"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
Maybe it was all the white supremacist rhetoric?
When the sky above us fell
We descended into hell
Into kingdom come
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
Putting aside the disgusting racism, how about the blatant lies and the violation of diplomatic protocol? Just as you debase Christianity with your very existence, Trump debases the US every time he speaks as president.
NATO countries have no treaty obligation to increase their spending. They may have pledged to do so nevertheless, but, given the US's track record on honouring pledges, any Americans who criticize other countries on such grounds should be laughed out of the room.
Yeah but Steely you know by now that, to people like Lewk, that's a feature--not a bug.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Direct attack on the British PM's policy-making behind her back, attempting to lie about what he said before being shown a recording of the interview and having to retract the lie accusation, explicit support for one of her main rivals/opponents also behind her back, then being all nice and best-of-friends to her face. Violation of diplomatic protocol is putting it very lightly.
Not a shred of integrity in the man. He behaves like a neener-neener lying child in a playground.
If NATO doesn't want to pony up and follow through on their pledges we are under no obligation to stick by them. Dead weight in a military alliance is a joke. As it is the countries are telling Trump that they will honor their commitments. I personally doubt they will follow through but we'll see.
I'm not in favor of just leaving NATO because we have some steadfast allies there but countries like Germany need to quit being dead-weight.
Twitter Link
Just another totally normal tweet but your totally not a traitor president, as he prepares for his private meeting with the leader of the country who used espionage to interfere to help elect him.
Last edited by Steely Glint; 07-16-2018 at 04:55 PM.
When the sky above us fell
We descended into hell
Into kingdom come
I can't get over how bad that presser was. I cannot believe this is the President of the US or that there are Americans--"conservatives"--who support him.
Thread: https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1018872379160842240
Twitter Link
Twitter Link
Twitter Link
"He has an interesting idea."
Twitter Link
Twitter Link
Twitter Link
What the actual fuck.
Twitter Link
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Twitter Link
Twitter Link
Twitter Link
Unfuckingbelievable.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
God, I'm starting to believe in a Manchurian candidate scenario. This President is a disgrace.
Congratulations America
The NRA angle:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna891821
Most predictable TV show ever.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Honestly that was pretty shitty, haven't seen that sad of a display since Obama bowed to the Saudi King. Even if Russia didn't interfere with the election they need to be called to the carpet for the utter horse shit of their actions in Georgia, Ukraine and Syria. If Russia announced concessions or even an agreement to stop some of their bull shit I'd be OK with Trump saying nice things about Putin but he pretty much walked away with not only nothing but gave Dems fuel for 2018. Dumb dumb dumb.
The affidavit in the Butina case is incendiary.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-re...80766/download
Unfortunately, the PDF does not allow copying text but essentially it alleges that, at the direction of an unnamed RUSSIAN OFFICIAL, Butina developed relationships with various American political figures and organisations to establish a "back channel" to, quote "penetrate the US decision making apparatus to advance the interests of the Russian Federation". Highlights:
- "The FBI's investigation has also revealed that BUTINA and the RUSSIAN OFFICIAL planned to advance Moscow's long term strategic objectives in the United States, in part, by establishing relationships with American political organisations, including the GUN RIGHTS ORGANISATION"
- "BUTINA regularly met met and communicated with the RUSSIAN OFFICIAL and U.S PERSON 1 to plan and develop the contours of the influence operation". U.S. PERSON 1 is an 'American political operative'.
- A communication between Butina and US PERSON 1 in 2015 states that "a major US political party [hereinafter POLITICAL PARTY 1] would likely obtain control over the U.S government after the 2016 elections". Based on the following description, this is in fact the GOP. Quite a prediction, there.
- October 4, 2016. U.S Person 1 sends an e-mail: "Unrelated to specific presidential campaigns, I've been involved in securing a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin and key POLITICAL PARTY 1 leaders through, of all conduits, the GUN RIGHTS ORGANISATION"
- Butina emails U.S PERSON 2 (no real clues who that is): "Our delegation cannot stop chatting about your wonderful dinner. My dearest President has received 'the message' about your group initiatives and your constructive and kind attention to the Russians."
