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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#174326: Feb 14th 2017 at 7:59:36 PM

He's a Randoid. Not near as bad as Trump or Pence, and definitely better on foreign policy and trade. But if you need any social program at all...you are fucked.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
LinkToTheFuture A real bad hombre from somewhere completely different Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
A real bad hombre
#174327: Feb 14th 2017 at 8:00:57 PM

Right before leaving office, Obama expanded the power of the NSA to share intercepted intel

Did...did Obama plan for this?

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison
RAlexa21th Zettai Ryouiki Enjoyer from California (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I <3 love!
Zettai Ryouiki Enjoyer
#174328: Feb 14th 2017 at 8:02:43 PM

Leave a middle finger before you go to a long ass vacation.

Continue writing our story of peace.
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#174329: Feb 14th 2017 at 8:04:17 PM

Obama absolutely knew about this stuff. There's no other reason for him to do that. It wouldn't shock me if he privately met with the heads of the IC and explained to them what needed to be done.

ViperMagnum357 Since: Mar, 2012
#174330: Feb 14th 2017 at 8:04:49 PM

[up][up][up]I think Obama did what he could with the time he had, once it was clear Trump would survive to be sworn in. At that point, he was running damage control and stacking the deck for the people with the best chance of countering Trump; the courts and intelligence services.

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#174331: Feb 14th 2017 at 8:06:13 PM

Thanks, Obama!

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#174332: Feb 14th 2017 at 8:14:07 PM

Yeah, I don't necessarily like the fact that he increased the NSA's powers but that's a problem for a future administration. Right now removing Trump from power takes precedence.

RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#174333: Feb 14th 2017 at 8:23:04 PM

Yep, right now the priority is making sure that there is a future administration.

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#174334: Feb 14th 2017 at 8:38:32 PM

@whoever was asking about ryan: he is just an opportunist who just wants to impose his juvenile and masturbatory randian fantasy on America and he is either deluded enough to think it will be for the better or knows how many people it will hurt but will rationalize it thinking that the people who suffer deserve to do so.

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#174335: Feb 14th 2017 at 8:43:05 PM

Seems foolish to assume Ryan doesn't have a spine when he's basically one of the people in charge right now and is gladly going to go ahead and try to implement as much of his agenda as possible, despite what much of the public wants. He doesn't seem to be bowing to pressure so much has he's been part of that pressure since well before he got the job.

JBC31187 Since: Jan, 2015
#174336: Feb 14th 2017 at 8:43:51 PM

He also received Social Security benefits after his father died. It's how he paid for school.

Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#174337: Feb 14th 2017 at 8:45:13 PM

The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine. Or, how fake news sites are bristling with trackers intended to collect data to form a psychological profile of you to facilitate psychological manipulation.

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
Wryte Since: Jul, 2010
#174338: Feb 14th 2017 at 9:01:09 PM

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said on Sunday he will depose Trump administration officials to uncover “what truly motivated” President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration if the case he brought against it goes to trial.

Documents and emails authored by administration officials may contain evidence that the order was an unconstitutional attempt to ban Muslims from entering the United States, and Ferguson will use "every tool" at his disposal to bring those to light, he told ABC's "This Week."

BOB FERGUSON, F*&K YEAH.
DONALD TRUMP, YOUR REIGN IS THROUGH
'CAUSE NOW YOU HAVE TO ANSWER TO
BOB FERGUSON, F*&K YEAH.

So damn proud of my state right now.

edited 14th Feb '17 9:06:10 PM by Wryte

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#174339: Feb 14th 2017 at 9:10:25 PM

Well, this looks serious. It's not just Flynn, apparently several members of the Trump campaign had multiple contacts with Russian officials. We can probably expect further resignations. Criminal charges are entirely possible. Investigations are ongoing, which means further details will be revealed in the coming weeks. Republicans in the Senate are calling for wider investigations. It's now knowns that Trump knew that Flynn had lied about this contacts with Russia for weeks and did nothing about it. Does this reach the President? Will the Republicans impeach if it can be proven that it does? Can they afford not to? This may all unravel much faster than anyone thought.

