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

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#188951: May 14th 2017 at 10:45:50 PM

Lawmakers cannot be impeached. With a two-thirds majority of their house one can expel them, though.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#188952: May 14th 2017 at 10:51:06 PM

Aw man I missed a troll poster? I'm sad now.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#188953: May 14th 2017 at 10:53:01 PM

[up][up][up] Yeah I know, but he was the one who gave him the victory, not the nation itself.

edited 14th May '17 10:53:41 PM by Luigisan98

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#188954: May 14th 2017 at 10:55:51 PM

To be honest, it's a really weird case of life being stranger than fiction to me, more than anything else that's happened with this whole election. If we read a story where a man that is as much of a failure as Trump - emotionally, professionally, intellectually - became president, we would have regarded it as a complete farce before now. And the whole Russia angle makes it feel like some neo-cold war political thriller.

All that's happened afterwards seems like some pitch-black comedy meant to satirize the vapidity and stupidity of the american public - a president so buffoonish and inept he changes his mind depending on who's last talked to him, and acts like a petulant child anytime anyone says anything mean about him. A press secretary with some weird obsession with Dippin Dots and who hides in the bushes to get away from reporters, and who's terrible at assuaging anyone's anxieties about the complete incompetence of everything in the regime he's a part of. A party that has complete control of the government but which has such ridiculous purity tests that they actually undermine each other and fail to do any of the things they always said they would do.

edited 14th May '17 11:33:22 PM by Draghinazzo

unknowing from somewhere.. Since: Mar, 2014
#188955: May 14th 2017 at 11:24:34 PM

[up]that is why I dont like the tendecy of Many tropers here to put Trump Victory on one thing because it really a lot of factors going on, the more important is that also timming: Trump didnt really win that bigly and it show, he also came in a time were people were doubting in the demócrats and so on, is this was a series people would look bad as bizarro episode(or season)

"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#188956: May 14th 2017 at 11:25:42 PM

If this were a story imagine the entry on the Idiot Plot.

Probably have its own goddamn page, if not TWO to crank it Up To Eleven

New Survey coming this weekend!
unknowing from somewhere.. Since: Mar, 2014
#188957: May 14th 2017 at 11:28:54 PM

At this point I sugest to everyone to think this as sitcom and making their own trope Pages, it help a lotevil grin

edited 14th May '17 11:29:15 PM by unknowing

"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#188958: May 14th 2017 at 11:29:53 PM

[up] It'd be like Veep, but even more incoherent.

Edit: You guys may have been wondering why I've brought up the Puerto Rico debt crisis here.

It's partly because of Trump's asinine comments implying that he doesn't know Puerto Rico is part of the USA and that its people are American citizens.

It's also because I think Trump's win was similar to Puerto Rico's current mess in that it wasn't caused by any one major thing, but rather, a bunch of little things that built up over time. The Trump win was due to a lot of problems in America building up over a century. Puerto Rico's $120 billion debt crisis is thanks to the United States' long-running tradition of treating its territories like an afterthought, legal loopholes, and short-sighted decisions that made Puerto Rico into a feasting ground for businessmen.

edited 14th May '17 11:32:48 PM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Ingonyama Since: Jan, 2001
#188959: May 15th 2017 at 2:21:00 AM

Point of clarification: the article didn't say Ryan had accepted laundered money himself, but that he knew the GOP (or certain members) had done so and didn't rat them out. Even if this were true though, I'm not sure what he could be charged for this, or how it could result in him being removed from the House. As for why he (or Trump or Pence) would be impeached/removed, the logic seemed to be that once there was concrete proof of what they'd done via the indictments and the FBI's evidence, the Republicans would have no choice if they wanted to save themselves/their party, because such legal matters provide enough weight and fact as to be undeniable. Again though, I agree this seems highly unlikely, at least without more detail as to how/why this would happen.

Other than whatever Comey says in his testimony though, the thing to watch for is any arrests or further indictment information. And whether it comes out that Hatch (or Ryan) really is receiving such briefings.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#188960: May 15th 2017 at 2:23:59 AM

Those charges or revelations might not lead to impeachments, but could result in Nixon style resignations.

Trump also might have another problem with the FBI: finding someone willing to take the Director job.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/14/politics/woolsey-willing-cnntv/index.html

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#188961: May 15th 2017 at 2:27:06 AM

[up]I love how Woolsey says it'll be hard to find a good FBI director willing to work with a Bad Boss insecure manbaby like Trump.

edited 15th May '17 2:27:37 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#188962: May 15th 2017 at 2:42:53 AM

And the Dems are already looking for Republican Senators to cross the floor and help them block any politicized stooges. I doubt it will work, given how lock step and morally bankrupt the people in question are, but here's hoping.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#188963: May 15th 2017 at 2:55:46 AM

[up] Yes, relying on Congressional Republicans actually showing some decency and backbone is a bit of a crapshoot. Just look at how many of the House Reps were willing to vote for the AHCA without even fucking reading it.

edited 15th May '17 2:58:12 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#188964: May 15th 2017 at 4:47:30 AM

@Aszur: He was a terribly bad one, you didn't miss much.

Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#188965: May 15th 2017 at 4:59:12 AM

Dear Lord: when Trump's lawyer thinks that deliberately broadcasting softporn of his own daughter is perfectly OK, it kind of makes me wish the Nixonian president in office was Frank Underwood.

He'd never hire that kind of idiot to start with. tongue What is with these guys and perving on their own daughters? NOT NORMAL! (Ticks the "conflates own progeny with own achievements in damaging-for-them ways for a quick ego boost" box.)

edited 15th May '17 5:53:02 AM by Euodiachloris

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#188966: May 15th 2017 at 5:48:29 AM

[up] ...Dammit, I just ate too.

