The_Trouvere
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2008
- Posts
- 11,189
OK, so you don't like Trump. What else do you have to say?
2019 Pretending To Live In A Trump Alternate Universe
- Thread starter bodysong
- Start date
Trump loyalists play a game of "Let's Pretend"
Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC)
Here’s what Clyburn actually said when he told Berman he agrees
with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her decision to hold the House’s
articles of impeachment back from the Senate for the time being:
Clyburn: “The delay is made necessary because the majority leader
of the Senate has made it very clear that he’s not going to be impartial,
he’s not going to be fair, he will collude, if you please, with the White House –
at least the White House’s attorneys – to decide how he will go forward.
Why would the speaker of the house step into that without trying to
determine exactly what the majority leader plans to do? So I applaud
her for this. In fact, I was one of the ones arguing that this ought to be
the case. And until we can get some assurances from the majority
leader that he is going to allow for a fair and impartial trial to take
place, we will be crazy to walk in there knowing he set up a kangaroo
court.
Berman: “How long are you willing to wait?”
Clyburn: “As long as it takes. Even if he doesn’t come around
to committing to a fair trial, keep those articles here. So keep it
as long as it takes. If you know, and he’s told you what he’s going
to do, let’s give him a fair trial and hang him. It’s the reverse of that.”
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/trump-c...im-rep-clyburn-called-for-trump-to-be-hanged/
(Charlie Kirk cannot brain.)
Charlie, you’re completely misrepresenting what Clyburn said.
He’s saying that McConnell is doing the reverse of
“give him a fair trial and hang him,” suggesting that
they already made a conclusion before the trial.
Use your brain for once.
— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) December 19, 2019
Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC)
Here’s what Clyburn actually said when he told Berman he agrees
with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her decision to hold the House’s
articles of impeachment back from the Senate for the time being:
Clyburn: “The delay is made necessary because the majority leader
of the Senate has made it very clear that he’s not going to be impartial,
he’s not going to be fair, he will collude, if you please, with the White House –
at least the White House’s attorneys – to decide how he will go forward.
Why would the speaker of the house step into that without trying to
determine exactly what the majority leader plans to do? So I applaud
her for this. In fact, I was one of the ones arguing that this ought to be
the case. And until we can get some assurances from the majority
leader that he is going to allow for a fair and impartial trial to take
place, we will be crazy to walk in there knowing he set up a kangaroo
court.
Berman: “How long are you willing to wait?”
Clyburn: “As long as it takes. Even if he doesn’t come around
to committing to a fair trial, keep those articles here. So keep it
as long as it takes. If you know, and he’s told you what he’s going
to do, let’s give him a fair trial and hang him. It’s the reverse of that.”
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/trump-c...im-rep-clyburn-called-for-trump-to-be-hanged/
(Charlie Kirk cannot brain.)
Charlie, you’re completely misrepresenting what Clyburn said.
He’s saying that McConnell is doing the reverse of
“give him a fair trial and hang him,” suggesting that
they already made a conclusion before the trial.
Use your brain for once.
— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) December 19, 2019
KeithD
Virgin
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2012
- Posts
- 29,626
Until the corrupt, criminal, Russian asset danger to the national security Donald Trump is out of office, no one needs to have much else to say. Nothing is a danger to life in this nation and on this planet that Donald Trump is.
Remove, prosecute, incarcerate
The_Trouvere
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2008
- Posts
- 11,189
I hate Trump, but a lot of people love him and believe his lies. During the impeachment hearings his approval rating has gone up a few points. If the economy continues to perform well for most Americans he has a good chance of being re elected.
Even if the economy crashes, a lot of Trump supporters support him for non economic reasons. They want him to reverse social changes. They think he hates the same people they hate and fear. They want him to rip this country apart and impose a lot of suffering on Hispanics, blacks, gays, Muslims, liberals, and everyone else who is not like them.
It is a scary time we're living in.
Trump may well be re elected, but I have yet to see his supporters show the same blind loyalty to Republicans in elections. Seems the Republicans will have to put up good candidates, not just Trump supporters, in those districts. Otherwise Trump may win the WH, but the Republicans may not regain control of the House and lose control of the Senate.
The last night of 2019
A gathering of leeches, weasels, scum, and rotten, sleazy,
shady people bow down to their cult leader at Ma- a- Lago
A closed venue on private property, guarded by the Secret Service-
The American tax-payer pays the subsidy for the gremlins to caper
before their Great Goblin King.
Cannot get much more far removed from reality, than that.
Make believe and pretend fueled by ill-gotten gains.
No morals, no hearts, but plenty of cash- $1,000.00
per ticket, to grovel to a Beast, and make nice to his
offspring, sycophants, and operatives.
Mar-a- Lago, the stage set of the Beast's dreams.
Here, there is no press to ruffle his ego, or contradict
his speeches. Facts do not matter here. He will not
be honored with red carpet treatment in the civilized
world, but he can have his very own. (The Chinese
government mocked him as a fool, and provided one.)
The paying guests treat him like the star he wishes he
could be. As if he were liked, as if he was popular,
as if he was not an absolute evil fuck.
It might not be real, but it is the next best thing.
Everyone attending Trump's Alternative Universe
event knows the rules. Everyone knows the drill.
Do not awaken the Beast from his dream.
The Erased Tweets of 2019
Somehow, there is at least one, that Presiderp can point to-
NBC News reporter Ben Collins spoke with MSNBC host Chris Hayes
about President Donald Trump’s habit of retweeting dubious accounts-
“Sometimes the president will retweet an account and it has very few
followers, sometimes it’s following zero people. In one case he
retweeted the first tweet of an account. I thought to myself, how
did he get there to finding out this person to retweet their first
one. How does that work?” Hayes asked on All In With Chris
Hayes, with Collins noting a number of these accounts get
taken down.
“[Trump’s] been on one recently,” Collins said.
“That’s probably the best way to put it. When
he is, he retweets these very shady accounts.
The accounts all have very specific hyper-targeted
messages.”
“What we really have to do is come to the reality that we
are all in now, which is that there are two different realities
for news now and he has ventured into the one that appeases
him the most,” Collins continued. “There is an entire ecosystem
that exists to push narratives that absolve him of every crime,
absolve him of every wrongdoing that has ever existed.”
“He’s created a secondary ecosystem for himself that
absolves him of everything. … In these spaces where
he’s like a god emperor,” Collins said. “He cannot do wrong.”
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/nbcs-be...where-hes-god-emperor/?utm_source=mostpopular
A gathering of leeches, weasels, scum, and rotten, sleazy,
shady people bow down to their cult leader at Ma- a- Lago
A closed venue on private property, guarded by the Secret Service-
The American tax-payer pays the subsidy for the gremlins to caper
before their Great Goblin King.
Cannot get much more far removed from reality, than that.
Make believe and pretend fueled by ill-gotten gains.
No morals, no hearts, but plenty of cash- $1,000.00
per ticket, to grovel to a Beast, and make nice to his
offspring, sycophants, and operatives.
Mar-a- Lago, the stage set of the Beast's dreams.
Here, there is no press to ruffle his ego, or contradict
his speeches. Facts do not matter here. He will not
be honored with red carpet treatment in the civilized
world, but he can have his very own. (The Chinese
government mocked him as a fool, and provided one.)
The paying guests treat him like the star he wishes he
could be. As if he were liked, as if he was popular,
as if he was not an absolute evil fuck.
It might not be real, but it is the next best thing.
Everyone attending Trump's Alternative Universe
event knows the rules. Everyone knows the drill.
Do not awaken the Beast from his dream.
The Erased Tweets of 2019
Somehow, there is at least one, that Presiderp can point to-
NBC News reporter Ben Collins spoke with MSNBC host Chris Hayes
about President Donald Trump’s habit of retweeting dubious accounts-
“Sometimes the president will retweet an account and it has very few
followers, sometimes it’s following zero people. In one case he
retweeted the first tweet of an account. I thought to myself, how
did he get there to finding out this person to retweet their first
one. How does that work?” Hayes asked on All In With Chris
Hayes, with Collins noting a number of these accounts get
taken down.
“[Trump’s] been on one recently,” Collins said.
“That’s probably the best way to put it. When
he is, he retweets these very shady accounts.
The accounts all have very specific hyper-targeted
messages.”
“What we really have to do is come to the reality that we
are all in now, which is that there are two different realities
for news now and he has ventured into the one that appeases
him the most,” Collins continued. “There is an entire ecosystem
that exists to push narratives that absolve him of every crime,
absolve him of every wrongdoing that has ever existed.”
“He’s created a secondary ecosystem for himself that
absolves him of everything. … In these spaces where
he’s like a god emperor,” Collins said. “He cannot do wrong.”
