TRUMP, What the hell is going on

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

And loving Anderson Cooper on the Press Secretary

No Press Briefings for 304 days - could never happen here - phew.

But hold on. Word is that Johnson wants to move press briefings from the press lobby in the HoP to #10. And of course when they are held in #10 Johnson and DomCUmm can decide who they give access to for these briefings. So maybe not have all the press not 100% supportive - not so much space to exclude regional press?

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Lev Parnas - worked v closely with Giuliani - is talking...and he is telling us some very interesting stuff...

'Donald Trump knew and directed everything...Trump is lying'

Anderson Cooper

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/poli...s-trump-knows-me-he-s-lying-ac360-sot-vpx.cnn

Rachel Maddow (the guy beside Parnas is his Lawyer)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...says-trump-lied-about-what-he-knew-on-ukraine

The frog that is the PotUS is in a pot of water on a slow boil - but the GOP in the Senate can still switch it off. But they might not.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...-nuclear-deal-france-germany-eu-a9286496.html

?

 

[USER1999]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...-nuclear-deal-france-germany-eu-a9286496.html

?

Another site behind a pay wall for me. Similar to the times, and the telegraph, both of which I no longer read. The Guardian is just about holding out, but if that goes, there won't be any papers worth reading left.
Yes, I could subscribe to one, but the downside to that is losing any balance you get from reading a different view.
If I remeber correctly, when the times went behind the paywall, their readership was decimated, and advertising fell correspondingly. I was surprised that others followed suit.

Off topic, but a relevant rant in my view.

 

[Foxholer]

Another site behind a pay wall for me. Similar to the times, and the telegraph, both of which I no longer read. The Guardian is just about holding out, but if that goes, there won't be any papers worth reading left.
Yes, I could subscribe to one, but the downside to that is losing any balance you get from reading a different view.
If I remeber correctly, when the times went behind the paywall, their readership was decimated, and advertising fell correspondingly. I was surprised that others followed suit.

Off topic, but a relevant rant in my view.

I don't subscribe and all I needed to to to get the report was to temporarily disable my AdBlocker. Wasn't actually worth the effort involved though - except to realise/learn that I've agreed with BoJo again! At this rate, I'll have to take a sock off to count by Brexit day!
Btw. I too refuse to subscribe to any online papers!

 

[Kellfire]

Another site behind a pay wall for me. Similar to the times, and the telegraph, both of which I no longer read. The Guardian is just about holding out, but if that goes, there won't be any papers worth reading left.
Yes, I could subscribe to one, but the downside to that is losing any balance you get from reading a different view.
If I remeber correctly, when the times went behind the paywall, their readership was decimated, and advertising fell correspondingly. I was surprised that others followed suit.

Off topic, but a relevant rant in my view.

How do you expect these papers to pay for good journalism without monetising?

 

[USER1999]

How do you expect these papers to pay for good journalism without monetising?

Advertising, which is directly related to the number of readers.

 

[Kellfire]

Advertising, which is directly related to the number of readers.

Sadly people just don’t want to read good journalism. They want The Sun and Daily Mail.

 

[larmen]

Senate trial without evidence and witnesses is going to be a farce.


I am wondering if Trump (or unnamed co-conspirator 1) can then be indicted when he leaves office in 1 (or 5) years?
Is the federal prosecutor holding back the criminal stuff until Trump leaves office and protection of Barr as well as waiting out the possibility of a presidential pardon by Pence?
And of course there will be all the NY based stuff on top of that.

I guess he might be hit with plenty of suppeneas once stepping out of the white house?

 

[User20204]

So far it's been the same farce as it was in the house. One side saying he did this the other saying he did nothing wrong.

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

Our two party system is a one party system for the majority party. Senate Republicans are protecting our criminal president, and there's nothing to be done about it. We must wait for the elections, and I'm not sure how that will go.

Multiple viable parties would force dialog and compromise to force coalitions as none would have a majority by themselves.

 

[Hobbit]

Sadly people just don’t want to read good journalism. They want The Sun and Daily Mail.

