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EvC Forum Side Orders Coffee House The Trump Presidency

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Author Topic:   The Trump Presidency
vimesey
Member
Posts: 1398
From: Birmingham, England
Joined: 09-21-2011


(2)
Message 2701 of 4573 (846985)
01-14-2019 4:42 PM
Reply to: Message 2700 by AZPaul3
01-14-2019 4:24 PM


Re: 18 reasons Trump could be a Russian asset
I honestly think that video would make no difference at all. Trump could literally bite the heads off a row of new-born babies, and his support base would not waver one jot in the face of that.
I suspect it’s more that he knows that Putin would have him killed if he stepped out of line.

Could there be any greater conceit, than for someone to believe that the universe has to be simple enough for them to be able to understand it ?

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Taq
Member
Posts: 9944
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 4.9


(3)
Message 2702 of 4573 (846986)
01-14-2019 5:01 PM
Reply to: Message 2700 by AZPaul3
01-14-2019 4:24 PM


Re: 18 reasons Trump could be a Russian asset
AZPaul3 writes:
I think the most important reason Trump continues to work for the Russians is because Putin has the pee video.
It's much simpler than that. Trump doesn't want anyone to question the legitimacy of his electoral victory. That's what Russia has over him.

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Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4320
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.4


(3)
Message 2703 of 4573 (846989)
01-14-2019 5:49 PM
Reply to: Message 2700 by AZPaul3
01-14-2019 4:24 PM


Re: 18 reasons Trump could be a Russian asset
I think the most important reason Trump continues to work for the Russians is because Putin has the pee video.
Trump's been a crook for a long time. The Russians bought him a long time ago and he has been laundering money for them for decades.
I am amazed that one family could know that many people with shady contacts with Russia, with the government and oligarchs.
Is there a single person in this administration who is not corrupt? Looking at people like Pruit, Zinke, and Minuchin, what was surprising was the amount of petty corruption from a bunch of rich guys.
Fuck every one of them.

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python
One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie
If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy
The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq

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1.61803
Member (Idle past 1494 days)
Posts: 2928
From: Lone Star State USA
Joined: 02-19-2004


Message 2704 of 4573 (846990)
01-14-2019 5:49 PM
Reply to: Message 2699 by Tanypteryx
01-14-2019 3:59 PM


Re: 18 reasons Trump could be a Russian asset
and all this time I thought he was just a useful idiot.

"You were not there for the beginning. You will not be there for the end. Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative" William S. Burroughs

This message is a reply to:
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Replies to this message:
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Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4320
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.4


Message 2705 of 4573 (846992)
01-14-2019 6:01 PM
Reply to: Message 2704 by 1.61803
01-14-2019 5:49 PM


Re: 18 reasons Trump could be a Russian asset
and all this time I thought he was just a useful idiot.
And so much more. He fits the definition of anarchist also, and Antichrist.

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python
One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie
If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy
The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq

This message is a reply to:
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dwise1
Member
Posts: 5925
Joined: 05-02-2006
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 2706 of 4573 (847059)
01-17-2019 1:41 AM


Has Trump Kept his Campaign Promise to Mismanage Our Country?
Tonight on an MSNBC program, a guest pundit made a revealing comment. I think it might have been on 11th Hour, but I could be mistaken.
From memory, the comment was that in the 2016 campaign Trump had promised to run the US government like he had run the Trump Organization. The argument is that Trump has indeed kept that promise.
Well, Trump is infamous for mismanaging his business through arbitrary fiat, not paying his subcontractors, demanding personal loyalty, bullying everybody, breaking promises, accepting no responsibility, etc. Really? Is that any way to run a government? Fuck no!
So then, as per the indicated pundit, Trump has technically upheld his promise to mismanage the US government in the manner that he had mismanaged his private business. But is that the way to run the government? Fuck no!

  
dwise1
Member
Posts: 5925
Joined: 05-02-2006
Member Rating: 5.2


(7)
Message 2707 of 4573 (847060)
01-17-2019 1:51 AM
Reply to: Message 2705 by Tanypteryx
01-14-2019 6:01 PM


Re: 18 reasons Trump could be a Russian asset
And so much more. {Trump} fits the definition of anarchist also, and Antichrist.
Please refer to frako's contribution at Message 910: "And they shall wear the mark of the Beast on their foreheads". As every single Trumpista does by wearing a MAGA ballcap.

