U.S. Politics 2018

[RangerRay]

One thing I find interesting is this: it seems to me that only a few years ago, anybody who criticized the CIA or the FBI or the US national security apparatus in general, or spoke about "The Deep State" was suspect as a "lefty" or "unpatriotic" or "unAmerican" or "soft on crime" etc etc.  Now, it seems that certain folks in what might be called the "right" or "conservative" camp are declaring open season on  those agencies. What's up with that?  rly:

I have found this odd too.  The same goes with how supposedly "mainstream conservatives" are now embracing anti-government extremists like the Bundy family, "constitutionalists" and others, who are just one step above "sovereign citizens", who do not recognise the authority of the federal government.  Conservatives would have written them off as kooks only 10 years ago, not to mention conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones (whom I thought was a leftist at first), and treated them as radioactive.

To see lefties defending the alphabet soup of intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and "conservatives" denigrating them is making my head hurt.  I hope whatever our American cousins have isn't contagious.

 

[Journeyman]

This link to CDAI's Strategic Outlook 2018  was posted in another thread, but is relevant here...

Very interesting, note Chapter 1, "Long-Term View" (by Prof. Kim Nossal, Trump front and centre)...
https://cdainstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/strategic-outlook-2018.pdf

I finally got around to reading it and agree whole-heartedly that the subsection focused on the US in Chapter 1 "Long-Term View" (Nossal looks at a few countries/regions and the implications for Canada), he paints a pretty dark path ahead.  An interesting term is the "Trump cession," in that Trump is cededing "power, respect, and leadership in global politics to others."  Rather than making America great, he's making America increasingly irrelevant as other leaders step up or nations move to more stable partnerships.

It's an easy 10-page read (I'd urge 'read and  consider,' but accept that that may be a bridge too far).

Naturally, there are those pre-disposed to reflexively dismiss everything not worshipful of Trump as being 'SJW, snowflake, fake news'....or Nossel in particular for being a university professor (therefore clearly  some mindless left-wing princess).  Maybe just read Nossel's final two paragraphs.

... or have a look at his book Charlie Foxtrot: Fixing Defence Procurement in Canada. 

You may find plenty to agree with -- therefore maybe... just maybe  worth considerating.

      op:

 

[garb811]

Apparently, the President has settled on a date for his parade:

President Donald Trump’s plans for a White House-backed military parade are beginning to take shape.

The president has directed the Department of Defense to organize a parade that would take place on Nov. 11 – Veterans Day – according to an unclassified Feb. 20 memo written by National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.

Trump directs Pentagon to schedule military parade for Veterans Day

 

[a_majoor]

A fairly long post which looks at the timeline of the machinations against both candidate and President Trump. It is a bit chilling to see how processes which were implemented as far back as 2011 have expanded to be used against US citizens:

https://sharylattkisson.com/2018/02/23/collusion-against-trump-timeline/

 

[Journeyman]

A fairly long post which looks at the timeline of the machinations against both candidate and President Trump. It is a bit chilling to see how processes which were implemented as far back as 2011 have expanded to be used against US citizens:

No, it's only a bit disheartening to see how desperately straws are being clutched.    :not-again:



....OK, except maybe "May 23, 2016: Nellie Ohr applies for a ham radio license."   ???

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I have found this odd too.  The same goes with how supposedly "mainstream conservatives" are now embracing anti-government extremists like the Bundy family, "constitutionalists" and others, who are just one step above "sovereign citizens", who do not recognise the authority of the federal government.  Conservatives would have written them off as kooks only 10 years ago, not to mention conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones (whom I thought was a leftist at first), and treated them as radioactive.

To see lefties defending the alphabet soup of intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and "conservatives" denigrating them is making my head hurt.  I hope whatever our American cousins have isn't contagious.

Because large organizations become abusive and unrestrained. There were a lot of ways to deal with these Bundy and the worst options seem to be chosen. Seems another case "Lets make an example of these guys" going wrong. 

