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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Edit: Moved to impeachment thread per ![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
.
Edited by sgamer82 on Oct 7th 2019 at 4:40:35 AM
If he didn't want to get impeached then maybe he shouldn't have done things worthy of being impeached.
(Politiely suggests that impeachment-related topics be discussed in the impeachment proceedings thread)
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
My bad, I wasn't sure if general news was still okay here or not, as that was the initial ruling.
Donald Trump's own former national security officials sign open letter saying Ukraine whistleblower did nothing wrong and deserves protection
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-ukraine-whistleblower-open-letter-deserves-protection-1463494
Signed by 90 former national security officials, the letter came as news broke that at least one other whistleblower had come forward in the case, seeking to flag concerns around Trump's July 25 phone call, in which he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
"While the identity of the whistleblower is not publicly known, we do know that he or she is an employee of the U.S. Government," the letter, signed by prominent officials, including former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, states. "As such, he or she has by law the right—and indeed the responsibility—to make known, through appropriate channels, indications of serious wrongdoing."
"That is precisely what this whistleblower did; and we applaud the whistleblower not only for living up to that responsibility but also for using precisely the channels made available by federal law for raising such concerns," it continues.
Calling for the whistleblower's protection, the letter's signatories praised their efforts, asserting that "a responsible whistleblower makes all Americans safer by ensuring that serious wrongdoing can be investigated and addressed, thus advancing the cause of national security to which we have devoted our careers."
"What's more," they said, "being a responsible whistleblower means that, by law, one is protected from certain egregious forms of retaliation."
"Whatever one's view of the matters discussed in the whistleblower's complaint, all Americans should be united in demanding that all branches of our government and all outlets of our media protect this whistleblower and his or her identity," the national security experts said. "Simply put, he or she has done what our law demands; now he or she deserves our protection."
The letter was signed by scores of former top national security officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations of the past.
In addition to Brennan and Clapper, who had served in different roles under both the Obama and Bush administrations, the letter was also signed by former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and former Senior Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council Javed Ali, along with a number of other former Defense Department, State Department and CIA officials.
Some of the signatories had even worked under the Trump administration, including James Nealon, who served as the assistant secretary for international engagement at the Department of Homeland Security until he resigned in February 2018 over the government's immigration policies, as well as Roberta Jacobson, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Mexico until she resigned in May 2018, and Andrea Kendall-Taylor, who was a deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia until resigning in July 2018.
Professional Forum Ninja
And don't forget investments. Spoiler warning: there's Trump Towers in Istanbul.
Edited by tclittle on Oct 7th 2019 at 6:24:46 AM
"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
in other news:
White House pulls US Soldiers before Turkey advances onto the Kurds
Or in more honest terms: Throwing the Kurds, the most reliable Ally in the fight against IS, before the Turkish bus to appease Sheik Recep I.
Dammit ![[nja]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/user_ninja_2074.png "[nja]"){kind=small}
Edited by 3of4 on Oct 7th 2019 at 1:22:50 PM
"You can reply to this Message!"
Okay, this is pretty huge. And mind-numbingly stupid and immoral. What could Trump possibly hope to achieve from that ? It's breaking the military status quo to the disadvantage of the US without any reason. Hell, it's pretty much triple treason : to the members of the coalition still involved with the Kurds, the Kurds themselves, and to the US's interests. What are they thinking ?!
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Trump wasn't elected on "America needs to reclaim her place in the world" he was elected on "Hillary is a HAWK and NO GOOD EVER comes of US meddling! Just wasted money and lives! America FIRST!!!"
And now, others are paying for this.
Watch me destroying my country
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Is this the beginning of the end of Pax Americana?
America's just shown she will throw an ally under the bus just to keep Turkey & Russia happy. Combined with this and the desire for isolationism at home from both parties, we might be seeing the beginning of the end of Pax Americana
The Syrian people have done nothing to deserve the fate that awaits them, but Americans forced them into simply because they’re not white. If these were white people, the entire West would have rushed to their aid.
USA (and let's be blunt, Western Europe too) has learnt nothing from the 20th Century.
Watch me destroying my country
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
What's happening in Syria isn't America's fault, it's Russia's fault.
Oh really when?
