"Make America Great Again"the F'dup Chapters in American History (The Trump Years) - Part 5

[Thread Manager]

This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]524507[/split]

 

[Thread Manager]

This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]524077[/split]

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

She has been for awhile. If she wasn't so obviously bias I'd watch her more often. She was great at uncovering wrongdoings during the BP oil spill. Times like these bring out the best in her. It's when nothing major is happening that she tends to veers off course, IMO.

It's true, but I find her honesty about her leanings comforting. Whereas other people, with shows too, literally lie to our faces about being down the middle or pretending like they're not one way or the other.

I think alot like how Keith Olbermann had found a sweet spot, and did amazing work, during the Bush years...I think Maddow is quickly becoming the same. She's going after facts, so that even with her Liberal bias...it's pretty hard not to see the validity of what's being reported. And, she would hit the Obama administration over things as well. She was very critical with how the previous administration had effectively gone (back) to war without the approval of Congress, and how they'd lied about no boots on the ground, when there were (and still are) infact boots on the ground.

It helps that she doesn't seem like most of the others, like dogs chasing cars. Trump's (insane) tweet about Obama was basically covered wall to wall on all the other shows, and I don't think she even mentioned it directly. I've heard she's made a point of not covering his tweets directly, actually.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

It's not a soundbite it was rather consistent throughout his administration and it happened to be the biggest news organization that would criticize him regularly. The rest of the media was soft on him even to the point where they came to his defense in a Presidential debate, he had no need to be critical. Obama was constantly punching down unnecessarily and the new guy is just flailing blindly in all directions.

Downplay it as a single comment and in light of Trump's constant attacks I understand how it can seem miniscule, but it wasn't. It's about precedent and Obama set it. Try finding another President that did that aside from Nixon or FDR, after Nixon the sort of deference for separation of powers was reset. W. once answered a question about a ruling and he said he thought what his administration was legal but that they would honor the ruling that's about it.

I agree with Schlosser, the scariest thing about Trump to me is what comes after with the kind of precedent he is setting here.

I think you're overselling the "coming to his defense" part. Romney had lied. Someone, who knew the facts, was asked on the spot and said the truth. It didn't even seem planned, and like a gut reaction to pointing out the truth.

I don't think Obama normalized attacks on the press. The fact that everyone understands the political leanings of him and Fox News, for one, mattered. But, Obama also did give interviews on that channel. He went on, numerous times, during his administration.

And my understanding is that when they were messed with for the press pool and the daily briefings, other news organizations stood up for them and it stopped. Whereas CNN was publicly flogged, and literally nobody gave a ****. Infact, everyone seemed to laugh at the spectacle of it all. Trump says the press is the enemy of the state. Which means something's gotta happen to them. They need to be killed, arrested, or financially crippled...because isn't that what you're supposed to do your enemies? Vanquish them?

I'd be willing to bet the Bush administration said stuff about MSNBC, during the Olbermann years, that you could point to equated with Obama's administration towards Fox News. But, Trump is on a whole other planet. He's in a different galaxy with this stuff.

I too am really worried about what comes after. There's so much precedent being set now, that anyone who comes after is going to have room to try and get away with alot. The next President we have who is charming? Who is very popular? Jeez, that guy might be able to get away with as much as Trump, with far less the outrage. It could be nuts.

 

[BatLobster]

Speaking of Keith Olbermann...

[YT]74wMmVfxiKo[/YT]

Still killing it.

 

[Charlatan]