You are so right. Sun readership - 1.4m, Mail readership - 1.2m. FT(my fav) - 180k, Guardian - 141k. As its a democracy, we know what the majority of the population want/think. Everyone's right, as its an opinion, but we don't have to agree with it.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Trump Ex National Security Adviser John Bolton says Trump withheld Ukraine military aid after asking for Ukraine investigation in to Biden/Burisma

Trump says John Bolton is lying

Trump Ex WH Chief of Staff (Marine Corps General) John Kelly says he believes Bolton

Interesting - witnesses called anybody?

Maybe - maybe not. But still interesting.

 

[Kellfire]

Trump Ex National Security Adviser John Bolton says Trump withheld Ukraine military aid after asking for Ukraine investigation in to Biden/Burisma

Trump says John Bolton is lying

Trump Ex WH Chief of Staff (Marine Corps General) John Kelly says he believes Bolton

Interesting - witnesses called anybody?

Maybe - maybe not. But still interesting.

This is one of those instances where injustice is going to be done on a massive scale and everyone involved knows as much. No one genuinely thinks Trump might be innocent but that doesn’t matter because of the shambles of their presidential system. Such a shame.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

And when you get Trump's leading lawyer in the Impeachment Trial - Jay Sekulow - telling Fox News viewers (as they are basically only seeing and hearing what Trump's lawyers are saying) that the new accusations are unsourced - eh? The source is Bolton...!

But liking Chris Wallace getting completely fed up with his Fox News colleagues. And another nice sardonic commentary piece on it by Brian Tyler Cohen

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

The Adam Schiff comparative scenario with Obama and Mitt Romney is one thing - but the Dershowitz claim about quid pro quos in the public interest is verging on the insane!..

Dershowitz is saying that because Trump says that his re-election will be in the interest of the US public, then it is OK for Trump to seek such a QPQ (such as that he is accused of) to try and ensure his re-election. So if Trump thinks his re-election is in the public interest, then his re-election therefore cannot be against the public interest...indeed Trump not being re-elected will be against the public interest so he is able to do whatever he can or wants to get re-elected. That just nuts!

 

[3offTheTee]

Could be a separate thread but what is Trump doing with Israel/ Palastine. Looked more smarmy than normal this week when in Israel. The conflict will never be settled with The Israelis continually taking more land and Trump ploughing in $50 billion. He has also ’ sorted/recognised ‘Jerusalem as the capital. Unbelievable guy

Perhaps some of the more learned people on here would care to predict the likely outcome

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Could be a separate thread but what is Trump doing with Israel/ Palastine. Looked more smarmy than normal this week when in Israel. The conflict will never be settled with The Israelis continually taking more land and Trump ploughing in $50 billion. He has also ’ sorted/recognised ‘Jerusalem as the capital. Unbelievable guy

Perhaps some of the more learned people on here would care to predict the likely outcome

Trump is simply wanting to be able to say to his core vote that he has sorted the Israel/Palestinian problem, and if Palestinians reject his deal then that's not his fault. he got the deal. That the Palestinians haven't been involved at all in coming to this 'deal' does not, I am guessing, bother Trump one iota as, in his transactional way of thinking, the offer of $50bn to the Palestinians (to buy them off) is a transactional offer from him that they can't refuse unless they are unreasonable people.

 

[Wolf]

Trump is simply wanting to be able to say to his core vote that he has sorted the Israel/Palestinian problem, and if Palestinians reject his deal then that's not his fault. he got the deal. That the Palestinians haven't been involved at all in coming to this 'deal' does not, I am guessing, bother Trump one iota as, in his transactional way of thinking, the offer of $50bn to the Palestinians (to buy them off) is a transactional offer from him that they can't refuse unless they are unreasonable people.

Think thats actually a perfectly good summary of what he's trying to achieve or at least show what he has supposedly achieved.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

And back on the Dershowitz argument.

The extension of the argument (it's an authoritarian or monarchial absolutist argument) takes us to what Trump said couple of years ago - that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and get away with it. That is effectively where the Dershowitz argument takes us. If the individual on 5th Avenue was a risk to him being re-elected - then by shooting that individual Trump would simply be increasing the likelihood of his being re-elected - and as his re-election would be in the public interest then convicting him of shooting that person woulds fail, as being counter to the public interest.

See also Trump in the latest Parnas tape telling his team to get rid of the US Ambassador to Ukraine - Marie Yovanovitch...as she was a problem...

"Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. OK? Do it.”