Trump

[Kurogane]

They do know all Congressmen and women have Top Secret security clearance, right?

Fortunately, no. Not all representatives in Congress have Top Secret clearance. The granting of access to classified information requires the appropriate security clearance and a need to know.

[Tolvo]

And he can pretty much do it without trouble since the person who puts the punishment for said person into process is his him, and his office. Hopefully the Trump administration has helped to illustrate for people in the future our government of checks and balances is very light on checks and balances. There's been long held the idea "Well we don't need them since no one like that would get in power." Which is just naive, and honestly this isn't a Republican only thing. When Dems are in power they like it too typically. Speak out against the system of power when the really evil people are in charge, but then when you have the power to change it don't since you still benefit from the power. Now we do have more Dems pushing to change these fundamentally though when the time comes where they can(Hopefully) we'll have to see if they follow through or go "Well now this benefits me so I'm ok with it."

[gaggedLouise]

In the context of the whole Mexican border/wall thing plus the inflamed conflict between the Trump camp and the Democrat "female squad", this is really disturbing:

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/453846-ocasio-cortez-hits-dhs-chief-for-images-of-my-violent-rape-in-facebook-group

[Tolvo]

I remember the irony of his testimonies. Because when he mentioned the female chief in their department who was investigating something I've posted before which AOC brought up, was that the female DHS chief was in that group and had posted in it. I wonder if he missed that being published and reported which was something he really should have been prepared for.

[Oniya]

Trump is now retweeting Katie Hopkins.  This is a woman so offensively racist that she managed to get fired from the Daily Mail (and every other UK journalism outlet), banned from South Africa, and has been denounced by the UN high commissioner of human rights.

[Regina Minx]

Trump is now retweeting Katie Hopkins.  This is a woman so offensively racist that she managed to get fired from the Daily Mail (and every other UK journalism outlet), banned from South Africa, and has been denounced by the UN high commissioner of human rights.

In other words, the snowflakes couldn't handle all of Hopkins' winning and are very dishonestly saying bad things about her instead of how they (the corrupt enemy of the people Daily Mail) hate Israel and we have to build the wall! [/sarcasm]

[gaggedLouise]

Trump has intervened in the case of US rapper ASAP Rocky, who is being held by police in Stockholm, Sweden awaiting trial on suspicions of beating up people in the street (the case is by no means clear). Trump called Swedish PM Stefan Löfven and had promised to try to wrest the guy free, apparently at the suggestion of shared friend Kanye West. Löfven has already told the press, before the call happened, that he would tell Trump that

1) courts and police in Sweden do not take orders from the cabinet about how to handle a specific case
2) equality before the law applies to everyone, and you canät just say "I'm too big and important to be touched"

Now Trump has a tweet out saying that he got a promise form Löfven that the guy "will be treated fairly" - seems to indicate Trump got nowhere and Löfven just told him how police routines work - and also, that

I assured him that A$AP was not a flight risk and offered to personally vouch for his bail, or an alternative....
06:52 - 20 juli 2019

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1152577020594917376

The fact he chose to omit is, we don't have the convention of "free on bail until the trial" in Sweden. Most people who might stand trial are released from custody anyway of course, before long, because there's no real likelihood that they would try to go underground or leave the country to avoid trial, or wreck the police inquiry, but if there's a real perceived risk such a thing could happen, as with a touring stage star who could simply skip out and then drop Sweden from his touring plans for a few years, buying your way out with bail is not an option around here. Either Trump doesn't know that or, more likely, he chose to pass it over.


Or as a guy at a Swedish online forum told me, Trump has every reason to toss up lots of distracting dust in matters like this, to keep people's attention off the Epstein affair, the upcoming Mueller hearing, possible testimonies about him by Michael Cohen etc.  C:)

[Skynet]

Trump retweeted a woman who said that we need to create a "Final Solution" for Muslims.

She also claimed that Jews who got killed by a terrorist in the Pittsburgh Synagogue had nobody but themselves to blame because they were 'pro-immigration.'

