The Trump Presidency – 2016

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

NATO, WTO, and the EU are the keys to global peace.

LOL.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

It will be a miracle if NATO survives Trump.

https://www.theatlantic.com/internat...-trump/564854/

Interesting piece in The Atlantic that makes arguments for why those types of fears are Henny Penny sky falling thinking.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

So now the count is up to eight wrestlers at Ohio State who said Jim Jordan knew what was happening and did nothing:


Eighth Ex-OSU Wrestler Says Jordan Knew About Sexual Abuse

Jim Jordan getting annoyed at the "fake news" CNN for contacting all his staff and interns for dirt on him:


Rep. Jim Jordan‏Verified account @Jim_Jordan









Now @CNN is contacting all 100+ of our former staff and interns asking for dirt on me. Getting desperate! How can you ever trust such #fakenews?

[Thomkal]

Paul Ryan says the Ethics committee won't open an investigation into the wrestlers claims against Jordan:


AP PoliticsVerified account @AP_Politics
House Speaker Paul Ryan says the House Ethics Committee would not look at wrestlers' claims against Rep. Jim Jordan because the alleged events occurred before he was in office. http://apne.ws/P9hrGgu '

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Izulde

https://www.theatlantic.com/internat...-trump/564854/

Interesting piece in The Atlantic that makes arguments for why those types of fears are Henny Penny sky falling thinking.

I'd say the big difference is that this is the first time an American president has questioned the alliance and refuses to state publicly that he'll honor article 5.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Paul Ryan says the Ethics committee won't open an investigation into the wrestlers claims against Jordan:


AP PoliticsVerified account @AP_Politics
House Speaker Paul Ryan says the House Ethics Committee would not look at wrestlers' claims against Rep. Jim Jordan because the alleged events occurred before he was in office. http://apne.ws/P9hrGgu '

Honestly, I don't have an issue with his reasoning. That's really between Jordan and his constituents and what, if any legal standing remains. He's still going to have to go back to Ohio and deal with this. I doubt it'll go away, in fact, it could be the sort of thing that just festers and makes matters worse for him.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

So Mueller responded to Manafort's request for better conditions in jail with this:

https://assets.documentcloud.org/doc...o-Continue.pdf

Seems as if he is living the high-life right now. He'll be moving to Alexandria soon.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/11/polit...lls/index.html

The statements from prosecutors on Wednesday came alongside an order from Judge T.S. Ellis who wrote that Manafort will be moved to a federal jail in Alexandria, Virginia, before his trial. The former Trump campaign chairman had said Tuesday that he wanted to stay at Northern Neck Regional Jail, two hours from DC, citing security concerns.
:
Prosecutors say Manafort is being held in a private living unit larger than where other inmates stay that has its own bathroom, shower, telephone and workspace, and he has a laptop with an extension cord he can use daily in his room at Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Virginia. Manafort doesn't have to wear a prison jumpsuit, the filing adds.

Manafort has even used a workaround, prosecutors allege, to send more emails than he's allowed on the laptop he has in jail.

To send those extra emails, he "reads and composes emails on a second laptop that is shuttled in and out of the facility by his team. When the team takes the laptop from the jail, it reconnects to the internet and Manafort's emails are transmitted," the filing stated.

Manafort's attorneys objected to the prosecutors' descriptions of the jail conditions, saying the idea of being a "VIP" is exaggerated.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Best laid plans and all...

I really don't like Papa John's so not a big deal to me.

But I am somewhat upset re: Col. Sanders because I do like KFC. I think I can rationalize he gets a pass because of the time and place. If it was now, it would definitely be a bigger problem.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

NATO, WTO, and the EU are the keys to global peace. We're always going to be the big dog in NATO because that's what benefits us. Having peace and a stable economic system is the foundation of our power.

NATO relevance has declined but since we are in a pseudo/beginnings of a new cold war, I'll buy it. I can also see WTO with a process to resolve economic/trade issues.

EU goes a little too far. Regional peace maybe but don't see global peace. I would put the UN before the EU.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Seems as if he is living the high-life right now. He'll be moving to Alexandria soon.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/11/polit...lls/index.html

Manafort himself called it VIP treatment, so good luck trying to defend that

[JPhillips]

We've been very supportive of European integration after WW1 & WW2 because it was thought, and turned out to be true, that a tight bond between European countries would lead to a more peaceful Europe and world. A big war in Europe is not going to be contained to Europe, so stopping wars there benefits the entire world.

