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/

Once upon a time....the pandemic was raging in mostly in Blue States.
You had Trump and his administration downplaying it, spreading misinformation, media bashing, deflecting wildly, denying responsibility, attacking Governors, threatening blackmail with PPE and pressuring Red States to re-open ASAP, despite all expert medical advice......

Naturally, Trump's base and the craven GOP Legislative cowards seemed perfectly fine with this.  The Right wing media was playing their typical enabling role as well.....

Now the Red States are being scourged, particularly in the Southwest. 
The Governors of a number of these States made the conscious decision, to ape Donald Trump, by suppressing information, playing dumb, and encouraging people to ignore PPE (masks) and social distancing.   
For what?  To make Orange Boss happy?  A "States rights" thing? MAGA?

What makes it even more ridiculous is that now these same "leaders" are pleading for Federal help and direction....and are currently receiving the same thing the Blue States got - NOTHING. 

Did they honestly expect something different here?  As if Trump actually cared about THEM?  Or his deluded base?
Or for that matter anyone?

Plenty of people on this board could see where this was going.  Couple of months ago.... I stated that thousands of Americans would pay a terrible price of having Trump as President
The bill has come due....
 

18 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

So they are going to go with the "he was a rookie but he's learned now" strategy.... won't work, trump hasn't the humility to admit to mistakes and his biggest problems are the most recent ones.

Come on.  Trump had definitely learned his lesson from the Impeachment trial.   Or so we were told....

Apparently Trump is going to redesign warships to make them more beautiful, in his mind he thinks he is fooling everyone, he must sit on the throne all night by himself and say " I'm the smartest person person in the world" repeating it until he falls asleep and falls off the can

40 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

So they are going to go with the "he was a rookie but he's learned now" strategy.... won't work, trump hasn't the humility to admit to mistakes and his biggest problems are the most recent ones.

Trump has made mistakes?!?!?!? Shocking!

Just now, Tracker said:

Trump has made mistakes?!?!?!? Shocking!

Fake News...

Trump Moves to Kill Obamacare on Same Day U.S. Hits New COVID-19 Infection Record
 

Reuters / Carlos Barria
The United States suffered a daily record for new coronavirus cases Thursday, with 40,401 positive tests confirmed, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. On the same day, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, which hundreds of thousands of Americans have turned to for health-care coverage and protection for pre-existing conditions during the pandemic. In a late-night filing, government lawyers argued that “the entire ACA must fall” because one of its core provisions, the individual mandate, is unconstitutional, which they say makes the rest of the law invalid. Democrats reacted angrily to the move, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying: “President Trump and the Republicans’ campaign to rip away the protections and benefits of the Affordable Care Act in the middle of the coronavirus crisis is an act of unfathomable cruelty.” Oral arguments are scheduled for next term, but it’s not clear if that’ll happen before the election. A decision in the case might not come until 2021.

2 hours ago, do or die said:

Come on.  Trump had definitely learned his lesson from the Impeachment trial.   Or so we were told....

At least Susan Collins will vote for him.

4 hours ago, do or die said:

Come on.  Trump had definitely learned his lesson from the Impeachment trial.   Or so we were told....

He did learn his lesson. The lesson was that the Republican party will protect you no matter what.

 

20 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

 

Tear down that fence.

When asked if he has evidence that mail-in votes will be suspect to voter fraud and counterfeiting,

Barr replies, "No, it's obvious". 

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Attorney General of the United States of America.

 

Cardboard cut out Pence was really shoveling it today then ran for the hills

2 hours ago, bustamente said:

Cardboard cut out Pence was really shoveling it today then ran for the hills

A total cigar store figure, with wheels.....

His ability to blow and pucker at the same time is impressive......

11 hours ago, bustamente said:

Cardboard cut out Pence was really shoveling it today then ran for the hills

There has to be a spot reserved for Pence in the ninth circle of Hell along with all others who betray their faith and duty to their fellows for personal gain. He is a prime example of hypocrisy. 

Always amazed how reactionary and hypocritical these "good Christian men" are.  
And how willing they are to accept bigotry, racism, antisemitism and oppression.    In between telling outright lies, and peddling conspiracy theories, while fleecing their flocks......

 

‘Owned by Putin’: Trump accused of ‘literal treason’ after bombshell NYT report on Russian assassination unit

President Donald Trump was harshly criticized on Friday after a bombshell New York Times report on Russia offering bounties for the killing of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

“American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan — including targeting American troops — amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there,” the newspaper reported,” the newspaper reported.