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Percy
Member
Posts: 22359
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 4.8


Message 2708 of 4573 (847104)
01-18-2019 9:15 AM


Trump Committed Obstruction of Justice While in Office
Whether Trump is actually impeached or not, there is now evidence that Trump committed obstruction of justice, an impeachable offense. In a blockbuster report BuzzFeed last night reported that President Trump Directed His Attorney Michael Cohen To Lie To Congress About The Moscow Tower Project.
There is no doubt that this constitutes obstruction of justice, but just to remove all doubt Donald Trump's nominee for Attorney General, William Barr, recently testified to such in testimony before the Senate. This is from the Washington Post article Trump reportedly told Michael Cohen to lie. His own attorney general pick testified that’s a crime., but the exchange was widely reported and is also in the Congressional Record. First an exchange with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC):
quote:
Graham: So if there was some reason to believe that the president tried to coach somebody not to testify or testify falsely, that could be obstruction of justice, said Graham, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
Barr: Yes. Under an obstruction statute, yes.
Graham: So if there’s some evidence that the president tried to conceal evidence, that would be obstruction of justice potentially, right?
Barr: Right.
And now an exchange with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN):
quote:
Klobuchar: You wrote on page one that a president persuading a person to commit perjury would be obstruction. Is that right?
Barr: Yes. Well, you know, any person who persuades another.
Klobuchar: You also said that a president or any person convincing a witness to change testimony would be obstruction. Is that right?
Barr: Yes.
Klobuchar: And on page two, you said that a president deliberately impairing the integrity or availability of evidence would be obstruction. Is that correct?
Barr: Yes.
There is nothing novel about this opinion. Any responsible and competent lawyer would have responded the same way. Persuading or influencing or ordering someone to lie before Congress is obstruction of justice, even if you're the president of the United States.
But back to the blockbuster news. BuzzFeed reports that President Trump while in office in October of 2017 has committed obstruction of justice by directing Michael Cohen to lie before Congress about his Trump Tower Moscow deal. Cohen was directed to tell Congress that the Trump Tower Moscow deal was abandoned in January of 2016 before the election campaign season was fully underway. That Cohen lied we already knew - he was sentenced to 3 years in prison for that offense and a smorgasbord of others. What we've just learned is that President Trump instructed Cohen to lie to Congress, an impeachable offense.
The reality and the apparent truth is that Cohen briefed Trump, Ivanka and Trump Jr. about status on Trump Tower Moscow numerous times during 2016. How do we know this? BuzzFeed's sources were "two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter," and BuzzFeed reports that:
quote:
The special counsel’s office learned about Trump’s directive for Cohen to lie to Congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. Cohen then acknowledged those instructions during his interviews with that office.
In other words, Mueller already knows about all this and obviously it will be in his report.
I expect that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Will Ivanka and Donald Jr. flip? Would they testify against their dad if it meant he could end up in prison after he leaves office? I think impeachment unlikely - the Republicans control the Senate, and Trump erects such a gauntlet of obfuscation and changing stories that impeachment preparations could only run very slowly. There might not be enough time or evidence.
We shouldn't forget that we haven't seen the Mueller report yet. Under current law the special counsel's report is not normally made public, but my guess is that the Democrats in the House will find a way.
Inconsequentially but still amazing, despite Trump being all chummy with Putin and despite all his dealings with Russians over the years, Trump the dealmaker couldn't make Trump Tower Moscow happen. What a charlatan.
--Percy

Replies to this message:
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 Message 2717 by Percy, posted 01-19-2019 8:46 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22359
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 4.8


(3)
Message 2709 of 4573 (847105)
01-18-2019 9:32 AM


The Wall, the Government, and Other Things
One question often raised is why Democrats don't negotiate with Trump about the wall so that the government can reopen. I've never seen the press or the Democrats clearly explain this. Maybe I've just missed it, but the answer is simple. Trump is committing blackmail and extortion. There is no discernable connection between the wall and funding the government. If the Democrats give in this time and begin negotiating about the wall in order to open the government, then the next time the debt limit is reached Trump could again close the government until the Democrats agree to negotiate on healthcare, or on taxes, or on climate change, or on environmental regulations, or on a treaty, or any of a number of different things.
Congress has been irresponsible in allowing the growth of an imperial presidency. We're now seeing the downside of just what that means. Congress has to begin taking power back. They are three co-equal branches of government - the chief executive is not the boss of the other two, as Mitch McConnell seems to think.
--Percy

  
PaulK
Member
Posts: 17815
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.1


Message 2710 of 4573 (847111)
01-18-2019 10:40 AM
Reply to: Message 2708 by Percy
01-18-2019 9:15 AM


Re: Trump Committed Obstruction of Justice While in Office
Even more about Cohen’s work for Trump.
Daily Beast
The Wall Street Journal is the source but most of their article is paywalled - or I would have linked there.
Michael Cohen hired an IT firm to rig online polls in favor of Donald Trump ahead of the 2016 election and instructed the company to create the @WomenForCohen Twitter account to laud how sexually attractive he is, The Wall Street Journal reports.
For more fun the IT firm is run by the CIO of Liberty University.
The IT firm doesn’t appear to have been particularly good at the task. Cohen reportedly asked for its help in a January 2014’s CNBC poll to name the country’s top business leaders. RedFinch Solutions founder John Gauger reportedly wrote a computer script to repeatedly vote for Trumpbut was still unable to get him into the top 100 candidates.
It seems that working for Trump - especially when hired by Cohen - doesn’t pay as well as the uninformed might think.
Gauger disclosed the work to the Journal after he received much less money for his efforts than he expected. Gauger said he believed he was due $50,000 for italongside a promise of lucrative work with the president-electbut Cohen reportedly handed him a blue Walmart bag containing between $12,000 and $13,000 in cash and, randomly, a boxing glove that Mr. Cohen said had been worn by a Brazilian mixed-martial-arts fighter.
Cohen denies that part of the story, but he has good reason to deny it if it is true:
Gauger’s disclosure casts a great deal of suspicion on a $50,000 reimbursement Cohen received from Trump and his company for the work by RedFinch, which is detailed in a government document....

