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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
#244826: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:01:17 PM

On Trump being re-elected, yes the possibility is greater than zero and it can't be dismissed.

And honestly you can't dismiss the rest of the republican voter base simply drinking Kool Aid and voting Trump again because he is our guy and specially with the shift towards white nationalist identity politics allowing Trump to rally a depressingly large amount of voters.

Besides, the Democrats will have to pick someone charismatic enough and without a reputation that has been tarnished and demonized by the Republican Propaganda Machine for almost 30 years and most importantly, hope that by 2020 the Democrat Party kicks out voter apathy and if the 2018 blue tide solidifies in the Congress, also fight the district Gerrymandering and voter suppression.

Never taking things for granted is the safest bet for the Dems.

Also, on the Silicon Valley libertarians.

You can thank the Republican Luddites and anti-intellectualism driving them off, into either supporting the Democrats, which they might see as less hostile towards their goals and developments, or being lukewarm towards the Democrats because they at least don't support policies that are inherently against the Silicon Valley interests like protectionism and global warming denial. Which are things that do harm the Sil Val directly due to the alternative energy sources being heavily invested on Sil Val technologies.

Inter arma enim silent leges
nightwyrm_zero Since: Apr, 2010
#244827: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:04:30 PM

Why not the best of both worlds and for him to be voted out in Nov 2020 and then impeached in the month before he leaves. [lol]

fruitpork Since: Oct, 2010
#244828: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:04:44 PM

My biggest concern for the democrats is Bernie Sanders. He’s a massive spoiler and has already made disapproving noises about Kamala Harris, as well as outright hijacking Cory Booker’s work guarantees and making it look like it was his idea.

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#244829: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:13:15 PM

Bernie Sanders could've brought so much enthusiasm to the Democratic Party if he had given up on them after losing once like a bitch. Seriously, he writes about how Dems need to shift leftward, yet he refuses to run as a Democrat anymore despite knowing the kind of influence he has and how could (and would) bring the party where he wants it to go.

Like, is that the kind of President people want? Something who tries one go at something and just says "fuck it" if it doesn't work out?

i'm tired, my friend
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#244830: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:18:33 PM

[up] Given who we have now, I'd have to say "Yes, yes it is."

edited 8th Jun '18 8:18:44 PM by sgamer82

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#244831: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:19:47 PM

I mean, "better than Trump" is still an incredibly low standard.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#244832: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:20:31 PM

You can't compare Trump to anything without it being an Insult to Rocks

RainingMetal (Handed A Sword) Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#244833: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:22:39 PM

Bernie would probably work better on the sidelines than as an actual presidential candidate. You can't say he doesn't have the lazy voters wrapped around his pinky finger. He just needs to co-operate with the Democrats rather than compete.

ASAB: All Sponsors Are Bad.
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#244834: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:23:30 PM

Oh my god. 😀 [1]

Great spy story tonight on the FOX Fiction Channel!!

This one —featuring Obama 007 — is better than a James Bond movie!

It would be even more fun if Kellyanne could work in her spying microwave oven!

Tomorrow I have to go back to the real world ....

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/richard-painter-battles-tucker-carlson-over-spygate-is-fox-a-news-channel-or-a-fiction-channel/amp/

The interview is worth a watch, if only to see the lengths Fox News has to go to try to make anything out of "spy-gate"

edited 8th Jun '18 8:25:54 PM by megaeliz

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#244835: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:26:05 PM

Anyone else imaging Barack Obama in a snappy suit escaping a death trap set by Trump, who's watching while he's grabbing his favorite pussy(cat)?

Demongodofchaos2 Face me now, bitch! from In a Cultivation World (Ancient one) Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Face me now, bitch!
#244836: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:28:07 PM

I Imagine Obama as more of an Ace Attorney that points his finger at Trump and makes him breakdown.

...While also wearing a nice suit.

Watch Symphogear
fruitpork Since: Oct, 2010
#244837: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:30:13 PM

Obama could point his finger at trump completely innocuously and he would have a breakdown.

Demongodofchaos2 Face me now, bitch! from In a Cultivation World (Ancient one) Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Face me now, bitch!
#244838: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:37:23 PM

Trumps Hair would fly off like Winston Payne. tongue

Watch Symphogear
TrashJack Confirmed Doomer from beyond the Despair Event Horizon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Confirmed Doomer
#244839: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:38:02 PM

[up]x4: I want to live in that movie's world.

[up]x3: Or that. Basically, any world where the villains can actually lose at the hands of just one heroic and dedicated individual instead of this one where societal apathy (particularly voter apathy) lets bastard-coated bastards get away with murder.

edited 8th Jun '18 8:40:15 PM by TrashJack

"Cynic, n. — A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be." - The Devil's Dictionary
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
Steven (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#244841: Jun 8th 2018 at 8:58:40 PM

Obama could just stare at Trump and it would set the man child off.

Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.
Demongodofchaos2 Face me now, bitch! from In a Cultivation World (Ancient one) Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Face me now, bitch!
#244842: Jun 8th 2018 at 9:04:41 PM

Ohhh, too bad, Trump.

I could see obama doing that.

Watch Symphogear
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#244843: Jun 8th 2018 at 9:06:04 PM

Obama made fun of him once over his birther crap. Once. And he has never let that go.

Our President, everyone!

Disgusted, but not surprised
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#244844: Jun 8th 2018 at 9:14:29 PM

You can't say he doesn't have the lazy voters wrapped around his pinky finger. He just needs to co-operate with the Democrats rather than compete.

That's what I'm saying. If he really wanted a leftward shift in the party, he'd endorse Dem candidates he liked or encourage people with progressive ideals to run Democrat. But because he didn't win the primaries, he took his toys and went home.

He's a petty dickhole.

i'm tired, my friend
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#244845: Jun 8th 2018 at 9:18:35 PM

I mean, how much influence does he really have if the people he backs keep losing?

fruitpork Since: Oct, 2010
#244846: Jun 8th 2018 at 9:19:03 PM

Enough to cause a spoiler effect, at least.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#244847: Jun 8th 2018 at 9:25:41 PM

Renato Mariotti thread about the Manafort Superseding indictments (https://twitter.com/renato_mariotti/status/1005161959761772544?s=21)

THREAD: What does today's superseding indictment of Paul Manafort and suspected Russian intelligence operative Konstantin Kilimnik mean for Mueller's investigation?

1/ Today the grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging Paul Manafort with additional crimes. Manafort was already charged in two separate indictments (one in D.C., one in Virginia) with multiple crimes.

2/ This "superseding" indictment replaces the D.C. indictment and adds new charges against Manafort. Specifically it adds charges that Manafort and Kilimnik conspired to obstruct justice by working together to tamper with witnesses. Here is the indictment

3/ These are the same facts that Mueller already brought to the court's attention when he moved to revoke Manafort's bond. Now Mueller obtained an indictment adding those charges as separate crime. A reason he may have done that is to allow him to prove the obstruction at trial.

4/ If Mueller didn't add the obstruction as a separate charge, he still could have tried to use Manafort's efforts to tamper with witnesses as evidence of his state of mind, but Manafort's attorneys would have tried to exclude that evidence.

5/ Now that evidence comes in at trial because the jury has to determine whether Manafort is guilty of conspiring to obstruct justice. That evidence would likely be extremely damaging to Manafort at trial—if he was innocent, why would he try to engage in witness tampering?

6/ The judge can still revoke Manafort's bond if Mueller pushes forward with his motion. As I explained here with fellow @just_security editor @alexgwhiting, I expect Manafort's bond to be revoked

7/ One interesting point about the new indictment is that it does not set forth any allegations about what Manafort and Kilimnik did. Typically, when prosecutors charge a conspiracy, they set forth in detail in the indictment what it is.

8/ But Manafort's indictment was already very complicated—Mueller charged two other conspiracy counts in the same indictment. The conspiracy to obstruct justice is fairly narrow as a factual matter compared to the wide-ranging activity already charged.

9/ So adding additional factual detail about the witness tampering might have made it harder for the jury to make sense of the complicated indictment.

10/ From Manafort's perspective, this puts him in an even worse position, but his position was already extremely difficult. He faces many serious charges, and if he does not believe he will receive a pardon, he should plead guilty and cooperate with Mueller.

11/ The indictment is more significant from a broader perspective. It is Mueller's first indictment charging an American and a Russian for working together to commit a crime. He charged the former chair of Trump's campaign and a suspected Russian intel operative with conspiracy.

12/ "Collusion" is not a legal term. Conspiracy is. But if Trump's campaign chair conspiring with a suspected Russian operative isn't "collusion," what is? This should force the Trump team and the media to change their narrative regarding "collusion." /end

edited 8th Jun '18 9:58:31 PM by megaeliz

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#244848: Jun 8th 2018 at 9:41:03 PM

TL;DR?

i'm tired, my friend
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#244849: Jun 8th 2018 at 9:59:44 PM

[up] Manafort got hit with another indictment today, which also indicted a Russian associate of his, with ties to Russian Intel.

edited 8th Jun '18 10:00:05 PM by megaeliz

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#244850: Jun 8th 2018 at 11:16:03 PM

Sanders' influence is negligible. Right now, he's empowering a lot of nuisance candidates to take potshots at establishment Democrats and that's about it.

Frankly, he's a textbook case of You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!. The guy's original intent to get into the race to push some new ideas was a good one. His near-victory gave Clinton a nudge to move left and openly embrace more progressive positions. But after that rush, he embraced a myth of "I've been robbed of the election" and clung to his outsider cred to the detriment of the party, instead of bringing his ideas and organization in to strengthen the party while leading it toward progressive causes.


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