Cont: The Trump Presidency Part III

[pgwenthold]

I think this was posted few days ago. IMO what's frightening isn't her lack of basic knowledge nor the fact that the Trump Administration has nominated her, their candidates have been mixed to say the least, but that she's almost certain to be appointed because all GOP will appoint whoever the White House proposes, no matter how unsuitable.

There was the recent judicial appointment where the candidate had never tried a case, hadn't really done much work as a lawyer after law school (he was mostly a political hack) and he was deemed unsuitable by 14 of 15 (the 15th abstained) ABA members. Sailed through along partisan lines.

That nomination has not reached the full senate, though, right? There HAS to be 3 non-idiot Republicans in the senate, right?

Flake, McCain and .... someone?

This is not a political issue at all. This is one of competency.

 

[Civet]

There was the recent judicial appointment where the candidate had never tried a case, hadn't really done much work as a lawyer after law school (he was mostly a political hack) and he was deemed unsuitable by 14 of 15 (the 15th abstained) ABA members. Sailed through along partisan lines.

That one was strange to me. It's not as if there's some crippling shortage of conservative lawyers. In all seriousness I could dig up a well-credentialed, highly experienced conservative lawyer in an afternoon.

 

[Stacko]

So swampy.

One of President Trump’s most controversial judicial nominees did not disclose on publicly available congressional documents that he is married to a senior lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office.

The nominee, Brett J. Talley, is awaiting a Senate confirmation vote that could come as early as Monday to become a federal district judge in Alabama. He is married to Ann Donaldson, the chief of staff to the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II.

Mr. Talley was asked on his publicly released Senate questionnaire to identify family members and others who are “likely to present potential conflicts of interest.” He did not mention his wife.

...

Ms. Donaldson has emerged in recent weeks as a witness in the special counsel’s investigation into whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice. She was interviewed by investigators recently about her detailed notes about conversations with Mr. McGahn on topics including the firing of the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, according to two people briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation with reporters.

 

[Hlafordlaes]

That one was strange to me. It's not as if there's some crippling shortage of conservative lawyers. In all seriousness I could dig up a well-credentialed, highly experienced conservative lawyer in an afternoon.

Loyalty is the only value. This is how, for example, you get CEOs of major corporations who can ruin a company in short order, get "fired" by golden parachute, rinse, and repeat. The only criterion is to accept shareholder supremacy to the detriment of all else (labor, environ, taxes, and anything that costs real money above $0.01), having no qualms about excessively draconian policies. In the GOP, loyalty is crucial, since virtually no policies need have any relation with real outcomes, or with facts, but they must shovel money upward, whatever any other outcome might be, such as massive trade and budget shortfalls.

The USA is a classic, textbook case of political and economic oligarchy. Well, that's a bit unfair. The dog-and-pony show of, ahem, ersatz democracy and post-capitalist transnational corporate interest plays in many capitals.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Trump claims that he and Duterte, "briefly" discussed human rights and the war on drugs during their closed-door conversation.
But a spokesman for Duterte told reporters that "human rights did not arise" during the meeting.

So, who are you going to believe?

 

[Andy_Ross]

Trump claims that he and Duterte, "briefly" discussed human rights and the war on drugs during their closed-door conversation.
But a spokesman for Duterte told reporters that "human rights did not arise" during the meeting.

So, who are you going to believe?

 

[BobTheCoward]

Loyalty is the only value. This is how, for example, you get CEOs of major corporations who can ruin a company in short order, get "fired" by golden parachute, rinse, and repeat. The only criterion is to accept shareholder supremacy to the detriment of all else (labor, environ, taxes, and anything that costs real money above $0.01),

This is the only criterion. If I own X, and I hire someone to manage X, I want managing X in my interests to be the sole endeavor.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Trump appointee for the Council on Environmental Quality, Kathleen Hartnett White isn't aware of and doesn't understand even the most basic elements of environmental science

It's actually quite a funny video in some ways. In others it's utterly terrifying.

Sad was the word that came to mind for me.

 

[Childlike Empress]

Trump claims that he and Duterte, "briefly" discussed human rights and the war on drugs during their closed-door conversation.
But a spokesman for Duterte told reporters that "human rights did not arise" during the meeting.

So, who are you going to believe?

Nobody. It's totally without consequence. US foreign policy doesn't give a damn about human rights anyway.

