Hail To The Chief (Read Mod Warning In OP)

wildgreen · 13-01-2017 01:07AM

mzungu wrote: »

Nah....Trump will want to play himself.

Nah ... if there is money in it Bill will play him and he will play away with what's her name under the oval table

BabyCheeses · 13-01-2017 02:55AM

Erdogan is pleased with how trump dealt with CNN.

There you go lads, something to be proud of.

Kermit.de.frog · 13-01-2017 03:04AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmMUznSig3I

gitzy16v · 13-01-2017 03:05AM

Erdogan can be bought and sold on the strength of a pipeline through Turkey

A Little Pony · 13-01-2017 07:43AM

Good moment between Joe Biden and Obama.

ebbsy · 13-01-2017 08:07AM

A Little Pony wrote: »

Good moment between Joe Biden and Obama.

That would be a first for them.

McCain or Bush wouldn't have much brainpower either.

jooksavage · 13-01-2017 08:12AM

Chinese state media puffing themselves up with phrases like "large scale war" and "nuclear power strategies" on the back of Tillerson's comments about islands in the south China Sea. Thank God we have such a nuanced communicator coming in to defuse this delicate situation.

HellSquirrel · 13-01-2017 09:02AM

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/13/c-span-interrupted-by-russian-news-channel-rt

Kremlin: "Ah, it's okay, within twenty minutes some of them be saying it never happened and the rest will be screaming at them. It will be very funny."

I'm starting to think that all of this is a giant trolling exercise from Russia. Just general revenge for everything since the fall of the USSR.

Christy42 · 13-01-2017 09:17AM

HellSquirrel wrote: »

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/13/c-span-interrupted-by-russian-news-channel-rt

Kremlin: "Ah, it's okay, within twenty minutes some of them be saying it never happened and the rest will be screaming at them. It will be very funny."

I'm starting to think that all of this is a giant trolling exercise from Russia. Just general revenge for everything since the fall of the USSR.

They wouldn't put that in the movie for fear of being too unrealistic. I mean I am presuming it was a mistake because what does it gain them but on the other the timing is coincidental as well as interrupting a channel showing a congressional session. I mean I am not sure how it can happen accidentally but how shows are broadcast is not my area of expertise and it isn't like it seems to be gaining anything.

On the chance it was intentional (which as I said is not what I currently believe with a massive lack of facts) just trolling because Putin has a meme sense of humour?
Because they can (and want to show off)?
Because a Kremlin worker got drunk and made a bet that he could do it?

HellSquirrel · 13-01-2017 09:24AM

Christy42 wrote: »

On the chance it was intentional (which as I said is not what I currently believe with a massive lack of facts) just trolling because Putin has a meme sense of humour?
Because they can (and want to show off)?
Because a Kremlin worker got drunk and made a bet that he could do it?

Weelll, with the year we've just had, I wouldn't put anything past anyone at this stage!

There is an element of trolling to the whole thing though. Sure, we can see ourselves how well it can work, we've been getting it at a much lower level throughout any discussions that impinge on Russia. Assuming the point is what most people say it is, that Russia wants to destabilise western democracies and alliances to loosen pressure on Russia, it's working splendidly. And surely, never in their wildest dreams would they reckon it would be -so- successful. At this point, they could just do random **** and sit back and giggle at the idiocy of the rest of the world.

I'm being...probably 60% facetious here. Overall, I doubt it was -purely- accidental, because how? And what exactly does that mean that RT could just take over, however briefly, the C-Span internet stream? I suspect it was a trolling operation, although whether it was some idiots messing around (presumably quite effective idiots, I wouldn't have thought it to be that easy) or officially unofficial (like the rest of it) although I'm not really sure of the point of it either.

Christy42 · 13-01-2017 09:48AM

HellSquirrel wrote: »

Weelll, with the year we've just had, I wouldn't put anything past anyone at this stage!

There is an element of trolling to the whole thing though. Sure, we can see ourselves how well it can work, we've been getting it at a much lower level throughout any discussions that impinge on Russia. Assuming the point is what most people say it is, that Russia wants to destabilise western democracies and alliances to loosen pressure on Russia, it's working splendidly. And surely, never in their wildest dreams would they reckon it would be -so- successful. At this point, they could just do random **** and sit back and giggle at the idiocy of the rest of the world.

