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Donald Trump Presidency discussion Thread VII (threadbanned users listed in OP)

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Comments

  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,341 CMod ✭✭✭✭Nody


    I think we can guess who's next up for the chopping block for going against the WH message...
    Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar warned Sunday that the "window is closing" for the United States to get the coronavirus pandemic under control, as confirmed cases are surging in a majority of the country and some states are dealing with record numbers of hospitalizations.

    At a Friday press briefing by the White House's coronavirus task force, the first in nearly two months, Pence declared that the US had "flattened the curve," painting a rosy picture at odds with reality.
    Thirty-six states are reporting a rise in positive coronavirus cases, and only two are reporting a decline in cases compared to last week.

    He cautioned that if Americans "act irresponsibly, if we don't socially distance, if we don't use face coverings in settings where we can't social distance, if we don't practice appropriate personal hygiene, we're going to see spread of disease."

    When asked whether the Trump administration's claims of rising case numbers was the result of more testing being done, Frieden dismissed it, saying, "As a doctor, a scientist, an epidemiologist, I can tell you with 100% certainty that in most states where you're seeing an increase, it is a real increase.
    Pretty much going against all key messages from Trump on the topic.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,042 ✭✭✭Carfacemandog


    Subservience to Putin? I mean *maybe* US is subservient to a foreign power but it's unlikely to be Russia.

    In which case we'll see actual action taken as a result of this. Like we would have seen actual action taken for the interference in the 2016 elections, which is something both parties and the intelligence community agree happened, and which they didn't even bother hiding in the Mueller report.

    Instead, we know that Trump decided to push for Russia being readmitted to the G7 group while they were having American troops murdered in Afghanistan.

    Instead, the president showed his subservience to Russia by saying he believed Putin and the Kremlin over his own intelligence communities such as the CIA and FBI.

    There's very clearly a lot of funny stuff afoot between Trump and Putin, who also like to have private meetings that break US protocol by not having any American officials, even translators, present.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,370 ✭✭✭✭8-10


    There's very clearly a lot of funny stuff afoot between Trump and Putin, who also like to have private meetings that break US protocol by not having any American officials, even translators, present.

    I thought there was an American translator present? Otherwise how did they converse?

    I'm referring to the meeting in Helsinki where the Democrats were then trying to subpoena the translator to testify


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,042 ✭✭✭Carfacemandog


    8-10 wrote: »
    I thought there was an American translator present? Otherwise how did they converse?

    I'm referring to the meeting in Helsinki where the Democrats were then trying to subpoena the translator to testify
    In Helsinki there was one translator present who was sworn to inform nobody about what occurred. On another occasion in Argentina there wasn't even a translator or note taker, only Trump and his wife. Putin speaks a bit of English, though I would reckon a lot of it was the Kremlin translator doing both sides.

    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/427505-trump-putin-talked-at-g20-without-us-translator-note-taker-report
    President Trump reportedly met late last year with Russian President Vladimir Putin without a translator or aide from his administration present.

    The Financial Times reported Tuesday that Trump sat with Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G-20) summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in late November after an evening event.

    Trump was joined by his wife Melania Trump, but there was no note-taker or translator from the U.S. at the meeting. Putin was reportedly accompanied by a translator, with all four at a table.

    A Russian government official told the Financial Times that the talk lasted about 15 minutes and included discussions about the Syrian conflict and a clash days earlier between Russian forces and the Ukrainian navy. Trump and Putin also talked about the potential for a formal meeting, the official said.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,341 CMod ✭✭✭✭Nody


    8-10 wrote: »
    I thought there was an American translator present? Otherwise how did they converse?

    I'm referring to the meeting in Helsinki where the Democrats were then trying to subpoena the translator to testify
    You only need one translator who can do English - Russian and the bolded one is a question mark at least. Anyway; here's what I found on a quick check:
    The first time they met was in Germany. President Trump took his interpreter’s notes afterward and ordered him not to disclose what he heard to anyone. Later that night, at a dinner, Mr. Trump pulled up a seat next to President Vladimir V. Putin to talk without any American witnesses at all.

