Faith responds to me:
quote:
Fake news as I use the term includes any news story that has no purpose other than to try to make Trump look bad.
Ah, yes. Someone takes a dump in the punchbowl and they're the aggrieved party should somebody point it out.
When we found out that he admits to sexual assault ("Grab 'em by the pussy"), HE was the victim.
When we found out that he is a pedophile (going into the dressing room of the Miss Teen USA pageant, telling a 10-year-old that he'd be dating her in ten years), HE was the victim.
When we found out that he fantasizes about having sex with his own daughter (numerous statements about how he wants to have sex with Ivanka), HE was the victim.
When he attacked a Soldier's family because they were Muslim, HE was the victim.
When he attacked and physically mocked a disabled reporter, HE was the victim.
When he advocated for torture, HE was the victim.
When he tried to claim that Trump Steaks were still around, HE was the victim.
When he said that Ted Cruz's father was involved in the assassination of JFK, HE was the victim.
When he said that Obama wasn't a US-born citizen, HE was the victim.
When he tweeted out a picture of himself eating a taco bowl on Cinco de Mayo, saying, "I love Hispanics," HE was the victim.
When he repeatedly said that Hillary Clinton had Vince Foster murdered, HE was the victim.
When he attacked US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel simply because he was of Mexican heritage, HE was the victim.
When he repeated retweeted statements by white supremacists, HE was the victim.
Exactly when are Trump's blunders his own fault, Faith? Or are you saying that any time Trump does something stupid, even if it involves national security and puts our country at risk (such as his statements that we should abandon Japan and South Korea to defend themselves against North Korea), we shouldn't say anything? Because it might make him look bad?
Does the word "sycophant" mean anything to you? What about "lickspittle"? Or "stooge"?
quote:
Did Obama have to put up with this kind of stuff?
Yes.
Of course, Obama didn't have nearly the gaffes, fiascos, and outright stupidity in his administration that Trump has had. And remember, Trump has only been in office for a little over a month compared to Obama's 8 years.
Or have you forgotten the incident regarding Jeremiah Wright?
Have you forgotten that Trump spent five years claiming Obama wasn't born in the US? That bit of stupidity is still running around...to the point that you still believe it, Faith.
Have you forgotten about the supposed "death panels" in the Affordable Care Act?
quote:
The problem is that the kinds of contacts that were had wouldn't even have made a blip on their minds because they are so common and so standard and unrelated to anything that would involve national security that they wouldn't even think of them.
Then why did they lie about having had them? Jeff Sessions was directly asked if he had any contact with the Russians during his time on the Trump campaign and he lied, saying he had it.
Then, when it came out that he had met with them at least twice, he claimed that he didn't know what he talked about with them.
Well, as Al Franken pointed out, if you don't know what you did talk to them about, you certainly don't remember what you DIDN'T talk to them about and thus, you are compromised.
quote:
But trust the Democrats to blow them up into something they can use against Trump and his people.
Right...because we shouldn't actually look into how the Russians were involved in our elections because it might make Trump look bad.
Tell that to France and Germany who are currently working to counter Russian interference in their elections.
quote:
There was no information to release because it was all ordinary and innocuous
Says who? Trump? Why should we trust him? He is the most dishonest president we've had (51 lies in the 61 minutes of his speech to Congress, Faith.) Every time he claims that there is nothing to be had regarding his staff's connections to Russians, we find that he's lying and that there were many ties to Russia. He still won't release his tax returns so that we can verify his claim that he has no business connections to Russia...
...especially because he has repeatedly said that he has done business with Russia. They bailed him out of many bankruptcies (the Bayrock Group) and he has worked with them on many deals in other countries.
In 1986, Trump wrote the following in
Art of the Deal
One thing led to another, and now I’m talking about building a large luxury hotel across the street from the Kremlin in partnership with the Soviet government.
That was about a conversation he had with Soviet ambassador Yuri Dubinin.
But since Trump didn't actually write
Art of the Deal, are you going to say that it's all part of the Grand Conspiracy to Suppress the Truth (C)? His ghostwriter lied?
Strange that Trump had a deal with Drinks Americas Holdings to sell Trump-branded vodka in Russia.
The Miss Universe Pageant, which Trump owns, was held in Moscow in 2013. Are you honestly claiming that he had nothing to do with that? How did the partnership with Russian billionaire Aras Agalarov happen without Trump?
