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When it became clear Nixon was somewhat of a bad egg there was due to be the court case of the century.
Ford came in as President to start afresh and ‘drain the swamp’. Within 6 weeks, it was decided the spectacle of an ex President of the free world going through months of trial in full public glare, with who knows what being revealed about the whole political elte, would be bad. So he was given a Presidential Pardon, by the guy brought in to stop the rot.
Within 12 months Nixon was a political consultant and attending dinners at the White House.
Incidentally, this is the same Nixon that shocked the establishment by visiting the USSR and China and telling everyone the new way of the world was to trade with old enemies.
 

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At least Trump has lifted that pesky ban on importing ivory from Zimbabwe, so we got that to be thankful for.

Making the world better one small step at the time...

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13 minutes ago, sne said:

At least Trump has lifted that pesky ban on importing ivory from Zimbabwe, so we got that to be thankful for.

Making the world better one small step at the time...

He's like the bad guy from a kids Saturday morning cartoon. 

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He has his accusers where he wants them though due to their own malfeasance. Hence no organised response to him. And the swamp draining goes on unabated.

Don't get me wrong America if there are criminal elements being weeded out by all this then great. The only thing the rest of us are wondering is what comes in it's place.

The proof unfortunately will be in the pudding. And we have to wait for that. Like @Straggler said though it's hard to envisage a happy ending.

I don't see the Mueller investigation going anywhere. I don't see any US president including Trump being prosecuted. Not by America.

Internationally is where the interest lies with me atm and Trump. What is it safe to assume from the forays into Syria and indeed the wider Middle East and Africa? What of the Iranian move away from the petro-dollar? What's going on with North Korea? What about Silk Road II - The Road! ?

People laugh at him for 'getting Mexico to pay for the wall' and NATO to 'do their bit'. Not laughing so much when he whaps a 25% tariff on Steel/Aluminium etc though.

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20 hours ago, Straggler said:

There is a thought nibbling away in the back of my mind about Trump.  If you will allow me to make the assumption that Trump has committed crimes both before and during his Presidency. that he knows he has committed these crimes and that he knows there is evidence out there to prove it.  I don't think that is a wild assumption, most/all the evidence points to this.

Yesterday Trump made his SCOTUS pick I believe based largely on his opinion that a sitting President cannot be indicted.  The summary of Trumps defense has moved over from the Shaggy "It wasn't me", to "The President is immune from prosecution".   The problem with this is that it is only valid for as long as Trump is President.  So what is the long term plan here then?  If Trump loses the next election there is nothing he can do to prevent Mueller knocking his door in and arresting him.  The simple answer is that he cannot afford to lose and will do everything in his power to stop that from happening including encouraging the Russians to hack away at the election like a Colombian footballer.  With the next four years the single goal for him will be to wreck the justice system so hard that he will be able to carry immunity on after he steps down, of simply declare a state of emergency that only he can fix that will allow him to stay on beyond the 8 years.  

I say long term plan here like there may even be one.  I'm not sure that Trump has it in him to think strategically like that, however there will come a point when he is cornered like a rat and my concern is what does he do when he realises that the protections he enjoys now can all be removed at the ballot box in a single stroke.  Given what he has everything to lose and that he only really has one move he is capable of (lash out at everything he does not like to destroy/deflect) the results could be disastrous.

The question is would Trump knowingly tamper with the electoral process or try to prevent its normal function to save his own skin?  I would say he would.  I would also say I expect him to try.  Would he start a war to declare a state of emergency?  There is even a chance he may be successful and if he is we could be looking at a very different America in less than 5 years.  I won't say that this is keeping me up at night, but I do wonder how it will play out. 

I think most likely is that Trump exits the scene with immunity or a pardon and goes back to private life.  The political establishment has a tendency towards the craven and it is the weakest option.  Whilst not leading to immediate crisis it will fundamentally change America forever and for the worse as it will be a tacit acceptance that what he did was ok.

I know there is a lot of speculation here and no small bit of crystal ball gazing, but it all has to end somehow and with the new normal being completely freaking nuts the biggest surprise would be if it all ends well.

 

"Not everything faced can be changed, but nothing is changed until faced."

Love that quote. The U.S is going to have to face the world and it's people one day.

I don't know much about the Mueller situation other than Trump had an affair with a porn-star, and that there was alleged collusion with the Russians, and that Clinton allegedly paid the Russians for information?

I see what you are saying, and it's a lot more concrete than what I have to say, but I wouldn't even trust Mueller in this just because he is removed from politics. He was FBI, an organisation responsible for propaganda, misinformation, coercion, assassination. covert projects, infiltrating and discrediting domestic political organisations. That you can be sure of. As to the truth of the situation and how it all pans out, I've not the slightest clue.

The only other thing that you mention that I will comment on further is Trump's ability to plan long term. It's not very socially polite to pathologise but I believe he is a psychopath due to my experience with one and there are some psychiatrists who think the same. I am talking the clinical definition of a psychopath and not the one where they are serial killers like hollywood portrays. Low brain function in the frontal lobes means a reduction in self control and poor planning ability often with unrealistic ideas. Unfortunately this isn't always true of high functioning psychopaths, who are able to control impulse to reach their goal. I don't want to go off on too long a tangent about it, so I will leave it by saying they also lack empathy and remorse, have a sense of superficial grandiose, seek risk taking behaviour and are deceitful. The way he spoke about his daughter sexually, to me is another indicator he is not just narcissistic but indeed psychopathic. The only trait he doesn't possess is charm. As I've said it takes all sorts, and some psychopaths grow up free of crime, immoral behaviour and raise loving families. We should be weary though.

