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/

Trump officials ignored company’s offer to make 7 million N95 masks per month in early days of pandemic: ‘Criminal negligence’

Written by Julia Conley / Common Dreams May 10, 2020

Progressives on Saturday denounced an “infuriating” report which detailed the Department of Health and Human Services’ refusal to take an American company up on its offer to supply millions of N95 respirators to the government early on in the coronavirus pandemic.

-Washington Post 

https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/trump-officials-ignored-companys-offer-to-make-7-million-n95-masks-per-month-in-early-days-of-pandemic-criminal-negligence/

1 hour ago, HardCoreBlue said:

You’re an educator, find new friends.

The unfollow button has become one of my best friends. 

This explains much of what the alt right is forgetting to cover.

 

2 hours ago, Tracker said:

I disagree with you- there was a system of checks and balances in place,  but the effectiveness was contingent on the independent oversight of the legislative and legal branches of US government. However, with the active participation of the GOP-led Senate which has condoned all of Trump's illegal acts, and the suborning of the courts which have been stacked with far-right justices, America has become lawless and well on its way to a fascist state.

Exactly. The system of checks and balances in place are no match for the Trump Administration, hence a mirage. It’s like hey you can’t do that! We have rules. Oh yea well try and stop me. This administration just does what it wants because it has control of the Senate like you say and the current independent system of checks and balances offers no resistance. It’s just words on paper with nothing behind it and they are finding that out.

3 hours ago, Tracker said:

Pence had CEOs remove masks before meeting with him — hours after his press secretary tested positive for COVID-19

Written by David Badash / The New Civil Rights Movement May 10, 2020

The Trump administration is not only ignoring CDC and medical experts’ guidelines it is actively working to make Americans less safe.

On Friday Vice President Mike Pence flew aboard Air Force Two to Des Moines, Iowa, to meet with food industry CEOs. His flight was delayed after his press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for coronavirus. Several staffers were forced to exit the plane before it took off. Also board were Iowa Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.

Pence held a roundtable discussion at the headquarters of the Hy-Vee supermarket chain. As The Intercept reports, five industry executives, seated at the table, all wearing masks, were approached by a staffer who asked them to remove their masks before the Vice President would come to the table (video below.)

https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/pence-had-ceos-remove-masks-before-meeting-with-him-hours-after-his-press-secretary-tested-positive-for-covid-19/

 

2 hours ago, Tracker said:

I disagree with you- there was a system of checks and balances in place,  but the effectiveness was contingent on the independent oversight of the legislative and legal branches of US government. However, with the active participation of the GOP-led Senate which has condoned all of Trump's illegal acts, and the suborning of the courts which have been stacked with far-right justices, America has become lawless and well on its way to a fascist state.

Soooo... there are no checks and balances...

Edited May 10, 20205 yr by wanna-b-fanboy

An interesting opinion piece on the systemic racism in 'merica and how it is shaping their covid-19 strategy.

 

Quote

The coronavirus epidemic has rendered the racial contract visible in multiple ways. Once the disproportionate impact of the epidemic was revealed to the American political and financial elite, many began to regard the rising death toll less as a national emergency than as an inconvenience. Temporary measures meant to prevent the spread of the disease by restricting movement, mandating the wearing of masks, or barring large social gatherings have become the foulest tyranny. The lives of workers at the front lines of the pandemic—such as meatpackers, transportation workers, and grocery clerks—have been deemed so worthless that legislators want to immunize their employers from liability even as they force them to work under unsafe conditions. In East New York, police assault black residents for violating social-distancing rules; in Lower Manhattan, they dole out masks and smiles to white pedestrians.

 

Edited May 11, 20205 yr by wanna-b-fanboy

27 minutes ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

Soooo... there are no checks and balances...

Well there are for democratic presidents.

57 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Exactly. The system of checks and balances in place are no match for the Trump Administration, hence a mirage. It’s like hey you can’t do that! We have rules. Oh yea well try and stop me. This administration just does what it wants because it has control of the Senate like you say and the current independent system of checks and balances offers no resistance. It’s just words on paper with nothing behind it and they are finding that out.

That sentiment was chillingly expressed by William Barr on Friday. When asked how his actions would be viewed in retrospect, his answer was, "History is written by the victors:". 