I'm being...probably 60% facetious here. Overall, I doubt it was -purely- accidental, because how? And what exactly does that mean that RT could just take over, however briefly, the C-Span internet stream? I suspect it was a trolling operation, although whether it was some idiots messing around (presumably quite effective idiots, I wouldn't have thought it to be that easy) or officially unofficial (like the rest of it) although I'm not really sure of the point of it either.

I have absolutely no idea. It seemed safer to assume accidental until they have finished looking into it. This is something I really need an expert on to know if it could be. I mean I can deal with some of the interactions of how data packets gets sent along a line but the hardware side of it I have no idea. However I would not have thought CSPAN would have bothered with the most secure channel it could get. I mean why would it need it so not sure if this is the toughest ask for a major government intellegence agency (until security gets beefed up).

HellSquirrel · 13-01-2017 09:52AM

Fair point, C-SPAN probably isn't the most secure lot out there.

Oh, overall I agree. Assume it not to be nefarious until it's proven one way or another. It -is- bloody weird though.

Walter H Price · 13-01-2017 10:05AM

Little CuChulainn wrote: »

Obama has achieved loads with Obamacare alone. So many people have been helped by it. It's not perfect by far but for many it was a literal lifeline. Trumps bluster politics are collapsing out the gate. He's already rolling back on everything. His appointments so far could put the US back decades. Climate change deniers, big business bosses and fundamental christians. His whole administration will be compromised from the outset.

The latest nonsense with CNN is a scary look at how he will behave. Don't like the press? Threaten them. And he has the cheek to suggest he is being treated like he is in nazi Germany? How blind can you be? Newt Gingrich is actually quoted afterwards asking what made the reporter think he was equal to the president. Apparently he forgot that all persons are created equal.

id talk to some middle income Americans like my uncles family who have seen their insurance premiums go up considerably directly due to Obama care, or the cops who feel like they have no support in doing their jobs with Obama's backing of the racily divisive Black lives Matters groups , ask them if it was a success ... I'd say given the fact that he lost the House , Senate and Presidency in his time is an indication that allot of middle ground people were let down by his policies. Poor cities got poorer, the wealth gap widened , he dropped bombs in more countries and payed a key destabilizing more of the middle east than George W , imprisoned more people than any other president in history for mishandling classified information (except Hildog obviously). He's a grate talker and i think will be remember much more fondly outside america then in , in reality he was a weak president.

Like i said i look forward to seeing what president Trump does , if i was in the US i'd have voted for him all day long.

Leroy42 · 13-01-2017 10:05AM

I don't believe most of the stuff put out there about Trump (the memo etc) but the problem is that people think it could be true.

If this is a Russian trolling exercise, and thats my thought on it rather than any actual interference in the election, then due to the way Trump has carried on with lack of transparency, not willing to divest his business's, grand statements about $2bn deals, is refusal to publish his tax returns, not to mention the way he carries on on Twitter, there is plausibility in pretty much anything anybody says.

And then he feels the need to go out and not only defend himself but to attack anybody who runs with the story.

I saw a clip from the Daily Show yesterday, mock on Goldeneye, and as much as I dislike Trump, I felt that people are now actively laughing at him. The respect for him and the position is not there.

Now of course, the abuse leveled at Obama during his time (He is Kenyan, muslim, socialist, marxist, hates america etc) means that anybody on the right really has little to complain about, but it is sad that democracy has become this.

Christy42 · 13-01-2017 10:17AM

HellSquirrel wrote: »

Fair point, C-SPAN probably isn't the most secure lot out there.

Oh, overall I agree. Assume it not to be nefarious until it's proven one way or another. It -is- bloody weird though.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/business/media/cspan-russia-today.html?referer=https://www.google.ie/

Their own first assumption is routing error since they monitor rt. That is just their first instinct and before they actively investigate though.

On another note it does appear there was a briefing on the Trump memo http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/12/politics/joe-biden-donald-trump-intelligence-report/

Walter H Price · 13-01-2017 10:22AM

Leroy42 wrote: »

Now of course, the abuse leveled at Obama during his time (He is Kenyan, muslim, socialist, marxist, hates america etc) means that anybody on the right really has little to complain about, but it is sad that democracy has become this.

