U.S. Presidential Election 2016 (Sponsored by Betty Croker's Hamburger Helper)

[phonics]

It's Devin Nunes, it's nothing.

[Henry]

I've just read through the first few pages of this thread. LOL at all of us and our naivety.

[Spoonsky]

People forget how much Mert donned us senseless.

The naivety is still real though. "There's no way he'll win in 2020" is something I hear a lot over here.

[Lewis]

954788467069870081

:harold:

[Pepe]

People forget how much Mert donned us senseless.

Especially a few days before the election when he bottled it.

[Shindig]

People forget how much Mert donned us senseless.

The naivety is still real though. "There's no way he'll win in 2020" is something I hear a lot over here.

When to Democrat hopefuls start showing their hand? Two years out, they should be pushing someone.

[Byron]

They're probably waiting to see how the mid-terms pan out, considering there's a good chance they can reclaim the Senate then.

I did hear Hilary wants another stab at it. I mean, why? You're done at this point love, you and your slightly robotic face.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Dems' best bet is to find a black woman or someone who thoroughly dominates the moral high ground against him (unlike Crooked Hillary).

[Lewis]

I reckon that braindead they send to the United Nations will be the next President (after another term of President Donald J. Trump).

[Jimmy Floyd]

He'll never live that long, or it'll get like the latter days of Churchill's second stint where he was running the country from his bed.

[ItalAussie]

Dems' best bet is to find a black woman or someone who thoroughly dominates the moral high ground against him (unlike Crooked Hillary).

Kamala Harris/Cory Booker ticket. :nodd:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Exactly. What's he going to say to a black woman opponent without starting a race war?

[ItalAussie]

Exactly. What's he going to say to a black woman opponent without starting a race war?

I doubt that'd stop him, for what it's worth. I mean, the Pocahontas stuff was pretty bad, and Trump's just not capable of holding back his racism for that long.

[Bernanke]

Doesn't Booker have some really questionable baggage?

[Shindig]

More questionable than Trump?

[phonics]

Bookers an absolute shitshow.

Ps love you thinking the idea of Trump being mean to Black people would be an issue. That's 35% of the vote wrapped up there.

[Jimmy Floyd]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42856065

They'll never learn, will they?

[phonics]

Remember when she spent a month in the woods? That was a good month.

Meanwhile, the DCCC are blocking progressive candidates in an attempt to woo suburban Republicans...

https://theintercept.com/2018/01/23/dccc-democratic-primaries-congress-progressives/

They're checking your phone address list and if you can't raise 250k off those individuals you're not allowed on the ballot. This is despite Beto O'Rourke raising more than Ted Cruz despite refusing to take money from corporations.

[randomlegend]

Sounds like Trump went full fascist in his State of the Union Address.

Lol America.

[John]

He was also letting people pay thirty five dollars a pop to get their name run along the bottom of the screen on his own personal livestream of it.

[Henry]

The most alarming thing, of a long list, was the bit where he labelled virtually the entire world as "enemies of America".

[mikem]

People forget how much Mert donned us senseless.

The naivety is still real though. "There's no way he'll win in 2020" is something I hear a lot over here.

This is why I think the Bernie progressive millennial wing is going to be disappointed again. I go to the county party meetings here in AZ and it is dominated by women in their 30’s and 40’s who are all politics all the time. Unless something weird happens it looks 50 / 50 to take the House this year. I’d be shocked if D’s took the Senate. Picking up two to three seats while defending Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, and West Virginia?

Right now I’d bet on Gillibrand, but everyone is going to run in 2020. It is more likely to be someone totally under the radar now like Klobucher or totally off the wall like Beto, Jason Kander, or Doug Jones. We should all be begging Sherrod Brown to run.

[Pepe]

Just use your lamest duck so that Trump lols her off and focus on 2024.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Wikipedia has The Rock as a potential candidate for both Republicans and Democrats, which just about sums up America.

[Disco]

Mick Foley for VP.

[mikem]

Just use your lamest duck so that Trump lols her off and focus on 2024.

Totally agree, and to me those three are Biden, Bernie, and Warren. Oh and Marco Rubio, I mean Booker.

[Ian]

Wikipedia has The Rock as a potential candidate for both Republicans and Democrats, which just about sums up America.

It doesn't matter what his party is.

Or, joking aside, from what I've read it sounds like he's basically a Republican who's trying to pretend he isn't.

[phonics]

It's still odd to me that The Rock knew Bin Laden had been killed before anyone else.

[Disco]

That's a loose interpretation of anyone.

[phonics]

I'm pretty sure the list of people goes Seal Team 6, Bin Laden, The Rock, Obama so almost anyone.

[Kikó]

Bin Laden probably knew he was killed before the seal team.

[phonics]

Bin Laden probably knew he was killed before the seal team.

Depends on if you believe in the afterlife. Technically, do you ever know?

[Disco]

A team of heavily armed Americans bursting into your bedroom is definitely a clue, I doubt he thought they were there to check the gas meter.

How did Dwayne find out then? Presumably not before all those people we saw watching it on telly (unless that was a staged shot for us mooks).