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/nbcs-be...where-hes-god-emperor/?utm_source=mostpopular
bodysong comment-
Trump Tells Rich Mar-a-Lago Friends "You All Just Got a Lot Richer"
After Tax Bill
Is anyone surprised that the wealth is not trickling down ?
Does it come as a shock, to see Americans are replaced with
temporary workers, hired from overseas, after they sacrificed
good wages and adequate benefits ?
The companies they worked for made massive profits, but pay no taxes.
Companies let off the hook for tens, if not hundreds of billions of taxes
December 31, 2019
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/201...n-tax-breaks-to-huge-corporations-report.html
A tax law already disproportionately benefiting the richest of the rich
has become an even greater windfall for the world's largest companies
and their shareholders."
—David Enrich, New York Times
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2...-quietly-handed-billions-more-tax-breaks-huge
David Enrich, financial editor for the Times, said the newspaper's estimate
that major companies received tens of billions of dollars in additional tax
breaks thanks to the Treasury Department is "conservative."
"The cumulative effect," said Enrich, "is that a tax law already
disproportionately benefiting the richest of the rich has become
an even greater windfall for the world's largest companies and
their shareholders."
The ridiculous thing: companies appear to not be properly disclosing
what they’re paying under these new taxes. Which makes it very hard
to see how big this bonanza really is. Our estimate of tens of billions
in savings is conservative.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2...-quietly-handed-billions-more-tax-breaks-huge
December 17, 2019
It’s been two years since Republicans passed their Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
(TCJA), enough time for its effects to have come into full view.
— David Enrich (@davidenrich) December 30, 2019
After two years, there is no evidence of any investment boom.
https://www.epi.org/blog/on-its-sec...r-corporations-but-nothing-has-trickled-down/
Trump Tells Rich Mar-a-Lago Friends "You All Just Got a Lot Richer"
After Tax Bill
Is anyone surprised that the wealth is not trickling down ?
Does it come as a shock, to see Americans are replaced with
temporary workers, hired from overseas, after they sacrificed
good wages and adequate benefits ?
The companies they worked for made massive profits, but pay no taxes.
Companies let off the hook for tens, if not hundreds of billions of taxes
December 31, 2019
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/201...n-tax-breaks-to-huge-corporations-report.html
A tax law already disproportionately benefiting the richest of the rich
has become an even greater windfall for the world's largest companies
and their shareholders."
—David Enrich, New York Times
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2...-quietly-handed-billions-more-tax-breaks-huge
David Enrich, financial editor for the Times, said the newspaper's estimate
that major companies received tens of billions of dollars in additional tax
breaks thanks to the Treasury Department is "conservative."
"The cumulative effect," said Enrich, "is that a tax law already
disproportionately benefiting the richest of the rich has become
an even greater windfall for the world's largest companies and
their shareholders."
The ridiculous thing: companies appear to not be properly disclosing
what they’re paying under these new taxes. Which makes it very hard
to see how big this bonanza really is. Our estimate of tens of billions
in savings is conservative.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2...-quietly-handed-billions-more-tax-breaks-huge
December 17, 2019
It’s been two years since Republicans passed their Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
(TCJA), enough time for its effects to have come into full view.
— David Enrich (@davidenrich) December 30, 2019
After two years, there is no evidence of any investment boom.
https://www.epi.org/blog/on-its-sec...r-corporations-but-nothing-has-trickled-down/
The Trump administration quietly used loopholes built into the 2017
tax cuts to give big corporations an even bigger tax savings
January 1, 2020
The tax cut bill passed by Republicans in 2017 overwhelmingly
benefited the wealthy and big corporations, according to a House
Budget Committee report issued earlier this year. The law gave
individuals a modest short-term tax cut while permanently slashing
corporate taxes from 35 percent to 21 percent. The new law has greatly
contributed to the 50 percent growth in the budget deficit since (Presiderp)
took office.
But that was not enough for big corporations, which launched intense
lobbying efforts to carve out even bigger breaks in the bill’s loopholes.
The effort led the Treasury Department to quietly change rules to hand
big companies an even bigger tax break, according to The New York
Times, costing taxpayers billions in lost revenue.
“Treasury is gutting the new law,” University of Houston tax law
professor Bret Wells told the Times. “It is largely the top 1 percent
that will disproportionately benefit — the wealthiest people in the
world.”
