US Politics Mega-Blog - Page 99

On December 10 2018 23:35 xDaunt wrote:
No, it is not just wishful thinking. It is what Trump’s team has been telling some reporters, and it makes sense for legal reasons.

On December 10 2018 23:45 Neneu wrote:


Just like how the Trump team said he would release his tax return after his audit?

On December 10 2018 23:52 xDaunt wrote:

Not that I care, but I didn’t expect him to release his tax return. And he clearly made the correct decision politically on that one.

On December 10 2018 23:59 Danglars wrote:
Couple interesting things coming up:
Will the House actually vote to impeach? I think it’s certain that they hold a vote, but I don’t think the freshman class wants the political fallout of a successful vote.

Will SDNY indict Trump on campaign finance violations, and if so, will the Supreme Court then be compelled to rule if a sitting president is subject to indictment by his own branch of government?

On December 11 2018 00:12 GreenHorizons wrote:


I think it's pretty safe to say that's what you'll say when this turns out to be empty rhetoric too. That's why I find it fascinating that you seem to believe it, as opposed to knowing it's bullshit like the tax returns.

On December 11 2018 00:51 xDaunt wrote:


No, that's definitely not a safe presumption. I don't have a vested interest in Trump's tax returns. I already the know enough about what's in them to not really care to see the details: 1) he makes a shitton of money, 2) he pays a shitton in taxes, 3) a legion of CPAs have found every loophole available, and 4) he has been audited multiple times. There's nothing there. I get bored just thinking about it. The Democrat's misplaced fascination with Trump's tax returns is mind boggling.

I do, however, have a vested interest in knowing just how corrupt the administrative state of the federal government is. I am legitimately bothered by what's going on in DC as it pertains to the various investigations that have been discussed here. We've had two years of federal investigation into Trump over alleged illegal collusion between his campaign and the Russians. The result of that investigation has been nothing but huge heap of political acrimony and a few people being charged for nothing truly related to Trump and his campaign. We still don't know what the genesis of this investigation was. What we do know is that this investigation has very likely involved 1) the FBI's intentional misuse of the FISA court to spy on US citizens by the FBI, and 2) the FBI's (if not other agencies) employment of foreign intelligence assets to spy on US citizens. And notwithstanding the use of these powerful resources, the sum of this investigation as it pertains to Trump will likely be nothing more than a potential indictment over the McDougal and Daniels payoffs and a report from Mueller that says something along the lines of "we couldn't prove anything because everyone lied to us -- BUT WE KNOW THERE WAS RUSSIA COLLUSION!!!" Throw in the same people ignoring Hillary's known misuse of email, potentially for the purpose of dodging FOIA (a federal court is letting Judicial Watch conduct discovery on this very issue right now), and every American should have real problems with this situation.

So yes, I will be very displeased with Trump if he does not eventually shine a light on all of this conduct. The people need to know what's going on. And this attitude of the bureaucrats that they are unaccountable to the people and the people's elected representatives needs to be corrected immediately.

On December 11 2018 02:16 xDaunt wrote:
Oh, I fully expect this all to come out well before the election. Hell, it should be done within a few months. Mueller is apparently wrapping up his investigation, which I presume to mean that we're within 60 days of him issuing his final report. Trump's response should come almost immediately after that.

And no, my ire for law enforcement and the administrative state is not limited to its effect on Trump. I've been very clear that all government officials who abuse their power need to burn.

On December 11 2018 02:11 Danglars wrote:
America has a stellar ambassador to Israel.
https://twitter.com/USAmbIsrael/status/1072048584764338176

He not only draws attention to the crimes of Gaza's government, but also to the UN's decidedly cowardly and antithetical views to Israel. The US stands with Israel under this administration. It look askance as countries that want to excuse terrorism because of ideological bias against Israel and towards Palestinian leadership. It's a Trump promise made during the campaign and kept, and not one I expected to stay put against international pressure and past state department bureaucratic influence.

At least three Palestinians, including a pregnant woman and her 18-month-old child, were killed by Israeli air attacks and artillery shelling on the besieged Gaza Strip.

On December 11 2018 02:25 GreenHorizons wrote:

You pick a date and I'll be there to make sure no one puts them out. Till then those feel like empty words when it's gone unaddressed for so long.

By "response" you mean just his usual blathering tirades or some actual substantial uncovering and accountability?




♪♫♬Anything Hamas can do Israel can do better ♪♫♬



www.aljazeera.com

The rest of the world regularly calls out the US's decidedly cowardly and antithetical views to self-determination.

https://twitter.com/wlawren90/status/1072163395149930496

Bet if they were wearing yellow vests and setting shit on fire we'd get a deal (GND will still be extremely problematic but at least USians will have a fighting chance).

On December 11 2018 03:16 Danglars wrote:

Hamas is indeed better at firing 150 rockets into Israel, and whining about the backlash. They have historically located their missile sites near educational and civilian centers to maximize civilian casualties. Call it sacrificing your pregnant women for propaganda victories.


And during the Obama administration, the US reacted to the actual cowardly and stupid attacks with meek insouciance. Now, we get some fight. Yeah, you hate Israel and don't mind terrorism as long as it's attacking the right targets. Go pound sand.


Now that the House is the Democrats in a month, it's time to reconcile the coalitions and put forward a policy agenda in line with what their base wants. Green agenda, medicare for all, drug policy, investigations.

They probably won't be stupid enough to put foward a carbon tax on fuel.

On December 11 2018 11:52 xDaunt wrote:
What started as a revolt against the fuel tax (which is an EU/globalist (as opposed to nationalist) issue) is rapidly escalating into a general revolt against Macron (a very pro-EU politician). From what I've read, the reporting on the cause of the protests is all over the place, which is largely a function of the fact that the yellow vest movement has no discernible structure or leader. But given the circumstances, I find it very hard to believe that what's going on in France has nothing to do with nationalism and a rejection of the EU.

On December 11 2018 13:01 GreenHorizons wrote:


I 'm sure some people out there have motivations related to nationalism and the EU but from the videos I've seen of protesters, ones I've interacted with on twitter and reports from a variety of sources the unifying principal is anti-elite.

Because Macron is a centrist liberal (more or less) it's left a lot of room for that animosity towards elites to be seized upon by factions on the right. With liberals and centrists defending class war against the underclasses people looked to anyone who would say "this isn't right" even if they were generally full of it.

We've seen that manifest as Trump and liberals caping for the FBI and such in the US.

On December 11 2018 13:06 xDaunt wrote:

I agree that anti-elitism is one of the major themes of the movement. But who are the elites? Not just in France, but in the US? Globally? What are their interests? What policies to they promote?