General Politics Thread

Started by the-pi-guy, Jun 08, 2017, 12:22 PM

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the-pi-guy



Xevross

NYT: F.B.I. Opened Inquiry Into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia After Firing Comey | ResetEra

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/us/politics/fbi-trump-russia-inquiry.html
   WASHINGTON -- In the days after President Trump fired James B. Comey as F.B.I. director, law enforcement officials became so concerned by the president's behavior that they began investigating whether he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests, according to former law enforcement officials and others familiar with the investigation.

 The inquiry carried explosive implications. Counterintelligence investigators had to consider whether the president's own actions constituted a possible threat to national security. Agents also sought to determine whether Mr. Trump was knowingly working for Russia or had unwittingly fallen under Moscow's influence.

 The investigation the F.B.I. opened into Mr. Trump also had a criminal aspect, which has long been publicly known: whether his firing of Mr. Comey constituted obstruction of justice.  Click to expand...    
[/size]

So the FBI had enough evidence and felt it necessary to open an investigation into whether Trump is working for Russia. That investigation was taken over by Mueller and is probably still ongoing.

Is there even any doubt at this point that the President has committed treason?

Xevross

UK parliament votes on the brexit deal this evening, finally.

Xevross

Government loses vote by 202 votes to 432. Biggest loss for a government in UK history by 66 votes, ouch.

Chaos now ensues.

Legend

Government loses vote by 202 votes to 432. Biggest loss for a government in UK history by 66 votes, ouch.

Chaos now ensues.
How does a government lose a vote? Who were they voting against?

Xevross

Jan 15, 2019, 07:59 PM Last Edit: Jan 15, 2019, 08:04 PM by Xevross
How does a government lose a vote? Who were they voting against?
"Government" in the UK refers to the prime minister and his/her cabinet. I guess its kind of similar to the "administration" in the US. Most ideas/ laws they put forward have to be voted on by MPs (including the 30 MPs that make up the cabinet). There aren't any executive powers for the government. Anyone can put forward a vote/ amendment to a current bill to parliament. The ones put forward by the government are always agreed by cabinet and are expected to pass through the house.

Normally, the ruling government's party has a majority in the house and their own party will vote with them, meaning pretty much all motions they put forward are voted "aye". Sometimes there are rebels within a party but they usually aren't numerous enough to force a loss.

This current government has only 317 MPs (out of 650) and are held up by a confidence and supply agreement with the DUP (who have 10 MPs). Sinn Fein hold 7 seats (Irish party) and they never vote, so total voting MPs are 643.

Normally on a huge deal for the government like this, the entire opposition will vote against them (316 in this case). However, the DUP won't vote for the deal due to parts of the deal about Northern Ireland and in fact said they'll vote no, so that was 326 total against.

So at this point, the government needed the entirety of their own party to vote for their deal plus they would need 5 members of the opposition to flip and vote for them. What actually happened was that over 100 conservatives voted against their own government (which was roughly expected, but not quite in the number that actually happened), and the government lost by a massive margin.

Xevross

Against: 432

LAB: 248
CON: 118
SNP: 35
LDEM: 11
DUP: 10
Ind.: 5
PC: 4
GREEN: 1

Support: 202

CON: 196
LAB: 3
Ind.: 3

118 rebels is absolutely crushing for the tories, holy shame. Only 3 labour MPs voted for, that's nice.

No confidence vote called for tomorrow. Government expected to win that.

Dr. Pezus

Against: 432

LAB: 248
CON: 118
SNP: 35
LDEM: 11
DUP: 10
Ind.: 5
PC: 4
GREEN: 1

Support: 202

CON: 196
LAB: 3
Ind.: 3

118 rebels is absolutely crushing for the tories, holy shame. Only 3 labour MPs voted for, that's nice.

No confidence vote called for tomorrow. Government expected to win that.
So brexit is off?

