Donald Trump presidency discussion thread V

everlast75

spacecoyote wrote: »

And what was it that KAC referred to it as on Cuomo... an attempted coup by McCabe?

Yep, investigating a course of action provided for in the constitution with good cause which would have required the cooperation of Mike Pence was a "coup"

mcmoustache

mcmoustache wrote: »

I've been hearing that a lot too but I'm really not so sure.

The main reason that I'm not so sure is that his team is still involved in a lot of pending litigation, including for example the subpoena for Andrew Miller. Admittedly, there isn't anything preventing a report on a particular aspect of the investigation while other investigations remain in progress. There could be a report on Trump's obstruction, for example, while they still deal with the conspiracy with the Russians but I'm not even sure that a partial or interim report is a possibility.

There will be a report to the AG at some point which he could bury, in theory, but I don't think that will happen until he is finished. Meanwhile, he can continue to tell the story of what happened though the indictments which tend to contain more information than necessary.

Well, this didn't age well...

Manic Moran

TomOnBoard wrote: »

Was this not originally planned as a link from Sacramento to San Diego?

If so, the change of scope from SF to LA (although possibly pragmatic) had already undermined the strategic underpinning..

However, this latest plan (simply to ensure that the Federal grant is used up and doesn't have to be paid back) is simply ridiculous... Surely Merced to Bakersfield (currently about 2-2.6 hrs by car) is one of the least of California's traffic problems.. I mean, try and get from LAX to Santa Barbara on a morning in less that 2 hours... So why would that route, most legs of which would involve many more users than the Merced- Bakersfield I-journey not be more appropriate for Federal grant funding, given that one would need to drive to either Bakersfield or Merced in order to avail of the proposed hi-speed rail (or else use the existing slo-rail service to/from either point...)

In the long term, yes. The original plan was to run SF-LA and turn a profit, and with that profit, open extensions to Sacramento and San Diego. Map here. http://www.hsr.ca.gov/docs/newsroom/maps/Statewide_System_Map.pdf A possible branch to Las Vegas was also considered, which would have been useful.

As for why Merced/Bakersfield and not something useful...
Back in 2014, they were eyeing three options for the first stage to be built. San Jose-San Francisco, Fresno-Bakersfield, or LA-Annaheim. They decided, I kid you not, that they could get more miles for the dollar in the Central Valley, so went that way. Then in 2016 they figured they could start expanding North to San Jose a little later, where the costs still weren't as horrible per mile as a true built-up area, which is why the line now is to go as far North as Merced.

They would have been far better off spending the money to just to the 30 miles in the urban area, almost as a commuter rail line in the short term. Or just give it to BART or some other public transportation system which is desperate for cash and people use every day.

Around the time of the Covington incident, there were posters here saying that they hoped the kid sued all and sundry over the coverage.

He did, seeking $250,000,000.

It was dismissed by the Court on an initial Motion to the Court by the Washington Post.

Got a link for that? It was only filed yesterday, seems surprisingly quick to get an initial motion in front of a judge, and I can't find anything about any motions being granted by Googling around. I'd put a small wager that he's still going to lose, but I don't think it's done yet.

aloyisious

CNN is quoting former FBI director McCabe as saying the FBI were considering whether the President was (wittingly or unwittingly) a Russian asset, with Don responding that McCabe was a disgraced man & failure. The "court" seems to be out on that topic.

On another front, CNN also reported that a U.S coastguard member has been charged with planning a mass terror attack on democrats and journalists. It's valid (IMO) to ask if Don's suggestion about journalists and democrats had any influence on the officer. https://journaltimes.com/coast-guard-officer-charged-with-planning-mass-attack/html_9b65ce41-6d56-5e99-8e31-74ea26eca3d9.html. Edit. My apologies in advance if people are unable to open this link. I just proof-read it and the following cut-off response popped up.
451: Unavailable due to legal reasons We recognize you are attempting to access this website from a country belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) including the EU which enforces the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and therefore access cannot be granted at this time. For any issues, contact techguy@journaltimes.com or call 888-460-8725.

Try query "US coastguard Lt charged with planning mass terror attack on democrats and journalists"

This breaking story is unrelated to another report in the Mail Online also dated today of a U.S Coastguard Petty Officer being arrested for assaulting a 67 year-old woman at her Long Island home.

