EPTUS Politics Mega-thread - Page 992
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Now that we have a new thread, in order to ensure that this thread continues to meet TL standards and follows the proper guidelines, we will be enforcing the rules in the OP more strictly. Be sure to give them a complete and thorough read before posting! NOTE: When providing a source, please provide a very brief summary on what it's about and what purpose it adds to the discussion. The supporting statement should clearly explain why the subject is relevant and needs to be discussed. Please follow this rule especially for tweets. Your supporting statement should always come BEFORE you provide the source. If you have any questions, comments, concern, or feedback regarding the USPMT, then please use this thread: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/website-feedback/510156-us-politics-thread | ||
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Gorsameth
Netherlands21373 Posts
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farvacola
United States18818 Posts
On December 19 2018 03:29 Plansix wrote: Sentencing is the one moment when the Judge is able to making their views on the case, counsels and parties involved known. In this case, it seems like the Judge was interested in making Flynn aware that he should strongly consider assisting the FBI as much as possible if he wanted to avoid jail time. And the Judge raised the point that Flynn could have been acting as a foreign agent while serving as National Security Adviser, which as serious as it comes. Edit: Fav beat me to it. Edit 2:Fav, so Flynn’s attorneys are not the brightest bunch, are they? That sentencing memo might go down as classic example of critically misreading the Judge? Yeah I think they either really failed to do their homework on the Judge or thought they saw an opening where none existed. In either case, that they took the offer to delay things says that they know they goofed. Part of why the Judge was quick to recant what he said about treason is that treason is very likely a point of argument between the two sides and was likely forgone by the prosecution in the interest of juicier cooperation. | ||
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Plansix
United States60190 Posts
On December 19 2018 03:35 farvacola wrote: Yeah I think they either really failed to do their homework on the Judge or thought they saw an opening where none existed. In either case, that they took the offer to delay things says that they know they goofed. Part of why the Judge was quick to recant what he said about treason is that treason is very likely a point of argument between the two sides and was likely forgone by the prosecution in the interest of juicier cooperation. Based on my zero information beyond what we know, I think it is the latter. The Trump “none of this matters and the FBI is crooked” Koolaid seems to have infected a lot of people, even attorneys. I’m left wondering if the Judge wanted to drop the treason statement just to remind everyone of how serious this all was and then withdraw it. But that is a bit to much into the 4D chess realm for my liking. | ||
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Wulfey_LA
932 Posts
McClatchy reports that former President Barack Obama and his national security adviser, Susan Rice, informed then President-elect Trump of a Pentagon plan to retake the city of Raqqa, an ISIS stronghold, with the help of Syrian Kurdish forces. Obama’s team informed Trump because while the plan would be approved under Obama, it would likely be executed after Trump took office. Flynn told Rice to delay approving the mission. His explanation for the delay was not recorded, according to McClatchy, but the decision to delay approval lined up with Turkey’s interests in the region. Turkey has been a staunch opponent of the United States partnering with Kurdish forces in the region. https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/333994-flynn-delayed-isis-attack-plan-that-turkey-opposed-report | ||
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farvacola
United States18818 Posts
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On_Slaught
United States12190 Posts
On December 19 2018 23:03 farvacola wrote: That mystery subpoena fight just resolved in Mueller’s favor with the judge upholding the grand jury subpoena against the unnnamed company, so expect something to pop off out of left field soon. My guess is that the company is Deutsche Bank, but it’s hard to say until more is revealed. My initial inclination was that it is Deutsche Bank as well, but the Politico article states it is a "government-owned company." Deutsche Bank is a public company and not actually owned by the gov afaik. I think a more likely, and more intriguing, possibility is that it is some corporation in the Middle East, the region where we know Mueller is investigating improper ties. UAE? Qatar? Saudi? No doubt Kuskner has his hands in it if so. Regardless of who it is, tho, it's certainly bad news for Trump. Edit: Oh yeah, I guess it could be a Russian company as well. Now wouldn't that be interesting... | ||
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Plansix
United States60190 Posts
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/landmark-criminal-justice-reform-bill-clears-senate/story?id=59898475 | ||
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farvacola
United States18818 Posts