In the states it has become far too polarized to be anything other then this Liberals believed Trump was going to usher in Armageddon because he said some non PC things and mocked a handicap reporter. Those on the Republican side of the divide viewed Bernie Saunders as Stalin level communist when in reality the socialism he was talking about was more akin to what we have here not even as extreme as somewhere like France , Hillary too was seen as a toxic criminal in bed with the Saudis.

Media outlets feed into this CNN pusghing the Dem agenda , FOX pushing the Rep. You don't see that here or in the UK really (the brexit referendum being the exception) but imagine if RTE were constantly running negative news stories about Fianna Fail and promoting Fine Gael, while TV3 were doing the complete reverse the 6 news on both channels would look completely different as it does in the states. If you watch fox then you will be lead to believe Bernie is a commie, Hillary is a criminal and Obama is a Muslim ,thats why he's soft on ISIS , you watch CNN and Trump is a the next Hittler who once he gets the nuke codes will kill us all, wheres the balance

When an election is won on tight margins and the views are so polarized with little middle ground and only a few swing states , you are going to have almost half the population have an extremely negative view of the winner from even before they take office, respect of that office somewhat flies out the window.

hatrickpatrick · 13-01-2017 10:44AM

You know, the irony of these golden shower claims, if true, is that all the Boardsies who suggested blasting him with piss during the election campaign have literally got their wish.

Christy42 · 13-01-2017 10:48AM

Walter H Price wrote: »

In the states it has become far too polarized to be anything other then this Liberals believed Trump was going to usher in Armageddon because he said some non PC things and mocked a handicap reporter. Those on the Republican side of the divide viewed Bernie Saunders as Stalin level communist when in reality the socialism he was talking about was more akin to what we have here not even as extreme as somewhere like France , Hillary too was seen as a toxic criminal in bed with the Saudis.

Media outlets feed into this CNN pusghing the Dem agenda , FOX pushing the Rep. You don't see that here or in the UK really (the brexit referendum being the exception) but imagine if RTE were constantly running negative news stories about Fianna Fail and promoting Fine Gael, while TV3 were doing the complete reverse the 6 news on both channels would look completely different as it does in the states. If you watch fox then you will be lead to believe Bernie is a commie, Hillary is a criminal and Obama is a Muslim ,thats why he's soft on ISIS , you watch CNN and Trump is a the next Hittler who once he gets the nuke codes will kill us all, wheres the balance

When an election is won on tight margins and the views are so polarized with little middle ground and only a few swing states , you are going to have almost half the population have an extremely negative view of the winner from even before they take office, respect of that office somewhat flies out the window.

This politics is becoming more and more polarised in the states with people less likely to cross party lines on a range of issues. I have blamed Trump for not attempting to unify the nation but it is a near impossible job.

Certainly the parties have not helped recently with the Republicans refusal to work on Obamacare and trying to scupper it at every turn. I hope the Democrats follow Sanders' advice and don't copy that technique when Republicans try and amend it. It is a great piece of work but it can absolutely be made better. Even stuff like Russia has started to divide on partisan lines.

Both sides seem to see opposition leaders as the anti Christ. Granted I have issues seeing the middle groundover there since I view the Democrats as center right given Bernie is not that left wing by Irish standards so advocating for half way between Republican and Democrats involves me going fairly well to the right of my usual politics.

Walter H Price · 13-01-2017 10:50AM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

You know, the irony of these golden shower claims, if true, is that all the Boardsies who suggested blasting him with piss during the election campaign have literally got their wish.

The thing i don't get is why it matters true or not true its just a sex thing and to be honest not even a particularly weird fetish, like how will this affect his ability as a president ?

Do we know what Barak and Michelle got up to in Bed or George and Laura , we know Bill was a bit of an aul horndog, there's been rumors for years that Hillary was lesbian and that her an Huma were a little more than just friends.

