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

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#156776: Nov 18th 2016 at 9:17:06 PM

It tells me I have to subscribe to read.

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#156777: Nov 18th 2016 at 9:22:00 PM

...huh, so it does. It wasn't doing that when I first clicked it.

I quoted what I thought was the most salient point, though.

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#156778: Nov 18th 2016 at 9:48:12 PM

Holy shit! That nuke could destroy California at any second.

Maybe I should immigrate now instead of waiting to graduate.

InAnOdderWay Since: Nov, 2013
#156779: Nov 18th 2016 at 9:48:57 PM

Re: Internet: That was mostly just a little jab here and there. While I'd stop short at calling something like TV Tropes a "great place for a meeting of the minds", the internet has done some pretty cool things.

Can we stop discussing Republicans as one mammoth party? Not as an attempt to defend them at all, but just to understand that, if we're basically entering into 2-8 years of one-party dominance, those slight difference between the alt-right and the establishment and the moderates and the evangelicals and all the other fractals are going to become really, really important very, very shortly into Trump's term. For example, where the alt-right sees porn as a fine and dandy thing, the evangelicals would be far more strict on sexuality, which has real world effects into how the two would treat sex-ed differently.

Also folks he's not getting impeached. It would be literal political suicide for the Republican party, who up until 11 days ago were considered all but dead, to crucify the man who resurrected hope in the Republican party (and without conceding any ground to progressiveness, mind you). Trump would literally have to straight up sell the entire nation to Russia outright in order to get to the stage where such a thing would be on the table.

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#156780: Nov 18th 2016 at 9:57:19 PM

They named the nuclear weapon "Satan 2"? Subtle.

edited 18th Nov '16 9:57:45 PM by speedyboris

theLibrarian Since: Jul, 2009
#156781: Nov 18th 2016 at 10:00:05 PM

A missile like that is the whole reason we have those defense systems.

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#156782: Nov 18th 2016 at 10:06:12 PM

Meh, the Russians could already destroy America and there being fuck all we can do about it. It's why MAD works.

Oh really when?
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#156783: Nov 18th 2016 at 10:34:16 PM

So concerning Trump's extremely controversial white supremacist Cabinet picks...do you guys think he picked them because:

a) they did him a solid in the past, and he's repaying them now. Typical cronyism.

b) he's hellbent on furthering white supremacy

c) he's too insecure and paranoid to bring in anyone who didn't spend over a year sucking up to him

d) some combination of the above

We can definitely rule out merit.

edited 18th Nov '16 10:35:08 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#156784: Nov 18th 2016 at 10:39:37 PM

Probably a combination of A and C for the most part, leaning towards A. Trump has a history of rewarding his highly placed cronies, he considers it key to building needed relationships.

Most people call it corruption but its clear that little things like law don't apply anymore (at least to Republicans).

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#156785: Nov 18th 2016 at 10:42:01 PM

a) they did him a solid in the past, and he's repaying them now. Typical cronyism.

Partly but it seems like if that were completely true then Gingrich would've gotten a Cabinet position. He didn't.

b) he's hellbent on furthering white supremacy

I think Trump is a racist but he doesn't care too much about making America a whites-only nation. It's more that his advisors are racists.

c) he's too insecure and paranoid to bring in anyone who didn't spend over a year sucking up to him

I think he's enjoying watching the Republicans that opposed him humiliate themselves for him.

....I think the truth is that he's just listening to his awful advisors on who to pick and going off of his gut.

Trump has final say but it's Pence, Kushner and Bannon that are making the picks and playing the game of thrones.

edited 18th Nov '16 10:42:30 PM by MadSkillz

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#156786: Nov 18th 2016 at 10:44:36 PM

it's Pence, Kushner and Bannon that are making the picks

If that's really the case, I hope Trump pays more attention to Kushner. He's not a good guy by any means, but he's a more typical establishment guy. He's probably not gonna push too hard for any religious zealotry stuff like Pence or alt-right bigotry like Bannon.

edited 18th Nov '16 10:46:09 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#156787: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:05:45 PM

Here's a pretty good article on Jared Kushner.

Here's a snippet:

To people in the real estate community who have done business with Kushner — who presides over his father’s business empire and owns The New York Observer, a small Manhattan newspaper — the deal represented a snapshot of how he operates: as a political and policy novice who trusts his own judgment and vision and isn’t scared to plow ahead even when he knows little — much like his father-in-law, Donald Trump. Kushner is soft-spoken, mild-mannered, even a bit shy. But in New York City real estate and media circles, former colleagues and business associates paint a picture of a son-in-law who has much in common, under the surface, with the brash and braggadocious president-elect.

