What comes next?

12/23/2018 11:07:15 AM

^^^ Scahills tweets are actually pretty nuanced on this. Not sure what you’re seeing?

Maybe you’re mistaking him for the raging lunatics (and obvious Trump fans) like Greenwald/Tracey?

[Edited on December 23, 2018 at 11:08 AM. Reason : Point by point where is scahill wrong?]

12/23/2018 11:08:21 AM

I was originally thinking it seemed strange trump was elevating turkey in the region, but then I remembered trump likes brutal authoritarians.

Seems like this is going to have some negative long term repercussions...

12/23/2018 9:25:33 PM

You sound like a neocon

12/24/2018 9:54:09 AM

Also I laugh every time NYM calls Greenwald a Trump supporter. He heads one of the most prominent left-wing news outlets WITH SCAHILL. They employ exactly zero right wingers. Lol. You just equate his heavy criticism of the center and center-left with support for Trump.

Seriously your issues with the “far left” just make you look like a petty child at this point.

[Edited on December 24, 2018 at 11:31 AM. Reason : .]

12/24/2018 11:29:58 AM

What's your goal with non-interventionism, and how do you propose we get there from here?

12/24/2018 11:41:52 AM

I'm not a complete non-interventionist. In Syria, for example, I would cautiously support a defense of Rojava from the Turks. But that isn't what we're doing. Any goodwill is ultimately borne out of self-interest. US foreign policy is an evolved form of manifest destiny masquerading as benevolence. Our presence in nearly every conflict in the past half century has been vastly detrimental to the citizens of the countries involved. Because of this, I support withdrawing from all conflicts until our foreign policy is under the control of someone who doesn't believe we have the right to exploit the entire world for our benefit.

12/24/2018 12:47:06 PM

I don't mind Jeremy Scahill, but my eyes glaze over when I read a lot of Glenn Greenwald's tweets.

I wouldn't label him as a Donald Trump supporter, but I find the degree to which he casts doubt about Russia's involvement in other countries' affairs bizarre.

Also, he loses credibility points for ever appearing on Tucker Carlson Tonight.

12/24/2018 12:47:59 PM

Quote :

"Seriously your issues with the “far left” just make you look like a petty child at this point."

I don’t have issues with the far left. Do I ever attack Scahill? No. I never really even mention guys like David Sirota.

Greenwald has the same narcissistic disorder that Trump does. I simply don’t like him and don’t think he actually a real leftist (more type of civil libertarian).

[Edited on December 24, 2018 at 12:56 PM. Reason : ^ he’s textbook anti-anti-Trump. Has been since 2015.]

12/24/2018 12:55:58 PM

In any case, Trump is completely losing it recently.

Really worrying seeing his mental state in a state of further deterioration.

12/24/2018 12:59:15 PM

He's not my favorite person, by far. He's emotional and reactive but he still heads up one of the most important left-wing outlets around, so it's just dumb and counter-productive to spend so much time criticizing him because he's anti-Russiagate. It buys right into the ridiculous fish-hook theory that Neera Tanden types love to latch onto.

12/24/2018 1:03:32 PM

^^
He has no friends and no one he works with really trusts him or views him as credible.

Stephen Miller might be the only exception.

Seems like he’s being increasingly rash desperately trying to prove that he’s credible.

If he did it the right way he could have gotten a lot of credit for withdrawing from Syria, but he basically shat on his staff to announce this on twitter. Funny thing is it was reported on before the election that this was his “management style”.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-campaign-chaos-donald-trump-shows-his-management-style/2016/05/28/f24bba14-241e-11e6-9e7f-57890b612299_story.html

Quote :

"They illustrate how Trump likes to run an organization, whether it’s a real estate venture or his presidential bid. Interviews with current and former Trump associates reveal an executive who is fond of promoting rivalries among subordinates, wary of delegating major decisions, scornful of convention and fiercely insistent on a culture of loyalty around him. "

12/25/2018 1:54:50 AM

trump asked a random 7 year old on the phone if he still believes in santa

haha

12/25/2018 6:20:17 AM

Is Trump going to take credit for the stock market? Before that was his proof that the economy is awesme, thanks to him.

12/25/2018 10:36:17 AM

^SO many people were saying thank you Trump for their stock values 6 months ago. I hope they feel embarrassed, but their brains probably won't allow them to understand why they should.

