My conspiracy theory is that the Chinese manipulated the Russians into manipulating the 2016 election. They seem like the big winners of the Trump presidency.
Oh, it’s just foreign intelligence services. You had me scared for a minute, I thought it might be Democrats!
I would not be one particle surprised if evidence emerged that Trump is deliberately giving classified information to Putin—presumably both for cash and to avoid having Putin-held compromat released. Carrot and stick.
But even if Trump is consciously giving Putin stuff, that doesn’t mean that Trump isn’t also unconsciously giving lots of other people-and-nations even more stuff. Among all those listening in to Trump’s unsecured-phone communications, there will be some who will be profiting (from advance knowledge that will enable lucrative stock-market activity, for example). There will be some selling the information to others (in the case of info on defense-department actions, etc.) And there will be some filing the information away for future use.
In all this, what I can’t understand is how Trump voters can continue to genuinely believe that Hillary endangered the nation by having a server—when no evidence has ever emerged that it was compromised—while remaining indifferent to the fact that Trump is the leakiest sieve ever to set foot in Washington.
The regular Republicans don’t give a fuck what thump does as long as he gets people to vote Republican. And the Pubs in Congress KNEW that Hillary’s server posed NO threat to the nation’s security.
The deplorables are too stoopid to understand any of this.
Their opinions are not fact-based is how.
Great news, folks.
The White House lawyers have declared that Trump can’t “obstruct” justice and that he can basically end any criminal justice investigation whenever the hell he wants, for any reason.
Did anyone expect anything different?:rolleyes:
They are literally arguing that the president is above the law. That’s not the subtext of their argument, but their actual argument.
They always believed this. Trump believed this the moment he fired James Comey, and he obviously believed it well before then. He believed it when he tried to gaslight America on inauguration day when telling outrageous lies about the size of the crowds. If truth is the cornerstone of American jurisprudence, then what does it say when the single most powerful individual in the Constitution governs on a foundation of lies??? Maybe the cornerstone of American jurisprudence is crumbling, and with it, the country itself.
My point all along has been that Mueller’s investigation, the Department of Justice, and the Constitution itself don’t mean shit. They’re not going to stop an authoritarian regime that was democratically elected – laws cannot stop such a beast, for the simple reason that this Leviathan gets its power from the people who created it. It’s the people who have to destroy this monster, and if they are indifferent, and if they are naively fooled into believing that their little good luck charm of a president is the reason that unemployment is at a 40-year low, then we - are - fucked.
Full stop.
Do you all now see what I’m saying?
Of course they’re SAYING that. They can say whatever they damn well please, and given who their client is, it’s not surprising. He and his cronies have SAID a lot.
In this particular case, I’m saving my outrage for when he actually tries it.
It’s going to happen.
What about Jim Comey’s firing left any doubt in your mind that this would happen? What about Andrew McCabe’s firing left any doubt that this would happen?
What about the pardoning of Joe Arpaio and other right wing allies leaves any doubt that this would happen?
Time to take the blinders off. We’re witnessing the collapse of American democracy. You’ve got ringside seats.
Oh, God damn it, now we have another addition to the dramatis personae? Okay, who the fuck is April Cohen, when was she raided, who raided her, and how is she supposed to be involved in all this?
Wikipedia is being singularly unhelpful about these developments…
So you’re arguing that by his popularity and such, Trump already has fascist power? Because if the law is irrelevant, and the legal system tries to stop him from, say, ending the investigation, then no legal mechanism is going to allow him to do that, so he’d have to send in the FBI or CIA, both of which he’s already attacked heavily, to actually arrest Mueller and judges and any Congressperson who tries to stop him.
If so, I’m gonna start aiding and abetting Trump right now to stay alive. Where did you say you lived again, asahi?
In other words, the raid on Cohen in April.
I think he was joking…?
Pfeh. It’s probably already been signed and delivered to Putin via diplomatic pouch. All Vlad needs to do is fill in the date.
Anything in there to suggest a requirement that such delegatees be prepared to show evidence that they have been duly empowered to wield such delegated authority?
One of the greatest misconceptions and reasons for our false sense of security is the assumption that if authoritarianism were to replace American democracy, we would recognize the danger. We assume that the danger would be clear and compelling, obvious and immediate. And we assume further that we would recognize that we as a society have gone too far, lowered our standards too much, and would come to our senses and vote to restore our norms. **That’s not how it works. **
Democracy dies slowly. Over a long period of time. Think of the World Trade Towers on 9/11. It sustained an obvious assault, but initially it remained standing and appeared to have withstood the damage. But what people couldn’t see was that the metal frame that supported the mega-structure was melting away. And then…it collapsed. It’s not what you see; it’s what you don’t see that will destroy American democracy.
You will see.
If we’re being candid, I highly doubt that you could…
You’re giving him far too much credit for being concerned about the interests of the United States of America. It’s way more plausible to just assume that he sees it as red meat that he can throw to his base as applause lines, and let it go at that.
See above.
o_o
>_<
o_0
You just said something that I can’t disagree with in the slightest particular. Moriarty was right; you are turning a corner…
So…welcome to the dark side; have a cookie?
So you’ve said. I don’t see how you’ve come even within shouting distance of what I was actually asking, though. You’ll have to connect A to B for me; I’m dumb.
Still sounds like the best thing to do is flee the country or become a collaborator. Which are you preparing to do?
Neither.
Refuse to be controlled by power you don’t consent to being ruled by. Refuse to obey. Accept that the cost of defying authority can be high. Be willing to pay that price - no matter what.