US Politics Thread

[DSVII]

@Smashian Kassian I think @kilgore addressed that dodging debates statement succintly.

 

In other news, this explains Elon's recent behavior...I remember the incident where Elon used Starlink to deny a Ukrainian attack on a Russian Naval base in Crimea fearing 'escalation'. Time to review and remove this guy's security clearance and government contracts.

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/oct/25/elon-musk-has-been-in-regular-contact-with-putin-for-two-years-say-reports

 

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who is now central to Donald Trump’s election campaign, has been in regular contact with Vladimir Putin for the past two years, according to a report in the US.

 

The Wall Street Journal, citing several in-post and former US, European and Russian officials, reported that the conversations between the two men ranged from the personal to the geopolitical and included a request from the Russian leader not to activate his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favour to the Chinese leader and Putin ally, Xi Jinping.

 

The implications of a secret channel of communication between Musk and Putin are enormous for western security. The Tesla tycoon is a key player in the US space programme and has a high-level security clearance. His company SpaceX launches US national security satellites, his Starlink satellite communications system is critical to the war in Ukraine, and he runs one of the world’s biggest and most influential social media platforms, X, which has provided a vehicle for Russian disinformation campaigns.

[Gator]

14 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

So break down those numbers, what did that save the average American?

 

Money

[the destroyer of worlds]

26 minutes ago, Satchmo said:

Are you sure about that bribe stuff?   Can you provide proof either way?  You may also want to look into how much money the Trump organization made from US taxpayers. Or how much money Jared and Ivanka took in from the Saudis.  Or maybe this:

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-01-04/trump-took-7-8-million-in-foreign-cash-while-in-office-he-d-do-it-again

 

Trump did push NATO to pay more.  Didn't succeed in that attempt as much as Russia did though.

 

Trump did fairly well in the middle east. Every President does something after all. I'm sure Jared was in his ear from day one.

 

I wonder if Trump felt taking a Presidential salary meant that he'd be more likely to have to submit tax returns.  If not that, he does know the power of public relation campaigns and how good deferring his salary would look.  And, if you are raking in millions from foreign governments who needs 400K?

 

If we are back to talking religion - and for what reason I don't really know - Trump is the opiate of the people.

 

 

 

I would say any positives were undone when he moved the US embassy to Jerusalem.  Continuing support of the conflict in Yemen wasn't great either.  One of TRUMP's first acts was to OK a mission in Yemen that the Obama admin passed on.  Civilians (including children) were killed.

 

 

I'll add to the salary thing as well.  He got more than that back in what he charged taxpayers for all his golf trips.  One trip to his Scottish golf course cost over $1 million.  https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/new-report-shows-taxpayers-foot-the-bill-for-president-trump-s-1-million-weekend  It will be hard to pin down the exact costs that TRUMP passed on to taxpayers, but it far far exceeds the $1.6 million of salary that he supposedly didn't collect.

 

 

 

 

 

[the destroyer of worlds]

I hire only the best people.  The best people back up another best person.  

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/13-former-trump-administration-officials-sign-open-letter-backing-john-rcna177227

 

13 former Trump administration officials sign open letter backing up John Kelly's criticism of Trump

Kelly told the New York Times that Trump meets the definition of a fascist and also said he observed the former president on multiple occasions praising Adolf Hitler.

[Satchmo]

14 minutes ago, Gator said:

You hear about this stuff with every single politician. Not saying it's right, and I don't know the truth behind any of it, but my point is it's no different than the Hunter Biden/Ukraine stuff floating around. 

 

But outside of that media noise I see Trump being booed in the republican primaries. All by "donors and special interests". Ignore the mainstream shit and look at that moment.. Or the not taking the annual salary.. If he was so greedy why is he not taking all this free easy money? Even when he was running against Clinton you guys pushed the whole "Trump don't pay taxes" thing.. And he hilariously admitted to it and pointed out it's because the corrupt politicians had tax breaks for the billionaires just like him. You know, those people that care so much about the poor community

 

Am I supposed to believe these people that say Trump is corrupt when these are the same people trying to convince me that Trump is a Putin loving dictator that's trying to end democracy? .. The man that's has had the justice system thrown at him more than any other politician, and blatant extremist wording to media leading to assassination attempts on his life. Not to mention the VERY suspicious lack of skill from the highly trained US secret service team.. Yea there is just way too much out there for anyone to convince me this guy is just as corrupt as the other ones. There's a reason they're trying so hard to knock him out of favor, and I firmly believe it's because they cant completely control him like they can the others.

 

I don't think Trump is going to survive the 4 years tbh. He might get taken out before February if he's elected.. But I do think he's the only hope we got at not breaking out into a WW3.. and I really believe that's the agenda that has them so against Trump. The US wants this war. They've been preparing for it since the end of WW2

All politicians?  How much of this stuff did were hear about Obama? About Carter? Clinton couldn't keep his pants on but that's more an alpha male thing than a political thing.

And Biden? How much of the truth that you admit to not knowing would you guess actually exists in that Ukraine/Biden stuff?  It's been years now and nothing but unproven speculation exists. (I believe Hunter Biden is no saint BTW.  He made some money from having a dad for a president but nowhere near as much as Trump's kids did.)

