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You've been Trumped!

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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Tue 16 Jul , 2019 1:52 pm
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https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... -city-area
Quote:
A Trump administration decision to move researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to the Kansas City area is threatening to spark the flight of more than half of the staff selected to move, gutting the agency of its top scientific voices.

Staff have until midnight Monday to decide whether to uproot and join the department as it moves its research branches from Washington, D.C., lured by $26 million in promised incentives from state and local officials....
Quote:
The decision comes as other agencies are also planning to relocate parts of their teams amid suspicions about the move. For example, the Interior Department is expected to announce new headquarters for the Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday.

“Moving these researchers out of Washington puts them out of earshot from policymakers. A lot of the research that scientists and economists do at [the USDA] has policy implications, and members of Congress need this information and need to have face-to-face meetings with these researchers,” Rebecca Boehm, with the Union of Concerned Scientists, told The Hill.
Quote:
The UDSA argues the move will save $300 million over 15 years, but critics have said their cost-benefit analysis was shoddy and did not follow guidelines.

A different cost-benefit analysis from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association found the move would cost taxpayers between $83 million and $182 million.

More noise from Trump and seems likely to be illegal. The US has legal obligations regarding asylum and I doubt if you can just invent a "safe first country" policy out of thin air. It works in the EU because those countries have made that agreement. Trump probably just said "do this" and, since he's eliminated all the people who were likely to say "no, this won't fly," it's getting done, at least until the courts get involved.
https://thehill.com/latino/453050-trump ... ico-border
Quote:
The Trump administration is moving to end asylum protections for most Central American migrants, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security announced Monday.

According to text of the rule set to publish in the Federal Register on Tuesday, asylum seekers who pass through another country before reaching the United States will be ineligible for asylum when they reach the southern border.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Wed 17 Jul , 2019 1:33 pm
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https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... r-reactors
Quote:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) officials have reportedly recommended the agency cut back on inspections of U.S. reactors as a cost-cutting measure.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that NRC officials said that the move would maintain adequate safety measures while allowing the NRC to meet budgetary constraints. The decision was reportedly controversial, however, with some arguing that it exposed the public to unnecessary risk....
There isn't enough money to inspect nuclear reactors as usual but we've got lots of money to throw at maintaining and building private detention centers for would-be immigrants? (hundreds of dollars per person per day, according to reports)

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 18 Jul , 2019 1:57 pm
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Personally, I've been ignoring the ongoing media firestorm about Trump's remarks on the four Democratic congresswomen (seriously, for how many days is the news media going to spend so much time analyzing and re-analyzing one of Trump's asshole statements? Any normal person knows it was wrong and the media frenzy is just feeding into what Trump loves, a fight. And what real news is shortchanged because of that?).

But this is too disturbing not to post, if you know any history. I'm curious - when does Trump roll out the Nazi-style flags?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/ ... 34426.html
Quote:
...US President Donald Trump stepped up attacks against four Democratic Congresswomen of colour, including Somali-born Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, at his first campaign rally since announcing his 2020 re-election bid.

Trump termed the four legislators as un-American at the gathering in Greenville, North Carolina, on Wednesday and said they should leave the United States if they did not like his policies on issues such as immigration and defence of Israel.

"Tonight I have a suggestion for the hate-filled extremists who are constantly trying to tear our country down. They never have anything good to say. That's why I say: 'Hey, if they don't like it, let them leave. Let them leave'," he said to a roaring crowd.

...Taking aim at Omar, he said: "She looks down with contempt on hard-working Americans saying ignorance is pervasive in many parts of this country."

The crowds, decked out in the colours of the US flag and "Make America Great Again" caps, responded with the chant - "Send her back! Send her back!".

"The way they speak so badly of our country," Trump continued. "They want to demolish our constitution. Eliminate the values that built this magnificent country."...
And Trump stood there and enjoyed the chants.

btw, I think Biden had the best comment on Trump. Trump claimed he doesn't have a racist bone in his body. Biden quipped that must mean he has no bones.



https://thehill.com/policy/national-sec ... -on-russia
Quote:
The Trump administration has not imposed a second round of sanctions on Russia over the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in Britain more than eight months after telling Congress that Moscow had triggered them.

State Department officials have repeatedly insisted the United States intends to impose new sanctions, which are required under a law passed by Congress in 1991 on eliminating chemical and biological weapons.

But several months have passed without news, and members of Congress say they have heard little from the administration on the topic.

A former government official familiar with the matter told The Hill that the State and Treasury departments finalized a proposed sanctions package by March at the latest, but "... senior folks in the administration haven’t made the decision or given the green light to roll them out,” the former official said....


And this reminds me irresistibly of a bumper sticker "Is it a coincidence that the term for a large group of baboons is a congress?"
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4533 ... rom-record
Quote:
Republicans on Tuesday demanded that Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) remarks blasting President Trump’s comments about four minority congresswomen as racist be removed from the record, freezing action on the floor ahead of a House vote condemning Trump...

Earlier, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) in the same debate asked that remarks made by Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) be stricken from the record for calling Democratic lawmakers anti-American...
Beyond the political circus aspects, though, there's something serious going on here. Though the resolution to censure Trump for his remarks passed, the vast majority of the Republicans actually voted against it. That's the extent to which their loyalty to Trump extends, putting themselves on record supporting his shameful words instead of saying "no, that was wrong." Not only did they refuse to support their own colleagues against attacks, they turned their backs on simple human decency.





Edit: Unbelievable. Well, at least some people are showing their true colors.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... iser-after
Quote:
The Palm Beach County GOP disinvited Anthony Scaramucci from an upcoming fundraiser after the onetime White House communications director weighed in to criticize remarks from President Trump as racist.

"I’m the chairman of the board, I spoke with members of the board, and the overwhelming consensus was we should disinvite him. That his comments regarding the president were unfair and unacceptable," party chairman Michael Barnett told The Hill.
Scaramucci was actually among the Republicans with a sense of decency speaking out against Trump's remarks.
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4536 ... acceptable
Quote:
Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci told CNN on Thursday that he would no longer support President Trump if his attacks on four freshman congresswomen continued, dubbing his former boss's remarks "racist and unacceptable."

"They won last time, so it may be a winning campaign strategy, but it is against the idealistic values of America,” Scaramucci told "New Day" anchor Alisyn Camerota.

“And so what ends up happening, is it's such a turnoff to a large group of people that you are running a risk that 15 percent of the people that you want to get you through that electoral map and back into the presidency say, 'You know what? I love the policies, but I don't like the "send her back" rhetoric. I don't like the racist rhetoric of sending people back to the homes that they came from,' " Scaramucci added.

And the GOP chairman condemned last night's chants but tried to whitewash Trump's role in inciting them. He also pretended not to notice that Trump seemed to enjoy them and made no attempt to stop them.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4 ... -place-for
This is his attempt to spin it:
Quote:
"What he was trying to say, he said wrong,” Emmer said of Trump’s remarks. “What he was trying to say is if you don’t appreciate this country, you don’t have to be here. That goes for every one of us. It has nothing to do with your race, your gender, your family history.”
In other words, it's OK as long as it's the good old "patriotic" "Love it or leave it" remarks they used to throw at those who protested the Vietnam war?

