Society The Donald J. Trump Show - 4 more years editions

[Onetrickpony]

 

[Lukewarm Carl]

View: https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1108454706127532037?s=19

 

[jason73]

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

Is that the Info Wars girl?

Fucking Info Wars, keep up the good work.

 

[KWingJitsu]

I think immma switch it up and post something positive about Trump that I agree with (mark this day):

Trump Is Right About Huawei

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

View: https://twitter.com/bridgieleela/status/1108610148560310272


View: https://twitter.com/bridgieleela/status/1108610598445604865

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

Pompeo says it's 'possible' God planned Trump to save Jewish people

"As a Christian I certainly believe that's possible," Pompeo responded when asked whether Trump is a new Esther, who in the Bible convinced the king of Persia not to slaughter the Jewish people.

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

Trump talking about free speech and safe spaces after a week of complaining about being picked on by SNL, the irony is thick.
Trump signs executive 'free speech' order for U.S. colleges

 

[BeardOfKnowledge]

Trump talking about free speech and safe spaces after a week of complaining about being picked on by SNL, the irony is thick.
Trump signs executive 'free speech' order for U.S. colleges

Free speech and harassment are different things.

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

Free speech and harassment are different things.

Wait, you think SNL is harassing Trump?

 

[BeardOfKnowledge]

Wait, you think SNL is harassing Trump?

What I think isn't as relevant as what the victim thinks. That being said, it'd be hard for someone to make an intelligible argument that he isn't excessively targeted by late night television.

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

What I think isn't as relevant as what the victim thinks. That being said, it'd be hard for someone to make an intelligible argument that he isn't excessively targeted by late night television.

Doesn't late night television have the right to free speech?

Does the victim now get to define the alleged crime? Isnt that the whole argument by the 'victims' for shutting down free speech at universities.. they are being targeted and harassed?

Does SNL excessively target Trump more than previous political figures/presidents?

 

[BeardOfKnowledge]

Doesn't late night television have the right to free speech?

Absolutely.

Does the victim now get to define the alleged crime?

That's not a new thing.

Isnt that the whole argument by the 'victims' for shutting down free speech at universities.. they are being targeted and harassed?

Based on the incidents I'm familiar with, no.

Does SNL excessively target Trump more than previous political figures/presidents?

By a country mile.

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

Absolutely.

Apparently not according to Trump who wants them investigated.

I thought the courts sorted this issue of comedy and harassment out already.

That's not a new thing.

Actually, yes it would be. Laws are defined by legislation and case law, not a victim's definition.

Based on the incidents I'm familiar with, no.

What incidences are you referring to here.

The most relevant examples that stands out to me (us) as Canadians would be the whole University of Toronto / Jordan Peterson / legislated gender terms... an alleged sub group being victimized

By a country mile.

Any actual data to back up those claims. I am not a hardcore SNL guy but I cant remember a president they haven't 'harassed'.

 

[BeardOfKnowledge]

Apparently not according to Trump who wants them investigated.

You might not know this, but he's also kind of a moron.

Actually, yes it would be. Laws are defined by legislation and case law, not a victim's definition.

Head down to the mall and lay a big welcome home kiss on some random woman the way you would with your wife and then come back and explain how victim perception isn't relevant.

What incidences are you referring to here.

Ann Coulter was coming to do a speech at a university here. After a fire alarm being pulled and violence being threatened if she spoke she decided to go home.

Any actual data to back up those claims

No, and I really don't care enough to look any up. I've been a big SNL fan for most of my life. Clinton was teased for being fat when he governor, and obviously the "Well, what is sex?" Dubya occasionally got painted as an idiot by Will Ferrell which was fucking hilarious, Barack pretty much skated. With Trump, he's almost the centerpiece of the material rather than a thing that shows up sometime. That's ignoring that there are whole shows on Comedy that are predicated on him and his being president. To be honest, I've even noticed that some of the TV dramas my wife and I watch have completely changed their writing in the last couple years to fit the popular political narratives.