Losing the WW2 generation has proven to be dangerous because all across the globe we're forgetting how things used to be and that a generally peaceful planet is an historical anomaly.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Edward64

EU goes a little too far. Regional peace maybe but don't see global peace. I would put the UN before the EU.

Within the context of Big Damn Donnybrooks, the EU absolutely contributes to world peace.

There's always gonna be little brushfires, conflicts in parts of the world that escape the notice.

But when Europe ignites, the world burns.

That's the lesson of 1939, 1914, and 1618.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Paul Ryan says the Ethics committee won't open an investigation into the wrestlers claims against Jordan:

They ran a pedophile for Senate. I don't think they care about this. In fact, they're claiming it's a "deep state" conspiracy.

We're a decade away from Subway Jared giving the keynote at the RNC convention.

GOP Rep Says Purported Abuse Victims Tied to Deep State:

"They are people who have loose affiliation with a deep state out to get Jim Jordan and this is the way they are manifesting their hatred for a man who is doing everything to fight for the regular folks in this country." pic.twitter.com/uH5gOleSNK

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 12, 2018

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Within the context of Big Damn Donnybrooks, the EU absolutely contributes to world peace.

There's always gonna be little brushfires, conflicts in parts of the world that escape the notice.

But when Europe ignites, the world burns.

That's the lesson of 1939, 1914, and 1618.

Sure, I'll concede "contributes" but is the EU a "key to global peace". I don't see it rising to that level.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

They ran a pedophile for Senate. I don't think they care about this. In fact, they're claiming it's a "deep state" conspiracy.

We're a decade away from Subway Jared giving the keynote at the RNC convention.

GOP Rep Says Purported Abuse Victims Tied to Deep State:

"They are people who have loose affiliation with a deep state out to get Jim Jordan and this is the way they are manifesting their hatred for a man who is doing everything to fight for the regular folks in this country." pic.twitter.com/uH5gOleSNK

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 12, 2018

Put the words "Deep State" in any statement and at least half the GOP will believe anything you say at this point.

[JPhillips]

The combination of NATO and the EU is the guarantor of European peace. NATO binds them militarily and the EU binds them economically. The two together make war between most European states nearly unthinkable. Take away either one of those two groups and the chances for conflict increase.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I really don't like Papa John's so not a big deal to me.

But I am somewhat upset re: Col. Sanders because I do like KFC. I think I can rationalize he gets a pass because of the time and place. If it was now, it would definitely be a bigger problem.

He snitched on the Colonel!

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Losing the WW2 generation has proven to be dangerous because all across the globe we're forgetting how things used to be and that a generally peaceful planet is an historical anomaly.

Agree with this 100%. With all the fake news and fear mongering it's easy to forget that large swathes of the West is in an almost historically unprecedented period of peace and relative prosperity. If this post-WW2 gen doesn't read their history books, it might seem like stretches like this will go on forever, or get better and better, when the exact opposite is certain at some point. Things can, and will, get much much worse, and almost certainly not any better than they are today. I don't think that's a pessimistic view either, just a realistic one backed up by a solid 4000+ years of recorded human history.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Sure, I'll concede "contributes" but is the EU a "key to global peace". I don't see it rising to that level.

"a" key? without question. "the" key? Debatable, but if Europe had a silver bullet, they wouldn't have fought (essentially) three world wars getting to where they are now.

The EU secures economic cooperation and NATO secures military cooperation. Those are the two major reasons any European countries might have for conflict with one another; remove them from play, and what you have is a generally peaceful Europe, which means a generally peaceful planet.

Not "no wars, anywhere, ever," but no conflagrations that draw in the world's 10-20 largest economies and lay waste to a generation.

[NobodyHere]

Stormy Daniels arrested while performing at Ohio strip club, her lawyer, Michael Avenatti says - CBS News

I'm drunk and I don't know what this means but I'm entertained none-the-less.

ETA:

Originally Posted by Article

An Ohio law known as the Community Defense Act bars any non-family members form touching a nude or semi-nude dancer, according to The Associated Press.

So only family members can touch nude strippers? Who made this law? Was there some state congressman who said "I want to touch my stripping cousin but no one else can"?

