American Politics Thread: Orange is the new POTUS

[driveway]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

I don't think that you have a firm grasp of international politics, the United States and China are massive trading partners, with North Korea being the equivalent of an annoyance for everyone involved. There is no way that if North Korea were to attack any country that China would defend them, the communist party has changed to such a degree that it would be economic suicide to do anything.



As long as everyone in positions of power is having an exchange of money there is no chance of your situation playing out like that.

China wouldn't defend North Korea, but they have made it very clear they are not willing to have an American-allied Korea sharing a border with them.

If it looked like the US was about to completely roll over NK and then establish a United Korea, or US friendly NK regime, the Chinese would send hundreds and hundreds of thousands of troops over the border.

It is something they have already done once, against a nuclear-armed US.

[ToewsFan]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

I don't think that you have a firm grasp of international politics, the United States and China are massive trading partners, with North Korea being the equivalent of an annoyance for everyone involved. There is no way that if North Korea were to attack any country that China would defend them, the communist party has changed to such a degree that it would be economic suicide to do anything.

As long as everyone in positions of power is having an exchange of money there is no chance of your situation playing out like that.

It's a hypothetical situation. I don't honestly think North Korea would ever attack South Korea or Japan, but if it did, the United States would certainly get involved.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Guess they aren't so good at the cyber

A self-described "email prankster" in the UK fooled a number of White House officials into thinking he was other officials, including an episode where he convinced the White House official tasked with cyber security that he was Jared Kushner and received that official's private email address unsolicited.

"Tom, we are arranging a bit of a soirée towards the end of August," the fake Jared Kushner on an Outlook account wrote to the official White House email account of Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert. "It would be great if you could make it, I promise food of at least comparible (sic) quality to that which we ate in Iraq. Should be a great evening."

Bossert wrote back: "Thanks, Jared. With a promise like that, I can't refuse. Also, if you ever need it, my personal email is" (redacted).

Bossert did not respond to CNN's request for comment; the email prankster said he was surprised Bossert responded given his expertise. The emails were shared with CNN by the email prankster.

One such exchange appears to have possibly played a role in the tensions between then- White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, who resigned from his job earlier today, and since-fired White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Masquerading as Priebus, the prankster emailed Scaramucci's official account using a mail.com account on Saturday, the day after Priebus' resignation was announced.

"I had promised myself I would leave my hands mud free," wrote the fake Priebus, "but after reading your tweet today which stated how; 'soon we will learn who in the media who has class, and who hasn't', has pushed me to this. That tweet was breathtakingly hypocritical, even for you. At no stage have you acted in a way that's even remotely classy, yet you believe that's the standard by which everyone should behave towards you? General Kelly will do a fine job. I'll even admit he will do a better job than me. But the way in which that transition has come about has been diabolical. And hurtful. I don't expect a reply."

The very real Scaramucci responded: "You know what you did. We all do. Even today. But rest assured we were prepared. A Man would apologize."

Fake Priebus wrote back: "I can't believe you are questioning my ethics! The so called 'Mooch', who can't even manage his first week in the White House without leaving upset in his wake. I have nothing to apologize for."

Actual Scaramucci responded: "Read Shakespeare. Particularly Othello. You are right there. My family is fine by the way and will thrive. I know what you did. No more replies from me."

In another exchange, Scaramucci was hoodwinked by the same prankster pretending to be Ambassador to Russia-designate Jon Huntsman Jr.

"Who's (sic) head should roll first?" the bogus Huntsman asked from a Gmail account on Friday, before the Priebus termination had been announced. "Maybe I can help things along somewhat."

"Both of them," responded the real Scaramucci, in an apparent reference to both Priebus and White House Senior Adviser Steve Bannon, about whom Scaramucci has been quite critical.

After a few other nice messages of support from faux Huntsman, Scaramucci wrote, "Are you in Moscow now? If not please visit."

Huntsman himself was also tricked, with the prankster pretending to be Eric Trump, the President's son. "Thanks for the thoughtful note," the ambassador-designate wrote to fake Eric Trump. "Russia will be a challenging but no doubt rewarding assignment." The fake Eric Trump responded with this suggestion: "Maybe we could have Dad sat (sic) on a horse, top off, giving the full Putin! He's in better shape than his suits suggest."