Xevross

So brexit is off?
Unfortunately not. There's a no confidence vote tomorrow, and who knows what after that. Everyone's going to be fighting over what they want to happen, I'm just hoping we get a second referendum.

Xevross

Jan 16, 2019, 10:18 PM Last Edit: Jan 16, 2019, 10:21 PM by Xevross
God I can't fudgy stand Theresa May. We're at a stand still and the parties need to cooperate.

Every party leader comes out and says yeah we'd love to talk if you just guarantee the disaster that is no deal won't happen. She says no, no, no, no, because she knows she'll get backstabbed if she does that by the brexiteers in her party who have a hard-on for no deal, and she worries she'll lose the vote from a lot of Tory voters who want no deal.

Then comes out and says to the other leaders stop putting party interest first and cooperate. What a crustard.


the-pi-guy

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In discussing concerns about Trump's attitude toward Russia, McCabe recounted on "60 Minutes" a briefing he received from a bureau official who had attended a meeting with the president. McCabe said the official described Trump siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin over American intelligence officials on the subject of North Korea's nuclear capabilities.

"Essentially, the president said he did not believe that the North Koreans had the capability to hit us here with ballistic missiles in the United States. And he did not believe that because President Putin had told him they did not. President Putin had told him that the North Koreans don't actually have those missiles," McCabe said.

"Intelligence officials in the briefing responded that that was not consistent with any of the intelligence our government possesses, to which the president replied, 'I don't care. I believe Putin.'"

McCabe: 'I was fired because I opened a case against the president' - POLITICO

How anybody can defend such a POS, is so far beyond me.  


Trump Circulates Limbaugh Quote Calling for Mueller Investigators to 'Be in Jail'



If it comes out, that Trump is innocent according to Mueller, I'm going to move to a different country.  Full stop.

the-pi-guy

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People need to realize this point is moot: whether or not Trump is actively aware, and intentionally operating on behalf of Russia, he has still done more in two years to advance the agenda of this hostile foreign nation, to the detriment of the US, than any other person in recent memory.

We seem hopelessly entangled in answering the question of whether he's knowingly operating on Russia's behalf and have neglected the fact that he is actively aiding Russia and harming us egregiously in the process.

There is no circumstance where Trump ought not be immediately impeached for the things we have witnessed occur in plain sight.

He advanced a withdrawal from Syria - against all counsel of all relevant expers - to Russia's delight. No explanation for this was ever provided to the American people.

He has refused to enforce sanctions legally codified into law - and in some cases reversed standing sanctions. No explanation for this was ever provided to the American people.

He has denounced his own intelligence agencies in a press conference with Putin on election meddling - and publicly endorsed Putin's version of events. No explanation for this was ever provided to the American people.

He has conducted numerous completely private meetings and conferences with Putin, and has gone to great lengths to prevent literally anyone, even people in his administration, from learning what was discussed. No explanation for this was ever provided to the American people.

He has lied countless times about having business interests in Russia, which have been clearly and undeniably proven false in extremely public ways. No explanation for this was ever provided to the American people.

He pulled out of the INF treaty, which allows Putin to create missiles that can threaten Europe with impunity, whereas before, there would be sanctions and severe penalties for doing so. No explanation for this was ever provided to the American people.

At every step, he has handed Russia enormous concessions with no justification. He takes Putin's word - a notorious liar - at face value, always, above all of his own countrymen, and even the people he himself hired to lead his agencies.

Now let us also remember, Russia is nothing compared to the US. The US has infinitely more muscle than Russia. This is why the policy - right up until Trump - has been to deal with them through sanctions and military conflicts where necessary.

They agitate, they hit and run, but Russia is an organized crime state whose economy is nearly collapsed, whose leadership consists of a coalition of loosely allied kleptocrats, oligarchs, and billionaires, all of whom are just as likely to knife each other as their foreign adversaries.

Had Clinton won, she would have continued her policy she advanced at the State Department, and sanctioned Russia until Putin's government imploded from the stress of Putin's brutality and kleptocracy. Which, obviously, is why he pulled out all the stops to ensure Clinton did not win the election.

