U.S. Politics: Are You Threadening Me Master Jedi?

[LongRider]

Trump told us he invented the term 'priming the pump' that doesn't mean that he has to know what it means. He's a stable genius (though I wouldn't let him near a stable, he'd be sure to frighten the horses) not a priming genius. 

[OldGimletEye]

If there is a serious matter to be resolved, don’t let Republicans near it.

If you need a bomb defused, make sure the guy defusing the bomb isn’t part of the conservative clown crew, or he might get the wires crossed and kaboooom!

[OldGimletEye]

Yep, the Republican Party, it’s certifiable.

According to the Republican Party:

1. Obamacare created the opioid crises.

2. Obamacare is responsible for sexual harassment.

3. Obamacare is the reason the FBI is plotting against Trump and conservatives.

4. Obamacare is responsible for Jar Jar Binks.

5. Obamacare is responsible for Hillary’s emails.

6. Obamacare is responsible for Dunkirk.

7. Obamacare caused the Titanic to sink.

8.  Obamacare caused the Hindenburg to explode.

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/01/ron-johnson-opioids-and-the-great-obamacare-smear/

Quote

Speaking of Sen. Ron Johnson, he’s also the guy peddling the theory that Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion is making the opioid crisis worse. Doctors are overprescribing opioids to Medicaid recipients, he says, and poor people are then selling them on the black market.

 

[Zorral]

Sent by David Simon's music guy (or at least the guy he uses most frequently as music supervisor):

 

[aceluby]

38 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Sent by David Simon's music guy (or at least the guy he uses most frequently as music supervisor):

 

Am I reading the comments right in hearing that at a $100k per plate function they were forced to use plastic silverware?

[Zorral]

6 minutes ago, aceluby said:

Am I reading the comments right in hearing that at a $100k per plate function they were forced to use plastic silverware?

Well, this is the Daily Mail, so who knows?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5295147/Mar-Lago-blasted-serving-caviar-PLASTIC-SPOONS.html

There's this:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2018/01/24/mar-a-lago-serves-caviar-on-plastic-spoons-with-a-side-of-social-media-fury/?utm_term=.9a725e1d6a54

And this:

http://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/2018/01/23/woman-slams-trumps-mar-lago-as-disgrace-for-serving-caviar-with-plastic-spoons-then-gets-slammed-back.html

Quote

The images were posted on Sunday, the day after Trump’s One-Year Anniversary Party. However, the Instagrammer noted the food was not from the $100,000 event, but rather the club’s regular dining menu.

 

U get to decide!

We do know that celebration band photo was authentic.  Terrifying, yes.

[TheKitttenGuard]

1 hour ago, Zorral said:

Sent by David Simon's music guy (or at least the guy he uses most frequently as music supervisor):

 

 

[Yukle]

12 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

America has interferred in foreign elections over 80 times, with a little google-ing anyone can read those reports from several news (and govt.) sources. Im getting sick of NOT hearing that inconvenient fact being reported on these nightly MSM broadcasts. 

I think it's reported all of the time. America also uses military means to force its own results, as was the case in Cambodia, Iraq, Pakistan... more or less everywhere it has been to war since WWII.

That is highly morally wrong, yet it does it allow the same thing to happen to them in return. Nobody should do it whatsoever.

[Martell Spy]

3 hours ago, OldGimletEye said:

If there is a serious matter to be resolved, don’t let Republicans near it.

If you need a bomb defused, make sure the guy defusing the bomb isn’t part of the conservative clown crew, or he might get the wires crossed and kaboooom!

Well yeah, they are likely to object to the State interfering with private actors. Not to mention the property rights of the bomb's owner.

Republicans Are Using the Russian Playbook on the FBI

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/republicans-are-using-the-russian-playbook-on-the-fbi.html

Quote

Note that a Strzok text expressing his view that Trump would not be charged over Russia became evidence of a nefarious plot against Trump, and another Strzok text expressing a view that Clinton would not be charged over the emails became evidence of a nefarious plot to help Clinton. If Strzok had expressed a belief that Clinton or Trump were guilty, those messages would become scandals, too. This is the way the game works. When you begin with a suspicious of nefarious intent, a captured expression of candid thought can be turned into devastating evidence.

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

If he’s calling him, does that mean he’s listening to his show too?:

Quote

President Trump has called Alex Jones several times in the past few months, the conspiracy theorist and diet-supplement salesman said Tuesday. Those calls, Jones said, have all gone unanswered though, because Trump calls early in the morning, during what the White House has tried to rebrand as “executive time.”