Thought I would pass this along in case you hadn’t seen it. This is David Frum — noted conservative and Never Trumper — with a tweetstorm of a response to the Sessions saga today:
Link on Twitter here.
1) Sessions story today is a sinister confirmation of central thesis of my autocracy article:
2) Donald Trump is a uniquely dangerous president because he harbors so many guilty secrets (or maybe 1 big guilty secret).
3) In order to protect himself, Trump must attack American norms and institutions - otherwise he faces fathomless legal risk
4) In turn, in order to protect their legally vulnerable leader, Republicans in Congress must join the attack on norms & institutions
5) Otherwise, they put at risk party hopes for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to remake US government in ways not very popular with voters
6) American institutions are built to withstand an attack from the president alone. But …
7) … they are not so well-built as to withstand an attack from a conscienceless president enabled by a hyper-partisan Congress
8) The peculiar grim irony in this case is that somewhere near the center of Trump’s story is the murky secret of Trump’s Russia connection
9) Meaning that Trump is rendering his party also complicit in what could well prove …
10) … the biggest espionage scandal since the Rosenberg group stole the secret of the atomic bomb.
11) And possibly even bigger. We won’t know if we don’t look
12) Despite patriotic statements from individual GOPers, as of now it seems that Speaker Ryan & Leader McConnell agree: no looking.
13) So many in DC serenely promise that “checks and balances” will save us. But right now: there is no check and no balance.
14) Only brave individuals in national security roles sharing truth with news organizations.
15) But those individuals can be found & silenced. What then? We take it too much for granted that the president must lose this struggle
16) The “oh he’s normal now” relief of so many to Trump’s Feb 28 speech revealed how ready DC is to succumb to dealmaking as usual.
17) As DC goes numb, citizen apathy accumulates …
18) GOP members of Congress decide they have more to fear from enforcing law against the president than from ignoring law with the president
19) And those of us who care disappear down rabbit holes debating whether Sessions’ false testimony amounts to perjury or not
20) Meanwhile job market strong, stock market is up, immigration enforcement is popular.
21) I’m not counseling despair here. I don’t feel despair. Only: nobody else will save the country if you don’t act yourself. END.

 

[Sithborg]

And shocking no one, Trump doesn't care about the details. Only about having a "win".

https://***********/MEPFuller/status/839298914511630336?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

 

[Fading]

Gotta love Wikileaks timing. They release vault 7. One of the leaks say the CIA can frame another country for things they do. So Trump supporters are jumping all over it. Saying it proves the CIA faked the Russia hack to hurt Trump. Yes...they hacked the DNC, and released anti-Hillary news days before the election to stick it to Trump ...

Won't lie though, some of the other Vault 7 stuff is worrying.

 

[Sithborg]

That if you are online, you can be spied on? That pretty much is something most people don't think about.

But, Wikileaks is a Russian asset now, so clearly take their reveals with a grain of salt.

 

[Marvolo]

I trust wikileaks and its journalistic integrity about as much as the average Trumpeteer. Which is to say I dont trust them at all.

 

[Fading]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trusting them either. Which is why I was hinting the timing was fortuitous for Trump. What worries me (if true) is the CIA losing control of it's hacking database as they circulated it around. Meaning someone has the CIA's hacking capabilities. Also smart TV's being turned into listening devices, and the attempt to hack vehIcle control systems.

I don't trust Wikileaks, but I also don't like the thought of someone else being able to hack some of the newer cars that help drive.

 

[Sithborg]

Like a president with an outdated and unsecure cellphone...

 

[Schlosser85]

I trust wikileaks and its journalistic integrity about as much as the average Trumpeteer. Which is to say I dont trust them at all.

Assange is slime and has been in Trump/Putin's corner and probably pocket this whole time.

 

[Fading]

Like a president with an outdated and unsecure cellphone...

As much as I'd like to say I wouldn't lose sleep over Trump's phone being hacked. He seems fond of tweeting during intelligence briefings. Then again I can see him blabbing classified information voluntarily at some point anyway.

 

[Thundercrack85]

As much as I'd like to say I wouldn't lose sleep over Trump's phone being hacked. He seems fond of tweeting during intelligence briefings. Then again I can see him blabbing classified information voluntarily at some point anyway.

I can just see the headline now "Trump's Twitter account hacked by trolls and nobody notices for a month".

 

[Thundercrack85]

Gotta love Wikileaks timing. They release vault 7. One of the leaks say the CIA can frame another country for things they do. So Trump supporters are jumping all over it. Saying it proves the CIA faked the Russia hack to hurt Trump. Yes...they hacked the DNC, and released anti-Hillary news days before the election to stick it to Trump ...

Won't lie though, some of the other Vault 7 stuff is worrying.

Yes... what a master plan. Influence the election to get Trump elected to... thwart Trump?

 

[Sithborg]

They are attacking the Intelligence Community. Who haven't exactly been his friends.

