US politics: No sub rosa Omarosa

[Maithanet]

Reading the WaPo summary of the Manafort trial, the defenses closing arguments are just astonishingly flimsy.  It boils down to:

1.  Manafort filed (a great many) false tax forms, but the prosecutors didn't prove he intended to defraud those banks.  Perhaps he just carelessly made a long string of errors which fraudulently saved him millions of dollars? 

2.  Manafort is a rich man.  He didn't need to embezzle.  Rich men never cheat!

3.  Manafort relied on Rick Gates to be his bookkeeper and accountant and that was “not consistent” with someone trying to commit financial fraud. It isn't?  I feel like rich people often bring in subordinates to do their tax cheating.  Did the defense provide evidence that this is atypical?  Oh right, the defense didn't provide any evidence at all. 

4.  Reasonable doubt!!!  Old reliable.  The only defense that works in every trial, and can recycled regardless of whether the evidence is flimsy or incontrovertible.

 

[Bonnot OG]

We do have some racists in here, or at least apologists for racists, which makes them no better.

[Morpheus]

Trump revoked John Brennan’ security clearance. And that smiling turd, Paul Ryan, laughed it off as trolling when Trump threatened to target critics a few weeks ago. The slide continues.

[aceluby]

2 hours ago, Frog Eater said:

real racists is to delineate between KKK/White Supremacists and the half the country you would attempt to paint as racists 

That's some dumb ass shit right there.

[Zorral]

3 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Zorral,

I disagree.  The US military has a strong allegance to the Constitution, not to a particular person in the White House.  Trump would need to purge the high officer ranks and replace them all with people personally loyal to him to have any hope of staying in office past the close of a second term.  Even then, I'm confident such a move would lead to civil war and a split among the US Military as those who supported the coup and those who fought it came to blows.  That is a terrifying prospect given the power we have there.

 

 

 

I believe you have forgotten that enormous watershed event in US history, officially titled The War of the Rebellion.  Look at the numbers of the serving officers of the Federal army of the time who saw it otherwise, particularly Robert E. Lee.

Your faith that somewhere is at least some official, public institution that is going to save your, your family's and the nation's ass could almost be touching if wasn't helping to create such tragedy.  There is nothing that is public, official, elected or otherwise that isn't corrupted beyond redemption, if not for the sake of greed, for the sake of power, for the sake of hatred.  The only thing that can save us now, redeem us now, is you, is us, not any official entity.

 

[Zorral]

3 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

FE,

Because, Trump places such a high value on personal loyalty that I wouldn't put him above picking judges for the high court over whom he has some personal dirt to make sure that once they are on the bench of the SCOTUS they go his way on all his cases.

And even as we post the orange nazi is on a purge, firing everyone he sees in Intelligence and other agencies.

Voters who despise racism and bigotry DO NOT VOTE FOR RACISTS AND BIGOTS.  What is so difficult to understand about that hmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

 

[Morpheus]

Trump has also added Peter Strzok and Sally Yates to his list of pending security clearance removal. Sally Yates! The one who tried to warn them that Flynn was compromised.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

1 hour ago, Bonnot OG said:

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/08/watch-trump-supporter-beat-social-distortion-singer-punk-show-protests-anti-trump-rant/

A conservative bigot (they all are), Trump supporter, got punched in the face at a punk show for being an entitled scumbag, by a guy that grew up playing punk rock in the late 70/s early 80s in Orange County California, where cops would try to use your head as a polo ball.

They're not all bigots.

That is probably the best thing I've read today, though.

For some reason, I clicked on a Washington (Moonie) Times link about this story.  I thought, while I'm here I'll check the comments.  There was one.  It was gold.

Quote

Pretty typical reaction by a Liberal with TDS. It's OK for him to rant and rave, but no one should DARE disagree with him. The concept of the First Amendment applying to all of us is lost on him.

Some time in jail would be good for him.

-Olive Anchor

First amendment?  Rant and rave?!?  It's his concert you Simple Bastard.  His band rented the venue.  He's the one with the microphone hooked up to a 15,000 watt PA.  There isn't even a pretense of a fair and equal exchange here.

And yes, if you stand there for two song with a middle finger being directed at the stage, even money says you're going to get your ass kicked.  Because, Duh.

 

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

7 minutes ago, Morpheus said:

Trump has also added Peter Strzok and Sally Yates to his list of pending security clearance removal. Sally Yates! The one who tried to warn them that Flynn was compromised.

Losers.  Disloyal too.

[Bonnot OG]

5 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

They're not all bigots.

That is probably the best thing I've read today, though.

For some reason, I clicked on a Washington (Moonie) Times link about this story.  I thought, while I'm here I'll check the comments.  There was one.  It was gold.