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

Head down to the mall and lay a big welcome home kiss on some random woman the way you would with your wife and then come back and explain how victim perception isn't relevant.

Well thats a silly example, that would be an actual criminal offense as defined by legislation, not the victim.

Ann Coulter was coming to do a speech at a university here. After a fire alarm being pulled and violence being threatened if she spoke she decided to go home.

Because specific populations were feeling 'victimized' by her 'hate speech'... see we agree.

No, and I really don't care enough to look any up. I've been a big SNL fan for most of my life. Clinton was teased for being fat when he governor, and obviously the "Well, what is sex?" Dubya occasionally got painted as an idiot by Will Ferrell which was fucking hilarious, Barack pretty much skated. With Trump, he's almost the centerpiece of the material rather than a thing that shows up sometime. That's ignoring that there are whole shows on Comedy that are predicated on him and his being president. To be honest, I've even noticed that some of the TV dramas my wife and I watch have completely changed their writing in the last couple years to fit the popular political narratives.

So you cant back up your claims Trump is being excessively targeted by SNL?

 

[BeardOfKnowledge]

Well thats a silly example, that would be an actual criminal offense as defined by legislation, not the victim.

Do it to your wife, is it still a crime?

Because specific populations were feeling 'victimized' by her 'hate speech'... see we agree.

The violence was being threatened against her and the assembly.

So you cant back up your claims Trump is being excessively targeted by SNL?

No, and I really don't care enough to look any up.

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

Do it to your wife, is it still a crime?

Depends on if she is accepting. As defined by legislation. Not the victim.

Your wife could say she was not willing and it could be reported as a crime.

The violence was being threatened against her and the assembly.

Why was violence being threatened against her?

 

[BeardOfKnowledge]

Your wife could say she was not willing and it would also be a crime.

Because it's up to the victim.

Why was violence being threatened against her?

Because it's fashionable not to let people speak if you don't like their message.

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

Because it's up to the victim.

No, because it is define by legislation. Your wife laid a complaint and law enforcement decided it met the criteria and had a potential to lead to a prosecution.

Because it's fashionable not to let people speak if you don't like their message.

Because they claimed others were being 'victimized' by the message... Which we both agree they were not, hence they dont define a criminal act and just get to claim the victim.

One part of your argument leans one way, yet they other part leans the other way.

 

[BeardOfKnowledge]

No, because it is define by legislation.

So if the victim doesn't lodge a complaint what charges are filed?

Because they claimed others were being 'victimized' by the message.

That's not what happened.

One part of your argument leans one way, yet they other part leans the other way.

No idea what you're talking about, but sure.

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

Syria condemns Trump's stance on Golan Heights sovereignty

Syria has condemned US President Donald Trump's statement that it is time to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, while its close military ally Russia said changing the status of the territory would violate the United Nations agreements.

Syrian state news agency SANA cited a foreign ministry source on Friday as saying Trump's statement showed "the blind bias of the United States" towards Israel.

It did not change "the reality that the Golan Heights was and will remain Syrian, Arab", the source said.

"The Syrian nation is more determined to liberate this precious piece of Syrian national land through all available means," the source told Reuters news agency, adding that Trump's statement was "irresponsible" and showed "contempt" for international law.

Another close Syrian ally, Iran, also upbraided Trump for the comment he made on Thursday, which marks a dramatic shift in the US policy over the status of a disputed area that was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981 - a move not recognised internationally.

'To the edge of a new crisis'
Last week, the US dropped "Israeli-occupied" designation in its annual human rights report, though the State Department insisted the wording change did not mean a policy change.

Iran said the statement was unacceptable. "This illegal and unacceptable recognition does not change the fact that it belongs to Syria," an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman was cited as saying by state TV.

Turkey, which is heavily involved in the eight-year-old Syrian conflict, said that Trump's statement has brought the region to the edge of a new crisis.

"We cannot allow the legitimisation of the occupation of the Golan Heights," President Tayyip Erdogan, who is opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said in a speech at a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul.

