Serious Callers Only Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Heh, 'voting machines', from the state that wiped voting records after being ordered to provide them. https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article216056560.html Quote Washington Habersham County’s Mud Creek precinct in northeastern Georgia had 276 registered voters ahead of the state’s primary elections in May. But 670 ballots were cast, according to the Georgia secretary of state’s office, indicating a 243 percent turnout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 It feels like things get nutty every time I unplug for a few days and go up North. Did the president seriously just indicate that his son committed perjury? HAHAHAHA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadlines? What Deadlines? Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 10 hours ago, Martell Spy said: Report: Wilbur Ross Accused of Stealing Over $120 Million https://www.thedailybeast.com/report-wilbur-ross-accused-of-grifting-over-dollar120-million?ref=home Forbes reported this? 7 hours ago, Serious Callers Only said: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/now-trump-administration-wants-limit-citizenship-legal-immigrants-n897931?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma Mobilizing the base. I'll say it again, where the hell is Pat Buchanan? 7 hours ago, Serious Callers Only said: Heh, 'voting machines', from the state that wiped voting records after being ordered to provide them. https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article216056560.html That's a serious voter drive. Vote early and vote often. 6 hours ago, SpaceForce Tywin et al. said: It feels like things get nutty every time I unplug for a few days and go up North. Did the president seriously just indicate that his son committed perjury? HAHAHAHA! And colluded with a foreign government. Time was there were plenty of people in this country who were put off by this. I suspect there still are. Don Don is going to jail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadlines? What Deadlines? Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 I've never seen this show. I'm waiting for the presidency to be over and then I'll binge watch it. Eric's voice cracks me up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 51 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said: And colluded with a foreign government. Time was there were plenty of people in this country who were put off by this. I suspect there still are. Don Don is going to jail. It’s way too early to know if he will get charged with a crime or not, but even some conservative legal analysts are saying it’s possible that he committed a crime. That said, is there anyone who seriously thinks he wouldn’t get pardoned the moment after he gets convicted, should that happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serious Callers Only Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Has peak irony been achieved yet? Probably not. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/karl-rove-donald-trump-media_us_5b6958c0e4b0b15abaa692ac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadlines? What Deadlines? Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 1 hour ago, SpaceForce Tywin et al. said: It’s way too early to know if he will get charged with a crime or not, but even some conservative legal analysts are saying it’s possible that he committed a crime. That said, is there anyone who seriously thinks he wouldn’t get pardoned the moment after he gets convicted, should that happen? I... Need... This... 42 minutes ago, Serious Callers Only said: Has peak irony been achieved yet? Probably not. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/karl-rove-donald-trump-media_us_5b6958c0e4b0b15abaa692ac Someday soon, some drunk and/or brave soul will remind him that he is culpable for creating this environment in the first place. I... Need... This... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 28 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said: I... Need... This... Someday soon, some drunk and/or brave soul will remind him that he is culpable for creating this environment in the first place. I... Need... This... He didn’t create it as much as he fostered it for a time. Gingrich should probably be credited with creating it, and McCain kicked it into overdrive when he tapped Palin to be his VP nominee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadlines? What Deadlines? Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 23 minutes ago, SpaceForce Tywin et al. said: He didn’t create it as much as he fostered it for a time. Gingrich should probably be credited with creating it, and McCain kicked it into overdrive when he tapped Palin to be his VP nominee. Oh don't worry, he's not the only one. Nice try, Karl. Nice try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 2 hours ago, SpaceForce Tywin et al. said: It’s way too early to know if he will get charged with a crime or not, but even some conservative legal analysts are saying it’s possible that he committed a crime. That said, is there anyone who seriously thinks he wouldn’t get pardoned the moment after he gets convicted, should that happen? If he violated a State law he could be prosecuted by the State of New York and beyond Trump's protection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartIheartTesla Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 I voted in the Michigan primary this morning, Not too many choices on the ballot...I counted two competitive races on the D side, including governor. It is a pretty important election year, since the R's have a supermajority here, but Snyder has very poor approval ratings so the governorship may be up for the taking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 1 hour ago, Scott de Montevideo! said: If he violated a State law he could be prosecuted by the State of New York and beyond Trump's protection. I know, but I haven’t heard anyone suggest that he’s broken any state laws with regards to the Russia investigation, though it wouldn’t shock me in the least if they find he has done so with his family’s business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 So my current theory is that Trump certainly didn't violate any laws himself by any of his actions with the Russians - including the Trump Tower meeting. Or if he did, the laws are fairly minor. However, I suspect strongly that he has violated several laws in personal financing, tax fraud, and other fun stuff. And he is absolutely terrified that Mueller will follow some of the financial strings and nail him on it, just like he did Manafort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 21 minutes ago, Kalbear said: So my current theory is that Trump certainly didn't violate any laws himself by any of his actions with the Russians - including the Trump Tower meeting. Or if he did, the laws are fairly minor. However, I suspect strongly that he has violated several laws in personal financing, tax fraud, and other fun stuff. And he is absolutely terrified that Mueller will follow some of the financial strings and nail him on it, just like he did Manafort. Judging by the revelations from Gates about Manafort and Gates's own embezzlement from Manafort, and the Wilbur Ross allegations, are theft and tax evasion