Cont: The Trump Presidency: Part 19

[acbytesla]

Trump is expanding US oil and gas production. That, more than anything else he could do, is weakening Putin. That alone proves he’s not Putin’s puppet. There’s a reason Putin backs environmentalists in the US. Had Trump not been doing that, the other stuff you refer to might be relevant. But he is, so it isn’t.

You're really desperate with that logic.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Trump is expanding US oil and gas production. That, more than anything else he could do, is weakening Putin. That alone proves he’s not Putin’s puppet. There’s a reason Putin backs environmentalists in the US. Had Trump not been doing that, the other stuff you refer to might be relevant. But he is, so it isn’t.

Obama did that. Trump just didn't undo it.
So no proof at all.

 

[JoeMorgue]

This is pretty disgusting.

 

[Segnosaur]

This is pretty disgusting.

[qimg]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1083&pictureid=12330[/qimg]

But the most important thing to remember is that it's the Democrat's impeachment efforts which are dividing the country.

/sarcasm

ETA: Keep in mind that D'Souza was convicted on charges related to illegal campaign financing, and was pardoned by Stubby McBonespurs. So he's not just some random individual making that comment, but someone who has at least some interaction with the Trump administration.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Trump Tweeted

Christopher Bedford, The Federalist Senior Editor. “There is NOTHING NEW in these Emails at all that’s been discovered. It’s exactly what we knew before, which is that the White House & political figures wanted to cut off aid, Trump wanted to question aid to a number of....

....different places that he thought were wasteful, and the career staff, as they always do, pushed back, and made a million excuses as to why they could not possibly stop spending U.S. taxpayer money. There was a back & forth over the legal arguments, & the W.H. decision was....

....followed, and then it was withdrawn. The Democrats argument for impeachment has not gotten stronger over the last few weeks. As Senator Josh Hawley just said, he’s going to enter a Motion to Dismiss the Impeachment Trial because it’s never actually been brought to trial.”

 

[dudalb]

I have been saying from the day of his election Trump will get us into a major war. won't be long until the body bags are coming home.

 

[Stacyhs]

Honestly, given the Principle of Charity, I understood what he meant in that specific instance.

He's still the man who claimed windmills cause cancer. There is no amount of charity that can excuse that one.

 

[TurkeysGhost]

I have been saying from the day of his election Trump will get us into a major war. won't be long until the body bags are coming home.

The cynical side of me wonders if Trump wouldn't just time it such that boots on the ground is only after the election.

The public never really minds the missile and bomb portion of these wars, because it's just tons of money and foreigners getting killed. I could see the mouthbreathing war hawks getting excited about a huge bombardment right before the election. Foot patrols getting IED'd comes later.

 

[Stacyhs]

We're now being told that the killing of Soleimani was because he was planning an "imminent attack to kill Americans". So far, no details of this alleged imminent attack have been given.

There was a time when we would have believed the POTUS and Sec. of State when they told us why something was done. Now? I don't believe anything either Trump or Pompeo say. Trump has lied so many times that he has no credibility whatsoever and Pompeo is just his arse kissing yes man. When Pompeo assures us that 'the world is a much safer place today' because of Soleimani's death, I put zero stock in it.

 

[Venom]

That's the problem with Trump.

He's not put in the work to command respect from most of the country. He's done the opposite and when it comes to serious geopolitical issues he undermines the U.S.' already bad reputation even more.

 

[Davidlpf]

Trump is expanding US oil and gas production. That, more than anything else he could do, is weakening Putin. That alone proves he’s not Putin’s puppet. There’s a reason Putin backs environmentalists in the US. Had Trump not been doing that, the other stuff you refer to might be relevant. But he is, so it isn’t.

Hybrid and electric cars can't come soon enough for me.
Plus where did get the kool-aid and how much, it must be nice to live it that world.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Maybe let Iran bomb a top US general now? After all, clearly this is a normal way to deal with international politics?

What will Trump do if that happens?

Obama used drone attacks all the time. (Not saying I agree with that.) And I looked to see ~20 US soldiers per year have been killed in Iraq without Trump saying a word. Now Trump makes a challenge, Iran killed an American contractor, Macho Trump is going to let Iran know and they will cave-in.

They caved alright, by attacking and burning down half of the US Embassy in Iraq.

Trump not just kills an Iranian general, he does it with this big announcement about how tough he is.

Watch this space.....


How coincidental this all happened when Trump felt his ego under attack with the Impeachment. He wants to be seen as the best POTUS ever. He says it all the time. Now that is marred, despite the fact Trump is denying it's a big deal. He's wagging the dog and it's very dangerous.