[phonics]

Don't wrestlers spend loads of time on military bases? I know the WWE films seem to be big on their 'American soliders killing people is good shit' with that The Marine series.

I can imagine The Rock has done some Seal training in the past considering even Tiger Woods has done it.

[Ian]

WWE go abroad to some military base or another at least once a year, probably more.

[Kikó]

The class of 92 sent the rock to kill Bin Laden

[Disco]

Yeah, the WWE used to fly out and do shows in military bases every year so I'd assume they have other tie ins.

[Ian]

#ITKiko. :drool:

[phonics]

Holy shit, Muller has indicted 13 Russians for basically committing electioneering fraud and the Trump campaign being in contact with but unwitting agents in the whole thing. This is hyuge.

Charges:
• Conspiracy to defraud the United States
• Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud
• Aggravated identity theft

I'll leave the serious analysis for others but tres lol:

964564828512768000

[Spikey M]

‘Tres lol’

Go on Magic. That’s worth your last warning point.

[ItalAussie]

Woah, this looks bad.

[Shindig]

Oh, wow. I don't even know how you respond to that.

[Raoul Duke]

The key phrase is "this indictment" - this one is purely focussed on Russians, implying that there's more to come. Trump, the absolute fucking asshat, has just come out and said 'nothing to see here, move along' as per usual.

[Magic]

Untouchable. :drool:

[phonics]

968502680762003458

The announcement in question? That sitting President Donald Trump will run for President in 2020...

[Bernanke]

This Sam Nunberg stuff is crazy.

https://abload.de/img/screenshot2018-03-05a28j12.png

This whole interview is worth it:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPEkmX2Y2tA&feature=youtu.be

"They wanna arrest me, then arrest me." - Guy who was arrested

[phonics]

1) He's clearly drunk
2) He's friends with Roger Stone and Steve Bannon and going on MSNBC followed by CNN but not FOX or Breitbart. This is pure bad faith to get them to report on 'Fake News'.

[phonics]

971515451820953601

Looks like Jack Thompson, the disbarred lawyer and also the guy behind the lawsuits against 2 Live Crew and Grand Theft Auto is going to be at the 'Gaming Is Evil' meeting tomorrow.

[ItalAussie]

971515451820953601

Looks like Jack Thompson, the disbarred lawyer and also the guy behind the lawsuits against 2 Live Crew and Grand Theft Auto is going to be at the 'Gaming Is Evil' meeting tomorrow.

This is like, when someone knows an argument is lost, so they just start lashing out at whatever they can hit. The really amazing thing about the Republicans is not even that they're evil. It's that they all seem to just suck as people.

That said, the US is as close to a corpocracy as I think anyone would currently be willing to allow. They're all bought and sold.

[phonics]

The ESA does it's fair share of buying and selling which is what makes this surprising. I figure Trump doesn't realize the only base he was below 65 is Gamers who shout the n word at you in CoD.

[Shindig]

Florida's pushed their gun control up to the Senate. Age of ownership up to 21 and a three day waiting period is proposed. A step in the right direction, if it makes it. Although that might just lead to more 21 year-old school shooters.

[phonics]

971852881681944581

[Lewis]

He saved that dead dad thing pretty well.

This Korea stuff is good. Just imagine if he solved this by mouthing off on Twitter. Every 'expert' everywhere would be discredited, and he would probably get some sort of post-France Adolf Hitler confidence boost and become even worse. :drool:

[phonics]

Hasn't NKs goal been to get to sit down with a US President for about 30 years? It allows them to say they're on equal footing with the US.

Remember when Bill had to fly over there to pick up those to tourists they'd taken prisoner?

[Lewis]

The not sitting down policy has clearly been a roaring success.

[Pepe]

Odds on them becoming best buds and deciding to take over the world together?

[Lewis]

If he won the Nobel Peace Prize I would do my best to get to the ceremony.

[mikem]

It will be as successful as the DACA, healthcare, immigration, and gun summits have been. This one may be mildly interesting because for the first time both parties will only care about how they can spin it.

We all just have to accept the Norks have nukes and get on with life.

[Pepe]

If he won the Nobel Peace Prize I would do my best to get to the ceremony.

That would be great. :drool:

It is all pointless of course. Yet if 'Hillary' was the one talking to Kim, even if it was about the weather, everyone would be giving it large about how great of a diplomat she is.

[Pepe]

We all just have to accept the Norks have nukes and get on with life.

That would be nice.

[phonics]

Everything will be fine because they're currently working on a plan to give them to Saudi Arabia.

[mikem]

Everything will be fine because they're currently working on a plan to give them to Saudi Arabia.

That is the appropriate fear in terms of a proliferation explosion but since weÂ’d have to give it to them it seems a small one.

Obviously I donÂ’t think the Trump admin should do this because it is outside their competency, but if the desired result is denuclearization the problem was insoluble anyway.

[mikem]

That would be nice.

Just imagine if those of us on the left could ever start doing that with Trump? He doesn’t do details or policy so his admin is only dangerous on issues that other people in his admin care about. Just focus on all the graft they are up to while cutting themselves a tax break. We make it such hard work.

