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22nd July 2017, 09:32 PM | #801 |
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22nd July 2017, 09:38 PM | #802 |
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I'll admit that I've been genuinely surprised at how much trouble Trump has had getting the Republicans in Congress to function. I thought that they'd kill Obamacare off quickly and have some sort of upper-class tax cut in place by now. I wasn't expecting anything I'd be particularly happy with, but I didn't expect such dysfunction and inaction. I doubt Trump did either.
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22nd July 2017, 09:39 PM | #803 |
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22nd July 2017, 10:04 PM | #804 |
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When it comes to Obamacare, this is pretty much what I expected.
http://www.internationalskeptics.com...d.php?t=315181 |
22nd July 2017, 10:10 PM | #805 |
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22nd July 2017, 10:26 PM | #806 |
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22nd July 2017, 10:31 PM | #807 |
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23rd July 2017, 07:18 AM | #808 |
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Number 1 reason people have unfavorable opinion of Trump.
What's quite interesting but probably not a surprise is the number 1 reason people dislike Trump. It is his character. This stands in sharp contrasts with his predecessors where character issues hardly were a factor at all with an exception of Bill Clinton But even with Bill hardly anyone cited it as the most objectionable trait. Policy positions is pretty much always the problem people have with a President.
Trump OTOH is hated most for who he is as a human being with his character being cited universally as his most objectionable trait. Even among his supporters. Since being elected Trump has lost any moderate support he has had. This will be essential to get back but seems unlikely. |
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23rd July 2017, 08:36 AM | #809 |
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You certainly had a much better read on the Republicans than I did. Makes me wonder if some folks with previously safe seats might face some alt-right primary challenges. Also makes me wonder what role Trump personally might play in a scenario like that. I can see him wanting payback against anyone who he sees as thwarting his plans and making him look ineffective.
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23rd July 2017, 08:43 AM | #810 |
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OECD healthcare spending Public/Compulsory Expenditure on healthcare https://data.oecd.org/chart/60Tt Every year since 1990 the US Public healthcare spending has been greater than the UK as a proportion of GDP. More US Tax goes to healthcare than the UK |
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23rd July 2017, 08:57 AM | #811 |
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Actually, this doesn't surprise me either. The core of Obamacare/Romneycare was created not by Democrats but by the Heritage Foundation. But It's not over yet. Not by a longshot. A great many conservatives are pissed and have pledged revenge against the Republicans that opposed it threatening primary challenges.
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23rd July 2017, 09:08 AM | #812 |
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It's fairly simple to explain. We have never had a president with such low character before. There are times when I have not liked presidents, but I've never thought they were bad people. Bill Clinton's "character issues" were primarily things brought up by political opponents that they were sure we were supposed to care about, like philandering or dope smoking. (For youngsters in the audience, they really did try to make an issue out of the fact that Bill Clinton smoked weed when he was in college.) He wasn't a bad person. I had a lot to say about W's personal flaws, but they weren't things that made him an awful human being.
Trump really is an awful human being. His lies aren't weasel words that he uses to speak out of both sides of his mouth, like other politicians. He tells the old fashioned kind. He just plain lies for personal gain. He's a swindler. (Trump U? We seriously elected someone responsible for that?) He just makes things up. If we wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, we could just say he's insane, and that he really believes his inauguration crowds were bigger than Obama's, despite evidence, and that he really believes he won the popular vote, but it was stolen. But even if he's crazy, he's crazy in a self-serving, narcissistic way. He's still a bad person. |
23rd July 2017, 05:02 PM | #813 |
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Trump slams 'sad' Republicans who won't 'protect' him
"It's very sad that Republicans, even some that were carried over the line on my back, do very little to protect their President." Protect him from what? He doesn't say, so I suppose he assumes everyone knows what he means. Most of us do, and it ain't fake news. |
23rd July 2017, 05:26 PM | #814 |
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His coat tails were pretty meager. North Carolina Republicans lost their statehouse while he won the state. Democrats gained in the Senate while he won the White House. His limited coat tails don't likely encourage other Republicans to ignore Russian meddling or commit political suicide by repealing the ACA.
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23rd July 2017, 06:30 PM | #815 |
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23rd July 2017, 06:50 PM | #816 |
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23rd July 2017, 10:27 PM | #817 |
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23rd July 2017, 11:22 PM | #818 |
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24th July 2017, 12:59 AM | #819 |
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24th July 2017, 01:22 AM | #820 |
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I'm not sure that Spicer carried out an analysis of the other guy, I think it's more likely that he's just annoyed that he didn't get the job - especially because he was apparently already performing part of the job.
Scaramucci is *exactly* the right guy from the President's point of view - someone who will be 100% loyal (even if he wasn't in the past) and who is entirely unqualified. |
24th July 2017, 01:26 AM | #821 |
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Has anyone noticed how much Sean Spicer and Steve Bannon resemble Rob Lowe?
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24th July 2017, 01:57 AM | #822 |
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Yeah, I'm not sure about that. He is behaving like a mercenary and you only have them for as long as they are paid.
What if he was really in the job only for a behind-the-scenes look at this trainwreck?*[/KeaneuReeves.jpg] *A whacky idea that came to my mind as he spoke with Jake Tapper about reviewing his position on some points after his awated security clearance gives him more access to info. |
24th July 2017, 02:18 AM | #823 |
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24th July 2017, 02:26 AM | #824 |
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/concur. Spicey was more of a lap-dog. Did what he was told as best he could, but seemed genuinely grateful and loyal. 'The Mooch' seems like an oily attack dog, oozing ingratiating comments. I wouldn't put my hand too close. That's going to be an interesting fire when it starts, imo.
