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

HextarVigar That guy from The Big House Since: Feb, 2015
That guy
#181801: Apr 7th 2017 at 3:08:41 PM

Pity there's no such thing as a clean nuke. Pointing out to the troublesome elements that if they don't behave they'll have a couple of small suns dropped on them should take the wind out of their sails.

Your momma's so dumb she thinks oral sex means talking dirty.
Bat178 Since: May, 2011
#181802: Apr 7th 2017 at 3:10:18 PM

[up][up] They are getting rowdy about Gibraltar. Supposedly Spanish warships have been seen off the coast and they've been causing trouble at the border.

[up] Thermobaric missiles/bombs are essentially clean nukes.

edited 7th Apr '17 3:12:14 PM by Bat178

IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#181803: Apr 7th 2017 at 3:10:23 PM

[up][up][up]Spat with the UK about Gibraltar cause Brexit makes shit complicated unnecessarily.

And, as an Argentine, I'm required by my constitution to claim the Falklands (Malvinas) Islands for Argentina.

edited 7th Apr '17 3:10:47 PM by IFwanderer

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
math792d Since: Jun, 2011 Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#181804: Apr 7th 2017 at 3:10:55 PM

[up][up][up] [up]The EU said that any future discussions about the special privileges afforded to Gibraltar through EU law would have to be negotiated with Spain.

Theresa May threatened to go to war with Spain to protect the 'sovereignty' of Gibraltar.

Basically, Brits causing a row over a non-issue to puff their chests.

edited 7th Apr '17 3:11:44 PM by math792d

Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
Lanceleoghauni Cyborg Helmsman from Z or R Twice Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: In my bunk
#181805: Apr 7th 2017 at 3:12:56 PM

I'm still pretty irritated about Gorsuch. I didn't doubt he'd get confirmed, but I'm still angry.

"Coffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee! Coffee! Not as strong as Meth-amphetamine, but it lets you keep your teeth!"
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?
#181806: Apr 7th 2017 at 3:20:57 PM

Long as corporations like Hobby Lobby keep their religious freedom deny employees health benefits its all worth it. And what would a new Warren Court have done for us anyway?

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
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#181807: Apr 7th 2017 at 3:25:30 PM

I don't think it was PM May, specifically. Just some retired and cranky Tory.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
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?
#181808: Apr 7th 2017 at 3:30:24 PM

Syria war: US warns of 'more' after missile strikes By US, they meant UN ambassador Haley so, means nothing...

Syria war: World reaction to US missile attack Just for fun

Syria war: Trump's missile strike attracts US praise - and barbs

From right and left, praise was showered on the commander-in-chief for acting against the Assad government after this week's chemical attack.

But one or two members of Congress and some of Mr Trump's right-wing fringe supporters are upset.

On the eve of the strikes, he was the most unpopular US president in decades.

Republican senators whom Mr Trump ridiculed during last year's election wholeheartedly approved of the action.

John Mc Cain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina praised the president in a joint statement.

"Unlike the previous administration," they said, "President Trump confronted a pivotal moment in Syria and took action. For that, he deserves the support of the American people."

They also urged him to go even further and "take Assad's air force… completely out of the fight".

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, another former Trump punching bag, tweeted: "I know @POTUS was deeply moved by the images & stories emerging from #Syria Chemical Attack".

"'Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished'" Proverbs 11:21," he added.

Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, said the action "needs to be followed by a broad strategy to end Syria's civil war".

Mrs Clinton backs the same hawkish Republican calls for the US military to take out the Syrian air force.

But she added that she hoped the administration "will recognise that we cannot in one breath speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next close American doors to them".

Democratic Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in January, condemned the US strike as "short-sighted".

"This administration has acted recklessly without care or consideration of the dire consequences of the United States attack on Syria without waiting for the collection of evidence from the scene of the chemical poisoning," she said in a statement.

Ann Coulter, a conservative media personality who wrote a book titled In Trump We Trust, was not impressed either.

"Trump campaigned on not getting involved in Mideast," she tweeted. "Said it always helps our enemies & creates more refugees. Then he saw a picture on TV."

There was also dismay among the alt-right - a magnet for white nationalists and anti-Semites - some of whose members celebrated Mr Trump's election win with Nazi salutes.

