snowychap Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 link Quote The Trump ship may finally be sinking SARAH KENDZIOR Special to The Globe and Mail 1 day agoAugust 21, 2017 Sarah Kendzior is a St. Louis, Mo.-based commentator who writes about politics, the economy and media. Over the past month, President Donald Trump threatened nuclear war with North Korea, flirted with military action in Venezuela, equated neo-Nazis and white supremacists with the anti-racist activists who protest them, thanked foreign adversary Russia for expelling U.S. diplomats, turned a Boy Scout jamboree into something resembling a fascist youth rally, banned transgender military personnel without informing the Pentagon – and more, as these are but a few plots of this four-week disaster miniseries filled with loathsome yet expendable players. (Remember the Mooch?) It is therefore not surprising that legislators, CEOs, religious leaders and ordinary folks with a soul are moving to distance themselves from this morally repugnant President and his chaotic administration. Among the advisory councils that condemned Trump and then were disbanded are the Manufacturing Council, the Strategy and Policy Forum, and the Arts and Humanities Committee, who wrote a resignation letter in which the first letter of each paragraph, when combined, spell RESIST. Even evangelicals, among Mr. Trump's most loyal advocates, are hesitating, with one mega-church pastor quitting due to a "deepening conflict in values between myself and the administration." Meanwhile, the kleptocrat-in-chief is losing what are likely his favourite groups: the foundations that pay big money to rent out Trump properties, allowing the President to personally profit off his position in likely violation of the emoluments clause. Nine charitable organizations have cancelled galas at his Mar-a-Lago Florida resort in the past week. The most famed departure, however, is that of Steve Bannon, known for his white-supremacist rhetoric, who served as Mr. Trump's campaign adviser before joining the White House staff as his chief strategist. Calls for Mr. Bannon's resignation began as soon as he was hired, due to his history of bigotry and career at the extremist website Breitbart, but intensified in the wake of the Charlottesville neo-Nazi rally as even the most willfully blind purveyors of "It can't happen here" realized that, yes, it is happening here, and the White House isn't stopping it. Unlike the council resignations, Mr. Bannon's departure is not a condemnation of Trump – it is a strategic move that allows Mr. Bannon to foment his ideologies from a more unencumbered perch at Breitbart, to which he has returned. Mr. Bannon was not fired by Trump, but freed, and has vowed to go to war with the more moderate – and this is a very relative term – members of the Trump administration as well as with any opponent of the President's agenda. In other words, the pieces may have moved, but the game has not changed: Mr. Bannon and Mr. Trump will continue their shared agenda of promoting their racist agenda and what Mr. Bannon has euphemistically called "the deconstruction of the administrative state." (Mr. Trump more bluntly recommended in 2014 that the United States "go to total hell" in order to become great.) The turmoil would be a disaster for a president whose goal was ensuring a free and stable country, but that has never appeared to be Mr. Trump's prerogative. Instead, much as he did throughout his business career, he concentrates on maximizing his own financial gain while revelling in chaos and carnage. This is why the most notable departure of the week may not be Mr.Bannon, but long-time Trump ally Carl Icahn, an infamous 81-year-old corporate raider who has been bailing Donald Trump out since his bankruptcy-prone 1980s real estate heyday. Unlike other members of the administration, Mr. Icahn is no Trump lackey; if anything, the positions are reversed. A New Yorker profile notes that the ruthlessly successful Icahn was what Trump wanted to be but failed, lacking his acumen. Icahn was always the alpha dog; Trump, the pampered puppy whom he protected. But no more. Now Mr. Icahn, who avoided prosecution despite decades of questionable deals, appears to be in legal trouble, thanks to the fact that he took an official White House role as a Trump adviser and may have abused it for his own financial benefit. Bush administration ethics lawyer Richard Painter believes Mr. Icahn is "walking right into possible criminal charges." As special counsel Robert Mueller and New York Attorney-General Eric Schneiderman investigate decades of Trump's finances, it is possible they are poking around Icahn's by association. Unlike other post-Charlottesville resignations that condemned Trump leadership, Mr. Icahn's resignation letter simply vouched for his own innocence. When Mr. Trump loses protective power brokers such as Carl Icahn, it indicates his ship may truly be sinking. Mr. Trump will continue to pander to his bigoted base, but that base cannot protect him from the consequences of his actions. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted August 23, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted August 23, 2017 His "rally" was just unhinged tonight. He and his minority of supporters are living in an alternative universe. He tried to rewrite the history of his response to Charlottesville and it spoke about it for 45 minutes. It is absolutely terrifying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted August 23, 2017 Author Share Posted August 23, 2017 6 hours ago, snowychap said: Bush administration ethics lawyer Problematic unto itself! In other news, the latest Steve Bell- 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 When vox pop goes bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 This must be one of the strangest things I've ever read. Man sentenced to death for murder. Later DNA evidence shows he didn't do it. They propose to execute him anyway. What kind of godforsaken swamp is this hellhole? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnkarl Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted August 26, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted August 26, 2017 (edited) Gorka fired/resigned. Ignorant, racist Arizona Sheriff pardoned by Trump. Department of Justice clearly stating it was a "personal pardon" by the President. He is completely flouting the rule of law. But what else would an ignorant, privileged scumbag do if he feels like it? http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41058851 Quote US President Donald Trump has pardoned Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had been convicted of criminal contempt. Mr Arpaio, 85, was found guilty after he defied a court order to stop traffic patrols targeting suspected immigrants. He was due to be sentenced in October. The president had hinted at the pardon at a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday. Thanking the president, Mr Arpaio said his conviction was "a political witch hunt by holdovers in the Obama justice department". "Thank you.... for seeing my conviction for what it is," tweeted Mr Arpaio. Best of all he did all this on a Friday night while a life-threatening hurricane is hitting the coast of Texas. Quote Mr Arpaio famously forced the prisoners to wear pink underwear and socks and old-fashioned black-and-white striped prison jumpsuits. The inmates lived outdoors while enduring sweltering Arizona desert temperatures. He also revived chain gangs, including a voluntary one for female prisoners. Edited August 26, 2017 by TheAuthority 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnkarl Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 5 hours ago, TheAuthority said: Gorka fired/resigned. Ignorant, racist Arizona Sheriff pardoned by Trump. Department of Justice clearly stating it was a "personal pardon" by the President. He is completely flouting the rule of law. But what else would an ignorant, privileged scumbag do if he feels like it? http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41058851 Best of all he did all this on a Friday night while a life-threatening hurricane is hitting the coast of Texas. Maybe he's doing as much as he can now as he's pretty close to getting removed? I can't see any other reason for this madness. Hope everyone's okay over there in the hurricane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 He is alienating his base with the removal of Gorka / Bannon / Afghanistan but he is never going to win over any other group. He looks like he is on his last legs. I think Republicans will give the tax cuts a go then dump him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted August 28, 2017 Author Share Posted August 28, 2017 The flooding in Texas is looking possibly worse than Katrina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post LondonLax Posted August 28, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted August 28, 2017 2 hours ago, maqroll said: The flooding in Texas is looking possibly worse than Katrina. It's a hell of a Chinese hoax. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumerican Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 6 hours ago, maqroll said: The flooding in Texas is looking possibly worse than Katrina. Spectacular own goal when 90% of his supporters actually believe that Noah was a thing. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amsterdam_Neil_D Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 6 hours ago, maqroll said: The flooding in Texas is looking possibly worse than Katrina. The draining of the swamp is going well I see :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 1 hour ago, Brumerican said: Spectacular own goal when 90% of his supporters actually believe that Noah was a thing. I await the press conference that explains that it was an act of divine retribution for something or other. Can't be anything to do with cl*m*t* ch*ng*. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted August 28, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted August 28, 2017 2 hours ago, Brumerican said: Spectacular own goal when 90% of his supporters actually believe that Noah was a thing. He's also setting excuses up for himself when FEMA absolutely botch the response. "It wasn't myyyyyy fault" whined the man-boy in chief. Apparently he's tweeted around 50 times about the hurricane and hasn't once mentioned how people can help i.e. donate money/clothing/food etc. Thanks for the commentary you arse-clown 3rd rate tv presenting tw8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 @maqroll a bit off the current topic, but I was wondering if you've been paying any attention to the rumblings coming out of the pipeline protests and how ETP had hired a merc company of the blackwater/xi ilk to monitor and infiltrate the protesters. Some great stuff about this been up on the intercept lately and I remember you saying how things seemed a bit horrid when you went there with all sorts of (perhaps non-organic) infighting. I'd be interested in your take on things? https://theintercept.com/series/tigerswan-tactics/ "TigerSwan tactics: Leaked documents and public records reveal a troubling fusion of private security, public law enforcement, and corporate money in the fight over the Dakota Access Pipeline." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Czechlad Posted August 28, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted August 28, 2017 (edited) 11 hours ago, maqroll said: The flooding in Texas is looking possibly worse than Katrina. So I am currently in Houston, TX. I flew in Thursday because my fiancee and I had a cruise out of Galveston. My parents live in Katy, TX which is right next to Houston. From a first hand experience, this is bad. It's been torrential rain for days now. The hurricane itself was frightening. Friday night the wind was shaking my home and the rain was lashing against the windows. We woke up to see flooding all over the town. Most stores are closed, and many people are running out of fuel. We luckily were able to grab canned goods from a gas station, but there is no gas anywhere. The weekend brought even more rain. My sister is trapped at her fiancee's home. They had a small 3 foot creek in their back yard, but it has turned into a 30 foot wide raging river. Their swimming pool has become part of the river, and the water is literally at their door step. The road to exit their neighborhood is under 5 feet of water, so they are trapped. My father's coworker's home was destroyed in a tornado and now is completely under water.. Yea we've been having numerous tornados since friday appearing all over houston. Houston's levies are on the verge of breaking, so to avoid a Katrina type situation, they are just releasing the water into the city which will raise the rivers, and the overall flooding. We are expected to get 8-10 feet of water added because of the levies. My home is still safe, but we have a massive lake walking distance from us, and it's nearly full. It has risen an unbelievable amount in the last few days. If that overflows, all the houses in my community are gone. We are supposed to leave Houston this sunday, but the airplanes at the airport are literally under water. I feel like I am trapped here for a while. Edited August 28, 2017 by Czechlad 2 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted August 28, 2017 Author Share Posted August 28, 2017 22 minutes ago, villakram said: @maqroll a bit off the current topic, but I was wondering if you've been paying any attention to the rumblings coming out of the pipeline protests and how ETP had hired a merc company of the blackwater/xi ilk to monitor and infiltrate the protesters. Some great stuff about this been up on the intercept lately and I remember you saying how things seemed a bit horrid when you went there with all sorts of (perhaps non-organic) infighting. I'd be interested in your take on things? https://theintercept.com/series/tigerswan-tactics/ "TigerSwan tactics: Leaked documents and public records reveal a troubling fusion of private security, public law enforcement, and corporate money in the fight over the Dakota Access Pipeline." I shacked up in a teepee with complete strangers, a couple of whom had been there for months. They were openly discussing infiltrators. I think that kind of nefariousness was always going to happen, so the question became how to manage it, and I think they (the Standing Rock Sioux) did incredibly well under what became a serious strain. But the thing that broke the protest was ultimately the cold and the snow. It was a brutal winter, and sustaining the camp was a huge challenge that required daily deliveries of lumber and food/water and constant maintenance of toilets and trash. I'm convinced if things culminated like that in spring, there could have been serious violence. That Sunday morning we were preparing to respond to violence and were marching to the "front line" when it was announced that Obama finally grew a pair and shut it down. I 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts