The Politics Thread

[DRW50]

Ugh.

 

They should be more worried about stuff like an article I read (I think it was Navy Times - I'm not sure) about the lack of morale in sailors on one of the main ships watching North Korea (and in many other parts of the Navy presumably), so much so that the studies have some worried they won't be able to respond to an attack at all. This has been going on for a number of years, apparently, but it's much more important to worry about now.

 

I would like to hope that having all these generals in powerful roles means that they will try to address this before it's too late. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Has Trump even mentioned the servicemen's deaths in Niger? 

 

There have been murmurings that the strategy in Africa has been very been very careless lately, with the armed forces now venturing into territories that have very high risk with little positive outcome.

[Khan]

 

And again, we have ourselves only to blame.  I truly believe this is all our reckoning for not appreciating civility and restraint in leadership when we had it.  I mean, it no longer matters to me what Obama did or didn't do for "his people" or any people while in office.  The fact remains that at no time during his administration were we ever on the brink of total disaster as we are right now.

 

Mama Khan was right: sometimes, we get the leader(s) we deserve.

Edited October 11, 2017 by Khan

[Juliajms]

It was Kristoff. I follow him on twitter, but I couldn't think of his name.

[Vee]

Disintegration:

 

 

[Khan]

Does Luther Strange's defeat in Alabama prove that Trump's "cult of personality" is broken?  I don't think so.  If anything, the fact that Strange lost to Roy Moore -- someone, perhaps, more Trumpian than Trump -- proves that the cult has become something even TrumpCo. can no longer control.

 

Meanwhile, having Trump call first strike on North Korea would be almost worth it JUST to see Kelly and Mattis wrestle him to the ground like some damn movie, lol.

Edited October 11, 2017 by Khan

[JaneAusten]

It proves that Trump is not necessary to get nutjobs elected. It's also been overlooked that this election had a 13% voter turnout which is about 15% below what is normal in Alabama for a primary. Tells me that people were not really satisfied with either option. I do think folks are frustrated with business as usual in congress but it doesn't mean they are all interested in voting for a lunatic. I guess we'll see when the GE comes along.

 

 

On another topic, the House Intel Committee is going to release to the public the Russian purchases Facebook ads. Good to see since the Senate Committee sounded like that was not happening with them

http://www.businessinsider.com/house-intelligence-committee-says-it-will-release-russian-facebook-ads-2017-10

[Vee]

It proves Trump's brand is on some level weakened or not as powerful as he claims. To his ego that is a huge blow.

[DramatistDreamer]

Trump's visit to the U.K. has been downgraded, which means it won't be a state visit, he will not be a guest of the Queen. It will be a regular "working" visit.

The Queen wants NO part of this fool!

 

Donald Trump has state visit to UK downgraded 'and will not be guest of the Queen'

[JaneAusten]

Trump's threats to pull NBC's license (he can't) is not a first. Richard Nixon's team actually researched doing this for a TV station owned by the Washington Post in 1973-74

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/10/11/trumps-threat-to-nbc-license-is-exactly-what-nixon-did/?utm_term=.397853f88aa2

[DramatistDreamer]

Read this editorial in the NYT that mentioned how Trump uses illness as a fear factor in order to utilize the fear as a political tool-- for instance when he tried to insinuate that HRC was very sick, and incapable of being POTUS, and the latest incident was to use the illness of the U.S. and Canadian diplomats at the Cuban embassy as a tool to rollback the Obama era of detente with the Cuban government.

 

Mysterious Sounds and Scary Illnesses as Political Tools

 

This got me looking for follow-up to the mysterious incident at the Cuban embassy and I looked at the Snopes.com fact check.

 

Do 'Sonic Weapons' Adequately Explain 'Health Attacks' on Diplomats in Cuba?

 

as well as this article in Wired magazine.

 

WERE US DIPLOMATS IN CUBA VICTIMS OF A SONIC ATTACK—OR SOMETHING ELSE?

 

They seem to cast doubt on it being a "sonic weapon" , positing that there were most likely chemicals being used that made people sick.

 

Anyone who has ever been to Cuba knows that many of the buildings are decrepit, which does not bode well for things like proper ventilation systems.

I once worked in a NYC office building where I got daily headaches, only in that building for the period of time that I worked there (fortunately, I was freelance for three months). Before that, headaches were rare for me. When I left that assignment, I'd never had those type of headaches again, certainly not in any other NYC (or elsewhere) building.

[DRW50]

More from Kristof about North Korea.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/opinion/north-korea-kim-jong-un.html

 

 

[DRW50]

 

An article on this:

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/12/niger-shadow-war-africa-243695

 

The last quote just makes me shake my head, as it seems to describe every single conflict the US is involved in now.

[DramatistDreamer]

I'd heard about countries like the U.S. dumping their e-waste and old clothes in African countries but expired medicines?! Old buses and planes?  I didn't know this dumping of old stuff was so pervasive. I hope these African countries can curb this because it's killing their ability to promote their own manufacturing markets.

 

For Dignity and Development, East Africa Curbs Used Clothes Imports

Edited October 12, 2017 by DramatistDreamer

[JaneAusten]

The continued genocide is horrendous. Allowing things like this to happen and turning a blind or probably secretly condoning this is why so many around the world laugh at the UN and hold the almighty United States in contempt. These people are ripe for ISIS recruitment lets not forget either.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/world/asia/rohingya-myanmar-atrocities.html