USA Politics (redux)

[71 dB]

I like 71dB, he has my sympathy, but it's kind of hard to see the MfA being argued for the fiftieth time.

At times it might have gotten out of hand, but then again it is an important issue...

My strong allergy against right-wing smear tactics against MfA doesn't help... 

[Karl Henning]

Washington Post Editorial Board opinion:
"In fact, Mr. Blinken's speech and other tough opening moves by the Biden team were exactly the reset that was needed after the Trump administration's confused and often contradictory treatment of China. As president, Donald Trump repeatedly heaped public praise on Mr. Xi and, in private meetings, reportedly encouraged his repression in Hong Kong and Xinjiang; President Biden bluntly told the dictator in their first phone call that Mr. Xi was wrong to believe in American decline. The day before last week's discussions in Anchorage, the administration sanctioned two dozen officials involved in the Hong Kong repression. And in an impressive joint action, the United States on Monday joined Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in adopting new sanctions, in parallel with the European Union, against those involved in the genocidal campaign against Xinjiang's ethnic Uyghurs."

[71 dB]

Washington Post Editorial Board opinion:
"In fact, Mr. Blinken's speech and other tough opening moves by the Biden team were exactly the reset that was needed after the Trump administration's confused and often contradictory treatment of China. As president, Donald Trump repeatedly heaped public praise on Mr. Xi and, in private meetings, reportedly encouraged his repression in Hong Kong and Xinjiang; President Biden bluntly told the dictator in their first phone call that Mr. Xi was wrong to believe in American decline. The day before last week's discussions in Anchorage, the administration sanctioned two dozen officials involved in the Hong Kong repression. And in an impressive joint action, the United States on Monday joined Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in adopting new sanctions, in parallel with the European Union, against those involved in the genocidal campaign against Xinjiang's ethnic Uyghurs."

Obviously Trump's financial ties with China are stronger than those of Biden. The latter can be tougher with China while Trump got AT LEAST $54 million while in office from The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for leased space in Trump Tower.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2020/10/23/forbes-estimates-china-paid-trump-at-least-54-million-since-he-took-office-via-mysterious-trump-tower-lease/

[DavidW]

Washington Post Editorial Board opinion:
"In fact, Mr. Blinken's speech and other tough opening moves by the Biden team were exactly the reset that was needed after the Trump administration's confused and often contradictory treatment of China. As president, Donald Trump repeatedly heaped public praise on Mr. Xi and, in private meetings, reportedly encouraged his repression in Hong Kong and Xinjiang; President Biden bluntly told the dictator in their first phone call that Mr. Xi was wrong to believe in American decline. The day before last week's discussions in Anchorage, the administration sanctioned two dozen officials involved in the Hong Kong repression. And in an impressive joint action, the United States on Monday joined Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in adopting new sanctions, in parallel with the European Union, against those involved in the genocidal campaign against Xinjiang's ethnic Uyghurs."

I take that as a good thing.  I never liked the mixed messaging from the previous administration.

[T. D.]

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-03-23/eric-greitens-rides-fox-news-to-missouri-republican-comeback-trail

Right-Wing Media Resurrect a Republican Outcast
Party leaders are helpless to keep a disgraced former Missouri governor off the comeback trail.

Why yes, the Republican Party is at it again. This time, it's in Missouri, where former Governor Eric Greitens has announced that he's running for that state's open U.S. Senate seat in 2022. He's probably the front-runner for the Republican nomination.

Does his name ring a bell? Perhaps it's because he resigned in disgrace in 2018 to avoid likely impeachment by the Republican-majority legislature, and as part of a plea bargain.

[Fëanor]

Washington Post Editorial Board opinion:
"In fact, Mr. Blinken's speech and other tough opening moves by the Biden team were exactly the reset that was needed after the Trump administration's confused and often contradictory treatment of China. As president, Donald Trump repeatedly heaped public praise on Mr. Xi and, in private meetings, reportedly encouraged his repression in Hong Kong and Xinjiang; President Biden bluntly told the dictator in their first phone call that Mr. Xi was wrong to believe in American decline. The day before last week's discussions in Anchorage, the administration sanctioned two dozen officials involved in the Hong Kong repression. And in an impressive joint action, the United States on Monday joined Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in adopting new sanctions, in parallel with the European Union, against those involved in the genocidal campaign against Xinjiang's ethnic Uyghurs."

Under Xi the People's Republic as fully reverted to a totalitarian dictatorship.  It would be bad enough if the meant only oppression of its own people, but in this case it also means a cynical and aggressive foreign policy.

As I a Canadian I can make note of the arbitrary detention and recently conviction of two Canadian business consultant on trumped-up charges of espionage.  In fact they were seized as hostages for the release of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.  Americans may be glad at least that Canada has chosen to honor extradition treaty obligations to the USA where she is charged with bank fraud in an attempt to evade US sanctions against Iran.

Still, confronting China for its internal and external misdeeds is a delicate balancing act.  China is already a super power in terms of economics, and the USA's unilateral application of tariffs on their exports isn't going to have much effect.  Thankfully the Biden administration has an inkling of an understanding the it has to be a multilateral effort by all major trading nations.

