[Cause]

You doubt the evidence?

The so-called Whistleblower’s account of my perfect phone call is “way off,” not even close. Schiff and Pelosi never thought I would release the transcript of the call. Got them by surprise, they got caught. This is a fraud against the American people

This tweet is incredible. I knew what gaslighting was but never really seen it before. The transcript confirms everything the whist lower said. He just claims the opposite with utter conviction and calls it a day

This post has been edited by Cause: 05 October 2019 - 04:15 PM

[worry]

[Tsundoku]

The Turtle vows to stop impeachment. Of course in a fundraising video.

https://www.news.com...411e95f03a39411

Interesting take on how this is testing US political structures.

https://www.news.com...d18b52f4bf99d72

[Tiste Simeon]

So. There's been some sort of subpoena for his tax returns. Maybe there will be empirical evidence that he is a liar and a con artist.

Won't change a thing, of course...

[Aptorian]

I'm assuming they appeal, stall, appeal, stall and then suddenly it's 2021.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

 Aptorian, on 07 October 2019 - 04:59 PM, said:

I'm assuming they appeal, stall, appeal, stall and then suddenly it's 2021.

It's in federal court, so appeal would eventually go to the Supreme Court... if they were all like Kavanaugh, Trump would probably get away with it. Roberts or Gorsuch might quash it though (assuming Trump doesn't get another Supreme Court pick in the meantime)....

Trump tweeted this today: 'As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over...'

[worry]

There's already empirical evidence he's a liar and con artist, and has been over and over again for decades. I mean just for example, during his presidency the Trump U case was finalized. He's literally gotta pay back (some of) the millions of dollars he took from thousands of people trying to better their lives through higher education, because he was scamming them. That's the lawsuit that happened throughout the campaign, the one Trump said the judge couldn't do his job right because he was Mexican. It made national headlines consistently during 2016, and Republican voters were absolutely more turned on by his insult of Mexicans than they were turned off by his brazen exploitation of working people. They chose him over 16 rivals. Also, his literal co-conspirator in election crimes they committed together, Michael Cohen, is serving a multi-year sentence in prison as we speak.

None of that is to downplay what might turn up in his tax returns. But like -- Trump entered public life holding the smoking gun, after having spent years with his father racially discriminating against black people in their housing units. We don't have to wait for one.

[Cause]

 Azath Vitr (D, on 07 October 2019 - 06:15 PM, said:

Trump tweeted this today: 'As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over...'

This was incredible. He reminds me of a basketball star being interviewed. The ones that speak about themselves in third person (he does this too sometimes) and praise themselves as the best thing to happen to the game.

Also when has he done it before? Lastly, he doesnt care about the ISIS prisoners. So what would be off limits? Didnt Trump say he thinks the US should do more waterboarding?

[worry]

Yah, he also said we should kill the families of suspected terrorists.

Coincidentally, civilian deaths in America's wars (and police actions or whatever euphemism we got for them) -- which were already shameful under GWB and Obama -- have "skyrocketed" under Trump: in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Syria, and in Somalia. Wherever we're raining death, it's become a flood: https://theintercept...casualties-war/

[Cause]

Apparently the pentagon has said the Trump tweet was misunderstood and there is no change on the ground. Seriously how many times can this disfunction exist before someone gets worried.

Also Trump says the FCC won its net nuetrality case when in fact it lost.

[Tapper]

 Cause, on 07 October 2019 - 07:08 PM, said:

 Azath Vitr (D, on 07 October 2019 - 06:15 PM, said:

Trump tweeted this today: 'As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over...'

This was incredible. He reminds me of a basketball star being interviewed. The ones that speak about themselves in third person (he does this too sometimes) and praise themselves as the best thing to happen to the game.

Also when has he done it before? Lastly, he doesnt care about the ISIS prisoners. So what would be off limits? Didnt Trump say he thinks the US should do more waterboarding?