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24th July 2017, 03:31 AM | #825 |
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24th July 2017, 03:59 AM | #826 |
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And twitler is at it again this morning....
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1. He'd never do that. 2. Okay but he's not currently doing it. 3. Okay but he's not currently technically doing it. 4. Okay but everyone does it. 5. He's doing it, we can't stop him, no point in complaining about it. 6. We all knew he was going to do it which... makes it okay somehow. 7. It's perfectly fine that's he's doing it. |
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24th July 2017, 05:51 AM | #827 |
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24th July 2017, 06:57 AM | #828 |
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24th July 2017, 07:28 AM | #829 |
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24th July 2017, 11:30 AM | #830 |
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Saw an update last night: The NYTimes has asked Fox for an apology. The explanation is pretty detailed, but the short answer: the only story in the Times was on June 8. The raid that failed to get the guy was on May 18.
The stuff that was in the Times before the raid was based on a press release from the Pentagon. So, in summary, The New York Times was responsible for foiling the raid because they published the Pentagon press release. |
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Gunter Haas, the 'leading British expert,' was a graphologist who advised couples, based on their handwriting characteristics, if they were compatible for marriage. I would submit that couples idiotic enough to do this are probably quite suitable for each other. It's nice when stupid people find love. - Ludovic Kennedy |
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24th July 2017, 02:42 PM | #831 |
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24th July 2017, 03:38 PM | #832 |
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I'm glad the Times did this, because I was coming up with my own theories that were pretty much in line with what the explanation said.
Believe it or not, U.S. journalists by and large are not keen to endanger U.S. national security. Even per Gen. Thomas, there was a balance between keeping the public informed of progress vs. working in total operational secrecy. This was a conflict occurring among federal officials. A spokesman for the Special Operations Command - a civilian - was keen to point out that Umm Sayyaf's capture was announced by the Pentagon, not the operations guys. I also suspect that the NYT and the military work closely to safeguard truly critical information. There is still a great gaping hole in this story. The NYT and the military both seem to be pointing to news of Sayyaf's capture as the damaging factor. But Thomas spoke of a U.S. lead in ISIS that went dead a week later due to a "leak." The NYT says it was more than 3 weeks later. Was Thomas talking about Umm Sayyaf when he said a lead "went dead"? This could have been because she didn't have any more intelligence - and she probably had zero knowledge of where Al Baghdadi would be 3 weeks after her capture. She could have gotten a lawyer as well. However the original Times article also states:
Quote:
I remember well that no one was more horrified than the editors of my paper when we covered a undercover cop's funeral and showed a picture of 6 pallbearers - who were all undercover cops. No one warned us against taking the picture and we sincerely wished that the police had informed us. It was never our intention to blow cover on 6 police officers. If the police had told us to suppress that photograph for the safety of officers we would have, in a heartbeat. Journalists do not want to burn their sources. Even when their sources are saying too much. |
24th July 2017, 03:43 PM | #833 |
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24th July 2017, 11:18 PM | #834 |
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Some people might think it's poor form to turn a boy scouts jamboree into a divisive political rally where you bash your political opponents and a former president.
Trump has only one thing to say about that and it's fake news. |
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24th July 2017, 11:31 PM | #835 |
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We do these things not because they are easy, but because we thought they were going to be easy. Everything is possible, but not everything is probable. “Perception is real, but the truth is not.” - Imelda Marcos |
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24th July 2017, 11:36 PM | #836 |
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So was that the biggest scout crowd ever?
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We do these things not because they are easy, but because we thought they were going to be easy. Everything is possible, but not everything is probable. “Perception is real, but the truth is not.” - Imelda Marcos |
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24th July 2017, 11:37 PM | #837 |
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24th July 2017, 11:41 PM | #838 |
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I've made a similar joke recently but the frightening reality is that it really isn't a joke. This seems to be a person who cannot grasp any even moderately complex issue, that has no intention of educating himself or working through complex issues to gain a required understanding to make a reasoned decision - he is wilfully ignorant. Add in his apparent need for constant external validation and you have someone who should not be in charge of anything never mind the POTUS.
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“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago |
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25th July 2017, 12:58 AM | #839 |
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This signature is intended to imitate people. |
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25th July 2017, 01:00 AM | #840 |
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I'm hoping for, and maybe betting on, the U.S. voting public to wise up and at least ask what's going on. Trump vilifies the Times but wants it to like him at the same time. I am still pondering that "leak" story. All I can think of is maybe someone in the military was overly boastful of the volume of information extracted from ISIS electronics. Why that would change ISIS' behavior 3 weeks later isn't clear.
Democrats, or whoever, need to adapt to the Twitter format. I believe someone edited Trump's most recent tweets, based on the lack of spelling errors (Abu Bakr al Baghdadi; "beleaguered"). This development will be short-lived, as are all efforts to moderate Trump's petulant form. In the meantime, opponents must learn how to push back - entertainingly - in 140 characters. They need great candidates for the 2018 elections and they need to get very smart about how to use wedge issues to split votes and increase rancor in GOP congressional primaries. I'm thinking Dems might do well to draft show-business personalities as actual candidates - not just to use Beyonce, Jay-Z and Katy Perry as last-minute props trotted out to support an uninspiring candidate. |
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