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EvC Forum Side Orders Coffee House The Trump Presidency

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Author Topic:   The Trump Presidency
Percy
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Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


(1)
Message 2565 of 4573 (842357)
10-30-2018 10:07 AM


Walls: Barbra Steisand's New Album
Barbra Stresand will soon be releasing her new Album "Walls," directed at her least favorite president. One song has already been released, "Don't Lie to Me":
--Percy

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


(3)
Message 2566 of 4573 (842718)
11-06-2018 7:37 AM


Today is Voting Day
Today is voting day, so go vote!
I hope we go to the polls and prove that Trump is not who we are, but for this to be a valid referendum on the Trump dumpster fire everyone must vote. So whether you're a liberal softie or a conservative hardnose or an independent vacillator, vote.
--Percy

Replies to this message:
 Message 2567 by frako, posted 11-06-2018 10:07 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied
 Message 2568 by RAZD, posted 11-06-2018 1:26 PM Percy has seen this message but not replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


(1)
Message 2571 of 4573 (842747)
11-07-2018 7:45 AM


Meh
I haven't yet had a chance to look at last night's election results in detail, but from what I see so far, meh.
The Democrats took the House and should have a roughly 10-20 seat majority. That's a significant change because it means there will again be a system of checks and balances instead of a rubber stamp.
But there were no big Democratic wins or upsets. Democrats lost in all the key races. Beto O'Rourke lost to Ted Cruz in the Texas Senate race, Andrew Gillum lost to Ron DeSantis in the Florida gubernatorial race, Bill Nelson lost to Rick Scott in the Florida Senate race, and though it hasn't been called yet it looks like Stacey Abrams is going down to defeat in the Georgia gubernatorial race.
And there was some very bad news: the Republicans picked up four Senatorial seats and now have a 54-46 majority, at least. Joe Donelly lost to Mike Braun in Indiana, incumbent Heidi Heitkamp lost ot Kevin Cramer in North Dakota, incumbent Claire McCaskill lost to Josh Hawley in Missouri, and as mentioned earlier Bill Nelson lost to Rick Scott in Florida.
This big Republican advantage in the Senate takes away all Democratic influence. Jeff Flake is gone. Bob Corker is gone. Attempts at influencing Republican moderates like Susan Collins of Maine or Lisa Murkowski of Alaska to vote against Trump are rendered fruitless because the Republicans no longer need their votes. The election was a disaster for Senatorial Democrats.
Last night's election results can be summed up like this: the Democrats got the boobie prize. They now control the elected body with the least power. It's better than nothing, and if they play their cards right by not overplaying their cards they may help insure that there is no Trump second term. But unless they figure out a way to work with the Senate there will be no significant legislation over the next two years.
I haven't yet seen a summary of gubernatorial results, nor of state legislatures, which will control how state districts are redrawn after the next census, but my guess is that Republicans still control enough to make sure there are plenty of gerrymandered districts. I think it likely that Republicans have enough to make sure most elections will fall their way all through the 2020 decade. The Democrats aren't going to get anywhere if it takes at least a 56-44% popular vote advantage just to break even.
Speaking now to Trump supporters, I do not understand how most of you summarize your feelings about Trump by saying things like, "I wish he would tweet less, but he's doing the things I want." You are idiots. Trump is possibly the worst excuse for a human being ever to occupy the office, and certainly by far the biggest liar, but more importantly, he is telling you he is making your lives better while he's robbing you blind and making fools of you. He's making sure wages are low for the benefit of the corporations he loves so much. He cut taxes for the middle class a little while cutting taxes for corporations a lot. He's taking away your healthcare while lying that he's making it wonderful. He's working you up into a frenzy about things like immigrant caravans that in the end will amount to little. Again, you are idiots.
Who do I like most for president in 2020? That's a long way off, but right now I like Beto O'Rourke.
--Percy

Replies to this message:
 Message 2572 by Diomedes, posted 11-07-2018 9:23 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 2574 of 4573 (842750)
11-07-2018 10:48 AM
Reply to: Message 2573 by RAZD
11-07-2018 10:27 AM


Re: My take
RAZD writes:
Progressives count for a large number of the seats taken last night,...
I haven't done my own review, but the news reports I've read and heard are saying that success was mostly experienced by moderates.
--Percy

This message is a reply to:
 Message 2573 by RAZD, posted 11-07-2018 10:27 AM RAZD has seen this message but not replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 2575 of 4573 (842751)
11-07-2018 10:52 AM