On December 19 2018 23:19 On_Slaught wrote: My initial inclination was that it is Deutsche Bank as well, but the Politico article states it is a "government-owned company." Deutsche Bank is a public company and not actually owned by the gov afaik. I think a more likely, and more intriguing, possibility is that it is some corporation in the Middle East, the region where we know Mueller is investigating improper ties. UAE? Qatar? Saudi? No doubt Kuskner has his hands in it if so. Regardless of who it is, tho, it's certainly bad news for Trump. Edit: Oh yeah, I guess it could be a Russian company as well. Now wouldn't that be interesting... I didn’t see the reporting that the entity was government-owned; with that in mind, I think it definitely makes sense to look to Russia or the Middle East or maybe even China. | ||
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JimmiC
Canada22817 Posts
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farvacola
United States18818 Posts
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On_Slaught
United States12190 Posts
On December 19 2018 23:32 farvacola wrote: I didn’t see the reporting that the entity was government-owned; with that in mind, I think it definitely makes sense to look to Russia or the Middle East or maybe even China. One of the most popular picks online right now is the Qatar Investment Authority as a way to get to the Russian company Rosneft, who obviously would say fuck you to any US subpoena. Rosneft was featured in the Steele dossier as part of some big pay for play that went through Qatar. | ||
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Plansix
United States60190 Posts
On December 19 2018 23:39 farvacola wrote: Part of the problem is that much of the borderline corruption is defacto allowed by Citizens United. That’s part of why that ruling is so horrible; the only way to fix it is for the SC to recognize how fucking dumb it is to plainly equate money with protectable speech. And like so many recent Supreme Court decisions, Citizens United was written with the expectation that the legislature would pass updated laws and regulations based on the ruling. But instead Congress ignored it and now it’s the god damn wild west. Also see the Court gutting the Voter’s Rights act. | ||
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Acrofales
Spain17852 Posts
On December 19 2018 23:35 JimmiC wrote: With all the shit that has come out about Trump, his foundation and so on. I wish they would do these kind of deep dives into big lobby groups, foundations, donors and so on. Why only go after the president. Lets go after all the corrupt assholes influencing the government. There should be a permanent that does nothing but goes after this type of corruption. Something like a permanent white collar crime division in the FBI? Oh wait. That was gutted, because *terrorrism!!!* | ||
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FueledUpAndReadyToGo
Netherlands30548 Posts
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ticklishmusic
United States15977 Posts
But the Mueller investigation paying for itself via seized assets is case in point on why it's a worthy investment for the government - besides the entire enforcing the laws/ punishing bad behavior thing. See also: the IRS. Good article: The Golden Age of Rich People Not Paying Taxes | ||
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JimmiC
Canada22817 Posts
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Plansix
United States60190 Posts
For example there was a person in RI that was creating false court documents and using them to trick police/local officials that he owned properties that were sold during foreclosure/tax sales. He would illegally rent the property, claim to own it and prevent any legal action by creating this cloud of uncertainty around the ownership of the property. He was a blight and every law firm involved with real estate knew about him. But because he was always doing this to out of state investors or small scale real estate investors and peaced out when things got serious, no one really gave a shit for years and years. This guy screwed over so many people, buyers and tenants alike. But because there was no big payoff to the amount of effort it would take to bust him, local law and state law enforcement gave zero shits. | ||
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JimmiC
Canada22817 Posts
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Plansix
United States60190 Posts
The person I cited above was taking advantage of average renters and was allowed to do so for years. If he is considered to be “to small to be worth it” the average person also feels like the criminals that take advantage of them are permitted to do so because the government only cares about millionaires and big banks. If people want to restore public trust it will take more that quick solutions and going after the low hanging fruit. We need to look at why public trust has eroded and what caused that. | ||
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Mohdoo
United States15401 Posts
On December 19 2018 23:19 On_Slaught wrote: My initial inclination was that it is Deutsche Bank as well, but the Politico article states it is a "government-owned company." Deutsche Bank is a public company and not actually owned by the gov afaik. I think a more likely, and more intriguing, possibility is that it is some corporation in the Middle East, the region where we know Mueller is investigating improper ties. UAE? Qatar? Saudi? No doubt Kuskner has his hands in it if so. Regardless of who it is, tho, it's certainly bad news for Trump. Edit: Oh yeah, I guess it could be a Russian company as well. Now wouldn't that be interesting... If it is government owned, I doubt they'll comply with the subpoena anyway. There's no way some Russian or Saudi company would actually bend to Mueller. Unless there are some sort of binding laws I don't know about. | ||
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