I honestly don't think even if true the Russians knowing Trump enjoys water sports would be enough leverage over a man with his ego to be anyone's puppet.

hatrickpatrick · 13-01-2017 11:02AM

Walter H Price wrote: »

The thing i don't get is why it matters true or not true its just a sex thing and to be honest not even a particularly weird fetish, like how will this affect his ability as a president ?

Do we know what Barak and Michelle got up to in Bed or George and Laura , we know Bill was a bit of an aul horndog, there's been rumors for years that Hillary was lesbian and that her an Huma were a little more than just friends.

I honestly don't think even if true the Russians knowing Trump enjoys water sports would be enough leverage over a man with his ego to be anyone's puppet.

I made this point on Reddit, I posted the kink-shaming article from the Irish Times pointing out the hypocrisy of a lot of otherwise highly sex-positive liberals like myself shaming him for this. The universal answer was that it isn't about the kink but about the blackmail potential.

An interesting close second was that he partially got elected by courting the usual GOP evangelical right wingnut vote, and that those people have been lied to if he claims to be a family values conservative. However, Reddit en masse downvoted to oblivion the Podesta leak showing Clinton saying "you have to have a public and a private position" (pun in there somewhere

) so for them to hold that against Trump is, again, hypocritical.

The irony is that since this is all now out in the open, it ceases to have blackmail potential even if it did before. They can hardly blackmail him with something everyone is talking about.

Walter H Price · 13-01-2017 11:04AM

Christy42 wrote: »

This politics is becoming more and more polarised in the states with people less likely to cross party lines on a range of issues. I have blamed Trump for not attempting to unify the nation but it is a near impossible job.

Certainly the parties have not helped recently with the Republicans refusal to work on Obamacare and trying to scupper it at every turn. I hope the Democrats follow Sanders' advice and don't copy that technique when Republicans try and amend it. It is a great piece of work but it can absolutely be made better. Even stuff like Russia has started to divide on partisan lines.

Both sides seem to see opposition leaders as the anti Christ. Granted I have issues seeing the middle groundover there since I view the Democrats as center right given Bernie is not that left wing by Irish standards so advocating for half way between Republican and Democrats involves me going fairly well to the right of my usual politics.

I spend a good bit of time over there i have family and friends there so have seen it change over the years . first off Trump cannot unify the nation it simply wont happen regardless of what he does in office or what the House and senate do during his time , Barak didn't either in fact he dived it more and along racial lines, the racial divide is about the worst its been since the 1960's, Bush began re widening the wealth gap and that continued under Obama there is now a huge gulf between rich a poor not just on an individual level but on a city and state level. Hillary and Saunders could not have achieved much in this regard either though i do believe Saunders may have slowed maybe even narrowed the wealth gap but his policy in order to this would have had him labeled a communist derided and hated by almost half the population.

I honestly believe the Two party system will break down sooner rather then later the Democrats are a weird mix of Center right and center left effectively a coalition of Fine Gael and Labor trying to pick one candidate.The Republicans are even more divided you have the Religious right Tea Party , the anarco capitalists , the libertarians all vying for a voice and a nominee the party is dived on many key issues.

I agree with Trump the media in the states is dishonest and it fuels this dived and polarizing of opinions , CNN is completely biased in its reporting in terms of defending democrats and vilifying republicans , Fox is the reverse more and more you are seeing ABC and NBC push one agenda or the other there is no balance in any debate or discussion. To be honest you might as well just get your news from Breitbart or the Huff Post at this stage for what its worth.

ebbsy · 13-01-2017 11:20AM

Walter H Price wrote: »

The thing i don't get is why it matters true or not true its just a sex thing and to be honest not even a particularly weird fetish, like how will this affect his ability as a president ?

Do we know what Barak and Michelle got up to in Bed or George and Laura , we know Bill was a bit of an aul horndog, there's been rumors for years that Hillary was lesbian and that her an Huma were a little more than just friends.

I honestly don't think even if true the Russians knowing Trump enjoys water sports would be enough leverage over a man with his ego to be anyone's puppet.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Professor Moriarty · 13-01-2017 11:21AM

We're getting to a point where pictures of POTUS being the recipient of a golden shower won't raise an eyebrow. Trump will have created the perfect liberal utopia.