Igotadose

See a crank, hire a crank. Trump now's dug up William Happer, a widely debunked physicist, to run his "Presidential Committee on Climate Security." He's recently said outrageous things about CO2, but this is nothing new with him, he's been wrong for decades about climate science, despite being a prominent physicist. Oh well. I don't expect that committee to do anything other than hold the occasional meeting

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/william-happer-climate-jews_n_5c6e0f2be4b0f40774cbfa70

More on Happer's wingnuttery: https://skepticalscience.com/even-princeton-makes-mistakes.html

Search for him on skepticalscience, there's plenty. Hadn't heard from him in awhile, but now he's back.

Manic Moran

aloyisious wrote: »

On another front, CNN also reported that a U.S coastguard member has been charged with planning a mass terror attack on democrats and journalists. It's valid (IMO) to ask if Don's suggestion about journalists and democrats had any influence on the officer. https://journaltimes.com/coast-guard-officer-charged-with-planning-mass-attack/html_9b65ce41-6d56-5e99-8e31-74ea26eca3d9.html. .

It is valid to ask, but no. This isn’t some random susceptible chap, this was a officer of the armed forces who swore an oath of commissioning whilst being sympathetic to Anders Brevik. That is outright duplicity, no better than the former intelligence airwoman who hit the news last week for defecting to Iran. He would have been trouble no matter who was President.

everlast75

Manic Moran wrote: »

It is valid to ask, but no. This isn’t some random susceptible chap, this was a officer of the armed forces who swore an oath of commissioning whilst being sympathetic to Anders Brevik. That is outright duplicity, no better than the former intelligence airwoman who hit the news last week for defecting to Iran. He would have been trouble no matter who was President.

Agreed.

That being said, the hateful rhetoric of the US President, the most powerful man on the planet is downright dangerous, negligent, and straight out the Dictator handbook. Just because it may not have lead to this incident, it does not mean it won't give legitimacy to some other lunatic out there on another occasion who will be inspired and encouraged to do something similar.

He has encouraged violence at his rallies and those that do attend those self- esteem exercises for Trump are highly excitably, to put it mildly.

Combine that with easy access to guns and you have a recipe for a disaster.

Trump has been repeatedly warned by those who know better than he, to stop, and he refuses to do it.

pixelburp

Manic Moran wrote: »

It is valid to ask, but no. This isn’t some random susceptible chap, this was a officer of the armed forces who swore an oath of commissioning whilst being sympathetic to Anders Brevik. That is outright duplicity, no better than the former intelligence airwoman who hit the news last week for defecting to Iran. He would have been trouble no matter who was President.

In a general sense, do you think the words - or indeed the actions in some legislative sense - of the President can have an affect on peoples' behaviours or their own actions as individuals?

If the President is seen to equivocate and passively defend (say) White Nationalists, doesn't it track that those Nationalists will then feel emboldened by the President's 'actions'? If Trump (repeatedly) calls the Free Press the "Enemy of the People", and there's an uptick in attacks on journalists - including those mail bombs - it would equally track the President's words emboldened those committing the deeds.

Obviously the officer's crime would be a problem with any President, but the argument is that this particular President is building an atmosphere where extremists can feel empowered or possess a sense of justification in their actions by dint of the President's words. Trump is normalising it, however passively.

EltonJohn69

I predict big news this weekend... some BIG news on Friday......

everlast75

EltonJohn69 wrote: »

I predict big news this weekend... some BIG news on Friday......

Well we thought Donny Jnr would be indicted last Friday, so it may be that.

Leroy42

My bet is that Donny Jr won't be indicted. To do so is to effectively indict Trump himself, no way Mueller is going to open that can of worms.

At best, if they have sufficient cause and evidence, Trump will be presented with the facts and told that for the sake of the nation he needs to remove himself before running 2020.

The body politic, mainly the GOP but also the wider body, will not want such a scandal and will avoid it if possible.

everlast75

Leroy42 wrote: »

My bet is that Donny Jr won't be indicted. To do so is to effectively indict Trump himself, no way Mueller is going to open that can of worms.

At best, if they have sufficient cause and evidence, Trump will be presented with the facts and told that for the sake of the nation he needs to remove himself before running 2020.