    Their third encounter was in Vietnam when Mr. Trump seemed to take Mr. Putin’s word that he had not interfered in American elections. A formal summit meeting followed in Helsinki, Finland, where the two leaders kicked out everyone but the interpreters. Most recently, they chatted in Buenos Aires after Mr. Trump said they would not meet because of Russian aggression.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,245 ✭✭✭check_six


    8-10 wrote: »
    I thought there was an American translator present? Otherwise how did they converse?

    I'm referring to the meeting in Helsinki where the Democrats were then trying to subpoena the translator to testify

    Could you imagine trying to translate yer man into Russian? He struggles to complete sentences most of the time, never mind any semblance of coherency. It would just be a jumble of words, or he would just cower into that craven obsequiousness act he does when he meets a grown-up.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,130 ✭✭✭eldamo


    check_six wrote: »
    Could you imagine trying to translate yer man into Russian? He struggles to complete sentences most of the time, never mind any semblance of coherency. It would just be a jumble of words, or he would just cower into that craven obsequiousness act he does when he meets a grown-up.
    i'd say putin has a translator who can cut through the bull


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 40,099 CMod ✭✭✭✭ancapailldorcha


    eldamo wrote: »
    i'd say putin has a translator who can cut through the bull

    Putin himself speaks English.

    The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

    Leviticus 19:34



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,168 ✭✭✭✭listermint


    Deleted Post.

    I'd highly doubt a lad that got to his level in the KGB doesn't fully know english.


  • Moderators, Politics Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 16,425 Mod ✭✭✭✭Quin_Dub


    listermint wrote: »
    I'd highly doubt a lad that got to his level in the KGB doesn't fully know english.

    You're probably not wrong , but I honestly can't remember if I've ever heard him speak anything but Russian..


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  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 40,099 CMod ✭✭✭✭ancapailldorcha


    listermint wrote: »
    I'd highly doubt a lad that got to his level in the KGB doesn't fully know english.

    He learned it while serving his first presidential term if I recall correctly.

    The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

    Leviticus 19:34



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,168 ✭✭✭✭listermint


    Quin_Dub wrote: »
    You're probably not wrong , but I honestly can't remember if I've ever heard him speak anything but Russian..

    Come on lads.

    He's KGB. Never ever ever let the enemy's know anything. It allows him to listen to any conversation under the guise that he hasn't a clue what they are talking about.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,526 ✭✭✭✭fullstop


    In trump’s latest round of deflection and stoking racial tension, he has retweeted a video from St Louis, where a white couple emerge from their monstrosity of a mansion as a crowd of black protestors pass by, and start waving and pointing a machine gun and pistol at them.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,042 ✭✭✭Carfacemandog


    Quin_Dub wrote: »
    You're probably not wrong , but I honestly can't remember if I've ever heard him speak anything but Russian..



    I don't know that he could hold a long political conversation in English and reckon that went through his translator, but he has a bit. He's apparently completely fluent in German, talsk in it with German officials prior to official proceedings taking place, and has apparently even acted as an impromptu translator of sorts before (I know its RT, just pointing to the gist of it) - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tPOT9ZVW0hg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,911 ✭✭✭✭duploelabs




    I don't know that he could hold a long political conversation in English and reckon that went through his translator, but he has a bit. He's apparently completely fluent in German, talsk in it with German officials prior to official proceedings taking place, and has apparently even acted as an impromptu translator of sorts before (I know its RT, just pointing to the gist of it) - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tPOT9ZVW0hg

    Given who he's conversing with, I'd say he wouldn't be required to have a full grasp of the English language


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,441 ✭✭✭✭Itssoeasy


    Putin himself speaks English.

    Does he speak trump though ? I mean the issue of Russia in Afghanistan putting bounties on us soldiers and the administrations response to it were awful. It should be noted that neither the White House or the DNI denied the report, just that the president wasn't told which I doubt very much.

    And Fox News and Sean hannity gave him a lay up of a question on what he plans to do in a second term and he couldn't even make something resembling even a coherent answer never mind a good answer.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,215 ✭✭✭✭Frank Bullitt


    https://apnews.com/02975c59e71e65327e2f582cd1a91f43
    Intelligence officials told the AP that Trump was briefed on the bounty matter earlier this year; Trump denied that, tweeting Sunday neither he nor Mike Pence had been briefed.

