The Trump Card...
- Thread starter muttly
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Can't say I'm sorry to see him go. IMNHO, he was too swampy. He entered Congress in 2005 and was worth a reported $1 million. He left Congress at a reported net worth of more than $16 million. How does that work? Congresspeoples don't get paid that much. Smells of a swamp stench. Plus, I clearly remember in 2009 when he hammered the Obama administration's officials for fiscal responsibility run amok over their recklessly irresponsible use of private jets for department travel. It was his little hobby horse for a couple of years there. I hate hypocrisy.
After last night's events, would Trump flip on gun control?
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Too early to say, too little is known about the incident. But I doubt he'd flip.
Very sad event. Sadly, I don't think you are going to legislate the madness out of crazy people. They will just go to Walmart like they did in Boston and buy kitchen pressure cookers. Was disappointing that Hillary is right out of the gate while they are searching for victims and blaming the NRA. Unbelievable.
And did it so stupidly. Silencers? She's been watching too many movies. Thinks a silencer makes a gun sound like an envelope opener ripping open an envelope. Sorry, Hill, not even close. A silencer muffled the decibels a bit, but it's still loud AF
Much of what fills the news and political talk shows is meaningless fluff that is forgotten about almost as soon as it is broadcast. It serves an entertainment and audience-attention purpose in the moment but is generally not significant.
Recently, there have been a few significant developments. They are:
Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, and his associate, Richard Gates, were required to turn themselves into federal authorities Monday as they were indicted on 12 counts – ranging from conspiracy against the U.S., to conspiracy to launder money.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office also revealed Monday that George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to Trump’s campaign, pleaded guilty earlier this month to making false statements to the FBI about his connections with Russian officials.
None of the above immediately affects Trump (except it pretty much demolishes Trump's claim that he hires the "best people"). It does strengthen my belief that Trump will be impeached by the Republicans who have the power to do so.
The indictments reveal certain things about the investigation itself that lead me to believe it is no joke. Muller's team has been working hard for several months. We now know a little bit about what they have been focusing on and we have reason to believe there is much more going on behind the scenes than what we presently know.
For example, with Court permission, Muller has been wiretapping Manafort for a long time. Mueller has also developed at least two cooperating witnesses. That's what we know now. More is likely to come. And what comes will further support the case for Trump's impeachment, I believe. At some point, House and Senate Republicans will conclude that their money is best placed on Pence and Trump needs to be put out to pasture.
Unrelated to Trump or the investigations, the indictments are having an effect that I am glad to see. They are prompting K Street lobbying firms to reexamine the law with an eye on improving compliance. See this for more about that: Podesta's downfall sends shockwaves through K Stret. This is a drain-the-swamp effect and a good thing, I believe.
Recently, there have been a few significant developments. They are:
Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, and his associate, Richard Gates, were required to turn themselves into federal authorities Monday as they were indicted on 12 counts – ranging from conspiracy against the U.S., to conspiracy to launder money.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office also revealed Monday that George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to Trump’s campaign, pleaded guilty earlier this month to making false statements to the FBI about his connections with Russian officials.
None of the above immediately affects Trump (except it pretty much demolishes Trump's claim that he hires the "best people"). It does strengthen my belief that Trump will be impeached by the Republicans who have the power to do so.
The indictments reveal certain things about the investigation itself that lead me to believe it is no joke. Muller's team has been working hard for several months. We now know a little bit about what they have been focusing on and we have reason to believe there is much more going on behind the scenes than what we presently know.
For example, with Court permission, Muller has been wiretapping Manafort for a long time. Mueller has also developed at least two cooperating witnesses. That's what we know now. More is likely to come. And what comes will further support the case for Trump's impeachment, I believe. At some point, House and Senate Republicans will conclude that their money is best placed on Pence and Trump needs to be put out to pasture.
Unrelated to Trump or the investigations, the indictments are having an effect that I am glad to see. They are prompting K Street lobbying firms to reexamine the law with an eye on improving compliance. See this for more about that: Podesta's downfall sends shockwaves through K Stret. This is a drain-the-swamp effect and a good thing, I believe.
