BBO Discussion Forums: Has U.S. Democracy Been Trumped? - BBO Discussion Forums

I'm hoping for

[*] Dies an ignominious death when his own sleen reaches up and chokes him

Birds of a feather flock to this board.

God is Rod "I can land the plane" Rosenstein. Wow.

Various pundits were quick to catch that these words have been used before, in similar fashion. Two weeks ago, while testifying before Congress on an unrelated matter, Attorney General William Barr said that he couldn’t address the Mueller report at the time, because “I’m landing the plane right now” with regard to its release. Wait a minute here. What are the odds that these two guys just happened to choose the same obscure metaphor while trying to pull off something underhanded? As it turns out, Rosenstein didn’t actually use the phrase – and this is where it gets tricky.

I actually heard a Republican Senator on "Morning Edition" today defending Barr's responses. He said that he was responding to the precise wording of the questions he was asked, and they weren't clear enough, so his answers were not technically lies. He talked about how lawyers always advise their clients to give as narrow responses as possible, not offer anything beyond what was specifically asked, and that's what Barr did. So it's the questioners' fault for not asking the right questions.

I heard this on MSNBC that Barr has an interesting "tell" when he is about to lie or deflect from the truth during questioning.

On what should be a 1 second yes or no answer, Barr will pause for 10 or so seconds, and then ask for the question to be repeated. And then he'll give a Clintonesque discussion about the exact meaning of a particular word in that question while he mentally tries to figure out how much he can lie without clearly committing perjury.

GuffawingOL!!!

MSNBC? MSNBC makes Fox News look like the temple of virtue and truthfulness in comparison. MSNBC can't tell the difference between opinion and fact.

These people created imaginary "code words" And "dog whistles" to reinterpret anything a conservative says into something sinister, racist, bigoted or worse. Now, they've got this unique insight into AG Barr's behavior, so they can claim he lied.

This after claiming the US government was being run by the Russians, which was fantasy. This after decrying the end of democracy virtually every day for 2 years, it's still strong despite their best efforts. This after claiming collusion with Russia was a dead certain given, it proved to be false.

In the immortal words of John McEnroe -- "You can't be serious!!"

This after decrying the end of democracy virtually every day for 2 years, it's still strong despite their best efforts.

MSNBC? MSNBC makes Fox News look like the temple of virtue and truthfulness in comparison. MSNBC can't tell the difference between opinion and fact.

“I’m disappointed in the behavior of the president,” Napolitano said in his video. “His job is to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States to uphold and enforce federal law. Not to violate it.”

He said if Trump violated the law to save a life, he could have a moral defense.

“But ordering obstruction to save himself from the consequences of his own behavior is unlawful, defenseless and condemnable,” he wrote on the website.

Some opinion people who appear on this network who might be pushing a political agenda don't think the Mueller letter is a big deal. But we have to deal in facts -- the fact is this letter was a clear indication that Mueller was very upset w/ Barr.

“Before he became a candidate or president, Donald Trump was the perfect target for Russian intelligence. Here is someone who has no self-control, a sense of sexual entitlement and intermittent financial crisis," Peters said. "I mean, that’s made-to-order for seduction by Russian intelligence.”

These people created imaginary "code words" And "dog whistles" to reinterpret anything a conservative says into something sinister, racist, bigoted or worse. Now, they've got this unique insight into AG Barr's behavior, so they can claim he lied.

This after claiming the US government was being run by the Russians, which was fantasy. This after decrying the end of democracy virtually every day for 2 years, it's still strong despite their best efforts. This after claiming collusion with Russia was a dead certain given, it proved to be false.

In the immortal words of John McEnroe -- "You can't be serious!!"

Instead, the two leaders pledged to embark on a new era of cooperation on issues from North Korea to Venezuela, where Mr. Trump said the Russian leader “is not looking at all to get involved, other than he’d like to see something positive happen.”

Mr. Trump’s dismissal of Russian election interference runs counter to the assessments of the nation’s intelligence agencies, as well as Mr. Mueller’s report, while his characterization of Mr. Putin’s role in Venezuela contradicts the views of his own top advisers.

I actually heard a Republican Senator on "Morning Edition" today defending Barr's responses. He said that he was responding to the precise wording of the questions he was asked, and they weren't clear enough, so his answers were not technically lies. He talked about how lawyers always advise their clients to give as narrow responses as possible, not offer anything beyond what was specifically asked, and that's what Barr did. So it's the questioners' fault for not asking the right questions.

A few bipartisan questions for you:

Do you think any president should be able to stop any federal investigation he feels is unfair?
Do you think it proper for the president of the United States to be profiting from foreign countries using his businesses?
If a president had the potential to be making policy decisions favorable to a country or individual based on how much money that country or person was spending at the president' businesses, would it be fair for Congress to investigate that possibility? If it were found to be occurring, would that rise to the level of a criminal offense or, if not, an impeachable offense?
And finally, do you think it is proper for the president to cause the Department of Justice to investigate political opponents

Collusion? Where is collusion?

Collusion? Where is collusion?
Why no mention about collusion?

Collusion? Where is collusion?
Why no mention about collusion?

