The Trump Presidency 13: The (James) Baker's Dozen

Status
Not open for further replies.
CapelDodger said:
...The root of the problem, I think, is that the US is over the hump of its global influence and is a declining power refusing to acknowledge the fact, and indeed reacting with fury to the very suggestion. As a Brit boomer (class of '54) I was lucky enough to grow up after that phase. Or so I thought before 2016 and the Brexit fiasco.
Click to expand...

Not too sure about that. I would repeat something I posted earlier. Adam Schiff has pointed out that what we're seeing in the U.S. is not unique, it's part of a worldwide trend. The rise of right-wing populism that largely rejects the norms of democracy. You see this in many other places, from Brazil to Great Britain to Germany to the Philippines. Even in the Netherlands where the far-right party of candidate Geert Wilders "is now the second largest party." Trump tapped into it and has taken it to undreamed of levels in the U.S. Link
 
Aridas said:
Mmm. I'm not so sure. We certainly are losing global influence now, but... I wouldn't call that the root of the problem. The root of the problem lies far more in how the average person has been getting ever more screwed in comparison to the very rich. The Republicans have pointedly been doing that as a party, of course (as well as culturally undermining democracy in its attempts to shore up its power), but quite a few Democrats have been quite culpable, too.
Click to expand...
You're right, of course, that the fundamental problem is the ever more grotesque concentration of wealth and income in ever fewer mega-rich families which has followed the Thatcher-Reagan triumph of the late 70's, and the replacement of Keynesian policies with Chicago School throwbacks. What I was thinking of is the next stage up, and the means by which the rich have re-directed the resentment away from themselves and onto immigrants, foreigners and the "feckless poor" themselves. So we get "Make America Great Again" as if that would solve the problem, and not "make the rich pay their fair share towards the society which enables their wealth".
 
newyorkguy said:
Not too sure about that. I would repeat something I posted earlier. Adam Schiff has pointed out that what we're seeing in the U.S. is not unique, it's part of a worldwide trend. The rise of right-wing populism that largely rejects the norms of democracy. You see this in many other places, from Brazil to Great Britain to Germany to the Philippines. Even in the Netherlands where the far-right party of candidate Geert Wilders "is now the second largest party." Trump tapped into it and has taken it to undreamed of levels in the U.S. Link
Click to expand...
Agreed; see my reply to Aridas above. It's all very 1930's, don't you think?
 
smartcooky said:
Interesting.

Hannitty suggested to Trump that it was Cohen's own idea to pay Stormy Daniels, and Trump agreed it was his idea.

Firstly, even if this is true, Trump still went along with it which makes him a co-conspirator, and still repaid Cohen after taking office (which means he has knowingly committed a campaign finance felony; an impeachable offence.

Secondly, the House might be interested in a subpoena for Hannitty to testify to what he just said under oath.
Click to expand...

That's a big yup...

https://www.rollcall.com/news/congr...ne-says-sean-hannity-subpoenaed-michael-cohen

Hannity’s comment caught the attention of Democratic Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island.

“I look forward to his [Hannity’s] testimony,” Cicilline said in a tweet.

National security lawyer Bradley P. Moss had a similar thought.

“Hannity just made himself a witness in a congressional inquiry and the SDNY [Southern District of New York] probe,” Moss said.
Click to expand...

ETA Prediction: Fox will howl with outrage and gaslight us by claiming Congress is threatening journalists for political reasons.

That said, I can see it being credible that Cohen said this to Hannity. Why would Cohen tell a nationally recognized journalist with a nightly TV show what dark secrets are about in a high-stakes campaign? He'd tell the journalist the same "decent truth" he told Congress the first time around.
 
Last edited:
CapelDodger said:
Things have come to a pretty pass when a chap can't just spout crap without any repurcussions. :cool:
Click to expand...

85766281.jpg
 
As juicy as it is, I say don't take the Hannity bait.

It's sacrificing a queen to take out a bishop.

"See the whole board."
 
Delphic Oracle said:
As juicy as it is, I say don't take the Hannity bait.

It's sacrificing a queen to take out a bishop.

"See the whole board."
Click to expand...

Well that's the problem. The Queen started the game in Check but the other player refuses to take it off the board, to torture the metaphor a bit.
 
The disclosure of the memos contradicts statements made by the president, who told The New York Times in January in an Oval Office interview that he had no role in his son-in-law receiving his clearance.

Mr. Kushner’s lawyer, Abbe D. Lowell, also said that at the time the clearance was granted last year that his client went through a standard process. Ivanka Trump, the president’s eldest daughter and Mr. Kushner’s wife, said the same thing three weeks ago.
Click to expand...

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/us/politics/jared-kushner-security-clearance.html

It's been abundantly clear that these ***** don't care at all about being caught for lies like this. Pathetic.
 
Delphic Oracle said:
That's a big yup...

https://www.rollcall.com/news/congr...ne-says-sean-hannity-subpoenaed-michael-cohen



ETA Prediction: Fox will howl with outrage and gaslight us by claiming Congress is threatening journalists for political reasons.

That said, I can see it being credible that Cohen said this to Hannity. Why would Cohen tell a nationally recognized journalist with a nightly TV show what dark secrets are about in a high-stakes campaign? He'd tell the journalist the same "decent truth" he told Congress the first time around.
Click to expand...

I think trumper sycophants and apologists can deduce when Cohen is lying and when he's telling the truth by the same means that 9/11 truthers "know" which parts of the NIST reports are lies and which parts are true.
 
https://twitter.com/NoahShachtman/status/1101224689568022528

EXCLUSIVE: Trump moneyman Allen Weisselberg is about to be hauled in front of the House intelligence committee.

Weisselberg testifying to the House oversight committee was expected after its Cohen hearing. The odd/interesting/uh-oh thing is the Trump Organization's CFO going before the *intelligence* panel.
Click to expand...

Article embedded in tweet.
 
Arcade22 said:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/us/politics/jared-kushner-security-clearance.html

It's been abundantly clear that these ***** don't care at all about being caught for lies like this. Pathetic.
Click to expand...

https://twitter.com/Popehat/status/1101326034459287554

I remember I had to go through a HUGE amount of trouble to get a security clearance for access to some intel in a terrorism case.

The sum total of the intel was that someone we thought was named [something like] Jimmy-Joe Bob was actually named Joe-Jimmy Bob.
Click to expand...

And, of course, let us not forget that Kushner used his security clearance to give away classified information to the Saudis, who then used that information to round up and kill dissidents.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top Bottom