But big companies may have even more tax breaks coming.
“In the coming days, the Treasury is likely to complete its last round
of rules carrying out the tax cuts," the Times reported. “
"Big companies have spent this fall trying to win more.”
https://www.salon.com/2020/01/01/tr...x-law-to-give-big-new-breaks-to-corporations/
tax cuts to give big corporations an even bigger tax savings
January 1, 2020
The tax cut bill passed by Republicans in 2017 overwhelmingly
benefited the wealthy and big corporations, according to a House
Budget Committee report issued earlier this year. The law gave
individuals a modest short-term tax cut while permanently slashing
corporate taxes from 35 percent to 21 percent. The new law has greatly
contributed to the 50 percent growth in the budget deficit since (Presiderp)
took office.
But that was not enough for big corporations, which launched intense
lobbying efforts to carve out even bigger breaks in the bill’s loopholes.
The effort led the Treasury Department to quietly change rules to hand
big companies an even bigger tax break, according to The New York
Times, costing taxpayers billions in lost revenue.
“Treasury is gutting the new law,” University of Houston tax law
professor Bret Wells told the Times. “It is largely the top 1 percent
that will disproportionately benefit — the wealthiest people in the
world.”
But big companies may have even more tax breaks coming.
“In the coming days, the Treasury is likely to complete its last round
of rules carrying out the tax cuts," the Times reported. “
"Big companies have spent this fall trying to win more.”
https://www.salon.com/2020/01/01/tr...x-law-to-give-big-new-breaks-to-corporations/
What does it matter, to those that choose to pretend to live
inside of Trump's Alternative Universe, that Trump is
a form of Frankenstein's monster ?
In the United States of America, evil entity attempts to kill good, with its last gasp-
evil buried itself, as a parasite would, into the body of American politics,
disguising itself as a mimic of other entities.
What contagion does it leave behind, when it falls to its death, rots,
and turns to dust ?
inside of Trump's Alternative Universe, that Trump is
a form of Frankenstein's monster ?
In the United States of America, evil entity attempts to kill good, with its last gasp-
evil buried itself, as a parasite would, into the body of American politics,
disguising itself as a mimic of other entities.
What contagion does it leave behind, when it falls to its death, rots,
and turns to dust ?
This narrative took a serious hit-
1/10/20
DOJ Investigation Into Hillary Clinton Ends And They Found...Nothing.
Trump and the DOJ desperately wanted to find something
to charge Hillary Clinton with.
They failed.
The DOJ investigation, which started 2 years ago, appears to be ending
and they have found zero crimes committed.
ZERO.
Former AG Jeff Sessions hired John Huber-
a U.S. attorney in Utah, to investigate Donald Trump's whackadoodle
conspiracy theories into the Clinton Foundation, Uranium One and
alleged crimes committed when Clinton was Secretary of State.
The Washington Post reports that Huber dug deep, reviewing documents,
consulting with law enforcement and basically digging under every rock...
still, he found NOTHING.
Donald Trump, Fox and the GOP will be furious that Huber found nothing.
Surely they hoped that Clinton would end up in handcuffs, as so many memes
have imagined. The greatest irony is seeing those who screamed "lock her up"
end up in prison themselves, while Hillary Clinton continues living her best life.
https://crooksandliars.com/2020/01/doj-investigation-hillary-clinton-ending
(Then, again, the Trump Alternative Universe, is the land of Make Believe)
1/10/20
DOJ Investigation Into Hillary Clinton Ends And They Found...Nothing.
Trump and the DOJ desperately wanted to find something
to charge Hillary Clinton with.
They failed.
The DOJ investigation, which started 2 years ago, appears to be ending
and they have found zero crimes committed.
ZERO.
Former AG Jeff Sessions hired John Huber-
a U.S. attorney in Utah, to investigate Donald Trump's whackadoodle
conspiracy theories into the Clinton Foundation, Uranium One and
alleged crimes committed when Clinton was Secretary of State.
The Washington Post reports that Huber dug deep, reviewing documents,
consulting with law enforcement and basically digging under every rock...
still, he found NOTHING.
Donald Trump, Fox and the GOP will be furious that Huber found nothing.