We know that Trump Trump is connected to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev because Trump sold a mansion to him in Florida for $95 million. Now, Trump claims that this is the only time he's dealt with Russia (notice that that contradicts his claim that he's never done any business with the Russians), but his own son contradicts him. Donald Trump, Jr. said the following in eTurboNews:
And in terms of high-end product influx into the US, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia. There's indeed a lot of money coming for new-builds and resale reflecting a trend in the Russian economy and, of course, the weak dollar versus the ruble.
So which is it?
Have you forgotten about Paul Manafort and his connections to Viktor Yanukovych...to the point that Manafort had to resign? He's under investigation by the CIA, NSA, FBI, ODNI and FinCEN and has been caught laundering more than $2 million for the Party of Regions.
Do you know who the Party of Regions is, Faith?
What about Carter Page? Do you even know who he is? He was one of the foreign policy advisers to Trump during the campaign...and was a consultant to Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled gas company.
And then there's Tillerson, the current Secretary of State who was the head of the Russian division of Exxon-Mobil.
quote:
Just another big fat lie.
So when Sessions told Congress that he didn't have any contacts with Russia, he was lying? Or when he admitted that he did have contacts with Russia more than once, he was lying? Which is it, Faith? Was he lying then or now?
quote:
Sessions had contacts with lots of ambassadors on a casual basis that had nothing to do with the question he was asked in his confirmation hearing.
The irony is strong in you, isn't it, Faith? You realize your claim that the fiasco that is Sessions is a "big, fat lie" is actually the big, fat lie, yes?
Here is the exact exchange between Franken and Sessions:
Franken: "CNN just published a story alleging that the intelligence community provided documents to the president-elect last week that included information that quote, ‘Russian operatives claimed to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump.’ These documents also allegedly say quote, ‘There was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump's surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government.’
"Now, again, I'm telling you this as it's coming out, so you know. But if it's true, it's obviously extremely serious and if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do?"
Sessions: "Senator Franken, I'm not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it."
Here's video of it:
The hearing where Sessions denies contact with Russia
You will note that Franken wasn't asking about "casual contacts" but whether or not there was any contact of any kind.
To which Sessions flat out denied having any communication with the Russians.
That was a lie. He now admits to having talked to them twice. And those only because we found evidence of them.
He now claims that he doesn't remember what he talked about. Again, as Franken pointed out, if he doesn't remember what he talked about, then he certainly doesn't remember what he DIDN'T talk about.
quote:
That was a big mistake because Flynn had done nothing wrong.
Lying to Congress and to the Vice President is "nothing wrong"?
Especially because Flynn directly states that since he doesn't remember what he said when talking to the Russians, he can't deny that he DIDN'T talk about sanctions? So Flynn's own admission of his being compromised is a lie?
Remember, Flynn claimed that he never talked to the Russians at all and the only reason he changed his tune is because his conversations with the Russians were recorded (which all communications with foreign governments are) and thus there was evidence of him talking to the Russians. That's how we know that he talked to them and that he was talking about the sanctions. We have him on tape.
Remember, Trump claimed on February 10 that he didn't know anything about Flynn's conversations with Russia:
Reporter, Feb. 10: What do you think of reports that General Flynn had conversations with the Russians about the sanctions before you were sworn in?
Trump: I don’t know about it. I haven’t seen it. What report is that?
But that was a lie. Trump was told about Flynn on January 26, as Spicer confirmed.
And on top of that, Trump directly stated that even if Flynn hadn't talked about the sanctions, Trump would have told him to do so:
"Mike was doing his job. He was calling countries and his counterparts. So it certainly would've been OK with me if he did it," Trump said. "I would've directed him to do it if I thought he wasn't doing it."
That is a direct violation of the Logan Act.
And let's not forget that Flynn is currently under investigation by the US Army for violations of the Emoluments Clause for his trip to Moscow in 2015.
So once again, Faith, everything you have said about this issue is wrong. You have displayed a profound ignorance about the state of affairs due to your refusal to actually do your homework before speaking and relying on known purveyors of lies to form your opinion combined with your kneejerk reaction that anybody who says anything against something you believe in is necessarily evil and part of the Grand Conspiracy.
How many times do you need to get burned?
Rrhain
Thank you for your submission to Science. Your paper was reviewed by a jury of seventh graders so that they could look for balance and to allow them to make up their own minds. We are sorry to say that they found your paper "bogus," specifically describing the section on the laboratory work "boring." We regret that we will be unable to publish your work at this time.
Minds are like parachutes. Just because you've lost yours doesn't mean you can use mine.
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