    So he was briefed, but then denied it...dear god.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 36,711 CMod ✭✭✭✭pixelburp


    Gintonious wrote: »
    https://apnews.com/02975c59e71e65327e2f582cd1a91f43

    So he was briefed, but then denied it...dear god.

    Is this the snowball slowly toddling down the hill: an election year, with a now famously porous White House and acrimonious President. Seems like from here 'til November we might see a continuous sequence of Insider balls ups...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 40,061 ✭✭✭✭Harry Palmr


    Are minutes taken in the White House?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,911 ✭✭✭✭duploelabs


    Are minutes taken in the White House?

    As shown with the Ukraine scandal, a lot of these minutes are placed on a secure server for no 'apparent' reason


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,702 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    Quin_Dub wrote: »
    You're probably not wrong , but I honestly can't remember if I've ever heard him speak anything but Russian..

    I think he purposely speaks Russian all the time because if seen speaking english in public it would be seen as weak and deferential by by a nationalistic Russian commentariat.

    In any case I think conversing through an interpreter allows Putin to hear what is being said in real time in english and then the intrepreter translating it gives him more time to think of his answer Its a small strategic advantage in a one on one meeting with Trump and given its Putin he would definitely be seeing it that way Id imagine.
    He learned it while serving his first presidential term if I recall correctly.

    I think possibly even before that. He has been friends through Judo with our own Pat Hickey of the Olympic Committee for years, theres a few photos of them chatting at a dinner table with no interpreter present.

    Not sure if true but theres also this American who claims that he befriended Putin in 1982 when he was working for the KGB in Paris. His account says Vlad was very familiar with Western culture
    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/10/1697580/-Back-in-1982-I-was-selling-acid-at-Jim-Morrison-s-grave-that-s-when-I-first-met-Vladimir-Putin


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,077 ✭✭✭✭banie01


    Gintonious wrote: »
    https://apnews.com/02975c59e71e65327e2f582cd1a91f43



    So he was briefed but then denied it...dear god.

    If he was briefed, there will be records of the briefing book.
    Even if it was just presented as part of his daily security briefing and he ignored it!
    The fact would remain that he was presented the info and chose to actively ignore it.

    Considering every awful action/inaction and slur he has demeaned the office with to date.
    Accepting American and NATO troops being killed as a Russian murder for hire racket without objecting, is another facet of the Trump presidency that the GOP should never be allowed to live down or forget.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,994 ✭✭✭✭gormdubhgorm


    Trump has retweeted a video in which one of his supporters shouts "white power".

    In his comment over the video he types "Corrupt Joe is shot."

    I don't feel I should have to expand any further about how dangerous and appalling this sort of racist, far right rhetoric is.

    This is a simple "you're either against evil or you're with it" situation.
    I'll just leave this here. Desperate ploy to get people to talk about anything but his subservience to Putin?

    https://twitter.com/KatyVotingBlue/status/1277225441657577475

    Well Trump did delete the tweet. The question is did he look and listen to the video? He is likely to have just read the heading and not turned the sound on.
    It is not the first time Trump has retweeted stuff, without any due diligence.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/donald-trump-retweets-picture-of-serial-killers-fred-and-rosemary-west-thinking-they-are-the-parents-9762610.html

    Guff about stuff, and stuff about guff.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,477 ✭✭✭✭Penn


    Well Trump did delete the tweet. The question is did he look at the video? He is likely to have just read the heading.
    It is not the first time Trump has retweeted stuff, without any due diligence.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/donald-trump-retweets-picture-of-serial-killers-fred-and-rosemary-west-thinking-they-are-the-parents-9762610.html

    Do you think that given his position and especially when it's already been established that what appears on his Twitter account qualifies as Presidential statements, that he should undertake such due diligence before retweeting?


  • Moderators, Politics Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 16,425 Mod ✭✭✭✭Quin_Dub


    Gintonious wrote: »
    https://apnews.com/02975c59e71e65327e2f582cd1a91f43



    So he was briefed, but then denied it...dear god.


