[worry]

Terez must be busy! I'm gonna scoop her!

WP: Trump asked intelligence chiefs to push back against FBI collusion probe after Comey revealed its existence via https://twitter.com/...782515973017602

https://www.washingt...820a_story.html

[Tapper]

By now, this whole conspiracy and its cover-ups are even more inept than the premises of Designated Survivor. Is this the point where the sheer amount of (illegal attempts at) cover-up will be guaranteed to make heads roll?

And if Jared Kushner is the 'person of interest within Trump's circle' in the FBI probe, as a host of media now report, it must mean that Trump was in the know, right?

Even if Trump would NOT be implicated somehow (which would show that even his besties go around his back), how likely is it that heads will roll? And if they do, is anyone willing to take a bet that Trump will just start playing golf full-time because no-one he knows is available to hold his hand anymore (insert Melania joke)?

[Terez]

worry, on 22 May 2017 - 11:47 PM, said:

Terez must be busy! I'm gonna scoop her!

I mean, I didn't post in this thread for a month at least. But tiring week was tiring. I mean, fuck.

Tapper, on 23 May 2017 - 12:53 PM, said:

By now, this whole conspiracy and its cover-ups are even more inept than the premises of Designated Survivor. Is this the point where the sheer amount of (illegal attempts at) cover-up will be guaranteed to make heads roll?

You would think. But the criminal investigation is going to take a long time and at its center is a guy with the power to pardon everyone involved. The only hope is getting him out of office, which requires a Congress with a moral compass, and that of our current Congress seems broken. On that front, though, this is somewhat encouraging news:

http://www.courier-j...ross/327481001/

Tapper, on 23 May 2017 - 12:53 PM, said:

(insert Melania joke)

That video was brutal lol. I like her more every day.

[worry]

CBO score is out on the revised AHCA that the House passed weeks back. For one thing: "CBO estimates that in states requesting AHCA waivers, premiums for low-income elderly enrollees would go up 800 percent. That is not a typo."
https://twitter.com/...482139566145536



In other words, heaps of elderly will die of preventable causes.

Also, 23 million fewer insured by 2026 than if we stuck w/ current law.

[Messremb]

6.4% of annual income (post tax etc?) is an awfully high rate. Taking it up to 51%? That is insanity. People won't need to worry about preventable causes medically, they'll starve/freeze to death in the dark with no water or phones.

Nice to note that those with a bigger income pay less than currently.

[Tiste Simeon]

The UK has stopped sharing information with US intelligence services due to how leaky they are. That's moderately terrifying.

[Gorefest]

I must say that my initial reaction when I read that yesterday was 'idiot Trump administration'. However, upon further reading into the subject I have since learned that a similar thing happened during the 2005 London bombings, where again American newspapers mamaged to obtain classified information through US security leaks long before it was released to UK press by UK intelligence services. So this seems to be a more endemic problem with US intelligence.

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 25 May 2017 - 01:37 PM

[Terez]

Gorefest, on 25 May 2017 - 01:37 PM, said:

I must say that my initial reaction when I read that yesterday was 'idiot Trump administration'. However, upon further reading into the subject I have since learned that a similar thing happened during the 2005 London bombings, where again American newspapers mamaged to obtain classified information through US security leaks long before it was released to UK press by UK intelligence services. So this seems to be a more endemic problem with US intelligence.

It's specifically due to the intelligence agency overhaul post 9/11 when it was determined that security gaps were due to a lack of intelligence sharing across agencies. So this overhaul has led to a lot of stuff like this being available to people with lower levels of clearance and it often gets leaked pretty quickly.

[Malankazooie]

Another low. Bullying is never a good look, let alone on the international stage with other world leaders. We're living in some pretty weird and depressing times people.

[EmperorMagus]

Is it me, or does the guy on the left look really pissed at what Trump did?

Anyways, the Macron-Trump handshake fiascoes (yes, plural. First when Macron ignores him and shakes with everyone else first and then when Macron crushes his hand) were hilarious.

[Aptorian]

Just saw those clips on the Seth Meyers show:



I just don't understand how this keeps happening. At some point surely some public relations person has explained why this kind of behavior looks terrible on camera?

[Silencer]

Yeah, but those people are *experts* and we know how much Trump and Co like ignoring experts. XD

[EmperorMagus]

@Apt

Well, both Gianforte and Trump have won their elections, so they can safely tell the PR people to stuff their advice where the sun don't shine.

This post has been edited by EmperorMagus: 26 May 2017 - 07:08 AM

[Tsundoku]

So Gianforte won did he? Interesting. Will he still have to go to court?

Very good comment on why working-class people vote Republican. It's a bit patronising, but even aside from that it makes more than a bit of sense. Well, to me it did.

