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Ambassador
 
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Post 09 Mar 2018, 10:00 am

Ray Jay wrote:
danivon wrote:
Doctor Fate wrote:
danivon wrote:
Doctor Fate wrote:Desperation is amusing to observe.

Indeed. The White House is flailing about. I am glad to be thousands of miles away.


Whatevs.

Apparently, Kim has agreed to denuclearize. We shall see, but if it’s anything at all, it’s more than Clinton, Bush, or Obama ever got.

Probably wants sanctions to be lifted and PR boosting trip to the White House, and then back to the routine. And he has agreed nothing - wait for the preconditions.


Yes


Cynics. It’s like y’all know history.

On the other hand, so far, no preconditions. US military exercises going ahead. This is unusual.

Could it be, maybe, that the steel tariffs, the increasing sanctions on North Korea, and other measures convinced China they had to push Kim?

We shall see.
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Statesman
 
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Post 10 Mar 2018, 8:52 am

Fate
Could it be, maybe, that the steel tariffs, the increasing sanctions on North Korea, and other measures convinced China they had to push Kim?

Why would the steel tariffs matter? China stands to gain from the stupid move.

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/03/02/c ... l-tariffs/

Increasing sanctions? Mostly that's been because China is cooperating and ratcheting up sanctions that matter.
Other than idle conjecture what evidence is there that China was involved in anything other than sanctions ?
All available evidence suggests that the Olympic games served a purpose in opening dialogue and the efforts of Moon Jae-in have caused the thaw.
There is no evidence publicly available of what is motivating Kim.
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Adjutant
 
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Post 10 Mar 2018, 9:15 am

Really? The Olympic Games were the key? That's just absurd.

And the idea that China is happy about steel tariffs is just funny. They could be worried about what's next.

The most likely explanation is that China put pressure on Kim. After all, China can essentially end the the regime with sanctions. Hmm steel tariffs...and all of a sudden Kim is willing to talk?

Squeeze China so they squeeze NK. That ain't a bad strategy.
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Ambassador
 
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Post 18 Apr 2018, 7:46 am

Just wondering what Freeman, our lefty attorney, thinks about the negation of attorney-client privilege in this case ...
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Post 18 Apr 2018, 8:18 am

Yeah, that's a big deal. I guess the judge who authorized the warrant thought there were other important interests at stake--namely, preservation of evidence in a criminal investigation--and that much of the documents would not be privileged. But still. I get subpoenas all the time for past clients. I never up give anything from a client file.

Let's just say I have concerns. Hope it turns out the Justice Department did the right thing.
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Post 25 Mar 2019, 9:28 am

Mueller report finds no collusion.

Those who are pro-Trump will find vindication.
Those who are anti-Trump will not accept the findings.

This solves nothing.

I do, however, find the entire circus entertaining.
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Statesman
 
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Post 25 Mar 2019, 10:11 am

bbauska
I do, however, find the entire circus entertaining
.

Then you're going to enjoy the next 18 months of congressional hearings.
Republicans had 18 hearings on Ben Ghazi. The Democrats will have 18 hearings on various and sundry issues. (Mostly over corruption and incompetence.)
Ben Ghazi was corrosive. But since it was the same stuff repeated with less effect each time ... Wasn't hugely convincing.
Are the dozens of hearings on everything from Emoluments to the use of private email and messaging going to be more effective?
Probably not going to help Trump grow his popularity from 42% .... And he'll need to do that at least some.
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Post 25 Mar 2019, 10:30 am

You are probably right about the 18 months of hearings. Probably the same result, too.

Nothing.

BTW, what is Pelosi's favorability rating? You didn't say.
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Post 25 Mar 2019, 10:55 am

Obviously, it's a huge win for Trump. Did it change my mind? No, not really. I accept that Mueller was not able to prove collusion. From the summary that Barr provided, it appears that Mueller punted on obstruction, that he did not want to make the call on that if he could not prove collusion. But it was pretty clear that Trump tried to interfere in the investigation, the firing of Comey just being the most egregious example. And that's obstruction. Yes, there are different legal interpretations on whether a president can commit obstruction if he intends to interfere in an investigation by using lawful executive power, but allowing a president to shut down investigations against him goes one of our foundational principles--the law applies equally to all.