    The current defence is that he was never told about it but since everyone got interested in it , he asked in the last day or two and they told him it was nothing.

    Which of course is complete crap as there is now evidence that the military on the ground took action to increase security levels etc. on the basis of the reports.

    If it was "nothing" they would not have done that.

    The truth is far more likely to be that it was included in his daily briefing pack and possibly even verbally brought up in one of those reviews but he definitely didn't read the briefing and if it was verbalized he just forgot about it.

    It's also clear that the intelligence/military knew/decided that there was no point in looking to him for action so they just went ahead and did stuff on the ground.


  • Registered Users Posts: 900 ✭✭✭Midlife


    pixelburp wrote: »
    Is this the snowball slowly toddling down the hill: an election year, with a now famously porous White House and acrimonious President. Seems like from here 'til November we might see a continuous sequence of Insider balls ups...

    Most of his team are just ambitious, as are the republican party.

    As it becomes clearer and clearer that distancing yourself from Trump is the smart thing to do, he' ll become more and more isolated.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,911 ✭✭✭✭duploelabs


    "Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent the following letter today to the Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Gina Haspel requesting an interagency briefing for all House Members regarding disturbing press reports that Russia placed bounties on U.S. Troops in Afghanistan and President Trump’s inexplicable behavior towards Russia in light of these reports.

    In the letter, the Speaker wrote “The questions that arise are: was the President briefed, and if not, why not, and why was Congress not briefed.”

    https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/62920-0


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,477 ✭✭✭✭Penn


    Reddit has fully banned The_Donald subreddit. Seems a lot of social media sites starting to see the writing on the wall in terms of how the upcoming election could affect their ad sales if advertisers pull away from them.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,215 ✭✭✭✭Frank Bullitt


    Penn wrote: »
    Reddit has fully banned The_Donald subreddit. Seems a lot of social media sites starting to see the writing on the wall in terms of how the upcoming election could affect their ad sales if advertisers pull away from them.

    While I think most social media platforms are doing the right thing and picking the right course of action when it comes to political content, I can't help but see this as ammo for Trump to use come November.

    Currently, he is already trying to set the tone of fraud, fake news, "they are out to get me" type of speech that will get his die-hard supporters doubt the validity of the election. This is a coy play on setting up the narrative and also him realizing that he might not just lose, but get hammered in November.

    This could well charge up whatever is left of his base to cause some serious unrest and violence if that happens.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,702 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    Read that there is a pretty big boycott for advertising on Facebook for the month of July in protest at how they ignore hate speech and refuse to remove it. Unilever and Coca Cola are part of the boycott, Facebooks shares dropped 7% on their announcment that they would spend no ad money with them for all of July.


  • Moderators, Politics Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 16,425 Mod ✭✭✭✭Quin_Dub


    Gintonious wrote: »
    While I think most social media platforms are doing the right thing and picking the right course of action when it comes to political content, I can't help but see this as ammo for Trump to use come November.

    Currently, he is already trying to set the tone of fraud, fake news, "they are out to get me" type of speech that will get his die-hard supporters doubt the validity of the election. This is a coy play on setting up the narrative and also him realizing that he might not just lose, but get hammered in November.

    This could well charge up whatever is left of his base to cause some serious unrest and violence if that happens.

    You may be right in terms of it being ammunition for Trump.

    Trump has long since given up on any attempts to win over new voters (if he ever had any real intentions there) and his sole focus is on squeezing every last vote out of the ~40% core that has remained with him throughout.

    The question is though will that be enough to combat the likely large turn-out from the other 60% of the voters?

    If he gets to within 4/5% of Biden in the polls he has a shot via the Electoral College, but if Biden can hold the gap out to beyond that 5% level (the further the better) then he simply won't have enough votes to get him over the line


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,260 ✭✭✭✭StringerBell


    Trump hit an inside straight to win the last time and he is looking like he will have to do the same again, so many paths for Biden to victory, so few for Trump. hopefully that's continues.

