The Trump Presidency 14

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From the outside US views on Iran etc. seems bizarre. I read recently how Cuba has tried to undermine US democracy! Perhaps the aborted invasion of Florida? Ot the serial assassination attempts against the US president? I am not sure that the current president really needs any assistance in undermining US democracy. What exactly has Iran done to provoke the US? Did an Iranian navy vessel shoot down a US airliner? How many US navy vessels have the Iranians sunk? The Iranians signed an agreement with the US and abided by it - obviously extremely provocative. Iranian forces assisted in the removal of ISIS alongside US forces. For Europeans the US fear of Iran and Cuba appears to be a phobia; irrational to a point that it impacts on normal life.
 
Planigale said:
From the outside US views on Iran etc. seems bizarre. I read recently how Cuba has tried to undermine US democracy! Perhaps the aborted invasion of Florida? Ot the serial assassination attempts against the US president? I am not sure that the current president really needs any assistance in undermining US democracy. What exactly has Iran done to provoke the US? Did an Iranian navy vessel shoot down a US airliner? How many US navy vessels have the Iranians sunk? The Iranians signed an agreement with the US and abided by it - obviously extremely provocative. Iranian forces assisted in the removal of ISIS alongside US forces. For Europeans the US fear of Iran and Cuba appears to be a phobia; irrational to a point that it impacts on normal life.
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Europe is not alone in this view. But that means nothing to the current US leadership.
 
smartcooky said:
According to the Center for Strategic International Studies, Iran possesses the largest and most diverse missile arsenal in the Middle East, with thousands of short and medium range ballistic and cruise missiles capable of striking as far west as Israel and southeast Europe. Most analysts and other ME experts I read agree that if the US attacks, Iran will launch some of those missiles at Saudi oilfields, and probably those of Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE as well. They won't bother sneaking up on tankers and US warships with submarines, they'll just let cruise missiles do the job for them.
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With no realistic way of the US protecting those allies either. Iran is much smarter than Trump when it comes to war. They won't strike us directly, they'll strike peripherally until the Middle East can't stand it anymore.

The only prayer the US would have in this circumstance is for Trump to go way out of character and listen to his advisers. Anyone that wants to think he will do exactly that can feel free to make me a bet.
 
plague311 said:
Because Trump is doing his best to start a war with Iran just because he begins the election cycle?
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If it gave him higher popularity ratings on Fox then yes, Trump would start a war. Anything for the added buffing of his ego.

Bolton would start a war because HE WANTS A ******* WAR! ANYWHERE! ANY TIME! BRING IT ON ! RAARRGH!
 
Segnosaur said:
Plus, Israel's "support" would be pretty much useless, since if they attempted to get involved, it would likely cause a backlash among other countries (including Saudi Arabia) and probably end up causing support for Iran to increase in the region.

The U.S. can rely on Israel or Saudi Arabia. Not both.
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Saudi is already embroiled in a war which would be only likely to heat up. They are scared of their Shia minority so they may have to clamp down internally with the danger of provoking civil unrest. How many crucifixions would be acceptable? Many ex pats would leave; who would run the country then?
 
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plague311 said:
The only prayer the US would have in this circumstance is for Trump to go way out of character and listen to his advisers. Anyone that wants to think he will do exactly that can feel free to make me a bet.
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Umm... remember, his advisers include Bolton (who helped get the U.S. involved in the Iraq war and is eager to repeat things in Iran), and Pompeo (who seems to be quite happy with the whole "Push Iran to the Brink" tactic that Trump seems to favor.)

So the last thing you want is for Trump to listen to his advisers.
 
Segnosaur said:
There are 2 issues here:

- A question of degrees. Yes, its true... someone like RBG typically takes a more left-wing stance when doing rulings. But, they at least make an attempt to appear unbiased. Compare that to Judge Drunky McRapeface, who spent a good chunk of time lashing out at various people. Even if you think "Hey, nothing wrong with attempted sexual assault", his rantings during the hearings should have been enough to have him disqualified.