 

'Mainstream shit'  a.k.a. mainstream media should not be ignored out of hand.  It should be questioned and fact checked but not ignored.

 

Trump does indeed seem to have a thing for Putin.  Just look back at his many remarks over the years.  Is Trump a dictator?  Not yet, though he has promised to be on day one.  Will he end democracy?  We'll see.  He sure took a punch at it after the last election and especially on Jan 6th.

 

Who the fuck has told you the US wants WWIII?  How can you say that and accuse us of falling for BS?   Trump has given the world many reasons to hate him so there really is no need to just make stuff up.

[Gator]

2 minutes ago, Satchmo said:

Clinton couldn't keep his pants on but that's more an alpha male thing than a political thing.

Would describe that much much differently if he was a republican I bet

[Satchmo]

1 minute ago, Gator said:

Would describe that much much differently if he was a republican I bet

Another failed assumption.   Bad is bad regardless of political party.

 

BTW - that's all you've got in reply?

[Gator]

4 minutes ago, Satchmo said:

Mainstream shit'  a.k.a. mainstream media should not be ignored out of hand.  It should be questioned and fact checked but not ignored

Also never said it should be ignored.. But if you're only focussed on 1 side, and 99% of people TRULY are youre absolutely clueless to everything around you.. They're more loyal to they're "left" vs "right" than I am to my sport teams ffs

 

If you've never wanted to vote for the "other side" have you every truly objectively looked at things? because I assure you 1 single party doesn't have the best nominee every time lol.. I'd argue a high school drop out with no political ties would be a better option than any of the corrupt politicians we have today.

 

Money, greed, and war. All paid for by the middle class and the poor through labor and blood.

[Gator]

[4petesake]

[Satchmo]

2 minutes ago, Gator said:

Also never said it should be ignored.. But if you're only focussed on 1 side, and 99% of people TRULY are youre absolutely clueless to everything around you.. They're more loyal to they're "left" vs "right" than I am to my sport teams ffs

 

If you've never wanted to vote for the "other side" have you every truly objectively looked at things? because I assure you 1 single party doesn't have the best nominee every time lol.. 

Money, greed, and war. All paid for by the middle class and the poor through labor and blood.

'Ignore the mainstream shit' said Gator.

 

Why so many assumptions about my religion, my voting history, my reading history, my loyalties, my objectivity?  Are all those things suspect because I'm not agreeing with you?  That's hardly very objective.

[Gator]

Just now, Satchmo said:

'Ignore the mainstream shit' said Gator.

 

Why so many assumptions about my religion, my voting history, my reading history, my loyalties, my objectivity?  Are all those things suspect because I'm not agreeing with you?  That's hardly very objective.

In that particular point I was making

 

Damn the way you twist context you'd be very good working for a mainstream news outlet. Bravo!

[Optimist Prime]

On 10/23/2024 at 2:40 PM, bishopshodan said:

 

He's going to win, isn't he?

 

On 10/23/2024 at 2:41 PM, Bob Long said:

 

I think he actually is.

sad face, but I think so too. 

I promised my wife i would never buy a box of wine again, but I just don't want to uncork so many bottles of Pinot Noir November 5th. 

[Satchmo]

1 minute ago, Gator said:

In that particular point I was making

 

Damn the way you twist context you'd be very good working for a mainstream news outlet. Bravo!

And many other points in many other posts as well. (I take post history into consideration.)  Damn the way you twist context you'd be very good working for Fox.

 

You do a lot of deflecting but nothing gets into the net.

[Satchmo]

Billionaires for Trump (and tax breaks)

 

Washington Post will not endorse a candidate in 2024 presidential election, breaking decades of tradition

 

For the first time in decades, The Washington Post will not endorse a candidate in this year’s presidential election, the newspaper’s publisher announced Friday, a decision that sparked widespread outrage among the paper’s staffers.

A person with knowledge of the matter told CNN an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris had been drafted by the Post’s editorial page staffers and was ready to be approved by its board, but the draft was never presented.

The Post reported the decision not to endorse a presidential candidate was made by the newspaper’s owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, citing two sources briefed on the matter.

[Gator]

11 minutes ago, Satchmo said:

And many other points in many other posts as well. (I take post history into consideration.)  Damn the way you twist context you'd be very good working for Fox.

 

You do a lot of deflecting but nothing gets into the net.

Lol is Fox not a mainstream news outlet? lol

 

Last I checked it was. Not sure why you took that as a shot at CNN.. Well I am sure, and it's because your looking through them glasses

Edited 53 minutes ago by Gator

[Gator]

Just now, Gator said:

You do a lot of deflecting but nothing gets into the net

[Optimist Prime]

3 minutes ago, Gator said:

Lol is Fox not a mainstream news outlet? lol

 

Last I checked it was. Not sure why you took that as a shot at CNN.. Well I am sure, and it's because your looking through them glasses

Fox is widely viewed yea, but for some reason they are ALL IN on Trump this year. It moves them out of the category of Mainstream and into the field of partisan pundits. 

