Donald John Trump: 2016 President-Elect

[AntiBeeSpray]

10 minutes ago, stillshimpy said:

 

Oh man, a good, "it's been a pleasure serving with you all" speech seems in order right about now, but all I can think of is, um, Tequila shots and one-hitters at my place, you're all invited, 'cause smoke 'em if you got 'em at this point, you know? 

Heck I don't even drink and I'd take you up on that.

[Lunata]

Edited December 12, 2016 by Lunata

[backformore]

42 minutes ago, AntiBeeSpray said:

Hey, anyone sitting around on a Sunday night thinking, "Gee, I'd really like to shit my pants right about now?" You're in luck! 

China flies nuclear bomber over South China Sea to 'send a message' to Donald Trump, US officials say flight is in response to President-elect’s phone call with Taiwan's leader.

Gee, I wonder what Trump's response to this will be when he hears about it at the daily briefing tomorrow morning.   Oh, Wait.  Never mind.

[AntiBeeSpray]

2 minutes ago, backformore said:

Gee, I wonder what Drumpf's response to this will be when he hears about it at the daily briefing tomorrow morning.   Oh, Wait.  Never mind.

I don't think I really want to know.

[Padma]

1 hour ago, onthebrink03 said:

I wonder if The Donald is watching The Critics Choice Awards tonight.  He might think Alec Baldwin's impression of him isn't very good but the critics disagree. Alec Baldwin just won for Best Guest Performer In A Comedy Series.  Wonder if the pouty, peach pissant will tweet about THAT.  

Congrats to Alec Baldwin.  Suck on it Tubby.

Excellent! Anything Tubby will hate, I'm on board for.  He's says Baldwin's "so bad, not funny"! Professionals (and the public) disagree!

The news about China is grim, but will Tubby even know?  I mean, he might have learned of, oh, a military buildup in China, or what is the latest in Syria, or even if his good buddy is making stronger moves in the Crimea.  Or something about Israel and the Palestinians since he's expecting Kushner to bring peace there soon.

But that would have meant reading (or hearing or watching or seeing cartoons of it--really, they'll do anything for the moron) his daily intelligence briefings. Nope! Not doing that!  Tubby already knows it ALL about the world on a daily basis! Nothing to see there!

I wish Democrats weren't so spineless and would be pushing for a delay to the Electoral College vote until they determine "if the president-elect collaborated with Russian intelligence".  Really, is that so hard a case to make to possibly save our country from this ignorant monster? 

[Lunata]

31 minutes ago, backformore said:

Gee, I wonder what Trump's response to this will be when he hears about it at the daily briefing tomorrow morning.   Oh, Wait.  Never mind.

China has done this a few times in the past weeks. China is just showing its presence in those disputed islands and marine territories in the South and East China seas. Taiwan has virtually identical claims in the South China Sea. They did this back in August to Australia and Japan and Chinese military aircraft, including a bomber, penetrated South Korean airspace in August also. The United States is the lone power capable of leading a regional military response, should it come to that. Will President Trump react?

Edited December 12, 2016 by Lunata

[Jediknight]

1 hour ago, Giant Misfit said:

Hey, anyone sitting around on a Sunday night thinking, "Gee, I'd really like to shit my pants right about now?" You're in luck! 

China flies nuclear bomber over South China Sea to 'send a message' to Donald Trump, US officials say flight is in response to President-elect’s phone call with Taiwan's leader.

Man, Obama's probably cussed more times in the last month than he has in his entire life.

19 minutes ago, Padma said:

I wish Democrats weren't so spineless and would be pushing for a delay to the Electoral College vote until they determine "if the president-elect collaborated with Russian intelligence".  Really, is that so hard a case to make to possibly save our country from this ignorant monster? 

There is the slight possibility that they are working on that, it's just that it's all a secret right now.  They could be having backroom discussions with Republicans to put country before party.  Any deals aren't going to be announced till Monday.

[FilmTVGeek80]

8 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

Oh and O'Reilly is mad at Joy and is NOT going on The View anymore. Is that show still around? I used to watch it but it started turning into a bunch of mean faced women who were always mad about something. He is irritated because Joy said Trump was off in the head. I think Joy is just jealous that Trump likes to rumble with Rosie and Megyn but not her. LOL. 