    Re giving him ammo, yeah do, **** it like. Let him have his pity parties, his base is circa 30% of the voting population. Let them all have a massive pity party about how everyone is against them and so unfair, it's not like they don't do that anyway.

    "People say ‘go with the flow’ but do you know what goes with the flow? Dead fish."



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,911 ✭✭✭✭duploelabs


    Penn wrote: »
    Reddit has fully banned The_Donald subreddit. Seems a lot of social media sites starting to see the writing on the wall in terms of how the upcoming election could affect their ad sales if advertisers pull away from them.

    Until the biggest one, Facebook, takes definitive action other than Commander Data Zuckerberg saying he'll look in to it. It'll have sweet FA effect


  • Moderators, Politics Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 16,425 Mod ✭✭✭✭Quin_Dub


    duploelabs wrote: »
    Until the biggest one, Facebook, takes definitive action other than Commander Data Zuckerberg saying he'll look in to it. It'll have sweet FA effect

    Agreed - But they are being hit in the wallet now.
    Muahahaha wrote: »
    Read that there is a pretty big boycott for advertising on Facebook for the month of July in protest at how they ignore hate speech and refuse to remove it. Unilever and Coca Cola are part of the boycott, Facebooks shares dropped 7% on their announcment that they would spend no ad money with them for all of July.


    So let's see if Zuckerberg has a Damascene moment and actually starts to deal with the crap on his platforms.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,994 ✭✭✭✭gormdubhgorm


    Penn wrote: »
    Do you think that given his position and especially when it's already been established that what appears on his Twitter account qualifies as Presidential statements, that he should undertake such due diligence before retweeting?

    Absolutely, no argument there .I am sure his staff would have warned him to be careful. But it appears there is no talking sense into him.

    Guff about stuff, and stuff about guff.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,911 ✭✭✭✭duploelabs


    Absolutely, no argument there .I am sure his staff would have warned him to be careful. But it appears there is no talking sense into him.

    And where/when do you think that humility starts and he listens to others? Is that not extremely disturbing considering the power at his control?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,077 ✭✭✭✭banie01


    Twitch have issued a temporary ban for Don!
    As alluded to earlier, quite a lot of streaming and social media sites are going to start enforcing their rules to protect their bottom lines.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 36,711 CMod ✭✭✭✭pixelburp


    The Reddit decision kinda depends on how the Trump / Fox narrative frames it. From my PoV it seemed a particularly noxious place filled with all the worst excesses of Trump support. Drawing attention to its shuttering could potentially draw attention to its content, in which case the indignation is lost among the invective and prejudice. It'll be interesting to see if (say) Tucker Carlson takes it onboard as part of the great "big tech is bias to liberals" conspiracy.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,441 ✭✭✭✭Itssoeasy


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    Read that there is a pretty big boycott for advertising on Facebook for the month of July in protest at how they ignore hate speech and refuse to remove it. Unilever and Coca Cola are part of the boycott, Facebooks shares dropped 7% on their announcment that they would spend no ad money with them for all of July.

    About time. I deleted my Facebook account years ago and best thing I ever did. And what I've seen of Mark zukerberg in front of congress wasn't very encouraging.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,106 ✭✭✭Christy42


    banie01 wrote: »
    Twitch have issued a temporary ban for Don!
    As alluded to earlier, quite a lot of streaming and social media sites are going to start enforcing their rules to protect their bottom lines.

    What in the world was he using twitch for?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,145 ✭✭✭circadian


    Christy42 wrote: »
    What in the world was he using twitch for?

    Streaming himself ripping people off in Animal Crossing.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,042 ✭✭✭Carfacemandog


    Christy42 wrote: »
    What in the world was he using twitch for?

    Apparently hi campaign lived streamed his rallies from it, so likely it was from the kung flu type racist comments.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,836 ✭✭✭✭Leroy42


    Absolutely, no argument there .I am sure his staff would have warned him to be careful. But it appears there is no talking sense into him.

    Or maybe he is doing exactly as he wishes and wants.

    I stopped thinking ages ago that these were simply mistakes. There has been too many of them. Once or twice, fair enough, people make mistakes. But he has never apologised, never taken back what he says.