The evidence is unambiguous. Trump - for reasons we do not know but ought not really care - betrayed, is betraying the US to Putin's Russia, each and every day.

So, I ask - why do we care whether he's a card-carrying Russian agent enthusiastic about the cause, a victim of blackmail, a seeker of quid pro quo, or just a really gullible imbecile?

He is clearly and transparently committing treason right out in the open. He has sacrificed our security and our interests to advance Russia's. Ignorance is not an excuse here. Let the courts sort that out, but this is far and away grossly impeachable behavior, and a level of embarrassing and humiliating subservience the likes of which have never been witnessed from an American leader on the world stage.

And let's not forget - let's always footnote talk about Trump's treason with the fact that this is just one of MANY separate, discrete, and unique massive, impeachable scandals. On top of pursuing the agenda of a hostile foreign nation, he also committed numerous acts of campaign finance violation, stood behind and refused to condemn nazis and white supremacists, publicly attacked private citizens and the media, condemned his own agents and agencies for legally investigating him, told nearly ten thousand lies about things ranging from serious to extremely mundane, appointed his own family members to positions far above their capacity (breaking many ethics laws and vetting procedures to do so and get them clearance).

And the list goes on. Seriously, it goes on and on and on and on. I could exhaust myself listing out the oaths Trump has betrayed, the crimes he has committed, the many more crimes he has probably committed, the constitutional amendments he has attacked or condemned, all of which, in and of themselves, should warrant impeachment or serious scrutiny.

The last President was impeached, by Republicans, for one - one - count of perjury, about a meaningless sexual exploit. Which was an actual example of a perjury trap, by the way, wherein the prosecutor gets the defendant on the stand, on the record, for a crime - in this case, the Whitewater investigations into Clinton's real estate dealings, and then questions him about something embarassing but irrelevant and not illegal, compelling the defendant to lie and commit perjury to prevent embarassment.

That's what Republicans thought qualified a previous President for impeachment.

And now we come to Trump, who has a list of genuine impeachable criteria so long I legitimately can't remember all of them in one go. of these things. All of these individual scandals or crimes or gross acts of idiocy demonstrating severely compromised judgment and ability to execute the powers of the office.

And then you add actual treason on top of it. A violation of America and its interests not only inconceivable in its treachery, but to a far, far, far weaker adversary.

So what the fudge is he still doing in the oval?
McCabe: 'I think it's possible' Trump is a Russian asset : politics

Xevross

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after visiting border detention facility: People are without water/told to drink out of toilets while guards laugh at them | ResetEra

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Tweet says it all:


 @AOC Just left the 1st CBP facility. I see why CBP officers were being so physically &sexually threatening towards me. Officers were keeping women in cells w/ no water & had told them to drink out of the toilets. This was them on their GOOD behavior in front of members of Congress.

 EDIT: More:


 @AOC Now I've seen the inside of these facilities. It's not just the kids. It's everyone. People drinking out of toilets, officers laughing in front of members Congress. I brought it up to their superiors. They said "officers are under stress & act out sometimes." No accountability.

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Absent said:    Even more:


 fudge, man.  Click to expand... Click to shrink...  
EDIT: For those asking about AOC taking pictures/video:


 @AOC CBP made us check our phones. But one woman slipped me this packet to take with me. It says "shampoo," but she told me that this is all they give women to wash their entire body. Nothing else. Some women's hair was falling out. Others had gone 15 days without taking a shower.  
Trump on homelessness: "It's a phenomena that started two years ago" | ResetEra

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From his latest interview with Tucker Carlson:



 In general it's just a very out-of-character performance from our Dear Leader - slurred speech, low stamina... Sad!

 Transcript of their exchange under the spoiler:
  Spoiler            
This is what fascism looks like. There should be outrage in the streets but most of the country is actually happy about this or just doesn't care. What a horrible country you've turned into, America :(

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