 

Yeah, I'm sure The View is just weeping at ratings juggernaut Bill O'Reilly boycotting their show.

And I doubt Joy is jealous that she's not being verbally abused by Drumpf. I think like many others she's just smart enough to know what a bag of turds Trump is. She certainly was not wrong about him being off in the head.

[random chance]

1 hour ago, stillshimpy said:

 

Oh man, a good, "it's been a pleasure serving with you all" speech seems in order right about now

You have made me laugh out loud so many times in this thread, quite an astonishing feat considering!

The Chinese sending a message, and he isn't even in yet! How ironic that 2017 is going to be the Year of the Chinese Curse.

[Padma]

57 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

LOL Sabo strikes again:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rogue-one-premiere-targeted-by-pro-trump-street-artist-955003

Oh and O'Reilly is mad at Joy and is NOT going on The View anymore. Is that show still around? I used to watch it but it started turning into a bunch of mean faced women who were always mad about something. He is irritated because Joy said Trump was off in the head. I think Joy is just jealous that Trump likes to rumble with Rosie and Megyn but not her. LOL. 

If by "rumble" you mean "threaten and bully", sure.  (Read Megyn Kelly's memoir if you need the details. Tubby's not exactly George Washington.)

[backformore]

[navelgazer]

[Constantinople]

Quote

I don't think anybody knows it was Russia that broke into the DNC. She's saying Russia, Russia, Russia, but I don't -- maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK? - Trump during the first Presidential debate.

Quote

They have no idea if it's Russia or China or somebody.  It could be somebody sitting in a bed some place. - Trump on Fox News Sunday, December 11th.

At least Trump stopped fat shaming the hackers.

[callmebetty]

27 minutes ago, Constantinople said:

At least Trump stopped fat shaming the hackers.

Melania is already hard at work on her first lady promise. Progress!

[fishcakes]

10 hours ago, Jediknight said:

Great, Rick Perry is apparently the top choice to head the Department of Energy. 

This is one of the three departments that Perry promised to dismantle when he was running for president in 2012, so I see that Trump is at least being consistent in only appointing people who want to destroy the departments they'll be heading. I think the flow chart is

Have you ever assaulted a woman? ➡ YES ➡ Begin the confirmation hearings!
                       ⬇
                     NO
                       ⬇
Will you sabotage your department? ➡ YES ➡ You're hired!
                       ⬇
                     NO
                       ⬇
You are Mitt Romney.

[KerleyQ]

11 hours ago, Jediknight said:

The good news is that Marco Rubio is blasting Trump's choice for Secretary of State for his ties to Russia, so Rubio is a GOP Senator that is coming out against Trump's picks.  More and more are coming out against the man Russia wanted, so that increases the possibility of them putting a stop to this.

Take it with a grain of salt, because God knows that politicians are known to crumble in the face of party pressure, but, supposedly, there are already enough Republican Senators who are adamantly opposed to appointing him SoS that he won't get confirmed.  That is likely why Trump is pulling the "stay tuned!" thing on that appointment.  He's going to wait and see if Pence and Preibus are able to talk everyone into agreeing with his appointment.  If not, he'll pick someone else, and it will be "oh, he was never going to be the nominee, that was just the dishonest media spreading more lies."  

[Jediknight]

And Trump has addressed the CIA claims on Twitter, by saying if the roles were reversed (Hillary won and he lost) and the news came out everybody would be screaming "Conspiracy theory" and by saying unless you catch them in the act, you can't tell who the hacker was, and that it wasn't brought up before the election.

It was obviously brought up before the election, hell it was brought up in one of the debates.

It's really starting to look like we're on a road to a place we've never been and it will be decided because of what exit we get off, we'll either get off the exit where electors switch their votes and Trump doesn't get 270, or we'll get off at the exit where the electoral process is postponed till this investigation is finished.  I could be wrong, but it just seems like we're on the verge of something massive and unprecedented.  Just something we never thought we'd do, but will be incredibly grateful that we did trigger the fail safes.