12/25/2018 2:27:42 PM

He is already blaming the fed. So his supporters will just follow that narrative. Out of everything his tariff policies are prob what will hurt him more than all the other garbage.

12/25/2018 2:33:38 PM

So he's admitting there's nothing he can do on his own to improve the market, so all the credit he took earlier this year was bull

12/25/2018 3:18:46 PM

got to think when the bubble does pop its going to be worse than 2008 considering how long the fed kept interest rates crazy low

12/25/2018 8:01:03 PM

I think mortgage lending is on much more solid ground than last time. A lot of people are saying commercial and business lending is crazy!

12/25/2018 10:26:04 PM

The 2008 crash didn't happen because a housing bubble burst. It happened because a housing bubble burst while all the banks were over leveraged on a bunch of junk mortgage based investment products that credit agencies said were good as gold. Here, Ryan Gosling explains,

https://youtu.be/xbiDrzTd8fE

[Edited on December 25, 2018 at 11:29 PM. Reason : Ing]

12/25/2018 11:28:31 PM

He is losing his mind

https://edition-m.cnn.com/2018/12/25/politics/trump-oval-office-christmas/index.html

12/26/2018 2:02:05 AM

He's a political one hit wonder and people are finally getting tired of the one hit but he has to play it.

There will always be a few that insist on saying that nickleback is great music but never enough to accomplish anything.

12/26/2018 9:55:21 AM

Hmmm

https://edition-m.cnn.com/2018/12/26/politics/trump-bone-spurs-vietnam-war/index.html

12/26/2018 12:20:33 PM

-2.1% for the pay freeze because he can't balance a budget and can't give up useless pet projects.

12/29/2018 12:40:03 PM

Yeah, but all the furloughed employees are totally on board with the wall. So I'm sure they're cool with this too.

Or maybe they're deep state Democrats hell-bent on undermining his administration through a grand conspiracy (when not otherwise occupied doing absolutely nothing). In which case they're getting what they deserve.

Either way, it's a total stable genius move that's really all Pelosi's fault.

12/29/2018 2:44:08 PM

I thought he said all the people furloughed were Democrats anyways

12/29/2018 4:54:34 PM

Federal workers are whatever Trump needs them to be at that point in his sentence.

12/29/2018 9:41:45 PM

Anybody have the numbers on how much that pay increase would cost? I'd like to see those numbers vs the budget for the wall.

12/30/2018 9:00:28 AM

Trump said the locality pay and salary increase would be 25 billion, but that's Trump numbers.

12/30/2018 9:52:04 AM

What are the odds congress passes pay increases attached to the bill that pays the furloughed workers?

12/30/2018 3:04:18 PM

I'd guess pretty good odds for the House. Who knows what Turtleman's plan is.

12/30/2018 4:56:46 PM

Said today he doesn't care what Iran is doing in Syria

Seems like Trump is an extreme isolationist, but no one in his government is and he doesn't seem to care that everything he says seems to be at odds with the agendas of people he put in charge of those things.

The irony in all of this is that it's strengthening other countries in the world at the expense of the USA it seems like.

1/2/2019 6:37:45 PM

NFL ratings up 5% curious how he tries to take credit for that.. prob claim how he ended the protests and saved the NFL.

1/2/2019 9:31:47 PM

Attendance was down though, so he'll just harp on that and the base will eat it up

1/3/2019 7:30:40 AM

It’s pretty hilarious how Trump has no idea how much his presidency is about to change today.

He’s going to lose it even worse now that he has a majority party in one chamber who isn’t terrified of his base.

1/3/2019 9:08:47 AM

rjrumple: Forbes: Trump Freezing Federal Wages Saves Less Than His Wall.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2019/01/02/trump-freezing-federal-wages-saves-less-then-his-wall/

1/3/2019 11:25:54 AM

tl;dr version. 2.1% salary increase amounts to $3.6billion

1/3/2019 12:32:12 PM

so, is this one of those things where we front the money then mexico pays us back in installments?