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Political talk shows and the talking heads, the Soapbox and the posts within it, toilet paper. These all serve important purposes in the moment, but once the moment is passed they are all equally disposable.
Ooohhhh! Conspiracy against the United States! Sounds ominous, almost like treason! It's certainly the charge that the mainstream media keeps mentioning, as if it's the most important charge. It's a headline grabber.
It's actually the least serious of all of the Manafort charges, carrying a maximum sentence of just 5 years. Conspiracy against the United States is simply conspiracy to defraud the US government, or a department thereof (out of property or money), or interfere with or obstruct one of the government's lawful governmental functions by deceit, craft or trickery, or by ano other means which are dishonest.
Doesn't immediately affect Trump, therefore it strengthens the belief that Trump will be impeached. Got it.
Oh, BTW, just an FYI contextual thing for anyone who cares, Russia spent about $80,000 on Facebook propaganda ads prior to the election. The Hillary Clinton campaign spent about $41 million on Facebook over the same time period for her own Democratic propaganda ads.
I'm on the fence as to whether we should set aside the FIrst Amendment's free speech guarantees in order to squash propaganda. But I do think if we're going to do that, it needs to be applied equally to all propaganda.
I do agree that this is a good thing. Still not sold on the Trump impeachment gig.
I think it's a very, very, VERY good thing. As the Tucker Carlson video above shows, the swamp is deep, and it doesn't really care about partisan politics or political ideology. Partisan politics is the game they play to deflect attention from the real game, that of money.
I don't think I could say it's always been that way, but it has been for a long time. And you can probably trace it back to the start of the mindset of Senators and Representatives of having a long career in Congress (which is why I think congressional term limits, something the American people overwhelmingly support, should become a reality sooner rather than later). And you can see it over the years in how the rules for lobbying have changed, not the least of which allowed US citizens to become foreign agent lobbyists in the first place.
I first heard it 30 years ago, from relatives who worked inside the Beltway in government, and most recently this week from a handful of talking heads who were quickly shushed and nudged into changing the subject, that is Washington awash in questionable lobby money, and in particularly it is awash in Russian money. Legislation and mindsets have made it perfectly acceptable to be an advocate for an adversary, as long as it doesn't involve trafficking in classified secrets. People take the money knowing that what they are doing isn't exactly treason, and it won't have any immediate dire consequences for the country or the swamp, because the swamp is what it is, and it's its own entity.
"The chairman of one major presidential campaign colluded with the brother of the chairman of the other major presidential campaign, to enrich themselves by secretly advancing the interests of a foreign adversary. That happened. That's the swamp they told you needed to be drained."
There's no partisan politics there. There's no us versus them. There's no right versus left or even right versus wrong. That's straight-up swamp money. Because politics and ideology is just the game they play in the swamp to make the money interesting.
Trump's number one goal in his campaign and in his presidency is to drain the swamp. Those outside the swamp who think partisan politics matter, and are opposed to his politics, are dead set against draining the swamp, without really even knowing why they are against it (we see that in the numerous videos where Trump's tax plan or economy plan or any other plan is presented to people under the guise of being from Bernie or Hillary, and they're all for it, sounds great, I like it, but as soon as they find out it's really Trump's plan, they're against it). Those in the swamp. are even more against it, because they have everything to lose, their entire reason for being in the swamp is at risk. The swamp isn't partisan at all, and every American should set aside their own partisan politics to support draining of the swamp. It's the only way the American people can take back its government and ensure the government governs by the consent of the governed.
The developments strengthen my belief because they indicate Muller is developing consequential leads, witnesses, etc. Those will be followed and will likely produce additional developments of consequence, some of which are likely to directly affect Trump. For example, I think it almost certain that Muller will charge Trump's son-in-law Kushner with crimes. Trump could lose it at that point. As I've said before, it won't be the investigation that brings super-narcissist Trump down, it will be Trump's dysfunctional response to it. Trump himself will provide the incentive for Republicans to give him the boot and replace him with gentleman Pence.
This was interesting. Just finished renewing my Obamacare Insurance. For the first time since this started, I had no increase in premium. It actually decreased for my same plan 
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