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

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#182651: Apr 12th 2017 at 1:59:18 PM

President Trump on Wednesday said he would not label China a currency manipulator, contradicting one of the biggest economic promises he made on the campaign trail.

Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he had changed his mind because China is not currently manipulating his currency, adding that he hoped to enlist China’s help on containing the nuclear threat from North Korea.

Trump gives in to Xi.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#182653: Apr 12th 2017 at 2:03:04 PM

Trump_Regrets will never get any rest.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#182656: Apr 12th 2017 at 2:25:51 PM

I think the NC legislature are true radical believers. Most of the GOP would've given up when the NCAA boycotted the state.

New Survey coming this weekend!
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#182657: Apr 12th 2017 at 2:27:05 PM

I want to have schadenfreude in watching Americans realize they were duped by their support of Trump but whatever enjoyment I could have taken from it is tainted by the nature of the regrets.

"I regret my vote because I realize the harm Trump will do to the economy," is a regret I can get behind. "Because I found out Trump's a con man and is looting our government," is another good one.

"I regret my vote because Trump is secretly a shill for the liberal Jew agenda who attacked Syria even though everyone knows Syria was a False Flag operation by the New World Order, hail Putin!" just makes me embarrassed for the country I live in. People are turning on Trump, but for all the wrong reasons.

The last thing we need in 2020 is for Trump to be opposed by Alt-Right II: Trump Harder.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
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?
#182658: Apr 12th 2017 at 2:35:43 PM

I think you just gave Trump his campaign slogan for 2020. tongue

Anyway: Trump says Nato 'no longer obsolete'

US President Donald Trump has said Nato is "no longer obsolete", reversing a stance that had alarmed allies.

Hosting Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House, Mr Trump said the threat of terrorism had underlined the alliance's importance.

He called on Nato to do more to help Iraqi and Afghan "partners".

Mr Trump has repeatedly questioned Nato's purpose, while complaining that the US pays an unfair share of membership.

The Nato U-turn wasn't Mr Trump's only change of heart on Wednesday.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he said he would not label China a currency manipulator, despite having repeatedly pledged to do so on his first day in office.

At a joint press conference with Mr Stoltenberg, Mr Trump said: "The secretary general and I had a productive discussion about what more Nato can do in the fight against terrorism."

"I complained about that a long time ago and they made a change, and now they do fight terrorism.

"I said it [Nato] was obsolete. It's no longer obsolete."

But Mr Trump reiterated his call for Nato member states to contribute more funding to the alliance.

"If other countries pay their fair share instead of relying on the United States to make up the difference we will all be much more secure," said the US president.

Earlier this week Nato welcomed Montenegro as its 29th member nation.

The meeting at the White House comes hours after US Secretary of States Rex Tillerson met Russian President Vladimir Putin during a trip to Moscow.

"Things went pretty well. Maybe better than anticipated," Mr Trump said about that meeting.

"Right now we're not getting along with Russia at all. We may be at an all-time low in terms of relationship with Russia."

I read this as the Brits being a tad optimistic. His position on NATO changed daily in February, and this is awfully convenient timing. Plus the talking points haven't changed...

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
math792d Since: Jun, 2011 Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#182659: Apr 12th 2017 at 2:39:29 PM

[up] I guess the organization is no longer obsolete when your own country's running out of patience for authority figures sending off peoples' kids to die in the Middle East. Might as well drag a few more countries' children with you.

God, I hope the European NATO contingent tells him to go piss up a rope.

Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#182660: Apr 12th 2017 at 2:46:22 PM

On the one hand, I really, really want to see someone even stupider and crazier than Trump campaign against him, because that would be hilarious. On the other hand, that exact kind of sentiment is what led Donald Trump to become President of the United States.

IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#182661: Apr 12th 2017 at 2:57:11 PM

The seats in green would flip if every race in 2018 flipped the way the KS-04 one from yesterday, 20 points towards the dems.

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#182662: Apr 12th 2017 at 3:06:21 PM

GOP Rep says Spicer Hitler talk not without some validity

Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said White House press secretary Sean Spicer's widely criticized remarks about Adolf Hitler and Syrian President Bashar Assad are "not without some validity."

“I can’t even believe that anybody in the media, much less all of the major networks, led with this story,” Cramer said Wednesday on KFYR-FM radio, as reported by CNN.

“[Spicer’s] a spokesman who, by the way, made a poor illustration, but it’s not completely, it’s not without some validity,” Cramer added.

Cramer added Spicer made “a factual statement” about the differences between Hitler and Assad.