Richard Spencer, a figurehead of the group, condemned the missile strikes.

Paul Joseph Watson, a London-based editor for conspiracy theory website Info Wars, tweeted: "I guess Trump wasn't 'Putin's puppet' after all, he was just another deep state/Neo-Con puppet.

"I'm officially OFF the Trump train."

edited 7th Apr '17 3:31:30 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
PolarPhantom Since: Jun, 2012
#181809: Apr 7th 2017 at 3:31:32 PM

[up] I believe you're correct. Anyway, I'm sorry for contributing to talking about British Politics [read: The shitstorm I am currently living through] and I shall make another comment about the US.

Um. This might sound crazy. But do you think Trump and Putin planned this to try and clear up the whole Russian interference stuff? I read this theory on The Guardian's web site, but I dunno. Seems a little far fetched, But what can I believe in this MGS 2 world we currently live in?

I really only came here because I wanted reassurance. I am but a child, drifting through this sea, buffeted by waves I cannot control.

edited 7th Apr '17 3:32:33 PM by PolarPhantom

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#181810: Apr 7th 2017 at 3:44:56 PM

Trump is considering sacking Bannon and Reince.

In my dreams, Trump would hire Hillary and Obama to fill in for Reince and Bannon.

Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#181811: Apr 7th 2017 at 3:57:59 PM

Democratic Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in January, condemned the US strike as "short-sighted".

She might actually have a point the-

"This administration has acted recklessly without care or consideration of the dire consequences of the United States attack on Syria without waiting for the collection of evidence from the scene of the chemical poisoning," she said in a statement.

Oh, nevermind. Just her usual Assad apologia.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#181812: Apr 7th 2017 at 4:01:09 PM

Check it yoursel, twat.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#181813: Apr 7th 2017 at 4:03:11 PM

She's right but for the wrong reasons since she's pushing a narrative that the rebels might have been the ones to do it.

On the other hand, Richard Spencer just endorsed her and she rejected his endorsement by rebuking his hate-filled movement as not having a place here so that's good, I suppose.

KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#181814: Apr 7th 2017 at 4:05:11 PM

Well, whatever faults she might have, I doubt she's ever been a Nazi.

Oh God! Natural light!
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#181815: Apr 7th 2017 at 4:16:45 PM

This was informative:

Washington Post journalist Robert Costa shed light on the intimidating presence Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump use to wield influence inside the Trump White House during a Thursday appearance on the Laura Ingraham Show.

“No one wants to go against Jared or Ivanka,” Costa said. “Now you have Ivanka Trump inside of the West Wing, she’s a federal employee, so there a constant presence in the Oval Office around the president,” Costa continued.

“They really operate quietly but with some ruthlessness around the administration, having their fingerprints on all aspects of foreign, diplomatic relations, domestic policy,” Costa said.

It is this influence, asserted Costa, that likely has something to do with what appears to be Chief Strategist Steve Bannon’s declining clout and the president’s sudden shift to a more Establishment, neo-conservative direction regarding Syria.

“Some of Bannon’s friends tell me he’s very frustrated at times with the New York wing of the White House,” said Costa, referring to moderates like Kushner. “The president has instincts that are populist and nationalist,” Costa stressed. However, “he’s susceptible to influence,” Costa continued.

“While he likes Bannon, and his instinct is to go with Bannon, when he has Kushner, Gary Cohn, and Dina Powell, and others around him within the Oval Office every hour he is not always moving in that [populist] direction,” Costa explained.

Costa indicated Jared and Ivanka’s influence is unlikely to subside as Trump’s presidency continues.

“When you look at the president’s career, he has always run a family business and so his family remains by his side, and that has real consequences in terms of politics and policy,” said Costa.

For example “Ivanka Trump … is trying to reach out to a lot of women … who are not necessarily conservative … and that includes the leadership of Planned Parenthood,” Costa said.

“As much as [Trump] knows Bannon represents his constituency, Bannon is not the overwhelming presence in the White House he once was,” said Costa.

This is having consequences beyond an apparent shift on Syria, and it is affecting most aspects of policy formation, according to Costa.