What Should House Democrats Do First
An editorial in today's Washington Post recommends The first five things the Democrats should do with their House majority:
  • Raise the minimum wage to $15/hour.
  • Fix the damage Republicans have done to healthcare.
  • Restore the Voting Rights Act and reverse Republican voter-suppression efforts.
  • Address infrastructure.
  • Save DACA.
Seems like a good list, but of course they'll have to work with the Senate and Trump will have to sign it.
--Percy

Replies to this message:
 Message 2577 by Taq, posted 11-07-2018 11:59 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 2580 of 4573 (842761)
11-07-2018 6:08 PM


Trump Holds a Press Conference
Trump held a press conference today, just the second of his presidency. If you'd like to see the whole thing here it is:
If you'd like to read an article calling the president to task for the many misstatements and lies he told during the press conference, then here's one: Trump’s bizarre post-election press conference, explained.
And if you'd like to see just the part where Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta and NBC's Peter Alexander, here it is:
--Percy

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 2583 of 4573 (842774)
11-08-2018 7:49 AM


CNN's Jim Acosta Barred from White House
Jim Acosta, CNN's White House correspondent, has been barred from the White House after yesterday's presidential press conference where he aggressively tried to ask two questions, refusing to yield the microphone to an intern after the first. Almost every reporter asked two questions. Trump verbally attacked Acosta for trying to ask his questions, as he did to several other reporters. See the 2nd video in Message 2580 for the attack on Acosta and NBC's Peter Alexander. See the 1st video starting at time 19:25 and watch for maybe 15 minutes to see Trump attack not just Acosta and Alexander, but also several other reporters.
CNN will have to give Jim Acosta a new assignment, and assign someone new to the White House.
--Percy

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 2584 of 4573 (842775)
11-08-2018 8:47 AM


More 2018 Election Results
The Democrats experienced a great deal of success at the state level in the 2018 midterms. They flipped more than 300 state legislative seats, and they now have the majority of the nation's attorney general offices. As already reported Democrats picked up seven governorships.
Stacy Abrams has not yet conceded the Georgia gubernatorial race, and her hope that uncounted early and absentee ballots will bring her close enough to Brian Kemp to force a runoff seems possible but unlikely.
Source
--Percy

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 2585 of 4573 (842776)
11-08-2018 8:56 AM


The Constitutions Implied Powers
With all the clamor in the news about House Democrats planning investigations into the Trump administration, beginning with his tax returns and exercising an oversight responsibility completely abdicated by Republicans, it is worth mentioning that the Congress's oversight responsibility over the other branches is not an expressed power of the constitution. It is an implied power that has been ruled on several times by the Supreme Court. For those with an interest there's an article about it over at Wikipedia: Congressional Oversight
--Percy

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 2596 of 4573 (842820)
11-08-2018 5:18 PM
Reply to: Message 2586 by Diomedes
11-08-2018 9:26 AM


Re: My take
Diomedes writes:
Education plus listening, and putting together an immigration program that meets the needs of people and the companies that need workers -- jobs Americans don't seem to want ...
And stop using labels against people who may have concerns about illegal immigration.
Maybe I missed part of the conversation, but I don't think RAZD is for illegal immigration. I think you'd be hard put to find anyone in favor of illegal immigration.
But speaking just for myself but also as a human being with compassion and empathy, I believe it is wrong to go all hardass on people who came to this country years ago to build a better life for themselves. An immigration system that makes it impossible for desperate people to immigrate doesn't remove their desperation, and so they will come in illegally. Looked at this way casts the blame on us for their illegal status, not them.
Also speaking just for myself, but I know many others think the same, I think our immigration system has long been in need of broad reform. Naturally there should be annual ceilings, but waiting periods that can range beyond 10 years are absurd. And criteria should include humanitarianism, in a way that would mean that the Jews of eastern Europe of 80 years ago and the Hondurans of today would be given top priority. I won't get more detailed than that since this isn't a thread about immigration reform.
--Percy

This message is a reply to:
 Message 2586 by Diomedes, posted 11-08-2018 9:26 AM Diomedes has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 2599 by Diomedes, posted 11-09-2018 9:43 AM Percy has replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 2597 of 4573 (842846)
11-09-2018 8:00 AM