When the sky above us fell
We descended into hell
Into kingdom come
Witch! Throw her into the pond!
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
I found this editorial interesting. We in the US have essentially elected a man who wants to be our dictator, but has, so far, been denied the privilege by liberal democratic institutions. So he attacks them at home and around the world, and allies himself with others who attack them, or are not burdened by them. It nicely explains his open admiration for dictators around the world and his open hostility toward democracies.
On a side note, I'm interested in Rand's thoughts on the assertion that Brexit is supported by Putin and Trump because it weakens the EU, which they both regard as enemies. Do you regard the EU as Britain's enemy? Even pre-Brexit?
https://www.npr.org/2018/07/17/62959..._campaign=newsOPINION: The United States And Russia Aren't Allies. But Trump And Putin Are
Robert Kagan is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of the forthcoming book The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World.
Because it is hard to break old patterns of understanding the world, we have persistently misunderstood Donald Trump and what he is up to. Thus most observers of Monday's summit — critics and defenders alike — expected to see some version of the traditional meeting between American and Russian leaders: two adversaries coming together to address mutual concerns, raise objections, talk over possible solutions and seek common ground.
There was the standard list of issues — Syria, Ukraine, nuclear weapons — on which to make progress or not. There were the standard concerns: Would Trump give up too much, out of naiveté or for other, more nefarious reasons? And there were the standard justifications: What's wrong with adversaries getting together to discuss their differences? Why not seek ways to lower tensions?
What observers could not see, or refused to see, was that this was not a meeting between adversaries. It was a meeting between allies, with convergent interests and common goals.
These, incidentally, have nothing to do with the 2016 election. They have to do with a common view of the liberal world order that the United States helped create seven decades ago. Both leaders seek its destruction.
Putin's interests come as no surprise. He has regarded the U.S.-led liberal world order as Russia's greatest adversary his whole life. It contained and then undermined the Soviet Union — whose breakup was the "greatest tragedy of the 20th century," as he once put it — and then deprived post-Soviet Russia of its sphere of influence in eastern and central Europe.
The triumph of the liberal world order after 1989 left Russia a second-tier power with a weak economy and embarrassingly diminished international clout. Putin has therefore sought, just as other Russian leaders have in the past, to weaken, divide and demoralize the liberal world. He has supported right-wing nationalist parties throughout Europe. He has tried to weaken and undermine the European Union and NATO. And it is understandable why.
When the West is strong and coherent, Russia has little room to maneuver. Only when the West is in disarray — as it was during the Napoleonic Wars, for instance, or during the 1930s and 1940s — can Russia be a major global power and fulfill dreams of empire going back to Peter the Great. Only then can Russian leaders like Putin deliver geopolitical victories to distract attention from domestic failures.
Putin never had an interest in integrating Russia into the liberal world order, therefore, even though the average Russian would have benefited, at least materially. He depends on confrontation and chaos.
And, as it happens, so does Trump. That has certainly been his strength in domestic politics, and he has transferred his domestic modus operandi to the world stage.
His success at home came from stirring up populist, nationalist passions against what he and his supporters regarded as an entrenched cosmopolitan elite. It's hardly surprising that he would view the world through the same lens, that he would support populist, nationalist movements across Europe against the traditional parties that have upheld the liberal world order.
It is not just the European Union that he regards as a hostile foe — it is all the institutions and arrangements of the liberal world to which past American presidents of both parties have paid their allegiance. He regards them both as constraints on his freedom of action and as inherently hostile to him and his followers — which they are. Therefore, he seeks to destroy them, as he made clear not only at the NATO summit but throughout his presidency.
Like Putin, he has thrown his support to Hungary's Viktor Orban, as well as to the right nationalist parties of France, Italy, the United Kingdom and across Europe. Like Putin, he supported Brexit and sees it as a way of breaking the EU. Like Putin, he hates Angela Merkel and would prefer the triumph of right-wing parties in Germany.
Many asked before this week's summit what Putin would ask of Trump. Afterward, they breathed a sigh of relief that Trump did not give anything away. And the two men actually worked hard to make this look like the kind of summit people were used to, a typical meeting of adversaries trying to work out their differences and not entirely succeeding.
