Summations Only

Time to transition from The 2016 United States Presidential Election to this new thread to cover the Trump presidency.Trump did a good thing yesterday in using the bully pulpit, er, tweets to force the Republicans to reverse their trashing of the independent ethics committee. Here are a couple other good things Trump wants to do:

• Change health insurance to a single payer system. I'm not sure he was serious about this, and I don't know what the details are.
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• Repeal the tax law that allows the wealthy to transform interest earnings into long term capital gains that are taxed at about half the rate. This is the law that allows Mitt Romney to pay only 20% in taxes every year when his actual tax bracket is 39.6%.

--Percy

It remains to be seen what effects the new president and presidency will have on History. One thing I have noticed is how effectively Trump uses Twitter. His tweets themselves become news, and i wonder if he will use this media as much when inaugurated.

Yea his first tweet will be can you believe the nuclear code is 00000000

Doesn't it strike you as kind of un-Presidential and more like El presidente? My impression is that it is intended only to manipulate the public opinion and has nothing to do with expressing his actual intent. I mean does he really intend to communicate with the Congress by way of Twitter? Has Twitter become the official podium? It seems off to me and more the behaviour of a celebrity than a public servant.

I wonder if Trump will even get to the Presidency, thanks to the endless efforts by the Democrats to sabotage him. Now Obama is trying to start a war with Russia, which I suppose he hopes will become Trump's problem Either that or create a national emergency that will give a reason for him to remain in office. He's just moved troops near the Russian border.All this is based on the fake news that Russia interfered with our election. First it was how they hacked our voting machines, which happens to have been an impossibility. Now it's that they are behind the leaks of Democrats' emails which supposedly had the effect of giving Trump the edge in the election. (It's still likely that Trump won the popular vote despite the propaganda, because there was definitely election tempering that favored Hillary by the millions).abe; Oh the biggest fake news of all I forgot to mention: that the Russians tried to sabotage the power grid in Vermont that powers the whole East Coast. Now I can't remember if it was this or the election fake news that's prompted the sabre-rattling by Obama. /abeJulian Assange of Wikileaks has said clearly that there is absolutely no evidence that the Russians have had anything to do with any of this. There are rumors that there was definitely interference but not by Russia and that we'll eventually get to hear about it, but I'm wondering when. In any case Obama and the Democrats love their fake news so much they are trying to start a war over it. So far Putin has been acting rationally, apparently understanding what Obama is plotting, and wanting to wait to deal with Trump.I don't know what is going to happen but I've prayed a lot more these last few weeks over the volatile political situation we're in than I've ever prayed in my life over any political national or world event.Some people are saying we are blessed to be living in such interesting times. I get the idea but it's hard for me to share it. Old Chinese Curse: May you live in interesting times. These times are WAY too interesting for me.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

Bet? Evidence? Trump said that Russian hacking was a big problem ... back in 2014, before he realized it was good for him. Alternatively it seems you can have paranoid delusions and those are just as interesting.Edited by Dr Adequate, : No reason given.

Yikes!Fortunately for us all, reality has a liberal bias.

Which part of this news have you failed to hear because your ears are glued to the fake news sources of the MSM?

I'd like to make a couple requests:

• The topic is not fake news. I suggest someone start a Fake News thread, and everytime an argument starts about fake news the participants can take discussion to that thread.
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• If you're commenting on a news story or about something you read in the news, provide a link.

I'm sorry to be moderating my own thread, I didn't expect to have to do this, but I was very generous in my opening post because I think it important we have a thread for rational and reasonable discussion of the Trump presidency that is rooted in fact. I won't be tolerating posts from the edge of sanity.--Percy