“After spending two years on the campaign trail talking about China and how he’s going to put it to ‘em … there’s not a coherent vision right now for what exactly this admin wants to do on China and on trade,” Costa said. “You have Cohn and his group at the National Economic Council, and they’ve been clashing with [economic populist Peter] Navarro.”

Costa said the aura of longevity Jared and Ivanka exude begets loyalty among rank-and-file staffers.

"If you are a lower-level staffer you do not want to cross them," said Costa. "There's a sense within the West Wing … that at the end of the day Trump could purge everyone — as he has in the past in his businesses and his campaign — but Jared and Ivanka will survive anything," he said.

"If they're always going to be there, you don't want to be on the wrong side of that."

Tldr; Bannon hates the New York side of the West Wing.

Trump's nepotism is a blessing in disguise because while Trump likes Bannon and his instincts align with Bannon's nationalistic, populistic thoughts, he is extremely suspectible to his daughter's influence as well as Jared's.

No one wants to cross Jared and Ivanka because those are the two people that you're sure that Trump will never fire.

So Trump's moderate/neo-con turn is a result of Ivanka being recently hired by the White House.

edited 7th Apr '17 4:30:07 PM by MadSkillz

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#181816: Apr 7th 2017 at 4:19:30 PM

I doubt either of them are political or policy masters, so in the end it makes little difference. Bear in mind I don't really want the Trump WH to acquire a patina of competence, because I want the fall to be epic.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#181817: Apr 7th 2017 at 4:22:07 PM
Thumped: This post has been thumped with the mod stick. This means knock it off.
Inter arma enim silent leges
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#181818: Apr 7th 2017 at 4:23:56 PM

We always knew who conducted which attack. The UN itself came to the same conclusions.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#181819: Apr 7th 2017 at 4:25:36 PM

[up][up][up][up]Either the article is weirdly written or you had some mishaps with the copypasting.

@Bannon-Kushner fight: Like most of the Trump situation, this can be explained with a shitty meme.

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#181820: Apr 7th 2017 at 4:28:16 PM

Chlorine gas is a whole step down from nerve agents. It isn't nearly as dangerous, and any idiot with a junior high chemistry set can make it. Plus, most of them are only doing it at the tactical level, using it as they retreat or on newly liberated civilians, they aren't striking targets far from the front line.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#181821: Apr 7th 2017 at 4:29:34 PM

[up][up][up]Yes, Assad has been using Chlorine for a while after 2013 but this time the use of Sarin came out as a shock because no one was really expecting the use of a chemical weapon of that strength.

The chances that the Assad forces are the culprit are really high, but engaging in a retaliatory strike in mere days is jumping on the barrel and equally stupid.

I guess Trump achieved what Obama never could, get the Russians really pissed off over Syria.

edited 7th Apr '17 4:29:54 PM by AngelusNox

Inter arma enim silent leges
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#181822: Apr 7th 2017 at 4:31:16 PM

@wanderer I fixed it

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#181823: Apr 7th 2017 at 4:33:36 PM

I doubt either of them are political or policy masters, so in the end it makes little difference. Bear in mind I don't really want the Trump WH to acquire a patina of competence, because I want the fall to be epic.

It makes a huge difference since they're the reasons behind Trump's pivots in a sense.

You have to take into account that they don't need to be political or policy masters. They're concerned about their reputation and their brand and are willing to listen to the moderates in Trump's White House to talk to Trump.

Like for instance, they're trying to push Bannon out and replace Priebus with their pick, Gary Cohn.

edited 7th Apr '17 5:04:24 PM by MadSkillz

Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#181824: Apr 7th 2017 at 4:49:09 PM

They're not policy masters and I think neither of them are good picks...but they don't want to rip the system apart like Bannon wants to. They want to get rich off it, yes, but that requires the system to continue functioning.

What I'm saying is that corrupt opportunists are easier to deal with than a straw nihilist who hates everything. And it's sad that might be the best option right now.

edited 7th Apr '17 4:50:16 PM by Zendervai

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#181825: Apr 7th 2017 at 5:50:24 PM

And we called shenanigans on that claim, citing several times in history when airstrikes had positive effects in analogous situations.

Must have missed that part over all the examples not given.

Silence is overwhelming sometimes.

And yeah as obvious as it was, I'd be more pissed at Gorsuch's confirmation than the whole Syria thing right now.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes

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