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I really don't like Papa John's so not a big deal to me.

But I am somewhat upset re: Col. Sanders because I do like KFC. I think I can rationalize he gets a pass because of the time and place. If it was now, it would definitely be a bigger problem.

I saw the best tweet last night:

"Waiting for the white smoke to rise from the pizza oven, indicating the selection of a new Papa John"

This whole thing is the absurdity of the US in 2018 in a nutshell. One, just because the N word was uttered, doesn't make it auto-racism. The guy was quoting someone else. Overreacting to this is stupid.

Two, why the hell would you even use the word? Just say "N-word" or "derogatory name" or something similar that gets your point across. Even in a private/business context, that was stupid.

Three, What the hell's your point? Yeah, I get it, in today's world people connected to businesses are getting hammered for hardly anything, compared to 40-50 years ago. So? Col. Sanders/KFC's hey day was the 60s and 70s when there was still segregation - it's not hard to believe he spoke that way.

This is the equivalent to getting bad press for suggesting women should stay in the kitchen and complaining because magazine and TV ads from the 50s regularly gave that kind of advice to women. What a stupid point to make, even in private and even out of frustration.

So basically, everyone and everything is stupid and pointless.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

"a" key? without question. "the" key? Debatable, but if Europe had a silver bullet, they wouldn't have fought (essentially) three world wars getting to where they are now.

The EU secures economic cooperation and NATO secures military cooperation. Those are the two major reasons any European countries might have for conflict with one another; remove them from play, and what you have is a generally peaceful Europe, which means a generally peaceful planet.

Not "no wars, anywhere, ever," but no conflagrations that draw in the world's 10-20 largest economies and lay waste to a generation.

The wording indicated that EU of one the 3 keys e.g. "NATO, WTO, and the EU are the keys to global peace."

If the proposition is that because there is relative stability in Europe and therefore a generally peaceful planet I do think that is too broad to apply globally. Sure conflicts in Europe are minimized, but there are plenty of other wars/conflicts that the EU/NATO has not played a significant part in preventing, participated in stopping, nor would they likely play a part in stopping in future.

One list of hot-spots
https://www.cfr.org/interactives/glo...nflict-tracker

List of wars since early 90's
List of wars 1990–2002 - Wikipedia

FWIW, I do think UN is a better substitute than EU as one of the 3. Although the UN does not prevent "no wars, anywhere, ever" it is certainly represents the rest of the "global" better.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Three, What the hell's your point? Yeah, I get it, in today's world people connected to businesses are getting hammered for hardly anything, compared to 40-50 years ago. So? Col. Sanders/KFC's hey day was the 60s and 70s when there was still segregation - it's not hard to believe he spoke that way.

This is the equivalent to getting bad press for suggesting women should stay in the kitchen and complaining because magazine and TV ads from the 50s regularly gave that kind of advice to women. What a stupid point to make, even in private and even out of frustration.

So basically, everyone and everything is stupid and pointless.

Thanks man. I'm taking this as an okay to enjoy KFC without feeling bad.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Thanks man. I'm taking this as an okay to enjoy KFC without feeling bad.

Except for your stomach, immediately after eating KFC.

[Ksyrup]

I love Popeyes, but it doesn't exactly do good things for me within a couple of hours of eating.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Except for your stomach, immediately after eating KFC.

I've tried Church's, Popeyes & Bojangles and think KFC is better for traditional fried chicken (and love their cole slaw).

IMO, CFA has the best chicken sandwich and Zaxby's the best chicken salad.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I saw the best tweet last night:

"Waiting for the white smoke to rise from the pizza oven, indicating the selection of a new Papa John"

This whole thing is the absurdity of the US in 2018 in a nutshell. One, just because the N word was uttered, doesn't make it auto-racism. The guy was quoting someone else. Overreacting to this is stupid.

Two, why the hell would you even use the word? Just say "N-word" or "derogatory name" or something similar that gets your point across. Even in a private/business context, that was stupid.

Three, What the hell's your point? Yeah, I get it, in today's world people connected to businesses are getting hammered for hardly anything, compared to 40-50 years ago. So? Col. Sanders/KFC's hey day was the 60s and 70s when there was still segregation - it's not hard to believe he spoke that way.