Edited December 12, 2016 by Jediknight

[Chicken Wing]

I just know that my brain still refuses to accept the fact that this country actually elected an insane person to be the next leader of the free world. Like, every time I try to process that detail I can literally hear a sound bite of a record scratching in my head.

[Duke Silver]

28 minutes ago, Chicken Wing said:

I just know that my brain still refuses to accept the fact that this country actually elected an insane person to be the next leader of the free world. Like, every time I try to process that detail I can literally hear a sound bite of a record scratching in my head.

I assume that^^ is mostly rhetorical tongue-in-cheek.....but in all seriousness, encounters I've had w/ Trump supporters, online & IRL, makes me feel that a Trump-like figure rising to power here was inevitable.  The right-wing nutjobs (Tea Party, especially) GOP has smashed public faith in media & government in general.  If those institutions cannot be trusted, in whom do we place our trust?  Well, in a charismatic (:barf:, but whatever...idiots will find him such), bombastic strongman, surrounded by a bunch of enabling weasels.  It bears repeating over & over: learn how to survive in an autocracy. 

As long as so many of us turn a blind eye to the destruction of institutions, the U.S. will remain wide open to this type of intrigue.  Destruction of public education, at a fundamental level especially.  That's my view of things in a very general sense, and I know it's hardly original.

[random chance]

38 minutes ago, Chicken Wing said:

I just know that my brain still refuses to accept the fact that this country actually elected an insane person to be the next leader of the free world. Like, every time I try to process that detail I can literally hear a sound bite of a record scratching in my head.

Yes! That's a great description. I just can't process it. It feels fictional. Like I'm stuck in a parallel timeline, or the ghost of Christmas Future is showing me what happens when you don't volunteer to work a phone bank.

[jhlipton]

On 12/11/2016 at 9:29 AM, ChromaKelly said:

One of them was something like, at a town hall in Michigan, a woman was going to ask "How do you plan to help the people of Flint?" WOW, that is so unexpected! She really needed to be warned about that hard-hitting question.

I know!!!

 

21 hours ago, Lunata said:

Townhall is a hotbed for wingnut paranoia. It has a severe persecution complex and sees liberalism everywhere, which is trying to destroy Christianity and democracy as we know it. Like most websites on the radical right 'blogosphere' it has many columns opposing the "gay agenda", abortion, the "liberal media" (which is almost all of the media), universal healthcare, and Barack Obama. It promotes global warming 'denialism', the Iraq War, torture, and, oddly, Sarah Palin. There is an inherent disdain and paranoia towards Europe, Hollywood, and "liberal elites" such as Al Gore. For whatever reason, random attacks on John McCain and his daughter Meghan McCain for not being "true conservative Republicans" is a running theme as well.

And "corrupt" "Killary".

 

19 hours ago, Lunata said:

When they see their wages frozen because Donald Trump doesn't think anyone deserves a minimum wage increase or they lose their Medicare, Social Security and life savings, they're going to slap themselves across the face for voting for this monster.

Not a chance.  It will be fault of O'Bummer and/or Killary.

Quote

I loved how peoples heads exploded when Trump said he didn't need to be told the same thing every day. Makes sense to me. Cut out the paper pushers and get to the heart of the issues and solve them. Good plan.

In order to solve a problem, you have to know (a) what the problem is, (b) what the alternatives are and (c) the risk/reward for each alternative.  But I guess you don't need of those when you're, like, a smart person.

Edited December 12, 2016 by jhlipton
Reply to stewedsquash; remove bold

[kassa]

16 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

 

Also, I loved how peoples heads exploded when Trump said he didn't need to be told the same thing every day. Makes sense to me. Cut out the paper pushers and get to the heart of the issues and solve them. Good plan.

Yes, because "the Russians continue to encroach on [insert X,Y,Z country]" day after day is just mindless repetition.  Let him know when the tanks actually cross the border. And after that, when/if they actually fire.  Because until they fire, who's to say it's not just a parade?

[stormy]

He's s bombastic fool.  Telling Chris Wallace he doesn't need to hear the same stuff over and and over for eight years.

God help us if this fiasco lasts eight years.  This is JMO,  but by 2018 the republicans will be sick of him, his devoted followers will feel betrayed and let down and the democrats (otherwise known as the majority) will stage a rebellion.

