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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
@Tobias Drake: Well to be fair, the US President technically can't declare war per se.
Leviticus 19:34Well, under the War Powers act, the president can put troops into combat for up to 60 days, with an additional 30 to make arrangements for withdrawal without an act of Congress. All the Pres has to do is give Congress 48 hours notice, and then he has that timeframe mentioned above to convince Congress to formally declare war.
Considering the bully pulpit of the Presidency and the weakness of Congress and the reluctance of most of them to take a stand on anything, one could argue that an authoritarian President could easily lambast Congress in the media for refusing to take action if they don't pass an act with that timeframe and "let good Americans die for nothing in the fight for freedom against a terrible dictator like Kim", or something along those lines.
I doubt it would work for Trump, whose popularity is slowly oozing away and whose strongest supporters favor isolationism, but you never know. I've given up trying to figure out this world.
And all the reassurances about how war is more or less impossible would be more reassuring if we lived in a world that did bother to make some sort of sense, or had leaders with basic intelligence and decency. Note that I'm not saying it' going to happen or even likely, but ruling out anything in this world of ours because "It wouldn't make sense, it wouldn't be possible, there are laws against it" looks more like hoping for the world to work the way it should than acknowledging the forces that are actually in play in reality.
| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-nafta-deadline-tariff-mexico-canada-1.4590588
The absolute worst thing to do right now would be to give in.
Which means he's just proven to the international community that his tariffs have nothing to do with national security. It'll now be easy for a case to be made to the WTO that Trump's tariffs are illegal.
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.If only there was a way of dismissing congress and transferring emergency powers to the President!
edited 24th Mar '18 11:39:39 AM by Ultimatum
have a listen and have a link to my discord serveredited 24th Mar '18 12:35:36 PM by Fourthspartan56
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangYeah I wouldn't be surprised if he just sees his probable collusion as merely just helping a friend, corruption is a way of life for him and probably doesn't seem special in the slightest.
edited 24th Mar '18 12:36:31 PM by Fourthspartan56
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangRegarding Trump and North Korea, you just have to look at the calculus this way.
Any North Korean strike results in the 100% guaranteed destruction of their country. If Trump tweets that he's going to nuke, their options are either a preemptive strike, leading to the 100% guaranteed destruction mentioned above, or waiting and doing nothing. Doing nothing is the winning choice every time because a tweet from Trump may or may not actually translate into action.
If we're really serious about war with North Korea, it won't be coming through a tweet. Everyone here remembers the lead up to the Iraq war, it was basically a full court press from all the top members of the administration, as well as over a year of military maneuvering to get in place. It's not as simple as Trump tweeting war and the troops marching out no questions asked.
They should have sent a poet.![]()
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Remember that this is a man who has admitted that his own idea of what his net worth is depends on his mood.
edited 24th Mar '18 12:40:21 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprisedI saw this little informal poll
on Twitter:
If high school students had "fetuses" in them, and got shot at while in school.
Do you think the right would defend the gun or the unborn?
The three options were
- Gun
- Unborn
- But'err'emails
I feel like you would make their heads explode with the contradiction.
You know it's true though.
edited 24th Mar '18 12:48:30 PM by megaeliz
That reminds me of a very early episode of Law & Order about the bombing of an abortion clinic. The woman responsible felt no guilt at all for the act up until the moment the prosecutor asked her "if abortion is murder, then whatever you feel about the victim, aren't you responsible for the murder of her unborn child?". The Armor-Piercing Question left her stunned into silence.
edited 24th Mar '18 12:52:18 PM by sgamer82
It doesn't bother me but it doesn't especially amuse me either, just seems boring.
That... is rather unbelievable. The kind of person who would bomb an abortion clinic would be so full of cognitive dissonance that they would be completely immune to such tactics.
edited 24th Mar '18 12:52:40 PM by Fourthspartan56
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang

Sounds like it makes Trump's inauguration look like a microscopic dot upon a microscopic dot labeled "you are here".
edited 24th Mar '18 10:24:23 AM by sgamer82