What a bunch.


This tribalism from our political leaders, left and right, has got to go if there's any hope of a reasonable future.



(and meanwhile tensions in the Middle East continue to rise, between Iran grabbing merchant ships* and the US sending more soldiers. Where the hell are the diplomats? Or have Bolton, Pompeo and Trump sidelined them so Bolton, Eric Prince's mercenaries, and the military-industrial complex can get their war?)
In this context, it's very disturbing that one of the few remaining non-sycophants in the administration may soon be gone:https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... rector-dan
Quote:
News broke Friday that numerous White House officials are once again discussing the possible departure of Dan Coats, the president’s director of national intelligence.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... st/583198/
Quote:
The Impossible Job of Speaking Truth to Trump

How do you offer intelligence to a president who’s not interested—and keep your job?
*Edit: Though it seems that what's going on may be murky.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/ ... 57048.html

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Fri 19 Jul , 2019 1:28 pm
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https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... cal-plants
Quote:
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is getting rid of a policy that let pollution enforcement officials drop in at power and chemical plants for unannounced inspections.

...EPA posed the new policy as a way to increase communication and partnerships between the agency and the businesses it regulates.


https://www.euronews.com/2019/07/18/mex ... ambassador
Quote:
Mexico has told the United States time and again it is not ready to ink a deal forcing asylum seekers heading to the U.S. to first pursue safe haven in a Mexico, the Mexican ambassador to Washington said on Thursday, ahead of a Monday deadline.

Martha Barcena rejected the so-called “safe third country” agreement days before the clock runs out on a deal struck with U.S. President Donald Trump in June. Under that commitment, Mexico averted punitive tariffs by promising to stem the flow of illegal migrants from Central America by July 22. If it failed, Latin America’s second largest economy would have to accept safe-third-country status.

...Barcena also urged Washington to speed up its processing of asylum claims. A recent Trump administration policy requires people seeking protection in the United States to wait for their U.S. court dates in Mexican border towns, part of his hard line stance to halt migration.

“You cannot leave the people waiting in Mexico for three years,” she said....
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 10286.html
Quote:
The Trump administration will deploy some 2,100 more troops to help “secure the southern land border of the United States”, the Defence Department said in a statement on Wednesday night....

About 750 of them will assist the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “with operational, logistical, and administrative support” at “temporary adult migrant holding facilities” in Donna and Tornillo, Texas, according to the Pentagon statement....

Another 250 members of the guard force would be stationed at ports of entry along the US-Mexico border. About 1,000 active duty members of the armed forces would also be deployed in various roles, the Pentagon said...

As of 8 July, there were about 4,000 service members at the border, the Pentagon said on Wednesday night....




I missed this story earlier, but it sounds like the late Senator John McCain understood Trump very well. No wonder Trump hated McCain so much. :
https://www.businessinsider.com/john-mc ... ?r=US&IR=T
Quote:
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said the late Sen. John McCain compared President Donald Trump to notable dictators aloud during the president's 2017 inauguration ceremony.

..."I sat on that stage between Bernie and John McCain, and John McCain kept reciting to me names of dictators during that speech because he knew more than any of us what we were facing as a nation," Klobuchar said. "He understood it. He knew because he knew this man more than any of us did."
Klobuchar strikes me as one of the more honest and straightforward politicians, and I don't doubt her story.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Tue 23 Jul , 2019 12:48 am
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Trump's Justice Department limits what Mueller can say to Congress. :
https://thehill.com/policy/national-sec ... lic-report
Quote:
The Justice Department on Monday told former special counsel Robert Mueller that he should limit his Wednesday testimony before Congress to the four corners of his public report on Russian interference.

“Any testimony must remain within the boundaries of your public report because matters within the scope of your investigation were covered by executive privilege, including information protected by law enforcement, deliberative process, attorney work product, and presidential communications privileges,” Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer wrote in a letter to Mueller that was obtained by The Hill.

“These privileges would include discussion about investigative steps or decisions made during your investigation not otherwise described in the public version of your report,”...

Weinsheimer noted that he was responding to a July 10 letter from Mueller that requested guidance from the department “concerning privilege or other legal bars applicable to potential testimony in connection” with the subpoenas issued by the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees for his appearance....
No surprise. All the same, it suggests Trump is afraid of what could come out.





And President Clown-show strikes again. That any country would ask him to mediate any international dispute is quite an interesting fantasy.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ir-dispute
Quote:
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan that Modi had asked him to mediate the decades-long Kashmir dispute.
Quote:
"We have seen @POTUS's remarks to the press that he is ready to mediate, if requested by India & Pakistan, on Kashmir issue. No such request has been made by PM @narendramodi to US President," Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"It has been India's consistent position that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed only bilaterally. Any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to cross border terrorism. The Shimla Agreement & the Lahore Declaration provide the basis to resolve all issues between India & Pakistan bilaterally," Kumar continued.

...The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on India's denial of any such request...



Prepare for another twitter meltdown.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... mpeachment
Quote:
NAACP delegates representing local branches of the civil rights organization voted unanimously on Tuesday to call for Trump's impeachment, the group announced on Twitter.

The group is holding its annual convention in Detroit. The Hill has reached out to the NAACP for a statement on its decision. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the vote.

"Trump’s misconduct is unmistakable and has proven time and time again, that he is unfit to serve as the president of this country," NAACP president Derrick Johnson tweeted.

#BREAKING: NAACP delegates UNANIMOUSLY pass vote calling for the impeachment of President, Donald J. Trump at the #NAACPConvention.#WhenWeFightWeWin
— NAACP (@NAACP) July 23, 2019
Not that it means much, with Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell both resisting impeachment efforts.

(which is something I find disturbing, especially since some of the Democratic candidates seem to be on a mission to re-elect Trump by going way too far left for centrist voters and those Republicans who hate Trump . Pelosi may think that she can repeat 2018's election results by keeping Trump in office so the Democrats can ride the wave of dislike for him - which is what I cynically suspect is her strategy - but I'm not sure that's going to happen again either. Which would leave us in a bigger mess than we are in already )

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Wed 24 Jul , 2019 1:45 pm
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Back to the dark ages:
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4 ... trump-rule
Quote:
The Trump administration’s effort to reshape a decades-old, federally funded family planning program has its roots in Southern California, where one faith-based group wants to be the “pro-life” Planned Parenthood.

Obria Medical Clinics, which opposes contraception and teaches abstinence, recently became the first group of its kind to receive federal funding through a family planning program established by Congress in 1970 to support clinics and organizations providing low-income women with birth control and other reproductive health care services...

The shift... indicates where the administration is headed as it prepares to implement changes to Title X that bar Planned Parenthood from the program while placing an emphasis on faith-based family planning clinics that don’t provide abortions.