“I think what he was saying is that Hitler didn’t take chemical weapons out in a battle-like form and do what Assad did with these children,” Cramer said. “I think [Spicer] apologized and that’s the end of it.”

Is this the Hill they really want to die on?

Come the fuck on.

New Survey coming this weekend!
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#182663: Apr 12th 2017 at 3:28:43 PM

Trump's budget director called Trump's promise to eliminate the National Debt, "hyperbole". Nothing we didn't already know, but still worth metioning.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/328424-budget-director-trumps-promise-to-eliminate-the-debt-was-hyperbole?amp

edited 12th Apr '17 3:29:09 PM by megaeliz

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#182664: Apr 12th 2017 at 3:41:06 PM

If Trump is telling the truth about NATO, thank fucking god. Let's hope his advisors keep him on the straight and narrow with regards to that policy.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#182665: Apr 12th 2017 at 3:43:06 PM

More and more, Trump is becoming less of an Alt-Right Nationalist and more of a Neocon.

Maybe the Trump administration won't suck as bad as it could've been? Obviously, it'll still suck, but still...

And of course, we need to get rid of as many Republicans as possible.

Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#182666: Apr 12th 2017 at 3:46:02 PM

I read this as the Brits being a tad optimistic. His position on NATO changed daily in February, and this is awfully convenient timing. Plus the talking points haven't changed...

It's possible that article is being lost in translation a bit.

It's a U-turn report. There's a political game we like to play in the UK - it's not officially, or even unofficially, regarded as a game, it's more like a minor obsession. We look for politicians who are engaging in U-turns. There are two types: the ones who engage in subtle U-turns, and the ones who engage in great big unmissable U-turns. What the two types have in common is that they'll deny it's a U-turn, no matter evidence is thrown at them.

The point of obsessing over U-turns is that it validates our sense that politicians cannot be trusted (unless they're saying what we want to hear - and that is all you need to know about the Brexit campaign). That's basically what the BBC article is doing - it's not being optimistic about Trump, it's basically saying the following:

'Here's our most recent report on why Trump can be considered either untrustworthy, incompetent or both. Yes, it's another U-turn... and, while we're on the subject, we're just going to list several other things he's flip-flopping and dithering about'. tongue

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#182667: Apr 12th 2017 at 3:52:07 PM

Pretty sad that a neocon, who is only going to fuck up domestically is the best result for a Trump admin (that isn't removed due to one legal incident or another).

Now if he would just back off on trade...

edited 12th Apr '17 3:52:17 PM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Journeyman Overlording the Underworld from On a throne in a vault overlooking the Wasteland Since: Nov, 2010
Overlording the Underworld
#182668: Apr 12th 2017 at 3:54:42 PM

Trump isn't anything. He's got people in his family who lean Neocon, and the idiot Alt-Righter who held the reins before was an idiot Alt-Righter who couldn't cozy up to the Neocons to get them to shoot themselves in the foot. Nothing more. We have a marionette in office. The puppet in chief.

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?
#182669: Apr 12th 2017 at 4:01:32 PM

[up][up][up]Thanks for that explanation.

edited 12th Apr '17 4:02:49 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
BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#182670: Apr 12th 2017 at 4:05:43 PM

I'm glad that those few people in NC failed to present a threat to gay marriage, but can we cool it with the ableist slurs? We can use better words than that to describe such homophobic bigots.

Do not obey in advance.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#182671: Apr 12th 2017 at 4:09:02 PM

[up]I like "scum" personally; its simple, effective and doesn't discriminate.

And if Trump is going to be a puppet, I'd rather the strings be held by Ivanka, Jared, the Military Industrial Complex, and big business than literal neo-Nazis.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#182673: Apr 12th 2017 at 4:27:38 PM

When were ableist slurs being used?

i'm tired, my friend
vandro Shop Owner from The little shop that wasn't Since: Jul, 2009
Shop Owner
#182674: Apr 12th 2017 at 4:30:18 PM

"Retards of my state failed to make gay marriage illegal" I am paraphrasing of course.

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#182675: Apr 12th 2017 at 4:33:32 PM

@Mad Skillz

It's well established at this point that a distressing number of voters genuinely believe what they see in memes, especially if shared by a friend. The assumption is their friend would not lie to them.

As for it only being dumb teenagers...I'll tell that to the woman in her late twenties (and all her friends) who screamed about how my fiancee was a Trump supporter and then blocked her because she dared to tell them that tear gas and nerve toxins aren't the same damn thing.


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