[Lewis]

This (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/style/the-man-who-knew-too-little.html) is good, but it's still a MELTDOWN so lol.

[Lewis]

973037112642580480

Mate he's funny.

[Bernanke]

Rex is out.

[phonics]

The day after he came out about Russia while Sanders wouldn't. Definitely not suspicious.

[Lewis]

The Assad Curse strikes again.

[Henry]

Is there anyone at all left in a major role from the very start? Pence, I suppose.

[Bernanke]

Donald. :baz:

[Pepe]

The only one that matters.

[niko_cee]

According to the Associated Press, White House chief of staff John Kelly called Mr Tillerson on Friday and advised him to watch out for a presidential tweet about him.

:D

That's so lol if true (and I have no reason to believe it wouldn't be).

[Lewis]

976765417908776963

:lol:

[Spikey M]

Imagine if we had elected Corbyn. Those 2 donning shit like the Chuckle Brothers. Shame we elected a personality vacuum.

[Henry]

Jesus.

What did Biden say?

[Lewis]

Something like he would have filled him in at high school for disrespecting women. Alright, big man.

[Magic]

I hope someone does a gif but instead of CNN it's Biden.

[Bernanke]

Bolton in, McMaster out.

Someone is getting bombed before mid-terms. Is it the Koreans? Iranians? Maybe a wild-card? Find out in 3-6 months.

[Lewis]

Crazy Joe Biden's house.

[Henry]

John Bolton is a disgrace to the human race. Fucking scumbag.

The world just became quite a bit more dangerous.

[Shindig]

Bolton in, McMaster out.

Someone is getting bombed before mid-terms. Is it the Koreans? Iranians? Maybe a wild-card? Find out in 3-6 months.

Austin.

[Henry]

John Bolton wrote an article last month titled "The Legal case for Striking North Kora First". :facepalm:

Given that Trump has also replaced his head lawyer with a conspiracy theorist clown, I'm thinking he'll try to start a war before the midterms and in the chaos will make moves against Mueller.

According to the Michael Wolff book, there were three primary influences on Trump:

Bannon, representing the fascist crazies.
Priebus, representing the "mainstream" Republican position.
Kushner, representing something of a Goldman Sachs Democrat view.

I wonder if these decisions are a consequence of Jared Kushner declining in influence.

[Kikó]

Henry Do you think America could lurch to authoritarianism (especially if Trump is reelected)? He seems to be burning all the checks and balances in place with his skeleton staff and off the cuff decisions.

[Henry]

Henry Do you think America could lurch to authoritarianism (especially if Trump is reelected)? He seems to be burning all the checks and balances in place with his skeleton staff and off the cuff decisions.

Depends what you mean. It's been becoming more "authoritarian" in some respects for a long time. I don't think he'll be able to do any serious damage to the institutions.

[phonics]

976866444532207616

I just assume there are genuine worms in his brain at this point.

[Shindig]

Now I've got a picture in my head of some guy touring him around an empty hangar.

[Disco]

The Emperors New Strikefighter.

[John]

He wants the plane from Wonder Woman.

[John]

976519270510333953

Paul Ryan's comms director with the most obviously fake text message I've ever seen.

Hello friend, I must remind you of not only what you said, but where you said it and what we were eating at the time.

[Pepe]

A tax cut means you'll pay less in tax. Who knew?

[phonics]

I do love when Rick Santorum, someone who must be one of the genuinely unintelligent people to ever run for President, pops up. Today he's chastised the nationwide marches over this weekend as teens looking for other people to solve their problems and instead of marching for gun control, should learn CPR :D

[phonics]

Trumps lawyer has just been raided because of the whole pornstar thing.

[Lewis]

I'm obviously not watching the full thing, but Mark CUCKerberg admitting Facebook is responsible for the content they host seems like a big deal (and lol at him sitting on a cushion the manlet).

[Pepe]

Isn't that the way those things always work? Corporation agrees that they've been bad ones but promise to be good from now on. Politicians give it the big 'un, pretending to have the people's interests at heart. Then once it is over everyone goes back to doing the same shit they have always done.

[Lewis]

Yeah when it's some shit like polluting the water table.

[phonics]

984020136255541248

Mate when you're obstructing justice you're not supposed to say it.

[mikem]

Isn't that the way those things always work? Corporation agrees that they've been bad ones but promise to be good from now on. Politicians give it the big 'un, pretending to have the people's interests at heart. Then once it is over everyone goes back to doing the same shit they have always done.

You have hearings on issues you are not serious about passing legislation on.

[ItalAussie]

You have hearings on issues you are not serious about passing legislation on.

Yeah. Hearings give you a chance to grandstand and be in front of cameras, even when the actual situation will go nowhere.

The seventy-three different hearings about Benghazi was a good example of that.

[Magic]

Yeah. Hearings give you a chance to grandstand and be in front of cameras, even when the actual situation will go nowhere.

The seventy-three different hearings about Benghazi was a good example of that.

Get in the football thread you big brained freak.

[randomlegend]

373054743742275584

All these tweets from Trump on Obama announcing the airstrikes in Syria really are great.

