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carbon-mantis Collector Of Fine Oddities from Trumpland Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Married to my murderer
Collector Of Fine Oddities
#177901: Mar 13th 2017 at 6:07:11 PM

[up][up] On Sanders specifically, he had a pretty damn good case for an investigation against insulin producers (specifically them colluding to fix prices on one of the few drug types that has no generic alternative) just before the election, but I haven't heard much of it since the Trumpenfhurer's ascension.

I think he'd be much more successful targeting more specific areas of abuse like that rather than simply jumping on the "pharma are all evil" wagon that lead to bullshit like his vaccine comments.

edited 13th Mar '17 6:13:59 PM by carbon-mantis

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#177902: Mar 13th 2017 at 6:11:05 PM

So apparently before the mass firing of US attorneys, Bharara or whatever his name is was investigating Deutschbank, and Maddow says it's connected to Russian money laundering. Of interest is a Russian oligarch who paid Trump 95$ million dollars for a property.

Jesus Christ, right now it looks like the entire Trump family is in with a bunch of shady banks and sit. And Bharara was investigating and possibly going to prosecute some of this stuff.

This is why presidents should be required by law to put their shit into a blind trust. Although in Trump's case it might not matter since this has all been going on for a long while. So maybe it should be that once you decide to run for president at all you still have to divest until the election is over or you concede the field to other candidates.

edited 13th Mar '17 6:23:38 PM by AceofSpades

Bat178 Since: May, 2011
#177903: Mar 13th 2017 at 6:37:25 PM

[up] Wouldn't be surprised if he had connections with the Mafia too. He's already running the country like a Mafia don and looks like one too...

edited 13th Mar '17 6:40:50 PM by Bat178

HextarVigar That guy from The Big House Since: Feb, 2015
That guy
#177904: Mar 13th 2017 at 6:41:56 PM

Girl Guides of Canada has cancelled all trips to the US due to uncertainty about crossing the border.

As long as none of them are brown they'll be perfectly fine.

At this point, America should just put up a banner at border-crossings saying "If You're East Indian, Fuck Off" and make it perfectly obvious.

edited 13th Mar '17 6:43:13 PM by HextarVigar

Your momma's so dumb she thinks oral sex means talking dirty.
Bat178 Since: May, 2011
#177905: Mar 13th 2017 at 6:44:33 PM

[up] White Canadians have been frisked and banned from entry to the US because the border guards asked if they were anti-Trump and they said yes, not to mention that whole incident with the white French professor last month who got detained and nearly deported at an airport, so just being white won't save you. Seems you have to be specifically a White US American to get in without trouble, no other nationality.

edited 13th Mar '17 7:41:07 PM by Bat178

BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#177906: Mar 13th 2017 at 6:55:25 PM

O_O

That is the behavior of a dictator, not a president.

This email thing is getting so tiresome. I think that old people should just be kept away from technology, especially if they're involved in politics.

edited 13th Mar '17 6:55:54 PM by BearyScary

Do not obey in advance.
phantom1 Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#177907: Mar 13th 2017 at 7:09:23 PM

The exact note was making sure all the girls can get across the border and they would be a pretty horrible organization if they you know said "we didn't allow girls who were like Muslim or along racial lines."

edited 13th Mar '17 7:10:09 PM by phantom1

Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#177908: Mar 13th 2017 at 7:25:47 PM

Trump probably does have mafia connections, if only because he's owned New York property while the Mob controlled the city. I also remember hearing something about no one knowing how Trump got his initial casino license in Atlantic City.

On another note, I'd probably be able to get by okay, but I have a NEXUS card. I can get across the border without talking to anyone. But an ideology test at the border? That's absurd. Especially since once it becomes well known that it's a thing, it'll immediately stop working.

edited 13th Mar '17 7:28:10 PM by Zendervai

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#177909: Mar 13th 2017 at 7:30:24 PM

The whole ideology test thing is probably the single creepiest part of the Trump administration for me so far (among many others). It's cartoonishly oppressive.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#177910: Mar 13th 2017 at 7:43:01 PM

[up]It speaks volumes of Trump and his supporters' insecurities. They're determined to make the entire USA into a gated community.

edited 13th Mar '17 7:43:31 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#177911: Mar 13th 2017 at 7:48:31 PM

So apparently before the mass firing of US attorneys, Bharara or whatever his name is was investigating Deutschbank, and Maddow says it's connected to Russian money laundering. Of interest is a Russian oligarch who paid Trump 95$ million dollars for a property.

