Trump

[paddy no 11]

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.buzzfee ... -netanyahu

Ta fcuk

2 small things about that article, specifically about Soros and the Hungarian political situation.

1) While the propaganda against Soros is disgusting and over-the-top, there is no denying his involvement in...political organisations masquerading as NGOs. A lot of what he had been doing around "democracy" in Eastern Europe PRIOR to Orban was questionable in motive at best. So he was a very, very easy target. Because he'd already been doing things that could be considered against many countries and governments, even if those countries/governments were trying to do the correct things.

2) Hungary was called an economic basket case in the article but it is also a political one. The PM before Orban was a man called Gyurcsany, who pretty much admitted to lying to the people. Which was a problem in and of itself, and explains Orban's original win. However, Gyurcsany did not then leave politics. That kind of politician in the UK would at the least retreat to the backbenches, but not in Hungary.

First, he led the socialist party into that first election, which he inevitably lost. Then he was kicked out, so he formed a new party and split the vote (because for some unknown reason 10s of thousands of people are still willing to vote for a known liar). But it gets worse...The socialist party then elected another member of the old guard as their leader, who didn't get on with anyone in the party, which meant the party split in two again. So now there are 3 socialist parties (MSZP (Socialists), DK (Gyurcsany), Egyutt (the new split).

Would you ever have thought that might split the vote further? But it gets worse...

These 3 parties consistently fail to come up with anything that could make them electable. Meanwhile, a liberal socialist alternative (LMP), sprung up who actually had some good policies, but with no finance have not had the means to win more than 5 seats (currently 6), not helped by gerrymandering.

So, while the anti-migrant rhetoric is ramped up, people are given a choice between the party for the Hungarian people (Fidesz), the Neo-Nazis (Jobbik), 3 basket cases, and a party they see as not having the funds to get elected. And then the kids arrive with their own party, Momentum, who want to muscle in on the act but only succeed in alienating more people and take attention away from politicians who could make a difference.

So there we have it.

If you were to pick an individual in European politics to back 10 years ago, you would have picked Orban every single day. Even without these repugnant people, he would have been in power all this time.

I think they're just very good at picking winners.

Thanks for the knowledge on Hungary

[morepork]

What a surprise. These rich white 1-percenters get away with repugnant sexual abuse with monotonous regularity. Check out Jeff Epstein for the poster boy example. Now they have a pliant semi literate fucktard in charge of things and they aren't even trying any more. Good old NFL. Abuse women, no problem. Take one public stand against racist police brutality, and it's straight to hell. Fuck I hope people wake up to this.

[Digby]

Following reports of Michael Cohen saying the president is a lying, racist, conman, Trump says 'he did bad things unrelated to Trump'

Luckily you never look crazy when you talk about yourself in such fashion, and you can take that to the bank says Diggers

[WaspInWales]

Wow...that was pretty damning!

It's a good job for Trump that Cohen was lying.

Could there be a connection between the Vietnam summit date and Cohen testifying?

Seems legit.

[Puja]

While I absolutely believe that everything Cohen says is 100% plausible, the Republicans do have a reasonable point that almost everything so far is he-said, she-said. Surely there must be reams of corroborative evidence for this stuff?

Puja

[WaspInWales]

I'm sure he mentioned that he provided evidence yesterday and I'm sure the F.B.I managed to get a fair bit when they raided his office.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[Digby]

What as per Cohen was Trump doing that was actually criminal? Several things might be reprehensible, but they didn't sound criminal

[Puja]

What as per Cohen was Trump doing that was actually criminal? Several things might be reprehensible, but they didn't sound criminal

Perjury and campaign finance violations mostly.