“The intelligence finding was briefed to President Trump, and the White House’s National Security Council discussed the problem at an interagency meeting in late March, the officials said. Officials developed a menu of potential options — starting with making a diplomatic complaint to Moscow and a demand that it stop, along with an escalating series of sanctions and other possible responses, but the White House has yet to authorize any step, the officials said,” the newspaper explained. “Any involvement with the Taliban that resulted in the deaths of American troops would also be a huge escalation of Russia’s so-called hybrid war against the United States, a strategy of destabilizing adversaries through a combination of such tactics as cyberattacks, the spread of fake news and covert and deniable military operations.”

https://www.alternet.org/2020/06/owned-by-putin-trump-accused-of-literal-treason-after-bombshell-nyt-report-on-russian-assassination-unit/

Trump Ramps Up Misuse Of The Military For Political Gain
"The idea of fighting American citizens on American soil is not what the military does and not what the American people expect the military to do," one critic said.
.
Starting with the chaotic assault on White House protesters, President Donald Trump and his military deputies have spent the past several weeks threatening an outsized military response against anti-fascists, protesters and other groups he perceives as his enemies.

And on Thursday, the administration turned those military efforts back to a favorite bogeyman: undocumented immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Pentagon announced it would re-up its military presence by deploying 4,000 troops to the border, mostly drawn from the National Guard, in October. Unauthorized immigration is down substantially this year. But there is an election coming. 

“It’s misusing the military and doing so for political reasons,” said David Lapan, Trump’s former Department of Homeland Security press secretary and a former Defense Department official. 

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/trump-military-political-gain_n_5ef67201c5b612083c4d91c0?ri18n=true 

50 minutes ago, Tracker said:

 

‘Owned by Putin’: Trump accused of ‘literal treason’ after bombshell NYT report on Russian assassination unit

President Donald Trump was harshly criticized on Friday after a bombshell New York Times report on Russia offering bounties for the killing of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

“American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan — including targeting American troops — amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there,” the newspaper reported,” the newspaper reported.

“The intelligence finding was briefed to President Trump, and the White House’s National Security Council discussed the problem at an interagency meeting in late March, the officials said. Officials developed a menu of potential options — starting with making a diplomatic complaint to Moscow and a demand that it stop, along with an escalating series of sanctions and other possible responses, but the White House has yet to authorize any step, the officials said,” the newspaper explained. “Any involvement with the Taliban that resulted in the deaths of American troops would also be a huge escalation of Russia’s so-called hybrid war against the United States, a strategy of destabilizing adversaries through a combination of such tactics as cyberattacks, the spread of fake news and covert and deniable military operations.”

https://www.alternet.org/2020/06/owned-by-putin-trump-accused-of-literal-treason-after-bombshell-nyt-report-on-russian-assassination-unit/

Here is the original story:
 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/politics/russia-afghanistan-bounties.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Also read (but have not confirmed the source) that the White House did not release a threat level briefing like that would normally do the same month this report came to them. And since March Trump has invited Putin to a summit meeting and tried to get Russia back in to the G8 after their expulsion years ago. 

Edited June 27, 20205 yr by TrueBlue4ever

What's the point?  Putin would issue a very strong, very powerful denial and Trump would simply check off on it.  After all, there was no Russian meddling in the last election, we are told.....

This is damning to Trump and his administration. He was advised that the Russians were not only sanctioning the killing of coalition/US troops but actually paying a bounty for each kill and yet he did nothing. The lack of any defensive response from the US to counter this is an absolute description of treason. Trump ought to be charged with treason and I hope that the US armed forces will see that he is casually willing to allow the killing of US troops rather than stand up for them. It is even more damning that retired US generals and even Flynn have said nothing. It sends a message that these troops are disposable if it strokes the ego of Trump. 

The transcript or lack of from Trumps meeting with Putin in Helsinki should of been a red flag to the boot licking Republican Senators

1 hour ago, bustamente said:

The transcript or lack of from Trumps meeting with Putin in Helsinki should of been a red flag to the boot licking Republican Senators

You think they give a damn? So long as their nests are feathered, they will be content to let Trump destroy the nationand/or impose fascist rule. The Repubilcan party has devolved into pure self-interest with zero regard for the rule of law or the benefit of its citizens and a mob ready to use violence is enabling them.

1 hour ago, bustamente said:

The transcript or lack of from Trumps meeting with Putin in Helsinki should of been a red flag to the boot licking Republican Senators

Hell, they've seen more red flags, that at a Mao rally...

Putin still has the pee-pee tape.