Yeah, I think this SOB will be one and done.

Edited December 12, 2016 by stormy

[BBDi]

30 minutes ago, jhlipton said:

I know!!!

 

And "corrupt" "Killary".

 

Not a chance.  It will be fault of O'Bummer and/or Killary.

In order to solve a problem, you have to know [a] what the problem is, what the alternatives are and [c] the risk/reward for each alternative.  But I guess you don't need of those when you're, like, a smart person.

With regard to the briefings - this is part of the job that DT signed up for. Is it too much to ask him to do his fucking job?

He is very foolish indeed if he thinks that being president is just like other roles he's played and that he won't have to make some major adjustments. 

One of the biggest downsides of arrogance - particularly when it's totally unearned - is that it's unaccompanied by an unwillingness to listen and learn. That may be an acceptable quality in a POS, but not in a POTUS. 

I'd warrant that most of the people posting here are smarter than DT and better informed on some, maybe many, matters. If magically transported into the presidency, those same people would take ever opportunity to learn that they could. 

ETA: His notion that he needs to hear about things only when something has changed is ridiculous. To be constantly in reactive mode is not effective leadership. 

Edited December 12, 2016 by BBDi

[SoSueMe]

19 hours ago, backformore said:

I wanted to share this - it was attributed to Debra Messing, but I couldn't find if she originated it.  It pretty much sums up how I feel about Trump supporters in my family:

Thanks for this. Stunning that his supporters are willing to offer more unconditional love and devotion to this sociopath than I believe that they would give to their own children.

Edited December 13, 2016 by SoSueMe

[DollEyes]

41 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

I love how President Elect Trump is manipulating Russia and China while the press and others lose their heads. He is methodically building his chess board right in front of them, out in the open. Russia and China are weirded out by it. LOL 

Ahhh, more intrigue:

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/12/cias-absence-conviction/

 

Also, I loved how peoples heads exploded when Trump said he didn't need to be told the same thing every day. Makes sense to me. Cut out the paper pushers and get to the heart of the issues and solve them. Good plan.

I totally disagree.  That kind of attitude, if anything, exposes both Trump's arrogance and ignorance even more. If Trump thinks that he can just go it alone without listening to anyone, then he's even dumber than I thought.  As far as I'm concerned, Trump's not just stuck on stupid-he's marooned there. 

[KerleyQ]

8 minutes ago, DollEyes said:

I totally disagree.  That kind of attitude, if anything, exposes both Trump's arrogance and ignorance even more. If Trump thinks that he can just go it alone without listening to anyone, then he's even dumber than I thought.  As far as I'm concerned, Trump's not just stuck on stupid-he's marooned there. 

Exactly.  He's not paying attention to the briefings because he already knows what he wants to do.  Why would he listen to input that might contradict his plans?  Anyone who cannot see how dangerous this is is seriously kidding themselves.  

[Constantinople]

1 hour ago, stewedsquash said:

I loved how peoples heads exploded when Trump said he didn't need to be told the same thing every day. Makes sense to me. Cut out the paper pushers and get to the heart of the issues and solve them. Good plan.

Exactly.

Trump's a master of detail.

When George Stephanopoulos interviewed Trump over the summer, Trump claimed that Putin hadn't invaded the Crimea.  Stephanopoulos only had to tell Trump once that Putin had.

Quote

Trump: Just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down and you can put it down, you can take it anywhere you want.

Stephanopoulos: Well, he's already there, isn't he?

Trump: OK, well, he's there in a certain way

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-donald-trump-vice-president-joe-biden/story?id=41020870

Edited December 12, 2016 by Constantinople

[izabella]

Trump is being manipulated by Putin, and since he's too ignorant to realize the American President is supposed to be on America's side, he is welcoming it.  Trump is Putin's biggest fan.

[FilmTVGeek80]

59 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

 

I love how President Elect Trump is manipulating Russia and China while the press and others lose their heads. He is methodically building his chess board right in front of them, out in the open. Russia and China are weirded out by it. LOL 

 

 

You've said this a couple of times now and I'm still scratching my head of where you're getting this idea that Drumpf is manipulating Russia in any way? And making China angry is not "manipulating" them. And I don't think Trump knows anything about chess. That's far too advanced for him. Maybe he's building his Candyland board.