[John]

You can find a tweet from him in the Obama era saying he wouldn't do just about everything he does on a daily basis.

[Shindig]

The Contrarian Candidate.

[randomlegend]

You can find a tweet from him in the Obama era saying he wouldn't do just about everything he does on a daily basis.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TrumpCriticizesTrump

Yeah I know, not sure why these ones tickled me in particular.

[Raoul Duke]

My favourite name for this is Nostradumbass

[John]

The latest SCOTUS nominee is a fucking peach. When asked if she agreed with Brown vs BOE - the ruling which desegregated schools - she went on some ramble about not wanting to speak against her potential boss's decision.

There are two possibilities there, either she disagrees with the ruling, or she doesn't know what that case was about based on name alone. I think it's the latter, because there were no specifics in her ramble, and everyone involved in the decision is long gone, so none of them will be her 'boss'.

They should have immediately ended the hearing and set her on fire.

[phonics]

She's definitely not a SCOTUS nominee.

[John Arne]

If you listen to the full clip - she clearly knows what the case is, and is answering a specific question as to whether it was the right decision at the time, as per the laws at the time. The "potential boss" was referencing the Supreme Court.

That's not to say that she isn't a rambling mess. https://youtu.be/xfT5OB6Wj_Y

[mikem]

The story on that one should be “How do you manage to botch the post-Thomas absolute gold standard US federal judge appointee answer on a gimmie case like Brown vs Board of Ed.? How are you that incompetent?” She and her husband are two of the worst people in Louisiana but that story is cheap garbage.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Who is the very worst person in Louisiana?

[Pepe]

Mert.

[mikem]

Who is the very worst person in Louisiana?

Historical or current category? We have too many to chose from. We like to keep the field competitive.

There is a Democratic governor in an R +18 lean state because her husband was the one political casualty of the DC madam case a few years ago. So, I’d put them in the running based on your definition of worst.

[phonics]

I was reminded of Elliott Spitzer today.

Now that was a scandal. Make sex scandals great again.

[phonics]

Historical or current category? We have too many to chose from. We like to keep the field competitive.

There is a Democratic governor in an R +18 lean state because her husband was the one political casualty of the DC madam case a few years ago. So, I’d put them in the running based on your definition of worst.

Mike you should check out 'Mic Dicta', I swear it's not just because of the name, its a bunch of lefty/weird/gamer twitter people who are also lawyers in various posts discussing specific 3 cases each week. A lot of the cases and the lawyers are in the South. It's v funny and you also learn quite a bit about all the systems and how they're abused.

I think 1 through 4 are some of the most enjoyable listens I've ever had. https://soundcloud.com/micdicta

[Bernanke]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmtzXE3q4iw

[phonics]

https://i.imgur.com/80pnDvp.png

Barbara Bush died last year according to this official press release. Weird that no-one mentioned it at the time.

[ItalAussie]

So is there anything particularly ominous about Hannity and Trump sharing a lawyer? We already knew that Hannity had a part-time job under Trump's desk, so it doesn't seem that much of a surprise.

[Lewis]

North Korea is expressing a will for a complete denuclearisation. They have not attached any conditions that the US cannot accept, such as the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea. All they are expressing is the end of hostile policies against North Korea, followed by a guarantee of security.

No idea what that means, but what would be funnier: Trump getting in on the Nobel Peace Prize (via spouting off on Twitter), or them spitefully refusing to give him any credit whilst having to honour North Korea?

[John Arne]

Yesterday, some opinion piece in The Guardian managed to criticize Trump for potentially helping negotiate North Korea's denuclearisation. Peek seeth.

[Henry]

In the context of the Korean peninsula, "denuclearisation" effectively means "Yankee go home". Which is reasonable, but they won't do it.

[phonics]

The entire crux of it is that they want denuclearisation whether the Americans stay on the DMZ or not which is pretty good tbf.

[Henry]

The entire crux of it is that they want denuclearisation whether the Americans stay on the DMZ or not which is pretty good tbf.

That's what the South Koreans reported their interpretation to be, but I have my doubts. There's only one other nuclear power on the peninsula so that kind of "denuclearisation" is effectively North Korean capitulation.

[Spikey M]

Trump has pictures of Big Kim balls deep in his dad, it’s the only explanation for this.

[niko_cee]

The idea of Trump donning (ahem) the world with KOMPROMAT is too good to be true.

[Spikey M]

Should give him Obamas Peace Prize.

[Shindig]

He's already Time's man of last year.

[John]

Hitler won that, and Stalin won it twice.

[Shindig]

Household names, John.

[Lewis]

http://i63.tinypic.com/ncm9zc.png

He really does have the best timeline ever. I wonder what he was doing between each of those tweets.

[phonics]

Watching Fox & Friends, he's literally reciting each segment about 15 minutes after it airs.

[Lewis]

Some geezer was keeping track of all the famous people who unfollowed Kanye West over the past couple of days. What a set of whoppers.

[phonics]

TBF I also unfollowed him but that's because he tweets too much and it's all a load of wank.

I don't care about your marble basement mate. Fuck off.

[Mazuuurk]

Bet he's gonna fuck right off mate.

