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/

20 minutes ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

That is crazy frightening

How would you like to be an American agent in Russia right now? Putin probably instructed Trump to get Putin these people's names.  

Talk about treachery.

If you remember, it was the Republicans, Bush and Cheney, who exposed a high level CIA agent Valerie Plame, who worked on Iranian nuclear program intel.

Those Republican liars did it to cover their own evil lies.

Hard to follow this stuff it's so dismal and awful.

Edited May 27, 20196 yr by Mark F

5 minutes ago, Mark F said:

How would you like to be an American agent in Russia right now? Putin instructed Trump to get Putin these people's names.  

Talk about treachery.

Wait. What? Putin instructed trump to do That? When?

3 minutes ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

Wait. What? Putin instructed trump to do That? When?

just a guess. added "probably"

Edited May 27, 20196 yr by Mark F

25 minutes ago, Mark F said:

just a guess. added "probably"

Not a far leap of logic.

Putin asked:

Cease military maneuvers around south Korea.

Leave Syria

Ease sanctions on oligarchs 

To which trump acquiesced to. 

 

10 hours ago, Zontar said:

To counter districts that have been purposely flooded with illegal immigrants and allowing them to vote despite lack of citizenship? Seems fair.

a) Which districts?  Name them.

b) If there was so much voter fraud, then why did the Pence/Kobach commission disband without finding any? 

c) Trump said that millions of people voted illegally in 2016, costing him the popular vote. Now, Trump exaggerates, so let's say that it was actually only a million people who voted illegally.  However, a conspiracy to have a million people vote illegally would be a conspiracy involving a million people.  Like, the entire province of Manitoba.  Do you think the entire province of Manitoba can keep a secret for three years?

So then, where are the whistle-blowers? 

How did the vote-stealing democratic party keep all of those million people from blowing this thing wide open on Fox News?  How did the democrats keep all million of them from contacting the 2017 voter fraud commission, which was very eagerly casting about for tales of voter fraud?

I gotta say, again, these supervillain democrats of your imagination are way more capable than the ones we have in reality.  more's the pity.

Edited May 28, 20196 yr by johnzo

17 hours ago, JCon said:

Yes, the current administration investigated this "phenomenon" and determined it was a hoax. Even though they really tried to make it true. Trump had to disband the commission. 

And also Texas:

Texas secretary of state resigns after leading botched voter purge that questioned the citizenship of almost 100,000 people

"Texas’s acting secretary of state, David Whitley (R), resigned Monday just months after leading the botched voter purge of nearly 100,000 suspected noncitizens that erroneously also targeted U.S. citizens, efforts that drew rebukes from a federal judge and numerous voter rights groups."

"He revealed the investigation in January, causing unsupported fears of rampant voter fraud while emboldening Republican politicians who had made similar voter fraud claims — including President Trump. Whitley’s office had claimed that, of 95,000 suspected noncitizens, 58,000 had voted in at least one Texas election over the last 18 years. Letters sent to all those suspected noncitizens threatened to disenfranchise them unless they proved their citizenship within 30 days.

But there was a problem: Nearly a quarter of those identified as possible noncitizens were actually naturalized citizens ― a realization the secretary of state’s office made just four days after its initial announcement.

Numerous voting rights groups sued on behalf of threatened eligible voters, in three separate federal lawsuits, and Congress opened an investigation into the alleged voter suppression efforts. In February, a federal judge blocked Texas from carrying out its “ham-handed” and “threatening” voter purge effort, saying there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. The letters sent by the secretary of state’s office to thousands of eligible voters threatening to cancel their registration, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery wrote, “exemplifies the power of government to strike fear and anxiety and to intimidate the least powerful among us.”

He placed the blame squarely on Whitley’s shoulders, encouraging him to fix the problems while referencing a kindergarten-friendly lesson.