 

1 hour ago, stewedsquash said:

Also, I loved how peoples heads exploded when Trump said he didn't need to be told the same thing every day. Makes sense to me. Cut out the paper pushers and get to the heart of the issues and solve them. Good plan.

 

The Intelligence Agency are not "paper pushers." If Bush had actually listened to those "paper pushers" maybe 9/11 could have been avoided. Trump is even more of a moron than Bush and has absolutely no experience in this job. For him to turn up his nose at those with more experience than him is not a good plan. How's he going to get to the heart of any issue when he has no idea what those issues are? And how does Trump know the briefings are the same every day when he's barely looked at them? Looking at those briefings is part of the job he was unfortunately elected to. If he can't even be bothered to do that, let him step aside, and he can do things that concern him more like tweet and grab all the pussy he wants.

[sistermagpie]

14 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

Translation: "There are no new jobs for the foreseeable future. We have to wait and see how much more we can loot from the American taxpayer what further incentives we can get. Maybe we'll threaten to move more jobs."

Meanwhile, Trump got his approval to hire foreign workers for the winter at Mar-a-Lago again--because it's impossible to find Americans in Florida to cook or waitress for him. Sucker born every minute.

1 minute ago, KerleyQ said:

Exactly.  He's not paying attention to the briefings because he already knows what he wants to do.  Why would he listen to input that might contradict his plans?  Anyone who cannot see how dangerous this is is seriously kidding themselves.  

Yup, but this is the gospel of anti-intellectualism, isn't it? Knowing things, studying facts, learning how things work, being an "expert"--that's what's stupid. Real smart people ignore all that distraction, get rid of the pencil-pushers and get to heart the matter--i.e., telling everybody to do what you want loudly until they do it. Those foreigners will fall in line once they see they're dealing with a real "broad-shouldered" man who doesn't care about their candy-ass national histories or needs or customs or the ways their situation may very well be changing every day. That kind of attention should be reserved for following reality shows.

Honestly, you'd need more patience and focus to play a game of actual chess. (I hate to think what the real-life equivalent of turning over the board is when you're losing--or figure out you can't cheat by moving the pieces when the other person isn't looking.)

[potatoradio]

5 minutes ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

Maybe he's building his Candyland board

And planning to drain Molasses Swamp, of course. 

Perhaps if the intelligence briefings were put to a skit on SNL, he'd be able to focus. 

I mean, Tubby claims he doesn't even remember promising to retain 100% of Carrier's jobs until he saw his own stupid mug on the teevee saying the words. 

But yeah, those boring old papers and fuddyduddy gubmint workers. Who needs 'em?  Poor Tubby the toddler can't be expected to read or discuss anything with any complexity. I guess, in newspeak, "smart" now means "dumb" and "dumb" is now "smart." Good to know. Doubleplusgood. 

[MulletorHater]

25 minutes ago, DollEyes said:

I totally disagree.  That kind of attitude, if anything, exposes both Trump's arrogance and ignorance even more. If Trump thinks that he can just go it alone without listening to anyone, then he's even dumber than I thought.  As far as I'm concerned, Trump's not just stuck on stupid-he's marooned there. 

Exactly.  The selective amnesia is astounding, i.e. we already had a president who refused to listen to anyone and that worked out really well, didn't it?  We are still paying the consequences for that kind of arrogance and ignorance.  The only difference between President GW Bush and not-my-president Drumpf is that the former actually had core beliefs that voters could clearly identify.

That's why I don't expect Drumpf to do anything differently than what he has been doing.  Giving him advice is a fruitless exercise and wishful thinking.  He's a sociopath and will ultimately do what he wants to do.  He's also proven to be an empty vessel with no core beliefs whatsoever.  All someone has to do is compliment him, whisper in his ear and he's on board because his ego needs to be constantly salved.  For the first time that I can recall, we had a presidential candidate who publicly called on a foreign power to reveal what it had learned by hacking his rival's emails.  But, he was "just joking."  Right--and I'm still "laughing" while waiting for the punchline.  Oh, wait, I think I just figured out the punchline.  