[Pepe]

Did he get more unfollows than Shania Twain?

[phonics]

Lol at Chance having to come out and tell Trump to fuck off after the above tweet.

[John]

Unless he's given an interview I haven't seen yet, that's not even nearly what he did.

[Bam]

TBF I also unfollowed him but that's because he tweets too much and it's all a load of wank.

I don't care about your marble basement mate. Fuck off.

I'm sure that'll bother him, you nutcase. :wanker:

[Dquincy]

Trump at an NRA conference today.

http://news.sky.com/story/trump-says-guns-would-have-put-a-stop-to-paris-terror-attack-11358773

[Pepe]

Mr Trump added that "if we're going to outlaw guns" then we are "going to have to outlaw all vans and all trucks, which are now the new form of death for the maniac terrorists".

At least he got that one right.

[Pepe]

https://messer.house.gov/uploadedfiles/5.2.18_2019_nobel_peace_prize_letter.pdf

:cool: / :harold:

[Spikey M]

Please. Please. :drool:

[phonics]

Someone come pick up their child, they're signing Congressional letters.

https://i.imgur.com/2Zlg9SD.png

[mikem]

I’m enjoying the silliness of conservative glee over the withdrawal from the Iran deal on the day Ollie North becomes president of the NRA.

[phonics]

This time round you can sell guns to Venezuelan rebels to fund an opium war in Iran.

[mikem]

I’m pretty sure the proceeds will be for Cohen legal defense fund or the Trump Agra.

[Lewis]

I note that the list of Iranian terrorist proxies and militias doesn't include the ones that have kicked ISIS out of Iraq under American air power.

[mikem]

Good to have pre-aware titles.

[Henry]

There's a good chance that they'll just make another very similar deal differing mainly in the fact that his Trump's name on it. Then it will be the greatest deal ever.

[mikem]

If the Europeans negotiate it. We aren’t going to be negotiating both an Iran deal and a North Korean one. Trump would likely gladly sign a deal with less enforcement if he can claim it.

Which explains why any North Korean deal is largely going to be nonsense as well. Trump doesn’t care about the substance of any of it.

[phonics]

994589424175452162

I'm not sure what he's making joke tweets for. Trump has got him bang to rights.

[John]

The Korea summit is off, unsurprisingly cancelled by Trump.

[Henry]

I'm cancelling the summit. But call me if you change your mind about having the summit!

:wtf:

[bruhnaldo]

So random to throw in how our nuclear arsenal is so powerful or what have you lol

"Listen, we could blow you off the face of the Earth, but call me if you wanna meet up for drinks xx"

[mikem]

I'm cancelling the summit. But call me if you change your mind about having the summit!

:wtf:

It is weird because they are half playing this domestically like Kim walked. Three Republican Senators said that during today’s meeting with Pompeo. You’d think they’d just pile in on “look how tough I am.”

Apparently, the advance team in Singapore never once managed to get their NorKo opposites on the phone. Whoever told Trump about military challenge coins really needs deporting as well.

[SincereTheRebel]

I don't get involved with politics but trump giving jack johnson a pardon is super cool

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44244687

[Shindig]

Sounds like a fucking circus. "Here's a nice gesture with some celebrities packed in the oval office."

[mikem]

This has to be the single worst story of the Trump administration. If immigrants are being arrested or deported for illegally entering the country, fine. I donÂ’t agree, but it is within the realm of normalcy. But a punishment of taking their children and then losing where youÂ’ve placed them so they will likely never find them again is monstrous.

https://amp.azcentral.com/amp/631627002?__twitter_impression=true

[randomlegend]

America is such a shit country.

[Lewis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWmajOOKXHk

:cool:

[Pepe]

Rand. :cool:

[Boydy]

He's bang on there.

[phonics]

https://i.imgur.com/q2p2yZA.png
https://i.imgur.com/GoU0Grr.png

There's outsider and then there's 'Self-confessed paedophile'

[Giggles]

:D Not a single fuck.

1002521487583121411

[Yevrah]

Isn't Trump snubbed by the guy and not the other way around?

[Lewis]

Yeah, but...

[Byron]

Yeah even I can see that but let's not let it get in the way of a narrative.

[phonics]

I would have thought the out-and-open-about-it-paedo who abused his wife to the point she committed suicide story would have gained more traction tbh.

[Yevrah]

Is the US North Korea thing an example of people refusing to give Trump credit because he's Trump, or should he actually get little to no credit?

[Disco]

The meeting on its own is no achievement, it just gives NK a summit with the US to brag about. It elevates them while getting nothing done. If something substantive comes out of it then fair play.

[phonics]

They signed a piece of paper even Neville Chamberlain wouldn't be showing off.


“As an example, they have great beaches. You see that whenever they’re exploding their cannons into the ocean. I said, ‘Boy, look at that view. Wouldn’t that make a great condo?’ You could have the best hotels in the world right there. Think of it from a real estate perspective."

It's not even made-up...

[mikem]

He gets credit for any material changes. There is no real evidence we were ever in danger of war. That hasn’t changed. We just used to worry about it. Kim now has the propaganda to cement any internal succession issues he may have had. There does not appear to be any denuclearization efforts beyond “intentions”, but they were never on the table. However, Trump is already it as a complete denuclearization. Which is bad because we all need to learn to live with a nuclear North Korea.