The body politic, mainly the GOP but also the wider body, will not want such a scandal and will avoid it if possible.

I've been saying that for some time, but if Mueller is wrapping up and the report is being released next week, it will include Donny Jr.

And if he is found to be lying to congress, I can see that charge being laid now if Mueller is stepping down.

Those charges can be dropped later but one might want to start the ball rolling now. The transcripts were sent to the SC's office. And there are a lot of other people who need to worry about facing similar charges too!

Stallingrad

EltonJohn69 wrote: »

I predict big news this weekend... some BIG news on Friday......

Is T going to finally shoot someone on 5th Avenue to prove his point?

I've given up on 'Big news.'

Leroy42

everlast75 wrote: »

I've been saying that for some time, but if Mueller is wrapping up and the report is being released next week, it will include Donny Jr.

And if he is found to be lying to congress, I can see that charge being laid now if Mueller is stepping down.

Those charges can be dropped later but one might want to start the ball rolling now. The transcripts were sent to the SC's office. And there are a lot of other people who need to worry about facing similar charges too!

But you seem to be of the opinion that this will all be undertaken in the spirit of the law. Nixon would point to the idea that it is best to simply sweep things under the carpet and move on.

Now, I don't see Trump willingly resigning, so my bet is that he will be allowed to continue as is with a threat of Donny Jr etc being in trouble if he doesn't move aside.

The US can then simply airbrush the whole thing away with only the like of Stone, Manafort etc paying a price, and nobody is going to lose any sleep over them.

ECO_Mental

Igotadose wrote: »

See a crank, hire a crank. Trump now's dug up William Happer, a widely debunked physicist, to run his "Presidential Committee on Climate Security." He's recently said outrageous things about CO2, but this is nothing new with him, he's been wrong for decades about climate science, despite being a prominent physicist. Oh well. I don't expect that committee to do anything other than hold the occasional meeting

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/william-happer-climate-jews_n_5c6e0f2be4b0f40774cbfa70

More on Happer's wingnuttery: https://skepticalscience.com/even-princeton-makes-mistakes.html

Search for him on skepticalscience, there's plenty. Hadn't heard from him in awhile, but now he's back.

This stuff depresses me:(, you would deliberately have to go a very long long way out of way to find a scientist that doesn't believe in climate change. What is his goal, who is advising him, who is lobbying him, who is he trying to piss off. I sincerely believe they do this to deliberately troll and piss off the left. There can be no other reason then to just piss of these liberals and confirm all the beliefs that their base support.



It like going to a hospital and getting a diagnosis of cancer and it have be confirmed by every doctor in that hospital and you get a second opinion in another hospital and they confirm it as well. You still wont belive them but then you find someone and they say well if you drink your piss for the next year you'll be ok all these other guys don't know what they are talking about, yeah that makes sense....

Hande hoche!

Not too sure on major announcements as regards indictments this week. The North Korean summit is next week, so imagine they may hold off into March. Course could be completely wrong...

robinph

Leroy42 wrote: »

But you seem to be of the opinion that this will all be undertaken in the spirit of the law. Nixon would point to the idea that it is best to simply sweep things under the carpet and move on.

Now, I don't see Trump willingly resigning, so my bet is that he will be allowed to continue as is with a threat of Donny Jr etc being in trouble if he doesn't move aside.

The US can then simply airbrush the whole thing away with only the like of Stone, Manafort etc paying a price, and nobody is going to lose any sleep over them.

Has any previous president not stood for re-election, when permitted with the term limits? Him not standing is effectively resigning.

For any normal person they could just invent a health scare reason for not wanting the bother of running again, or wanting to spend more time with their family. But for Trump being the healthiest person on the planet and not exactly wanting to spend much time with his family I can't see that happening. He'll have to be dragged out kicking and screaming as even if he's persuaded to walk he'll still be kicking and screaming the whole way.

ECO_Mental

EltonJohn69 wrote: »

I predict big news this weekend... some BIG news on Friday......

Yeah but I think it will be just the report released to Barr in the DOJ, we wont hear anything possibly for another few weeks. The GOP will do everything in their power not to release this. Good news the Dems control congress and will do everything in their power to get it released. But there will be a big fight.


