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

[milk]

Yesterday was Ivanka's birthday.  I just wanted to share with my wonderful friends on GMG!

Good one!
Definitely one of Tumb's most qualified perfect experts.
*the key to being top troll in this forum is to convince people you really do think you're better than everyone's else and not just attempting to project that idea

[Daverz]

Yesterday was Ivanka's birthday.  I just wanted to share with my wonderful friends on GMG!

Well, at least someone is in the Halloween spirit!  What a nightmare!

[JBS]

Since I am a Finn I can't understand people like this. Did he/she think the Bill Clinton impeachment was also an assault on democracy? If not why not? Is it ok Trump is above the law and if not in what circumstances would it be ok to impeach him?

Your bewilderment is the result of not watching Fox and Friends. If you had, you would know that
--nothing Trump has done is illegal or even unethical
--the various Democratic schemes to manufacture crimes based on false evidence contrived by members of the Deep State and Democratic politicians with the aid of their allies, the mainstream media.
--the aim of these schemes is to force Trump out of office, thereby "nullifying" the election of 2016, or to so seriously wound him politically that whichever Communist the Democrats nominate will win an election they would otherwise lose to Trump.
That these premises by and large have no relation to reality is of no consequence to them.

There is a more realistic group of conservatives who would dispute Karl's remark that

If Obama had done any of the rubbish Trump has done, the GOP would have queued up for impeachment stat.

Because they feel that Obama (and Bush before him) did abuse the powers of his office, although not so blatantly and with more deference to the forms of law, and that since he and Bush escaped impeachment,  Trump should as well.

[SimonNZ]

Katie Hill's final speech to Congress:

"This is the last speech that I will give from this floor as a member of Congress. I wasn't ready for my time here to come to an end so soon. It's a reality I'm still grappling with and I will be for a long time to come. I expected or, at least hoped, to be here for as long as the voters of California's 25th District deemed me worthy of the honor of representing them. I thought I could make a difference here in making our community, our great country, and the world a better place for generations to come.

I, like so many of my colleagues, ran for office because I believed that our political system was broken, controlled by the powerful and the wealthy, ignoring and failing the regular people that it's supposed to serve. I came here to give a voice to the unheard in the halls of power. I wanted to show young people, queer people, working people, imperfect people that they belong here because this is the people's House. I fell short of that and I'm sorry.

To every young person who saw themselves and their dreams reflected in me, I'm sorry. To those who felt like I gave them hope in one of the darkest times in our nation's history, I'm sorry. To my family, my friends, my staff, my colleagues, my mentors, to everyone who has supported and believed in me, I'm sorry. To the thousands of people who spent hours knocking doors in the hot summer sun, who made countless phone calls, who sacrificed more than I could ever know to give everything they could in every possible way so that I could be here, I am so, so sorry. And to every little girl who looked up to me, I hope that one day you can forgive me. The mistakes I made and the people I've hurt that led to this moment will haunt me for the rest of my life and I have to come to terms with that.

Ever since those images first came out, I've barely left my bed. I've ignored all the calls and the texts and went to the darkest places that a mind can go and I've shed more tears than I thought were possible. I've hidden from the world because I'm terrified of facing the people that I let down, but I made it through because the people who love me most dragged me back into the light and reminded me that I was stronger than that. To those of you who were by my side in my worst moments, you know who you are. I love you, I'm so grateful, and I will never forget.

And I'm here today because so many of the people I let down–people close to me, supporters, colleagues, people I've never even met–told me to stand back up and that despite all of my faults, they still believed in me and they were still counting on me and I realized that hiding away and disappearing would be the one unforgivable sin. I will never shirk my responsibility for this sudden ending to my time here, but I have to say more because this is bigger than me.

I am leaving now because of a double standard. I am leaving because I no longer want to be used as a bargaining chip. I'm leaving because I didn't want to be peddled by papers and blogs and websites used by shameless operatives for the dirtiest, gutter politics that I've ever seen and the right-wing media to drive clicks and expand their audience by distributing intimate photos of me taken without my knowledge, let alone my consent, for the sexual entertainment of millions. I'm leaving because of a misogynistic culture that gleefully consumed my naked pictures, capitalized on my sexuality, and enabled my abusive ex to continue that abuse, this time with the entire country watching. I am leaving because of the thousands of vile, threatening emails, calls, and texts that made me fear for my life and the lives of of the people that I care about.

