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9th May 2018, 01:31 PM | #1 |
Nasty Woman
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The Trump Presidency VII
Trump Tweet this morning: "Maybe we should take their credentials away" in reference to negative news about him. Donny Deustch (MSNBC pundit): Biggest worry, what is Trump with his narcissism capable of? Is he capable of starting a war over something that threatens his ego? The people around the table agreed it was a real possibility. And on that note and the reneging on the Iran agreement, clips were played last night of Shelden Adelson saying the US should drop a nuke on the desert, not hurt anyone (the guy's an idiot), and then tell Iran to stop their nuke program. Bolton as well is on the record promoting regime change in Iran. My popcorn burned. |
9th May 2018, 01:38 PM | #2 |
Becoming Beth
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9th May 2018, 01:40 PM | #3 |
Penultimate Amazing
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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9th May 2018, 01:41 PM | #4 |
Penultimate Amazing
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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9th May 2018, 01:51 PM | #5 |
Nasty Woman
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9th May 2018, 02:09 PM | #6 |
Other (please write in)
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The Trump media tweet:
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As cultural anthropologists have always said "human culture" = "human nature". You might as well put a fish on the moon to test how it "swims naturally" without the "influence of water". -Earthborn |
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9th May 2018, 02:23 PM | #7 |
Philosopher
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My point is not that Israel is right or Iran is right. But that Iranians can make a strong case for US / US proxy aggression.
FWIW I was brought up a muslim, my implicit belief is Israel is wrong (I recognise my prejudice), my partner is Jewish (and far more left wing and anti Bibi than I am). I am very open to the idea that both sides are winding each other up. I believe that the religious element of the Iranian executive does not represent the beliefs or wants of most Iranians any more than Trumpism represents the majority of Americans. But Israel is a nuclear power it probably has chemical weapons (it has certainly carried out limited chemical weapon attacks as per Skripals). Israel is far more of an existential threat to Iran than Iran is to Israel. Is there anyway that Iran could realistically be an existential threat to Israel? Israel could plaster the major cities of Iran with atomic bombs. Iran may have 'ballistic' missiles. but it does not have the missile defence systems Israel has, it does not have the warheads. How many bombings has Iran carried out in Israel? Israel is continually provoking Iran into reacting. I do not believe Israel carries out false flag attacks on the US (or the UK) but I do understand why the idea is prevalent and believable. If the US really wanted to overthrow the current Iranian regime, love bombing would be far more effective. lift all the sanctions send in Disney, DC, HBO. |
9th May 2018, 02:45 PM | #8 |
Penultimate Amazing
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True... the opinions of the average Iranian citizen probably differ from those of the leadership. But then, the average citizen is relatively powerless. The actions of the leaders are rather key when discussing Iran.
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I do think Trump is wrong in cancelling the deal. But I'm under no illusions that Iran is somehow a "nice" player in this. |
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9th May 2018, 03:04 PM | #9 |
Graduate Poster
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Hard to believe Fake News news is telling the truth 9% of the time. Maybe that's just them getting the names right.
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9th May 2018, 03:12 PM | #10 |
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Infrastructure Week has finally ended.
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As cultural anthropologists have always said "human culture" = "human nature". You might as well put a fish on the moon to test how it "swims naturally" without the "influence of water". -Earthborn |
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9th May 2018, 03:16 PM | #11 |
Devilish Dictionarian
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9th May 2018, 03:17 PM | #12 |
Penultimate Amazing
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Concerning Iran, a timely reminder about the impressive expertise possessed by the Very Stable Genius:
Originally Posted by Trump
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9th May 2018, 03:57 PM | #13 |
Penultimate Amazing
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I wonder if Trump is ignorant enough about the way the media work to believe taking away "credentials" would change anything.
"Credentials" are overrated. They get you in-person access to certain press briefings and that's about it. That in-person access is only a small part of news-gathering. At the White House - anyone's White House - you're going to be fed the party line. You might happen to observe something important, but what's said is often trivial. I include some weasel-words because there will be exceptions, but press briefings are not where you'll find stories that will blow the town wide open. Taking away credentials would probably backfire. In a way I'd like to see him try it. |
9th May 2018, 05:06 PM | #14 |
Penultimate Amazing
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This, Some people seem really naïve about the nature of the Iranian Government.
Trying to portray them as the good guy in the Mideast is ..well, just plain ignorant. And IMHO the poster we are discussing seems not to like Israel very much anyway. One of the criticisms of the Iranian deal I think has merit is that it does not deal with a lot of the crap that Iran does..like it sponsoring of Terrorist groups. That does not make pulling out of the deal any less stupid, however. |
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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9th May 2018, 05:10 PM | #15 |
Penultimate Amazing
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I had to laugh when I saw that last night.