...Title X grantees have always been prohibited from using federal funds to provide abortions, but abortion providers have been allowed to access the funds to pay for other health services.

...Obria would receive $1.7 million for this year’s grant cycle, with the potential to receive an additional $3.4 million over the next two years.
Quote:
Documents obtained by The Hill through a Freedom of Information Act request reveal how Obria plans to run its Title X project, which will serve an estimated 12,000 patients at 21 service sites in four California counties.

The most controversial aspect of the project... is the fact that 13 of those sites don’t offer contraceptives like birth control pills, condoms and IUDs. Instead, they teach abstinence and offer a natural family planning program that helps women track their fertility so they can avoid or achieve pregnancy. The clinics that don’t offer contraceptives won’t refer patients to clinics that provide that service, a departure from standard medical practice but a reflection of Eaton Bravo’s personal opposition to contraceptives...
And when the rhythm method fails, as it very frequently does, will the GOP be happy to support those children born to low-income mothers? Or will they just rail against "welfare moms"?




btw, it looks like Trump will be spending his day tweeting about being harassed by Robert Mueller's investigation. (Don't bother - it's nothing but a rehash of his old rants about "crooked Hillary," "very innocent President," "Greatest Witch Hunt in US History" et al. Though I did rather like "So Democrats and others can illegally fabricate a crime," As opposed to legally fabricating a crime?)
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... -testimony
And no doubt watching obsessively - though he claims he won't watch it, his schedule is completely empty today except for traveling to a campaign rally late in the afternoon. Which president before him could even say that, I wonder?
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... r-hearings



btw, someone provided a link to a transcript of Trump's speech to his young supporters at Turning Point USA. https://factba.se/transcript/donald-tru ... ly-23-2019
This speech is the source for a controversial remark where he seems to claim that Article 2 gives him the right to do whatever he wants as president.
Quote:
I said, "Let's see…" -- because I'm watching. It goes on for years and years. No collusion, no obstruction. "Oh, that's not good enough. Let's go more." Forty million dollars, interview 500 people -- they got nothing. I could find something -- I could take anybody in this audience. Give me $40 million.

Give me unlimited FBI, unlimited interviews, unlimited -- they interviewed 500 people. Listen to this: Two thousand five hundred subpoenas. They did everything. Their collusion; no collusion. They have no collusion. Then I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as President.

But I don't even talk about that because they did a report and there was no obstruction. After looking at it, our great Attorney General read it. He's a total professional. He said, "There's nothing here. There's no obstruction." So they referenced, "No obstruction." So you have no collusion, no obstruction, and yet it goes on. And they think this is helping them.
This speech is also where he praises Boris Johnson as being just like him ("Britain Trump"). Apparently Nigel Farrage was also in the audience of Trump's speech.

What I found most fascinating, though, is how incoherent Trump is. If his audience didn't follow right wing talking points, there's no way they'd ever figure out his point a lot of the time. For instance, this:
Quote:
I blow everybody away except one person. One person I'll never beat. You know who the one person is? [Audience calls out George Washington]

George Washington. He's got 100 percent. George Washington. But we're going to have a tremendous percentage. And after six more years, it'll go to a level that nobody will even be close. But George Washington is hard to beat because he put in 100 percent. He was there first, so he had [Inaudible]. But I have many more than George Washington.

Remember that. George Washington didn't put in too many, but he had certainly the highest percentage. He'll never -- that will be a record that will never be broken. We believe that every young American should love our country, honor our history, and always respect what? Our great American flag. How about the Betsy Ross?
That, and it's full of lies. Supposedly these Turning Point members are college students, which is pretty sad. If they can't see where Trump is pushing lies at them, their college educations haven't done them much good.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Wed 24 Jul , 2019 4:15 pm
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Trump and his GOP defenders are not going to like this being made public:
https://thehill.com/policy/national-sec ... tice-after
Quote:
Could you charge the president with a crime after he left office?” Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) asked Mueller during the former special counsel's testimony.

“Yes,” Mueller replied.

Buck appeared to be taken aback, and asked the question again, but adding whether Mueller believed a president could be charged with obstruction of justice after leaving office. The former special counsel again said he believed that was the case.
Or most of Mueller's testimony, for that matter. It seems he did not shy away from saying that a failure to prove a criminal conspiracy does not equal "no collusion." Or that lies and evasions by Trump's cronies impeded the investigation. Or that his findings do not exonerate Trump.

It's also exposing some of the rabid partisans:
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4544 ... principles
Quote:
Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) tore into Robert Mueller at Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing, claiming the former special counsel violated Justice Department principles by writing that his investigation did not exonerate President Trump.

Ratcliffe, a former prosecutor who has seen his name floated for attorney general and other positions in the Trump administration, was moved up by Republicans so that he was the second GOP lawmaker to ask questions to Mueller...
Maybe some of the blind and oblivious citizens in the US will finally take some notice? They may not have been willing to read a report but this is a little different.

btw, the trolls and Trumpettes* seem to have been instructed to go out and hit the messageboards hard to dominate the discussion and discredit Mueller as much as possible. Old, poor delivery, bumbling, dementia, "the Republicans are winning big time," whatever they think might work, they're saying it. They may be getting desperate.

This also seems to be the goal of Trump's GOP supporters who are doing the questioning - muddy the waters as much as possible and try to discredit Mueller. (so much for their former praise of Mueller as a fellow Republican and a good and impartial investigator - at least, before he came out with findings they didn't like.)





*https://www.townandcountrymag.com/socie ... ago-party/
Quote:
Meet the Trumpettes: Inside the World of Donald Trump's Most Adoring Fans

Two days before the Women's March and federal government shutdown, the founder of this group of wealthy women hosted a party honoring the inauguration of Donald Trump, or as she calls him, "the greatest person on the planet."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/1 ... ing-donal/
Quote:
The Trumpettes: the glamorous world of the socialites who support Donald Trump
CNN interviewed some of the Trumpettes the other day when they were trying to "convince" them that Trump was racist in something (inspiring then enjoying the "go home" chants? his bigoted remarks about the freshman congresswomen?) - though they identified them only as Republican women who support Trump and pretended they represented a wider group. The Washington Post rightly called out CNN for this cheap trick.




EDIT:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... arms-sales
Quote:
President Trump has vetoed three congressional resolutions that would block his emergency arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

"This resolution would weaken America's global competitiveness and damage the important relationships we share with our allies and partners," Trump wrote in veto messages to Congress released by the White House on Wednesday evening...
"Allies and partners " - from Trump? That's a laugh. Oh, wait. Never mind France, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands and so forth. Our important relationships are now with North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Brazil's Bolsonaro...

Last edited by aninkling on Thu 25 Jul , 2019 3:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 25 Jul , 2019 2:51 am
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The aftermath of Mueller's testimony:


https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4546 ... g-on-after
Quote:
House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) on Wednesday implored Americans to "pay attention to what's going on" following former special counsel Robert Mueller's marathon testimony before Congress.