“The Court further finds and concludes the Secretary of State, though perhaps unintentionally, created this mess,” Biery wrote in his Feb. 27 order. “As Robert Fulghum taught in ‘All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,’ ‘always put things back where we found them and clean up our own messes.’”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/05/28/texas-secretary-state-resigns-after-leading-botched-voter-purge-that-questioned-citizenship-almost-people/?utm_term=.99032c51c616

 

Like everything else on the planet.....Donald knows best.

Including Aircraft Carrier design, it seems.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/445713-trump-criticizes-aircraft-carrier-design-as-wrong

Sailors standing behind Trump, trying pretty hard not to laugh.....

He was on about the stupid steam catapault  thing during elections too. 

Amash at it again. This time taking aim at AG Barr. Click for full thread- it's a good read as it lays out all the issues with Barr in a concise fashion.

 

Edited May 28, 20196 yr by wanna-b-fanboy

I finally caught up in this thread and dear lord all I could think of while back reading was the following:

 

It's definitely much more tolerable without Unknown Poster and Kelowna bickering....

I don't agree with most of his policies, but he is spot on about this:

 

 

On 2019-05-27 at 5:02 PM, Mark F said:

More frightening stuff

https://www.thedailybeast.com/you-think-its-bad-now-wait-for-next-years-show-trials

The Trump people  want the show trials to begin just before the serious campaigning begins so as to picture Trump, his family and cronies as victims of the "deep state".

7 hours ago, Tracker said:

The Trump people  want the show trials to begin just before the serious campaigning begins so as to picture Trump, his family and cronies as victims of the "deep state".

Uncovering the truth and demanding transparency is now a "show trial". Those once demanding answers from their government now want secrecy from the same. 

The figures involved should be stampeding to testify since their motives were so pure and the evidence so clear and damning. 

Weird how they're now scurrying like mice. 

Edited May 29, 20196 yr by Zontar

4 hours ago, Zontar said:

Uncovering the truth and demanding transparency is now a "show trial". Those once demanding answers from their government now want secrecy from the same. 

The figures involved should be stampeding to testify since their motives were so pure and the evidence so clear and damning. 

Weird how they're now scurrying like mice. 

I have not seen any scurrying and Comey and Brennan have both said that oversight of their agencies was always welcome. 

The very valid concern is that even though an investigation will find that procedures were followed correctly during the Trump investigation, Barr will not allow the full findings to reach Congress or the American public.  It's a valid concern based on the Mueller investigation.  Like he did with the Mueller investigation, he will cherry-pick and misrepresent the content of any investigation in order to protect the orange menace.

You just have to watch the conduct of any Republican Senator or Congressman over the last 3 years to realize that they have zero interest in finding any actual truth.

Mitch McConnel has no shame.  His cynicism towards politics and democracy is extremely damaging and shows that it may be more important to flip the Senate than to flip the White House, although I'm totally for that, too.

McConnell says he would help Trump fill a Supreme Court vacancy in 2020 — after blocking Obama in 2016

"When President Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refused to consider him, blocking the nominee until after the year’s presidential election.

He said then that “the American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice.” The tactic cost Garland his spot on the court.

With his party now in the White House, McConnell said Tuesday he would try to push through any nomination that President Trump might make to the high court — even if it comes during an election year. Some saw that stance, which McConnell has signaled before, as hypocritical."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/05/29/mcconnell-says-he-would-fill-supreme-court-vacancy/?utm_term=.29d8a83c2c58

 

35 minutes ago, Wideleft said:

Uncovering the truth and demanding transparency is now a "show trial"

Still waiting for you to give us your proof of the following statement you made:

Quote

To counter districts that have been purposely flooded with illegal immigrants and allowing them to vote despite lack of citizenship? Seems fair.

 

Where's you're support for this statement? Shouldn't be hard, if it exists.

I won't stop asking. You are a consistent spreader of rumours.

Edited May 29, 20196 yr by Mark F

15 minutes ago, Mark F said:

Still waiting for you to give us your proof of the following statement you made:

 

Where's you're support for this statement? Shouldn't be hard, if it exists.

I won't stop asking. You are a consistent spreader of rumours.