We have a freaking president who is a pathological liar. its' one thing to lie with a reason behind it..every President does that on occasion. But Trump lies for no reason whatsoever except to boost his ego. And his whole "My gut feelings and instincts are more reliable then knowledge and expertise" is a recipe for disaster. |
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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9th May 2018, 05:12 PM | #16 |
Penultimate Amazing
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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9th May 2018, 05:40 PM | #17 |
Penultimate Amazing
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To survive election season on a skeptics forum, one must understand Hymie-the-Robot.
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9th May 2018, 06:09 PM | #18 |
Penultimate Amazing
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9th May 2018, 06:20 PM | #19 |
Penultimate Amazing
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I imagine anything concerning Michael Cohen is Fake News, as is anything concerning the Mueller enquiry which isn't about Trump calling it a witch-hunt. Real News is about how he's brought peace to the Korean Peninsula and de-nuclearised the Middle East.
(Oh, turns out the latter isn't actually policy.) |
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It's a poor sort of memory that only works backward - Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) God can make a cow out of a tree, but has He ever done so? Therefore show some reason why a thing is so, or cease to hold that it is so - William of Conches, c1150 |
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9th May 2018, 06:49 PM | #20 |
Penultimate Amazing
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@dudalb :
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Iran may not be "the good guy" but it's not the de-stabilising force in the region : that force is Gulf Arab money backing Sunni fundamentalism. In Syria they're supporting the internationally recognised government, and in Lebanon they recognise the sketchy nature of the country's government. (Of course Lebanon was built to a French design, so what do you expect.) Real terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and Daesh don't spring from Iranian theology or Iranian influence. They spring from Israel's unlikely new partners in the Gulf (an association they may well come to regret). |
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It's a poor sort of memory that only works backward - Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) God can make a cow out of a tree, but has He ever done so? Therefore show some reason why a thing is so, or cease to hold that it is so - William of Conches, c1150 |
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9th May 2018, 06:56 PM | #21 |
Knave of the Dudes
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Iranian politics are... complicated. There are a lot of competing interests. The key thing to recognize is that high ranking clerics and many members of the old cuard, who are significant powers, are typically not as radical as Khamene'i's Revolutionary Guard. E.g. Rouhani, who is these days fairly moderate, can probably be taken to be a pretty influential and important voice, given that he was a very early supporter of Khomeini. He's certainly not a powerless puppet.
The PTB do have to keep the populace happy, and the populace want their votes to count. |
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9th May 2018, 06:59 PM | #22 |
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"The president’s voracious sexual appetite is the elephant that the president rides around on each and every day while pretending that it doesn’t exist." - Bill O'Reilly et al., Killing Kennedy |
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9th May 2018, 09:50 PM | #23 |
Penultimate Amazing
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Circled nothing is still nothing. "Nothing will stop the U.S. from being a world leader, not even a handful of adults who want their kids to take science lessons from a book that mentions unicorns six times." -UNLoVedRebel Mumpsimus: a stubborn person who insists on making an error in spite of being shown that it is wrong |
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10th May 2018, 12:29 AM | #24 |
Philosopher
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Yet in the current low grade war (which interestingly an Israeli general just admitted exists on the BBC), how many Israelis have been killed by Iranians? How many bombings have Iranian terrorists carried out in Israel, yet there have been many bombings in Iran by Israeli terrorists. Many attacks on Iranians throughout the world by Israel.
The Israeli general said that Israel did not want Syria turned into lebanon where Iran has 130,000 missiles pointing at Israel. Yet none of those missiles have been used to attack Israel. If you look at the history of Israel forces in Lebanon, the massacre of Palestinians carried out by Israeli proxies, one can understand the need for there to be a deterrent against Israeli invasion. The Israeli general said 'why does Syria need anti-aircraft missiles' (as if no Israeli aircraft had bombed Syria), 'why would Syria need anti-tank missiles' as if there are not Israeli tanks in Syria. |
10th May 2018, 02:06 AM | #25 |
Knave of the Dudes
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Yup. Ever since the Revolution, there seems to have been a kind of conspiratorial mindset toward Iran, where every paramilitary and terrorist group in the entire Middle East that has some kind of tie to radical Iranian elements is assumed to be under the direct command of the Supreme Leader.
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"The president’s voracious sexual appetite is the elephant that the president rides around on each and every day while pretending that it doesn’t exist." - Bill O'Reilly et al., Killing Kennedy |
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10th May 2018, 03:36 AM | #26 |
Other (please write in)
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And yes, these are lifetime appointments. And there are just as many that have been nominated and not confirmed yet as of today. Some greatest hits:
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Look at the confirmation votes, one President was almost always near unanimous, the other the exact opposite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...y_Donald_Trump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...y_Barack_Obama Also note Obama's nominations dried up in 2015.