- The longest serving Justice on the supreme court is Thomas, who has served since the early 90s. Since that time, the U.S. has had a republican president for about 12 years. They have had a democratic president for 16 years. While the supreme court shouldn't necessarily be subject to issues of political popularity, the fact that the republicans have managed to install a majority of supreme court justices despite having less control over the white house during that time is problematic.
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I can see only one reasonable way to prevent or minimize partisanship on SCOTUS, an amendment to the US Constitution which does the following...

1. Removes the lifetime appointment - limits SCOTUS appointments to two or three Presidential terms, (8 or 12 years). This would assure regular refreshing of SCOTUS with judges who have a better current understanding of the wishes of the people.

2. Removes the nuclear option from the Senate vote and replaces it with a mandatory, very high majority requirement (say 75%), one that would effectively remove either party's ability to force an appointment. This would mean that BOTH parties would have to agree to an appointment, assuring that any appointment was politically neutral.
 
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jeremyp said:
According to Wikipedia, Iran has over 30 submarines. Let’s assume that 50% are operational. How confident are you that none of them will get close enough to torpedo your carrier?
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Very confident, they are junk, they will be operating in confined, shallow waters and modern ASW is very good.

back in the 80s when I was on an RN AS frigate we were confident we would stop any Russian boats that came within our range, and that was a pretty big range with the weapons and sensors we had then.

Against a 'proper' sub in deep water and open ocean it's a different kettle of fish.
 
Trump Tweets


Wow, Mark Levin’s new book opened at #1. It is great – keep it there for a long time!
 
Trump Tweets

Johnny, we will miss you – you did a great job!

@johnnydestefano
Beyond grateful to @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS for the opportunity to serve in the best job I've ever had. Will very much miss my fantastic colleagues, from WH staff to those in uniform. Was the honor of a lifetime.
 
Belz... said:
You'd think they'd have learned their lesson from Iraq and Afghanistan.
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They: if you mean the military industrial war profiteers, they have.

They: if you mean GOP legislators, they see votes for their side as long as they play their fear-mongering cards right.
 
Minoosh said:
In addition Iran has an extremely strong sense of national identity. An attack would unify it internally like nothing else could. Russia and possibly China would support Iran. U.S. allies would be limited - Saudi, the Gulf States except for Qatar, and Israel would back the U.S. Most of Europe probably wouldn't.
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Iraq's Shia majority could potentially support Iran. There are cultural links as well in nearly every neighboring state (old Eran/Persian identities). The Kurds will almost certainly not help us (partly because of culture, partly because we've backstabbed them quite enough).
 
Planigale said:
From the outside US views on Iran etc. seems bizarre. I read recently how Cuba has tried to undermine US democracy! Perhaps the aborted invasion of Florida? Ot the serial assassination attempts against the US president? I am not sure that the current president really needs any assistance in undermining US democracy. What exactly has Iran done to provoke the US? Did an Iranian navy vessel shoot down a US airliner? How many US navy vessels have the Iranians sunk? The Iranians signed an agreement with the US and abided by it - obviously extremely provocative. Iranian forces assisted in the removal of ISIS alongside US forces. For Europeans the US fear of Iran and Cuba appears to be a phobia; irrational to a point that it impacts on normal life.
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The US has to have an 'enemy' to saber rattle against since Putin and Kim are now our best buds. With fear mongers in office, who better than Cuba and Iran who have done all the above. Oh, wait...
 
Trump Tweets

Shahira Knight has done a wonderful job as my Legislative Affairs Director at the White House. She was outstanding for us and for our Country - will be a tremendous success in the private sector!
 
Former Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, thinks Trump can be beaten in 2020. Ryan made the comment while speaking at a lecture symposium at Riverside Theatre in Vero Beach Florida Monday night. A local news website reported his remarks.
Ryan said he believes there are some Democrats who could beat President Donald Trump next year. He said Trump needs to define through policies, and not his personal brand. “The person who defines that race is going to win the race. If this is about Donald Trump and his personality, he isn’t going to win it,” Ryan said. TC Palm
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