Trump Fires Sessions, Replaces With Scumbag
The day after the midterms President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions and replaced him with Sessions' former chief of staff Matthew G. Whitaker, giving him the role of acting Attorney General.
Whitaker has a shady background, as related here: Before he led the Justice Department, Matthew G. Whitaker promoted company accused of deceiving clients. In his role on the advisory board of World Patent Marketing, a company eventually shut down by the FTC as a scam that bilked customers under the guise of promising to promote their patent ideas, he acted as a strongman by intimidating unsatisfied customers. Key excerpts:
quote:
World Patent Marketing founded by Miami businessman Scott J. Cooper, who had donated $2,600 to Whitaker’s Senate campaign prominently highlighted Whitaker’s rsum as a former U.S. attorney, which helped lend the company credibility.
But Whitaker seems to have been more than a figurehead. He spoke about inventions of the company’s clients in online videos including a special hot-tub seat for people with mobility issues. He also penned a response to at least one complaint writing a threatening email in which he cited his role as a former U.S. attorney, according to court filings.
...
There was no evidence that Whitaker knew company salespeople were making false promises to inventors, court receiver Jonathan Perlman said in an interview.
...
Whitaker was paid at least $10,000 by the company, according to court filings. [While the article makes no comments about any other compensation, there can be little doubt that Whitaker must have been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, otherwise his work for the company makes no sense.]
...
According to the FTC, however, the company falsely promised clients it would patent and market their ideas in exchange for hefty fees and then pocketed the money.
...
For the last three years, Defendants have operated an invention-promotion scam that has bilked thousands of consumers out of millions of dollars, the agency alleged in a recently unsealed court filing. In truth and in fact, Defendants fail to fulfill almost every promise they make to consumers.
...
Many people ended up in debt or lost their life savings, according to the FTC.
...
Mason [Penn Mason, a former customer] said he believes that paid advisory board members like Whitaker essentially pocketed money from unsuspecting victims.
...
When investors began to complain that they had paid the company large sums with little to show for it, they were threatened, according to interviews and court documents.
...
Mason said that after he began to complain, he got a call from Cooper, the CEO, who threatened to sue him for slander. He really scared me, Mason said. You feel like you’re dealing with all these bigwigs.
The Miami New Times, which published in an in-depth investigation of the company last year, reported that Cooper would sometimes tell people who had posted negative reviews of the company that he had security with specialized training in the Israeli martial art Krav Maga.
In an August 2015 email included in court documents, Whitaker wrote to a complainant who threatened to go to the Better Business Bureau, I am assuming you understand that there could be serious civil and criminal consequences for you. He noted he was a former U.S. attorney. [While the article makes no comment about any other threats by Whitaker against unsatisfied customers, there can be little doubt that this was neither the first nor the last. This is just that the only one reported by customers so far.]
...
As he was advising World Patent Marketing, Whitaker ran a conservative watchdog group called the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust. The group lodged numerous ethics complaints and calls for investigations, targeting Hillary Clinton and Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, as well as some Republicans.
...
On its website, FACT lists a downtown Washington address. But it is one of some 200 virtual members who use a K Street location to claim a presence in the nation’s capital, according to Brian Bullock, assistant general manager of Carr Workplaces, the firm that operates the site. [In other words, FACT "bought" a Washington address that was actually just a maildrop.]
...
Whitaker received $402,000 in 2016 as FACT’s president and director nearly a third of the donations the group received that year, according to its tax filings. He received $252,000 in 2015, more than half the charity’s receipts that year, tax filings show. [In other words, FACT was mostly just a scam to garner donations to give Whitaker a salary.]
Whitaker is a Trump lackey who will do whatever Trump wants, including reining in or halting the Mueller investigation and then taking the heat for it.
It is important to note that Whitaker is only *acting* Attorney General. He is expected to be replaced by a permanent appointee. Chris Christee, former governor of New Jersey, is a potential candidate. But it would be especially Trumpian if Whitaker killed the Mueller investigation and then disappeared into the sunset after being replaced by a permanent appointee.
--Percy

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 2600 of 4573 (842856)
11-09-2018 10:04 AM
Reply to: Message 2599 by Diomedes
11-09-2018 9:43 AM


Re: My take
Diomedes writes:
But we have to be cognizant of the fact that endorsing policies that encourage illegal immigration makes us appear as though we think the rules shouldn't apply.
So if amnesty offered to illegals who have been here for many years is encouraging illegal immigration, and if deporting them blindly ignores our own role in encouraging their illegal entry, then what is the answer. You propose one here:
I've said before that one policy that Democrats should be pushing is for ending the idiotic drug war.
I agree they should (and so should the Republicans), but given that the Democrats don't hold the Senate, don't hold the presidency, don't have a sympathetic Supreme Court, don't have a majority of governorships, and don't have a majority of state legislatures, it is unlikely to have any effect unless you somehow see it as one facet of a pathway back to having a meaningful role in governing the nation. I understand that you do see it that way because you next say:
If the Democrats take more time explaining that notion to people and indicate that ending the drug war will likely curb illegal immigration, that will likely resonate with voters.
But how do we end the drug war? What's the strategy?
One sidebar to mention: we also have to consider the broader picture when considering how we take in refugees. Note that the countries they are leaving are in bad shape, but if they continue to hemorrhage good people who flee to other countries, they will continue their downward spiral. That makes things infinitely worse for those that remain in the country. While we need a policy of empathy for those who seek refuge, I am all for policies of helping these countries get back to normality.
I've said the same thing. Unfortunately Trump wants to punish countries that contribute to illegal immigration, which will only make things worse, at which time he'll again say what he already says a lot: "Not my fault."
--Percy