Puja

[morepork]

The Trumps have cleaned a lot of Russian money over the years, and wether or not that is a foundation for compromise while within government remains to be seen. I don't see any obvious criminal intent yet, but it may exist. Follow the money would be the best bet. There is a reasonable chance of New York State hitting him with fraud charges surrounding tax and allocation of tax payer funds. I actually think the president is too thick to engineer any criminal or treasonous master stroke on his own. I think it entirely plausible that Russia, and let's face it, any other country has identified his supreme idiocy as a soft target. The Saudis certainly have, as have China, Israel, and North Korea. That has to be considered a risk. The real criminal activity is occurring right under his nose with individuals like Jared Kushner unbelievably cosy with the Kingdom of Saud while simultaneously being associated with big loans from entities within. So many bent individuals within the government currently are taking the piss. The pay to play environment there is out of control with departments of state, environment, health and human services, defence, education, and on and on all being ravaged for individual personal gain. This is the acute issue. You know that the fish rots from the head down, you know that the idiot in charge is a massive liability, but that alone does not constitute grounds for dismissal. The young turks now in congress must go after the Scott Pruits, the Betsy DeVoses, the Steve Mnuchins and the Stephen Millers and triage all those wounds that are bleeding the system dry. Trump is a thundercunt, but he is a symptom of a larger disease.

[Digby]

What as per Cohen was Trump doing that was actually criminal? Several things might be reprehensible, but they didn't sound criminal

Perjury and campaign finance violations mostly.

Puja

He showed a cheque Trump signed to pay hush money to a porn star, that's not a campaign finance violation as the candidate can donate as they want to their own campaign. It might be a political problem, and for most people a problem for their marriage, but it's not a crime

Is the perjury charge where by the culture and behaviour Cohen is saying he understood he was supposed to lie and Trump effectively ordered him to do so?

[canta_brian]

Cohen worked for Trump for ten years. He now regrets blindly following Trump. Odd that whilst blindly following him he still remembered to take copies of the documents he is now using. Whilst it doesn’t mean Trump is not a thundercunt it does make me think Cohen is equally so.

[morepork]

Cohen is pond scum. Part of a pack of NYC mongrels that suck up to the pedigree dogs with money. You put them in direct sunlight in an open field, they burst into flames. They are worthless and helpless outside of the fantasy neverland of Manhattan royalty. He made a career of darting across the boundaries of the inner circle. This is why his testimony is possibly credible and not, at the same time.

[canta_brian]

Love that the gop is so angry At Cohen. There is still details of his deputy chairmanship of their finance committee on their website.

[morepork]

They are fuckheads. They spent the entire session in front of congress staging this pathetic faux outrage pantomime and avoiding any real examination. The young congress contingent made a pretty good fist of actually getting answers out of the droopy faced deflated fuck doll, particularly Oscaio-Cortez, without play acting.

[WaspInWales]

Trump really needed a big win in Vietnam, but again, his self-proclaimed best in the world negotiating skills seem to have let him down again.

I reckon he just got in a strop and was sat there like a petulant child with arms folded as updates from Congress came in. I reckon he lost interest and can picture him just walking out.

This was just shocking...the man just doesn't do irony:


That from five time draft dodger cadet bone spurs!

For all the MAGA rhetoric, he even takes a shot at Connecticut for good measure. Very presidential!

[gransoporro]

What as per Cohen was Trump doing that was actually criminal? Several things might be reprehensible, but they didn't sound criminal

Perjury and campaign finance violations mostly.

Puja

He showed a cheque Trump signed to pay hush money to a porn star, that's not a campaign finance violation as the candidate can donate as they want to their own campaign. It might be a political problem, and for most people a problem for their marriage, but it's not a crime

Is the perjury charge where by the culture and behaviour Cohen is saying he understood he was supposed to lie and Trump effectively ordered him to do so?

Trump can contribute, but he has to report it. Instead we have circumvention of the rules to avoid damage to his campaign. Also, Cohen made a contribution in kind to the campaign by loaning his services and the payment. But the real crime here is the cover up. Not sure why, but if there is a cover up Americans do not like it at all... It could be even worse than the crime.