Today is the first time I've left my apartment since the photos taken without my consent were released and I'm scared. I'm leaving because, for the sake of my community, my staff, my family and myself, I can't allow this to continue because I've been told that people were angry when I stood strong after the first article was posted and that they had hundreds more photos and text messages that they would release bit by bit until they broke me down to nothing while they used my faults and my past to distract from the things that matter most. I'm leaving because there is only one investigation that deserves the attention of this country and that's the one that we voted on today.

Today, I ask you all to stand with me and commit to creating a future where this no longer happens to women and girls. Yes, I'm stepping down. But, I refuse to let this experience scare off other women who dare to take risks, who dare to step into this light, who dare to be powerful. It might feel like they won in the short term, but they can't in the long term. We cannot let them. The way to overcome this setback is for women to keep showing up, to keep running for office, to keep stepping up as leaders because the more we show up, the less power they have. I'm leaving, but we have men who have been credibly accused of intentional acts of sexual violence and remain in boardrooms, on the Supreme Court, in this very body, and–worst of all–in the Oval Office.

So, the fight goes on to create the change that every woman and girl in this country deserves. Here, in the halls of Congress, the fight will go on without me and I trust so many of my colleagues to be strong on this front while I move on to one of the many other battlefields because we have an entire culture that has to change and we see it in stark clarity today. The forces of revenge by a bitter, jealous man, cyber exploitation, and sexual shaming that target our gender and a large segment of society that fears and hates powerful women have combined to push a young woman out of power and say that she doesn't belong here. Yet, a man who brags about his sexual predation, who's had dozens of women come forward to accuse him of sexual assault, who pushes policies that are uniquely harmful to women, and who has filled the courts with judges who proudly rule to deprive women of the most fundamental right to control their own bodies sits in the highest office of the land.

And so today, as my last vote, I voted on impeachment proceedings–not just because of corruption, obstruction of justice, or gross misconduct–but because of the deepest abuse of power including the abuse of power over women. Today, as my final act, I voted to move forward with the impeachment of Donald Trump on behalf of the women of the United States of America. We will not stand down. We will not be broken. We will not be silenced. We will rise and we will make tomorrow better than today. Thank you, and I yield the balance of my time for now, but not forever."

[JBS]

Katie Hill's final speech to Congress:

"This is the last speech that I will give from this floor as a member of Congress. I wasn't ready for my time here to come to an end so soon. It's a reality I'm still grappling with and I will be for a long time to come. I expected or, at least hoped, to be here for as long as the voters of California's 25th District deemed me worthy of the honor of representing them. I thought I could make a difference here in making our community, our great country, and the world a better place for generations to come.

I, like so many of my colleagues, ran for office because I believed that our political system was broken, controlled by the powerful and the wealthy, ignoring and failing the regular people that it's supposed to serve. I came here to give a voice to the unheard in the halls of power. I wanted to show young people, queer people, working people, imperfect people that they belong here because this is the people's House. I fell short of that and I'm sorry.

To every young person who saw themselves and their dreams reflected in me, I'm sorry. To those who felt like I gave them hope in one of the darkest times in our nation's history, I'm sorry. To my family, my friends, my staff, my colleagues, my mentors, to everyone who has supported and believed in me, I'm sorry. To the thousands of people who spent hours knocking doors in the hot summer sun, who made countless phone calls, who sacrificed more than I could ever know to give everything they could in every possible way so that I could be here, I am so, so sorry. And to every little girl who looked up to me, I hope that one day you can forgive me. The mistakes I made and the people I've hurt that led to this moment will haunt me for the rest of my life and I have to come to terms with that.

Ever since those images first came out, I've barely left my bed. I've ignored all the calls and the texts and went to the darkest places that a mind can go and I've shed more tears than I thought were possible. I've hidden from the world because I'm terrified of facing the people that I let down, but I made it through because the people who love me most dragged me back into the light and reminded me that I was stronger than that. To those of you who were by my side in my worst moments, you know who you are. I love you, I'm so grateful, and I will never forget.

And I'm here today because so many of the people I let down–people close to me, supporters, colleagues, people I've never even met–told me to stand back up and that despite all of my faults, they still believed in me and they were still counting on me and I realized that hiding away and disappearing would be the one unforgivable sin. I will never shirk my responsibility for this sudden ending to my time here, but I have to say more because this is bigger than me.

I am leaving now because of a double standard. I am leaving because I no longer want to be used as a bargaining chip. I'm leaving because I didn't want to be peddled by papers and blogs and websites used by shameless operatives for the dirtiest, gutter politics that I've ever seen and the right-wing media to drive clicks and expand their audience by distributing intimate photos of me taken without my knowledge, let alone my consent, for the sexual entertainment of millions. I'm leaving because of a misogynistic culture that gleefully consumed my naked pictures, capitalized on my sexuality, and enabled my abusive ex to continue that abuse, this time with the entire country watching. I am leaving because of the thousands of vile, threatening emails, calls, and texts that made me fear for my life and the lives of of the people that I care about.