I don't know will we see any arrests tomorrow.


One ray of shining light Rodger Stone could be locked up today :D:D:D please please please



If there is one person that deserves to do porridge is this creep,



https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/21/roger-stone-risks-jail-as-judge-rules-on-crosshairs-instagram-photo.html

dub_skav

robinph wrote: »

Has any previous president not stood for re-election, when permitted with the term limits? Him not standing is effectively resigning.

For any normal person they could just invent a health scare reason for not wanting the bother of running again, or wanting to spend more time with their family. But for Trump being the healthiest person on the planet and not exactly wanting to spend much time with his family I can't see that happening. He'll have to be dragged out kicking and screaming as even if he's persuaded to walk he'll still be kicking and screaming the whole way.

But, he will have achieved everything that he said he would, more than any previous president and in only 1 term.
Why would he need to stand for re-election.

I imagine that would be his spin, if it were to happen. Not sure the Republicans would be so strong with him though

Leroy42

robinph wrote: »

Has any previous president not stood for re-election, when permitted with the term limits? Him not standing is effectively resigning.

For any normal person they could just invent a health scare reason for not wanting the bother of running again, or wanting to spend more time with their family. But for Trump being the healthiest person on the planet and not exactly wanting to spend much time with his family I can't see that happening. He'll have to be dragged out kicking and screaming as even if he's persuaded to walk he'll still be kicking and screaming the whole way.

Under my theory, and that is all it is, Trump will be faced with continuing on and facing Donny being indicted, or declining to run.

He will get SHS to say that he has achieved everything he set out to. The stockmarket is historic, jobs the best, NK is dealt with, NATO solved, coal is back, America is great again. Now its time to let others continue on with the great work he started blah blah.

It won't be difficult, and we have already seen numerous times that his supporters will lap it up within even trying to see what is behind the curtain.

I base all this on the thinking that had Donny been anyone else he would be indicted well before now, so what is stopping it? Trump being POTUS. That is not suddenly going to go away.

We have all seen examples, in the US and in other countries, of politicians closing ranks to 'protect' the country from further harm.

rossie1977

The Democratic led house investigations will tell you alot more than a Trump appointed one would. I never bought that a Rod Rosenstein investigation would uncover any dirt on Trump or his family. It's Iran contra all over again where the little guys take the fall

everlast75

Leroy42 wrote: »

But you seem to be of the opinion that this will all be undertaken in the spirit of the law. Nixon would point to the idea that it is best to simply sweep things under the carpet and move on.

Now, I don't see Trump willingly resigning, so my bet is that he will be allowed to continue as is with a threat of Donny Jr etc being in trouble if he doesn't move aside.

The US can then simply airbrush the whole thing away with only the like of Stone, Manafort etc paying a price, and nobody is going to lose any sleep over them.

I think in terms of Criminality, Trump in on another level to Nixon so I don't think what Trump has done can be swept under the carpet, and for that reason I think this will be dealt with differently.

I think this will be the first step in the long line of charges which will be brought and it will be the combined weight of all of the issues facing Trump and his family, in terms of his professional and political life, which will ultimately lead to him being offered the choice to step down, but by then, the whole story will be well known.

As much as anyone can forecast how this dumpster fire of a presidency will end, that's my best guess.

Ultros

EltonJohn69 wrote: »

I predict big news this weekend... some BIG news on Friday......

If I bet money every time someone came up a prediction in this thread over the last few years concerning Russian collusion and "the end of Trump" I'd be broke.

Leroy42

Yeah, and I'd bet if I bet money on everytime some Trump supporter came on here to claim that it was all a hoax or a nothingburger or whatever we'd all be broke too.

Ultros

Leroy42 wrote: »

Yeah, and I'd bet if I bet money on everytime some Trump supporter came on here to claim that it was all a hoax or a nothingburger or whatever we'd all be broke too.

I'm not sure how you'd go about proving a negative i.e: Vast conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, I'm open to enlightenment though.

If the Mueller report comes out without that particular bombshell, you'll see the likes of Schiff and Swalwell running to open new investigations as to why the Mueller probe didn't uncover the conspiracy to keep their charades going.

The probe might show all the hyperbole over the last 3 years to be justified, it might not. We'll see, either way heads will turn.