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And before 2015, how the "nuclear option" was invoked for judges below the Supreme Court:
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And of course this is all in addition to the Supreme Court seat. |
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As cultural anthropologists have always said "human culture" = "human nature". You might as well put a fish on the moon to test how it "swims naturally" without the "influence of water". -Earthborn |
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10th May 2018, 03:47 AM | #27 |
Orthogonal Vector
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But the leaders can only resist the peoples will for so long, and things like the US breaking the deal is something that only strengthens the leaderships hold because they are right about america being out to get them and not being trustworthy.
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Sufficiently advanced Woo is indistinguishable from Parody "There shall be no *poofing* in science" Paul C. Anagnostopoulos Force ***** on reasons back" Ben Franklin |
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10th May 2018, 03:50 AM | #28 |
Orthogonal Vector
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I have not seen anyone actually being supportive of the Government especially the ruling council. But how much should the country as a whole be viewed by their leadership especially when it isn't elected?
I mean sure all americans are hate filled bigoted criminals, just look at their leader. Clear and perfect reasoning. I mean who could like such a bigoted people that hate all muslims? |
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Sufficiently advanced Woo is indistinguishable from Parody "There shall be no *poofing* in science" Paul C. Anagnostopoulos Force ***** on reasons back" Ben Franklin |
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10th May 2018, 07:26 AM | #29 |
Penultimate Amazing
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We can depend on Trump to go to great lengths not to pay for stuff. When his "charity" was shut down, that made it hard to purchase life sized images of himself, and other such self-dealing bs.
I suspect that the Cohen/Essential account is a slush fund that Trump is party to. Besides creating some distance from the dirty dealings, it serves the primary purpose of not having to pay Stormy, Cohen, et al out of his own pocket. |
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To survive election season on a skeptics forum, one must understand Hymie-the-Robot.
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10th May 2018, 10:46 AM | #30 |
Penultimate Amazing
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I disagree. I think the religious fantacism in the Iranian Government is greater then you want to believe.
Why else explain the support for Hezbollah, which helps Iran not at all in it's political aims, and is the single biggest issue a lot of people have with Iran. Religion is the only answer. I think this idea the Ayatollahs are getting more moderate is a pipe dream, a nice fiction people want to believe,but I see little evidence for it in Iran's actions,as compared to it's rhetoric.IMHO the more moderate tone is just for foreign consumption. This does not mean that I do not think Trump's move was anything less then a piece of total idiocy. I supported the deal,though it was flawed,because it helped to contain Iran. |
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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10th May 2018, 10:50 AM | #31 |
Penultimate Amazing
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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10th May 2018, 10:51 AM | #32 |
Penultimate Amazing
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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10th May 2018, 10:54 AM | #33 |
Penultimate Amazing
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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10th May 2018, 10:57 AM | #34 |
Penultimate Amazing
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I should not be surprised;if you can sell yourself as being "Anti Impeiralist" the militant Left will forgive you anthing you do.
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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10th May 2018, 11:06 AM | #35 |
Graduate Poster
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"The Resistance" has driven CNN's generic ballot poll from the Dems having a 16 point lead in February to 3 points today. Good job. Keep on resisting. Me, I would recommend the Dems returning to the traditional "loyal opposition", but I know that isn't going to happen.
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10th May 2018, 11:38 AM | #36 |
Orthogonal Vector
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Sufficiently advanced Woo is indistinguishable from Parody "There shall be no *poofing* in science" Paul C. Anagnostopoulos Force ***** on reasons back" Ben Franklin |
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10th May 2018, 11:39 AM | #37 |
Penultimate Amazing
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Maybe if Trump and GOP start behaving in a traditional way instead of seeming like they are intent on turning the US into a Authoritarian One Party State the Dems would start behabing more normally.
Your blindness to why Dear Leader is scaring the hell out of us with his Authoritarian ideas, and the way the GOP is n lock step with him is truly astonighing, and leads one to believe that a dictatorship where only White Males have a meaningful role is what you really want. And you ignore the way some conservative, like George Will and Jennifer Rubin, have turned on Trump. And the way you don't even want to discuss the corruption in the Trump Presidency, or his racism, or the way he is didviding this country on racial lines, is also remarkable. And I don't EVER want to hear your side call a Democrat "morally unfit" for political office again. You have totally thrown that out the window As for the pool, it generic ballot goes up and down like a ping pong ball. Most political anylists are still predicting a bad year for the GOP. |
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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10th May 2018, 11:41 AM | #38 |
Orthogonal Vector
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Sufficiently advanced Woo is indistinguishable from Parody "There shall be no *poofing* in science" Paul C. Anagnostopoulos Force ***** on reasons back" Ben Franklin |
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10th May 2018, 11:41 AM | #39 |
Philosopher
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10th May 2018, 11:44 AM | #40 |
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