This message is a reply to:
 Message 2599 by Diomedes, posted 11-09-2018 9:43 AM Diomedes has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 2601 by Diomedes, posted 11-09-2018 10:39 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 2605 of 4573 (843101)
11-13-2018 10:27 AM


CNN Files Lawsuit
CNN has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over Jim Acosta's press credentials.
Named in the lawsuit are President Trump, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, Deputy Chief of Staff Bill Shine, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, the U.S. Secret Service, Secret Service director Randolph Alles, and an unnamed Secret Service agent.
--Percy

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


(1)
Message 2606 of 4573 (843179)
11-14-2018 7:57 AM


America's Retreat from the World Stage
Trump's recent visit to Paris puts an exclamation point on America's decline in world standing. The only world leader Trump greeted warmly was Vladimir Putin, and Trump skipped two gatherings of world leaders. A few details from The World Is Adapting to the Reality of Donald Trump as President:
quote:
Last weekend's events in Paris offered a dramatic demonstration that "other things being equal" is not a safe assumption. The world is moving to adapt to the reality that Donald Trump is president of the United States. Our friends and allies may hope his election eventually will be reversed, and maybe they think America turned a corner with the 2018 midterm elections. But they can't count on it, so these countries must consider that America may be a different country from what they had believed.
...
Trump set the NATO alliance wobbling from the day he took office, raising doubts about America's continued readiness to pay for other countries' defense. Europeans spent a year trying to make nice, but they seem to have gotten the message. American isn't a fully reliable protector anymore. Europeans do indeed have to take greater responsibility for their defense -- and depend less on a U.S.-led NATO. What Trump has done is folly, in my view, but it's precisely what he wanted.
The world is moving on, in other ways, from Trump's "America First" idea of U.S. power. Macron announced Monday the "Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace." The document proposed a basic code of conduct to prevent meddling in elections and other malicious hacking. It was backed by more than 50 countries, 90 nonprofits and 130 private companies, including Microsoft, Google, Facebook and IBM. Absent from the list was the U.S. -- along with Russia, China, Iran and Israel. Nice: The big five of cyberwar.
...
As Trump's America retreats from global diplomatic engagements, other opportunistic countries are stepping forward. The most obvious example is Russia. President Vladimir Putin may hold a weak hand, but he's in the game. Russia talks with everyone: Israel and Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the Taliban and the Afghan government. Putin may be a bullyboy, but he's wearing a diplomat's striped pants -- sponsoring negotiations on Syria, Afghanistan and other issues. Once upon a time, America owned this role of global broker, but not anymore.
The greatest beneficiary of Trump's retreat is China, which openly proclaims its desire to challenge U.S. global primacy. A senior Australian official told me this week that everywhere Australia looks in Asia, it sees China seeking to find potential bases for its increasingly powerful military. Australia is one of the countries that has relied upon American power, and officials still hope that's a good bet. But looking at Trump, they have to wonder.
...
America suffered a political hiccup in 2016, electing a man who was manifestly unprepared to be president. Most of the world hopes we'll find our balance again, but in the meantime, they must consider making other arrangements.
Sorry for the lengthy excerpts, but what it's saying is that Trump has upset the global world order of American dominance in cultural, economic and military power, and we may never see its like again. We had our time as the central star on the world stage, but Trump has exited, stage right.
--Percy

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 2608 of 4573 (843219)
11-14-2018 8:24 PM


I'm Done with Michael Avenatti
Today's New York Times reports that Michael Avenatti has been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence.
I hope that lawyer gig continues to work out for him, because his political future is dead.
I'm nonetheless saddened. The Democrats need someone who can dish it out as well as Trump can, and Avenatti has the additional advantage that the things he says are true. Avenatti would have been an unlikely 2020 candidate, but it would still have been nice to have his forceful voice articulating Democrat viewpoints.
--Percy

Replies to this message:
 Message 2610 by Percy, posted 11-15-2018 2:15 PM Percy has replied

  
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