"It's a party of losers who aren't going anywhere in life who displace their rage at their dead-end life onto others of the same or lower class outside of their own "In-Group" and blame all their problems and worries on them. Anyone but the billionaires and corporations that cause their actual pain because they some day hope to BE them. They blame their problems on liberals, Leftists, ethnic/racial minorities, immigrants, sexual minorities, religious minorities, any Media that isn't an explicit propaganda organ for their particular agenda, etc. for their miserable-ass life. This is because they believe if we just went back to the "Leave It To Beaver" utopia that only ever existed in their heads that everything would be paradise and they wouldn't be a dead-end loser anymore. They blame all of the aforementioned forces for why their life isn't going anywhere. Hence why they relish watching members of those groups be harmed or killed. They're cheering Jacobs being hospitalized for the same reason they defend and praise cops killing unarmed minorities: they view every individual in those groups (minorities and non-right-wing Media) as "The Enemy" personally making their life miserable and holding them back in the world.

That and they are Authoritarians. They're simple-minded people and Authoritarianism appeals to simple-minded people who feel personally weak. Authoritarianism is simple to understand, takes away the complexity, compromise and bargaining of Democracy, and the education required to do it properly, and allows a person who feels personally powerless in life to feel "strong" vicariously through watching people they view as on "their team" exerting force and asserting themselves on the "Undesirables" they blame for their personal misery and deterioration in life. It also relieves them of the burden of learning and education because Dear Leader makes all the decisions for them, it allows personal intellectual laziness."

It's by a commenter named innerlife in this article about the rather muted Republican reaction to Gianforte's actions:

https://www.theatlan...eaction/528123/

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 26 May 2017 - 01:32 PM

[worry]

Well, he was charged with a misdemeanor and will likely pay a fine. I don't know if he'll bother challenging the charge now that the audio and witnesses came out. That said, it's notable that his original press release blamed the victim for being "aggressive" and being a "liberal" journalist, and he only apologized after winning the election.

The ballots were mostly all in before election day, via mail-in and what have you, so his win isn't necessarily reflective of this one violent encounter. But what do we already know? Conservatism is morally bankrupt, period, and the people who vote Republican (in 2017) might as well be drones. I guess this provides -- as far as the assault on a journalist goes -- a little more ammo when conservatives pretend to care about the Constitution, and I would encourage people calling them out on it every chance they get, but more than that this (relatively) narrow win for the Republican is a decent sign for 2018. That, and the SCOTUS ruling about NC's racist gerrymandering, and Texas's panicking about their own districts as a result (https://www.texastri...pecial-session/), are all at least long-term good signs. I dunno if it's enough for 2018 or even 2020 -- baby boomers en masse are worse people than even I suspected.

[Cause]

worry, on 26 May 2017 - 07:20 PM, said:

Well, he was charged with a misdemeanor and will likely pay a fine. I don't know if he'll bother challenging the charge now that the audio and witnesses came out. That said, it's notable that his original press release blamed the victim for being "aggressive" and being a "liberal" journalist, and he only apologized after winning the election.

The ballots were mostly all in before election day, via mail-in and what have you, so his win isn't necessarily reflective of this one violent encounter. But what do we already know? Conservatism is morally bankrupt, period, and the people who vote Republican (in 2017) might as well be drones. I guess this provides -- as far as the assault on a journalist goes -- a little more ammo when conservatives pretend to care about the Constitution, and I would encourage people calling them out on it every chance they get, but more than that this (relatively) narrow win for the Republican is a decent sign for 2018. That, and the SCOTUS ruling about NC's racist gerrymandering, and Texas's panicking about their own districts as a result (https://www.texastri...pecial-session/), are all at least long-term good signs. I dunno if it's enough for 2018 or even 2020 -- baby boomers en masse are worse people than even I suspected.

I have always been a fan of the idea of a sliding scale of punishment tied to responsibility. In my mind its worse for a politician to assault a journalist than for a regular member of the public. In both cases punishment is required but to me, in the case of the politician the punishment should be more severe. He should know better, he claims a moral responsibility with his job and should be made to live up to it. How he can possibly win and not be forced to step down is beyond me. If convicted of assault how will that effect his eligibility to hold office?

[worry]

I don't disagree, but it was a special election, so both competitors were "civilians" up until the election was called.

[worry]

If you want the cynic's POV -- albeit a well-reasoned, on-point cynic -- Matt Taibi's take should do. It's not going to make you feel better, obviously. http://www.rollingst...message-w484569

[HoosierDaddy]

Everything is going according to Pence's plans.

It was he who leaked reports to the media.

An entire legion of anti-choice supporters are waiting on the pitiful little band of rebels.

[worry]

So does Trump hang his own SIL out to dry or what? I know we're not supposed to gamble on this site but c'mon.