But there were never going to be any real changes because Trump, like Kim, only sees US interests in terms of his own regime’s stability. This was only ever about signing something / anything for a photo op with praise for how great they both are.

[Lewis]

1006640694264397824

:lol:

[phonics]

3 days behind the news cycle. Very low Energy. Sad!

[Pepe]

Donned him there.

[John Arne]

They signed a piece of paper even Neville Chamberlain wouldn't be showing off.



It's not even made-up...

I hate Trump as much as the next person, however, I really don't get the excessive criticism here. He has signed Kim Jung-un into an agreement that;

1.The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new U.S.–DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.
2.The United States and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.
3.Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
4.The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.

It's not perfect, but it's better than sitting around doing absolutely nothing.

[mikem]

Why did something need to be done? Did I miss a nuclear war or some actual military engagement in Korea in the last sixty odd years? The threat is massively overblown. Norko leaders have been promising our imminent destruction and we have been promising to end their regime for long time. Everyone has always been constrained by the simple fact that there are no military solutions that either side judges are worth the cost.
Nothing about the summit changes any of that.

If he would have gone with the purpose of making us all comfortable with the fact that North Korea has nukes and we shouldnÂ’t freak about it, fine. But doing something isnÂ’t always better, it just sets up a new level of uncertainty. For example, how are Iran, Isreal, and Saudi going to respond? If having nukes legitimizes you, doesnÂ’t that up the chance of the fledgling Isreal-Saudi alliance preemptively attacking Iran while they still can?

[John Arne]

Why did something need to be done? Because N.Korea is a isolated state (bar some shifty arrangements with China, Russia and Iran) and a lot of their population are starving to death.

From a US military point of view - perhaps this doesn't solve that much - although I think point 3 (reaffirming denuclearisation) is a fairly substantial point.

The bottom line is that having an open dialogue with North Korea has to be a positive - particularly if the alternative is name calling on twitter whilst the Korean people continue to starve to death.

[Lewis]

They could always have changed the things that isolates and starves them.

[bruhnaldo]

If we denuclearize the peninsula and in turn get (most of) our troops out of South Korea that would apparently save the US hundreds of millions of dollars.

On top of that, wouldn't normalizing relations with NK ease potential/existing sanctions, lift trade embargos, and therefore bring prosperity to their nation as a whole?

Serious question.

[John]

The existing sanctions don't actually do much to harm their 'prosperity', in that the countries they're willing to trade with are ones who don't give a toss about the sanctions and they don't have much to trade anyway. They have limited mineral mining operations.

[mugbull]

To be fair, the North Koreans aren't starving anymore - that was like 20 years ago.

Talking about denuclearizing the peninsula is lol. As if that's going to happen. What's making you think that's even on the cards?

[Spikey M]

Trusting North Korea to get rid of their weapons is the best idea since allowing Iran to have nuclear ‘power stations’. Or trusting Syria to get rid of the chemical weapons. Or.... you get the point.

[bruhnaldo]

Ya for what it's worth I don't think any of it will actually happen and this is basically all just an elaborate circle jerk.

[John]

The most lol thing about the build up was Trump's smiley photo with a big letter that some North Korean delegate had given him. He told the press that it was a lovely letter and that they'd be surprised by what was in there, before telling the same reporters one minute later that he hadn't opened it yet.

He's very entertaining, but fuck knows how he continually gets away with that level of brazen bullshitting.

[Mazuuurk]

Probably because meanwhile a lot of dodgy laws and bills are being passed in the background without getting much notice. Like the TPS cancellation.

[phonics]

He's very entertaining, but fuck knows how he continually gets away with that level of brazen bullshitting.

1) The base loves to 'own the libs'
2) The donors get everything they want because Trump doesn't give a shit about policy just optics and getting credit for stuff
3) The republican party are flooding the courts with lifetime appointments of Conservative judges.

[phonics]

1007023846455734272

I am 100% sure that he made this up, forgot he made it up and now believes this happened.

[Raoul Duke]

The Donald nailed his (piss stained) colours to the mast today: https://www.axios.com/trump-putin-russia-helsinki-congress-intelligence-06a4c21e-59e5-419e-9f70-e88018c87bd2.html

Jesus fucking christ.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I think this is all driven by Vlad having shit on him. He needs to be impeached sharpish.

[ItalAussie]

It was weird seeing Putin interviewed. I'm so used to thinking of him as a cartoon villain (which to some degree he is) that I forgot that he's also a pretty switched-on operator.

He didn't seem not-evil, but he dealt with the lines of questioning pretty well, all told.

Trump, on the other hand, just continues to seem a bit stupid. It's baffling.

[Spikey M]

Trump seems pretty untouchable at this point. There is seemingly nothing that will stick and nothing that will convince his mongoloid supporters that he is anything but the second coming.

[Shindig]

There's one. If a video circulates of him engaging in gay sex, he'd be done.

[Spikey M]

Vinnie Mac up to the balls in Trump is the dream.