cultural norms in Trumps social and business circles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 17 minutes ago, Kalbear said: So my current theory is that Trump certainly didn't violate any laws himself by any of his actions with the Russians - including the Trump Tower meeting. Or if he did, the laws are fairly minor. However, I suspect strongly that he has violated several laws in personal financing, tax fraud, and other fun stuff. And he is absolutely terrified that Mueller will follow some of the financial strings and nail him on it, just like he did Manafort. I’m skeptical about claims that Trump didn’t break the law, but it could be true that he didn’t knowingly do so. However, I think it’s somewhat unlikely that Mueller will find a smoking gun. Because of the way he communicates with others, he doesn’t leave much of a paper trail (I wonder if he learned that from his mob buddies), so my guess is that the only way to get one would be if someone recorded their conversations with him like Cohen did. I do agree though that he has probably broken the law several times when it comes to his businesses, and that Mueller can get that information rather easily. The only question is will Republicans care about financial crimes, and even if they do, will they take any action that results in more than a slap on the wrist? I personally doubt they will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 It looks like Trump's repeated attacks on the media are starting to take effect with Republicans: https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/americans-views-media-2018-08-07 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S John Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 1 hour ago, Kalbear said: So my current theory is that Trump certainly didn't violate any laws himself by any of his actions with the Russians - including the Trump Tower meeting. Or if he did, the laws are fairly minor. However, I suspect strongly that he has violated several laws in personal financing, tax fraud, and other fun stuff. And he is absolutely terrified that Mueller will follow some of the financial strings and nail him on it, just like he did Manafort. I'm with you on this. Remember when he refused to release his tax returns? He didn't want them out there for public scrutiny for a reason, and that reason could be that the president is such a high profile position that everyone would be digging through them and, probably, eventually, someone would figure out something really damning about Trump's business dealings by digging hard into what's in there.. and maybe also what isn't there. His attacks on Mueller aren't necessarily because he's worried about the Russia stuff, it's that someone's digging into him at all. In the process of being worried about this Trump has systematically discredited the media and the justice department so that when that story drops, it doesn't move the needle for his supporters at all. He's been conditioning them to accept it. The sad thing is that in his conditioning of his base to accept whatever fucked up and, in a sane world, disqualifying, thing that he's been hiding all along - he's doing long-term damage to this country. My only hope is that he's so thoroughly caught out as a scammer and a fraud that the fever breaks for a lot of people. Not holding my breath though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadlines? What Deadlines? Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 7 hours ago, Serious Callers Only said: Heh, 'voting machines', from the state that wiped voting records after being ordered to provide them. https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article216056560.html Hold on, they have 276 registered voters and then need machines to count the votes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 1 hour ago, Kalbear said: So my current theory is that Trump certainly didn't violate any laws himself by any of his actions with the Russians - including the Trump Tower meeting. Or if he did, the laws are fairly minor. However, I suspect strongly that he has violated several laws in personal financing, tax fraud, and other fun stuff. And he is absolutely terrified that Mueller will follow some of the financial strings and nail him on it, just like he did Manafort. I'm almost positive this is the truth and that some of those financial issues have to do with Russians. He may not be coordinating with them but I bet he's terrified what they may know. Adam Davidson explained it really well here. That being said, the financial shit won't affect him until after he leaves office. Quote Alena Ledeneva, a professor of politics at University College London and an expert on Russia’s political and business practices, describes kompromat as being more than a single powerful figure weaponizing damning evidence to blackmail a target. She explained that to make sense of kompromat it is essential to understand the weakness of formal legal institutions in Russia and other former Soviet states. Ledeneva argued that wealth and power are distributed through networks of political figures and businesspeople who follow unspoken rules, in an informal hierarchy that she calls sistema, or system. Sistema has a few clear rules—do not defy Putin being the most obvious one—and a toolkit for controlling potentially errant members. It is primarily a system of ambiguity. Each person in sistema wonders where he stands and monitors the relative positions of friends and rivals. Gleb Pavlovsky, one of the leading political thinkers in Russia, is known to be an adviser to Putin and well connected to the power structure. In a 2016 article in Foreign Affairs, he endorsed Ledeneva’s sistema framework. Many observers imagine Putin to be some all-powerful genius, Pavlovsky wrote, but he “has never managed to build a bureaucratically successful authoritarian state. Instead, he has merely crafted his own version of sistema, a complex practice of decision-making and power management that has long defined Russian politics and society and that will outlast Putin himself. Putin has mastered sistema, but he has not replaced it with ‘Putinism’ or a ‘Putin system.’ Someday, Putin will go. But sistema will stay.” Ledeneva said that the key to understanding Trump’s interaction with sistema is to look at the people with whom he did business. “Trump never dealt with anybody close to the Kremlin, close to Putin,” she said. “Or even many Russians.” Trump’s business deals, she told me, were with tertiary figures. Sistema is rooted in local, often familial, trust, so it is common to see networks rooted in ethnic or national identity. My own reporting has shown that Trump has worked with many ethnic Turks from Central Asia, such as the Mammadov family, in Azerbaijan; Tevfik Arif, in New York; and Aras and Emin Agalarov, in Moscow. Trump also worked with large numbers of émigrés from the former Soviet Union. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 10 hours ago, Martell Spy said: Report: Wilbur Ross Accused of Stealing Over $120 Million https://www.thedailybeast.com/report-wilbur-ross-accused-of-grifting-over-dollar120-million?ref=home Is that saying he's actually been found guilty of stealing that amount and never faced a single day in prison? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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