Walter H Price · 13-01-2017 11:21AM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

I made this point on Reddit, I posted the kink-shaming article from the Irish Times pointing out the hypocrisy of a lot of otherwise highly sex-positive liberals like myself shaming him for this. The universal answer was that it isn't about the kink but about the blackmail potential.

An interesting close second was that he partially got elected by courting the usual GOP evangelical right wingnut vote, and that those people have been lied to if he claims to be a family values conservative. However, Reddit en masse downvoted to oblivion the Podesta leak showing Clinton saying "you have to have a public and a private position" (pun in there somewhere ) so for them to hold that against Trump is, again, hypocritical.

The irony is that since this is all now out in the open, it ceases to have blackmail potential even if it did before. They can hardly blackmail him with something everyone is talking about.

Yeh i saw that argument about him having to play up to the religious wing of the party too, as all candidates do. But i don't think the religious right ever supported trump he's publicly been married and divorced a number of times, his daughter converted to Judaism and his grand kids are Jewish, he is not by any stretch a religious man himself in fact i think hes on record as saying this either way he has very publicly and for years not lead a very christian life , the christian republicans heard the grab em by the pussy comments and still they voted for him en mass ... I don't think all of a sudden if it came out that he likes it a bit kinky they could turn around and claim he had lied to them or presented them a false image , he was never the candidate of the christian right that's why he nominated Pence , the christian right didn't vote Trump because the was a good god fearing clean living man , they voted for him because he was the Republican nominee and not Hillary Clinton.

To be honest as you say its out there now anyway so whether true or not its no longer blackmail material if it ever was in the first instance. If find the liberals and SJWs are really clutching at straws to believe that people didn't actualy support him or that he conned them , the same as they are still Sh!teing on with the if Brexit was held now it wouldn't pass , its like they cant actually cope with the idea that people actually don't like they way they think enough to vote for something else , something they see as racist, misogynistic , anti-islamic , homophobic or whatever the latest label is. To be honest i think Trump his lifestyle views etc where there for all to see hes been in the media spotlight for years warts and all , people including deeply religious people still voted for him because he was less aborrant to them then Hillary

Christy42 · 13-01-2017 11:26AM

Walter H Price wrote: »

I spend a good bit of time over there i have family and friends there so have seen it change over the years . first off Trump cannot unify the nation it simply wont happen regardless of what he does in office or what the House and senate do during his time , Barak didn't either in fact he dived it more and along racial lines, the racial divide is about the worst its been since the 1960's, Bush began re widening the wealth gap and that continued under Obama there is now a huge gulf between rich a poor not just on an individual level but on a city and state level. Hillary and Saunders could not have achieved much in this regard either though i do believe Saunders may have slowed maybe even narrowed the wealth gap but his policy in order to this would have had him labeled a communist derided and hated by almost half the population.

I honestly believe the Two party system will break down sooner rather then later the Democrats are a weird mix of Center right and center left effectively a coalition of Fine Gael and Labor trying to pick one candidate.The Republicans are even more divided you have the Religious right Tea Party , the anarco capitalists , the libertarians all vying for a voice and a nominee the party is dived on many key issues.

I agree with Trump the media in the states is dishonest and it fuels this dived and polarizing of opinions , CNN is completely biased in its reporting in terms of defending democrats and vilifying republicans , Fox is the reverse more and more you are seeing ABC and NBC push one agenda or the other there is no balance in any debate or discussion. To be honest you might as well just get your news from Breitbart or the Huff Post at this stage for what its worth.

Sanders would have tried or at least started down the path. Hillary, from my point of view would have shored up the supreme Court and got some policies I like through. I could then hope that weight of time would see people to accept it (selfish point as opposed to reaching across the aisle) but like divorce here which was a razor tight vote and essentially Dublin telling the rest of the country whst the result should be a few might just be accepted when they see the world didn't end inspite of being contentious before.

Technically I agree with Trump that the media is biased (but I disagree with the equivalence to Breitbart, it is not near that bad).

However Trump talking about lies in the media is like a mobster complaining about petty criminals. He is not a solution to it and I have strong feeling he is complaining about it so he can get away with even more lies in future. Not only is he not the solution but he is a far worse problem in terms of public disinformation. His associates that don't believe in evolution, global warming or believe in vaccine conspiracy theories don't help my view of him.