"I’m begging the American people to pay attention to what is going on," Cummings said while standing alongside other House Democratic leaders during a press conference. "Because if you want to have a democracy intact for your children and your children’s children and generations yet unborn, we have got to guard against this moment. This is our watch."...
https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/ ... -testimony
Quote:
Senate Republicans blocked two election security bills and a cybersecurity measure on Wednesday in the wake of former special counsel Robert Mueller warning about meddling attempts during his public testimony before congressional lawmakers.

Democrats tried to get consent to pass two bills that would require campaigns to alert the FBI and Federal Election Commission about foreign offers of assistance, as well as a bill to let the Senate Sergeant at Arms offer voluntary cyber assistance for personal devices and accounts of senators and staff...
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing ... -testimony
Quote:
Hashtags advocating impeaching President Trump trended on Twitter Wednesday evening after former special counsel Robert Mueller testified in front on Congress.

#ImpeachNow was mentioned in over 45,500 tweets, and #ImpeachmentInquiryNow was mentioned more than 47,000 times...
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4546 ... mpeachment
Quote:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) claimed victory Wednesday following Robert Mueller's appearance before a pair of House Committees, saying the former special counsel provided damning testimony implicating President Trump in likely criminal activity.

Yet Pelosi rejected calls to launch impeachment proceedings against the president, as a growing number of Democrats are urging, saying the process is premature while Democrats continue to conduct investigations of their own.

"My position has always been [that] whatever decision we make in that regard would have to be done with our strongest possible hand, and we still have some outstanding matters in the courts," ....
Republicans also claimed victory, no surprise, but that hardly matters as they pretty much refuse to hold Trump accountable for anything.



And it seems that many Americans (both Democrats and GOP) judged Mueller not on the facts he delivered but on whether he put on enough of a show for them.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4 ... -substance
Quote:
Robert Mueller lost major points on style during his testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday — a lapse that obscured the serious jabs he delivered to President Trump on substance.

Mueller’s halting, tentative demeanor was the main talking point for much of the political world, especially in the first of the day’s two hearings, before the House Judiciary Committee.

President Trump and his supporters pounced instantly. Trump sardonically tweeted his “thanks” to the Democrats for bringing the former special counsel before them. Later, speaking at the White House, Trump told reporters, “We had a very good day today.”

But some of the points that Mueller enunciated were seriously problematic for the president....
I thought Mueller was overly cautious at times (but hardly expected anything else from him). But anyone who judges the testimony based on Mueller's style is just plain stupid. This is not a boxing match, pro-wrestling show, football game (Go TEAM!) or "reality" TV competition.

Mueller confirmed on national TV that our president would have been charged with obstruction of justice if he wasn't the president; that his associates lied and cheated to protect him and Mueller's team couldn't fully evaluate criminal conspiracy charges (though there was plenty of smoke, suggesting there was a fire.); and that a team of FBI agents could NOT exonerate him based on what they did manage to find out.

What's worse, this was said by someone who is clearly quite conservative and traditional and even let himself be limited in what he could say by his former boss. A boss who twisted Mueller's report into an unrecognizable exoneration of Trump in his press releases, before the actual redacted report came out. Mueller practically twisted himself into knots to not say the word "impeachment" when questioned, though he obviously meant it. I assume that was on Barr's instructions. I'd be willing to bet that Mueller would have been very happy if he could have said "There is no evidence that the US president obstructed justice or conspired with Russians." But he couldn't; he did his job. Unlike some people, Mueller isn't one of those corrupt people who will sell his soul to protect the president (or the image of the institution of the presidency) at all costs. It would be well to listen.


In other words, any other civilized country would throw the bum out of the White House - even if the transcripts of his speeches didn't suggest he has some serious cognitive issues, and even if he hadn't made a mess of practically everything he's touched.


As one person astutely said, if the Republicans had just the information from Mueller's testimony today, they would have impeached any other president by nightfall.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 25 Jul , 2019 4:36 pm
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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 19971.html
Quote:
Donald Trump appeared at a right-wing rally in front of a fake presidential seal, doctored to make apparently satiric references to Russia and golf.... The normally solitary bald eagle was seen with two heads, made to resemble the two-headed bird on the official Russian coat of arms in a mocking nod to Mr Trump’s woes with investigations into Moscow’s election meddling. The symbolic bird also showed up clutching a bag of golf clubs – evidently a joke about the president’s fondness for spending so much time on the links...

...Richard Painter, who served as the George W Bush administration’s chief White House ethics lawyer, told the Post: “To let someone project something on the screen that isn’t controlled by the White House is pretty stupid.”

He added: “Someone is going to be getting in trouble, but they got one heck of a good laugh out of it.”

Mr Painter explained that First Amendment freedom of expression rights allowed people to parody the official presidential seal.
They forgot to include a big bag of cash.
Including a hooker or two would probably have been a little too difficult, though.

Edit: I was wrong - the cash is there. :D Sharp eyes at the NY Times also spotted the hammer and sickle.https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/us/p ... trump.html

And here's a nice picture of Trump with the seal. https://gizmodo.com/trump-appears-in-fr ... 1836687973





btw, Mueller has apparently issued a "clarification" regarding his comments on whether he would have charged Trump with obstruction of justice if he wasn't the president. Don't ask me whether he really didn't understand the question - asked multiple times - or someone reamed him out afterward for speculating. It seems quite possible that the DOJ has some rule that Thou Must Not Speculate On What Has Not Happened. And Barr would be quite likely to enforce it to protect Trump.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Mon 29 Jul , 2019 2:03 pm
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Dan Coats (the last of the adults?) is gone. I guess he told the truth too often.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/ ... 49505.html

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ion-letter
Presumably Trump forced him out because he wasn't a sycophant.

Trump wants this partisan ass in his place. His main qualification seems to be that, like DOJ head Barr, he has absolutely loyalty to Trump.
https://thehill.com/policy/national-sec ... e-official
Quote:
“I am pleased to announce that highly respected Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas will be nominated by me to be the Director of National Intelligence. A former U.S. Attorney, John will lead and inspire greatness for the Country he loves. Dan Coats, the current Director, will be leaving office on August 15th. I would like to thank Dan for his great service to our Country. The Acting Director will be named shortly,” Trump wrote in a pair of tweets Sunday evening.

...The Texas congressman is a member of both the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees and has become a prominent GOP supporter of Trump on Capitol Hill.

Axios reported earlier Sunday that Trump was impressed by Ratcliffe’s questioning of former special counsel Robert Mueller during high-profile congressional hearings last Wednesday.

Ratcliffe rebuked Mueller’s report during his first hearing before the House Judiciary Committee and suggested he violated Justice Department principles by stating he did not exonerate Trump on allegations of obstruction of justice.



One of the investigations Mueller passed on to others?
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... n-lobbying
Quote:
Federal prosecutors are investigating the role of Thomas Barrack, a top campaign fundraiser and close friend of President Trump, and his connections to the foreign lobby, the New York Times reported Sunday.

Barrack has been investigated for potentially violating the law requiring people who try to influence American policy or opinion at the direction of foreign governments or entities to disclose their activities to the Justice Department, people familiar with the case told the Times.