Surely they hoped that Clinton would end up in handcuffs, as so many memes
have imagined. The greatest irony is seeing those who screamed "lock her up"
end up in prison themselves, while Hillary Clinton continues living her best life.
https://crooksandliars.com/2020/01/doj-investigation-hillary-clinton-ending
(Then, again, the Trump Alternative Universe, is the land of Make Believe)
Justice Department winds down Clinton-related inquiry once championed by Trump
2020/1/10
"...has effectively ended with no tangible results, and current
and former law enforcement officials said they never expected
the effort to produce much of anything."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/na...ioned-trump/CuS7qd1213juORulKQfFGJ/story.html
2020/1/10
"...has effectively ended with no tangible results, and current
and former law enforcement officials said they never expected
the effort to produce much of anything."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/na...ioned-trump/CuS7qd1213juORulKQfFGJ/story.html
January 10, 2020
In all the most important ways, Donald Trump’s Thursday night rally
was simply another installment in his sad, sick show of hatred, bullying,
racism, and irrationality. Like all stale serials limping into a fourth season,
Trump’s traveling sideshow relied on recycling every standard line and
mindless catchphrase. That included claims about a wall that have been
proven a lie a hundred times over, and it included Trump nodding along to
“Lock her up” chants and following up with claims that his 2016 opponent
really deserved to be behind bars.
But even as Trump was rambling on about Hillary Clinton, word leaked
that a two-year fishing expedition into everything Clinton was ending …
without so much as a minnow.
As The Washington Post reports, given more than two years to look
into everything from the Uranium One deal to the details of the
Clinton Foundation, Huber has come back with “no tangible results.”
Multiple past attempts to find some way to claim wrongdoing by Clinton
on this subject have already come up dry, and it seems that Huber also
failed to find any substance behind baseless claims that were never more than …
baseless claims.
Huber found nothing.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...illary-Clinton-reportedly-finds-no-wrongdoing
In all the most important ways, Donald Trump’s Thursday night rally
was simply another installment in his sad, sick show of hatred, bullying,
racism, and irrationality. Like all stale serials limping into a fourth season,
Trump’s traveling sideshow relied on recycling every standard line and
mindless catchphrase. That included claims about a wall that have been
proven a lie a hundred times over, and it included Trump nodding along to
“Lock her up” chants and following up with claims that his 2016 opponent
really deserved to be behind bars.
But even as Trump was rambling on about Hillary Clinton, word leaked
that a two-year fishing expedition into everything Clinton was ending …
without so much as a minnow.
As The Washington Post reports, given more than two years to look
into everything from the Uranium One deal to the details of the
Clinton Foundation, Huber has come back with “no tangible results.”
Multiple past attempts to find some way to claim wrongdoing by Clinton
on this subject have already come up dry, and it seems that Huber also
failed to find any substance behind baseless claims that were never more than …
baseless claims.
Huber found nothing.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...illary-Clinton-reportedly-finds-no-wrongdoing
Has Trump gone "completely round the bend" ?
Ronald Reagan, in his last public appearances, believed he was
part of a TV series. The explanation was that he suffered from
dementia.
Trump has taken his show on the road!
It is not working out so well.
Europeans have had their share of dysfunctional leaders.
They have learned to cope. The Queen of England took
the visits of America's madman and his entourage, in stride.
The Middle East is a completely different animal-
Two worlds are colliding- Trump's Alternative Universe
and Iraq
For months, Iraqi Prime Minster Adel Abdul-Mahdi had thwarted
attempts by members of parliament to hold a vote on the continued
presence of U.S. forces in Iraq
Though Abdul-Mahdi is a Shiite and his party has connections
with Iran—connections that helped general public protests in
Iraq throughout the fall—he also regarded the U.S. troops in
Iraq as a stabilizing force, and appreciated the training, equipment,
and funding that came with the presence of those forces.
All of that changed after Donald Trump first bombed militia
bases inside Iraq over Abdul-Mahdi’s objections, then killed
not just Iranian general Qassem Soleimani but a number of
Iraqi Shiite militia leaders in an attack near Baghdad airport.
Abdul-Mahdi didn’t just drop his objection to holding a vote.
He championed the idea.
While the Defense Department hurriedly walked back a letter
sent to Abdul-Mahdi announcing that U.S. forces would begin
“repositioning” with an intent to withdraw, the Iraqi prime
minister made it clear that he took the letter seriously
and expected the United States to leave.
Now!
Only the U.S. is refusing to leave.
Trump, along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, has made
it clear that the United States intends to occupy Iraq over the
objections of the government. Even though Trump had previously
said he would pull troops out if the Iraqi government wasn’t
“grateful enough” for the support he was providing, now Trump
is demanding a multi-billion dollar ransom before he will consider
leaving.