The off-limits bit is related to the Kurds, long standing American allies in northern Syria and northern Iraq both. They're an ethnic group that claims part of Turkey, Syria and Iraq as their own and is seeking independence/autonomy from all three. In both Syria and Iraq, this (combined with the fact that they're fierce fighters) made them logical allies for the US, but that alliance put the US at odds with the Turkish government, who are not keen on the Kurds - and that's a bit of an understatement.

The Turks couldn't care less for Syria/ ISIS as a whole, they just don't want the Kurds to establish themselves with any degree of autonomy in Syria, fearing it would be used as a platform to pursue Kurdish independence in Turkey from. Hence the Turkish offer to take over the 30 kilometer deep safe zone between Turkey and Syria, where they would "continue the fight against terrorists." Spoiler: the Turkish government refers to the militant Turkish-Kurd freedom movement PKK as terrorists. Trump probably figured he'd bring troops home, make Erdogan happy by handing over the safe zone to a NATO partner, and get rid of the prisoners in one go - as for the Kurds, Trump probably thought they were a type of cookie.

Re: boycot: iirc, there has been a boycot of Turkey under Trump before, I think related to the previous visit of Erdogan to the US, when Turkish bodyguards of Erdogan molested activists demonstrating against him outside the embassy grounds, but it might also be related to the repeated attempts to extract Gülen from the US towards Turkey, including an attempted kidnapping, following the putsch against Erdogan. Essentially, the US has boycotted Turkey (partially) before, and it had effect. But Turkey has a pretty unstable economy and Erdogan could just threaten to release the ISIS captives, or threaten to look to Russia, instead.

This post has been edited by Tapper: 08 October 2019 - 01:12 PM

[D'rek]

And apparently only a month or two ago the U.S. convinced the Kurds to dismantle some of their defenses in the "safe zone"... now the U.S. withdraws and Turkey immediately starts attacking "terrorists" (Kurds) in the area?

[Abyss]

Quote

I, in my great and unmatched wisdom

In case anyone missed it, he's gone full supervillain.
Up next are a moustache to twirl and robotic henchpeople.

[worry]

[Tiste Simeon]

 Abyss, on 08 October 2019 - 02:01 PM, said:

Quote

I, in my great and unmatched wisdom

In case anyone missed it, he's gone full supervillain.
Up next are a moustache to twirl and robotic henchpeople.

I mean, if we're being technical, his wisdom is unmatched...

Not in the way he meant it, perhaps...

[Garak]

And isn't Mike Pence a robot?

[Tsundoku]

 worry, on 08 October 2019 - 09:16 PM, said:

Time for a digital revolution which starts with the 1% waking up to find 99% of their wealth has been hacked and spread to more worthy causes a la "Sneakers".

@Garak
No, robots have more emotional range.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 09 October 2019 - 10:29 AM

[Abyss]

 Tiste Simeon, on 08 October 2019 - 10:18 PM, said:

 Abyss, on 08 October 2019 - 02:01 PM, said:

Quote

I, in my great and unmatched wisdom

In case anyone missed it, he's gone full supervillain.
Up next are a moustache to twirl and robotic henchpeople.

I mean, if we're being technical, his wisdom is unmatched...

Not in the way he meant it, perhaps...

I'm reasonably sure his spawn are working with a similar Wisdom score and probably less Intelligence. Charisma is debatable. Don't get me started on Dexterity.

 Garak, on 09 October 2019 - 05:17 AM, said:

And isn't Mike Pence a robot?

See? SEE!!!??!?!

 Tsundoku, on 09 October 2019 - 10:28 AM, said:

 worry, on 08 October 2019 - 09:16 PM, said:

Time for a digital revolution which starts with the 1% waking up to find 99% of their wealth has been hacked and spread to more worthy causes a la "Sneakers".

@Garak
No, robots have more emotional range.

NOT THE NEUTERED HENCHROBOTS MODELS!!!! TO ARMS!!! TO ARMS!!!! (BUT NOT FIREARMS!!!!!!)

[Lady Bliss]

I would actually welcome a Canadian takeover.

[worry]

Wow, Sneakers has an oddly broad and durable cultural impact for a movie that nobody ever really talks about. This thread is now about USA Politics AND the movie Sneakers.