Eric Trump, too, was similarly hoodwinked by the prankster emailing as his older brother, Donald Trump Jr., but he soon caught on and responded, "I have sent this to law enforcement who will handle from here." Neither Huntsman nor Trump would comment on the record. The email prankster told CNN he never heard from anyone in law enforcement about his email to Eric Trump.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/31/politi...ter/index.html

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Guess they aren't so good at the cyber











http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/31/politi...ter/index.html

Would have been pretty funny if they got some Giuliani action in there too.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Quite the allegation here

The Fox News Channel and a wealthy supporter of President Trump worked in concert under the watchful eye of the White House to concoct a story about the murder of a young Democratic National Committee aide, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The explosive claim is part of the lawsuit filed against Fox News by Rod Wheeler, a longtime paid commentator for the news network. The suit was obtained exclusively by NPR.

Wheeler alleges Fox News and the Trump supporter intended to deflect public attention from growing concern about the administration's ties to the Russian government. His suit charges that a Fox News reporter created quotations out of thin air and attributed them to him to propel her story.

Fox's president of news, Jay Wallace, told NPR Monday there was no "concrete evidence" that Wheeler was misquoted by the reporter, Malia Zimmerman. The news executive did not address a question about the story's allegedly partisan origins. Fox News declined to allow Zimmerman to comment for this story.

The story, which first aired in May, was retracted by Fox News a week later. Fox News has, to date, taken no action in response to what it said was a failure to adhere to the network's standards.

The lawsuit focuses particular attention on the role of the Trump supporter, Ed Butowsky, in weaving the story. He is a wealthy Dallas investor and unpaid Fox commentator on financial matters, who has emerged as a reliable Republican surrogate in recent years. Butowsky offered to pay for Wheeler to investigate the death of the DNC aide, Seth Rich, on behalf of his grieving parents in Omaha.

On April 20, a month before the story ran, Butowsky and Wheeler — the investor and the investigator — met at the White House with then Press Secretary Sean Spicer to brief him on what they were uncovering.

The first page of the lawsuit quotes a voicemail and text from Butowsky boasting that President Trump himself had reviewed drafts of the Fox News story just before it went to air and was published.

Spicer now tells NPR that he took the meeting as a favor to Butowsky, a reliable Republican voice. Spicer says he was unaware of any contact involving the president. Butowsky now tells NPR he was kidding about Trump's involvement.

http://www.npr.org/2017/08/01/540783...ake-news-story

[Street Pharmacist]

There's an awful lot of smoke there. Wow. I assumed Fox would write flattering stories but not totally invent ones.

[photon]

There's a big group on Reddit and 4chan and other places that are far right conspiracy nutjobs and they spend enormous effort trying to turn these things into big stories, because they think it's the "smoking gun". The Comet Pizza story, Seth Rich both created basically out of nothing but promoted to gain exposure in right wing media.

The latest you'll start to see is about Imran Awan, a House IT guy that was arrested trying to leave the country, and part of an ongoing investigation of a computer equipment scam. But conservatives are trying to connect Awan to the DNC hack (he worked for the then DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz), and that he's got evidence of Democratic collusion with Russia or whatever else they can imagine. There's even a picture of some House workers out for a drink with Awan and that has Seth Rich in it too, so conservatives lost their mind about that of course. So watch for that to become more of a conspiracy pushed by the right.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by GGG

I disagree with this. If you really believed in the country, and you believed that Trump is a potentially lethal threat to the world then you would agree to serve in an effort to try to prevent him from nuking the world. Being the person who Controls access and the flow of information to the president is an important post to have someone reasonably rational.

At some point someone may need to rally the votes to remove the president using the 25th amendment. If only people without integrity took these jobs you lose the protection of the 25th amendment. (I realize that Kelly is not in the cabinet and wouldn't have a vote in this case).

So Inthink their are two reasons to serve in the presidency one is the desire for power at all costs the other is service to the country in spite of ones reputation.

Exactly. Plus if he got Trump to agree to make everyone in the Whitehouse report to the CoS, Kelly probably feels he can filter out a lot of the stupidity.

[OMG!WTF!]

Funny Trump tweet today....

Stock Market could hit all-time high (again) 22,000 today. Was 18,000 only 6 months ago on Election Day. Mainstream media seldom mentions!