Which means that the one clear result of Donald Trump’s
“get tough” actions may not just be a still simmering war
with Iran. But a war with the Iraqi government that we created.
- Mark Sumner
January 11, 2020
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...refuses-to-help-because-we-are-the-terrorists
"The State Department is ignoring Iraq's request to withdraw U.S. troops—
and it expects Iraq and other countries to pay for U.S. forces."
- New York University journalism professor Mohamad Bazzi
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/10/were-staying-us-tells-iraq-after-being-asked-leave
Sadly, Americans have been kept in the dark about what
has been happening inside Trump's Alternative Universe,
since it took over the White House. Everyone is reduced
to speculation-
(The lies! If lies were pasta strands thrown against the wall,
every room that Trump's loyalists have occupied would
have a massive pasta sculpture in them.)
Evolution of a lie: from 'imminent attack' to 'four embassies'
with no facts in between
-Mark Sumner
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...ck-to-four-embassies-with-no-facts-in-between
Ronald Reagan, in his last public appearances, believed he was
part of a TV series. The explanation was that he suffered from
dementia.
Trump has taken his show on the road!
It is not working out so well.
Europeans have had their share of dysfunctional leaders.
They have learned to cope. The Queen of England took
the visits of America's madman and his entourage, in stride.
The Middle East is a completely different animal-
Two worlds are colliding- Trump's Alternative Universe
and Iraq
For months, Iraqi Prime Minster Adel Abdul-Mahdi had thwarted
attempts by members of parliament to hold a vote on the continued
presence of U.S. forces in Iraq
Though Abdul-Mahdi is a Shiite and his party has connections
with Iran—connections that helped general public protests in
Iraq throughout the fall—he also regarded the U.S. troops in
Iraq as a stabilizing force, and appreciated the training, equipment,
and funding that came with the presence of those forces.
All of that changed after Donald Trump first bombed militia
bases inside Iraq over Abdul-Mahdi’s objections, then killed
not just Iranian general Qassem Soleimani but a number of
Iraqi Shiite militia leaders in an attack near Baghdad airport.
Abdul-Mahdi didn’t just drop his objection to holding a vote.
He championed the idea.
While the Defense Department hurriedly walked back a letter
sent to Abdul-Mahdi announcing that U.S. forces would begin
“repositioning” with an intent to withdraw, the Iraqi prime
minister made it clear that he took the letter seriously
and expected the United States to leave.
Now!
Only the U.S. is refusing to leave.
Trump, along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, has made
it clear that the United States intends to occupy Iraq over the
objections of the government. Even though Trump had previously
said he would pull troops out if the Iraqi government wasn’t
“grateful enough” for the support he was providing, now Trump
is demanding a multi-billion dollar ransom before he will consider
leaving.
Which means that the one clear result of Donald Trump’s
“get tough” actions may not just be a still simmering war
with Iran. But a war with the Iraqi government that we created.
- Mark Sumner
January 11, 2020
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...refuses-to-help-because-we-are-the-terrorists
"The State Department is ignoring Iraq's request to withdraw U.S. troops—
and it expects Iraq and other countries to pay for U.S. forces."
- New York University journalism professor Mohamad Bazzi
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/10/were-staying-us-tells-iraq-after-being-asked-leave
Sadly, Americans have been kept in the dark about what
has been happening inside Trump's Alternative Universe,
since it took over the White House. Everyone is reduced
to speculation-
(The lies! If lies were pasta strands thrown against the wall,
every room that Trump's loyalists have occupied would
have a massive pasta sculpture in them.)
Evolution of a lie: from 'imminent attack' to 'four embassies'
with no facts in between
-Mark Sumner
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...ck-to-four-embassies-with-no-facts-in-between
"...days and weeks" remark returns to bite Trump supporters
POMPEO: We had specific information on an imminent threat and those threats included attacks on U.S. embassies. Period. Full stop.
REPORTER: So you were mistaken when you said you didn’t know precisely when and…where?
POMPEO: No. …Those are completely consistent thoughts.
The Fix
Analysis
Mike Pompeo’s credibility question
Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, was unambiguous
Monday. “I will stand by the intelligence I saw,” Milley said.
