Topic: Sound The TRUMPets! A Thread for Presidential Pondering 2016-2020(?)

[SimonNZ]

Amitted Russian spy Maria Butina’s Republican operative boyfriend wrote in private communications that he was involved in setting up a “very private line of communication” between Russia and the Trump campaign using the National Rifle Association as a “conduit.”

[Daverz]

Good news: looks like that prison reform bill may pass after all.  Rawstory frames it as Tom Cotton making an ass of himself, but that's always good:

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/tom-cotton-humiliated-gop-ignores-efforts-curtail-bipartisan-criminal-justice-reform/

[SimonNZ]

U.S. House leaders should refuse to seat Ross Spano

[...]

"Florida Politics’ Jacob Ogles and the Tampa Bay Times’ Steve Cantorno report that Spano put out a news release on Saturday in which he said that he borrowed $185,000 from two people and then lent his campaign $167,000 during the same time period.

During the campaign, he said the money had come from personal funds.

In his release, Spano said he believed he was acting in compliance with the law.

Actually, the opposite is true.

Loans made to a candidate to help with a campaign run afoul of campaign laws when they exceed contribution limits.

Accordingly, Ross Spano’s election is a fraud. He stole an election. Probably not from Kristen Carlson (although an argument can be made there that he did) but almost certainly from Combee.

Because at the time Spano was accepting that money and loaning it to his campaign, one poll after another showed Combee leading Spano. Of more than 16 races, the only outcome in a down-ballot contest incorrectly forecast by St. Pete Polls was Spano’s defeat of Combee."

[SimonNZ]

A devastating report details a ‘monumental’ assault on science at the Department of the Interior

"Among the up-is-down, night-is-day practices of the Trump administration, one of the most dangerous and disturbing is its habit of turning America’s leading science agencies into hives of anti-science policymaking.

A new report lays out how this has produced a “monumental disaster” for science at the Department of the Interior. The report by the Union of Concerned Scientists details how Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his minions have in the space of two years turned Interior from a steward of public lands and natural resources into a front for the mining and oil and gas industries."

[JBS]

A devastating report details a ‘monumental’ assault on science at the Department of the Interior

"Among the up-is-down, night-is-day practices of the Trump administration, one of the most dangerous and disturbing is its habit of turning America’s leading science agencies into hives of anti-science policymaking.

A new report lays out how this has produced a “monumental disaster” for science at the Department of the Interior. The report by the Union of Concerned Scientists details how Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his minions have in the space of two years turned Interior from a steward of public lands and natural resources into a front for the mining and oil and gas industries."

Merely making a bad situation worse. To some degree the Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management  have always been a front for mining and oil/gas. Environmentally aware Presidents curb it somewhat, but the nexus has been there from the start.

[Todd]

He's basically telling us that he likes the way Russia is crippling Ukraine with a phoney war and that it provides a nice model for the US, too.

Incorrect.

You are the simpleton here supporting American exceptionalism and the corruption where tax payer money is funneled to the military industry complex

Incorrect.

Perhaps you missed?: "There is no reason to believe that the US will not and should not adopt an approach consistent with traditional power politics"

Derp.

There are so many ways that GDP figures can be distorted, I'm not convinced that the US economy is meaningfully bigger than Canada's on a per capita basis.  And even if it were, that might suggest extra waste rather than well-being.

Here's a more meaningful indicator: life expectancy.
Canada: 82.30
USA: 78.69 (and falling!!!)

Difference: 3.61 years

It is worth noting that both the US and Canadian health care systems are heavily regulated.  The difference is that the Canadian health care system is comparatively well-regulated.

How is it possible that the US health care system so blatantly and significantly underperforms? 

Maybe the widely-held presumption of US superiority – as so generously exemplified by Todd's recent comments – is partly to blame.  It's harder to make necessary but difficult reforms when you're blinded by smug self-satisfaction.

Derp. 

Actually, what he basically says is that US were grabbing land a century before Putin's birth.

If I understand Todd correctly, for him "might is right" is descriptive, not prescriptive: the foreign policy of any given great power is dictated first and foremost by strategic or even momentary selfish interests. He is opposed to ex post facto moralistic rationalizations and he thinks that things are not going to change any time soon, UN-style talks and conferences notwithstanding. You might regard his views as cynical but the whole recorded history supports them.

Plus, I don't see how he can be considered a supporter of American imperialism, exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny. I infer from his posts that he's not happy with America's foreign policy and would like to see a massive downscaling of her military involvement abroad. Actually, if NATO means American hegemony then you and I are much more of an American imperialist than Todd.

