U.S. Politics; Who Watches the Watchers?

[Martell Spy]

51 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Oh noes! There's trouble in paradise The Swamp:

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rift-pompeo-bolton-heart-north-korean-summit-cancel

Our master deal-making President, ladies and gentlemen. I have worked for multiple elected officials before, and I've never heard of someone announcing something publicly before fully informing all relevant staff. 

I wonder how long until Pompeo gets fired on the toilet.

[Bonnot OG]

The racist piece of shit just keeps being a racist piece of shit.
http://www.newsweek.com/g00/donald-trump-tame-continent-america-945121?i10c.encReferrer=&i10c.ua=1&i10c.dv=14

[Mexal]

Donald Trump Jr might have some more issues.

 

[Bonnot OG]

This country is so fucked. So ill equiped to deal with fascism.

[Yukle]

Here's a great proposal:

The west coast can secede with Alaska and Hawaii, making a new nation. Maybe call it the "Sensible States of America."

Then, the north-east can secede into its own nation. It can be the "Pretty much normal like Canada States of America."

The south and the midwest can therefore be renamed "The Trump Confederation of States of AmeriTrump," which will keep their darling Fuehrer happy and in power forever and ever, without needing to drag the rest of their beleaguered citizens along with them. The SSA and PMNLCSA will offer free travel to all Republicans who want to go there.

[S John]

No thanks.  There are plenty of liberals living in red states, just as there are plenty of conservatives in blue states.  Trump and much of his cabal are New Yorkers for Christ sake. Almost every big city in the country is blue, even if they are islands in the Red Sea.  

Unfortunately, an amicable split along state lines is not going to be a satisfactory outcome for anyone.  If it were that simple I wouldn’t be all that opposed to it, really.  The political well is so thoroughly poisoned right now that I do think we are in some trouble as a unified country.  Not immediate danger or anything but I think the foundations are weakening.  The political discourse is really nasty and people genuinely hate each other over politics to a degree which I don’t think I’ve personally witnessed in my lifetime.

I think Obama getting elected -and then getting re-elected - really sent some folks over the edge because he was such an inspiring figure.  I think the opposition saw that and knew they couldn’t let it stand or they’d lose a generation of voters and so anything and everything they could think of was trotted our to demonize the guy.  You should see the ridiculous things routinely said about Obama on conservative sites that are stated as though they are a basic established fact.  Ranges from the birther conspiracy still rearing its head to the simple statement that Obama ‘hated America’.  The unquestioned idea that Obama literally hates America is extremely common.  Anyway, the reaction to Obama is where the right wing really went mainstream in courting conspiracy theorists and that normalizing of lunacy led directly to the absurd reality of President Donald Trump.  And now not only can we not even agree on what is and what is not a fact, but the president of the United States actively obfuscates and fans the flames.  

We need a great leader to emerge.  We don’t have that now, and when you look over at the bench nobody really stands out either.

[Jace, Extat]

5 minutes ago, S John said:

No thanks.  There are plenty of liberals living in red states, just as there are plenty of conservatives in blue states.  Trump and much of his cabal are New Yorkers for Christ sake. Almost every big city in the country is blue, even if they are islands in the Red Sea.  

Unfortunately, an amicable split along state lines is not going to be a satisfactory outcome for anyone.  If it were that simple I wouldn’t be all that opposed to it, really.  The political well is so thoroughly poisoned right now that I do think we are in some trouble as a unified country.  Not immediate danger or anything but I think the foundations are weakening.  The political discourse is really nasty and people genuinely hate each other over politics to a degree which I don’t think I’ve personally witnessed in my lifetime.

I think Obama getting elected -and then getting re-elected - really sent some folks over the edge because he was such an inspiring figure.  I think the opposition saw that and knew they couldn’t let it stand or they’d lose a generation of voters and so anything and everything they could think of was trotted our to demonize the guy.  You should see the ridiculous things routinely said about Obama on conservative sites that are stated as though they are a basic established fact.  Ranges from the birther conspiracy still tearing its head to the simple statement that Obama hated America.  The unquestioned idea that Obama literally hates America is extremely common.  Anyway, the reaction to Obama is where the right wing really went mainstream in courting conspiracy theorists and that normalizing of lunacy led directly to the absurd reality of President Donald Trump.  And now not only can we not even agree on what is and what is not a fact, but the president of the United States actively obfuscates and fans the flames.  

We need a great leader to emerge.  We don’t have that now, and when you look over at the bench nobody really stands out either.

It's too late for that. The time for such a figure was ten years ago. We got a good politician instead, and you've already detailed how his legs were chopped out from under him.

 

[lokisnow]

Really? The response to the fascists having a Fuhrer president is that we need our own “great leader” fuhrer? Thanks but no thanks.

republicans are literally selling children into slavery, and plan to sell more, they are evil and cannot be negotiated with.

[Yukle]

1 hour ago, lokisnow said:

republicans are literally selling children into slavery, and plan to sell more, they are evil and cannot be negotiated with.

Err... what?

[maarsen]

11 hours ago, Mexal said:

Donald Trump Jr might have some more issues.

 

This really begs the question  as to whose phone was tapped and why. Was Donald Jr. stupid enough to use an unsafe phone?

