Trump

[TheGlyphstone]

I'd say it's possible, but I'd say it's also possible that Trump is a shapeshifting alien Reptiloid. As someone said upthread, Russia doesn't need active influence on Trump to cause massive damage to America. All they had to do was tip the scales a little bit, enough to get him elected, then sit back and watch the chaos unfold.

[gaggedLouise]

Former acting FBI chief McCabe exolains why he thinks President Trump could perhaps be, effectively, a traitor (he doesn't use the word but that's what it adds up to) and a "Russian asset".  C:)

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/19/politics/andrew-mccabe-trump-law-enforcement/index.html

Meanwhile, I read somewhere (can't find the link now, but it was at a major news source) that Trump said there's no need for Kim Jong-un to hurry with serious steps of dismantling his nuclear capability, it's just fine to do that later, perhaps a couple of years down the line: the important thing now is to keep talking and having a good vibe.  ::)

Sounds reassuring and calming.  O:)

Link to Trump saying there's no need to rush Kim Jong-un about denuking: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Trump_in_no_rush_to_push_N_Korea_to_denuclearize_999.html

[Oniya]

Link to Trump saying there's no need to rush Kim Jong-un about denuking: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Trump_in_no_rush_to_push_N_Korea_to_denuclearize_999.html

And yet he's pulling out of the nuclear weapon treaties with the exact opposite words for Russia. 

[Avis habilis]

Former acting FBI chief McCabe exolains why he thinks President Trump could perhaps be, effectively, a traitor (he doesn't use the word but that's what it adds up to) and a "Russian asset".  C:)

I think "useful idiot" is the term you're looking for.

[gaggedLouise]

Heading for Hanoi and the Kim summit, Trump tweets out that Vietnam is an example of the kind of success story that North Korea could become if Kim plays the nice guy and removes his nukes. Doesn't the man realize how offensive this comparison will sound to anyone who recalls there was a war in Vietnam for a quarter of a century, a war in which the US played a not that honourable part and actually did its best to turn parts of Vietnam into a parking lot (and to isolate the economy of Vietnam long after peace had arrived)? Well, I'm sure Trump remembers it in a different light - though he did his best to avoid being sent there as a soldier. :(

In particular, Hanoi was the target of one of the heaviest and more infamous urban bombing campaigns in modern history, the Christmas Bombings. Trump and some of his fans won't remember any of that one but I can assure him that most people in Vietnam and in North Korea will have heard about it.  ::)

[Oniya]

Heading for Hanoi and the Kim summit, Trump tweets out that Vietnam is an example of the kind of success story that North Korea could become if Kim plays the nice guy and removes his nukes. Doesn't the man realize how offensive this comparison will sound to anyone who recalls there was a war in Vietnam for a quarter of a century, a war in which the US played a not that honourable part and actually did its best to turn parts of Vietnam into a parking lot (and to isolate the economy of Vietnam long after peace had arrived)? Well, I'm sure Trump remembers it in a different light - though he did his best to avoid being sent there as a soldier. :(

In particular, Hanoi was the target of one of the heaviest and more infamous urban bombing campaigns in modern history, the Christmas Bombings. Trump and some of his fans won't remember any of that one but I can assure him that most people in Vietnam and in North Korea will have heard about it.  ::)

I wonder if Kim might see that comment as a threat.  'If you don't remove your nukes, we can make you just like Vietnam.'

[gaggedLouise]

I wonder if Kim might see that comment as a threat.  'If you don't remove your nukes, we can make you just like Vietnam.'

He might well read it that way. It's also a serious affront to their hosts and to the city where the summit will take place. I mean, it's as blunt and senseless as if some East Asian would say "Look, the US should be grateful to the Japanese for bombing Pearl Harbor, you know that action helped America to get into the war, and put them on the path to becoming a superpower".  >:(

[Callie Del Noire]

I wonder if Kim might see that comment as a threat.  'If you don't remove your nukes, we can make you just like Vietnam.'

The North Koreans got bombed MUCH harder, Pyongyang was around 75% destroyed by the Armistice

A lot of folks there remember either directly or from family. Historically speaking, we Americans are short sighted. A lot of our ‘problems’ with folks like Iran, North Korea and such is we forget what happened decades ago. More than a few of my friends called me a liar when I pointed out Jerusalem was set as capital of Palestine and Israel.

Or that we overturned a democratic elected socialist state and turned it over to despot and trained the secret police. Iran. I’ve talked to several Iranians here and over seas. They might recall things the Ayatollahs had done to them but they also recall what the Shah’s people did to their parents and grand parents

[gaggedLouise]

At least they have a sense of humour in Hanoi - a hotel bar over there has created a special drink called "Rock it, Man!"  ;D

The Unicorn Pub in Hanoi's Hoàn Kiem district has added a special drink to its menu during the Trump Kim summit.