GMG is one of the most entertaining sites I visit.  Nowhere else do people who obviously fancy themselves very well educated and informed so widely misunderstand the written word.  Part of it is down to ESL limitations, to be sure, but part of it seems almost willful.  Or at least I hope it is willful, given the alternative.  I've been explicit about the foolishness of American Exceptionalism, US foreign policy generally, the obscenely large US military budget, as well as the need to eliminate or shrink NATO, and the irresponsibility of US military adventurism, but on this site that apparently translates into militaristic 'Murica boosting.  Between this reality and the expert legal analysis on offer here, this site causes many a chuckle.

[Todd]

Now for some good news:

Texas Judge Strikes Down Obama’s Affordable Care Act as Unconstitutional

[71 dB]

Me: You are the simpleton here supporting American exceptionalism and the corruption where tax payer money is funneled to the military industry complex

You: Incorrect.

Your lazy response doesn't specify which part of my statement is incorrect. Maybe you don't think you are a simpleton, but a good way to avoid being called a simpleton is to not call others simpletons and also it helps if you say smart things. Or maybe you feel you don't support American exceptionalism, but you certainly give us the impression you do ("Canada is a bitch of the USA" etc.). Or maybe you don't think tax payer money is funneled to military industry complex because of corruption, but how do you explain the USA military budget being larger than the 8-9 next biggest military budgets combined, many of which are allies of the USA and the fact that huge increases of the budget aren't politically very hard and most of the time happen in complete bipartisan way instead of fiscal conservatism.

GMG is one of the most entertaining sites I visit.  Nowhere else do people who obviously fancy themselves very well educated and informed so widely misunderstand the written word.  Part of it is down to ESL limitations, to be sure, but part of it seems almost willful.  Or at least I hope it is willful, given the alternative.  I've been explicit about the foolishness of American Exceptionalism, US foreign policy generally, the obscenely large US military budget, as well as the need to eliminate or shrink NATO, and the irresponsibility of US military adventurism, but on this site that apparently translates into militaristic 'Murica boosting.  Between this reality and the expert legal analysis on offer here, this site causes many a chuckle.

I don't see it entertaining at all to see some supposedly intellectually curious fans of classical music supporting the morally bankrupt and corrupted politics of the Republicans and the reality tv clown that became POTUS because of the sad state of the US politics and society. It is alarming.

I'm sorry if I have misundertood written word. English isn't my first language, but I think I can understand English language quite well. Sometimes I encounter a new (scarcely used)  English word I don't know, but Google Translate is my friend. One examply of such a word is 'emolument', which I learned because Trump has tons of emolument clause problems and people talk about them. Good for you if you condemn American Exceptionalism, but refraining from comments like "Canada is the bitch of the US" would make a stronger case. Or was it the opinion of Trump's administration, not your opinion?

[Todd]

Or maybe you don't think tax payer money is funneled to military industry complex because of corruption, but how do you explain the USA military budget being larger than the 8-9 next biggest military budgets combined, many of which are allies of the USA and the fact that huge increases of the budget aren't politically very hard and most of the time happen in complete bipartisan way instead of fiscal conservatism.

Huh? 

As to Canada being America's bitch, that's just the way it is:



Look at the obedient Trudeau.  Sure, he may not have wanted to sign the agreement, and sure, his Foreign Minister (and former The Economist scribe) Chrystia Freeland bellyached about it, but he scribbled his signature and clapped like he had to.  On a similar note, Belarus is Russia's bitch.  Your whole bit about what makes a stronger case is twaddle.

[arpeggio]

My Trumpster brother is visiting and although he is always trying to pick a fight with me concerning politics I refuse to engage him and remain silent.

He lives in North Carolina and is having all sorts of problems with his health insurance.  He is always complaining about his problems because he want to pick a fight with me concerning the Affordable Care Act.  He assumes that since I am a Democrat that I think the ACA is great.  I do not.  I have all sorts of problems with it.  I do not dare tell him that.  He does not want to here it because he wants a fight.  This is one of the reasons I am at a loss of how to respond to conservatives because they constantly accuse me of believing in things that I do not.

[71 dB]

My Trumpster brother is visiting and although he is always trying to pick a fight with me concerning politics I refuse to engage him and remain silent.

He lives in North Carolina and is having all sorts of problems with his health insurance.  He is always complaining about his problems because he want to pick a fight with me concerning the Affordable Care Act.  He assumes that since I am a Democrat that I think the ACA is great.  I do not.  I have all sorts of problems with it.  I do not dare tell him that.  He does not want to here it because he wants a fight.  This is one of the reasons I am at a loss of how to respond to conservatives because they constantly accuse me of believing in things that I do not.