Today is the first time I've left my apartment since the photos taken without my consent were released and I'm scared. I'm leaving because, for the sake of my community, my staff, my family and myself, I can't allow this to continue because I've been told that people were angry when I stood strong after the first article was posted and that they had hundreds more photos and text messages that they would release bit by bit until they broke me down to nothing while they used my faults and my past to distract from the things that matter most. I'm leaving because there is only one investigation that deserves the attention of this country and that's the one that we voted on today.

Today, I ask you all to stand with me and commit to creating a future where this no longer happens to women and girls. Yes, I'm stepping down. But, I refuse to let this experience scare off other women who dare to take risks, who dare to step into this light, who dare to be powerful. It might feel like they won in the short term, but they can't in the long term. We cannot let them. The way to overcome this setback is for women to keep showing up, to keep running for office, to keep stepping up as leaders because the more we show up, the less power they have. I'm leaving, but we have men who have been credibly accused of intentional acts of sexual violence and remain in boardrooms, on the Supreme Court, in this very body, and–worst of all–in the Oval Office.

So, the fight goes on to create the change that every woman and girl in this country deserves. Here, in the halls of Congress, the fight will go on without me and I trust so many of my colleagues to be strong on this front while I move on to one of the many other battlefields because we have an entire culture that has to change and we see it in stark clarity today. The forces of revenge by a bitter, jealous man, cyber exploitation, and sexual shaming that target our gender and a large segment of society that fears and hates powerful women have combined to push a young woman out of power and say that she doesn't belong here. Yet, a man who brags about his sexual predation, who's had dozens of women come forward to accuse him of sexual assault, who pushes policies that are uniquely harmful to women, and who has filled the courts with judges who proudly rule to deprive women of the most fundamental right to control their own bodies sits in the highest office of the land.

And so today, as my last vote, I voted on impeachment proceedings–not just because of corruption, obstruction of justice, or gross misconduct–but because of the deepest abuse of power including the abuse of power over women. Today, as my final act, I voted to move forward with the impeachment of Donald Trump on behalf of the women of the United States of America. We will not stand down. We will not be broken. We will not be silenced. We will rise and we will make tomorrow better than today. Thank you, and I yield the balance of my time for now, but not forever."

A fine speech, but it completely evades the actual issue that forced her out of office: that, by engaging in a sexual liaison with one or more staffers, she was behaving exactly in the way the MeToo movement tried to stop.

BTW, as far as I know there is no evidence to support her charge that her estranged husband was abusive in any way.

[SimonNZ]

A fine speech, but it completely evades the actual issue that forced her out of office: that, by engaging in a sexual liaison with one or more staffers, she was behaving exactly in the way the MeToo movement tried to stop.

BTW, as far as I know there is no evidence to support her charge that her estranged husband was abusive in any way.

Revenge porn is abuse. As is taking naked photos of her without her knowledge.

The relationship with the staffer is entirely consensual and therefor not at all anything to do with MeToo. Its also fairly common, which was another hypocrisy.

[JBS]

Revenge porn is abuse. As is taking naked photos of her without her knowledge.

The relationship with the staffer is entirely consensual and therefor not at all anything to do with MeToo. Its also fairly common, which was another hypocrisy.

From what I have read, at least some of the naked photos could not have been taken without her knowledge...and participation.  Release of the photos is of course a very different thing. But it seems people are assuming the husband is  the source, but there is no actual evidence, only the assumption that humans will act as humans when publicly humiliated by their spouse's infidelity.

A lot of MeToo relations could be defended as consensual. But leave out the power imbalance of Congressperson vs staffer, such relationships violate House ethics rules even when fully consensual.

[SimonNZ]

Perhaps if there wasn't such a massive and unrepentant sexual predator sitting in the oval office I might feel differently about this. But no, probably not, I'd still think she was the victim of a series of double standards.

[SimonNZ]

Rudy Giuliani needed Apple genius help to unlock his iPhone after being named Trump cybersecurity adviser


poll/ 61% of Americans say Trump has little or no respect for the country's democratic institutions and traditions

[71 dB]

poll/ 61% of Americans say Trump has little or no respect for the country's democratic institutions and traditions

39 % of Americans have a funny idea of what "respecting the country's democratic institutions and traditions" means. 

[71 dB]

A fine speech, but it completely evades the actual issue that forced her out of office: that, by engaging in a sexual liaison with one or more staffers, she was behaving exactly in the way the MeToo movement tried to stop.