First amendment?  Rant and rave?!?  It's his concert you Simple Bastard.  His band rented the venue.  He's the one with the microphone hooked up to a 15,000 watt PA.  There isn't even a pretense of a fair and equal exchange here.

And yes, if you stand there for two song with a middle finger being directed at the stage, even money says you're going to get your ass kicked.  Because, Duh.

 

 

Nah they all are. 

BTW, that dude that got hit is more than just your average bigot, he is a Proud Boy.  So it's hilarious how he is whining about violence given what he supports, and who he supports.

I wonder if he called out 5 cereals as Ness beat on him.

[Zorral]

Don't many a fella go to punk rock performances to get their violence on?  So what's he got to complain about -- he got more than his money's worth.

 

[Kalbear]

3 hours ago, Frog Eater said:

If you supported Clinton with her warmongering policies, whose decisions as secretary of state caused the massive problems going on right now in Lybia and Syria, you are a warmonger. Accepting the warmongering because you wont be affected by it, doesnt speak well of you as a person. 

You do not get to redefine warmongering to make yourself comfortable in your choices. 

Yes! This is absolutely accurate! 100% agree. This is how it works. Same goes for Obama too. I supported Obama, knowing full well in 2012 that he would continue the drone warfare. That is entirely on me. If you support - and continue to support Trump, you're fully supporting things like separating 3000 kids from their parents - some of whom are STILL not united despite legally being required to do so. 

That's entirely how it works. 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

1 minute ago, Zorral said:

Don't many a fella go to punk rock performances to get their violence on?  So what's he got to complain about -- he got more than his money's worth.

 

Not if he's a poser he didn't.

Let's see how this develops...  

[Kalbear]

2 hours ago, Altherion said:

Because there are limits: some things really are perceived to be *ist by the vast majority of the population. For example, the locker-room talk went against not just the recently broadened definition of what it means to be sexist, but against much older and practically universal norms. In most cases, doubling down is a good strategy, but sometimes it makes more sense to apologize.

And...they doubled down on that too, didn't they? 

[James Arryn]

4 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

Yes! This is absolutely accurate! 100% agree. This is how it works. Same goes for Obama too. I supported Obama, knowing full well in 2012 that he would continue the drone warfare. That is entirely on me. If you support - and continue to support Trump, you're fully supporting things like separating 3000 kids from their parents - some of whom are STILL not united despite legally being required to do so. 

That's entirely how it works. 

Yeah, the ‘fear of warmongering’ tag seems an awfully limp weapon to wave at Americans. America has been at war for 222 of the 239 years of it’s existence, and almost all of those paltry few exceptions happened before WWII. War is what America does. Of all the misapplied titles to challenge, ‘peace-loving’ is probably the most ridiculous. Only if peace means constant war ‘over there’.

There are serious arguments that the American economy cannot afford peace. 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

32 minutes ago, Bonnot OG said:

Nah they all are. 

BTW, that dude that got hit is more than just your average bigot, he is a Proud Boy.  So it's hilarious how he is whining about violence given what he supports, and who he supports.

I wonder if he called out 5 cereals as Ness beat on him.

Proud boy?  Aren't they suppoed to be all "alpha" and shit?

Punk.

[Larry of the Lawn]

9 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

Yes! This is absolutely accurate! 100% agree. This is how it works. Same goes for Obama too. I supported Obama, knowing full well in 2012 that he would continue the drone warfare. That is entirely on me. If you support - and continue to support Trump, you're fully supporting things like separating 3000 kids from their parents - some of whom are STILL not united despite legally being required to do so. 

That's entirely how it works. 

Yup.  Wasn't easy voting for Clinton given her bellicose history.  But I feel like the Dems actually call each other out more - HRC was forced left and it's difficulty to argue that economically and diplomatically we'd be in worse shape with her in the White House.  There would have been a lot of pressure from her base to not reach for the gun.  

Meanwhile Trump is bragging about how big his nukes are.  Meanwhile Trump is alientaing allies and cozying up to dictators.  Meanwhile the GOP only ocassionaly calls out the racism and sexism, but still falls in line. 

 I have no problem telling half the country they are backing racist xenophobic bullshit.  

[Mexal]

This is very Trump administration. They're going to try to cut the budgets of those who are supposed to investigate wrongdoing in the government agencies, of which there is a ton.

 

[Mexal]

49 minutes ago, Morpheus said:

Trump has also added Peter Strzok and Sally Yates to his list of pending security clearance removal. Sally Yates! The one who tried to warn them that Flynn was compromised.

Doesn't Flynn still have his clearance?

[James Arryn]

AHAHAHAHHHHAHAHAAAHAHAAHA!

 

deep breath...

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHA!

 

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/401950-white-supremacist-rally-leader-gets-yelled-at-by-his-dad-during