...Among the interactions reportedly investigated include Barrack coordinating the language in a draft of a speech on energy given by Trump with contacts including Rashid al-Malik, an Emirati businessman who is close to the rulers of the United Arab Emirates.




There are some scathing truths in one of the editorials in Al-Jazeera today. It's the #1 article in their Trending list at the moment.
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opini ... 18311.html
Quote:
The United States is a banana republic

And former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's hearing in Congress made that crystal clear.
Quote:
...Enabled by a stacked, ideologically amicable Supreme Court and surrounded by obsequious family and sycophants - all familiar staples of a banana republic - Trump sits on his leather throne in the Oval Office, content as a purring cat, sure of his impunity.

He knows that, in spite of having committed a ceaseless carousel of outrages, Trump hovers above the law like an angry puppeteer who pulls all the strings when his mercurial mood or whims demand - untouchable, unaccountable and, of course, unindictable.

Confident that he is immune from impeachment, let alone perjury or a solitary count of obstruction of justice, Trump keeps prodding, mocking and defaming Democrats at will using the 21st century equivalent of the presidential bully pulpit - Twitter.
Quote:
If there was one exchange that typified America's devolution into banana republic domain it was Mueller's pitiful response to Democratic Representative Sean Patrick Maloney's simple, but urgent question about the man at the nexus of his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election: Why didn't you subpoena Trump?

Mueller's rambling reply amounted to this: He wanted to interview Trump, but the president refused; then, in effect, ran out the clock and submitted sworn, written replies to a list of questions limited to the Russia probe the special prosecutor ultimately (and unsurprisingly) considered "incomplete", "imprecise", and "inadequate".

Mueller insisted he hadn't "flinched". But he had - in not only failing to get Trump to testify under oath, but also in delivering the convoluted conclusion that while he had not exonerated Teflon Don, he was prevented by legal precedent from charging a sitting president with obstruction of justice...
I won't be surprised if Trump and his minions try to retaliate soon. Freedom of the press means nothing to Trump. And the GOP now follows wherever he goes.




Two articles that demonstrate how right the editorial writer is.

What's the lead article on The Hill at the moment? Important world or national affairs? No, it's Trump pulling the puppet strings again by insulting people (in this case, Elijah Cummings, who has criticized Trump and is leading some of the investigations into him, and Baltimore, which is part of his district. Then Al Sharpton inserted himself into the controversy and Trump saw an opportunity. And The Hill thinks this is terribly important compared to, say, the situation in Iran, or Dan Coats's replacement.) :https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... e-commentscv

And are the members of Trump's administration trying to distance themselves from Trump's nastiness? No, they're working hard to spin and defend his words.
https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-tal ... from-chris

btw, the pro-Trump trolls are IMO becoming increasingly bold and ugly. This does not bode well.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Tue 30 Jul , 2019 9:17 pm
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You have got to be kidding me. Trump is once again indulging his whims at taxpayer expense. I suppose it's a drop in the bucket compared to all his golf outings, but this is ridiculous. He's been fussing about this case for a couple of weeks, tried to pressure Sweden into dropping the charges, and now he's sent an envoy to observe the trial.
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/4 ... ial-report
Quote:
President Trump sent an envoy to monitor A$AP Rocky's court case in Sweden, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

...Trump has involved himself in Rocky's case, saying earlier this month that he spoke with Sweden's prime minister about securing his release. The issue was brought to the president by Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West.

Special envoy Robert O’Brien, who deals with hostage affairs, was reportedly seen at Stockholm District Court on Tuesday during Rocky's hearing.
The Guardian has an article on the case. This rapper and his bodyguards beat up someone who was annoying him on the street and Swedish prosecutors have enough evidence to charge him. He claims self defense and apparently posted doctored videos on his website to mislead his supporters. He also has a history of violence.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/ ... -stockholm
Quote:
Mayers and his five-strong entourage were approached by the plaintiff and another man who were “argumentative and perceived as intrusive and difficult”, the prosecutor said. This led to a confrontation in which a bodyguard “first pushed away the plaintiff, then lifted him up by the throat”, he said.

Suneson said Jafari’s headphones were broken and thrown on to a restaurant awning during the initial brawl, which escalated in neighbouring Olofsgatan where the 19-year old, who was demanding his headphones back, was “beaten, thrown to the ground and beaten again”.

The prosecutor showed the court police photographs of bloodstains and broken glass left in the street, as well as of Jafari’s injuries, which included a broken rib and cuts to his head, arms and legs that required hospital treatment and stitches.

He said the clips posted to the artist’s Instagram had been edited to remove evidence the bodyguard grabbed Jafari before to the fight, and presented text messages between members of Mayers’ entourage indicating the footage uploaded to Instagram had been “cleaned up a bit”.
Sweden is perfectly capable of conducting a fair trial. Trump needs to shut up and butt out.

EDIT (Aug 3):
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/02/americas ... index.html
Quote:
Read: Leaked diplomatic letters over A$AP Rocky
Quote:
One of the tactics used by the United States government in an attempt to advocate for A$AP Rocky? A diplomatic letter warning of "negative consequences" in US-Swedish relations, if the American rapper's hearing on assault charges was not resolved quickly.
CNN has obtained the full text of a letter written by the US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Robert C. O'Brien and leaked earlier on Twitter. Addressed to the Swedish Prosecution Authority on July 31 -- before the rapper's trial had concluded -- the letter said the US was eager "to resolve this case as soon as possible to avoid potentially negative consequences to the US-Swedish bilateral relationship."...
He was released from jail pending the verdict and already headed back to the US. I very much doubt that he'll face any consequences no matter what the verdict was.





https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... en-in-past
Quote:
The Trump administration has separated more than 900 children from their families despite a judge ordering the administration to stop separations over a year ago, the American Civil Liberties Union alleged in a court filing Tuesday.

The ACLU asked a federal judge to block the administration from continuing with any separations, which they said was in defiance of the court order.

“The government is systematically separating large numbers of families based on minor criminal history, highly dubious allegations of unfitness, and errors in identifying bona fide parent-child relationships,” the ACLU said in a filing to a federal district court in San Diego....

In one example, a father was reportedly separated from his three young daughters because the father has HIV.

In another instance cited by the ACLU, a migrant father lost his daughter when a Border Patrol agent called him a bad father for allegedly failing to change is daughter’s diaper...


All those who like nepotism... follow Trump. Apparently we may get Bolsonaro's idiot son as ambassador. I suppose it's poetic justice considering some of the people Trump has inflicted on other countries:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... s-us-envoy
Quote:
President Trump on Tuesday welcomed the possibility of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's son serving as the country's ambassador to the United States and dismissed suggestions it was a case of nepotism.

..."I know his son, and that's probably why they did it," Trump added. "He's outstanding. I'm very happy with that appointment."

The president said he does not believe it amounts to nepotism, noting that the younger Bolsonaro aided his father during his presidential campaign.