[Cranston]

2 hours ago, Gator said:

Not accept political bribes from donors special interests (atleast to the scale of other politicians)

 

Made NATO pay their fair share, and not having so much of that weight be put on the American tax payers 

 

Didn't take the $400k annual salary paid by American tax payers

 

Willing to try and put an end to the conflict in the middle east

 

Its not hard to do. I've said these things. You know these things. You just refuse to listen to these things because your head is so far up the left's ass lol. You're no different than a republican that is only voting Trump because he's a republican. 

 

I have on MANY occasions over this discussion admitted a lot of the bad about Trump. I watch news from all over. From CNN to Fox, to WION (Indian news channel) amongst other world wide networks. I don't put tunnel vision glasses on with the media like most seem to do. I don't watch it often, but I get a little bit from everywhere.. Interesting when you see the bias from other perspectives.. Apparently WIIN is a Russia bias network. Found that out after watching a video of it seeming like Russia was winning the war, just minutes after hearing the exact opposite from another network. Funny really. And the people watching these networks swear by these networks and REALLY believe in their hearts that they're being fed the whole truth and not being lied to.

 

Kinda like religion. Everyone believes their god is the right god and everyone else is crazy.

 

Both are just methods to brainwash the public for their own personal gain

How about trying to build the Wall and Keystone? Both scuttled by Congress Democrats. Cutting down on cheap labour and inflation respectively.

[Satchmo]

Just now, Gator said:

Lox is Fox not a mainstream news outlet? lol

 

Last I checked it was. Not sure why you took that as a shot at CNN.. Well I am sure, and it's because your looking through them glasses

More assumptions and little else.

 

BTW - It did cross my mind after I posted I should have gone with Info Wars.  Missed my chance I guess.

 

I'm done for today.  This is getting boring.  I raise a number of points and you just want to selectively talk about 10% of them and make some personal accusations.

[Gator]

1 minute ago, Satchmo said:

I'm done for today.  This is getting boring.  I raise a number of points and you just want to selectively talk about 10% of them and make some personal accusations.

Oh the irony of this statement

[Cerridwen]

Mr. Sulu is savage today!!

[Satchmo]

2 minutes ago, Gator said:

Oh the irony of this statement

The word you are looking for is hypocrisy.  I don't agree with that assessment but it is the correct word.

[the destroyer of worlds]

40 minutes ago, Gator said:

 

Now I know why you posted this drivel meme with such a small size.  Lets go through each point

 

1) Undocumented immigration has been a thing for a long long time.  Hell, Reagan provided amnesty to millions when he was POTUS.  The only reason TRUMP's numbers were low (NOT ZERO) was due to the pandemic.  

 

2) Inflation was WORLD WIDE affecting nations run by left wing and right wing governements.  One word PANDEMIC.  And the US recovered rather well compared to other nations.

 

3) When gas prices go up, its POTUS fault?  So when they go down they should get the credit then?  Here is the thing.  Inflation is a feature, not a bug.  Gas prices today are higher than they were in 1990 so TRUMP should be to blame as well then?  

Also, the spike in fuel prices didn't just affect the US.  It was a product of the pandemic as well as the war in Ukraine (we'll get to that).

 

4) Record high consumer debt is an issue, but consumer debt has been an issue for some time.  The 2008 mortgage crisis is an example.  

 

5) Released terrorists into the country.  Did they though?  They intentionally released known terrorists into the US?  Please.  I mean, terrorists got into the US in the past.  Sept. 11th a prime example.  

 

6) The US did not start the Ukraine conflict.  Russia did.  Russia invaded.  The US involvement came AFTER is in the form of supplying weapons.

 

7) The US did not start the conflict in Israel.  Hamas attacked and then Israel responded with a very heavy hand.  US involvement is in supply.  

 

8 ) Retreats are usually a disaster.  The US withdraw from Vietnam was.  The withdraw from Afghanistan was as well.  Guess who set it up.  TRUMP.  OR did you forget TRUMP letting loose thousands of Taliban fighters and negotiating with the Taliban.  One of those released was leading the attacks on Kabul.

 

9) Violent crime isn't skyrocketing.  It isn't even at the levels of the late 80's / early 90's.  If you think it is, post your source.

 

10) The only reason their "political rivals" are being jailed is because they committed crimes.  Thing is, there are examples of DEMOCRATS who have been indicted/convicted of crime in the last 4 years.  US Senator Bob Menendez says hi.

 

11) Sometimes declines can happen in a short time.  Sometimes, declines can be hard to spot early on.  Thing is, I'd say the same thing about the guy you defend over and over again.

 

12) America produces more crude oil than any other country.  Hardly a "war on American energy".

 

13) The pandemic would have a word here.  This also is the product of years of one side attacking public education.  Only ONE side wants to end the Department of Education.  The QOP.

 

14)  I think you need to look at the list of most unpopular POTUS again.  As for VP, there isn't a lot of polling going back far enough to say definitively.  I'd say Dick Cheney is solidly in the discussion for most unpopular VP.

Edited 39 minutes ago by the destroyer of worlds

[4petesake]

2 hours ago, RupertKBD said:

 

You've described yourself (and all Trump fans) perfectly....

 

Creepy af.