How hard is it when the facts are on your side? Just ask him how much more does he make now that the Trump tax cuts are in effect. Ask him why does he complain about ACA when Trump has repelled it and replaced it with something better. Just tell him you don't like ACA and you want single payer system that every other nation has and is superior. Just ask him if he think Trump has handled the e. coli lettuce/clean water crisis correctly. Watch 10 Youtube videos by Kyle Kulinski and you are ready to shut up your moronic brother for good.

[71 dB]

Huh? 

As to Canada being America's bitch, that's just the way it is:



Look at the obedient Trudeau.  Sure, he may not have wanted to sign the agreement, and sure, his Foreign Minister (and former The Economist scribe) Chrystia Freeland bellyached about it, but he scribbled his signature and clapped like he had to.  On a similar note, Belarus is Russia's bitch.  Your whole bit about what makes a stronger case is twaddle.

Hah, you mean how Trudeau and Obrador where amused because Trump didn't know how to sign the contract? Just look at that "toddler signature". If anyone is a bitch it's Trump himself. He is the bitch of Saudi-Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Israel and Russia. All the criminals who are willing to lend him money to launder it or to get political favours. The US will collapse within the next 20 years like the Roman empire because of intellectual bankruptcy, income inequaty and corruption unless the left (Bernie Sanders & co.) get power and restore sanity and democracy to the country after four decades of crony capitalism. You see, I'm not anti-US. I love a lot of American things from Star Wars to Wrestling to Reese's peanut butter cups. I want the richest country in the World to fulfil it's potential. The US has to be rescued from itself and that's why we need the giant jump to the left, move the Overton window where it belongs. If anything good has come from Trump's presidency, it's the fact Americans are finally realizing this.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

How hard is it when the facts are on your side? Just ask him how much more does he make now that the Trump tax cuts are in effect. Ask him why does he complain about ACA when Trump has repelled it and replaced it with something better. Just tell him you don't like ACA and you want single payer system that every other nation has and is superior. Just ask him if he think Trump has handled the e. coli lettuce/clean water crisis correctly. Watch 10 Youtube videos by Kyle Kulinski and you are ready to shut up your moronic brother for good.

He has to remove all knives from the house before trying your strategy....

[JBS]

How hard is it when the facts are on your side? Just ask him how much more does he make now that the Trump tax cuts are in effect. Ask him why does he complain about ACA when Trump has repelled it and replaced it with something better. Just tell him you don't like ACA and you want single payer system that every other nation has and is superior. Just ask him if he think Trump has handled the e. coli lettuce/clean water crisis correctly. Watch 10 Youtube videos by Kyle Kulinski and you are ready to shut up your moronic brother for good.

I bolded that, because those issues are really state issues with some, but only some, input from federal regulators.   Trump has little control over this, except perhaps using his Twitter megaphone.

[71 dB]

I bolded that, because those issues are really state issues with some, but only some, input from federal regulators.   Trump has little control over this, except perhaps using his Twitter megaphone.

Whatever control federal regulators have, it's important.

Six months before people were sickened by the contaminated romaine, Trumps FDA - responding to pressure from the farm industry and Trump's order to eliminate regulations - shelved the water-testing rules for at least four years.

https://theintercept.com/2018/12/09/clean-water-act-regulations/

[JBS]

Whatever control federal regulators have, it's important.

Six months before people were sickened by the contaminated romaine, Trumps FDA - responding to pressure from the farm industry and Trump's order to eliminate regulations - shelved the water-testing rules for at least four years.

https://theintercept.com/2018/12/09/clean-water-act-regulations/

Ahem...those rule changes are not good, but they have absolutely nothing to do with the e. coli outbreak.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Another thing to note is that there is E.Coli literally everywhere, on everything, on everyone, in all food. Food problems are typically caused by a pathogenic strain of E.Coli (which produces a toxin in the course of their metabolism) or very high concentrations. The romaine lettuce problems happened because some farms had reservoirs that were contaminated with such bacteria. How it got there, who knows? Drought makes water hard to find in agricultural areas. The Federal CDC tracked it down, the department of agriculture and the state presumably have rules for farm safety, but ultimately we rely on the fact that poisoning people is not good for business and farms police themselves.

BTW, it came from here:



Looks like a toxic hell hole, no?

Here are the sons of bitches trying to poison us:

[amw]

Good news: looks like that prison reform bill may pass after all.  Rawstory frames it as Tom Cotton making an ass of himself, but that's always good:

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/tom-cotton-humiliated-gop-ignores-efforts-curtail-bipartisan-criminal-justice-reform/

Tom Cotton is a very reliable political barometer in that if you took the exact opposite of every political position he holds you’d end up with the correct opinion on ~99% of all issues. It’s rare to find someone so consistently monstrous—even George W. Bush and Trump occasionally express emotions other than contempt for all living things.