politics Post Election Thread: Democracy Dies In Darkness And You Can Help

[Collimatrix]

38 minutes ago, Ramlaen said:

I find myself agreeing with the speculation that Mattis has a lot more influence than initially thought.

 

What clues are giving you that impression?

[Xoon]

Came across this:

 

 

Thoughts?

[Ramlaen]

6 minutes ago, Collimatrix said:

 

What clues are giving you that impression?

 

McMaster leaving, Trump deciding to not veto the spending bill while stressing the (needed) military spending after a last minute meeting with Mattis.

[Collimatrix]

I think their premise is flawed.  You can find ideas that have near-universal popular support that will never be made into law because they are not physically possible.  The classic example is that most people support a higher level of government services, and most people also support lower taxes.  Obviously these are irreconcilable.  Another good example are the pig-stupid energy bills mandating that x% of energy in a given state need to be produced by renewable energy or the energy company needs to pay a fine.  The percentage is usually impossibly high, so the energy companies just figure that they'll pay the fine, pass the costs on to customers, and get on with life.

Or, as my favorite reformer of the Southern political system put it, vox populi, vox humbug.

 

[T___A]

I eagerly await the 18th Brumaire of General Mattis.

[Sturgeon]

4 hours ago, Xoon said:

Came across this:

 

 

Thoughts?

 

Haven't watched it, but I can tell by the title that it's a piece of self-righteous propaganda by someone who identifies with a group (e.g., the Democratic Party, or a European country) that is even more corrupt than what they are criticizing.

[Sturgeon]

4 hours ago, Ramlaen said:

 

McMaster leaving, Trump deciding to not veto the spending bill while stressing the (needed) military spending after a last minute meeting with Mattis.

 

I know Mattis has a huge amount of influence in Defense, much, much more than his predecessors under Obama. Whether that influence extends even to over White House staff, I don't know.

 

But Trump listens to him. Absolutely.

[Walter_Sobchak]

5 hours ago, Sturgeon said:

 

Haven't watched it, but I can tell by the title that it's a piece of self-righteous propaganda by someone who identifies with a group (e.g., the Democratic Party, or a European country) that is even more corrupt than what they are criticizing.

 

I watched about 20 seconds, then turned it off. I don't trust anything with fancy looking graphics.  I'd probably agree with it, but I just don't care, I am so tired of liberals trying to be all smarter than those that oppose them.  I miss the days of Will Rogers style liberalism.

 

[Ulric]

5 hours ago, Sturgeon said:

 

Haven't watched it, but I can tell by the title that it's a piece of self-righteous propaganda by someone who identifies with a group (e.g., the Democratic Party, or a European country) that is even more corrupt than what they are criticizing.

 

 

I'll give you the summary, and it will shock no one: Lobbyists and special interest groups have a greater effect on the legislative process than the general population, and have for a long time. In other news, a thug was shot in Chicago today.

 

 

[LoooSeR]

On 23.03.2018 at 2:14 AM, Walter_Sobchak said:

And now McMaster is out, as reported for weeks by the mainstream "fake news" media.  To be replaced by John Bolton and his mustache.  Oddly enough, Trump, who claims to have opposed the Iraq war as a bad idea, has selected Bolton, the most hawkish of hawks and a defender to this day of the Iraq invasion.  

But the main question is - what about a Hezbollah?

 

[LoooSeR]

 

[ShamefurDispray]

On 3/24/2018 at 11:57 AM, Xoon said:

Came across this:

 

 

Thoughts?

That's what always happens with omnibus bills.

[Ramlaen]

 

[Ramlaen]

Newly uncovered text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page suggest a possible coordination between high-ranking officials at the Obama White House, CIA, FBI, Justice Department and former Senate Democratic leadership in the early stages of the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, according to GOP congressional investigators on Wednesday.

[Collimatrix]

54 minutes ago, Ramlaen said:

Newly uncovered text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page suggest a possible coordination between high-ranking officials at the Obama White House, CIA, FBI, Justice Department and former Senate Democratic leadership in the early stages of the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, according to GOP congressional investigators on Wednesday.