Both Iran and Russia have deployed forces in Syria in support of Assad during the Syrian conflict, with Iran sending its own forces and backing regional Shia militias such as Lebanon's Hezbollah that have helped Damascus.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pressed the US to recognise its claim and raised that possibility in his first White House meeting with Trump in February 2017.

Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker, reporting from the occupied Golan Heights, said it was "a major political victory" for Netanyahu.

"He has been working hard throughout the years to get the Americans to recognise the Golan Heights as Israeli. Now it pretty much happened," she said.

"We are largely expecting that announcement to be made officially when the Israeli prime minister will be in the United States next week.

"The American president seems to be throwing his weight behind Netanyahu in what is very tightly contested election in Israel."

EU, Syria reject Trump's statement on Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights

U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt declaration that Washington will recognize Israel's sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights drew strong condemnation from Syria, while the European Union and countries like Egypt and Russia also rejecting the overture.

The Syrian government called it "irresponsible," and a threat to international peace and stability. The Foreign Ministry in Damascus also said Syria is now more intent on liberating the Golan, "using every possible means."

The EU reiterated on Friday its position "has not changed" despite Trump's overture.

"The European Union, in line with international law, does not recognize Israel's sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, including the Golan Heights and does not consider them to be part of Israel's territory," an EU spokesperson told Reuters.

Trump's administration has been considering recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Last week, in its annual human rights report, the State Department dropped the phrase "Israeli occupied" from the Golan Heights section, instead calling it "Israeli controlled."

Trump made his declaration in a tweet.

Against this backdrop of hostility towards the U.S. move, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Beirut after visiting Israel on Friday. He is expected to pile pressure on the government to curb the influence of the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The declaration is the latest in a series of moves that have fuelled anger among Israel's Arab enemies and U.S.-allied Arabs.

It follows the U.S. recognition in December 2017 of Jerusalem as Israel's capital — a decision that also drew international criticism as the disputed city's status remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Egypt, France weigh in
Egypt said it considers the Golan Heights as occupied Syrian land; in a statement carried by state news agency MENA, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry cited UN Security Council resolution 497 of 1981 that rejected Israel's annexation of the territory.

The ministry "stressed the importance that everybody should respect the resolutions of international legitimacy and the United Nations Charter in respect of the inadmissibility of acquiring land by force," the statement said.

Israel captured much of the Golan from Syria in a 1967 war and annexed it, a move not endorsed internationally. Netanyahu raised the possibility of U.S. recognition in his first White House meeting with Trump in February 2017.

A Golan Heights force was set up after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war to monitor the ceasefire. Much of the world, including Canada, recognizes the Golan Heights as occupied territory.

UN personnel stand at a lookout point as they monitor the Israel-Syria border in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on Jan. 21. (Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images)
France's Foreign Ministry said recognition of Israel's annexation is contrary to international law. "The Golan is a territory occupied by Israel since 1967. France does not recognize the Israeli annexation of 1981," the ministry said in a daily briefing.

"The recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, occupied territory, would be contrary to international law, in particular the obligation for states not to recognize an illegal situation," the ministry also said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces an election on April 9 and has been pressing for the United States to recognize Israel's claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Trump remains popular in Israel, and his advisers have been developing a Middle East peace proposal for release sometime after the Israeli elections. Netanyahu tweeted his gratitude.

Russia, an ally of President Basharal-Assad with forces in Syria, said Trump's comments risked seriously destabilizing the region and expressed hope the statement was just declaratory.

Iran, Assad's main regional ally and which also has forces in Syria, condemned the statement as illegal and unacceptable.

Turkey, a U.S.-allied state and an adversary of Damascus, also criticized the move, saying it had brought the Middle East to the edge of a new crisis and the legitimisation of the occupation of the Golan Heights could not be allowed.

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Mailing Pipe Bombs to Trump Critics

A Florida man pleaded guilty Thursday to sending pipe bombs to CNN and prominent critics of President Donald Trump in a wave of attacks that harmed no one but spread fear of political violence across the U.S. for days leading up to last fall’s midterm elections.