Christy42 · 13-01-2017 12:58PM

Trump now posting that "his people" will have a report into the hacking within 90 days. Who the hell are his people?

He also seemed to be referring to the recent memo as opposed to the dnc hacks but switched to the hacks at the last second? I have no idea who his people are or whst they are investigating at this point. He predicted that his team would show it to be false. Which would be a non story if he was talking about the memo and a second 180 on the dnc hack in 3 days if he is talking about that.

One thing I suspect he is doing is linking the recent memo and the dnc hack so if he disproves the the memo he can start talking about the dnc hack being false as well (which is completely immoral and incorrect). I really suspect that he is using Twitter for the small character count so that he can intentionally be vague about everything.

I mean I read those several times and have no idea whst he is talking about. There was no allegation of a hack in the latest memo but he is definitely talking about that to begin with.

He takes another swipe at the intellegence services to encourage people to go against them in future. Says Steeel is avoiding being sued (lol he would chicken out as he has before, Steele is hiding in case what he found was true, I certainly wouldn't bet my life on whether or not that memo is true or not) and has "people" who can investigate this stuff. Who must be separate to the IC given he was insulting them so I am a little skeptical of who these people are and what their skill set is.

Satriale · 13-01-2017 01:36PM

Hande hoche! wrote: »

Baldwin certainly does a better job than Johnny Depp.

Baldwin does a better job than The Donald himself!

david75 · 13-01-2017 01:40PM

Great read
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-russia-story-reaches-a-crisis-point-w460806

demfad · 13-01-2017 01:53PM

Corroborating evidence of Kompromat from Moscow and St Petersburg as well as an audio about Russia collaboration with trump campaign.
This is from Paul Wood a respected BBC correspondent on Russia over many decades.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38589427

And the former MI6 agent is not the only source for the claim about Russian kompromat on the president-elect. Back in August, a retired spy told me he had been informed of its existence by "the head of an East European intelligence agency".
Later, I used an intermediary to pass some questions to active duty CIA officers dealing with the case file - they would not speak to me directly. I got a message back that there was "more than one tape", "audio and video", on "more than one date", in "more than one place" - in the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow and also in St Petersburg - and that the material was "of a sexual nature".
The claims of Russian kompromat on Mr Trump were "credible", the CIA believed. That is why - according to the New York Times and Washington Post - these claims ended up on President Barack Obama's desk last week, a briefing document also given to Congressional leaders and to Mr Trump himself.

Last April, the CIA director was shown intelligence that worried him. It was - allegedly - a tape recording of a conversation about money from the Kremlin going into the US presidential campaign.
It was passed to the US by an intelligence agency of one of the Baltic States. The CIA cannot act domestically against American citizens so a joint counter-intelligence taskforce was created.

Billy86 · 13-01-2017 02:07PM

Walter H Price wrote: »

The thing i don't get is why it matters true or not true its just a sex thing and to be honest not even a particularly weird fetish, like how will this affect his ability as a president ?

Do we know what Barak and Michelle got up to in Bed or George and Laura , we know Bill was a bit of an aul horndog, there's been rumors for years that Hillary was lesbian and that her an Huma were a little more than just friends.

I honestly don't think even if true the Russians knowing Trump enjoys water sports would be enough leverage over a man with his ego to be anyone's puppet.

The concern isn't really on the fetish (though probably would be for a large chunk of the GOP's base), that's just a funny story and easy sell for clicks, front pages etc, but on as you say it being used as leverage over him by Russia. If true, it shows something that has been said about Trump for over a year while his supporters just sat there denying it or saying "...so?", which is that narcissists (who are also often sociopaths - seen at a higher rate in business boardrooms than any other area, if I recall) can be very easy to manipulate if you have something that could embarrass them in public, and they will go to any lengths possible to avoid that being released. There are plenty of other examples in that document, but the golden showers are being led out with because they they are the 'sexiest' part and mean easy clicks - showing us just how much the US media has learned over the last year (very little, if anything at all).

Hail To The Chief (Read Mod Warning In OP)

Comments