Bolsonaro has floated picking his son, Eduardo, to serve as an ambassador to the U.S. despite pushback from ethics watchdogs and Brazilian officials. He has argued that Eduardo's relationship with Trump's children would prove beneficial for the job, The New York Times reported...

Last edited by aninkling on Sat 03 Aug , 2019 2:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 01 Aug , 2019 12:27 am
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https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ecutors-in
Quote:
President Trump on Wednesday said he has directed the head of the Navy to rescind awards given to the government prosecutors who unsuccessfully tried the war crimes case against former Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher.

Trump, who championed Gallagher's case throughout his high-profile trial, said the prosecutors were "ridiculously given a Navy Achievement Medal." Gallagher was found not guilty earlier this month of the murder of an ISIS captive and of the attempted murder of Iraqi civilians.
I wonder if Trump will also retaliate against the Navy Seals who had the guts and decency to turn Gallagher in for war crimes? Or will he be satisfied with Gallagher and his buddies making good on their threats?



I still can't figure out how any juror could say "Oh, Gallagher stabbed the prisoner in the neck with a hunting knife, but only once and not three times; and that's OK, because the medic says he blocked the breathing tube and that was the immediate cause of death." A hunting knife is not a small item and the neck is full of vital arteries, veins, the trachea, the spinal cord, nerves, etc. It would be pretty tough to miss something important. It seems like it should be attempted murder at least. "Got him with my hunting knife" and posing with the man's corpse held up like a dead deer also seem pretty damning.

My only guess is that this witness suddenly changing his testimony in the middle of the trial was not a coincidence . Maybe the prosecutors couldn't alter the charge from murder to a lesser crime at that point? And connecting the dots paints an ugly picture. It seems like something must have happened - the New York Times story I posted earlier made it clear that the medic lied about the prosecutors not asking him the right questions (his excuse for changing his story). Nor is it plausible. And Trump interfered and got Gallagher out of the brig before the trial, when he was put there for witness intimidation and obstruction of justice.

Apparently Gallagher got off on the charges of murdering (or attempting to murder) the two civilians, a young girl and old man, by claiming that ISIS might have shot them instead. Pretty big coincidence that ISIS was active on both occasions, just when Gallagher was at a sniper's perch too.





A more recent New York Times article includes reactions from some in the military:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/03/us/E ... itted.html
Quote:
Acquittal of Navy SEAL May Deter Others From Reporting Crimes, Some Officials Worry
Quote:
A Navy SEAL official said top commanders who were watching the Gallagher case unfold were stunned at the outcome.

“We don’t bring these charges lightly,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Navy is still investigating aspects of the case. “But we need to show that when young SEALs come forward, they will be listened to.”...
Quote:
The verdict shocked the platoon members who testified in the trial, according to one platoon member who asked not to be named because he has received death threats from fellow SEALs for participating in the trial...

“A lot of the ‘head shed’ are saying we did the right thing,” the platoon member said, referring to the SEAL leadership. “But the mafia, the enlisted guys, they are out for blood.”... “Everyone is getting squeezed. Some guys decided it wasn’t worth it, and changed their stories. Maybe I was naïve to think that justice would be served.”...
Quote:
Mr. Gallagher appeared Wednesday morning on “Fox & Friends,” ...Asked by the host what message he had for future SEALs, he paused for a moment and then said: “To future Navy SEALs, loyalty is a trait that seems to be lost, and I would say, bring that back. You are part of a brotherhood. You are there to watch your brother’s back, he’s there to watch your back — you just stay loyal.”

The BBC has a detailed story on the case too:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48536760
Most of it was not new but it was noteworthy how Trump's support emboldened Gallagher:
Quote:
Throughout the trial, Gallagher acted as though it was not he who had been accused of wrongdoing but the investigators, prosecutors and witnesses. He and his lawyers appeared to be emboldened by the fact that they had the support of the president. Gallagher's self-righteous indignation became a fully-fledged legal strategy, and it was an effective one...

..In the courtroom, Parlatore struggled to rein in his client. Rules are posted: no mobile phones, gum or beverages. Gallagher broke all of them: he placed a can of Red Bull on the table. He chewed gum and looked at photos on a mobile phone. Outside the defence waiting room, his wife said impatiently: "How are we still here?"

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Fri 02 Aug , 2019 3:48 pm
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Charming.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... robbed-too
Quote:
President Trump responded early Friday to reports that Rep. Elijah Cummings’s (D-Md.) Baltimore home was broken into...

"Really bad news! The Baltimore house of Elijah Cummings was robbed. Too bad!"
He's hardly even bothering to conceal his nastiness anymore.

Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. Trump already spent his life insulated by power and money. Now he has even more power and the social restraints seem to be falling off more and more.




btw, I won't be surprised if this "burglary" turns out to have been done by someone inspired by Trump's attacks on Cummings.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4559 ... mp-attacks
Quote:
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) released a statement Friday morning following news reports Thursday his Baltimore house had been broken into.

In a brief statement, the Maryland congressman confirmed that an intruder attempted to break in through his front door before being scared off by Cummings's yelling.

“An individual attempted to gain entry into my residence at approximately 3:40 AM on Saturday, July 27. I was notified of the intrusion by my security system, and I scared the intruder away by yelling before the person gained entry into the residential portion of the house," the lawmaker said through his office....

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Sat 03 Aug , 2019 1:45 pm
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It didn't take long for the new arms race to begin.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4560 ... es-in-asia
Quote:
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday he hoped to soon place ground-launched, intermediate-range missiles in Asia, a day after the United States pulled itself from a Cold War era arms control pact.

...“I would prefer [in] months, I just don’t have the latest state of play on timelines for either a cruise missile or long-range missile ... but these things tend to take longer than you expect.”

...Esper brushed aside a likely tense reaction from China to such a U.S. deployment, saying that more than 80 percent of Beijing’s inventory “is intermediate range systems, so that shouldn’t surprise them that we would want to have a like capability.”

The United States on Friday formally left the intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia...

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ile-launch
Quote:
President Trump on Friday defended Kim Jong Un after North Korea’s third short-range missile launch in just over a week, saying they did not violate the “agreement” he struck last year with the reclusive leader.

Despite acknowledging the launches may violate United Nations resolutions, Trump [said]...

“Chariman [sic] Kim has a great and beautiful vision for his country, and only the United States, with me as President, can make that vision come true,” Trump tweeted. “He will do the right thing because he is far too smart not to, and he does not want to disappoint his friend, President Trump!”...
If I remember right, no one but Trump was allowed to know what "agreement" he struck with Kim. Or was it just the discussions with Putin? I think Congress tried in vain to find out about both but I'm too lazy to go look it up.




https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/08/artic ... riff-hike/
Quote:
Trump risks recession with tariff hike
US president imposes an additional 10% duty on $300 billion of Chinese imports
Quote:
Why the president chose this particular Thursday afternoon to impose a new round of tariffs is unclear. Perhaps Trump believed that China had agreed to a quid pro quo, according to which the US would allow sales of components to the Chinese telecom giant Huawei, and China would buy a meaningful amount of US farm products.