Collusion? Where is collusion?
Why no mention about collusion?

1. Trump was receptive to a Campaign national security adviser’s (George Papadopoulos) pursuit of a back channel to Putin.

2. Kremlin operatives provided the Campaign a preview of the Russian plan to distribute stolen emails.

3. The Trump Campaign chairman and deputy chairman (Paul Manafort and Rick Gates) knowingly shared internal polling data and information on battleground states with a Russian spy; and the Campaign chairman worked with the Russian spy on a pro-Russia “peace” plan for Ukraine.

4. The Trump Campaign chairman periodically shared internal polling data with the Russian spy with the expectation it would be shared with Putin-linked oligarch, Oleg Deripaska.

5. Trump Campaign chairman Manafort expected Trump’s winning the presidency would mean Deripaska would want to use Manafort to advance Deripaska’s interests in the United States and elsewhere.

6. Trump Tower meeting: (1) On receiving an email offering derogatory information on Clinton coming from a Russian government official, Donald Trump Jr. “appears to have accepted that offer;” (2) members of the Campaign discussed the Trump Tower meeting beforehand; (3) Donald Trump Jr. told the Russians during the meeting that Trump could revisit the issue of the Magnitsky Act if elected.

7. A Trump Campaign official told the Special Counsel he “felt obliged to object” to a GOP Platform change on Ukraine because it contradicted Trump’s wishes; however, the investigation did not establish that Gordon was directed by Trump.

8. Russian military hackers may have followed Trump’s July 27, 2016 public statement “Russia if you’re listening …” within hours by targeting Clinton’s personal office for the first time.

9. Trump requested campaign affiliates to get Clinton’s emails, which resulted in an individual apparently acting in coordination with the Campaign claiming to have successfully contacted Russian hackers.

10. The Trump Campaign—and Trump personally—appeared to have advanced knowledge of future WikiLeaks releases.

11. The Trump Campaign coordinated campaign-related public communications based on future WikiLeaks releases.

12. Michael Cohen, on behalf of the Trump Organization, brokered a secret deal for a Trump Tower Moscow project directly involving Putin’s inner circle, at least until June 2016.

13. During the presidential transition, Jared Kushner and Eric Prince engaged in secret back channel communications with Russian agents. (1) Kushner suggested to the Russian Ambassador that they use a secure communication line from within the Russian Embassy to speak with Russian Generals; and (2) Prince and Kushner’s friend Rick Gerson conducted secret back channel meetings with a Putin agent to develop a plan for U.S.-Russian relations.

14. During the presidential transition, in coordination with other members of the Transition Team, Michael Flynn spoke with the Russian Ambassador to prevent a tit for tat Russian response to the Obama administration’s imposition of sanctions for election interference; the Russians agreed not to retaliate saying they wanted a good relationship with the incoming administration.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is concerned President Donald Trump will not voluntarily step down unless Democrats win by a "big" enough margin in 2020 that he doesn't contest the results, the New York Times reported Saturday.

In an interview with the newspaper this week, the Democratic leader expressed worry over a scenario where Trump would not accept the election results if he were to lose re-election by a slim margin, the Times reported.
"We have to inoculate against that, we have to be prepared for that," Pelosi told the newspaper Wednesday.

The U.S. economy is looking strong, and President Donald Trump wants to take all the credit. The jobs report on Friday was excellent, the latest sign that America’s decade-long expansion is nowhere near over. Productivity grew by a blistering 3.6 percent last quarter. Some pundits are wondering if inflation is dead. Yet there are worrying signs for Trump. His tweets once moved markets; now they are often ignored. And his formula for growth — tax cuts, deregulation, higher spending — looks a lot like President George W. Bush’s … and his administration presided over the worst recession since the Great Depression. This week, Bloomberg Opinion columnists looked at the economy from a number of angles, trying to understand where the economy is going next.

Don’t Be Shocked If Trump’s Economy Goes the Way of Bush’s – Richard J. Carroll

Don’t Cheer for the Health-Care Hiring Boom – Justin Fox

Bankers at the Top Are Getting Big Raises Under Trump – Mark Whitehouse

Trump’s Fed Tweets Don’t Faze Bond Traders Anymore – Brian Chappatta

Productivity Is Way Up. Are You Paying Attention, Fed? – Karl W. Smith

The Milken Conference Trades Rainbows for Clouds – Stephen Gandel

Trump Can Do a Lot More to Help Manufacturing – Noah Smith

Trump’s Tax Cuts Aren’t Doing What They Should – Mark Whitehouse

U.S. Expansion May Be Nowhere Near an End – Nir Kaissar

(Out of curiosity, are you are Russian emigree or a son there of?)

It is interesting to read the Mueller report in the sense of what he did not say.

On a serious note - meaning I'm ignoring the president's sycophants - the fact that Nancy Pelosi is saying this:

is so remarkable that it should both sicken and terrify anyone who considers himself American or a supporter of democracy anywhere in the world. Think about this: the current Speaker of the House of Representatives has gone on record to the major newspaper in the U.S. saying she is concerned the current president will not voluntarily turn over power if he is dissatisfied with the 2020 election results. Incredible!

This is gobsmacking of gargantuan proportions.