On the other hand, Pence as president. Yeesh.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#174341: Feb 14th 2017 at 9:14:49 PM

[up][up] If what I've been hearing is true, Pence may be up to his knees in the same crap as Trump, Flynn, and others. We'd be getting President Paul Ryan. Who's as gutless as a man can be and would certainly not serve past the rest of Trump's term, but would be leagues above Trump.

If Pence is also in trouble, then the President Pro Tempore, Senator Orrin Hatch (R, UT), becomes President.

edited 14th Feb '17 9:16:33 PM by DingoWalley1

Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#174342: Feb 14th 2017 at 9:16:09 PM

It would at least be Bush-level bad as opposed to Donald-level bad. Unless Pence gets caught in the crossfire somehow.

Wryte Since: Jul, 2010
#174343: Feb 14th 2017 at 9:16:42 PM

We've been over this. Pence is an asshole, but he's a garden variety asshole as far as Republicans go. Pence sucks, but he isn't as dangerously unstable as Trump, and that alone makes him immeasurably preferable. Besides, most of the terrible policies he'd be trying to implement as President are things he'd be trying to push through as VP anyway, but he won't have Trump's Teflon coating with scandals, popular support, or even the illusion of a mandate.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#174344: Feb 14th 2017 at 9:18:39 PM

[up][up][up] I dunno. If this article is accurate, Pence has been kept in the dark in some areas. Of particular note in the article he was kept out of the loop regarding the DOJ's issues with Flynn for just ovr than two weeks after Trump was made aware. Pence only found out about it because he read it in the Washington Post.

edited 14th Feb '17 9:18:53 PM by sgamer82

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#174345: Feb 14th 2017 at 9:18:51 PM

Pence as president is a double edged sword for the gop. He will be much easier to control and less overtly incompetent, but trumps hardcore base wont rally around him and i cant see him being very popular. While the hardcore republicans will support him they are not enough to win an election unless the GOP does a ridiculous amount of rigging.

Im not sure to what degree people would be less passionate in opposing pence, since he would still likely try to pass many horrible things, he would just be better at hiding them presumably.

edited 14th Feb '17 9:22:11 PM by Draghinazzo

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#174346: Feb 14th 2017 at 9:21:06 PM

Again, let's not call Paul Ryan gutless, as again, he was part of the pressure since long before he became Speaker of the House; in fact he's probably one of the many reasons Boehner quit. He's not aqiuescing to anything, he's doing exactly what he wants because he knows he can. He's many things, a lot of them terrible, but he's probably not a coward bending to whatever's going on. He's one of the people making things happen.

Also, let's not get ahead of ourselves. As shit as the administration is, they might be able to cover shit up for a while yet. Trials are probably not coming as soon as you would like, and quite probably not at all.

[up]The guy you pick to bring the presence of calmness and normalcy is not the guy who's going to get people excited in the long term, so yeah if he ends up in the office I can't imagine he'd get beyond one term.

edited 14th Feb '17 9:22:03 PM by AceofSpades

Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#174347: Feb 14th 2017 at 9:21:34 PM

To be perfectly honest, Pence probably has more of a mandate than Trump does. What with Republican voters who voted Trump while wishing they could've nominated somebody sane, and voters who thought 'well, Pence's gonna be doing all the real work anyway'.

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#174348: Feb 14th 2017 at 9:49:47 PM

So Moby is saying that his D.C. friends are telling him this and that tell be public knowledge soon.

-Russian dossier is 100 % real and the Russians have more nefarious things than the hooker piss tape. Trump is being blackmailed.

-Trump administration has been in collusion with the Russians since day one

-the Trump administration needs a war and are positioning US ships just off Iran's coast in the hopes that they attack one to justify an invasion

- there are right wing plans to get rid of Trump since he's a drain on their funding and approval

-the IC is working overtime to get Trump impeached

IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#174349: Feb 14th 2017 at 9:49:50 PM

I'm guessing you guys will run out the entire presidential line of succession by december

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
ViperMagnum357 Since: Mar, 2012

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