The "Rock it, man" is made with classic American and Korean spirits, bourbon and soju, as well as Fireball whiskey, pineapple juice, vanilla, bitters and pepper-infused vodka.

Meanwhile, Trump is calling Kim "a fantastic leader".  :P


https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-kim-jong-un-summit-vietnam-february-2019/index.html

[Oniya]

The vodka is a nice touch, too.  XD

[Lilias]

The vodka is a nice touch, too.  XD

There's not enough of it in the world, though.

[gaggedLouise]

The vodka is a nice touch, too.  XD

Yes. but pepper-infused? Is there some kind of nod to the Russia story there? ;)

I think I'll ask Dasha what she thinks of pepper laced vodka... :)

[Muddy Waters]

Michael Cohen's questioning by Congress is going swimmingly.

[The Lovely Tsaritsa]

Yes. but pepper-infused? Is there some kind of nod to the Russia story there? ;)

I think I'll ask Dasha what she thinks of pepper laced vodka... :)

It’s good, for colds.

[TheGlyphstone]

Michael Cohen's questioning by Congress is going swimmingly.

In the same sense that determining if a woman is a witch by whether she floats or not goes swimmingly?

[Oniya]

In the same sense that determining if a woman is a witch by whether she floats or not goes swimmingly?

Just break out the duck.

[Kitteredge]

It's weird to great somebody actually tell the truth in front of a congressional committee.

[Muddy Waters]

In the same sense that determining if a woman is a witch by whether she floats or not goes swimmingly?

LOL pretty much.    I am amazed that none of the R's have asked a single thing about Trump.   Instead, they have spent their time insulting, insinuating and being all around rude.
Not sure why I was hoping for more....

[Deamonbane]

Watching the live feed of the Cohen Testimony, and I have to say... I like this Chairman.

[gaggedLouise]

Cohen looks a good deal like Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in Godfather III, but hopefully his testimony before congress will turn out more truthful than Corleone's words at the Congress hearing in the second movie. :)

[gaggedLouise]

The Kim-Trump summit ended in a dismal failure as Trump gets up and walks out of the room. No final declaration, no lunch together. Trump says Kim demanded too much and wanted all sanctions lifted at once, but seeing that Trump himself had been ready to lift a lot of the same sanctions without any hard-and-fast commitments to do anything from Kim, what can you expect? (also, I suspect Trump is making Kim look more unyielding than he really was, to save his own bacon).

I can't help feeling that this summit shows bhow amateurish Trump is: a skilled diplomat like Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright, James Baker or Joe Biden would never have handled a top-level summit with the leader of a nuclear-armed country in such a sloppy way. :(

Wonder how Trump is going to handle the present India-Pakistan crisis, and I really hope that one doesn't spin out of control.

[Tamhansen]

Wonder how Trump is going to handle the present India-Pakistan crisis, and I really hope that one doesn't spin out of control.

Please don't allow Trump anywhere near that crisis. If there's one sure fire way for that dispute to go nuclear (perhaps litterally) it is US involvement.

[gaggedLouise]

It's easy to imagine that a jet-lagged Trump found his attention sucked up by the hearings with Cohen back in Washington, grew agitated and gave in to his iphone and his twitter ranting instinct - until the anger spread into his talk with Kim, one or both men flipped a switch - and then it was no longer meaningful to continue.  :P

[Various]

The North Koreans got bombed MUCH harder, Pyongyang was around 75% destroyed by the Armistice

A lot of folks there remember either directly or from family. Historically speaking, we Americans are short sighted. A lot of our ‘problems’ with folks like Iran, North Korea and such is we forget what happened decades ago. More than a few of my friends called me a liar when I pointed out Jerusalem was set as capital of Palestine and Israel.

Or that we overturned a democratic elected socialist state and turned it over to despot and trained the secret police. Iran. I’ve talked to several Iranians here and over seas. They might recall things the Ayatollahs had done to them but they also recall what the Shah’s people did to their parents and grand parents

Yep. We have a loooong history of propping up dictators in the name of 'freedom' all around the world (the Shah in Iran, Ngo in South Vietnam, Park (the assassinated father of the one that was recently ousted) in South Korea, and many many more). We owe a lot of this to the amoral festering sore of Kissinger's promotion of Realpolitik. It's also worth noting that Bin Laden built Al Queda from the fighters we had allied with against our mutual enemy the Soviet Union in the 70s.

America's post war history is a series of decisions to compromise our ideals biting us in the ass a decade or two later.

[gaggedLouise]

Hilarious tweet by Trump, even more hilarious comments: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1102934910900363266

(especially these two lines of replies - note the use of ALLCAPS: https://twitter.com/eugenegu/status/1102938515560525824

https://twitter.com/RyanHillMI/status/1102935765972148224 )

:D