“That was compelling. It was imminent. It was very, very clear
in scale, scope.” And Tuesday, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper
said it was “a matter days, certainly no more than weeks.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/01/07/mike-pompeos-credibility-question/
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/...porters-over-imminent-soleimani-threat-097175
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...-utterly-falls-apart/?tid=lk_inline_manual_64
POMPEO: We had specific information on an imminent threat and those threats included attacks on U.S. embassies. Period. Full stop.
REPORTER: So you were mistaken when you said you didn’t know precisely when and…where?
POMPEO: No. …Those are completely consistent thoughts.
The Fix
Analysis
Mike Pompeo’s credibility question
Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, was unambiguous
Monday. “I will stand by the intelligence I saw,” Milley said.
“That was compelling. It was imminent. It was very, very clear
in scale, scope.” And Tuesday, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper
said it was “a matter days, certainly no more than weeks.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/01/07/mike-pompeos-credibility-question/
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/...porters-over-imminent-soleimani-threat-097175
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...-utterly-falls-apart/?tid=lk_inline_manual_64
A Crisis in Trump's Alternative Universe
A secret of the Trump Alliance, is that the
Trump Alternative Universe cannot survive
without Republican voters that did not swear
loyalty to Trump, himself.
Republican voters that kept at least one foot
in the real world, have been faced with a
question.
The Constitution or Trump ?
The impeachment has ripped away the last shreds
of a mask of deception.
There are no surviving moderate Republicans inside
of the Trump administration.
A secret of the Trump Alliance, is that the
Trump Alternative Universe cannot survive
without Republican voters that did not swear
loyalty to Trump, himself.
Republican voters that kept at least one foot
in the real world, have been faced with a
question.
The Constitution or Trump ?
The impeachment has ripped away the last shreds
of a mask of deception.
There are no surviving moderate Republicans inside
of the Trump administration.
Reality is conflicting with the Party line.
Is it inconvenient to point out that nearly everything
has been outsourced to China, and Asia ?
Corporations not satisfied with profits in Canada,
moved operations to China and Asia.
That includes medicine and drugs- nearly 20 years, ago.
Rob Maness pointed this out.
oops!
He crossed a line that he had forgotten was there.
March 1, 2020
As the New York Times reports-
Republican Rob Maness recently wrote a column for the
conservative LifeZette website that outlined potential
negative economic impacts from coronavirus,
including the disruption of supply chains.
While this analysis was fairly straightforward in breaking
down the economic risks of a viral pandemic, Maness tells
the (NY) Times that many Trump supporters were furious
with him for bringing up unwelcome facts.
“I got accused of being alarmist and trying to hurt the president,”
he said.
Trump spent the last few days attacking media coverage of
the virus and accused the Washington Post of being the
“ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE” after it published a
devastating report showing his administration
was scrambling to respond to the outbreak.
https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/fu...t-who-admitted-coronavirus-is-a-real-problem/
How Coronavirus Is Already Being Viewed Through a Partisan Lens
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/...ady-being-viewed-through-a-partisan-lens.html
Intelligencer ✓
Twitter › intelligencer
The reported investigation adds to the CDC's long list
of troubles related to coronavirus testing
11 hours ago
nymag.com
Is it inconvenient to point out that nearly everything
has been outsourced to China, and Asia ?
Corporations not satisfied with profits in Canada,
moved operations to China and Asia.
That includes medicine and drugs- nearly 20 years, ago.
Rob Maness pointed this out.
oops!
He crossed a line that he had forgotten was there.
March 1, 2020
As the New York Times reports-
Republican Rob Maness recently wrote a column for the
conservative LifeZette website that outlined potential
negative economic impacts from coronavirus,
including the disruption of supply chains.
While this analysis was fairly straightforward in breaking
down the economic risks of a viral pandemic, Maness tells
the (NY) Times that many Trump supporters were furious
with him for bringing up unwelcome facts.
“I got accused of being alarmist and trying to hurt the president,”
he said.