Shin Megami Tensei IV
I meant USA isolationism. The biggest irony for me is that Trump is dangerous not for being a warmonger, but because he's so isolationist that we have reach the "Abandon our allies" phase
Watch me destroying my country
Queen of Good Things, Honest
To borrow a phrase: Disgusted, not surprised. America First was a Trump campaign promise. It was never a question of If, but of When.
Edited by TobiasDrake on Oct 7th 2019 at 8:24:06 AM
My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
Never Trust
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Trump actually manages what would seem to be impossible. He's both a warmonger, at least on his rhetoric, and an isolationist.
Edited by tricksterson on Oct 7th 2019 at 2:26:09 PM
Trump delenda est
Captain of the Dead City
It's "we shouldn't have to fix anyone else's problems for them" combined with "you looking at me? I'll fucking deck you, you looking at me bitch?".
"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Nah, that is not impossible at all. He wants to be perceived as a warmonger to have some support on the America Millitary First and give a macho image while he's actually a isolationist. All his war-sounding rhetoric is a mix between him testing the waters and venting in frustration.
Let's to be blunt, The Left has being the first for decades. Now we see how that looks like. I hope Leftist learn the lesson but I doubt, I expect more creative ways to blame USA for all the evils in the world tho.
Edited by KazuyaProta on Oct 7th 2019 at 9:34:07 AM
Watch me destroying my country
x6
Honestly, in those days, the difference between Russia and the USA on the diplomatic map is not that easy to distinguish. There's one that manipulates the others, certainly.
As a French, this is a fucking disaster. The Kurds are our only reliable allies in the region, and they probably won't let most of their prisonners go easily. This could get very, very ugly, and aside from Strong Worded Letters, I'm not expecting much help to come from Europe.
This has come to the point where we could legitimately wonder if NATO will survive Trump.
Edited by Kevan on Oct 7th 2019 at 3:40:13 PM
Captain of the Dead City
I'm not sure what you're trying to say there tbh, and alluding to "the Left" isn't half as useful as citing specific examples. A lot of things are "the Left".
If something makes no sense from a geostrategic perspective, there's probably a personal angle. Expect a Trump Hotel to be approved in Ankara soon.
Or some other scummy grift, really, it's not like the details matter. Either way he's effectively unaccountable and has a party goose-stepping behind him.
Edited by math792d on Oct 7th 2019 at 4:46:26 PM
Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
To be honest, NATO always was way too reliant on USA.
Queen of Good Things, Honest
And saber rattling. Don't forget saber rattling.
Trump's a paper tiger. He wants to bully other countries into doing what we want and is willing to make empty threats and vague military gestures to try to intimidate them, but he doesn't have the stomach to actually pull the trigger on his rhetoric.
Closest he got was Iran, and he wussed out at the last second. By which, I do not at all mean to imply that attacking Iran was a good idea. It was a terrible idea. But the awfulness of attacking Iran wasn't why Trump cancelled. He cancelled because he got cold feet.
We were spared the consequences of Trump starting a stupid war because Trump was too much of a coward to actually go through with his stupid war. Which is pretty much the Trump Presidency in a nutshell: Trump's gross personality flaws and sheer stupidity blunting the impact of Trump's cruelty and greed.
Edited by TobiasDrake on Oct 7th 2019 at 8:49:28 AM
My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
And any leader worth his weight in pudding would realize that this was great for the US, as it put them as the De Facto leader of the western world. Without it, America is just another pretender to the number 1 spot, like China or Russia. The USA needs their allies, just as their allies needs them. Great Power, Great Responsabilities, all that.
Great assessment of Trump's presidency.
Edited by Kevan on Oct 7th 2019 at 3:55:25 PM
Trump is an awful waste of shit but no one is evil 24-7.
I believe, in what is the only decent thing he's ever done, said that he didn't think killing a bunch of Iranians for a drone was worth it.
That's cold-feet I can get behind.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Yeah, but the drawback was that NATO without USA is pretty damn weakened. You always need a Plan B.
NATO was created as an USA led alliance, it's not like there was much other alternatives in a time where the USSR was gobbling up Eastern Europe. And it's because the Americans had such a supremacy was even possible, stable military alliances are a pain to establish. Just look at the European Union, whose only economic, and the irrationnal backclash it get.
Obligatory reminder that yes, FOX News polls are rather reliable even though their actual reporting and pundits are not.
Disgusted, but not surprised