Leroy42

Because there is a masses of evidence that something was a foot.

Have you read Proof of Collusion? It is impossible to read that and not come to the conclusion that at the very least the US is on very shaky ground and wide open to abuse.

everlast75

Ultros wrote: »

I'm not sure how you'd go about proving a negative i.e: Vast conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, I'm open to enlightenment though.

If the Mueller report comes out without that particular bombshell, you'll see the likes of Schiff and Swalwell running to open new investigations as to why the Mueller probe didn't uncover the conspiracy to keep their charades going.

The probe might show all the hyperbole over the last 3 years to be justified, it might not. We'll see, either way heads will turn.

There was conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.

These are known facts.

We have Manafort, all those at the meeting in Trump tower, and (highly likely soon to be jailed) Mr. Stone.

Whether there is any direct or indirect evidence "Individual One" knew about that, we will see.

And a trump supporter complaining about hyperbole, well that takes the proverbial biscuit (the biggest crowds, the best people, the best negotiator ever etc etc)

Ultros

Leroy42 wrote: »

Because there is a masses of evidence that something was a foot.

Have you read Proof of Collusion? It is impossible to read that and not come to the conclusion that at the very least the US is on very shaky ground and wide open to abuse.

I haven't read anything on either side besides witnessing what's happened over the last few years with news reports and so on.

I don't think there was a "there there" like Strzok or whoever said. The most damning thing that was exposed was the Trump tower meeting, that's obviously up to interpretation whether Donald JR was being truthful on what happened. At the very least he was extremely careless. Mueller will likely know the truth as Manafort is being sent to jail for life with nothing to lose and he was in that meeting.

The Stone stuff I think is garbage. You're telling me if the shoe was on the other foot and Wikileaks had emails on the Trump campaign someone connected or semi connected to the Clinton campaign wouldn't have speculated about it or reached out to try find out what they had? It's a nothing story if there was no strategic coordination between the campaign and Wikileaks on the release of those emails and there's zero evidence supporting that theory.

What I think happened is Trumps campaign went along with it because it was clearly beneficial to them and damaging to Clinton's side. I don't think there was some superficial connection where members of both parties were regularly coordinating and strategizing, as such there will be no bombshell. They'll be legal jargon like the Trump campaign were careless when they were either knowingly or unknowingly being groomed by a foreign adversity, that's what I think the majority of the report will be made up.

Of course I could be entirely wrong, that's just my perspective and what I've felt from the get go. I hope we all get to see what happened so we can finally have a conclusion.

Leroy42

So you don't know, haven't bothered to try to find out but want to be taken seriously that you somehow 'know'?

And there isn't two sides. It is either illegal or not. Your, or mine, viewpoint is irrelevant. So when you say you haven't read anything for either side what do you mean? On one side their is evidence, and indictments, and plea deals, and history, and lies from Trump and cover ups. And the other has Trump calling it all fake news. Are you suggesting that we should treat both as equals?

Tower Meeting is only open to interpretation if you haven't bothered to understand it. Its the same way as saying it open to interpretation why the stranger is in your house. Sure they might simply be lost but would you not even want to ask the question?

Stone has been indicted, so the US doesn't seem to agree with you that it simply garbage.

Trump campaign went along with it. So even you accept that there is the distinct possibility that something went on, yet you haven't even bothered to try to educate yourself past the headlines.

There is nothing wrong with perspective, at the end of the day we are all just giving opinions. But there is plenty of stuff to read out there to expand your perspective. Go and read Proof of Collusion, you can get it in the library. If you can read that and simply dismiss it all as totally unconnected and a 'witch-hunt- then fair enough.

Ultros

Leroy42 wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with perspective, at the end of the day we are all just giving opinions. But there is plenty of stuff to read out there to expand your perspective.

Well you could go the other way with the latest McCabe admissions or the texts between Strozk and Page etc to expand a certain perspective on how Trump was treated, two sides to every coin.

I hope we find out soon as it's been dragging on for years now so it will be nice to finally get some closure when we do eventually see the main findings. Let's wait and see

Trump campaign went along with it. So even you accept that there is the distinct possibility that something went on, yet you haven't even bothered to try to educate yourself past the headlines.

As for this, what do you know that the house and Senate don't? You should call them up and offer your perspective!