[mugbull]

There's one. If a video circulates of him engaging in gay sex, he'd be done.

His base would claim it’s fake, easy out.

[Shindig]

"This tweet timeline proves it wasn't him."

[randomlegend]

"I meant to say wouldn't not would" :D

What a fucking retard.

[mikem]

Trump will not be impeached while Republicans control the process. Imagine the ads showing people being sycophants and then saying he is a danger to the country. That looks like personal political suicide especially if the base stays. The base did not desert Nixon until the end.

What is more interesting is what a tipping point may be with what is left of the Republican base. Is this it because it is all against the tough guy who gets the best deal persona and just looks weak and pathetic? The Slow Burn podcast on Watergate is a fantastic listen In terms of “How do you know if you you are living in a tipping point?”

[Henry]

The common view among Democrat-aligned people seems increasingly to be that Trump is an actual Russian agent.

That's fucking insane. He's just stupid. If he was, he'd have blurted it out by now.

[Lewis]

Yeah, but then they would have to confront getting donned all over the shop by an idiot, so it's easier to come up with Russia stuff (see also: Brexit).

[mikem]

The Times put out a cool precinct level map of the US. It is a good test to see how well you actually know the demographics of were you live(d). What are the little bits of out of place red or blue.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/upshot/election-2016-voting-precinct-maps.html#11.80/33.305/-111.903/123567

[ItalAussie]

The Times put out a cool precinct level map of the US. It is a good test to see how well you actually know the demographics of were you live(d). What are the little bits of out of place red or blue.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/upshot/election-2016-voting-precinct-maps.html#11.80/33.305/-111.903/123567

The article that goes with it is interesting as well. They point out some really cool features. The map of Minneapolis was fascinating.

[Lewis]

Is the Democratic Party in an actual MELTDOWN phase (beyond lol memes and that)? I ask because this Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is like the stereotypical 'liberal' version of the choicest freaks that the Tea Party wave threw up.

[Pepe]

They've been in a full-on MELTDOWN since election night.

[Henry]

What about Ocasio-Cortez makes her a "freak" other than Fox News wanting people to think she's one?

[Spikey M]

Well you seem to like her, so, you know.

[Lewis]

The footage I've seen of her makes her seem like a thicko, but she may well have loads of other interviews out there where her intellect shines through, so if anyone can point me towards those I would be grateful.

[mikem]

She certainly seems to speak in DSA Berniecrat lefty slogans that she does not quite know how to accurately match up to the topic at hand. People having two jobs making unemployment rates go up? Huh?

But she is in the news because we need our regularly scheduled Dems in Disarray story. The left needs them so they can once again demonstrate their cool detachment about how everything is rigged (even when one of their candidates win) and lol nothing matters. The radical center needs to warn us about how Dems are moving too far left for the Midwest because James Comey clearly has the best political instincts. And, of course, the people who assured us the tax cuts pay for themselves need to tut-tut us all about how the real world works. She didn’t accurately state a line item correctly, oh my god, of course let’s ignore the year on year deficit increase of $500 billion. Can you believe how naive she is?

But really is a single incumbent losing in the primaries all that big a deal or an indication of anything except that Queens is solidly Democratic?

[mugbull]

I don’t think many on the left are taking her win as a sign of disarray. I think it’s actually motivated a lot of voters to believe that the party can actually produce (new) people who have genuine ideological beliefs, as opposed to the cowardly centrism of everyone else

I think the Democrats need to go left on the economy to win in November, and she’s a beacon for that

[mikem]

I was referring more to the sudden press fascination with her. It is one of 538 congressional seats. There is an actual Nazi running in Illinois as a Republican, and something like 12 different mep-confederates. If the liberal media is meant to be so completely in the bag for Democrats, why are these people not on tv constantly?

As a lifelong non-ideological red state Democrat I think the left / right argument is all a trap. Our big sin on the left is being self righteous, and thinking that the perfect message is going to convince everyone to say how right we are. That is how we annoy everyone. And we are really annoying. Just stop it and be for people, whether it is Medicare for All or farm aid or screaming bloody murder about Social Security. People don’t care if it is left or right, they just want you to be for them.

[Boydy]

So the answer is actually be more left. I agree.

[Lewis]

I think she's on the news a lot because she is young, so they can build some [bullshit] generational change NARRATIVE around her, and a bit of a bird. She seems a bit precious as well, so will probably be good for a MELTDOWN at some point. Beyond that I wouldn't give it much thought.

[mugbull]

I think she's on the news a lot because she is young, so they can build some [bullshit] generational change NARRATIVE around her, and a bit of a bird. She seems a bit precious as well, so will probably be good for a MELTDOWN at some point. Beyond that I wouldn't give it much thought.

It's not a bullshit narrative. Democrat politicians are old old old so a 29 year old Bernie-bro beating a secure incumbent is a fairly big signal.

[Lewis]

Yeah, that the MELTDOWN is such that the absolute divs (age irrelevant) are taking over.

[mugbull]

She’s not an “absolute div”

[Bernanke]

and a bit of a bird.

