The Politics Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

This is exactly what I suspected would be the response of the Chinese after the talks had been concluded.

 

The article mentions a quote from a Chinese government analyst that stated that the Chinese are secretly hoping that the U.S. will become further mired in the Middle East so that China can rise globally unhindered by any obligations (as they felt when Obama was President-- he often appealed to their sense of conscience and duty as global stewards and in order to burnish their global image, the Chinese often felt pressed to oblige).

 

With Trump, they now know they will feel no such inclination to act conscientiously. The Chinese will now treat Trump and the U.S. in a slightly more nuanced way than they treat Kim and North Korea.

They regard Kim like a cousin who is somewhat of a tempermental twit who is prone to public outbursts. I think they will now regard Trump and the U.S. in similar fashion without the familial ties.

Edited April 9, 2017 by DramatistDreamer

[DRW50]

A broadside against cable news and their warmongering.

 

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/04/cable-news-loves-war-215005

[Roman]

I wish he would have done Morning Joe.....other than that, perfectly written. 

[Roman]

I'm really wondering.....is this bluster to get the MSTVM off of the Trump/Putin/Russian connections, set up by these two....or is Trump marching us into something that may devastate the region?

[Wales2004]

I've said this before and I still believe it is a distraction to get the gullible media of the TrumPutin story and also to make them push headlines that make Trump appear to be tough on Putin/Russia without any real action being taken, since tough talk is all it takes. Consider this:

 

Putin was given advance notice of the strike and in turn notified Assad

Assad went back to using the strip shortly after the strike so the damage was clearly minimal

Trump has stock in Raytheon which supplied the missiles and now that stock has climbed so Trump benefited financially from the strike as well

Why the rush?

 

Is it possible that his impulsive ways and ignorance can lead to devastation in the region? Yes, because it's a win-win for him and Raytheon and it gets the media off the Russian trail so he might order a strike here and there to prove that he's "Presidential" as Fareed Zakaria proclaimed with stars in his eyes. Assad and Putin have no issue with killing some innocent people to flex and get what they want and Trump can apparently do it with the media's blessing since they don't care whether there are casualties, as long as they convince themselves it's for the greater good. Meanwhile China and Russia are the beneficiaries of the puppet masters pulling Trump's strings.

 

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pol-wiretaps-russia-20170410-htmlstory.html

 

For those of us who realize that ousting Bannon could be devastating for Trump there's this:

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/10/the-trouble-with-trump-s-white-house-is-donald-trump.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

 

Lindsay Graham saying in his own way what a waste of $60 million that airstrike was:

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/sen-graham-assad-saying-f-you-trump-flying-bombed-airfield-n744326

 

 

 

 

[Vee]

Politico: Team Trump is desperate to tout successes for first 100 days.

 

[DRW50]

And the leaks just keep coming - embarrassing as ever. I guess they will still blame Obama appointees. 

[DRW50]

I have to laugh at this. This woman has been clowned for years now and it never stops. She's a well paid clown so I guess she doesn't care. I hope no one in Singapore ever actually needs our help.

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/kt-mcfarland-to-leave-national-security-council-237054

[Khan]

That "5th grade" comment IS the best way to describe this administration thus far.  I just hope whoever was in charge of the meeting handed out Jolly Ranchers or Pepperidge Farm goldfish to the group with the best ideas.

Edited April 10, 2017 by Khan

[JaneAusten]

How about some positive news for a change. In Oklahoma folks.

 

http://www.lagrangepark.org/index.asp?SEC=99BAF391-1D3E-49D7-89A3-97B73B5FC215&DE=AB48406F-32CF-4846-ABAE-ADD2CEF818D7&Type=B_PR

[Wales2004]

@Roman just for you AP reports that Russia knew of the Syrian chemical attack in advance :

https://apnews.com/19772be1238e49fbb62c509a5b659b3d/Official:-Russia-knew-in-advance-of-Syrian-chemical-attack?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP

[Roman]

Aint that something dude? *phone rings at house*..."Aye man....we're coming over in two hours to rob the place, so get all the [!@#$%^&*] you like out before we show up. Deuces." well, the man IS a complete moron and this did get the gutless TVMSM off of the Trump/Putin story as was said....thank you for my laugh for the day. LOL

and Wales....did you hear about the Chinese ambassador Xi calling him weak after his visit this past week? 

Edited April 10, 2017 by Roman

[Wales2004]

I can't imagine any competent leader of a nation taking this bloviating ignoramus seriously. MAGA must have some hidden meaning that includes setting America back globally and domestically. They can reshuffle staff all they want because as long as he's in charge they will continue to have the same problems.

 

This:

 

Trump’s extraordinary instinct for television is matched by his appetite for it. He rarely sleeps, The Washington Post reported, and instead “watches enormous amounts of television all through the night.” During the presidential campaign, he told Chuck Todd, the Meet the Press host, that he got military advice by watching “the shows” on cable.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/04/when-a-reality-tv-president-goes-to-war/522519/

 

[DramatistDreamer]

In the media, there's a noticeable absence of any Russia-Trump election collusion talk .  Gee, funny how that works!

[marceline]

I try not to body shame but it's nice to see that my eyes haven't been deceiving me.

 

 

Edited April 11, 2017 by marceline