Few noticed, but it was rather odd for Putin to declare publicly that he and Trump did not agree about Crimea, especially when we know from some of Trump's own statements prior to the summit that they fundamentally do agree. Putin was putting on a show of great power disagreement, reassuring Trump's critics and defenders that the president was indeed standing up to him on some issues. And sure enough, even critics were quick to say that Trump, on substance, had given no ground. (Little could Putin imagine that Trump would then crumb the play by publicly siding with him on the question of election interference.)
What they apparently failed to notice was that Trump had already given everything away. In Putin's eyes, Syria and Crimea are trivialities compared to the collapse of the liberal West. At the summit, Putin acknowledged that he wanted to see Trump elected in 2016. While Western commentators persist in believing he must be disappointed, the payoff has probably exceeded his wildest dreams.
The Rules
Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)
It's so frustrating. It's been absolutely clearly what he was since well before the election. He didn't even try particularly hard to hide it. The GOP and the right wing media has you fuckers so well house trained you couldn't even call a spade a spade for fear of being immoderate and """""partisan""""", he was excused and excused and excused for things that would have absolutely destroyed any other politician (of either party) and graded on such a curve it was, in fact, a circle and now he feels free to act with almost total impunity. Because why wouldn't he?
U.S. PERSON 2 is probably Donald Trump Jr by the way.
When the sky above us fell
We descended into hell
Into kingdom come
Likely George O'Neill. https://thinkprogress.org/here-are-a...t-134988a75bbb
Hope is the denial of reality
Oh, apparently we don't need to worry, trump just forgot the word 'not'. Which makes total sense given the tone of the rest he said.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
So multiple NRA officials gave access to a Russian spy in exchange for sex.
Hope is the denial of reality
God damn, I most joking with my hyrda comment from earlier
But destroying the NRA as a side of effect of exposing the GOP for what it has become would be pretty sweet.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
Twitter Link
Is it wrong that any time I see this guy tweet, I think younger version of Lewk?
Hope is the denial of reality
Absolute fucking disgrace:
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1019371895026745345 (thread of Tucker Carlson interviewing Trump with his head stuck right up Trump's ass)
This is the dumbest thing ever said by a world leader about NATO and must be heard to be believed:
Twitter Link
It's things like this that make praising Tucker Carlson so similar to saying things like, "Hey look at this hilarious video I found while searching for goat-porn."
Political discourse in 2018:
Twitter Link
This is a new lie so it'll have to be repeated at least one more time for Lewk to believe it:
Twitter Link
Potpourri of bullshit:
Twitter Link
Anyone who believes it should of course go stand in a corner as punishment for being dumb as shit.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
I note, btw, unsurprised, that several Republican legislators, not being content to just go limp and lie as still as possible in the face of Trump's disgusting attacks on core principles of US culture & foreign policy, have gone out of their way to defend Trump's actions and statements. I think we can retire that joke about Republicans being the party of responsible govt now because it's just too disturbing.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Wrong. The pledge is not an obligation under the treaty. Mutual defense, however, is.
It's also pretty fucking hilarious to see a jingoistic American say something like this given the US's history of failing to honour its international commitments.
They pledged to do so long before Trump went over there for his pathetic performance.Dead weight in a military alliance is a joke. As it is the countries are telling Trump that they will honor their commitments.
The US is the only NATO member that has ever successfully invoked art. 5, and Germany answered the US's call. Now, the US is jeopardizing the entire alliance and risking its core mission.I personally doubt they will follow through but we'll see.
I'm not in favor of just leaving NATO because we have some steadfast allies there but countries like Germany need to quit being dead-weight.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
No. Categorically absolutely not.
I do think that during the negotiations for Brexit that they are the opposition as far as that is concerned but they're not the enemy. But that's temporary because of the divorce and I hope after the divorce is finalised we can be good friends and neighbours.
I just don't believe that the EU is our future. I view the relationship between the UK and EU as comparable to Canada and the USA. My in-laws live in Alberta and they are happy for Canada to be its own nation. They don't wish for Alberta to become a State of the USA any more than I want England to be a state of a European superstate.
The EU isn't our enemy. But nor is it ourselves. The EU are our neighbours. Better to be good neighbours than unhappy tenants.