[Oniya]

Trump retweeted a woman who said that we need to create a "Final Solution" for Muslims.

She also claimed that Jews who got killed by a terrorist in the Pittsburgh Synagogue had nobody but themselves to blame because they were 'pro-immigration.'

This is the one that I was talking about earlier.

[Skynet]

This is the one that I was talking about earlier.

D'oh, sorry for missing the post. :-[

[gaggedLouise]

Trump doubling down on the "four angry Democrat bitches" (or whatever he likes to call them). They are not just poking him in the eye, they're inherently incapable of loving the US. Sheesh...

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1152912995938443269

[gaggedLouise]

Trump on Afghanistan, while meeting the Pakistani PM:

Welcoming Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to the Oval Office on Monday, Trump diminished the US' 18-year war in Afghanistan as one where the US has "acted as policemen, not soldiers" and suggested the US could swiftly end it through brute military strength that would leave "10 million people" dead. That option, he said, is not one he intends to pursue.

"We've been there for 19 years and we've acted as policemen, not soldiers," Trump said, mischaracterizing the length of the war. "Again, if we wanted to be soldiers we could end it in one week, 10 days."

Trump at several points suggested he had been presented with a plan that would win the US war in Afghanistan in 10 days, but that would result in massive casualties.
"We're like policemen. We're not fighting a war. If we wanted to fight a war in Afghanistan and win it, I could win it in a week. I just don't want to kill 10 million people. Does that make sense to you? I don't want to kill 10 million people," Trump said.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/22/politics/donald-trump-imran-khan-pakistan-prime-minister-white-house/index.html

If this Neanderthal train of thought is how he sees the Afghan theatre, then what would be his degree of insight about the conflict with Iran and a looming open war with them?  ::)

[Kitteredge]

Trump on Afghanistan, while meeting the Pakistani PM:

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/22/politics/donald-trump-imran-khan-pakistan-prime-minister-white-house/index.html

If this Neanderthal train of thought is how he sees the Afghan theatre, then what would be his degree of insight about the conflict with Iran and a looming open war with them?  ::)

1. Did he just admit the U.S. has been in Afghanistan since before 9/11? Probably not, but...
2. Even if the Joint Chiefs have shown plans showing a massive escalation in Afghanistan, I doubt it was endorsement. They plan for everything.
3. What the hell is 'winning' in Afghanistan? What's the whole project or plan there in the first place?

Corollary to 2: I don't trust the Pentagon on getting any scenario assessments right. Famously they got creamed in war games in 2002 by the guy playing Iran and they forced him to changed the rules.

[Tolvo]

Probably conquest of the region and dominance over it would be "winning." With treating it like a vassal state or colony. We have informal forms of that already but this would likely be more formal and occupied territory.

[gaggedLouise]

Probably conquest of the region and dominance over it would be "winning." With treating it like a vassal state or colony. We have informal forms of that already but this would likely be more formal and occupied territory.

Trump's plan of winning: "Let's nuke all areas held by insurgents and Talibans, and bomb some mosques all over the country to show who sets the rules, and then we move in and close the borders so no Afghans can get out of there - but crap, the Pentagon won't authorise any such plan, they're such fricken procrastinators!!"  :P

[TheGlyphstone]

I guess turning Afghanistan into radioactive glass counts as 'winning' to him? Cause nuclear bombardment is the only thing I can think of that would cause 10 million deaths.

[Kitteredge]

'Winning' for him simply means problems disappearing. He is infatuated with his nukes, to be sure, but thank God he's an incredible coward. I have moderate faith he'd never do it -- he just likes to run his mouth and preen in front of the press.

A hidden character here is Erik Prince, bro of the Secretary of Education and founder of unhinged mercenary company Blackwater (since renamed). Word is he's lusting over private control of Afghanistan and its trillions of untapped natural resources. Trump and Prince are at least connected, having had a meeting in Seychelles before the election.

Ultimately I don't think Trump gives an actual shit about Afghanistan. Others do, but the Orange Toad is just swinging his tubby load around.