 

[Horatius]

When Iran topics come up on this forum I always feel compelled to jump in. But I have no idea what, in practice, the 2 countries should do to break out of a decades-long stalemate which, many people would agree, has outlived its usefulness.

And that's the worst part of how Trump is dealing with Iran, because we did have something that, in practice, was starting to break us out of this stalemate. But Trump just couldn't let the Iran Deal stand.

It was working, and could have been the basis for even further constructive engagement between Iran and the US, and the rest of the world. But he just had to screw it up to spite Obama.

 

[Lurch]

Trump Tweeted

Christopher Bedford, The Federalist Senior Editor. “There is NOTHING NEW in these Emails at all that’s been discovered. It’s exactly what we knew before, which is that the White House & political figures wanted to cut off aid, Trump wanted to question aid to a number of....

....different places that he thought were wasteful, and the career staff, as they always do, pushed back, and made a million excuses as to why they could not possibly stop spending U.S. taxpayer money. There was a back & forth over the legal arguments, & the W.H. decision was....

....followed, and then it was withdrawn. The Democrats argument for impeachment has not gotten stronger over the last few weeks. As Senator Josh Hawley just said, he’s going to enter a Motion to Dismiss the Impeachment Trial because it’s never actually been brought to trial.”

The Federalist Society. An arm of the GOP. Of course they'll gloss over the illegality of violating a law enacted after Nixon withheld duly released congressional funds out of petty, personal motives.

Even if there were reasons found afterward to hold back on delivering Congressionally-released aid to some country, the WH is not entitled to do this. That's Congress's job.

The Administration's now bleating about how the aid was released (only coincidentally just after the jig was up once the whistleblower report became public, they assure us) only bolsters the evidence that the holdup was for spurious reasons. Has the administration ever proffered a report documenting their (or any other body, for that matter) investigation into the reasons for the holding up of aid, and subsequent propriety of its release? Of course not. That would be illegal, insofar as this is the purview of Congress.

 

[dudalb]

We're now being told that the killing of Soleimani was because he was planning an "imminent attack to kill Americans". So far, no details of this alleged imminent attack have been given.

There was a time when we would have believed the POTUS and Sec. of State when they told us why something was done. Now? I don't believe anything either Trump or Pompeo say. Trump has lied so many times that he has no credibility whatsoever and Pompeo is just his arse kissing yes man. When Pompeo assures us that 'the world is a much safer place today' because of Soleimani's death, I put zero stock in it.

I shed no tears over Soleimani buying the farm;he had plenty of blood on his hands.
But whether killing him is a wise move is another matter completely. I don't see how his removal solves anything.
It's not like he was irreplaceable genius the way that Yamamoto..another targeted killing... was In World War 2.

 

[Trebuchet]

I shed no tears over Soleimani buying the farm;he had plenty of blood on his hands.

But whether killing him is a wise move is another matter completely. I don't see how his removal solves anything.

It's not like he was irreplaceable genius the way that Yamamoto..another targeted killing... was In World War 2.

And of course Japan was a country with which we were legally at war.

 

[JoeMorgue]

And of course Japan was a country with which we were legally at war.

The "legally at war" thing stopped be a distinction soon after either Korean War or WWII depending on how you want to define "legally."

//Still not fully onboard with this particular action per se, just saying

 

[dudalb]

And that's the worst part of how Trump is dealing with Iran, because we did have something that, in practice, was starting to break us out of this stalemate. But Trump just couldn't let the Iran Deal stand.

It was working, and could have been the basis for even further constructive engagement between Iran and the US, and the rest of the world. But he just had to screw it up to spite Obama.

I don't trust Iran one bit, but at least with the deal if they cheated we had a strong case in the court of world opinion.
Donnie threw that away.
Yes, the deal was flawed..my own objection was that it did not deal with Iran's troublemaking n the Mid East;it should have covered a broader territory...but that did not justify Trump's just throwing it away with nothing it it's place.

 

[dudalb]

The "legally at war" thing stopped be a distinction soon after either Korean War or WWII depending on how you want to define "legally."

//Still not fully onboard with this particular action per se, just saying

Yeah, the classic definition of "war" vanished a long time ago ( of course throughout history countries have engagted in military actions without formally being at war...classic example was the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 the so called "China Incident" where Japan and China waged full scale war without and declrations until December 7 1941, when China finally announced a state of war existed (and that was just because it looked good in the US to do after Pearl Harbor).

I think Trump action here was incredibly stupid and ill though out, and might well have disasterous consquences, but I also think the US should take action if there is a clear and present danger. Problem is I see no clear and p resent danger demanding this kind of "Last Resort" action.

 

[dudalb]

And of course Japan was a country with which we were legally at war.

Hate to say it, but the formal legal definition of war has been dead for a long time.