Trump complained in his tweet that China had not taken any steps towards additional agricultural purchases (and also complained that China had not banned the export of fentanyl to the US). The president may have responded to Democratic attacks on his trade policy during the presidential candidates’ debates. It is also possible that China has provoked the president deliberately, hoping that economic fallout from the trade war would undermine Trump’s prospects for re-election.

All of this is conjecture. What we know is that equity market valuations buoyed by leverage applied to mediocre profits are very tippy.



And Trump has been quick to offer Putin help with the wildfires in Siberia. Which ordinarily I would call a good thing, but considering how he attacked California and threatened to withhold funds for its wildfires...

Well, that says a good deal about Trump. His personal friends get help and money; those he sees as enemies because they disagree with him get insults and as much pain as he can inflict.



I also added an update to Trump's involvement in the rapper's trial in the post from Tuesday. It is a leaked letter from the US envoy warning Sweden of political consequences if they don't let him go. And he's now on his way back to the US, before the verdict has been released.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Mon 05 Aug , 2019 3:41 pm
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https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watc ... premacy-in
Quote:
A Republican state senator from Nebraska on Sunday accused the GOP of helping to enable white supremacy.

"The Republican Party is enabling white supremacy in our country," state Sen. Kevin McCollister (R) tweeted.

"As a lifelong Republican, it pains me to say this, but it’s the truth," McCollister continued. "I of course am not suggesting that all Republicans are white supremacists nor am I saying that the average Republican is even racist. What I am saying though is that the Republican Party is COMPLICIT to obvious racist and immoral activity inside our party.

..."We have a Republican president who continually stokes racist fears in his base," he tweeted. "He calls certain countries 'sh*tholes,' tells women of color to 'go back' to where they came from and lies more than he tells the truth."

"We have Republican senators and representatives who look the other way and say nothing for fear that it will negatively affect their elections. No more. When the history books are written, I refuse to be someone who said nothing."


https://oversight.house.gov/legislation ... l-response
Quote:
Under the Trump Administration, DHS appears to have significantly reduced resources and infrastructure that would address the increasing threat of white supremacist extremism. Reportedly, DHS recently disbanded a group of analysts focused on domestic terrorism in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, reducing the number of analytic reports on white supremacists.
Not all of the psychopathic mass killers are white supremacists, and I think there are many societal/ cultural issues in the US plus the easy access to guns. But it's a problem when the Trump administration is doing less about one obvious problem.

And when that ass wants to hold any gun legislation hostage to immigration reform. (Or maybe that's just Trump's excuse for doing nothing - don't forget that all his connections with the NRA)

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Thu 08 Aug , 2019 4:06 pm
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Speaking of the NRA...

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... cks-report
Quote:
NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre has warned President Trump against backing a bill to expand background checks for gun purchases in the aftermath of two mass shootings, citing the unpopularity of the measure with his base, The Washington Post reports.

According to the Post, administration officials said that LaPierre and Trump spoke on Tuesday. During the exchange, the longtime NRA chief also reportedly took aim at the "bill’s merits,” as the newspaper describes.

The conversation came shortly after the president expressed an open mind toward backing legislation seeking an expansion of background checks for gun purchases...


https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ca-resigns
Quote:
The State Department's top diplomat for Latin America reportedly submitted her resignation earlier this week...

...As secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, Breier has been tasked with building partnerships with South American nations and controlling immigration levels from Mexico and other countries in the Central America region...

Breier reportedly opposed the control the White House sought over matters related to Mexico. ..

The Post, citing an unnamed administration official, reported that White House adviser Stephen Miller had chastised her in an email over her position on the U.S. asylum agreement with Guatemala. Miller was reportedly outraged by her insufficient defense of the agreement, which will require migrants traveling through the Central American nation to apply for asylum there before continuing to move toward the U.S. ...
The ambassador to Russia resigned recently, too.




https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/artic ... nd=premium
Quote:
History Hints at How Trump's Tariffs Will Hurt Americans

The latest round would take $30 billion from households. Think back to some surges in gasoline prices for a sense of how that feels.



This seems to be the result of Trump's little conference with all the fringe, right wing, social media nutters a couple of weeks ago.
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4 ... ve-bias-in
Quote:
The White House is reportedly exploring potential executive action President Trump could take to address his and other Republicans' allegations of anti-conservative bias among social media companies.

Politico reported Wednesday that the White House has circulated a draft proposal, though it is unclear what exactly the order would do or how it would target tech companies. One source told the outlet that the details of the proposal remain in flux...
This tells you something about their mindset though:
Quote:
"If the internet is going to be presented as this egalitarian platform and most of Twitter is liberal cesspools of venom, then at least the president wants some fairness in the system," a White House official told the outlet.
Amazing how Trump has politicized everything. This is the first administration where "liberal cesspools of venom" would not be a shocking thing to hear from a White House official. Some of them are not even bothering to act like professionals.

The right has plenty of cesspools of venom on Twitter, too. The sycophantic idiots in this administration are just being willfully blind because that's what Dear Leader demands. Incidentally, he's been back to ranting and raving again on Twitter. Not worth bothering to post any of it; it's just his usual vitriol.




btw, if anyone else thought it was curious that the owner of the 8chan site moved back to the US last week after the mass shootings, this is probably the reason:
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4 ... han-report
Quote:
Authorities in the Philippines are investigating the owners of the website 8chan to determine whether they were negligent in dealing with far-right users on the platform who have created an atmosphere that encourages mass shootings.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that police in the country are investigating the site's owner, Jim Watkins, as well as founder Fredrick Brennan for negligence in their management of the platform and to determine the site's influence in the country.

Both men, natives of the U.S., now reportedly live in the Philippines but Watkins left the country in recent days, according to the Journal...

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Fri 09 Aug , 2019 1:08 pm
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And the destruction of expertise in favor of blind loyalty to Trump continues:
https://thehill.com/policy/national-sec ... nistration
Quote:
Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon is resigning from her post amid turnover at the top of the agency, President Trump announced Thursday. Trump added in a later tweet that National Counterterrorism Center Director Joseph Maguire will serve as acting Director of National Intelligence.

...In a note accompanying her formal letter, Gordon wrote that she offered her resignation "as an act of respect & patriotism, not preference." "You should have your team," she wrote, implying it was not her choice to move on.

...Gordon, a career intelligence official, was set to ascend to the top post as director of national intelligence following the departure of Dan Coats later this month. But the White House had been weighing removing her in favor of installing a Trump loyalist, despite concerns from Capitol Hill, where Gordon is widely respected.



https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archi ... na/595573/
Quote:
Trump the Bulldozer

Freed of advisers who disagreed with him, the president has followed through on some long-deferred campaign promises—but the results are not what he hoped for.
Quote:
Why did China devalue? In response to new tariffs from the United States, of course, the latest round of several. Trump had wanted to enact the tariffs sooner, but was talked out of it by advisers who saw them as a bad idea, like Gary Cohn, who served as his chief economic adviser. But Cohn is gone, and the current reigning trade guru of the administration is hard-liner Peter Navarro, who believes that a trade war will end well for the United States.