People who know Kushner say that like Trump, he sees himself as an outsider who, despite his Ivy League pedigree, scoffs at intellectual and cultural elites, and believes that, despite a mixed business track record, he possesses a “golden touch.”

Kushner — who married Ivanka Trump in 2009 at the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey, with the bride wearing an Ivanka Trump Collection six-carat cushion cut ring on her finger — is now poised to play a powerful role in his father-in-law’s White House. Whether he decides to take a job inside the administration or not, he will be one of a small circle of people who have the president’s full trust and his ear.

One Trump insider described Kushner as “the most powerful person after Donald himself” on the campaign and now in the transition team, because “nobody wants to cross the family.”

Kushner has recently lost a noticeable amount of weight, as he has become consumed in the frantic day-to-day of the transition. But he appears to be along for the ride.

“He drank the Kool-Aid,” shrugged one friend who supported Hillary Clinton’s campaign, but remains complimentary of Kushner. “He thought Donald had a shot at being president, and that he had a shot at helping him.” Kushner is loyal to his family, and his view on Trump’s more extreme comments, like a Muslim ban, the friend said, is: “That’s not him. Relax, he’s just saying these things to get elected.”

He's Trump-lite but he also doesn't think his father-in-law is serious about what he's said and supports gay rights and has given money to Democrats that supported the legalization of illegal immigrants.

On the other hand:

He was also in favor of bringing on the power structure that ultimately won Trump the election: the trifecta of Kellyanne Conway, Steve Bannon and David Bossie.

But he's also the grandson of Holocaust survivors. They're probably rolling in their graves at what he's doing though by courting the alt-right.

edited 18th Nov '16 11:05:57 PM by MadSkillz

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#156788: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:08:17 PM

[up] Yeah, he is not a good man. But IMHO, he is still not the worst of the lot. Which I guess says more about the rest of that den of vipers.

Disgusted, but not surprised
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#156789: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:14:19 PM

It seems like Kushner is trying to help Trump but they're both being manipulated by Steve Bannon who wants to destroy the conservative party to bring in his own version of an alt right party.

Trump wants to bring Jared Kushner into the White House.

But so far nepotism laws prevent him from doing so but they're trying to find a way around that. I think that if the Republicans really wanted to, they could use that as their impeachment material against Trump so they could bring Mike Pence in.

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#156790: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:17:33 PM

The elder Kushner spent 14 months behind bars. And while Jared Kushner and Christie publicly appeared to have put that behind them for the good of the Trump campaign, Kushner reportedly arranged for a plane to bring Pence to New York for the pivotal meeting that got him the job.

“Pence showing up caught Trump off guard and pretty much boxed in the decision,” the source told CBS News.

And yeah, Trump naming Mike Pence as his VP was also due to Kushner.

Actually, it looks like Kushner's advice is leading to some of the worst decisions that Trump makes.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one that proposed Jess Sessions for AG or if Bannon suggested it to him to whisper it into Trump's ear.

And this other article on him pretty much spells out that he's a whipping boy for Trump and eager to please which is probably one reason that Donald likes him so much.

edited 18th Nov '16 11:25:34 PM by MadSkillz

Joesolo Indiana Solo Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Indiana Solo
#156791: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:29:45 PM

Trump likes a yes-man? Color me surprised.

I'm not really capable of communicating the level of eye rolling I just did.

I'm baaaaaaack
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#156792: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:32:49 PM

So I'm getting the impression that Bannon is the one who is really in charge?

He's like a modern day Rasputin, except with worse grooming habits.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#156793: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:32:54 PM

One Trump insider described Kushner as “the most powerful person after Donald himself” on the campaign and now in the transition team, because “nobody wants to cross the family.”

Anyone else get a huge chill running through their body when they read this? Like, no matter what the guy's like, the fact that that's the attitude in there is terrifying to me.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#156794: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:34:18 PM

[up] <Cue the Godfather theme>

Disgusted, but not surprised
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
#156795: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:44:46 PM

I'm nervous, but I'm not quite feeling the doom and gloom quite yet. Maybe I'm just naive. Looking pretty bad though.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#156796: Nov 18th 2016 at 11:54:54 PM

[up] We're about to be saddled with an administration rife with incompetence, bigotry, nepotism, corruption, religious fundamentalism, warmongering, and regression that takes cues from The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Veep, and Idiocracy.

This is fine. This is totally normal. This is definitely not the end of American democracy as we know it. <Broken Smile>

edited 18th Nov '16 11:56:25 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#156797: Nov 19th 2016 at 12:03:46 AM

It'd make a hell of a TV show at least.

edited 19th Nov '16 12:05:54 AM by MadSkillz

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
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.
#156799: Nov 19th 2016 at 12:25:48 AM
AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#156800: Nov 19th 2016 at 12:29:21 AM

What else were they right about?


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