Trump

[BugMeister]

Putin's regime is just as shaky as Trump's..
it's just that he has no PUBLIC opposition in Russia..
mainly because he maintains a tight stranglehold on the media..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAAMPiF_BSg

- he does actually have domestic problems of his own, and any chaos he causes in the USA helps his "cause" at home..
- whether or not he is behind the chaos, he will certainly do his best to claim credit for it..

- he's KGB right down to his little red socks..

[RegisterMe]

Stuff about the recent Buzzfeed article

I'm watching CNN (on youtube) at the moment and they seem to be pushing it reasonably hard. MSNBC are doing likewise. I haven't watched any other networks (yet?).

[fiksal]

Putin's regime is just as shaky as Trump's..

That can last for decades though.

[BugMeister]

- must admit I didn't realize how low life expectancy is among males in Russia - very disturbing..

but aye. you're absolutely right , fiks..
- another reason to distrust ANYTHING and EVERYTHING he does while in office..
- any serious opposition is stifled immediately - people have been murdered for crossing Vlad..
- it's the KGB way..

[Morkonan]

I'm watching CNN (on youtube) at the moment and they seem to be pushing it reasonably hard. MSNBC are doing likewise. I haven't watched any other networks (yet?).

CNN took up a standard disclaimer whenever they discussed the article: "We have not been able to independently confirm the allegations in the article."

But, it's probably all moot, now: CNN: Mueller's office disputes BuzzFeed report that Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress

..."BuzzFeed's description of specific statements to the Special Counsel's Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen's Congressional testimony are not accurate," said Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller's office, in a statement.
It's highly unusual for the special counsel's office to provide a statement to the media -- outside of court filings and judicial hearings -- about any of its ongoing investigative activities.
In response, BuzzFeed said in its own statement, "We are continuing to report and determine what the special counsel is disputing. We remain confident in the accuracy of our report."...

In other words, Mueller's office, which doesn't say anything about anything, released an official statement saying that Buzzfeed's article was "not accurate."

ie: It looks like Buzzfeed got's some splaining to do...

So, we'll see what comes of this. It's probably crap. Not that Cohen wasn't prompted to lie, but that someone has evidence of it. We'll see. At any rate, it looks like Buzzfeed has egg on their face. I'd expect this is the "last straw" for Jason Leopold, who has dished out a crap story before despite his Pulitzer nomination. Leopold just took a giant crap on the industry that gives him his paycheck if he falsified this reporting, stretched the evidence or failed to practice decent journalism.

The Editor in Chief is speaking now on CNN, saying that the knows the Federal Agents in question, has spoken with them, etc... I wonder if there's a possibility that Buzzfeed was the victim of a disinformation campaign, themselves, aimed at discrediting the media in general? (As if Buzzfeed counts as "news media.")

Now, all I can hope is that Youtube bans Buzzfeed for being a propoganda-spewer and disinformation agent...

A great movie that was brought up on CNN a few minutes ago with a great line in it: YT - Absence of Malice: You don't write the truth. You just write what people say.

An even better clip, same movie, with Wilfred Brimley doing what he does best - Playing the "no nonsense badass authority figure" : YT: Absence of Malice - Inquiry Some real awesome lines, there!

[Masterbagger]

Buzzfeed article will be forgotten in a few days and the anti-Trump crowd will go right back to mocking him for calling out fake news.

An even better clip, same movie, with Wilfred Brimley doing what he does best - Playing the "no nonsense badass authority figure" : YT: Absence of Malice - Inquiry Some real awesome lines, there!

That man will always be my postmaster general.

https://youtu.be/sMqt1uAxibw?t=186

With diabeetus.

[pjknibbs]

- must admit I didn't realize how low life expectancy is among males in Russia - very disturbing..

How much is that average brought down by the lunatic way they drive over there, though?

[RegisterMe]

- must admit I didn't realize how low life expectancy is among males in Russia - very disturbing..

How much is that average brought down by the lunatic way they drive over there, though?

Most of it is drink and drug abuse with an added twist of lousy public services. Russia's population is actually in long term decline as a result.

[RegisterMe]

Buzzfeed article will be forgotten in a few days and the anti-Trump crowd will go right back to mocking him for calling out fake news.

Well there's nothing fake about:-

George Papadopoulos
Paul Manafort
Rick Gates
Michael Flynn
Richard Pinedo
Alex van der Zwaan
Konstantin Kilimnik
MIchael Cohen
13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies (on conspiracy charges)
12 GRU officers

[Grim Lock]

Buzzfeed article will be forgotten in a few days and the anti-Trump crowd will go right back to mocking him for calling out fake news.

I don't know I personally haven't been able to get past the thousands of "hamberders" yet. lol what a joke.

[Morkonan]

Buzzfeed article will be forgotten in a few days and the anti-Trump crowd will go right back to mocking him for calling out fake news.

But, here's the thing - Not all of the regular news media promoted this article with the same zeal. Sure, they covered it, because "what if" but, as I noted, at least CNN always prefaced their coverage with a bit of caution and even called some things into question all the way up to the point where Mueller's office issued that statement. And then, what did CNN do? They had a roundtable discussion where they discussed the whole incident. That's where the clip from "Absence of Malice" came from - One of the commentators brought it up during the discussion.

Some of the traditional "Newspaper" outlets didn't give it much or any coverage at all. IIRC, the NYT didn't even mention it when I looked for refs. The Washington Post, which would have enthusiastically jumped on something like this, one would think, didn't headline it. I didn't bother checking MSNBC because I figured they'd want to be alone in a dark closet with the notion for a bit... /fapfapfapfap

In short: In the brief sojourn I took, looking for who was covering it and how, the responsible media outlets were acting "responsibly." They covered it because it was "news" but they, possessing their own deep sources, were a bit hesitant to take big gulps of the Kool Aid.