Every topic you post on makes it seem as if you live in an alternate universe... This troop deployment began back in October in response to Russia making threatening gestures towards Lithuania and other NATO allies in the region. Russia is the aggressor (remember Crimea and the Ukraine? and more recently Syria?) and it seems they have it in their minds to expand the regions under their control. This troop deployment is a statement by the US that we will stand by our allies and defend them if necessary.Don't get me wrong, the US is not an innocent, we are making power plays of our own. But this has nothing to do with Obama trying to start a war so he can remain in office. That is just crazy conspiracy theory nonsense. The transition of the presidency will happen on Jan 20th regardless of what is going on in Lithuania. It is less than 2 weeks away... this certainly won't escalate that quickly. No one (including the devil himself - Obama) wants a war with Russia... it's a war we can't win - and neither can they. Putin acting rationally? Again, what alternate universe do you live in? Putin certainly IS waiting to deal with Trump because he knows he will get a much warmer reception and will have a much freer hand to do as he wishes. I guess that is rational... but not in a good way. There is no doubt that we are living in very scary times. But it boggles my mind that you think Trump is our national savior. I get it that you think he was a better choice than Hillary, I get that. But to heap so much praise on the man, and to think that he is going to rescue the US from all evil - that he is a gift from God, just blows my mind. The man is a loose cannon, he just cannot restrain himself from shooting off at the mouth. He is surrounding himself with rich and powerful men just like himself. His promise to "drain the swamp" is empty. Keep in mind that lobbying goes both ways - that is, there are lobbyists on both sides of many issues (ex. there are lobbyists that lobby in favor of relaxing environmental regulations and there are those that lobby in favor of increasing environmental regulations). What Trump appears to be doing is removing the voices of those that oppose him and simply surrounding himself with those that agree with him. Scary, scary, scary.I predict that we will see some increased prosperity under a Trump administration, but I fear what that prosperity will cost us. I concur with this sentiment. I think our world politics could use a bit more boring and mundane. But, don't think for a second, though, that your man Trump is into boring and mundane.ABE: Per Percy's request here are some related news articles US troops will head to Poland - July, 2016US troops heading to front of new Cold War with Putin - Oct, 2016US sends special forces to RUSSIAN BORDER as Nato is poised to strike back against Vladimir Putin’s ‘aggression’ - Jan, 2017HBDEdited by herebedragons, : No reason given.Edited by herebedragons, : No reason given.

In farewell to U.S. military, Obama calls for ‘seamless’ transition of power to Trump

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We’ve got to make sure that during this transition period that there is a seamless passing of the baton, that there’s continuity, Obama said. He said it was critical to ensure that we are doing everything we can to make sure that the next president will benefit from the same kinds of outstanding advice and service that these people around the table have provided me.

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Obama’s comments as he sat down with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the military’s combatant commanders came amid concerns in military and diplomatic circles about how Trump may handle national security challenges. Over the last few days, Trump has disputed the U.S. intelligence community’s assessments about Russian hacking, insisted without explanation that North Korea won’t develop a nuclear weapon that could hit the U.S. and questioned the worth of the United Nations.

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Obama said he was optimistic about the country’s future because the military upholds the values of rule of law and professionalism and integrity, and recognizes our constitutional structure and maintains strict adherence and respect for civilian authority and democratic practices in determining how we use the awesome force of the American military.

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The contrast between the outgoing and incoming Presidents is quite clear. Obama has conducted himself with dignity and has brought honor to the United States, while Trump displays his ignorance and stupidity daily and is an embarrassment to civilization.

It will be interesting to see if the Military Oath of Office becomes an issue as well as the built in conflict found in oath taken by National Guard troops.

Message 454Edited by Modulous, : No reason given.

Not from Russia.abe: The word "hacking" unfortunately implies the internet. The machines are not connected to the internet. The internet is the only way they could be hacked from Russia. They are, however, hackable from a central computer, not the internet, but a central computer on a network with the machines. The data from the machines comes into this central computer which can then manipulate it to give different results. Even this network is limited, as I understand it, connecting a limited number of voting machines. But something like this is what Bev Harris was talking about, not internet hacking.I'm no tech wizard to put it mildly, so all I'm saying is the best I could do with what I got out of Harriis' presentation. There's no point in discussing it further here and I wouldn't have much more to contribute if the topic got moved to another thread either, but if anyone wants to conytinue it, it would have to be moved.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

I hope there won't be a discussion about what Faith really meant when she first said our voting machines were hackable, then said it was impossible the Russians hacked them, then said "not from Russia." It will never be sorted out and it isn't worth derailing the thread.--Percy