Jesus Christ, right now it looks like the entire Trump family is in with a bunch of shady banks and sit. And Bharara was investigating and possibly going to prosecute some of this stuff.

To be fair, Bharara was investigating lots of things, including NYC's progressive mayor and very outspoken Trump critic Bill DeBlasio. That said, it is amazing how many things had a connection to Trump. I'm genuinely sad to see Bharara go, the man did a lot of good in this region. (Just a reminder, in the world where Clinton won Bharara would have been a candidate for Attorney General instead of Sessions.)

It's pretty safe to assume Trump has connections with the Mafia, given both NYC and Atlantic City property ties during the 70s and 80s.I'm also pretty sure I've heard journalists who followed him for years talking about such ties, though I'd need a few minutes to research it before posting links.

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#177912: Mar 13th 2017 at 8:04:55 PM

[up][up]You want a real marker of the insecurity of the average Trump supporter? Look at how pissy they get when anyone makes a joke about him.

i'm tired, my friend
TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#177913: Mar 13th 2017 at 8:16:05 PM

Trump did extensive business with companies, unions run by Genovese and Gambino crime families, hosted gangsters at casinos despite huge fines and threats to his license

Politifact: Yes, Trump has mob ties

Another source

A quick rundown:

Trump was building his eponymous empire of hotels, casinos, and high rises in the early 1980s in New York City and Atlantic City. In both places, the construction industry was firmly under the thumb of the mafia. And in both places there are literally concrete connections between La Cosa Nostra and Trump’s lavish projects. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston, who has covered Trump for decades, has written a very useful list of questions for Trump. Many focus on his ties to the mob. In addition in his 1992 book, “Trump, The Deals and the Downfall,” author Wayne Barrett lays out a slew of suspicious dealings and associations.

The Atlantic City story starts with Trump’s purchase of a bar, at twice its market value, from Salvatore Testa, a made man in the Philadelphia mafia and son of Philip “Chicken Man” Testa, who was briefly head of the Philly mob after Angelo Bruno’s 1980 killing. Harrah’s casino, half owned by Trump, would be built on that land, and Trump would quickly buy out his partner, Harrah’s Entertainment, and rename the casino Trump Plaza.

Trump Plaza’s connection to the mob didn’t end with the land purchase from Testa. Nicademo “Little Nicky” Scarfo (who became boss after the elder Testa was blown up) and his nephew Phillip “crazy Phil” Leonetti controlled two of the major construction and concrete companies in Atlantic City. Both companies, Scarf, Inc. and Nat Nat, did work on the construction of Harrah’s, according the State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation’s 1986 report on organized crime. In addition, Scarfo, whose reign as head of the Philly mob was one of the bloodiest in history, controlled the bartenders union, which represented Trump’s workers in Atlantic City, according to George Anastasia’s book, “Blood and Honor.”

One more link to organized crime lurks in Trump’s past Atlantic City dealings. He had a close association with Kenny Shapiro, an investment banker for Scarfo. According to secret recordings of then Scarfo attorney Robert F. Simone, Shapiro was intimately involved with bribing Atlantic City Mayor Michael J. Matthews, whose term would end in 1984 with a conviction on extortion charges. On the tapes, in 1983, Simone, talking about Leonetti, states: “He’s a nice-looking boy…Nicky’s nephew, he can sit with the…mayor. Ah, and Kenny’s (Shapiro) got the mayor through this kid Phillip.”

The Connections Don’t End in Atlantic City

Trump’s association and business dealings with known mafia figures was not limited to his Atlantic City projects. In New York City, several of his buildings were built by S&A Concrete Co., a concern partly owned by Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno, the boss of the Genovese crime family. In addition to this business relationship, Trump and Salerno were both represented by high-power attorney Roy Cohn. In his book, Barrett cites an anonymous source who confirms that on at least one occasion Trump and Salerno had a sit-down in Cohn’s apartment. Trump has denied this claim in the past.

How can the candidate who promises to secure the border and bring good jobs back to America explain having farmed out good-paying jobs to a bunch of illegal immigrants? Is it reasonable to assume that Trump had no idea that S&A was run by Salerno’s Genovese borgata when Trump’s own attorney was so closely linked to that organization? After all, if Trump (who likes to point out that he has “one of the highest I Qs”) is as smart as he would have everyone believe, how could he have been so naive?