Trump spent the last few days attacking media coverage of
the virus and accused the Washington Post of being the
“ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE” after it published a
devastating report showing his administration
was scrambling to respond to the outbreak.
https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/fu...t-who-admitted-coronavirus-is-a-real-problem/
How Coronavirus Is Already Being Viewed Through a Partisan Lens
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/...ady-being-viewed-through-a-partisan-lens.html
Intelligencer ✓
Twitter › intelligencer
The reported investigation adds to the CDC's long list
of troubles related to coronavirus testing
11 hours ago
nymag.com
Artifact of Death: The Shining Trapezohedron from
"The Haunter of the Dark". Gazing into it allows you
to see into the audient void and learn things man was
not meant to learn, but the downside is that it also
summons an avatar of the god Nyarlathotep to
hunt you down and kill/possess you.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/HPLovecraft
"The Haunter of the Dark". Gazing into it allows you
to see into the audient void and learn things man was
not meant to learn, but the downside is that it also
summons an avatar of the god Nyarlathotep to
hunt you down and kill/possess you.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/HPLovecraft
Bill Moyers:
Losing Reality, when I first saw that title, I scratched my head.
How do you lose reality?
Robert Jay Lifton:
You lose it by creating falsehood and structuring that falsehood into a claim
of reality. In terms of what we’re faced with, it’s Trump, but not only Trump,
it’s people around him and associated with him. There is a kind of created
reality. It’s what I call solipsistic reality, which simply means what is in
your mind, what your sense of self needs and seeks, rather than what is
based on the reasonable criteria for evidence. So that kind of solipsistic
reality replaces what we would traditionally look at as reality.
And that’s a dangerous moment.
Bill Moyers:
What’s changed when reality is lost? What’s different?
Robert Jay Lifton:
When reality is lost, it’s really impossible for democratic institutions
to function. In fact, reality is never entirely lost. And the existence of
institutions that depend upon a relation to reality is still hopeful.
They’re being battered. But they’ve not been destroyed or eliminated.
https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/lo...bert-jay-lifton-if-we-can-get-the-truth-back/
(Ukraine Scandal)
Robert Jay Lifton:
When we watched these courageous civil servants testify at some personal risk
and listened to them-
we not only felt that justice was being served, we felt reality was being served.
Here were people who had experiences of being attacked by Trump or his minions,
and had witnessed harmful behavior that really betrayed our country. And they told
about it in simple, honest words. We felt during those experiences of testimony a
return to reality. That was the individual feeling that accompanied the larger sense
of witnessing justice, rather than phony and false versions of what went on.
And it’s a struggle now through the whole society-
The falsifications and conspiracism that we now live by in our society
are not embraced by the majority of people as far as we far as can tell,
but are embraced by enough people to worry us profoundly. And there’s
every expectation that the majority here will hold. Meaning will cling
to elements of truth, of reality and of institutional autonomy, which are
crucial for a democracy to function. But nothing is guaranteed.
https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/lo...bert-jay-lifton-if-we-can-get-the-truth-back/
Losing Reality, when I first saw that title, I scratched my head.
How do you lose reality?
Robert Jay Lifton:
You lose it by creating falsehood and structuring that falsehood into a claim
of reality. In terms of what we’re faced with, it’s Trump, but not only Trump,
it’s people around him and associated with him. There is a kind of created
reality. It’s what I call solipsistic reality, which simply means what is in
your mind, what your sense of self needs and seeks, rather than what is
based on the reasonable criteria for evidence. So that kind of solipsistic
reality replaces what we would traditionally look at as reality.
And that’s a dangerous moment.
Bill Moyers:
What’s changed when reality is lost? What’s different?
Robert Jay Lifton:
When reality is lost, it’s really impossible for democratic institutions
to function. In fact, reality is never entirely lost. And the existence of
institutions that depend upon a relation to reality is still hopeful.
They’re being battered. But they’ve not been destroyed or eliminated.
https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/lo...bert-jay-lifton-if-we-can-get-the-truth-back/
(Ukraine Scandal)
Robert Jay Lifton:
When we watched these courageous civil servants testify at some personal risk
and listened to them-
we not only felt that justice was being served, we felt reality was being served.
Here were people who had experiences of being attacked by Trump or his minions,
and had witnessed harmful behavior that really betrayed our country. And they told
about it in simple, honest words. We felt during those experiences of testimony a
return to reality. That was the individual feeling that accompanied the larger sense
of witnessing justice, rather than phony and false versions of what went on.
And it’s a struggle now through the whole society-
The falsifications and conspiracism that we now live by in our society
are not embraced by the majority of people as far as we far as can tell,
but are embraced by enough people to worry us profoundly. And there’s
every expectation that the majority here will hold. Meaning will cling
to elements of truth, of reality and of institutional autonomy, which are
crucial for a democracy to function. But nothing is guaranteed.
https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/lo...bert-jay-lifton-if-we-can-get-the-truth-back/
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