What’s he on about?   And does the idiot not know how to hashtag

 

55 minutes ago, Tracker said:

That sentiment was chillingly expressed by William Barr on Friday. When asked how his actions would be viewed in retrospect, his answer was, "History is written by the victors:". 

I think he also answered a similar question by saying something like ‘We all die some day.’ Weird and unnerving. 

If we want to discuss a system that lacks checks and balances - look no further than a Canadian Prime Minister with a majority.  

49 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

If we want to discuss a system that lacks checks and balances - look no further than a Canadian Prime Minister with a majority.  

But even that still requires him to keep his party on board. And I have a lot of faith that if they tried to ram something through that was completely out of line with the constitution the governor General would step in and say no. 

It may not be a perfect system, but history is showing the westminster parliamentary system to be a lot better than the American system.

 

 

7 hours ago, Tracker said:

I'm afraid that there is no reason to believe that women are inherently smarter than men. 

Without citing any evidence of women’s intelligence, I can confidently say that, based on the actions of men throughout history alone as my basis, I have every reason to believe women certainly are inherently no dumber. 

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

But even that still requires him to keep his party on board. And I have a lot of faith that if they tried to ram something through that was completely out of line with the constitution the governor General would step in and say no. 

It may not be a perfect system, but history is showing the westminster parliamentary system to be a lot better than the American system.

Winston Churchill said "Democracy is the worst of all possible systems of government, except for all the other systems". There is no perfect system, but the US system is way less perfect than our parliamentary system.

1 minute ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Without citing any evidence of women’s intelligence, I can confidently say that, based on the actions of men throughout history alone as my basis, I have every reason to believe women certainly are inherently no dumber. 

You are setting the bar very low.

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

But even that still requires him to keep his party on board. And I have a lot of faith that if they tried to ram something through that was completely out of line with the constitution the governor General would step in and say no. 

It may not be a perfect system, but history is showing the westminster parliamentary system to be a lot better than the American system.

Sure, better than the American system.  But the whips pretty much insure consensus within the party. 

21 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Sure, better than the American system.  But the whips pretty much insure consensus within the party. 

Yeah but the party still has tremendous say in the policy and if a leader tried to go rogue they would be brought in line. 

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

Yeah but the party still has tremendous say in the policy and if a leader tried to go rogue they would be brought in line. 

I guess stuff like the SCN Lavalin scandal and the things we hear about ridiculous spending - have made me skeptical. 

What a president they have in the US, while millions of people had lost their jobs, and more importantly 80k have lost their lives this imbecile spends the day watching tv and sending off more than 100 tweets, what a waste of a human being

13 hours ago, Mr Dee said:

 

 

What a ******* disgrace, not only to the presidency but humanity as a whole.

Ex-DOJ Official: Barr Twisted My Words to Help Dismiss Flynn Case
SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Jamie Ross
Reporter
Published May. 11, 2020 6:12AM ET 

Mary McCord, former acting assistant attorney general for national security, has accused Attorney General Bill Barr of twisting her words to help dismiss the case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn. In a skewering op-ed for The New York Times, McCord takes issue with her repeated namecheck in the Justice Department's motion to dismiss the criminal charges against Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mary-mccord-says-attorney-general-william-barr-twisted-her-words-to-help-dismiss-michael-flynn-case?ref=home

Would anyone be surprised?

 

 

 

5 minutes ago, Tracker said:

Ex-DOJ Official: Barr Twisted My Words to Help Dismiss Flynn Case
SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Jamie Ross
Reporter
Published May. 11, 2020 6:12AM ET 

Mary McCord, former acting assistant attorney general for national security, has accused Attorney General Bill Barr of twisting her words to help dismiss the case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn. In a skewering op-ed for The New York Times, McCord takes issue with her repeated namecheck in the Justice Department's motion to dismiss the criminal charges against Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mary-mccord-says-attorney-general-william-barr-twisted-her-words-to-help-dismiss-michael-flynn-case?ref=home

Given the way Barr distorted and misrepresented the Mueller Report, Trump certainly knew what he was doing when he hired this guy - a unethical flunky..... to be the highest legal official in the land.  His current "job" is to provide cover for Donald Trump