[Tolvo]

Oh we could easily do that without nukes. There are a lot of truly devastating non-nuclear bombs that do exist that our military uses. Thermobaric bombs for instance are quite frightening.

[Tolvo]

https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/BBCE_Fact_Sheet_%28FINAL%29_72219-PR.pdf

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-proposal-would-kick-3-1-million-people-off-food-stamps/

https://www.npr.org/2019/07/23/744451246/3-million-could-lose-food-stamp-benefits-under-trump-administration-proposal

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-food-stamps-welfare-cuts-1450773

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/07/23/trump-food-stamps-proposal-marsh-crn-vpx.cnn

Trump is now going after food stamps with his plan to remove the many millionaires that he claims take advantage of food stamps. When that is not really possible. A lot of public services r abused by less than 1% of people on them, if I round up. His goal is to get around 3 million less people using food stamps, with his added requirements of assessment of the families and their financials before putting them on food stamps despite those families already being assessed as a part of the SNAP program he wants to get rid of.

[gaggedLouise]

Probably conquest of the region and dominance over it would be "winning." With treating it like a vassal state or colony. We have informal forms of that already but this would likely be more formal and occupied territory.

Kabul now wants an explanation of what Trump was hinting at...  :D

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/23/politics/afghanistan-pushback-trump-comments/index.html

Meanwhile, Trump is fighting to try to block the release of his tax returns.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/23/politics/trump-sues-tax-returns/index.html

New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement, "President Trump has spent his career hiding behind lawsuits, but, as New York's chief law enforcement officer, I can assure him that no one is above the law — not even the President of the United States."

:-)

[Oniya]

https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/BBCE_Fact_Sheet_%28FINAL%29_72219-PR.pdf

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-proposal-would-kick-3-1-million-people-off-food-stamps/

https://www.npr.org/2019/07/23/744451246/3-million-could-lose-food-stamp-benefits-under-trump-administration-proposal

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-food-stamps-welfare-cuts-1450773

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/07/23/trump-food-stamps-proposal-marsh-crn-vpx.cnn

Trump is now going after food stamps with his plan to remove the many millionaires that he claims take advantage of food stamps. When that is not really possible. A lot of public services r abused by less than 1% of people on them, if I round up. His goal is to get around 3 million less people using food stamps, with his added requirements of assessment of the families and their financials before putting them on food stamps despite those families already being assessed as a part of the SNAP program he wants to get rid of.

My sister in law, who is on disability, gets a monthly SSDI income of $200.  Monthly.  She lives alone (but near enough to my mother-in-law that they can do a bit more 'bulk cooking') in a fixed-rent complex that is - not the best of buildings.  She's trying to wrestle her condition into something that allows her to work, but that's adding transportation expenses and education expenses to her plate.

[Yukina]

My sister in law, who is on disability, gets a monthly SSDI income of $200.  Monthly.  She lives alone (but near enough to my mother-in-law that they can do a bit more 'bulk cooking') in a fixed-rent complex that is - not the best of buildings.  She's trying to wrestle her condition into something that allows her to work, but that's adding transportation expenses and education expenses to her plate.

*offers hugs* It terrifies me as well since I'm on SSI and if things keep going against the programs for the poor and disabled this way, I might lose my only safety net that allows me to live.

[Oniya]

Mueller hearings today.  Expect Trump to be having a Twitter meltdown.  Hearings are going to be covered by all major networks except one

Any guesses?

Right, FOX News!

Audible.com has the report available, as does DocumentCloud  (448 pages - whuuuuffffff!)

[Avis habilis]

Audible? Who reads the thing? (I'm imagining Sam Waterston, but he might have been tough to get.)

You can read the 18-page summary on Snopes, too.

[CrownedSun]

Mueller hearings today.  Expect Trump to be having a Twitter meltdown.  Hearings are going to be covered by all major networks except one

Any guesses?

Right, FOX News!

...Fox is seriously going to just not cover it..? <.< Damn.