StrangeSox

QUOTE (raBBit @ Apr 5, 2017 -> 12:52 PM) So where did the Flynn leaks come from? Was he a part of Trump's campaign and transition? Yes. Did someone eavesdrop on him? Yes. Did someone illegally leak it to the press? Yes. I've been clear on this surveillance stuff all along. I don't change my opinions on it and if Trump does in 2020, like Obama's admin has given him precedent to, I'll be ripping it then. The surveillance state nullifies any attempt to check tyranny. I've been speaking that for a long while. It isn't partisan. This is very, very clear. They were legally surveilling the Russian that Flynn was contacting. They were not directly spying on or following anyone in the Trump campaign/transition/administration. You are now stating things that either aren't confirmed or simply aren't true as fact. "like Obama's admin has given him precedent to do" isn't something that actually has happened because Obama's admin was not conducting any sort of illegal surveillance. If Trump's 2020 challenger's campaign team keeps getting caught up in surveillance of foreign nationals suspected of influencing the US election, that doesn't point back to any wrongdoing by the Trump administration.

The current administration is under FBI investigation for possible collusion with Russia, and Russia's influence on our election through disinformation and hacking/leaking campaigns is also under investigation. Those are both pretty major things. That Trump's team kept getting caught up in legitimate surveillance of Russians does not mean that anyone was spying on Trump or Trump's team directly or lend any support to his claims which have been flatly rejected by the intelligence community.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Apr 5, 2017 -> 12:17 PM) As long as you won't have issue when Trump abuses the system three years down the line. There are a lot of people around here that are blind to the fact that all of the actions you defend are just precedent for Trump to do the same against your team. This is about government overreach and the disintegration of the fourth amendment. Not to mention Susan Rice is on record lying over and over again. This is a despicable politician. This is the same woman who went on multiple TV shows to lie about the way our service men and women were murdered in Libya. This is the same woman who went to war in the media for Obama trading 5 Gitmo prisoners for Bowe Bergdahl to cover their own ass. The same woman who called Bergdahl someone who served with "distinction" nevermind the fact that he was an Al-Qaeda sympathizer and deserter. Two weeks ago, she said she had no knowledge of the Trump unmasking. Now she's going on TV defending her actions. She's morbidly dishonest and anyody who has been paying attention should not put any credence into anything she says. Before someone grabs the low hanging fruit, sure, the same could be said about Trump. "I leaked nothing to nobody" - Susan Rice, certified liar and enemy of proper English. Trump said he was wiretapped. There's obviously not wires in phones anymore. He's claiming that his campaign was eavesdropping but he's not a lawyer nor does he pay attention to how important it is to project what you mean. So literally, there was no wiretapping. However, we know that Susan Rice, one of the President's most trusted officials and experienced liars, was unmasking the identities of future Trump campaign officials. Rice was a manager. It is an analyst's job to do the unmasking. Rice overreached her position, lied about ever doing it because she was aware of the consequences and now she's facing the music. That's not to mention the indisputable illegality of the leaks on Flynn earlier in the year. This explanation of what happened/what we know is mangled at best and I suggest you do some further background reading from non-rightwing media sources.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Apr 5, 2017 -> 12:21 PM) I get bullied in here so yeah I'll steep to point out the hypocrisy. Trump is a silly man who I don't like and never have but I have a real issue with the way the left has attacked his family and his daughter specifically. It's cheap. There are people reporting on his grandson but then when Biden's kids have some freaky love triangle and Kaine's kid gets arrested for being a thug no one even talks about it. Your teamplay makes you blind or at the least hypocritical. Trump's daughter is now officially part of his administration and has been de facto part of it since shortly after the election when she was sitting in on meetings with foreign leaders. She's as fair game as any other member of the White House. His adult sons are now running his businesses for him, have also sat in on many post-election meetings, and are big boosters of his. They are also fair game. Any of the stuff directed at Barron is scummy as hell. He's a minor child.

Trump hasn't separated himself from his business interests at all

Pence's Obamacare diplomacy fails to yield a deal Conservatives and moderates say they heard two different things from the White House. They don't know how to govern.

Trump is busy defending fellow serial sexual assaulter Bill O'Reilly. edit:

Even if that narrative were true (it isn't), I wouldn't be particularly upset that the Obama administration somehow managed to get the literal foreign agent who peddles in conspiracy theories and hates Muslims forced out of his role as NSC head for repeatedly lying to both the public and the administration when the top of the administration made it clear they were not going to do anything about it without that information leaking. How did Susan Rice lie?

Nikki Haley to the UN has been one of the few solid Trump appointments. on the other hand

So the White House felt they needed to have another guy looking over the shoulder of the guy they appointed to head the NSC who turned out to be a literal foreign agent? I don't think they've thought their spin on this one through.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 29, 2017 -> 04:37 PM) For example, there's people who have no idea what the EPA does and assume when Trump cuts spending he's trying to murder endangered animals and pollute the air. It's just easy for the uninformed to be so virtuous and jump on the altruistic boat. Do you care about the environment? Then you must support the EPA or you hate animals and the earth. There's global interdependence there. The USA shouldn't have such stringent standards when China can ruin the world by itself when considering some of the science theory put forward in the mainstream. A country with a crippling debt shouldn't be pouring money into an agency that's productivity is unclear. The vast majority of the country has had no personal effect of Trump being elected. Other than getting freaked out of course. These EPA programs protect kids from lead paint. Trump’s budget would end them.

More shake-ups in the Trump admin, this time Steve Bannon is off the National Security Council https://twitter.com/sjcasey/status/849645861739143168

Carbon dioxide levels could reach their highest point in 50 million years by the end of the century

There's not really any good answer on what the US should be doing there, unfortunately.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 5, 2017 -> 08:34 AM) Yes. On the Sunday morning show on ABC, the UN Ambassador was dancing around the Assad shift. When are people going to realize Trump is a phony that will not only hurt democrats? Eventually, he will even hurt the filthy rich if he is kept enabled. There's going to be a floor he hits at some point (Bush's was 28% after two botched wars, Katrina, trying to privatize SS and then the start of a global economic collapse), but Trump's numbers are already not looking too hot and are worse than anything Obama ever had.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 4, 2017 -> 03:21 PM) also, Days before chemical attack in Syria, officials signaled the U.S. would no longer demand that Assad leave power

‘It went off the rails almost immediately’: How Trump’s messy transition led to a chaotic presidency Read the whole thing etc., but this part really stood out to me: and this: They expected to have healthcare done a little over a month into the administration.

I was reading through a bit of coverage this morning, and I read that the Orland Park mayoral race had $200,000 spent on it. That is insane. I did end up voting straight-ticket Republican for Homer Township, and they won pretty comfortably over the "abolish Township government" slate.

It'll be interesting/terrifying to see how the Trump administration handles the first crisis that they didn't create themselves.

Close at the end but still ahead, woot

200 vote difference ughhhhh about a dozen precincts to go

You don't get it. It's not about "lifestyle" it's about believing ridiculous and stupid things.

Tillerson is so so bad

And some thinly veiled threats if military action on NK https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/849382684686254086

Tillerson to lift all human rights conditions on sales of f16's to Bahrain https://t.co/T3LSf35nGM