As for collusion while apparently there is not enough evidence for a criminal charge there is no way for Mueller to "exonerate" Trump--all he can do is say there is insufficient evidence for a criminal charge. It is up the voters to decide if Trump did anything wrong. There is significant evidence publicly aired already that shows that he improperly favored Russia. His cozying up to Putin while in office,Flynn trying desperately to mollify the Russian ambassador about sanctions, Kushner trying to set up a back-door channel to the Russian ambassador and meeting with a Russian sanctioned bank, Sessions lying about his meetings with the Russian ambassador, etc. Whether why Trump has been a Russian toadie is due to trying to help his own financial interests or as payback for help in the election, his behavior is inexplicable unless he owes something to the Russians or wants something from them. It is also inexplicable the lengths he took to shut down the Russian investigation unless there was something he was concerned would be found out. Mueller's determination regarding collusion doesnt change the fact that Trump has not acted in the national interest with regard to Russia, but instead acted to further his own interests.
Last edited by freeman3 on 26 Mar 2019, 10:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post 25 Mar 2019, 2:56 pm

https://babylonbee.com/news/mueller-report-concludes-hillary-clinton-was-just-a-terrible-candidate

Good humour piece.

Enjoy it and keep smiling!
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Post 26 Mar 2019, 7:02 am

freeman3
Obviously, it's a huge win for Trump. Did it change my mind?


It probably hasn't changed a lot of minds. And when (if) the whole report gets out any gains he's made with the Barr memo may go away. It is, after all, only the Barr Memo that has been released. Plus the 18 months of further revelations from hearings and media scrutiny will probably erode any chance he has to grow beyond his current levels of support.

That, and now his administration wants to scrap the ACA in its entirety. (And you just know they have nothing to replace it with in hand.)
This month’s KFF Health Tracking Poll continues to find majority support (driven by Democrats and independents) for the federal government doing more to help provide health insurance for more Americans. One way for lawmakers to expand coverage is by broadening the role of public programs. Nearly six in ten (56 percent) favor a national Medicare-for-all plan, but overall net favorability towards such a plan ranges as high as +45 and as low as -44 after people hear common arguments about this proposal.

Larger majorities of the public favor more incremental changes to the health care system such as a Medicare buy-in plan for adults between the ages of 50 and 64 (77 percent), a Medicaid buy-in plan for individuals who don’t receive health coverage through their employer (75 percent), and an optional program similar to Medicare for those who want it (74 percent). Both the Medicare buy-in plan and Medicaid buy-in plan also garner majority support from Republicans (69 percent and 64 percent­)
.
https://www.kff.org/health-reform/poll- ... uary-2019/

If it comes down to economic issues, perhaps he biggest economic issue is the cost of health insurance and the insecurity that most people feel towards health care costs ...
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Post 26 Mar 2019, 7:32 am

Freeman wrote...

I don't much believe in coincidences...


I wrote:

You should have ended the sentence with "as long as those coincidences concern Trump."

In post after post elsewhere you scoff at anyone who suggests that "coincidences" concerning the Clintons are anything more than right wing conspiracy theories.

I'm not denying anything you've brought to light here Freeman. I'm open to the fact that you may be correct. It's your certitude I find ironic.


You would garner more respect if you simply recognized the result and moved on instead of offering the Byzantine backpedaling displayed here.
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Adjutant
 
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Post 26 Mar 2019, 10:06 am

Other than a typo (I meant punt on obstruction not collusion) I dont need to change my views just so they accord with your own. We have very, very different ways of looking at the world. And I am ok with that.
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Post 26 Mar 2019, 10:32 am

It does give me great comfort that Russia agrees with the Mueller report that there was no collusion. Why didnt we just ask them in the first place instead of wasting all this time...

In my mind, Trump has favored Russian and his own interests--as opposed to US interests--in his dealings with Russia. I am supposed to say this guy has done nothing wrong now? No way. Whether his behavior with regard to Russia was done for personal financial gain or he owed Russia something or Russia had something over him or whether there was improper collusion that Mueller did not find because people did not talk...in the end does not matter much. As president, you cannot favor another country's interests over the US. Period. That's impeachable in my book.
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Post 26 Mar 2019, 10:57 am

Do you feel the same way concerning illegal immigration? A policy that benefits foreign interests and nationals over US Interests and citizens? Please note that I am not speaking of LEGAL immigration.

http://www.fairus.org/issue/illegal-immigration/examples-serious-crimes-illegal-aliens

A policy of not enforcing immigration law opens the door for such heinous examples of crime and horror. Any politician endorsing a non-enforcement policy of immigration should be impeached. That would be following Freeman's policy.

If that is the case, then sign me up in agreement.