Honestly, it's this. She could still have her age, ethnicity, and RADICAL LEFTISM, but if her BMI was 30+ nobody would give a shit.

[Lewis]

She’s not an “absolute div”

There seems to be more evidence for her being one than not being one. It's like when Jeremy Corbyn starts having to grope beyond his slogans and you realise he has an IQ of about seventy.

[John]

Trump's statement on the hurricane is an absolute masterpiece. 'It's the wettest we've seen, from the standpoint of water.'

[Spikey M]

That’s the worst type of wet.

[phonics]

Trump's statement on the hurricane is an absolute masterpiece. 'It's the wettest we've seen, from the standpoint of water.'

It get's better. Now he's trying to solve maritime law in the event of a hurricane.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DneOXfPV4AAv-IE.jpg:large

I just love the obsession with the free boat.

[ItalAussie]

After the Sahara comments, we just have to assume he's a loud thicko, right? I know we've all sort of imagined this, but it's not really arguable anymore, surely.

[phonics]

My current theory is that he has untreated Syphillis.

[mikem]

This ad just started airing to the north of me in Arizona.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IZuayQFD51w

The misterms are going to get so ugly.

[phonics]

This ad just started airing to the north of me in Arizona.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IZuayQFD51w

The misterms are going to get so ugly.

How can you get away with 'David - Lawyer' 'Tim - Private Investigator'. I have no idea who Paul Gosar is or whether he is 'working for me' but that can't pass water can it.

edit: LOL I didn't get to the end. That's brutal.

[niko_cee]

:D

That's amazing.

[Kikó]

The Gosar's Thanksgiving will be fun.

[Pepe]

:lol:

[Lewis]

It's lol, but it suggests that the candidate is a bit of a shithouse.

[Spikey M]

Shiiiiiiii. That’s brutal.

[Byron]

Holy fuck that's incredible :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

Reading up on him, he sounds like a frightening Nazi (in the proper sense) so it's not all that surprising.

[mikem]

Geez, this is seriously an actual theme this year. Here is another one.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YhgcSHGk0f0

[phonics]

The Republicans have realised how fucking terrible it looks for 12 elderly white men to call someone crying sexual assault a liar and have hired a woman to ask questions for them at Kavanaughs hearing :D

[randomlegend]

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-laughed-united-nations-un-1137481

[John]

They just openly laughed at him about six times, and he wasn't taking it that graciously by the end.

[randomlegend]

Wonder what Mert thinks nowadays :harold:

[Pepe]

As far as I know all Trumpians still love him because he keeps "owning libtards" or something.

[phonics]

Mert pretended that 'I don't care about politics because I'm too good at life' last time he was here.

[John]

Why is 'Trumpian' the one that's gained traction when 'Trumpet' is right there?

[mikem]

Isn’t it Trumpers? Trumpian sounds too fancy and Trumpet sounds too foreign.

At least in Kavanaugh we’ve managed to unearth someone less credible than Trump.

[John]

Foreign? :D

[mugbull]

I'm guessing trumpet is some hilarious insult over there, but here it's literally like calling someone a saxophone and wouldn't make any sense

[mikem]

At least insult them with American words John. Do you speak Mexican or something?

[mikem]

@mokbull. I’m curious about how much the Kavanaugh yearbook stuff scans for millennials? All the silly initials and xxx alumni nonsense is just such 80’s to early 90’s nonsense.

[Lewis]

Is he still going to get the seat? If so then everything else that happens over the coming years seems comparatively insignificant.

[mugbull]

@mokbull. I’m curious about how much the Kavanaugh yearbook stuff scans for millennials? All the silly initials and xxx alumni nonsense is just such 80’s to early 90’s nonsense.

Well, a lot of guys still talk like that today, although most are smarter than to put it into writing anywhere

[phonics]

Is he still going to get the seat? If so then everything else that happens over the coming years seems comparatively insignificant.

It basically all rests on the woman from Alaska's vote and she's caved every fucking time so far so probably, yes.

[mikem]

@mokbull It always used to be considered urban myth. I was more surprised that some idiots actually went through with it.

Lewis A conservative court is as fundamentally important to the Republican Party as health care is to the Democrats. It is the only issue that unites all factions of the party, so I assume they will take the beating just like the Democrats did on the ACA. Those really are the only two issues I think that force either party to throw itself off a ledge.

[Lewis]

Yeah, that's what I mean. You can have the biggest BLUE WAVE in history, but if they get their man in the job (and they should, since the allegations would be lolled out of the room in any normal climate) beforehand then they are - probably literally - lolling.

[Pepe]

I read somewhere (The Atlantic, I think) that this is the year of the Woman of Color, so I am guessing that he won't be nominated and Venus Williams will take the spot instead.

[mikem]

Democrats had to risk the white working class and now Republicans have to risk college educated suburban women. Both are decade long wave risks for compromised solutions. But these are the only two issues they have to take the risk for.

I disagree about how these allegations are viewed now here in the US. The window has shifted and some investment is needed to dismiss them. Their problem is that Kavanaugh is as credible as Bill Clinton was without any of the charm.

[Pepe]

The white working class sounds like a much larger subset of people than college educated suburban women.