Why is there no vomiting emoticon here?!

Disgusted, but not surprised
Advarielle Homicidal Editor Since: Aug, 2016
Homicidal Editor
#188967: May 15th 2017 at 5:58:20 AM

Trump's lawyer thinks that deliberately broadcasting softporn of his own daughter is perfectly OK

That is just so wrong on so many level... And the republicans are supposed to be all about family values. Homosexual relationship is wrong, but implied (Is the word "implied" still necessary at this point?) incest is apparently okay.

Only an experienced editor who has a name possesses the ability to truly understand my work - What 90% of writers I'm in charge of said.
Reflextion from a post-sanity world (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
#188968: May 15th 2017 at 6:02:28 AM

The thing is, "family values" is their codeword for "Father rules absolutely, wife and children have no purpose in life beyond serving him and gratifying his ego, and no busybody cops or social workers can give Father grief about how he's 'abusing' them when he's toughening them up and/or disciplining them when they misbehave."

edited 15th May '17 6:03:17 AM by Reflextion

Someone did tell me life was going to be this way.
Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#188969: May 15th 2017 at 6:13:05 AM

A lot of the Republicans don't actually have an actual moral objection to homosexuality. They hate it because it goes against a warped version of "masculinity" that bears no resemblance to the actual concept.

I knew someone like that and it kind of worked like this for him. "Being a man means being in control of everything, including your wife and kids. If they do anything you don't like, that's a personal attack on you, because why else would they do it? Being gay is wrong because it means handing control over to another man which is the worst thing you can do." The guy was miserable, his wife had divorced him, he totally lost custody and access to his children becuase he tried to have his daughter arrested for dating a girl and he lashed out at everyone because he was obsessed with controlling everything.

That guy who posted that picture of his daughter clearly doesn't think of his daughter as an individual who happens to be his daughter. He thinks of her as his daughter (defined here as the old fashioned "daughter as property" concept) and she happens to have some hobbies that don't involve him.

Advarielle Homicidal Editor Since: Aug, 2016
Homicidal Editor
#188970: May 15th 2017 at 6:21:47 AM

[up][up] I also have that in my place. Stupid patriarchy.

[up] That is informative and so messed up at the same time. Thanks for the info. The more you know I guess.

Only an experienced editor who has a name possesses the ability to truly understand my work - What 90% of writers I'm in charge of said.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#188971: May 15th 2017 at 6:22:04 AM

Ironic that the party of "small government" is full of control freaks.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#188972: May 15th 2017 at 6:24:39 AM

It makes a certain sort of sense: if a man is supposed to be completely dominant in his world, then having other men (in the form of government) telling him what to do violates that sense of control. It's even worse if women are in charge, and there's a similar form of outrage at being "dominated" by men of different race/ethnicity.

edited 15th May '17 6:25:55 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
NoName999 Since: May, 2011
#188973: May 15th 2017 at 6:25:05 AM

Republicans plan massive cuts to programs for the poor because the Democrats claimed victory for the last funding agreement by doing nothing

Under enormous internal pressure to quickly balance the budget, Republicans are considering slashing more than $400 billion in spending through a process to evade Democratic filibusters in the Senate, multiple sources told POLITICO.

The proposal, which would be part of the House Budget Committee's fiscal 2018 budget, won't specify which programs will get the ax; instead it will instruct committees to figure out what to cut to reach the savings. But among the programs most likely on the chopping block, the sources say, are food stamps, welfare, income assistance for the disabled and perhaps even veterans’ benefits.

If enacted, such a plan to curb safety-net programs — all while juicing the Pentagon’s budget and slicing corporate tax rates — would amount to the biggest shift in federal spending priorities in decades.

Enraged by Democrats claiming victory after last month’s government funding agreement, White House officials in recent weeks have pressed Hill Republicans to include more Trump priorities in the fiscal 2018 blueprint.

House Budget Republicans hope to incorporate those wishes and are expected, for example, to budget for Trump’s infrastructure plan. Tax reform instructions will also be included in the budget, paving the way for both chambers to use the powerful budget reconciliation process to push a partisan tax bill through Congress on simple majority votes, as well as the $400 billion in mandatory cuts.

But while former Freedom Caucus conservative-turned-White House budget director Mick Mulvaney has tried to convince the president of the merits of such reforms, Trump has refused to back down on his campaign pledge to leave Medicare and Social Security alone. (He’s reversed himself on a vow not to touch Medicaid, which would see $880 billion in cuts under the Obamacare repeal bill passed by the House.)

Mulvaney, sources say, has been huddling on a weekly basis with House Budget Chairwoman Diane Black (R-Tenn.) and Senate Budget Chairman Mike Enzi (R-Wy.) to plot a path forward. There appears to be some common ground to consider cuts to other smaller entitlement programs: While the Office of Management and Budget would not respond to request for comment, CQ reported Tuesday that the White House was also considering hundreds of billions in cuts to the same programs being eyed by House budget writers.

“I’ve already started to socialize the discussion around here in the West Wing about how important the mandatory spending is to the drivers of our debt,” Mulvaney told radio host Hugh Hewitt in March. “There are ways that we can not only allow the president to keep his promise, but to help him keep his promise by fixing some of these mandatory programs.”

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#188974: May 15th 2017 at 6:25:21 AM

[up][up]Which I suppose explains why so many of them flipped their shit when Obama got elected twice.

edited 15th May '17 6:25:56 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#188975: May 15th 2017 at 6:41:00 AM

[up][up] Somebody send them to the asylums, please...

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.

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