Trump lies, all the time, but not under oath: no perjury. The most damning comment was about not being under IRS audit as it opens the door for access to the tax returns and uncovering of more lies.

Overall, not a damning deposition from Cohen. Pretty damning performance from Jordan and GOP: they concentrated in saying that Cohen is a proven liar and therefore not credible, while never bringing up actual lies during this deposition.
And on top of that Cohen lied to Congress to the benefit of Trump... Another small irony that escaped here.

[gransoporro]

Cohen worked for Trump for ten years. He now regrets blindly following Trump. Odd that whilst blindly following him he still remembered to take copies of the documents he is now using. Whilst it doesn’t mean Trump is not a thundercunt it does make me think Cohen is equally so.

You forgot the tapes Cohen made...

Still, he is going to jail next week.

[gransoporro]

They are fuckheads. They spent the entire session in front of congress staging this pathetic faux outrage pantomime and avoiding any real examination. The young congress contingent made a pretty good fist of actually getting answers out of the droopy faced deflated fuck doll, particularly Oscaio-Cortez, without play acting.

Agreed!

[Puja]

Perjury and campaign finance violations mostly.

Puja

He showed a cheque Trump signed to pay hush money to a porn star, that's not a campaign finance violation as the candidate can donate as they want to their own campaign. It might be a political problem, and for most people a problem for their marriage, but it's not a crime

Is the perjury charge where by the culture and behaviour Cohen is saying he understood he was supposed to lie and Trump effectively ordered him to do so?

Trump can contribute, but he has to report it. Instead we have circumvention of the rules to avoid damage to his campaign. Also, Cohen made a contribution in kind to the campaign by loaning his services and the payment. But the real crime here is the cover up. Not sure why, but if there is a cover up Americans do not like it at all... It could be even worse than the crime.

Trump lies, all the time, but not under oath: no perjury. The most damning comment was about not being under IRS audit as it opens the door for access to the tax returns and uncovering of more lies.

Overall, not a damning deposition from Cohen. Pretty damning performance from Jordan and GOP: they concentrated in saying that Cohen is a proven liar and therefore not credible, while never bringing up actual lies during this deposition.
And on top of that Cohen lied to Congress to the benefit of Trump... Another small irony that escaped here.

The perjury allegation come from Trump making a formal deposition to Mueller's investigation, which has been contradicted by Cohen's account.

Puja

[gransoporro]

He showed a cheque Trump signed to pay hush money to a porn star, that's not a campaign finance violation as the candidate can donate as they want to their own campaign. It might be a political problem, and for most people a problem for their marriage, but it's not a crime

Is the perjury charge where by the culture and behaviour Cohen is saying he understood he was supposed to lie and Trump effectively ordered him to do so?

Trump can contribute, but he has to report it. Instead we have circumvention of the rules to avoid damage to his campaign. Also, Cohen made a contribution in kind to the campaign by loaning his services and the payment. But the real crime here is the cover up. Not sure why, but if there is a cover up Americans do not like it at all... It could be even worse than the crime.

Trump lies, all the time, but not under oath: no perjury. The most damning comment was about not being under IRS audit as it opens the door for access to the tax returns and uncovering of more lies.

Overall, not a damning deposition from Cohen. Pretty damning performance from Jordan and GOP: they concentrated in saying that Cohen is a proven liar and therefore not credible, while never bringing up actual lies during this deposition.
And on top of that Cohen lied to Congress to the benefit of Trump... Another small irony that escaped here.

The perjury allegation come from Trump making a formal deposition to Mueller's investigation, which has been contradicted by Cohen's account.

Puja

I have never seen that deposition. Is it somewhere on the news, or is it speculation?

[morepork]

They are fuckheads. They spent the entire session in front of congress staging this pathetic faux outrage pantomime and avoiding any real examination. The young congress contingent made a pretty good fist of actually getting answers out of the droopy faced deflated fuck doll, particularly Oscaio-Cortez, without play acting.