This is the equivalent to getting bad press for suggesting women should stay in the kitchen and complaining because magazine and TV ads from the 50s regularly gave that kind of advice to women. What a stupid point to make, even in private and even out of frustration.

So basically, everyone and everything is stupid and pointless.

The statement from the PR company that quit sure makes it sound like there was a pattern of problems rather than one incident.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Edward64

NATO relevance has declined but since we are in a pseudo/beginnings of a new cold war, I'll buy it. I can also see WTO with a process to resolve economic/trade issues.

EU goes a little too far. Regional peace maybe but don't see global peace. I would put the UN before the EU.

It is definitely a tense time, not least because the US is teaming up with the rogue powers such as Russia, North Korea while abusing its former allies.

As far as I can tell Trump is basically taking a stance for pulling out of NATO in the future and I doubt any European leader is planning on the US to help with defense in the future.

If Trump isn't a Russian stooge then he's at the very least attempting to dismantle the European Union in the hope that allows the US to be a more successful bully against individual countries than a bloc. That he doesn't care if that allows Russia to invade further countries there seems incredibly short-sighted as any conflict there will eventually effect the US.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Goddammit I'm so pissed at the people and their protest votes last fall, right now. FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! all day and all night. FUCK YOU for your shortsighted vision and 'morals'. FUCK YOU for fucking this all up for the rest of my fucking life. You're all fucking fucks to me.

Democrats are more analytical than Republicans — barely | YaleNews

Yale psychologists Pennycook and David Rand used the data to test a contentious theory that conservatives and Republicans tend to think more intuitively, or go with their gut instincts, while liberals and Democrats tend to be more willing to reflectively analyze issues.
-----

While results of the Yale research do show Clinton voters scored slightly higher than Trump voters (6%) on tests designed to measure cognitive reflection or analytical thinking, much of the difference disappeared if Democrats who voted for Trump, the least analytical subgroup, were eliminated from the equation. Intriguingly, said the researchers, political moderates and non-voters tended to be the least reflective, and libertarians the most reflective.

[Thomkal]

Well if you didn't already know how divided this country is one look at the twitter comments about Peter Strzok's testimony before Congress today clearly shows it. He's either a hero/patriot or the vilest human being ever.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

The statement from the PR company that quit sure makes it sound like there was a pattern of problems rather than one incident.

I've also read that it wasn't the only thing said on the call that was offensive. Not sure Papa J is the guy you want to defend here.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by digamma

I've also read that it wasn't the only thing said on the call that was offensive. Not sure Papa J is the guy you want to defend here.

Yeah. If I'm on the right, I'm just saying this guy isn't representative, etc. etc. etc. and leaving him to make pizza and drop N-bombs on his own time.

Does make it funny that Papa Johns dropped the NFL earlier because it said that the police/anthem protests were bad for its business. Certainly saves the NFL the trouble of having to make a similar decision.

[Edward64]

Maybe Ambien has struck again?

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by digamma

I've also read that it wasn't the only thing said on the call that was offensive. Not sure Papa J is the guy you want to defend here.

Yeah this guy has a history of saying ignorant/stupid shit. Crazy how people can be so smart/brilliant in their field while completely lacking common sense/civility. Or does that much money just give you a sense of invincibility.

[Ksyrup]

Well, if the line you draw is "crap that Col. Sanders got away with saying," that probably explains it.

His fall was almost as fast as Pitino's (or I should say, as fast as Pitino). Fitting that Louisville's FB stadium is named for Papa Johns.

Again, not as a defense of what he said, but to my original point, I do think it is ridiculous that this particular use of the N word is being generally characterized as a "slur." Yes, the word itself is a slur, but he didn't use it as a slur. The inability for people to see things for what they are is maddening sometimes. You can condemn him for using the word and still recognize he was merely quoting someone else in a broader context and not directing it at someone. It was wrong, but for different reasons. That doesn't seem to matter - either that's lost on people, or they are willfully ignoring that fact.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Well, if the line you draw is "crap that Col. Sanders got away with saying," that probably explains it.

His fall was almost as fast as Pitino's (or I should say, as fast as Pitino). Fitting that Louisville's FB stadium is named for Papa Johns.