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4 hours ago, A'Villan said:

I don't know much about the Mueller situation other than Trump had an affair with a porn-star, and that there was alleged collusion with the Russians, and that Clinton allegedly paid the Russians for information?

I see what you are saying, and it's a lot more concrete than what I have to say, but I wouldn't even trust Mueller in this just because he is removed from politics. He was FBI, an organisation responsible for propaganda, misinformation, coercion, assassination. covert projects, infiltrating and discrediting domestic political organisations. That you can be sure of. As to the truth of the situation and how it all pans out, I've not the slightest clue.

 

Mueller, is a registered Republican, he was appointed to the enquiry by Rod Rosenstein, again a Republican who was put in position by Trump. This tells you all you need to know where any potential bias might be. Regardless of any of that, there are people in the judicial system, that have already pleaded guilty to the charges against them as a result of the Mueller enquiry, this again tells you a big message. If the Special Counsel was going to be biased it would be for Trump not against him and he's already getting results.

The Stormy Daniels issue only relates to the Mueller Enquiry because it is now possible to flip Cohen, Cohen appears to be begging to flip. Mueller may not even need him to, he may be considered to be one of the main targets of the probe, especially considering that he's one of the major players in the Steele dossier.

Looking for conspiracy theories here is futile

 

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6 hours ago, A'Villan said:

that Clinton allegedly paid the Russians for information?

Also, to add, the dossier that Steele has on Trump was actually funded by the GOP when he was still just a candidate, but the Dems took it over once Trump was the confirmed GOP runner.

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21 hours ago, bickster said:

Mueller, is a registered Republican, he was appointed to the enquiry by Rod Rosenstein, again a Republican who was put in position by Trump. This tells you all you need to know where any potential bias might be. Regardless of any of that, there are people in the judicial system, that have already pleaded guilty to the charges against them as a result of the Mueller enquiry, this again tells you a big message. If the Special Counsel was going to be biased it would be for Trump not against him and he's already getting results.

The Stormy Daniels issue only relates to the Mueller Enquiry because it is now possible to flip Cohen, Cohen appears to be begging to flip. Mueller may not even need him to, he may be considered to be one of the main targets of the probe, especially considering that he's one of the major players in the Steele dossier.

Looking for conspiracy theories here is futile

 

I am not looking for conspiracy theories. In my post I clearly outline a lack of understanding and knowledge for the situation, I only state that Mueller worked for an agency whose entire history is littered with the attributes I mentioned. That is no conspiracy.

Thank you for you input though. it's always good to have accurate information and insight.

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Original headline was that Trump says that Germany is captive of Russia

Merkel hit back

Angela Merkel hits back at Donald Trump at Nato summit

Germany makes independent decisions, chancellor says in response to claim it is controlled by Russia

Quote

Angela Merkel has pushed back against Donald Trump’s extraordinary tirade against Germany on the first day of the Nato summit in Brussels, denying her country was “totally controlled” by Russia and saying it made its own independent decisions and policies.

In less blunt language than the US president’s, the German chancellor made the point that she needed no lessons in dealing with authoritarian regimes, recalling she had been brought up in East Germany when it had been part of the Soviet Union’s sphere of influence.

Arriving at Nato headquarters only hours after Trump singled out Germany for criticism, Merkel said: “I have experienced myself how a part of Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union. I am very happy that today we are united in freedom, the Federal Republic of Germany. Because of that we can say that we can make our independent policies and make independent decisions. That is very good, especially for people in eastern Germany.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/11/nato-summit-donald-trump-says-germany-is-captive-of-russians

The man is a **** idiot. He'd rather be allies with Russia than NATO.

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3 hours ago, StefanAVFC said:

Also, to add, the dossier that Steele has on Trump was actually funded by the GOP when he was still just a candidate, but the Dems took it over once Trump was the confirmed GOP runner.

Now, now... it is important to be correct.

Not the GOP, but one of the political campaigns, suspected to be the Jeb! Bush campaign, which then handed it off to the Clinton clan (they had co-opted the DNC as revealed by Brazille among others).

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3 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

Original headline was that Trump says that Germany is captive of Russia

Merkel hit back

Angela Merkel hits back at Donald Trump at Nato summit

Germany makes independent decisions, chancellor says in response to claim it is controlled by Russia

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/11/nato-summit-donald-trump-says-germany-is-captive-of-russians

The man is a **** idiot. He'd rather be allies with Russia than NATO.

The on camera meeting with Stoltenberg this morning was brilliant. When was the last time you saw two real life politicos go at it in front of the cameras! ...and then only moments later they had to do a lengthy photo op session. Fantastic entertainment.

The point Trump was making has nothing to do with being allied with Russia. He's shilling for the US oil and gas sector, hence his comments and the general US hostility to Nordstream 2. He's hardly the first US president to play this card either.

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5 hours ago, bickster said:

Looking for conspiracy theories here is futile

That's what Trump's been saying ?

THERE WAS NO CONSPIRACY #Fake news

(obviously there was conspiracy, really)

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4 hours ago, StefanAVFC said:

Also, to add, the dossier that Steele has on Trump was actually funded by the GOP when he was still just a candidate, but the Dems took it over once Trump was the confirmed GOP runner.

Actually, the Steele Dossier was entirely funded by the DNC and Clinton. Fusion GPS were doing Op Research for The Washington Free Beacon on Trump but Steele had no part in this part of the investigation

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