Agreed!

One of the most fascinating/depressing factors in this circus is how carefully crafted the social media narrative is framed in the battle in the court of public opinion. The GOP aggressively solicit punters accessible via this conduit in a way that creates so much noise that the probability of accurately assessing the validity of the null hypothesis using actual facts is significantly diminished. Social media is now, for better or for worse, mathematically related to outcome. A viral video of faux outrage when linked to a conspiracy theory holds more water for a good part of the voting public than a cogent face to face answer to a question. The young democrat congress contingent need firm mentorship in this context, as do GOP peripheral players like Gatz. The financial portfolios of Facebook, Twitter, and such like are parasitic entities that must be dealt with, and I hope that whatever the outcome here, there is appropriate separation of power between government and the church of social media. Vital precedents will be set here.

[gransoporro]

They are fuckheads. They spent the entire session in front of congress staging this pathetic faux outrage pantomime and avoiding any real examination. The young congress contingent made a pretty good fist of actually getting answers out of the droopy faced deflated fuck doll, particularly Oscaio-Cortez, without play acting.

Agreed!

One of the most fascinating/depressing factors in this circus is how carefully crafted the social media narrative is framed in the battle in the court of public opinion. The GOP aggressively solicit punters accessible via this conduit in a way that creates so much noise that the probability of accurately assessing the validity of the null hypothesis using actual facts is significantly diminished. Social media is now, for better or for worse, mathematically related to outcome. A viral video of faux outrage when linked to a conspiracy theory holds more water for a good part of the voting public than a cogent face to face answer to a question. The young democrat congress contingent need firm mentorship in this context, as do GOP peripheral players like Gatz. The financial portfolios of Facebook, Twitter, and such like are parasitic entities that must be dealt with, and I hope that whatever the outcome here, there is appropriate separation of power between government and the church of social media. Vital precedents will be set here.

That is an interesting thought. Nice analogy with separation of state and church: I liked it.

[Puja]

Trump can contribute, but he has to report it. Instead we have circumvention of the rules to avoid damage to his campaign. Also, Cohen made a contribution in kind to the campaign by loaning his services and the payment. But the real crime here is the cover up. Not sure why, but if there is a cover up Americans do not like it at all... It could be even worse than the crime.

Trump lies, all the time, but not under oath: no perjury. The most damning comment was about not being under IRS audit as it opens the door for access to the tax returns and uncovering of more lies.

Overall, not a damning deposition from Cohen. Pretty damning performance from Jordan and GOP: they concentrated in saying that Cohen is a proven liar and therefore not credible, while never bringing up actual lies during this deposition.
And on top of that Cohen lied to Congress to the benefit of Trump... Another small irony that escaped here.

The perjury allegation come from Trump making a formal deposition to Mueller's investigation, which has been contradicted by Cohen's account.

Puja

I have never seen that deposition. Is it somewhere on the news, or is it speculation?

I was certain that I'd seen it confirmed that his deposition went against Cohen's story on the Moscow tower, but I can't for the life of me find where I'd seen that and it appears to be speculation. So, basically, all Cohen's testimony achieves to confirm that Trump is an awful person and a liar, neither of which is a surprise even to his supporters, and that he's almost certainly broken campaign financing laws, which no-one particularly cares about.

Puja

[Digby]

For the most part Cohen was a strong advocate for Trump, at most he left open some possible civil charges and nothing seemingly criminal. In response to which the GOP called him a liar rather than just taking the win

[WaspInWales]

We're finally seeing some official attempts to see Trump's tax returns....should be a good read, but how successful will the house be? Is it likely to happen?

Also, another house panel is demanding paperwork relating to Kushner's security clearance be turned over. Again, will this be susccessful?

As for his comments on Otto Warmbier and subsequent backtracking...what an epic cunt.