Agree, but I would substitute "rumours" with "misinformation".

As he's still currently an employee of the DOJ, I'm not expecting much, but this is news:

Mueller to make statement about special counsel's report

Washington (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller will make a statement about the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election at 11 a.m. ET Wednesday, the Justice Department said.

The statement will be delivered amid political disputes about the findings of Mueller's investigation, particularly regarding whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice.

It will be Mueller's first public comments about the investigation.

The White House got a heads up Tuesday night that Mueller would likely deliver a statement on Wednesday about the Mueller investigation, according to a senior administration official, who added that the White House is going to wait until after his remarks to comment.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/29/politics/robert-mueller-special-counsel-investigation/index.html

 

Could be that Mueller is just going to say that his time at the DOJ is done, maybe say that Barr's interpretation and summary of his report is wrong, but I wouldn't count on him saying that Trump should be indicted, you never know though.

5 hours ago, Zontar said:

Uncovering the truth and demanding transparency is now a "show trial". Those once demanding answers from their government now want secrecy from the same. 

The figures involved should be stampeding to testify since their motives were so pure and the evidence so clear and damning. 

Weird how they're now scurrying like mice. 

WHo is scurrying like mice?

I think stampeding is a little strong- but I think Clapper Brennan and Comey, welcome the investigations and are fine with them. which I think is a mistake... corrupt investigators with a history of lying about reports and finds will- lie about their findings to fit their narrative.  I don't see any of them claiming it's a "WITCH HUNT", "NOTHING TO SEE HERE!" and what ever trump obstructionism...

It is a total show trial.  

Perhaps they will get Nunes to write another summary.

On 2019-05-23 at 1:09 PM, Mark F said:

In the US this is much more serious:

 

While its a 25 year old story i dont have a problem with it. How many times you gotta break the law before doing real time?

5 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

While its a 25 year old story i dont have a problem with it. How many times you gotta break the law before doing real time?

The three strike rule effectively takes the sentencing discretion away from Judges. 

15 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

While its a 25 year old story i dont have a problem with it. How many times you gotta break the law before doing real time?

cost of a slice of pizza, one dollar. cost of twenty five years in jail, two million five hundred thousand dollars.

There is a thing in the US called the Prison Industrial complex. There is a judge who took bribes from prison operators, to sentence people to jail.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2011/08/11/139536686/pa-judge-sentenced-to-28-years-in-massive-juvenile-justice-bribery-scandall.

The USA has twenty five percent of the population of incarcerated people, in the entire world. with five percent of the population.

do some research on it. might change your opinion.

Edited May 29, 20196 yr by Mark F

2 minutes ago, Mark F said:

cost of a slice of pizza, one dollar. cost of twenty five years in jail, two million five hundred thousand dollars.

There is a thing in the US called the Prison Industrial complex. There are judges who took bribes from prison operators, to sentence people to jail.

do some research on it. might change your opinion.

Not only that, but "for profit prisons", across the board, have longer sentences due to reduced amount of prisoners getting out early for good behaviour. What incentive would a corporation have to grant early parole, if they are no longer making money from an inmate if they release them...

 

Interesting article and link to a study here:

https://news.wisc.edu/study-finds-private-prisons-keep-inmates-longer-without-reducing-future-crime/

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2523238

 

"The research found that prisoners in private facilities had an increase in their sentence of four to seven percent, which equaled 60 to 90 days for the average prisoner. With the average contractual payment to private prison operators in Mississippi being $50 for each bed occupied, an extra 60 days added to a prisoner’s sentence leads to an average additional cost per prisoner of about $3,000. That added expense erodes about half of the projected cost savings offered by private prisons in the state.

Fueling the increase in time served is the widespread use of prison conduct violations in private facilities. Mukherjee found that prisoners in every demographic, offense, and sentence length category accumulated more infractions if they were assigned to a private prison. Overall, inmates in private prisons received twice as many infractions as those in public prisons. In Mississippi, infractions are used by the state parole board in assessing whether a prisoner should be granted early release."