How did the party that once cloaked itself in the flag and national security become the party that praises Putin over a sitting president and support a president-elect that ignores security briefings, openly denies the findings of several intelligence agencies and stonewalls efforts to get to the truth of the matter.  You know, the same party that spent millions of taxpayers dollars on politically motivated investigations into Hillary's email usage and Benghazi.  But, I'm reminded that these are also the same people who penned a letter to Iran undermining President Obama.

Now, folks can fall for the okey-doke if they want, but as my grandmama used to say, "I was born at night, but I wasn't born last night!"

[stormy]

If you didn't hear it, he told Chris Wallace that he has people to read those pesky intelligence briefings and, they can get me on the phone in a minute.

Hope he stays perpetually constipated.

Edited December 12, 2016 by stormy

[Duke Silver]

Follow the money (nothing we don't already know, just sayin'):

https://twitter.com/russchoma/status/808355023759507458

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, stewedsquash said:

I love how President Elect Trump is manipulating Russia and China while the press and others lose their heads. He is methodically building his chess board right in front of them, out in the open. Russia and China are weirded out by it. LOL 

Ahhh, more intrigue:

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/12/cias-absence-conviction/

 

Also, I loved how peoples heads exploded when Trump said he didn't need to be told the same thing every day. Makes sense to me. Cut out the paper pushers and get to the heart of the issues and solve them. Good plan.

If you think Trump is the one doing the manipulating, repeat after me" "Da, nyet, spasiba, do svidaniya".  These words just might come in handy.

[kassa]

Some Electors have requested an Intelligence briefing.  Not that many (yet - wonder if all were approached?), and none of them were going to vote for Trump anyway.  They include the Texan Republican who already declared he would not support Trump because he's demonstrated that he's not qualified.  But maybe, possibly, this could lead to some kind of way forward logistically?

[film noire]

1 hour ago, stewedsquash said:

I love how President Elect Trump is manipulating Russia and China while the press and others lose their heads. He is methodically building his chess board right in front of them, out in the open. Russia and China are weirded out by it. LOL 

If Trump is creating this witless freak show on purpose, we're even more screwed than we thought. Let's hope this display of political ignorance and frailty is based on his usual decision making process (which lies somewhere between a rabid dingo frantically licking its ass, and brain activity limited to important thoughts like "My hot dog bun looks like a vagina.") At least then,  there might be hope he can be kept in check until 2018 when congressional Russicans are thrown out.  

But if that mountain of man-piss actually thinks he has a genius master plan, then this country is dead in the water - which will please many of his voters since the alt right and white-loser-doods hate modern America. (To be fair, there is one thing they love about modern America; living off tax dollars provided by the liberal blue-staters they hate). Trump's worst followers feel slighted (without any moral right to that feeling) and they hate the idea that it's not 1950, when white men got great jobs just for showing up. They hate living in a country where women, liberal men, POC  (and the "illegals" they loathe) are -- with every decade -- rising higher.  If that America is destroyed, then so is the mirror that shows them every day that they (like Trump) are dumb white men who can't hack the real world. Some people hope they'll wake up and repudiate Trump. I think there's very little chance of that, because this election wasn't just about  racism and sexism, it was about white male hatred of an America where they are expected to compete, instead of being handed a life ready-made. And -- just like Trump -- they think they're smart and charming and great at everything, while failing at anything they put their hand to. And when it all goes wrong they'll do what they always do; blame it on everybody else, and put their grubby hands out for all the gubbermint money that will save their house, their health care and their pension. Only this time, there won't be any help. 

Edited December 12, 2016 by film noire

[Duke Silver]

[OrigamiNightmare]

http://theslot.jezebel.com/congress-just-armed-donald-trump-and-steve-bannon-with-1790001249

Ugggh this is not good.

& on an unrelated note ... If you want to support Senator Warren’s request to audit President-Elect Trump’s finances for conflicts of interest, the woman who answered the phone at the Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office said the most effective way to be sure my support counted was to email two administrators, Katherine Siggerud and Timothy Minnelli.

    Their email addresses are siggerudk@gao.gov, minellit@gao.gov.

    There is a third email, congrel@gao.gov, through which they are tracking people who were urging support for an audit.