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Taq
Member
Posts: 9944
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 4.9


Message 2711 of 4573 (847132)
01-18-2019 12:59 PM
Reply to: Message 2710 by PaulK
01-18-2019 10:40 AM


Re: Trump Committed Obstruction of Justice While in Office
Even more about Cohen's work . . .
Trump instructed Cohen to lie about the Trump Tower deal in Russia. On top of that, Trump as well as Trump Jr. and Ivanka were much more involved in the deal than they have claimed, including in Trump Jr.'s testimony to Congress.
Donald Trump Told Michael Cohen To Lie To Congress About Moscow Tower Project

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Replies to this message:
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AZPaul3
Member
Posts: 8493
From: Phoenix
Joined: 11-06-2006
Member Rating: 4.7


Message 2712 of 4573 (847155)
01-18-2019 2:53 PM


The next election will come and go before anything useful, like impeachment and conviction, result from any of this.
Maybe pull a Nixon? Resign under pressure from major republicans with the understanding of a full pardon from ... ech, gag ... President Pence?

Replies to this message:
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DrJones*
Member
Posts: 2283
From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Joined: 08-19-2004
Member Rating: 5.7


Message 2713 of 4573 (847162)
01-18-2019 4:42 PM
Reply to: Message 2712 by AZPaul3
01-18-2019 2:53 PM


Resign under pressure from major republicans with the understanding of a full pardon from ... ech, gag ... President Pence?
Pence might get caught up in this too, foreign agent Flynn was his choice. But even if Pence gets taken down i don't see how this ends up without a republican in the white house. If it looks like both Trump and Pence are going down (a long shot to be sure) I suspect you'll have Pence resign to put a "clean" republican in the VP slot who is then free to assume the presidency when Trump goes away.

It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds
soon I discovered that this rock thing was true
Jerry Lee Lewis was the devil
Jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet
All of a sudden i found myself in love with the world
And so there was only one thing I could do
Was ding a ding dang my dang along ling long - Jesus Built my Hotrod Ministry
Live every week like it's Shark Week! - Tracey Jordan
Just a monkey in a long line of kings. - Matthew Good
If "elitist" just means "not the dumbest motherfucker in the room", I'll be an elitist! - Get Your War On
*not an actual doctor

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Taq
Member
Posts: 9944
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 4.9


(1)
Message 2714 of 4573 (847169)
01-18-2019 5:48 PM
Reply to: Message 2712 by AZPaul3
01-18-2019 2:53 PM


AZPaul3 writes:
The next election will come and go before anything useful, like impeachment and conviction, result from any of this.
Maybe pull a Nixon? Resign under pressure from major republicans with the understanding of a full pardon from ... ech, gag ... President Pence?
He could also pull an LBJ and refuse to run for a 2nd term, or lose in the Republican primary. The best solution for Democrats is make a lot of noise about impeachment, carry out investigations, and then ultimately stop short of impeachment hearings using the excuse that they don't have enough votes in the Senate. Impeachment hearings would drag the Dems into the pig sty with Trump.
I also have the same feelings of revulsion towards Pence. It's like choosing between a snake oil salesman and a corrupt televangelist.
Edited by Taq, : No reason given.

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 Message 2719 by ringo, posted 01-19-2019 11:25 AM Taq has not replied

  
Tanypteryx
Member
Posts: 4320
From: Oregon, USA
Joined: 08-27-2006
Member Rating: 5.4


Message 2715 of 4573 (847174)
01-18-2019 7:02 PM
Reply to: Message 2714 by Taq
01-18-2019 5:48 PM


Impeachment hearings would drag the Dems into the pig sty with Trump.
Yep, I agree. Impeachment would blow up right in the face of the Dems. Hold hearings and expose the corruption publicly and widely. Indict everyone else including Trump's kids.
The only hope is a Dem president in 2020, then indict Trump and Pence.
The Dems have let themselves and America be screwed by Bush and Boehner and Ryan and McConnell and Trump and I despair that they and America have not learned that the republicans want nothing less than total destruction.
If they make America enough of a shithole country no more brown people will want to come here to scare them.

What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python
One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie
If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy
The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq

This message is a reply to:
 Message 2714 by Taq, posted 01-18-2019 5:48 PM Taq has not replied

  
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