 

[Thundercrack85]

It's not exactly a bastion of milquetoast liberals.

I'm sure they see Trump for what he is.

 

[Sithborg]

Yeah, the IC is freaked out not because they are Democrats. Its that they have a whole lot more info on him.

 

[summerteeth]

I think you're overselling the "coming to his defense" part. Romney had lied. Someone, who knew the facts, was asked on the spot and said the truth. It didn't even seem planned, and like a gut reaction to pointing out the truth.

I don't think Obama normalized attacks on the press. The fact that everyone understands the political leanings of him and Fox News, for one, mattered. But, Obama also did give interviews on that channel. He went on, numerous times, during his administration.

And my understanding is that when they were messed with for the press pool and the daily briefings, other news organizations stood up for them and it stopped. Whereas CNN was publicly flogged, and literally nobody gave a ****. Infact, everyone seemed to laugh at the spectacle of it all. Trump says the press is the enemy of the state. Which means something's gotta happen to them. They need to be killed, arrested, or financially crippled...because isn't that what you're supposed to do your enemies? Vanquish them?

I'd be willing to bet the Bush administration said stuff about MSNBC, during the Olbermann years, that you could point to equated with Obama's administration towards Fox News. But, Trump is on a whole other planet. He's in a different galaxy with this stuff.

I too am really worried about what comes after. There's so much precedent being set now, that anyone who comes after is going to have room to try and get away with alot. The next President we have who is charming? Who is very popular? Jeez, that guy might be able to get away with as much as Trump, with far less the outrage. It could be nuts.

No, she interjected after Obama had already refuted what Romney was saying and then Obama asked her to say it louder and she laughed and repeated it. I don't even think Romney lied, I think he just got bogged down in a semantic argument with Obama instead of did the administration try to pass this off as a spontaneous demonstration and was unaware that Obama had used those very words.

No, I think you'd be hard pressed finding George W. Bush doing any such thing. He perhaps refuted a certain report or the administration may have said something but not the President himself. Obama spied on reporters for crying out loud.

Under Mr. Obama, the Justice Department and the F.B.I. have spied on reporters by monitoring their phone records, labeled one journalist an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal case for simply doing reporting and issued subpoenas to other reporters to try to force them to reveal their sources and testify in criminal cases.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/...ld-trump-targets-journalists-thank-obama.html

 

[SV Fan]

I don't even think Romney lied, I think he just got bogged down in a semantic argument with Obama instead of did the administration try to pass this off as a spontaneous demonstration and was unaware that Obama had used those very words.

Romney's problem is he got his talking points from right wing media who really don't put much thought behind what they were saying. Obama on the other hand was prepared to shoot down his statement with a well rehearsed talking point knowing he could make Romney look like a liar in a as you put it semantic argument

 

[BatLobster]

Yes... what a master plan. Influence the election to get Trump elected to... thwart Trump?

Hah...that's exactly how you can tell the difference between people who simply want an investigation into Trump's Russia ties (IE sane people) and the people who are conspiracy theory addicts. The latter will accuse the former of being crazy conspiracy theorists (lol), when there is a pretty simple linear connection between Trump and Russia that needs to be investigated. They on the other hand are willing to indulge in these nonsensical circular theories like the CIA being behind Wikileaks which literally fails to make sense on any level whatsoever.

I can't.

 

[fancyarcher]

Hah...that's exactly how you can tell the difference between people who simply want an investigation into Trump's Russia ties (IE sane people) and the people who are conspiracy theory addicts. The latter will accuse the former of being crazy conspiracy theorists (lol), when there is a pretty simple linear connection between Trump and Russia that needs to be investigated. They on the other hand are willing to indulge in these nonsensical circular theories like the CIA being behind Wikileaks which literally fails to make sense on any level whatsoever.

I can't.

The conspiracy "OMG they're out to get Donald" people are a delusional lost cause at this point.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Assange is slime and has been in Trump/Putin's corner and probably pocket this whole time.

I don't know if I necessarily believe that, what I think is more likely is Assange believes in a scorched earth mentality when it comes to info. The anarchist in me finds it amusing, but the person watching how he helped get an insane person elected is not amused.

 

[Fading]

Colbert lays out the Trump-Russia connection (need some humor from time to time).