[A Horse Named Stranger]

35 minutes ago, maarsen said:

Was Donald Jr. stupid enough to use an unsafe phone?

You really still need to ask this?

[maarsen]

2 hours ago, Notone said:

You really still need to ask this?

It was a rhetorical question. What I found curious is that Spain is not one of the Five Eyes routinely used to spy on US citizens for the NSA so that the NSA cannot be accused of spying on their own citizens. If Torshin was in the US and Spain was tapping his phone, they still need the permission or acquiescence of the FBI or NSA, especially if they turn it over and thus expose their activities. Were they asked to do this tapping by an arm of US intelligence?

[A Horse Named Stranger]

14 minutes ago, maarsen said:

It was a rhetorical question. What I found curious is that Spain is not one of the Five Eyes routinely used to spy on US citizens for the NSA so that the NSA cannot be accused of spying on their own citizens. If Torshin was in the US and Spain was tapping his phone, they still need the permission or acquiescence of the FBI or NSA, especially if they turn it over and thus expose their activities. Were they asked to do this tapping by an arm of US intelligence?

I think you misunderstand the wiretaps. As funny as it would be, those are not conversations between Donnie Dumb and Torshin. Those conversations were between Torshin and another Russian named Romanov (the target of their investigation, and whose phoned was tapped). Spanish authorities were listening in on some of their conversations as part of a money laundering and organized crime investigation. And I suspect that during one of those conversations Donnie Dumb's name popped up, and they kept chatting about him for a bit.

It would be funnier if it really were Jr. himself on the record, but the conversation about him is apparently good enough.

 

Editorial note. I am sure there is a bad joke hidden somewhere involving a man named Romanov being resposinble for the demise of the American Tsarevich. But I am just too lazy to come up with it.

[Bonnot OG]

This administration is absolute scum.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43539q/what-separating-migrant-families-at-the-border-actually-looks-like

[Zorral]

2 hours ago, maarsen said:

It was a rhetorical question. What I found curious is that Spain is not one of the Five Eyes routinely used to spy on US citizens for the NSA so that the NSA cannot be accused of spying on their own citizens. If Torshin was in the US and Spain was tapping his phone, they still need the permission or acquiescence of the FBI or NSA, especially if they turn it over and thus expose their activities. Were they asked to do this tapping by an arm of US intelligence?

They were probably spying on their own King Juan Carlos, who lurves to shoot big game  in Africa (and not necessarily legally, see the yuge national scandal when it was revealed he was killing elephants, which contributed no little to his forced abdication in 2014) and thus, perhaps a buddy of Jr., who perhaps was someone they met as he rather likes hunting?  Or maybe through the Princess and her husband, who, in the last year or so, are part of a huge financial corruption scandal that includes Russians.  Jr. may have been their buddy. Pure speculation on my part, of course. 

[DireWolfSpirit]

I cannot even fathom the shallow insecurity that would motivate someone from royalty or any other position of priviledge, to go and shoot down an innocent, likely endangered, magnificent animal like a tiger, rhino or in King Juan's case a harmless elephant likely just trying to survive in what little sparce habitat man hasnt already destroyed. Its even more disgusting that someone would willfully jump on a plane and plan out such an execution.

To what end, for what reason would someone do such things? Small penus compensation, they are so cowardly that they feel unmanly unless they can kill something? These are endangered animals dwindling away and they, who have endless other entertainment choices, think its a good idea to kill irreplaceable species, once they are gone theres no bringing them back, assholes all of them.

[Larry of the Lawn]

3 hours ago, Sword of Doom said:

This administration is absolute scum.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43539q/what-separating-migrant-families-at-the-border-actually-looks-like

It's even worse.  Apparently they've lost track of 20% of the children the separated from their families.  These fuckers need to be dragged before the UN on humans rights violations.

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

I cannot even fathom the shallow insecurity that would motivate someone from royalty or any other position of priviledge, to go and shoot down an innocent, likely endangered, magnificent animal like a tiger, rhino or in King Juan's case a harmless elephant likely just trying to survive in what little sparce habitat man hasnt already destroyed. Its even more disgusting that someone would willfully jump on a plane and plan out such an execution.

To what end, for what reason would someone do such things? Small penus compensation, they are so cowardly that they feel unmanly unless they can kill something? These are endangered animals dwindling away and they, who have endless other entertainment choices, think its a good idea to kill irreplaceable species, once they are gone theres no bringing them back, assholes all of them.

The most pathetic part of the scandal, that so outraged the people of Spain, is that the ex-king knew just how despicable most people see this behavior of his -- so this hunting trip (only one of more) was kept secret from the Spanish people -- they didn't even know their king had gone out of the country.  The uproar when this whole mess was leaked to the press -- with photos -- well ya, abdication was the only answer.  And this sob was like 74 years old when he did this!  Surely old enough to know better.

 

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, larrytheimp said:

It's even worse.  Apparently they've lost track of 20% of the children the separated from their families.  These fuckers need to be dragged before the UN on humans rights violations.

This country has long experience with forcibly breaking up families, taking children from their parents.

[DireWolfSpirit]

I recall seeing a documentary on vulnerable unwed mothers being separated from their children in Spain. If I recall they were strongarmed into giving them up for adoption by the church( w/ state support) or something to that effect, it went on for years didnt it?