This is the template for what has happened in several of the cases where Trump had appeared to fold but has since followed through. Aides who felt he was acting either against the national interest or against his own interest have been shipped out: Cohn, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Chief of Staff John Kelly. They’ve been replaced by advisers who either encourage Trump, like Navarro, or are determined to enable rather than encumber him, such as acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and the television pundit Larry Kudlow, who succeeded Cohn....

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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Jude
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Mon 12 Aug , 2019 12:30 pm
Aspiring to heresy
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Melkor and Ungoliant in need of some relationship counselling.


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Mon 12 Aug , 2019 5:31 pm
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Interesting, though not surprising. But it might not have been the smartest thing for Trudeau to give such open, on-the-record conversations to a reporter while Trump is still in office. (Though Trudeau has already not impressed me with the SNC-Lavalin scandal. That was stupid and arrogant as well as appalling. )


But who knows - maybe Trump has enough other things to think about and lash out at? A partial list from the weekend:

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... o-coverage
Quote:
President Trump lashed out at New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman early Saturday...

Trump's tweet came one day after the Times published a report by Haberman, Katie Rogers and Rick Rojas that said the president grew frustrated during his trip with multiple media reports focusing on his attacks on political adversaries and with a lack of coverage of the positive reception he arrived to at a hospital in Dayton.

According to the Times, Trump "screamed at his aides to begin producing proof that in El Paso people were happy to see him." .... Soon after, White House aides began distributing photos and video of the president joined by doctors and nurses in the Ohio hospital, according to the outlet.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... o-hospital
Quote:
President Trump is seen in newly released video recounting the crowd size at his rally earlier this year in El Paso while speaking to hospital workers...

Local news stations in El Paso tweeted out the footage on Thursday, saying it was recorded by an individual who was present for Trump's visit the previous day to the University Medical Center of El Paso.

"They’re talking about you all over the world. The job you’ve done is incredible," Trump told hospital workers. Trump then noted he was in El Paso for a campaign rally earlier in the year ... "I was here three months ago and we made a speech," Trump said. "What was the name of the arena? That place was packed."..."That was some crowd"... "And we had twice the number outside. And then you had this crazy Beto. Beto had 400 people in a parking lot."...
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... l-warnings
Quote:
President Trump on Friday threatened to "reciprocate" travel warnings issued against the U.S. following a pair of mass shootings.

Asked about his reactions to the travel advisories, Trump replied, "Well, I can't imagine that. But if they did that, we'd just reciprocate." "We are a very reciprocal nation, with me as the head. When somebody does something negative to us in terms of a country, we do it to them," he added. "Look, our country has been taken advantage of by foreign countries, even allies — including allies, and in many cases, more than anybody else," Trump said. "We've been taken advantage of for many, many years, and it stops. It stopped."

Uruguay, Venezuela and Japan issued warnings this week after the U.S. experienced a pair of mass shootings last weekend that killed 31 people. Japan warned of "the potential for gunfire incidents everywhere in the United States,” and described the country as a “gun society.”...
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4569 ... ael-report
Quote:
President Trump has told advisers that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should prevent Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) from entering Israel, Axios reported Saturday, citing three people familiar. ...
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ut-jeffrey
Quote:
President Trump on Saturday retweeted a post promoting a conspiracy theory about Jeffrey Epstein's death.

The tweet, by Twitter user Terrence K. Williams, blamed the death on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Clinton
And to think Trump and the Clintons used to be such good friends... ;) (Kellyanne Conway has apparently been given the job of trying to normalize Trump's tweet this time - she's putting out something transparently untrue about Trump just wanting to make sure everything is investigated.)

https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... e-and-then
Quote:
Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci denounced President Trump early Sunday, arguing that he would eventually turn on everyone in his circle.

"For the last 3 years I have fully supported this President," Scaramucci said on Twitter. "Recently he has said things that divide the country in a way that is unacceptable. So I didn’t pass the 100% litmus test. Eventually he turns on everyone and soon it will be you and then the entire country." ...


But Trump can still do real damage while everyone focuses on his bizarre speeches and rants:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... dges-union
Quote:
The Trump administration has reportedly taken a step to decertify an immigration judges’ union that has been repeatedly critical of President Trump and the White House’s policy proposals.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... rotections
Quote:
Trump rolls back endangered species protections
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... e-projects
Quote:
EPA proposes rolling back states' authority over pipeline projects
Quote:
The Trump administration proposal would cement guidance issued in June that critics say seeks to limit states’ influence over controversial pipeline projects.

“Apparently the Trump administration only likes states’ rights when it can use them as an excuse to allow polluters to destroy streams and pave over wetlands, not when states and tribes want to actually protect their waterways from pipelines or other harmful projects,” Madeleine Foote, deputy director of the League of Conservation Voters, said in a statement.

The EPA said the aim of the proposal is to comply with an April executive order from President Trump directing the agency to accelerate and promote the construction of pipelines and other important energy infrastructure....

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: You've been Trumped!
Posted: Wed 14 Aug , 2019 8:50 pm
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https://thehill.com/policy/energy-envir ... ps-down-on
Quote:
A new policy rolled out by the Interior Department’s inspector general puts strict limits on the office’s interactions with reporters.

The press office for the agency’s internal watchdog, which is investigating a number of Interior officials, including Secretary David Bernhardt, is now prohibited from providing journalists with information on its work beyond “Our report speaks for itself” or “We have no comment.”

The policy, which took effect Aug. 5, is a change from the previous practice of sometimes providing reporters with background or additional information.

When asked this week about a new report released by the IG office, the press office told The Hill it could use one of two statements: “Our report speaks for itself” or “We have no comment.”...
Clearly they're not happy about the gag order, based on that comment. The White House claims it's temporary. We'll see.


Trump is lashing out with the stock market fall. This is not how a leader acts, more like a scared idiot who fears he might be seeing the consequences of his trade wars coming home to bite him. And doesn't know what to do except try to blame it on someone else:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... ter-stocks
Quote:
The president spent part of his day hammering away at the Fed and defending his trade policy toward China, but escalated his attacks when he personally targeted Powell and blamed the central bank for any economic woes.

"Spread is way too much as other countries say THANK YOU to clueless Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve," Trump tweeted from his golf club in New Jersey.

"Germany, and many others, are playing the game! CRAZY INVERTED YIELD CURVE! We should easily be reaping big Rewards & Gains, but the Fed is holding us back. We will Win!"...
I expect there's a reason Trump spent much of his life declaring bankruptcies and was apparently in a position where no US bank would loan money to him, by the time he became president. And it's not because he's a great businessman. Then he chose to let Peter Navarro's China obsession steer the US's financial policy. A bad combination of ignorance and choosing to listen to fools.

He's also back to making threats to withdraw the US from the World Trade Organization. Yeah that'll work out well when we want to bring a trade dispute against another country.

_________________

Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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