    You can send one email addressed to:

    siggerudk@gao.gov, minellit@gao.gov, congrel@gao.gov

    Subject line:

    Re: Audit for President-Elect Trump’s financial concerns

    Dear Ms. Siggerud and Mr. Minnelli,

    I’m writing in support of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s request for an audit of our incoming President-Elect Trump’s finances, to prohibit conflicts of interest that would prevent him from carrying out the responsibilities of the office without corrupt influence.

    Sincerely,

    Your name

Edited December 12, 2016 by OrigamiNightmare

[Lunata]

15 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

LOL Sabo strikes again:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rogue-one-premiere-targeted-by-pro-trump-street-artist-955003

Oh and O'Reilly is mad at Joy and is NOT going on The View anymore. Is that show still around? I used to watch it but it started turning into a bunch of mean faced women who were always mad about something. He is irritated because Joy said Trump was off in the head. I think Joy is just jealous that Trump likes to rumble with Rosie and Megyn but not her. LOL. 

I like Joy Behar because she 'tells it like it is".  (Sound familiar?) Bill O'Reilly is an arrogant buffoon that's always pissed off at someone, if it's not Megyn Kelly this week it's some other woman like Joy Behar. Bill O'Reilly is a misogynist that's been accused of sexual harassment more than once. He's a pig and Joy Behar won't put up with his bullshit, why should she, why should anyone?

Edited December 12, 2016 by Lunata

[yeswedo]

This thread is not to discuss other posters and their motivations for posting. Disagree with people civilly or ignore their posts.

[film noire]

23 hours ago, AntiBeeSpray said:

Exactly. What I dealt with on a forum last night was someone saying that Democrats are clutching their pearls. It's just mind blowing in some ways. Really. 

In service to Trump's oligarch ego (and the ego of his dirty minions) it's astonishing how fast American history is being flipped. The Russican Party is blithely handing over the election to the former head of the KGB, while the so called dirty pinko liberals of my seventies childhood are trying to save the republic from foreign tampering  -- WTF? It was always obvious that the GOP (Grand Old Putin!) hypocritically waved Old Glory around for effect, the closing act in their dog & pony sideshow, but who knew the dog was a rabid hyena and the pony was a Siberian war horse?

Edited December 12, 2016 by film noire

[BBDi]

I can't believe I wasted all those minutes in elementary school crouched under my desk doing bomb drills for this!

[slf]

6 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

I love how President Elect Trump is manipulating Russia and China while the press and others lose their heads. He is methodically building his chess board right in front of them, out in the open. Russia and China are weirded out by it. LOL 

What makes you think he's manipulating Russia and China, out of curiosity? Why would he? The Chinese have as much if not more leverage than we do in this alliance. We owe them an ungodly amount of money and we can't exactly afford to pay them, something I'd think he'd appreciate. As for Russia... Putin is former KGB. He's not infallible but he's far more intelligent than the man who did not know what Brexit was, did not know Russia was already in Ukraine, does not know how many articles are in the Constitution, and did not understand what "nuclear triad" meant. He had to have at least two of those explained to him on live television.

Does he appreciate, I wonder, that if - if -he is colluding with the Russians the majority of the blowback will be his to suffer? We won't declare war with Russia. We likely won't touch Putin, either. But Trump is ours entirely and we can prosecute him, imprison him, and - if his crimes are severe enough - execute him if we see fit. And the Russians won't help him. There'll be no extraction, no admittance of guilt on Putin's part, because the Russians in general and Putin specifically don't care about helping a spoiled, ignorant American who didn't have enough dignity to be loyal to his own country. If he's colluding with them he's their puppet, their patsy, and their human shield they can and will cut loose and abandon the moment it becomes convenient.

Does he appreciate, truly, what the CIA does and how it operates, what they're capable of? Does he appreciate how much they despise Putin, especially since he's former KGB? Does he understand how much information they have access to, information he might not want the public to know? The CIA has plenty of ways to retaliate against him, no matter how many appointments he makes once he becomes President. The CIA isn't an enemy you should make lightly; they can bury him without laying a finger on him and without anyone ever finding out it was them.

I don't see a brilliant chess player here. I see a man woefully out of his depth.