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#177914: Mar 13th 2017 at 8:30:55 PM

@The Wanderer: He may have been investigating Di Blasio, but I very much doubt that was the reason behind his firing. Maddow speculated on what Bharara did with his last official day on the job on Saturday; only time will tell. But hoo boy, that stuff about Trump seems to be stalled in the water now.

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#177915: Mar 13th 2017 at 8:48:31 PM

[up][up][up][up][up] So, what could they do once the period of Trump ends?

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#177916: Mar 13th 2017 at 8:51:06 PM

[up] My guess would be "latch on to the next populist nativist bigoted demagogue offering them a scapegoat for their own misery."

Disgusted, but not surprised
TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#177917: Mar 13th 2017 at 8:54:03 PM

He may have been investigating Di Blasio, but I very much doubt that was the reason behind his firing

Oh, of course not. I'm just pointing out another side to the story. Yet another is that every prosector Obama appointed was fired at that point, including Bharara, which is a relatively common practice for an incoming administration, so it's not like Bharara was singled out for his Trump related work.

Of course, it's also common practice to let a US Attorney finish their investigations or let them stay on it until their replacement is ready so the cases can be handed over with no disruption. Firing them when they decline to resign and there's no replacement ready is far from normal.

And the fact that Bharara's replacement may well be Rupert Murdoch's personal lawyer is enough to make me want to bang my head against a wall. Repeatedly.

edited 13th Mar '17 8:55:08 PM by TheWanderer

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#177918: Mar 13th 2017 at 9:21:55 PM

[up][up] And what if the next president forbids populists in taking part of politics if they want to prevent the damage for repeating again?

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#177919: Mar 13th 2017 at 9:30:08 PM

Don't think that's doable. The next Congress—assuming it flips—can perhaps codify some of the traditions that Trump flouted (putting assets in a blind trust, releasing tax returns, etc.), but limits on speech are iffy, and the President can't really impose those kind of conditions anyway.
Besides them, SCOTUS can strike down any requirement for candidacy at any time.note 
That said, the states can restrict elections in all kinds of creative ways, but that's a door best left closed. (It led to things like the white primary, "literacy tests," and the poll tax).

Plus, its hard to remember from this side of sanity, but Trump is still relatively popular among his base—hence populist. He can still rally the GOP, and we're too close to history to officially mark Trump with the same revulsion given to the figures from the 30s.

edited 13th Mar '17 9:52:31 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#177920: Mar 13th 2017 at 10:05:22 PM

Forbidding populists is insane, even if we assumed it was somehow doable. You can't prevent people from getting enthusiastic about candidates they like. Forbidding demagogues is saner in theory, but good luck finding a way to do that that isn't horrifically undemocratic.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#177921: Mar 13th 2017 at 10:18:10 PM

My main issue with populism in general is that, in promoting the values of the so-called "common people", it too often leads into anti-elitism and anti-establishment thinking, which all too often becomes anti-intellectualism. And that's not strictly a problem with right-wing populism either — just look at Mao Zedong. Granted, most don't actually purge the educated "elites".

edited 13th Mar '17 10:19:34 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#177922: Mar 13th 2017 at 10:27:11 PM

In the case if he loses the next election, all I can think is that the Trump supporters may try an uprising, including the ICE to some extent. That's why I believe that this period may lead the outlawing of populism of right wing in the future.

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#177923: Mar 13th 2017 at 10:29:11 PM

The discourse in this election has kinda clued me into the fact that a lot of people are either disingenuous or willfully ignorant as to what an "elite" actually is.

Trump is an "elite" by any reasonable standard, given that he is the son of a wealthy and well-known family in addition to being a celebrity and pop culture figure with his own TV show from a few decades back.

He's way more of an elite than the stereotypical upper middle-class college educated liberals that certain people love to rag on, and he's way more clueless about the average american's needs than they are. What he's good at is fooling them into thinking he isn't, he knows them well-enough to know what they will like to hear but that is pretty meaningless as far as having an understanding of how to fix those problems or having any ability to actually do so.

Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#177924: Mar 13th 2017 at 10:32:20 PM

[up][up]Yeah, that falls into the general sort of 'horrifying undemocratic' category. Or Possibly Just You Keep Using That Word.

But, no, that's really not how things are likely to go going down if Trump loses the next election. ICE participating in an uprising is a pretty silly idea, for starters.

edited 13th Mar '17 10:32:40 PM by Gilphon

CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#177925: Mar 13th 2017 at 10:36:00 PM

ICE isn't a goddamn army. Most of them are just thugs taken off the street. Your average donut-eating cop could probably break their skulls with minimal effort.

"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."

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