[Cali Panthers Fan]

^^^ The market is quite high, and most of it is based solely on the promise of policies Trump wants to put into place, notably a tax plan that could relieve corporate taxes. However, that is mostly built on the faith of the administration to get things done. As we have seen so far, getting any legislation of meaning done seems like an uphill struggle since they can't seem to get out of their own way and end up alienating their own caucus in the process.

Basically, if I were an investor right now, I'd be selling high knowing that this is a bubble based on speculation that is about to burst any second.

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

Funny Trump tweet today....

Hahaha. I'm glad we're seeing the effects of all the policies he's enacted!

[OMG!WTF!]

Yeah. It will be funny to see if he takes the blame when/if the market falls. Or if he gives credit to Obama who single handed lifted the market from 6000 to 18000.

I think the market has shaken off the hope of Trump policy gains and is back to a vague notion of value and earnings.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Quite the allegation here



http://www.npr.org/2017/08/01/540783...ake-news-story

Is it safe to call Fox a state sponsored propaganda channel?

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Is it safe to call Fox a RNC sponsored propaganda channel?

For accuracy. And yes.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by New Era

For accuracy. And yes.

Yeah, it's not a "state sponsored" propaganda outfit it is (and has always been) a Republican sponsored propaganda outfit... they just happen to control the state (such as it is) at the moment.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

^^^ The market is quite high, and most of it is based solely on the promise of policies Trump wants to put into place, notably a tax plan that could relieve corporate taxes. However, that is mostly built on the faith of the administration to get things done. As we have seen so far, getting any legislation of meaning done seems like an uphill struggle since they can't seem to get out of their own way and end up alienating their own caucus in the process.

Basically, if I were an investor right now, I'd be selling high knowing that this is a bubble based on speculation that is about to burst any second.

I doubt the 'bubble' bursts until the US economy begins to show signs of cooling down.

Like I said yesterday, the stock market hits a new record high all the time. There's nothing special that Trump is doing to cause it to happen.

[Ozy_Flame]

Whatever goes up, must come down.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Whatever goes up, must come down.

Yup, but only to rise again. Good graphical example of this:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/hi...etindexes.html

Since recovering from the panic of 2008-09, the DJIA has been frequently setting records again from what looks like about the middle of 2012.

[ernie]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Yup, but only to rise again. Good graphical example of this:

http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/hi...etindexes.html

Since recovering from the panic of 2008-09, the DJIA has been frequently setting records again from what looks like about the middle of 2012.

If you look really close, it had essentially recovered from the Great Depression around '46 and then just keeps going up and up. Who was born in '46? That's right Donald Trump!

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

^^^ The market is quite high, and most of it is based solely on the promise of policies Trump wants to put into place, notably a tax plan that could relieve corporate taxes. However, that is mostly built on the faith of the administration to get things done. As we have seen so far, getting any legislation of meaning done seems like an uphill struggle since they can't seem to get out of their own way and end up alienating their own caucus in the process.

Basically, if I were an investor right now, I'd be selling high knowing that this is a bubble based on speculation that is about to burst any second.

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

I doubt the 'bubble' bursts until the US economy begins to show signs of cooling down.

Like I said yesterday, the stock market hits a new record high all the time. There's nothing special that Trump is doing to cause it to happen.

its pretty funny though... remember when trump was campaigning and never mentioned the positive jobs reports and the growth of the Dow under Obama? just wait until the market flattens or declines and he'll be disavowing it...

i am certainly no economist, however, considering Trump has passed zero legislation, the rise of the economy has simply continued a trajectory established by Obama.

Has the 'confidence fairy' simply began pumping up the Dow in the hopes of Trump's policies (mainly cutting regulation and tax cuts) will further stimulate the economy? Probably... however, this is still speculation, and therefore a bubble if the increases in the Dow aren't based on "real" growth as opposed to an "expectation" of growth.

i've personally thought the DJIA was a pretty poor metric, on its own, to determine economic growth, since its primarily a measure of individuals with financial liquidity looking to park their cash somewhere that provides a healthy financial return... Those individuals generally are not a reflection of the average citizen however...

the democrats didn't win a 3rd consecutive government because the average citizen felt like they were losing the american dream, measured on their financial realities... this was despite the DJIA hitting all time highs in the last year of Obama's administration... This is why Trump's campaign to "Bring back jobs" was so successful...