It is worth noting that it's still possible that the article is true, more or less. Mueller's office was not specific in its statement and we shouldn't expect them to say anything more specific, since they're not going to confirm/deny anything at this point.

That man will always be my postmaster general.

https://youtu.be/sMqt1uAxibw?t=186

With diabeetus.

- must admit I didn't realize how low life expectancy is among males in Russia - very disturbing..

How much is that average brought down by the lunatic way they drive over there, though?

"Do not operate heavy machinery while under the influence of this... " - The warning label that seems to be almost universally ignored in Russia.

[JSDD]

"when they go low, we go high" ...

seems like we are going lower than "them" republicans: democrats deny the govermant their deserved pay for political reasons (opposition to a wall maybe)

[BugMeister]

yeah, but Trump has already proudly stated that the shutdown is all down to him..
the Democratic Party has already stated that they regret the ensuing chaos - the lunatic has no chance of switching the blame..

and, once the Replicants get up to speed, one hopes that impeachment will be considered in the interests of all Americans..
- it will be interesting to see how things proceed - doesn't look as though Donny will go willingly..
- a number of political precedents will need to be established, if the idiot clings on..
- he and members of his family could end up behind bars, if he doesn't get his ass in gear..

- should be fun watching him doing the "Nixon sweat" routine, and seeing his cronies squirm as they find themselves implicated..

[JSDD]

yeah, but Trump has already proudly stated that the shutdown is all down to him..
the Democratic Party has already stated that they regret the ensuing chaos - the lunatic has no chance of switching the blame..

of course, he wants that wall, and he wont sign a bill that doesnt fund one (seems stubborn, but is necessary to get things done!!!)

democrats are willling to fund about 4 trillion federal budget, about 700 billion for military, but not 5 billion for a fence/wall ?? sorry, but thats a joke to me, the congress is not only in the last few weeks dysfunctional, but for the last 2 decades ... remember bush/iraq ? obama/tea party ? now its trums/dems ... 800.000 federal workers are not getting paid because democrats arent willing to increase spending about 0.1% ??

[BugMeister]

neat trick, but it doesn't work..
Trump initiated the shutdown and took full credit..

[Usenko]

Actually, for those of us who aren't American, it's probably good for us to get a bit of an idea about how this whole thing works.

I'll describe it as I understand it. Could the Americans here help by pointing out if I have misunderstandings about the process, and what those are?

-- Begin Usenko's understanding of the situation. Warning: The following may be incorrect. --


* After the MidTerm elections, the composition of congress changed. Now instead of a Republican majority, we have a Democrat majority.

* The President has ultimate veto over any bill that goes though Congress, and must sign off on every bill.

* The President can also originate bills in the house somehow (perhaps by getting his members to officially be responsible for them?)

* The President has proposed a bill demanding more money for the Wall project than was previously allocated (or has indicated that he will propose this bill).

* The Democrat majority have declined this bill (or have indicated that they WILL be declining it).

* The President has indicated that he will not sign off on any bills until the bill for the Wall is passed.

* Since the President will not pass anything else, and the Democrats will vote down any bill for the Wall, there is an impasse. No bills will be passed until one side bends, and neither side are going to bend.

* This impasse means that the government is not writing cheques for expenses, so nobody is getting paid to do anything. So the government has totally shut down.

-- End Usenko's understanding of the situation. --

Have I got this right? If not, where have I got it wrong?

[Hank001]

Usenko asks:

Have I got this right? If not, where have I got it wrong?

Looks good to me. Except the part about the shut down merely being a ploy to divert the media from the fact that Trump's a stooge for Putin and most of his minions are in orange jumpsuits and everyone in the the USA except a minority of rabid luntics hate his guts and he could care less as long as he gets his fsce on the boob tube at least once a day.

[BugMeister]

- the rest of the free world knows the realities about this malignant administration..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bEdMuKq30I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvd7PqI_Lx0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvKvr2oHq7g

the Magnitsky Act is bugging the heck out of Putin..
it attempts to stop his murderous, thieving ways..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEStb5DedNA

Trump hangs his hat on a racist peg, because he knows how vehemently the extreme right will defend their position - at all costs
they simply do not care about anything else - they are permanently blinkered by their deep hatred and fear of foreigners..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYXZQ9BRiGw
Trump's old man was arrested for supporting these lunatics..

Farage and UKIP attempt to use the same pretext - they have always had the same extremist stance..
he doesn't have the same numbers as Trump, but Farage knows that these far-right lunatics will always spout the same rhetoric

- we are all waiting for common sense to prevail..

[BugMeister]

PBS has a whole series on Putin's place in Russian and world history - the articles are all worth watching:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp3LKYI ... 6h2kMXGfEE

- only an out and out crook would see Putin as a strong man..
- he's politically insecure, frightened and weak, not unlike Trump actually..
- small wonder that Trump identifies with him so closely..

- each article runs to an hour or more, so you'll need to be patient..

[Bishop149]

Buzzfeed article will be forgotten in a few days and the anti-Trump crowd will go right back to mocking him for calling out fake news.

A broken clock is right twice a day.

yeah, but Trump has already proudly stated that the shutdown is all down to him..

Yeah, people trying to defend Trump with the "The shutdown isn't his fault!" line would be just a little more convincing if the man himself hadn't loudly, proudly and publicly taken credit for it no less than 4 times.

Has anyone yet answered the question of why the hell Trump didn't fund his wall during the 2 years when no one could have stopped him?