Cesar Sayoc, 57, shackled at the ankles, briefly sobbed as he entered the plea before a New York federal judge.

“I’m extremely sorry,” he said, speaking so softly that sometimes he was told to repeat himself. Though he said he never meant for the devices to explode, he conceded he knew they could.

He could get life in prison at sentencing Sept. 12 on 65 counts, including 16 counts of using a weapon of mass destruction and mailing explosives with intent to kill. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped a charge that carried a mandatory life sentence.

One charge carries a mandatory 10-year prison term that must be served in addition to his sentence on 64 other counts.


Sayoc sent 16 rudimentary bombs — none of which detonated — to targets including Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Biden, several members of Congress, former President Barack Obama and actor Robert De Niro. Devices were also mailed to CNN offices in New York and Atlanta.

The bombs began turning up over a five-day stretch weeks before the hotly contested midterms, contributing to an already tense political environment. They were mailed to addresses in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, California, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia.

Sayoc was arrested in late October at a Florida auto parts store. He had been living in a van plastered with Trump stickers and images of Trump opponents with crosshairs over their faces.

On Thursday, he told the judge he made objects designed to look like pipe bombs and filled them with explosive powder from fireworks, fertilizer and glass shards, accompanied by wires and a digital alarm clock.

“Did you intend they would explode?” Judge Jed Rakoff asked.

“No, sir,” Sayoc said.

“What would prevent powder from fireworks from exploding?” Rakoff asked.

“I was aware of the risk they would explode,” Sayoc said.

The first bomb was discovered Oct. 22 in a padded envelope in a mailbox at an estate in New York City’s northern suburbs owned by the billionaire George Soros, a liberal political activist and frequent subject of conspiracy theories.

A device addressed to the home of Hillary and Bill Clinton was discovered the following day, followed a day later by a slew of bombs found at the homes or offices of prominent Democrats. One, addressed to former CIA director John Brennan, was sent to CNN in New York.

Others targeted included California Sen. Kamala Harris, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Rep. Maxine Waters, former Attorney General Eric Holder and billionaire liberal activist Tom Steyer.

Over several days, investigators tracked the packages to a mail center in Florida. Prosecutors said the evidence against Sayoc included DNA that linked him to 10 of the devices and fingerprints on two of them.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman, who attended the plea proceeding, said in a statement afterward that he was grateful nobody was hurt by the devices, but added that Sayoc’s “actions left an air of fear and divisiveness in their wake.”

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers added: “Our democracy will simply not survive if our political discourse includes sending bombs to those we disagree with.”

He said Sayoc’s crimes “are repulsive to all Americans who cherish a society built on respectful and non-violent political discourse, no matter how strongly held one’s views.”

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Use Private Accounts for Official Business, Their Lawyer Says

The chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee revealed information on Thursday that he said showed Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner used private messaging services for official White House business in a way that may have violated federal records laws.

The chairman, Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, said that a lawyer for Ms. Trump, President Trump’s daughter, and Mr. Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, told the committee late last year that in addition to a private email account, Mr. Kushner uses an unofficial encrypted messaging service, WhatsApp, for official White House business, including with foreign contacts.

Mr. Cummings said the lawyer, Abbe Lowell, also told lawmakers that Ms. Trump did not preserve some emails sent to her private account if she did not reply to them.

Democrats have barely been able to contain their frustration at what they see as a dark irony in the findings — and in earlier news reports about the couple’s use of private email accounts. Mr. Trump made Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state a central line of attack in his 2016 campaign for president. Even after the F.B.I. declined to charge Mrs. Clinton for her practices and handling of classified information, Republicans in Congress have continued to pick away at the case.

Mr. Lowell could not say if Mr. Kushner had communicated classified information on the messaging service, WhatsApp, telling lawmakers that was “above my pay grade.” He asserted that because Mr. Kushner took screenshots of the communications and sent them to his official White House account or the National Security Council, his client was not in violation of federal records laws.

In a letter on Thursday disclosing the new information, Mr. Cummings said the findings added urgency to his investigation of possible violations of the Presidential Records Act by members of the Trump administration, including Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump. He accused the White House of stonewalling his committee on information that it had requested months ago, when Republicans still controlled the House.

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“The White House’s failure to provide documents and information is obstructing the committee’s investigation into allegations of violations of federal records laws by White House officials,” Mr. Cummings wrote. He said he would “be forced to consider alternative means to obtain compliance” if documents he requested about White House communications and record keeping were not shared with the committee, an indication he could subpoena them.

Steven Groves, a White House lawyer, said the White House would review Mr. Cummings’s letter and “provide a reasonable response in due course.”

Mr. Lowell, in a letter of his own, accused Mr. Cummings of misrepresenting parts of what he told lawmakers last year and disputed suggestions that either of his clients had broken the law.

The oversight committee first began scrutinizing the use of private communications services at the White House in 2017 amid news reports that Mr. Kushner had used a private email account for government business and then that Ms. Trump had done the same.

Mr. Kushner’s use of WhatsApp was also reported earlier in at least one instance, but its scope was not previously known. CNN reported in October that Mr. Kushner had communicated with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, using WhatsApp.

Mr. Lowell confirmed details of Mr. Kushner’s private messaging use — though not his communications with Prince Mohammed — during a meeting in December with Mr. Cummings and the committee’s chairman at the time, Representative Trey Gowdy, Republican of South Carolina. Asked if Mr. Kushner had been cleared to use the messaging app to communicate with foreign leaders, Mr. Lowell recommended that the lawmakers ask the National Security Council and the White House, Mr. Cummings said.

On Thursday, Mr. Lowell said that contrary to what Mr. Cummings’s letter asserted, he had not confirmed that the president’s son-in-law was communicating on WhatsApp with foreign “leaders,” merely that he messaged with “some people.” More broadly, Mr. Lowell said he had told lawmakers that he was not privy to many details of Mr. Kushner’s use of WhatsApp, instructing them, “that is a question for the White House counsel, not me.”

Mr. Lowell also took issue with Mr. Cummings’s account of what he said about Ms. Trump.

In his letter, Mr. Cummings said that after speaking to Mr. Lowell, he believed Ms. Trump could also potentially be in violation of the Presidential Records Act because of her use of a private email account. Specifically, he said Mr. Lowell had told the committee that although Ms. Trump forwards work-related emails received on her personal account to an official government account, she only does so if she responds to the message.

Mr. Lowell, though, said that was oversimplifying his response. In the exchange highlighted by the chairman, he had been referring to Ms. Trump’s practices before September 2017, he said. Since then, he said, “she always forwards official business to her White House account.”

Mr. Cummings’s committee is separately investigating the circumstances under which Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump, and other administration officials, received security clearances. The New York Times reported last month that Mr. Trump had personally intervened to secure a top-secret clearance for Mr. Kushner despite legal and national security concerns raised by his advisers.



Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump do not appear to be the only current or former White House officials in Mr. Cummings’s sights for their personal email use. He wrote on Thursday that he had also obtained documents apparently showing that K. T. McFarland had used a personal AOL account for official business while she served as deputy national security adviser and that Stephen K. Bannon had done the same while a White House adviser.

Mr. Cummings set an April 4 deadline for the White House to comply with his latest requests. To what extent it will do so, though, remains to be seen.

The White House has generally been resistant so far to satisfy requests from House Democrats.

On Thursday, the White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, rejected another request from Mr. Cummings and the chairmen of the Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees for information about Mr. Trump’s private communications with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. In a letter, he said that the Constitution and the courts had granted the president broad authority to conduct foreign policy and that presidents of both parties had rightly fought to protect their communications with foreign leaders.

“While we respectfully seek to accommodate appropriate oversight requests, we are unaware of any precedent supporting such sweeping requests,” Mr. Cipollone wrote.

 

[Freeloading Rusty]

So if the victim doesn't lodge a complaint what charges are filed?

A victim doesn't need to lodge a complain for charges to be filed.