On the upside it looks like there is still room to explore with China a few issues such as climate changes that are of world-wide critical concern.  However on the military front China seems very keen to expand its capabilities and, given war is unthinkable, is ready for brinksmanship in the South China sea for example.

[71 dB]

I take that as a good thing.  I never liked the mixed messaging from the previous administration.

The mixed MESSaging from the previous administration benefitted Trump. That was the whole point of Trump's presidency. He just got half of Americans believe his presidency was about making American great again, because he is the king of conmen. Not MAGA, but MTR (Make Trump Richer).

Now Trump is planning to create his own social media platfrom after being kicked out of others. It should be called Twatter. 

[T. D.]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/23/pro-trump-lawyer-sidney-powell-election-theft-claims-not-statements-of-fact.html

Pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell says 'no reasonable person' believes election claims were 'statements of fact'

[Karl Henning]

I take that as a good thing.  I never liked the mixed messaging from the previous administration.

No kidding.

[Karl Henning]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/23/pro-trump-lawyer-sidney-powell-election-theft-claims-not-statements-of-fact.html

Pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell says 'no reasonable person' believes election claims were 'statements of fact'

Yet another non-defense.

[MusicTurner]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/23/pro-trump-lawyer-sidney-powell-election-theft-claims-not-statements-of-fact.html

Pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell says 'no reasonable person' believes election claims were 'statements of fact'

Had to check, and yes, she's referring to her own claims ...

[71 dB]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/23/pro-trump-lawyer-sidney-powell-election-theft-claims-not-statements-of-fact.html

Pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell says 'no reasonable person' believes election claims were 'statements of fact'

She is effectively admitting no reasonable person should believe anything she says, because she is not much into statements-of-fact.

[71 dB]

Had to check, and yes, she's referring to her own claims ...

These selfish opportunists say the craziest things in order to gain the support of other crazies and when they get into trouble for what they said, the backpedaling can be quite humiliating and a source of verbal/intellectual acrobacy of comical level.

[drogulus]

     

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/23/pro-trump-lawyer-sidney-powell-election-theft-claims-not-statements-of-fact.html

Pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell says 'no reasonable person' believes election claims were 'statements of fact'

     That's not a rebuttal of the charge. Powell told lies that harmed the company, and she told them to "no reasonable" persons and everyone else. How is it a defense of her scheme that courts were reasonable and not "no"?

[Daverz]

Yet another non-defense.

But it works as a legal defense.  It worked for Tucker Carlson.  The settlement in that case should have included a stipulation that Carlson's show should always be preceded by a disclaimer that "The following program is for entertainment purposes only.  No statements made by Tucker Carlson or his guests should be taken as statements of fact."

[drogulus]

But it works as a legal defense.  It worked for Tucker Carlson.  The settlement in that case should have included a stipulation that Carlson's show should always be preceded by a disclaimer that "The following program is for entertainment purposes only.  No statements made by Tucker Carlson or his guests should be taken as statements of fact."

     I can't stomach a legal view that Tucker's audience consists of unreasonable people. That only true empirically. Besides, it's not only reasonable people who can cause harm.

[Daverz]

     I can't stomach a legal view that Tucker's audience consists of unreasonable people. That only true empirically. Besides, it's not only reasonable people who can cause harm.

I think the reasonable people watching it are interns for John Oliver's show.

[T. D.]

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-03-23/trump-s-election-lawyer-throws-him-under-the-bus-in-dominion-lawsuit

Sidney Powell is trying a brazen and bizarre argument in defending herself against a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems.

Sidney Powell, one of Donald Trump's former lawyers, is being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for defamation. Her lawyers have entered a truly astonishing defense: that her statements alleging the Democratic Party stole the election using the company's vote counting software can't be defamation because no reasonable person would have believed them.

The defense is legally wrong. Her statements were clearly assertions of fact — and they were believed by many members of the public.

Nevertheless, it is a fascinating argument — an acknowledgement that any claim associated with Trump could be considered mere bluster, even when framed in factual terms. In short, Powell's defense is to throw Trump under the bus. The basic idea: He is such a known liar that any assertion made on his behalf in an election can't be taken as remotely plausible.
...
The brief points out that Powell's statements were made as part of Trump's post-election campaign to overturn the result. It insists they were her opinions and legal theories — and, by extension, Trump's.  They were, the brief says, merely "claims that await testing by the courts through the adversary process" — as though promising to prove facts in court means those aren't facts at all. The brief also shows screenshots of Powell on Fox News — as if to suggest that nothing said on Fox could be susceptible of being considered fact.

The thrust of the argument is that anything coming from Trump's camp cannot be taken seriously as a factual statement. It was, Powell's lawyers are saying, all rhetoric and opinion all the time, and reasonable people knew it.

You would think that the evident fact that many Republicans do believe exactly what Powell asserted would stand in the way of her argument. Not at all. Her lawyers imply either that those people aren't reasonable, or else that they must be lying about what they think.
...

[Pohjolas Daughter]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/23/pro-trump-lawyer-sidney-powell-election-theft-claims-not-statements-of-fact.html

Pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell says 'no reasonable person' believes election claims were 'statements of fact'

Yes, I read that earlier...she's basically said that she's guilty and no defense.  Will have to check out that other link.

PD

[drogulus]

     North Korea Fires Off First Missiles of Biden Presidency

     Now are the Kim missiles.