 

I think it's fair to put this in the "confirming things everyone suspected already" bin.

[Ramlaen]

 

Odd group.

[Walter_Sobchak]

2 hours ago, Ramlaen said:

Newly uncovered text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page suggest a possible coordination between high-ranking officials at the Obama White House, CIA, FBI, Justice Department and former Senate Democratic leadership in the early stages of the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, according to GOP congressional investigators on Wednesday.

oh, Fox news.  

[Ramlaen]

20 minutes ago, Walter_Sobchak said:

oh, Fox news.  

 

Pick your poison.

 

https://oig.justice.gov/press/2018/2018-03-28b.pdf

[Collimatrix]

1 minute ago, Ramlaen said:

 

Pick your poison.

 

 

Your link or whatever didn't really work.

[Ramlaen]

7 minutes ago, Collimatrix said:

 

Your link or whatever didn't really work.

 

Changed it to be a link, I didn’t know .pdf’s embed.

[Walter_Sobchak]

Ok, all that statement says is that the FBI will be looking into is because the Congress, (Republicans) and the Attorney General (Jeff Sessions, aka, Trumps whipping boy) have asked them to do it.  So what?  It's partisan crap meant to deflect from the Mueller probe.

 

 

[Walter_Sobchak]

Since my wife worked for the USPS for a long time, we both pay particular attention to any news regarding the Post Office.  Apparently, our POTUS has no idea what the post office does.

 

Quote

I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election. Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!   -  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 

 

What?  Parcel delivery is currently the biggest money maker for USPS. Anyhow, it's their job to be the "delivery boy".  They deliver mail!  What the fuck is this guy talking about?  The part about taxes as putting retailers out of business is somewhat legit, although I think his criticism of Amazon has more to do with the fact that Amazon owner Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post than anything else.  Anyhow, Walmart already wiped out all the small mom and pop retailers, Amazon just delivered the coup de grace.
 

[Ramlaen]

46 minutes ago, Walter_Sobchak said:

Ok, all that statement says is that the FBI will be looking into is because the Congress, (Republicans) and the Attorney General (Jeff Sessions, aka, Trumps whipping boy) have asked them to do it.  So what?  It's partisan crap meant to deflect from the Mueller probe.

 

 

 

The partisan crap is Muellers probe and the ‘Russian collusion’ narrative.

 

The IG’s investigation into the FBI’s shenanigans was initiated at the behest of the Democrat party.

[Walter_Sobchak]

7 minutes ago, Ramlaen said:

 

The partisan crap is Muellers probe and the ‘Russian collusion’ narrative.

 

The IG’s investigation into the FBI’s shenanigans was initiated at the behest of the Democrat party.

 

I would hardly call the Mueller probe partisan.  Anyhow:

 

Rod Rosenstein - Republican

Bob Mueller - Republican

James Comey - Republican

 

The Trump team pulled some shady ass crap during the election (as many candidates do) and did a really poor job of concealing it.  Then, Trump shit all over the intelligence community.  So yeah, they kinda have a beef with him right now, and they are not going to let it go.  

[Walter_Sobchak]

19 minutes ago, Ramlaen said:

 

The partisan crap is Muellers probe and the ‘Russian collusion’ narrative.

 

The IG’s investigation into the FBI’s shenanigans was initiated at the behest of the Democrat party.

 

I did not know that Chuck Grassley and Lindsay Graham were Democrats! 

 

Here is a link to their document from Graham and Grassley requesting that  Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz investigate the FISC applications for "a certain person", which led to the March 28 announcement you posted. Meanwhile, the Democrats called this investigation a sham.  Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement it was “a shame that the Inspector General has to devote resources to investigate a conspiracy theory as fact-free, openly political, and thoroughly debunked as the President’s so-called ‘FISA abuse.’ ”  So no, I don't think you can pin this on the Dems.