BTW, as far as I know there is no evidence to support her charge that her estranged husband was abusive in any way.

I haven't gotten much into this Katie Hill thing, but I didn't know MeToo movement was against consensual sexual activity...

[JBS]

I haven't gotten much into this Katie Hill thing, but I didn't know MeToo movement was against consensual sexual activity...

Ms Hill had at least one affair with a member of her staff, possibly two.  Even if they are fully consensual, such workplace affairs are banned by Congressional ethics (and most employers).  There's always a power imbalance, and the not trivial possibility that the officeholder will give unfair advantages to the staffer--and the possibility of revenge if the affair sours.  The ethical solution in such situations is for one or the other to move to a job where one is not the superior to the other at work.

[71 dB]

Ms Hill had at least one affair with a member of her staff, possibly two.  Even if they are fully consensual, such workplace affairs are banned by Congressional ethics (and most employers).  There's always a power imbalance, and the not trivial possibility that the officeholder will give unfair advantages to the staffer--and the possibility of revenge if the affair sours.  The ethical solution in such situations is for one or the other to move to a job where one is not the superior to the other at work.

So she broke Congressional ethics rules. That has nothing to do with MeToo movement.

[SimonNZ]

Paula White, Trump's key spiritual adviser, will join the White House

"Florida televangelist Paula White, who has served as a spiritual adviser to President Trump, will join his administration in an official capacity, according to a senior administration official and another person familiar with the move.

White, who already helps coordinate Trump's evangelical outreach to key leaders, will be a religious adviser in the Office of Public Liaison, the part of the White House overseeing outreach to groups seen as part of Trump's base. According to Religion News Service, she will serve as the advisor to the Trump's Faith & Opportunity Initiative.

The move appears to formalize a relationship that has been years in the making, going back nearly two decades to when White and Trump first met.

White was one of six clergy who prayed at Trump's inauguration, and other evangelical advisers say she speaks with Trump regularly. She is known as one of the most prominent televangelists who teach a prosperity gospel, that God will reward believers with wealth and health, a teaching that many Christians believe is heretical.[...]


The 5 People Who Could Have Stopped Trump
Gambling regulators once contemplated yanking Trump's casino licenses. Why they didn't holds a lesson for lawmakers today.

[drogulus]

    Trump's New Favorite Network Embraces Russian Propaganda

Although the latest Nielsen report ranks OANN's ratings somewhere below the Tennis Channel, there's enormous value to Moscow in getting its fake White Helmets news repeated in any American newscast, said former FBI agent Clint Watts, a research fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

"It's source laundering," Watts told the Daily Beast. "Then they can recirculate the story as an organic American story, and that could travel further than if it's only on RT and Sputnik... The more places it shows up the more it looks like it's not a single source origin story."

There's another benefit to the Kremlin in airing its disinformation on OANN. One of the channel's most ardent and credulous viewers happens to be President of the United States.

"It's a great network,"  Donald Trump said during a 2017 news conference.

     

[Todd]

The House voted to move impeachment forward.  Alas, the vote was along partisan lines, so the entire process is illegitimate.  Sad!

[BasilValentine]

The House voted to move impeachment forward.  Alas, the vote was along partisan lines, so the entire process is illegitimate.  Sad!

Alas, this passes for reasoning in some circles.

[71 dB]

Alas, this passes for reasoning in some circles.

I believe Republicans themselves crafted the process they now call witch hunt because the president happens to be their guy. 

[BasilValentine]

I believe Republicans themselves crafted the process they now call witch hunt because the president happens to be their guy. 

The Republicans don't actually believe any of the nonsense they're spewing. It's for consumption by the ignorant and the childish who like to break things.

[SimonNZ]

Smugglers are sawing through new sections of Trump's border wall

"Smuggling gangs in Mexico have repeatedly sawed through new sections of President Trump's border wall in recent months by using commercially available power tools, opening gaps large enough for people and drug loads to pass through, according to U.S. agents and officials with knowledge of the damage.

The breaches have been made using a popular cordless household tool known as a reciprocating saw that retails at hardware stores for as little as $100. When fitted with specialized blades, the saws can slice through one of the barrier's steel-and-concrete bollards in minutes, according to the agents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the barrier-defeating techniques.

After cutting through the base of a single bollard, smugglers can push the steel out of the way, creating an adult-size gap. Because the bollards are so tall — and are attached only to a panel at the top — their length makes them easier to push aside once they have been cut and are left dangling, according to engineers consulted by The Washington Post."[...]