serfboard wrote: » I don't think that the Democrats will pick Bloomberg. Here is what Elizabeth Warren said about him the other night in the debate: I think that takes care of the Bloomberg candidacy. My worry would be if, having lost the Democrat nomination, he takes an independent run at the Presidency, and thereby hands the election to Trump.
aloyisious wrote: » Apparently Don tweeted today about the briefing given to the House senate committee by his former DNI Maguire calling the part of the briefing about Russia wanting him to win in Nov a hoax. "another misinformation campaign is being launched by the Democrats that Russia prefers me to any of the Do Nothing Democrat Candidates who still have been unable to, after two weeks, count their votes in Iowa. Hoax No 2". It seems he understood [or was given to understand] the briefing was given to Alan Schiff alone and did not know that Republican members of the committee, incl Devin Nunes, were at the briefing and challenged Shelby Pierson on the briefings conclusion. Trump blew up at Maguire in the Oval Office last week over what the president perceived as staff disloyalty, citing Pierson's briefing.
Gintonious wrote: » https://twitter.com/funder/status/1230846129161605120 Now he wants to impeach Obama...I don't quite get that.
PropJoe10 wrote: » Not sure what to say about that at all. it's all quite beyond belief.
Caquas wrote: » Almost everything people posting here say about the Blagojevich case is wrong because they are relying on Irish media who just rehash the NYT or CNN. Blagojevich has served eight years of a 14 year sentence yet he never personally profited from any of the things he was charged with. More importantly, he won an important case in the US Supreme Court which quashed his convictions in respect of some of the most serious charges. Yet, when the question of sentencing was remitted to the lower court, the judge simply reaffirmed the 14 year sentence! This is blatantly unjust but the political establishment hadn’t the guts to condemn it. Justice was done in commuting his sentence. He never tried to sell Obama’s Senate seat. He simply wasn’t giving it away to Obama’s nominee. Now consider the farrago of democracy by which we fill almost all our Senate seats. Do you think the County Councillors give their precious votes to the first candidate who asks. If we had the FBI running things here, every politician who looked sideways at them would be in jail. Which might sound great until they come after you. Do you think Watergate was just chance? Mark Felt. This is his lawyer, a prominent left-wing defender of unpopular cases.https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/8/12/20802161/blagojevich-donald-trump-commute-prison-sentence-barack-obama-sentate-seat-valerie-jarrett The sentence was excessive even by cruel US standards and the behaviour of the FBI and the justice system was egregious. Who in Ireland has actually spent 8 years in jail for any offence other than murder?
aloyisious wrote: » The fact that the actual prison term given was made up of concurrent sentences for the convictions might help people understand the "severity" of the sentence awarded by the judge. Trial 1 [the mistrial] was for 24 charges, of which he was convicted of 1 before the mistrial [due to the jury being unable to decide on the other 23] was declared, trial 2 was for fewer charges, 17 of which were found proven by its jury. Your mention of "What crime if he took the seat himself or if he wanted his nominee to do his political bidding?" is reminiscent of the ultimate "so what" position taken by Don's defence team at his senate trial when they eventually owned up to the fact that Don did try to use his office to make a Quid Pro Quo deal with Ukraine's president.
SeamusFX wrote: » Sorry, but you’re wrong, maybe you should stop re-hashing lies and propaganda from Fox News. Blagojevich didn’t sell the seat because he was caught, but he did try to sell the seat. There are recordings of him looking for the highest bidder. If you try to rob a bank, but get caught before getting any money, you’re still a bank robber and you’ll still go to jail. You might be a very bad and unsuccessful bank robber, but you’re still a bank robber. This guy even tried to steal from a children’s hospital, that’s probably why Trump likes him, that and the fact he was on The Apprentice.
Caquas wrote: » Strange, then, that the US Court of Appeals agreed with me on Obama’s seat. Steal from the Children’s Hospital? Come on, this was a typical example of American political fundraising but he was wiretapped. How do you think the big donors operate? I don’t defend all his actions but 8 years is surely enough.