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/alex-jones-trump-has-called-three-times-in-recent-months.html

[Jace, Extat]

The tape of Trump saying he'd meet Mueller is just further evidence that this man is a toddler trying to impress all the grown ups in the room.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Yukle said:

I think it's reported all of the time. America also uses military means to force its own results, as was the case in Cambodia, Iraq, Pakistan... more or less everywhere it has been to war since WWII.

That is highly morally wrong, yet it does it allow the same thing to happen to them in return. Nobody should do it whatsoever.

It gets reported in other countries, but not so much here. Take Iran for example. My high school textbook only discussed US-Iran relations beginning just before the Iranian Revolution and the fall of the Shah of Iran. It made no mention that the reason the Shah was in control was because the US and the UK toppled Iran’s democratically elected government in 1953 and installed him to keep the cost of oil down. I doubt most Americans even know that that happened. 

[Martell Spy]

Sanders: White House to unveil immigration framework next week

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/24/white-house-immigration-framework-trump-365472?lo=ap_a1

Quote

 

Sanders indicated Wednesday that the president’s priorities would be addressed in the White House's framework but would not say whether it would include a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, which is among the negotiations’ most contentious subjects.

Trump’s position on immigration talks has been somewhat murky, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer remarking last weekend that “negotiating with President Trump is like negotiating with Jell-O.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said last week in the run-up to the shutdown that he was “looking for something that President Trump supports, and he’s not yet indicated what measure he’s willing to sign.”

 

 

[Yukle]

25 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

It gets reported in other countries, but not so much here. Take Iran for example. My high school textbook only discussed US-Iran relations beginning just before the Iranian Revolution and the fall of the Shah of Iran. It made no mention that the reason the Shah was in control was because the US and the UK toppled Iran’s democratically elected government in 1953 and installed him to keep the cost of oil down. I doubt most Americans even know that that happened. 

Interesting. In Australia, probably as a fallout of the Vietnam War, it's kind of a cultural stereotype that Americans beat their chests about how great their republic is, but ensure that nobody else has one by always going to war.

[Yukle]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/us/politics/trump-mueller.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Lord Drumpf has said he will testify under oath provided the Clinton has already done so. What a disgrace.

[Gertrude]

1 minute ago, Yukle said:

Interesting. In Australia, probably as a fallout of the Vietnam War, it's kind of a cultural stereotype that Americans beat their chests about how great their republic is, but ensure that nobody else has one by always going to war.

That sounds about right.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

@dmc515

Quote

I didn't really have a timeframe in mind, although obviously everyone has a better idea of what they're exposed to, so I guess since around Lewinsky.  I think the GOP is better at priming while the Dems are better at framing, if that makes any sense to you. It speaks to the simplicity advantage you mentioned the Republicans seem to have.  (Although in this case I think it's unfair to blame Dems because the GOP's message was inherently simpler.)  Of course, what Shanto Iyengar would specify is the Dems are better at thematic framing while the GOP is better at episodic framing.

Yeah, I think that's a solid nuanced way to look at it. Idk if I agree that the Republicans' message was inherently simpler in this case though. The messages seemed pretty even in this instance. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

7 minutes ago, Yukle said:

Interesting. In Australia, probably as a fallout of the Vietnam War, it's kind of a cultural stereotype that Americans beat their chests about how great their republic is, but ensure that nobody else has one by always going to war.

It's not just Australia. I traveled all around South America and that sentiment was quite common. And sadly Trump only reinforces that image. 

I miss having a smart, decent president. 

[Fragile Bird]

17 minutes ago, Yukle said:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/us/politics/trump-mueller.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Lord Drumpf has said he will testify under oath provided the Clinton has already done so. What a disgrace.

I did not look at your link, but I listened to his comments over and over on CNN, as they dissected them. Trump bragged he would testify under oath, because he has nothing to hide. He also disparaged Clinton because she did not testify under oath. That happens to be irrelevant because if you lie to the FBI, whether or not you are under oath, you've committed a crime. And so interviews the FBI does are often not done under oath. Lying to a prosecutor like Mueller is the same as lying to the FBI.

[Yukle]

Just now, Fragile Bird said:

I did not look at your link, but I listened to his comments over and over on CNN, as they dissected them. Trump bragged he would testify under oath, because he has nothing to hide. He also disparaged Clinton because she did not testify under oath. That happens to be irrelevant because if you lie to the FBI, whether or not you are under oath, you've committed a crime. And so interviews the FBI does are often not done under oath. Lying to a prosecutor like Mueller is the same as lying to the FBI.

I thought it was a difference of who he is talking to. So he either talks to Mueller in an interview, where it is a crime to lie to the FBI. Alternatively, he must testify to the grand jury, where me must do so under oath.

However, there are different legal frameworks surrounding those; lying to the FBI, while a crime, is not as serious as perjury, which is what it would be to lie to a grand jury.