Again, not as a defense of what he said, but to my original point, I do think it is ridiculous that this particular use of the N word is being generally characterized as a "slur." Yes, the word itself is a slur, but he didn't use it as a slur. The inability for people to see things for what they are is maddening sometimes. You can condemn him for using the word and still recognize he was merely quoting someone else in a broader context and not directing it at someone. It was wrong, but for different reasons. That doesn't seem to matter - either that's lost on people, or they are willfully ignoring that fact.

It's not like he was singing along with The Weeknd or Kendrick Lamar here.

[JPhillips]

Wouldn't context matter? If he said something like, "Wow, times have changed. Colonel Sanders said n@#$#@, but now we all have to be more careful," I would agree it's not clear cut.

But if he said something like, "Colonel Sanders said n@#$#@, so why do I need to watch what I say?" that isn't just pointing out an historical fact.

Apparently the UofL stadium deal may allow Schnatter to rename the stadium now that he's no longer with Papa Johns. After the Pitino stuff they deserve Schantter Field.

[Ksyrup]

I think the context was, he was complaining that what he said wasn't nearly as bad as Col. Sanders using the N word. I don't see that as being some sort of acceptance of the use - although, as mentioned previously, he was stupid to even say it, and his point was not all that persuasive.

[Thomkal]

Ya remember when Trump said North Korea had returned remains of 200 war dead...


North Korea was supposed to meet with the US today in the DMZ to discuss this further. Never showed, never called, nothing.


http://thehill.com/policy/internatio...-troops-report

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I think the context was, he was complaining that what he said wasn't nearly as bad as Col. Sanders using the N word. I don't see that as being some sort of acceptance of the use - although, as mentioned previously, he was stupid to even say it, and his point was not all that persuasive.

I'm not clear on the context given the limited quote I've seen.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Ya remember when Trump said North Korea had returned remains of 200 war dead...


North Korea was supposed to meet with the US today in the DMZ to discuss this further. Never showed, never called, nothing.


http://thehill.com/policy/internatio...-troops-report

It’s all one giant con

[stevew]

I guess people on the conference call musta felt that he had a hard R chambered?

[Izulde]

https://www.politico.eu/article/idio...d-trump-visit/

I laughed long and loud in my office at this.

[Thomkal]

heh Izulde that's pretty good


My favorite part of the whole Strzok debacle is when (D) Gerry Connolly read emails to him where the writer said negative things about Trump during the election, and asked him if he wrote them. After he said no, he revealed who did write them-all Republican members of Congress.


Found a link for it: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...ushpmg00000016

[mckerney]

Peter Strzok Summoned Before Congress Again For Texts Calling Trey Gowdy ‘A Pissy Little Shithead’ https://t.co/3I62ScLHoV pic.twitter.com/MjnSPYsbnM

— The Onion (@TheOnion) July 12, 2018

[whomario]

Trump attacks London mayor over terrorism: 'He has done a terrible job' | TheHill

And Khan is the one allegedly acting out of personal spite with allowing that float. Suuuuuure ...

[cuervo72]

"I also represent a lot of people in Europe because a lot of people from Europe are in the United States," he added.

What?

[JPhillips]

In case there's any doubt whether Trump is a white nationalist,

“I think what has happened to Europe is a shame.

“Allowing the immigration to take place in Europe is a shame.

“I think it changed the fabric of Europe and, unless you act very quickly, it’s never going to be what it was and I don’t mean that in a positive way.

[RainMaker]

LOL

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/39...r-trump-summit

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Edward64

The wording indicated that EU of one the 3 keys e.g. "NATO, WTO, and the EU are the keys to global peace."

Yes. You note the plural there? No one of them is solely responsible. If there are more than one, then any given one is "a" key, not "the" key.

Get rid of NATO, the WTO, and other parts of the post-WW2 order, and the EU by itself ain't gonna do shit. But European integration in general is how you avoid world-spanning conflicts.

When Europe ignites, the world burns.

And, again, keeping Europe from getting rowdy and fractious doesn't mean there won't be any wars ever. Global peace doesn't mean (sadly) that everybody sings kumbaya over s'mores and hot cocoa.

It DOES mean the world's wealthiest nations aren't sending a generation or two into the meat grinder to satisfy the egos of their rulers.

And a world where the wealthiest nations aren't at each other's throats is a world where the wealthiest nations have both the focus and the resources to try to help other nations find security without conflict.