he flips.  If Mueller gets leverage on anyone Manafort would protect, such as a family member (which has been rumored), he flips.

And there is also a New York investigation going on.  If Trump or his allies get indicted on state charges, there is no pardon option (Trump can only pardon federal crimes). 

 

It shouldn't be surprising to anyone, Trump hired a bunch of lawyers to run his campaign who had a history (and a very good success rate) of influencing elections around the globe. They did get him elected afterall, so they did their jobs. Now people want to take issue with the methods they used, fine but don't pretend this sort of thing isn't going on all the time. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/melania-trumps-parents-are-legal-permanent-residents-raising-questions-about-whether-they-relied-on-chain-migration/2018/02/21/3b573df8-1687-11e8-8b08-027a6ccb38eb_story.html

These measures are brain dead simple.  The only reason you’d be opposed is because you’ve been bought off.  No one needs assault weapons and no one legitimately things banning them is an attack on the constitutional.  

When I talk about red line issues, this should be one. If you oppose this you have lost the moral authority to serve public office and should be voted out. Regardless of whatever else you have done. It’s that simple. 

 

27 minutes ago, pigseye said:

It shouldn't be surprising to anyone, Trump hired a bunch of lawyers to run his campaign who had a history (and a very good success rate) of influencing elections around the globe. They did get him elected afterall, so they did their jobs. Now people want to take issue with the methods they used, fine but don't pretend this sort of thing isn't going on all the time. 

whataboutism

Edited February 21, 20187 yr by The Unknown Poster

11 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/melania-trumps-parents-are-legal-permanent-residents-raising-questions-about-whether-they-relied-on-chain-migration/2018/02/21/3b573df8-1687-11e8-8b08-027a6ccb38eb_story.html

I dont think Trump knows what chain migration is.  He's been riled up by his racist pals to simply be anti-immigration.  But Malania isnt that dark skinned so her and her family are probably the "good immigrants".

18 hours ago, johnzo said:

Dude who ran his emails about those kids being actors has been fired.

Did you see his apology? He’s apologizing for contacting the media, not for his comments. 

"I made a mistake whereas I tried to inform a reporter of information relating to his story regarding a school shooting," Kelly tweeted. "This was not my responsibility. I meant no disrespect to the students or parents of Parkland."

One thing to keep in mind regarding pardons, a president can only pardon for federal crimes. Things like tax evasion, etc can also result in state charges.

 

 

Upon reflection.....was thinking that this "Arm the Teachers" idea just might be alright......as perhaps a stopgap measure.

Until we can arm the bus drivers, pastors, mailmen, checkout clerks, ticket takers, sanitation engineers, box store greeters, mall Santas, zoo employees, aid workers, pageant contestants, diplomats and astronauts.
 

 

1 hour ago, The Unknown Poster said:

These measures are brain dead simple.  The only reason you’d be opposed is because you’ve been bought off.  No one needs assault weapons and no one legitimately things banning them is an attack on the constitutional.  

When I talk about red line issues, this should be one. If you oppose this you have lost the moral authority to serve public office and should be voted out. Regardless of whatever else you have done. It’s that simple. 

 

I've seen a couple seismic cultural shifts in my time in the USA -- with gay marriage and marijuana legalization.  Once the opinion polls flipped like this, the avalanche wasn't far behind.

Those two things didn't have a massive industry lobbying group fighting them back , though.  Gun re-regulation might be more like the tobacco wars.  That was such a weird cultural moment, back when I was in college -- after a lifetime of being around indoor smokers, suddenly people were excusing themselves from parties and game nights to go outside and have a smoke.  It was amazing how fast it flipped, somewhere around 1992...

29 minutes ago, Jacquie said:

Did you see his apology? He’s apologizing for contacting the media, not for his comments. 

Oh yeah, fuckheads like him are constitutionally incapable of saying an honest "my bad."  Shows weakness.

6 minutes ago, johnzo said:

I've seen a couple seismic cultural shifts in my time in the USA -- with gay marriage and marijuana legalization.  Once the opinion polls flipped like this, the avalanche wasn't far behind.

Those two things didn't have a massive industry lobbying group fighting them back , though.  Gun re-regulation might be more like the tobacco wars.  That was such a weird cultural moment, back when I was in college -- after a lifetime of being around indoor smokers, suddenly people were excusing themselves from parties and game nights to go outside and have a smoke.  It was amazing how fast it flipped, somewhere around 1992...

If the NRA ever thinks critical mass against guns in general is on the horizon, then they will support an assault weapons ban.  If the Dems ever get control of Congress and the White House they should try to repeal the 2nd amendment altogether since its outdated and completely misunderstood by the general public anyway.  The pushback would be enormous...and then would be forgotten.

7 minutes ago, johnzo said:

Oh yeah, fuckheads like him are constitutionally incapable of saying an honest "my bad."  Shows weakness.

His "apology" was simply code for "crap I got caught"

6 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

If the NRA ever thinks critical mass against guns in general is on the horizon, then they will support an assault weapons ban.  If the Dems ever get control of Congress and the White House they should try to repeal the 2nd amendment altogether since its outdated and completely misunderstood by the general public anyway.  The pushback would be enormous...and then would be forgotten.

Interesting, prohibition was repealed, so why not?