    So the only real conclusion is that this is all on purpose. Gradually, but consistently, push the white power agenda. He, and those around him, are smart enough to know that simply coming out with racist remarks is never going to fly, si do it lightly but pointedly.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,428 ✭✭✭✭briany


    Gintonious wrote: »
    This could well charge up whatever is left of his base to cause some serious unrest and violence if that happens.

    I remember those people dressed in black and described as anarchists by the media, going around smashing shop windows on the day of Trump's inauguration. Totally unwarranted at any time, really, but that display of wanton contempt for property could pale into insignificance against what a certain proportion of Trump's base will do *if* Trump loses, and *if* Trump is reckless enough to rile his supporters up in the wake of that.

    The current divisions in the USA certainly come across to me as being the closest that the country has come to another civil war in a long time. Now, in saying that, they could still be miles off it, but it's a dark path they appear to be heading down in their discourse. It's one thing not to agree on an issue, but it's another to not even be able to find mutually held truths that you can have arguments on top of, and that's the point they've arrived at with their partisanship.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,911 ✭✭✭✭duploelabs


    briany wrote: »
    I remember those people dressed in black and described as anarchists by the media, going around smashing shop windows on the day of Trump's inauguration. Totally unwarranted at any time, really, but that display of wanton contempt for property could pale into insignificance against what a certain proportion of Trump's base will do *if* Trump loses, and *if* Trump is reckless enough to rile his supporters up in the wake of that.

    The current divisions in the USA certainly come across to me as being the closest that the country has come to another civil war in a long time. Now, in saying that, they could still be miles off it, but it's a dark path they appear to be heading down in their discourse. It's one thing not to agree on an issue, but it's another to not even be able to find mutually held truths that you can have arguments on top of, and that's the point they've arrived at with their partisanship.

    If Trump gets beaten in November, he's going to jail if he doesn't do the switcheroo with Pence. If the GOP doesn't back that idea, what has he got to lose, in for a penny and all that.

    There's two major Ifs there, but it's very plausible given his track record


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,999 ✭✭✭✭Thargor




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,836 ✭✭✭✭Leroy42


    This Taliban/Russia thing could really be a major problem for Trump. As usual his first action is to deny it, now its moved to trying to muddy the waters. And Pence is caught up in this too.

    Given how hard he has been pushing for Russia to get back into the G8, it comes off at best as being made a fool off.

    And Americans don't like that. The WH continued non statement on what they intend to do with Russia because of it is almost a bigger story.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,664 ✭✭✭sid waddell


    Just out of interest, what do posters here think is the truth about the alleged Trump/Russia links?

    Nonsense or real?

    And if the latter, how deep does it go?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,441 ✭✭✭✭Itssoeasy


    Just out of interest, what do posters here think is the truth about the alleged Trump/Russia links?

    Nonsense or real?

    And if the latter, how deep does it go?

    Well I think there's some thing to it. I say that because even tonight the press secretary said that the New York Times is wrong in that the president was briefed about this. They have in no way tried to say the substance of the report is wrong which I'm sure they'd do if it was. They are saying the president wasn't briefed but honestly something as serious would surely be in his Daily briefing which I'm sure congress could clear up by issuing a subpoena for his daily briefings for early march. If it's not in there then trumps claim of not being briefed holds up. If it's there then trump is in serious trouble, especially as he's recently spoke at a West Point graduation and if he had intelligence about these bounties and did nothing, the Lincoln project have their next ad.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 161 ✭✭stinkypinky


    He's apparently completely fluent in German, talsk in it with German officials prior to official proceedings taking place, and has apparently even acted as an impromptu translator of sorts before (I know its RT, just pointing to the gist of it) -

    Just to add to this, Putin was stationed in Dresden East Germany when the Soviet Union collapsed. The KGB office he was in was met with angry demonstrators wanting to attack and ransack it. Putin bluffed in Deutsch that the building was filled with armed KGB officials and any attempt to attack it would be met with gunfire, he was the only KGB official there. Sounds like a folk tale or Russian Propaganda but it's backed up by multiple Western sources.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32066222


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