Quote

Also, I loved how peoples heads exploded when Trump said he didn't need to be told the same thing every day. Makes sense to me. Cut out the paper pushers and get to the heart of the issues and solve them. Good plan.

Each new day brings new events, new progresses, new setbacks, new players. As such there will always be new briefings, some at inconvenient times. It's his job as a grown man and the future leader of the most powerful country in the world to swallow down whatever childish impatience he's feeling and listen to his betters.

Edited December 12, 2016 by slf

[film noire]

2 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

 

Mika and Morning Joe discussion of NYT ep-ed on echo chambers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ca_3RD0CUU

Thank you for reminding me about Scarborough -- why the hell is that third rate con artist not fired yet? -- he's been advising the Trump campaign while pretending to be a journalist, which means not a word he says can be trusted.  

[Lunata]

6 minutes ago, BBDi said:

I can't believe I wasted all those minutes in elementary school crouched under my desk doing bomb drills for this!

Donald Trump grew up during the Cold War era and no doubt remembers these videos and tests. A nuclear attack today wouldn't give anyone much warning. Back in the 50's there were sirens, radio news bulletins, flashing 'warning' signs on the Emergency Broadcast Network and radio warnings. Now, the Emergency Alert System sends alerts through smartphones. But what exactly are you going to do if you find out your city will be nuked in a few minutes? That's not enough time to do much except to scurry into the basement, bend over, and kiss your backside goodbye (and pray that you aren't anywhere near a direct hit).

I wonder if the people that made these civil defense videos in the 50's ever considered that they were instructing children to crouch down under wooden desks that would be great kindling for the fireball that would blast through the glass windows of the classroom which would turn the teacher into cinders instantly.

[Constantinople]

27 minutes ago, BBDi said:

I can't believe I wasted all those minutes in elementary school crouched under my desk doing bomb drills for this!

By the time I was in elementary school, they'd renamed them to earthquake drills.

[Lunata]

Market manipulation that will effect every one of us.

Americans have enjoyed a lower price for gasoline at the pumps for over two years. People have bought their new SUV's and monster trucks because we've been enjoying lower gas prices. That's about to end. For the past weeks, Russia and OPEC have been having meetings regarding oil production. The price of oil has dropped to $51 a barrel and Russia and all the oil producing countries Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela want more money. They have announced today that they are raising the price of oil to $60 a barrel and cutting oil production to decrease the supply and raise the price. This will essentially drain half of the world's oil surplus.  Oil stocks go up when the price of oil goes up. The US has an abundant supply of shale oil but when the price of oil hits a low of $51 a barrel they shut down those wells and sometime even fill them with cement until they need to drill again.

The men that work on those shale oil fields are left out of work and take other jobs until such time that the wells are reopened for production again. So we can meet the demand for oil in the US by opening them once more but it takes at least six months to get into full production again since those men have to return or new men hired to work the shale oil.

The cynical and suspect part of my brain goes into full gear when I hear news like this. Most of the upper half of the country is moving into those frigid cold winter months, those months that put the greatest demand on oil consumption. We are entering a phase when people will be ripped off again by rising costs at the gasoline pumps for their cars and for home heating oil.

Who in our new administration is solidly cozy with Russia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain? I am looking at everything now as a conspiracy against the US even though it might not be. But I can't get over the feeling that we, inclusive of everyone in the world, are controlled by Russia, OPEC and ..... who knows

[Moose135]

Maybe not so fast:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-putin-oil-idUSKBN1411BA

A meeting of Russia's energy commission and the country's leading oil producers, chaired by President Vladimir Putin and due to be held on Dec. 19, has been postponed again, an industry source told Reuters on Monday.  The reason for the delay was not immediately clear.

It was expected that the commission, where Igor Sechin, Putin's long-standing ally and the head of country's largest oil producer Rosneft acts as the secretary, could discuss implementation of total oil production cuts of 300,000 barrels per day by Russia as agreed with OPEC on Saturday.

Sechin is known for his anti-OPEC stance and has repeatedly said that the group has lost its global influence due to a boom in shale oil production in the United States.  Russia's second largest producer Lukoil has said it is willing to cut production as part of the global deal. Tatneft, another large producer, said it would reduce its oil output by 20,000 barrels per day in 2017.