 

[FJAG]

Trump Quote on Florida School shooting:

"You don't know until you test it, but I think, I really believe I'd run in there, even if I didn't have a weapon, and I think most of the people in this room would have done that too," Trump told a gathering of US governors at the White House.

Signaling more than one sheriff's deputy was at fault, Trump said the Broward County Sheriff's deputies who remained outside the school as the shooting unfolded "weren't exactly Medal of Honor winners" and said "the way they performed was frankly disgusting."

"The way they performed was really a disgrace," Trump added.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/26/politics/trump-florida-school-without-a-weapon/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/26/politics/donald-trump-guns/index.html

:rofl:

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

Trump Quote on Florida School shooting:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/26/politics/trump-florida-school-without-a-weapon/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/26/politics/donald-trump-guns/index.html

:rofl:

Just like he ran into the Vietnam war instead of getting 5 draft deferments?

 

[TheHead]

Can you run with bone spurs?

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

This link to CDAI's Strategic Outlook 2018  was posted in another thread, but is relevant here...

I finally got around to reading it and agree whole-heartedly that the subsection focused on the US in Chapter 1 "Long-Term View" (Nossal looks at a few countries/regions and the implications for Canada), he paints a pretty dark path ahead.  An interesting term is the "Trump cession," in that Trump is cededing "power, respect, and leadership in global politics to others."  Rather than making America great, he's making America increasingly irrelevant as other leaders step up or nations move to more stable partnerships.

It's an easy 10-page read (I'd urge 'read and  consider,' but accept that that may be a bridge too far).

Naturally, there are those pre-disposed to reflexively dismiss everything not worshipful of Trump as being 'SJW, snowflake, fake news'....or Nossel in particular for being a university professor (therefore clearly  some mindless left-wing princess).  Maybe just read Nossel's final two paragraphs.

... or have a look at his book Charlie Foxtrot: Fixing Defence Procurement in Canada. 

You may find plenty to agree with -- therefore maybe... just maybe  worth considerating.

      op:

It's an interesting read, particularly in regards to the US section.

The "trump cession" is, to me, very accurate and is a reflection of a lack of understanding of many in how the US got to it's current position in the first place. The key elements that these people who want to "make America great again" forget is that the isolationist America they long for never really existed and that US hegemony isn't a foregone conclusion.

The myth that the US was ever isolationist is just that- a myth. The isolationist past many long for is a misunderstanding of America's role as a Junior partner in the Pax Brittanica (the Monroe doctrine was initially going to be a joint US-British document) which allowed it to expand on the continent through wars with Mexico, western expansion, multiple interventions in the Carribean and Mexico, and the US-Spanish War while the British protected US trade, lessening the burden on the US. Another factor many forget is that in this past the US military was ridiculously small and the US public generally was anti-military. The US economic expansion of the 1800's was generated through British sea power and greatly assisted by the two world wars, where the allies bankrolled their war efforts through the US. The boom of the 50's, in a real sense, was more the result of the western allies being (more or less) ruined after the war and the US picking up the surplus capacity. The continued belief by many that US "isolation" somehow made them great is very much a contributing factor to their desire to devolve from the liberal world order (which the US created and basically gained prosperity through). The US gained it's power through Bretton Woods/the IMF/ the WTO as much as through war. it's hard to imagine any sort of US economic growth outside of the current financial international structure which was designed by the US to benefit the US.

The second myth many believe is that the US led liberal world order has the US as a natural hegemon. In reality, the rest of the western world is free to participate in the US world order as it pleases. So, if Trump wants to take the liberal democracies in a route that they dont want then he has to be willing to accept the potential risk of the US losing it's spot as the leader of the free world and the other nations, including Canada, going another direction. As noted in the article, the fact that the TPP continued without the US should send a signal that the US is at risk of losing its benevolent hegemon status. The effect of this could be international isolation financially and militarily. Militarily, unless there is a "big bad guy" that the world needs the US to protect them from, than increased spending on the US military will not likely have any impact on nations decisions to move from the US sphere. It could, in fact, push many countries to leave the US sphere if they see the US as a force for disruption and as an unpredictable power. It could even push nations to adopt a more realist international relations stance if they feel the US is unpredictable or unstable enough to be a real threat.