 

[Minoosh]

Targeting Michael Flynn & Shielding the Radical Cleric Gulen: Special Counsel Robert Mueller MUST Step Down

I'm baffled by what Gulen has done that is supposedly so bad. Erdogan considers him a terrorist, but the US by and large doesn't, and I've never seen any convincing evidence that Gulen is a "radical Islamist." Erdogan also says he was behind the coup attempt but I don't know why. That "coup" attempt may well have been orchestrated by Erdogan himself, who IMO comes closer to the description of "radical Islamist."

If you have any reliable news reports to the contrary, I'll read them. But I'm not accepting the words of an Erdogan mouthpiece, including Flynn or Turkish government sources. IMO Erdogan needs a "Public Enemy No. 1" for domestic reasons.

Off topic, apologies.

 

[Childlike Empress]

If you have any reliable news reports to the contrary, I'll read them. But I'm not accepting the words of an Erdogan mouthpiece, including Flynn or Turkish government sources.

The author of the linked article, Sibel Edmonds, is far from an Erdogan mouthpiece. She's profoundly informed on both Turkey and the FBI in general and Robert Mueller in particular, though.

 

[varwoche]

The author of the linked article, Sibel Edmonds, is far from an Erdogan mouthpiece. She's profoundly informed on both Turkey and the FBI in general and Robert Mueller in particular, though.

I rather enjoy(?) that on her idiotic site, she writes articles about herself in the 3rd person. And that's the least of her credibility problems.

 

[Blue Mountain]

That one was strange to me. It's not as if there's some crippling shortage of conservative lawyers. In all seriousness I could dig up a well-credentialed, highly experienced conservative lawyer in an afternoon.

How well would you do if the ground is frozen?

 

[Border Reiver]

The author of the linked article, Sibel Edmonds, is far from an Erdogan mouthpiece. She's profoundly informed on both Turkey and the FBI in general and Robert Mueller in particular, though.

Just not well enough informed about Mueller to know that he is not the "longest serving FBI Director". When some basic fact checking like that slips through, what else did?

 

[Cl1mh4224rd]

I rather enjoy(?) that on her idiotic site, she writes articles about herself in the 3rd person. And that's the least of her credibility problems.

Indeed. She was put up on a pedestal, for a time, by the 9/11 Truth movement.

 

[Spindrift]

Just not well enough informed about Mueller to know that he is not the "longest serving FBI Director". When some basic fact checking like that slips through, what else did?

That's not fair. It's not like anyone has ever heard of or remembers that Hoover guy.

 

[Oystein]

Indeed. She was put up on a pedestal, for a time, by the 9/11 Truth movement.

Which was kinda strange, for her 9/11 story was that the FBI knew ahead of time an Al Qaeda attack on skyscrapers was coming - i.e. the thing that Truthers deny.

 

[Childlike Empress]

Just not well enough informed about Mueller to know that he is not the "longest serving FBI Director". When some basic fact checking like that slips through, what else did?

Well, I guess if you're that deep into a topic, it goes without saying that the founder and godfather of the agency wasn't "just a director", but yes, that was sloppily worded. Took you almost the whole article to find something to complain about I see, though.

 

[Childlike Empress]

Which was kinda strange, for her 9/11 story was that the FBI knew ahead of time an Al Qaeda attack on skyscrapers was coming - i.e. the thing that Truthers deny.

That's not the essence of her story. You should read her book "Classified woman".

 

[Minoosh]

The author of the linked article, Sibel Edmonds, is far from an Erdogan mouthpiece. She's profoundly informed on both Turkey and the FBI in general and Robert Mueller in particular, though.

That article calls him a Wanted Terrorist and Militant Islamist (the gratuitous italics and capital letters don't encourage me to give her impartiality points). Yes, he's "wanted" - by Erdogan - and his reputation is as a very moderate Islamist (actually pretty much a secularist, with some Muslim values). Also, yes, he has an affiliated chain of charter schools, but lots of people run charter schools. In my state they focus on science. They do offer Turkish as the foreign language of choice, and while that may be cruel I don't think it's criminal.

Nothing in that article leaves me knowing more about the basis of Gulen purported transgressions. He's Erdogan's Trotsky, as far as I can tell. Just the enemy. Someone with whom Erdogan had a falling out, possibly because he's more popular than Erdogan.