Caquas wrote: » Strange, then, that the US Court of Appeals agreed with me on Obama’s seat.https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/appeals-court-overturns-part-of-rod-blagojevichs-corruption-convictions-120421 Those judges must be watching too much Fox News. Steal from the Children’s Hospital? Come on, this was a typical example of American political fundraising but he was wiretapped. How do you think the big donors operate? I don’t defend all his actions but 8 years is surely enough. Incidentally, how much will we (Irish taxpayers) be contributing to Sinn Fein next year?
Itssoeasy wrote: » The firing on the DNI because his team was honest about the ongoing carry on by the Russians is telling. The GOP in the senate have blocked numerous election security bills passed by the house to protect American elections. Go back over thirty years ago imagine if Ronald Reagan was in bed this way with the then Soviet Union to the way that trump is doing ? I didn’t and wouldn’t happen.
Call Me Jimmy wrote: » What would be the maximally disruptive thing for Russia to say before 2020? We love Donald Trump! Even though Bernie would be many times more helpful to them geopolitically, nah they wouldn't actually want that. They want Orange Man!
Call Me Jimmy wrote: » It's funny that they push the Bernie one too. We're seeing a pattern here...
SimonTemplar wrote: » https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1230875946334318593 Caps lock aside, after three years he still doesn't understand how tariffs work.
FrostyJack wrote: » That is 3 times now you brought up Irish politics, a totally non related issue to the case of Blagojevich, you would swear you were using a tried and tested method to deflect. He was caught, but other people aren't so that is okay, right? See the example given above about the bank robbery. He was attempting to stop funding to a children's hospital, which I am sure would result in injury or loss of life had it come to pass, like withholding funds for weapons in the field, all for no other reason than personal political gain, I see why you chose this hill to die on. If he is a criminal he is , then so is Trump.
“The geopolitical situation in the region, it hasn’t changed,” Giedrimas Jeglinskas, Lithuania’s vice minister of national defense, said in an interview with Defense News. “For us this is a great thing. We see that the U.S. is in the region, and U.S. presence is the biggest deterrent that we could ever hope for. We’ve said for a long time that we want U.S. soldiers on our soil — and we can argue about whether its permanent rotational forces or a permanent rotation — but the fact is that they are there.”
the latest deployments and the forthcoming Defender exercise will bring that presence to new levels.
everlast75 wrote: » I'm going out on a limb here. I know this is absolutely out of left field.. but perhaps... and stick with me... just maybe... he is an utter moron? I mean objectively - what if the explanation here is his I.Q. is negligible. That would account for an awful lot of his behaviour.
greenfield21 wrote: » Good article on why Putin wants a democrathttps://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/ellenrwald/2020/02/21/putin-cant-be-rooting-for-trump-why-russia-needs-a-democrat-win/amp/
kilns wrote: » The only long term legacy Trump has left the US with is a divided nation with huge debt (which he claimed he would eliminate) that generations will have to pay back
RIGOLO wrote: » Only an anti-TRumper would seriously IGNORE Obamas debt and level the blame for US debt problem at the foot of TRump.The U.S. debt increased $9 trillion during the 8 years Obama was in office. Perhaps you were paying attention to the moves in the US bond market this week. The 30 year Treasury bond yield hit a record low, which indicates investors have never had as much confidence in the US economy, and the US had never auctioned such debt so cheaply.https://www.marketwatch.com/story/30-year-treasury-bond-yield-breaks-to-all-time-low-as-coronavirus-fears-lift-havens-2020-02-21 So again, your just expressing an opinion. The market and bond yields are expressing the reality of booming US economy, booming international confidence in the US ecnonomy and uber-cheap debt.
RIGOLO wrote: » Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Its a relatively free society. Your entitled to call/think him a moron with negligible intelligence. He seems to have done very well for himself, having managed a multi-billion dollar buisness and won a US Presidential election and looking likely to win a second term. So much for being a moron of negligible intelligence.