 

[mariomike]

"You don't know until you test it, but I think, I really believe I'd run in there, even if I didn't have a weapon, and I think most of the people in this room would have done that too."

He also had this to say in 2008,

QUOTE

"So what happens is, this guy falls off right on his face, hits his head, and I thought he died. And you know what I did? I said, 'Oh my God, that's disgusting,' and I turned away," said Trump. "I couldn't, you know, he was right in front of me and I turned away. I didn't want to touch him ... he's bleeding all over the place, I felt terrible. You know, beautiful marble floor, didn't look like it. It changed color. Became very red. And you have this poor guy, 80 years old, laying on the floor unconscious, and all the rich people are turning away. 'Oh my God! This is terrible! This is disgusting!' and you know, they're turning away. Nobody wants to help the guy. His wife is screaming—she's sitting right next to him, and she's screaming."

In that same interview, Trump was even more succinct: "I'm not good for medical. In other words, if you cut your finger and there's blood pouring out, I'm gone."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/26/politics/donald-trump-guns/index.html
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-time-donald-trump-turned-away-in-disgust-while-a-man-bled-to-death-in-front-of-him

END QUOTE

He could probably dial 9-1-1 with the best of them. 

 

[Journeyman]

I suspect the thing Trump would most likely do is think, "this will drive down local property values; I could buy cheap.  Now if only someone shut up those screaming little brats."

 

[kkwd]

I suspect the thing Trump would most likely do is think, "this will drive down local property values; I could buy cheap.  Now if only someone shut up those screaming little brats."

That's low.

 

[Pencil Tech]

That's low.

The day after 9/11 he bragged that he owned the tallest building in lower Manhattan. There is no 'low' too low for DJT.

 

[kkwd]

The day after 9/11 he bragged that he owned the tallest building in lower Manhattan. There is no 'low' too low for DJT.

Trump didn't write that post on this board. You can't blame it on him.

 

[Journeyman]

Trump didn't write that post on this board. You can't blame it on him.

No blame required; I stand by my post.

 

[FJAG]

Trump didn't write that post on this board. You can't blame it on him.

"Well, it was an amazing phone call," Trump said. "I mean, 40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was actually before the World Trade Center the tallest, and then when they built the World Trade Center it became known as the second-tallest, and now it's the tallest."

Links here:

http://people.com/politics/trump-911-interview-building-tallest-lower-manhattan/

https://www.snopes.com/trump-bragged-tallest-building/

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-september-11-interview-tallest-building-manhattan-2017-9

:cheers:

 

[Journeyman]

Trump's Trade War    :not-again:

“When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win.”
    Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 2, 2018

The trade war Richard Nixon launched in 1971 was neither good nor easy to win. Instead, it brought a decade of stagflation. LIke Trump, Nixon was motivated entirely by winning votes from what Nixon literally called “the constituency of uneducated people.”
    David Frum, "Trump Repeats Nixon's Folly," The Atlantic, 2 March 2018
Link


[Yes, Frum is a registered Republican, and worked on the staff of Bush 43]

 

[RangerRay]

[Yes, Frum is a registered Republican, and worked on the staff of Bush 43]

I would like to read his latest book, Trumpocracy.  Sounds interesting.

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/trumpocracy-the-corruption-of-the/9780062796738-item.html?ikwid=trumpocracy&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0

 

[FJAG]

I would like to read his latest book, Trumpocracy.  Sounds interesting.

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/trumpocracy-the-corruption-of-the/9780062796738-item.html?ikwid=trumpocracy&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0

Looks really good. I'm on the wait list for an ebook from my local library.

:cheers: