Enemies of the United States presenting

Maxinquaye · Jul 15, 2018

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald...ahead-of-putin-meeting-in-helsinki-jeff-glor/

n an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Jeff Glor in Scotland on Saturday, President Trump named the European Union -- comprising some of America's oldest allies -- when asked to identify his "biggest foe globally right now."

I wonder.... Do I get a choice of Florida or Hawaii for the internment camp. I'm not really that fond of the idea of Alaska or Maine. Too cold. But hey, we beat Canada and Mexico in this contest. That's something, isn't it?

ETA: No, I don't really take this seriously. He'll hopefully be gone in two years and completely ineffectual in six months. But still, it's fun to be an enemy of someone. As Churchill put it, if one hasn't acquired an enemy by adulthood, one doesn't stand for anything.

regdog · Jul 15, 2018

I'm hoping he'll be gone a lot sooner than two years. ADMAX being my preferred local for relocation.

I'm also hoping he doesn't do more harm to our alliances than can be repaired.

blacbird · Jul 15, 2018

45 is being driven by his own internal demon toward more and more extreme ideas and actions. He is addicted to attention, and gets it by doing things that outrage a lot of people. He cannot stand any form of frustration, and becomes irrational when it happens (which it increasingly will do). It will only get worse, and that will happen with accelerating rapidity. His obsession with trying to intimidate the press, for example. I really anticipate that he will try something truly extreme, like having reporters arrested on vague charges like "sedition" in response to critical press coverage. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that he might try to provoke such social unrest that he can try to suspend the coming election, or civil rights or something. It isn't beyond the realm of possibility that he might suspend diplomatic relations with Germany, France, the U.K. or the E.U. in general. Or withdraw from NATO. The tariffs are only a beginning.

He may well try his famous distraction strategy, create a new controversy to stir up more dissension in the U.S., and take attention away from this current focus. How about he pardon's Dylann Roof? That oughtta do it.

We in the U.S. have always thought that our Constitution and electoral system protected us from such an unstable, malevolent fool obtaining the highest office. We have now been shown the naïveté of that view. I hope it hasn't been taught to us too late.

But I still think we will get through this morass. Unfortunately, even when we do, it will take a long long time to undo the damage.

caw

shakeysix · Jul 15, 2018

Morass--isn't that a swamp? He's not draining them but he is going down in one. Like a bellowing mastodon belly deep in La Brea. --s6

blacbird · Jul 15, 2018

shakeysix said:
Morass--isn't that a swamp? He's not draining them but he is going down in one. Like a bellowing mastodon belly deep in La Brea. --s6

Yes, but it also applies to Bone Spurs himself.

caw

ElaineA · Jul 15, 2018

blacbird said:
45 is being driven by his own internal demon toward more and more extreme ideas and actions. He is addicted to attention, and gets it by doing things that outrage a lot of people. He cannot stand any form of frustration, and becomes irrational when it happens (which it increasingly will do). It will only get worse, and that will happen with accelerating rapidity. His obsession with trying to intimidate the press, for example. I really anticipate that he will try something truly extreme, like having reporters arrested on vague charges like "sedition" in response to critical press coverage.

I agree.

CBS interviewed him and he literally called the press the "enemy of the people." This reckless formenting is such an extreme level of irresponsibility (and it's got Stephen Miller & Bannon written all over it) somebody else is sure to get killed. It's been 2 1/2 weeks since the gunman opened fire on the small DC paper, ffs!

At this point I'm starting to worry someone's going to take a shot at him, and if that happens, all bets on authoritarian crackdown are off.

I understand what Mueller's doing, building an airtight case (and by all standards, at a speedy pace), but criminy, I hope it won't be too late when the final tumbler falls into place and the safe with all the evidence swings open.

ETA: And just as I hit post, I see a tweet from David Corn of Mother Jones:

A person who says she loves Jesus Christ tweeted this @ me:

David Corn & many others deserve to be imprisoned for aiding and abetting knowingly acts of treason. Set stiff precedent. Treason = firing squad. Seriously he helped to try to bring down a president. God intervened.

frimble3 · Jul 15, 2018

She may love Jesus, but I suspect that Jesus is disappointed in her. What 'acts of treason' did this guy commit, anyway, to bring up firing squads?

Introversion · Jul 15, 2018

frimble3 said:
She may love Jesus, but I suspect that Jesus is disappointed in her. What 'acts of treason' did this guy commit, anyway, to bring up firing squads?

People like her are why Nazi Germany could arise, and why my country is irrevocably f*cked.

cbenoi1 · Jul 15, 2018

We need our own wall...

-cb

Introversion · Jul 15, 2018

Can you please wait until some of us can cross over? :tongue

blacbird · Jul 15, 2018

Back to Bone Spurs: Two quotes from this week pretty much say it all:

About Teresa May: "I told her what to do, but she didn't listen."

About Vladimir Putin: "He was nice to me."

There is no "policy". There is only personal reaction. Always and ever. We could go to nuclear war because somebody says something icky about The Donald.

caw

lizmonster · Jul 15, 2018

blacbird said:
There is no "policy". There is only personal reaction. Always and ever. We could go to nuclear war because somebody says something icky about The Donald.

If we go to nuclear war, it'll be because the GOP Congress didn't stop him.

Yeah, he's a buffoon, and it's easy to make signs with pithy slogans and float balloons, but he thrives because an entire political party in this country is refusing to do its civic duty. *rump is a joke. The GOP scares the hell out of me.

Brightdreamer · Jul 15, 2018

lizmonster said:
If we go to nuclear war, it'll be because the GOP Congress didn't stop him.

Yeah, he's a buffoon, and it's easy to make signs with pithy slogans and float balloons, but he thrives because an entire political party in this country is refusing to do its civic duty. *rump is a joke. The GOP scares the hell out of me.

+1

They've been waiting years for a tool like 45* - years waiting for this coup. Breaking the country is apparently an acceptable price to pay for unbridled power...

MaeZe · Jul 15, 2018

lizmonster said:
If we go to nuclear war, it'll be because the GOP Congress didn't stop him.

Yeah, he's a buffoon, and it's easy to make signs with pithy slogans and float balloons, but he thrives because an entire political party in this country is refusing to do its civic duty. *rump is a joke. The GOP scares the hell out of me.

Plus 2

Alpha Echo · Jul 16, 2018

lizmonster said:
If we go to nuclear war, it'll be because the GOP Congress didn't stop him.

Yeah, he's a buffoon, and it's easy to make signs with pithy slogans and float balloons, but he thrives because an entire political party in this country is refusing to do its civic duty. *rump is a joke. The GOP scares the hell out of me.

Yup. This is what I keep thinking. I just want to scream and cry and shout, "Why isn't anyone doing anything about this?" We're either going to end up in a 3rd world war against our allies (or those who once were our allies) or we're going to end up in a civil war. Heck, maybe we'll end up in a civil war, and while we're weak, Putin and Un will attack us, and we will have no allies left to help, or to care, for that matter.

ETA: Our only GOP hope was John McCain. And he's sick. Are sure that there's no way to cause cancer? Because if there is, I wouldn't be surprised if the Russians poisoned him with it to get rid of their one (possible) obstacle.

ETA: Sorry, I keep thinking of more things to add. How in the world does he have any supporters left after his "UN are foes" comment? Does his base WANT us siding with Putin against the rest of the world?

Lyv · Jul 16, 2018

IMO, every or almost every GOP Congress member is complicit and also, imo, compromised. They didn't just hack the Democrats, regardless of Trump blaming the Democrats for letting the Russians hack them, which he also said didn't happen. (He's a liar, I know, but he's so bad at it lately, I think he's pretty severely mentally unwell).

Anyone here a Republican who did or does support Trump? I'd really like to hear from those members about what they think of this type of thing. Just...sometimes I look for a certain name in threads, because I would feel better if I knew more Republican voters had some feelings about this that weren't "Rah rah, MAGA!" Because we're in trouble. I first started tentatively talking Russia here, I think, in summer 2016. I was seeing alarming things from certain journalists, and posted, "Hey, anyone want to talk about this?" without getting much interest. And I get it, because I wasn't able to pull it together, and it was just, hmm, this seems bad, but I don't know how it fits together. Hillary Clinton warned us, but she was shouted down, and now we know she was right.

I can criticize my own party. I can call out my own legislators. I do it all the time. When people told me to "give Trump a chance," I asked them why they would give any elected official, whether they voted for them or not, a chance? From the second they take the oath, I watch what they do, tell them what I think they should do, call them out for what I see as wrong. And yet I see some chilling excuses made for Trump giving the Russians classified info in the Oval Office, attacking the free press, caging kids, and basically acting like only a Russian asset would. I know more Republicans are speaking up and sounding the alarm, but far too many either don't speak up, speak up a little but do nothing else, or make excuses and applaud the worst of it. What is it going to take? Republican AWers, are you fine with this? With everything? I don't need endless think pieces about Trump voters, but I'd kind of like to hear from those among us here, who I know are intelligent and would, I think, discuss in good faith, what they're thinking about the comment in the OP and, I don't know, everything else? I know you might fear a pile on, but we're sort of in a crisis. Or do you disagree. I just...I really would like to hear from you. Full RYFW in effect. I just want to know.

lizmonster · Jul 16, 2018

Alpha Echo said:
ETA: Our only GOP hope was John McCain. And he's sick. Are sure that there's no way to cause cancer? Because if there is, I wouldn't be surprised if the Russians poisoned him with it to get rid of their one (possible) obstacle.

John McCain made exactly one vote that helped, and subsequently entirely undid any good he'd done. He's nobody's savior. He wags his finger under their noses, and supports them anyway. He's not going to get us out of this.

Alpha Echo said:
ETA: Sorry, I keep thinking of more things to add. How in the world does he have any supporters left after his "UN are foes" comment? Does his base WANT us siding with Putin against the rest of the world?

Pretty much, yeah. The USA's big problem, you see, is that we give too much to other countries instead of just taking care of ourselves. And all those other countries? They're just taking advantage of us because we're so perfect and powerful and generous. They're a bunch of freeloaders. When we ~~ally with Russia~~ go isolationist, they'll come running back to us showering us with gold. You'll see. /s

We've always had this kind of ugliness within us. I'm just not sure it's ever been this dangerously in control before.

Maxinquaye · Jul 16, 2018

Lyv said:
IMO, every or almost every GOP Congress member is complicit and also, imo, compromised. They didn't just hack the Democrats, regardless of Trump blaming the Democrats for letting the Russians hack them, which he also said didn't happen. (He's a liar, I know, but he's so bad at it lately, I think he's pretty severely mentally unwell).

Pat Buchanan was every bit as ugly as Donald Trump is. Think back to the 90s when Buchanan rode around on the circuit claiming the Japanese were out to get you. They would buy everything, and America would become a Japanese colony. Well, until the Japanese economy tanked. This has always been a part of the fabric, and the deceitful stories that this base tells itself.

Every country has its own myths. Some are benign, and some are not. Part of the GOP mythos for many decades has been that trade with other countries is dangerous, and means that other countries take advantage. It’s a red electric current running through the body of the right. Pat Buchanan failed to win an election, thankfully. But Ross Perot came awfully close with, in part, the same kind of branding.

Lyv · Jul 16, 2018

Maxinquaye said:
Pat Buchanan was every bit as ugly as Donald Trump is. Think back to the 90s when Buchanan rode around on the circuit claiming the Japanese were out to get you. They would buy everything, and America would become a Japanese colony. Well, until the Japanese economy tanked. This has always been a part of the fabric, and the deceitful stories that this base tells itself.

Every country has its own myths. Some are benign, and some are not. Part of the GOP mythos for many decades has been that trade with other countries is dangerous, and means that other countries take advantage. It’s a red electric current running through the body of the right. Pat Buchanan failed to win an election, thankfully. But Ross Perot came awfully close with, in part, the same kind of branding.

And do you see any differences now in how our country is being run? Or do you feel it's business as usual, nothing to to see here?

When people say, "This is not the country I grew up in," I am quick to point out that it is, that we're absolutely that country, and here are some of the more shameful chapters from our history to prove it. But it has seemed to me that we've always had some small system of checks and balances you could use to fight, and I am not seeing that now.

porlock · Jul 16, 2018

From an old fart: I remember back in the fifties and before the GOP was anti-communist and "better dead than red" was the go-to shout. Democrats were "pinko-commies" that supported Russia. Boy have times changed. Still, Nixon was the one who opened up China (well, more or less). This president seems to be going the complete opposite of what the GOP stands for - i.e. free trade, open markets and so on and yet the "conservative" congress does nothing. He thinks ,apparently, that the U.S. needs to run the world and that we are exceptional people - gee that sounds familiar.

From a historical standpoint, empires rise and fall, leaving behind dusty tombs and blowing sand. I don''t have a good feeling about the current world situation, and Trumbo isn't helping. Think humans will ever learn?

"How many seas can a white dove sail before he sleeps in the sand?"
Bob Dylan

nighttimer · Jul 16, 2018

How bad was President Pussygrabber's servile sniveling, graceless groveling and puke-inducing public blow job of Vladimir Putin? So bad even Fox News threw up.

The media came down hard on President Trump following Monday's joint press conference in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with pundits and anchors on both sides of the political aisle bashing the American leader's performance.

Trump was primarily criticized for the way he handled questions about allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S., claims that have been paired with allegations Russia and the Trump campaign colluded to win the election. Trump said he raised the issue of election meddling during their one-on-one meeting prior to the press conference, but ripped Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe during the news conference, declaring there was “no collusion.”

Trump also passed on a chance to side with the American intelligence community, which claims Moscow meddled in the election.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper called it “perhaps one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president” immediately after the press conference. Cooper’s name immediately began trending on Twitter after making the comment, which resulted in a variety of media members agreeing with the CNN star.

“Anderson Cooper nailed it,” CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin tweeted.

Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire and Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason were both praised by journalists for asking tough questions, but Trump’s answers drew scorn.

“Trump, finally asked whom he believes on Russia interference, gives a vague and rambling non-answer, with renewed complaints about Hillary’s server. Says he trusts US intel but made clear he takes Putin’s denials seriously. Lame response, to say the least,” Fox News’ Brit Hume tweeted.

NBC News’ online headline said Trump’s performance “advances conspiracy theories,” pointing to him bringing up 33,000 Hillary Clinton emails that the president said are missing.

“Horrible performance from our President today. Pretty ugly when u give a pass to a nation that is undermining our democracy,” Fox Business anchor Trish Regan tweeted.

Fox News’ Neil Cavuto called the press conference “disgusting," while his colleague Stuart Varney added, “It was not a very forceful presentation from President Trump with Putin standing right next to him. Not forceful at all.”

“Noticing on Twitter that many of the normal Trump defenders are struggling mightily to defend today’s performance,” NBC News’ Chuck Todd said.

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro called Trump’s performance “self-serving and utterly grotesque,” before declaring Trump “made a fool of himself.” The BBC’s headline simply stated, “Trump sides with Russia against FBI.”

Conservative strategist Chris Barron tweeted, “Not pleased with Trump's Putin press conference. Doesn't feel like America First.”

Don't worry, Donnie. Sean Hannity will still call to read your nightly bedtime story. :e2kissy:

Maxinquaye · Jul 17, 2018

Lyv said:
And do you see any differences now in how our country is being run? Or do you feel it's business as usual, nothing to to see here?

I wouldn’t really know since I’m one of those terrible foes of the United States who take advantage of poor Americans at every turn. At least, that’s what Donnie told us before he palled up with Vladimir to punch himself in the face. But some men pay extra for that, so I’m sure there’s a tape or two out there.

I have a problem. I’m oscillating between laughing at all this because it’s so out there, and worry that we’re not prepared for when the US nuclear warheads are retargeted from Minsk to Munich. I want to be glibly sarcastic (as in the first paragraph of this post. Then I think maybe I’m taking things too lightly.

AW Admin · Jul 17, 2018

lizmonster said:
We've always had this kind of ugliness within us. I'm just not sure it's ever been this dangerously in control before.

Yes, unfortunately, I think this is true.

Kaiser-Kun · Jul 17, 2018

It'd be really, really creepy if Trump announces a US departure of G7 at the same time archeologists open the black sarcophagus.

porlock · Jul 17, 2018

If Eisenhower had acted like Trump toward Russia back in the fifties Joe McCarthy would have had conniptions. We brought this madness on ourselves, but what's next who knows.

Enemies of the United States presenting

That cheeky buggerer

The Scavengers

blue eyed floozy

All about that action, boss.

Heckuva good sport

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!

Possibly A Mermaid Queen

Just Another Lazy Perfectionist

I should be writing.

I meant to do that.

Possibly A Mermaid Queen

That cheeky buggerer

I meant to do that.

No Gods No Masters

That cheeky buggerer

!