1/3/2019 12:56:41 PM

^^^Thx

1/3/2019 1:11:42 PM

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ap-fact-check-trumps-claims-on-border-wall-drug-prices-mattis?fbclid=IwAR3Fk81uH87EM85sereLFHrlvSID7siqIuLqPRcxRdBWBNsvqrMRGzn7R1Q

Quote :

"The president, eager for company after a lonely stretch in a near-empty White House, zigzagged for more than 90 minutes from his demands for a southern border wall to his thoughts on Kanye West and his decision to pull troops out of Syria — all while a mock movie poster with his photograph and the words "SANCTIONS ARE COMING, NOVEMBER 4" sat, without explanation, in the middle of the grand Cabinet Room table."

1/3/2019 2:50:45 PM

^^^ The final draft includes a plan to add a $1.00 wall surcharge to the bill at all Mexican restaurants in the U.S.

[Edited on January 3, 2019 at 2:53 PM. Reason : ^]

1/3/2019 2:52:53 PM

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/19/trump-first-moscow-trip-215842

I had heard before Russia has been grooming Trump for decades but I never heard he took an anti NATO stance after visiting Moscow

1/3/2019 11:40:24 PM

I posted about that early in my russia-trump thread, he has been involved with Russia for decades

1/4/2019 6:40:23 AM

^^ While not earth-shattering, I found it noteworthy that Donald Trump absolutely fits the profile that the KGB was attempting to recruit.

Quote :

"The KGB also distributed a secret personality questionnaire, advising case officers what to look for in a successful recruitment operation. In April 1985 this was updated for 'prominent figures in the West.' The directorate's aim was to draw the target 'into some form of collaboration with us.' This could be 'as an agent, or confidential or special or unofficial contact.' The form demanded basic details—name, profession, family situation, and material circumstances. There were other questions, too: what was the likelihood that the 'subject could come to power (occupy the post of president or prime minister)'? And an assessment of personality. For example: 'Are pride, arrogance, egoism, ambition or vanity among subject’s natural characteristics?' The most revealing section concerned kompromat. The document asked for: 'Compromising information about subject, including illegal acts in financial and commercial affairs, intrigues, speculation, bribes, graft … and exploitation of his position to enrich himself.' Plus 'any other information' that would compromise the subject before 'the country's authorities and the general public.' Naturally the KGB could exploit this by threatening 'disclosure.' Finally, 'his attitude towards women is also of interest.' The document wanted to know: 'Is he in the habit of having affairs with women on the side?'"

1/4/2019 9:07:20 AM

Quote :

""As I have stated many times, if the Democrats take over the House or Senate, there will be disruption to the Financial Markets. We won the Senate, they won the House. Things will settle down," Trump wrote in an early-morning post on Twitter on Friday."

1/4/2019 11:03:43 AM

How will the shutdown end?

Trump declared he's willing to keep the government shut down for years. His entire schtick is to demand the outrageous then threaten to walk away, so who knows how serious he really is.

At some point McConnell will have to put a bill on the floor. I guess we'll get to see how far Republicans are willing to go by how long that takes.

1/4/2019 5:57:21 PM

Just as he loves building his lavish hotels, I really think this is just Trump needing something left behind after his presidency that "he" built. You better damn believe that IF indeed a wall is ever built, his name and face will be commemorated on it somewhere. It's all about his legacy at this point and has ZERO to do with border safety or the people of the United States.

1/4/2019 7:12:10 PM

I really think it’s going to end with GOP helping with overriding a veto. Mcconnel might get a bill with 500 million for border security, pass it, trump vetoes, senate forced to override.

Trump was ready to accept a CR but then Anne Coulter whipped him into a frenzy, followed by Fox News.

It’s really amazing to me how Trump was able to resurrect people like Coulter and Bolton that I was sure were long dead and irrelevant.

1/4/2019 9:08:11 PM

That'd certainly be the most humiliating outcome for Trump.

How does it happen? Does McConnell fold and send Trump a bill not knowing whether or not he'll sign it? Or does Trump fold, accept a low-ball deal and renege when the chattering heads start chattering?

1/5/2019 12:15:19 AM

His random, sometimes bizarre, threats--usually stemming from his complete ignorance on whatever topic he's currently rambling about--always crack me up. For instance, this whole declaring a state of emergency to secure wall funding. I want someone to just call him out. Tell him to just fucking do it then instead of threatening maybe or maybe not. Nut up, stop being a pussy, stop threatening, and just do it since you think you can.

1/5/2019 12:44:29 AM