US Politics Thread

[Federberg]

They are hardly false flag events to date... because the western narrative hasn't been proven with any degree of due process but it sure isn't difficult to persuade the people in advance...

I get that the Iraq War has caused extreme distrust. We should be sceptical for sure. To be honest the only I'm surprised you haven't suggested yet is that this could be a wag the dog ploy by Trump to show he's not colluding with the Russkies

 

[britbox]

I get that the Iraq War has caused extreme distrust. We should be sceptical for sure. To be honest the only I'm surprised you haven't suggested yet is that this could be a wag the dog ploy by Trump to show he's not colluding with the Russkies

I think the original tomahawk attack on the airbase was pretty much solely for that reason... it did the trick for a while. He had a temporary surge in popularity with the mainstream US media at the time. What troubles me is the team he has surrounded himself with. Boulton is an unapologetic Warhawk. Together, with the addition of these ex-CIA guys into the fold, we might see a ramp-up of American aggression in the area.

 

[Federberg]

I think the original tomahawk attack on the airbase was pretty much solely for that reason... it did the trick for a while. He had a temporary surge in popularity with the mainstream US media at the time. What troubles me is the team he has surrounded himself with. Boulton is an unapologetic Warhawk. Together, with the addition of these ex-CIA guys into the fold, we might see a ramp-up of American aggression in the area.

I’m concerned too. But I have a feeling that our fears are going to be shown to be less warranted than reality. Our one saving grace is the monumental incompetence of this administration. Right now I’m dreading the NK talks. You’ve heard he wants back in to TPP right? His base gives him pass after pass it’s stunning

 

[britbox]

Interesting spin on Fake News...

 

[Federberg]

^ha! Indeed

 

[mrzz]

Interesting spin on Fake News...

On the face of it, you have to agree with the message on the video. I understand that you need to go after "reliable sources" (even if I particularly gave up on that, what I do is to look for different, opposing unreliable sources and try to infer the "truth" out of it). In other words, don't believe everything you see/read, and it is getting more sophisticated by the day.

What scares me is that you see a strong push for giving prominence to "authorized" sources -- which would be official "reliable" sources. This subtle transition from reliable to authorized is being used for political gain. So I rather live with unreliable sources than with only authorized sources.

P.S. My inner fake alert is good. I got that the voice was not right in the first seconds (but I admit this is pretty well done).

 

[britbox]

^ Ditto, agree with this and a lot of the time you need to use your gut instincts after weighing things up. News reporting has in many cases, turned into influencing... and that includes "authorized" sources.

The video is a bit of red herring but I think it shows how close we are getting with CGI and sampling to making very realistic videos for any narrative.

 

[Federberg]

Giddy up!

Democratic party files lawsuit alleging Russia, the Trump campaign and Wikileaks conspired to disrupt the 2016 election.

Seems like a long shot, but could be actually a tactic to keep Trump's mind off Mueller and Rosenstein

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Giddy up!

Democratic party files lawsuit alleging Russia, the Trump campaign and Wikileaks conspired to disrupt the 2016 election.

Seems like a long shot, but could be actually a tactic to keep Trump's mind off Mueller and Rosenstein

They forgot to name "basket of deplorables" as a party to the conspiracy. :lulz2:

 

[Federberg]

They forgot to name "basket of deplorables" as a party to the conspiracy. :lulz2:

Ha! I'm not arguing the merits, but they could force discovery and tie up the GOP. I can't believe they think this will have do anything, so I'm thinking this is more of a chess move

 

[britbox]

I see Cohen is taking the fifth... I'm wondering if it's conceivable that a US president could take the fifth and face it down.

 

[Federberg]

^Nothing stopping him in theory, but the politics would be toxic at the best of times. In Trump's case there's so much footage of him lambasting State Department officials taking the 5th in the Benghazi thing it would be a powerful weapon against him

 

[britbox]

Will be interesting to see how this unravels... because it's pretty obvious there is something in it. Trump would either have to take the fifth, lie under oath or admit he was lying in the first place.

 

[Federberg]

^He certainly seems to view this Cohen thing as more of a threat that the Russia thing

 

[Federberg]

What to make of Kanye West? He seems to like Trump, but called Dubya a racist, and claimed Obama did nothing about crime in Chicago? I'm genuinely flummoxed about his politics. Personally I think the guy is a dick head, the Taylor Swift thing was garbage, and he seems to have his head so far up his own ass, but I'm trying to keep that separate from analysing what he's up to

 

[atttomole]

What are the legal ramifications of taking the fifth? Does it mean that Cohen could be tried without saying a word? How do they proceed with the case if Cohen is not going to speak?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Trump finally admitted (for the first time) that Cohen was representing him in Stormy case. So far he did not even come this far.

 

[Federberg]

What are the legal ramifications of taking the fifth? Does it mean that Cohen could be tried without saying word? How do they proceed with the case if Cohen is not going to speak?

Well Cohen is facing litigation in civil and federal courts. The Stormy case is in the civil courts in California, and that's where he's had to plead the 5th. The reason is that if he is charged with crimes in the Federal courts he is potentially at risk of disclosing information in the civil case that could be injurious to his chances in the Federal case if he were to testify in California.

There are two problems with this for Cohen/ Trump (1) in civil cases a negative inference could be taken from pleading the 5th. (2) there is theoretically nothing stopping the judge in the civil case from agreeing to stay testimony for Cohen but pushing forward and agreeing to depose Trump.

At least that's my understanding

 

[Federberg]

Trump finally admitted (for the first time) that Cohen was representing him in Stormy case. So far he did not even come this far.

It's truly astonishing mate. And then he went further and claimed that Cohen has done only a tiny amount of legal work for him. Both these things help the other side

 

[atttomole]

He is trying to distance himself from Cohen because of the current situation. I didn’t know that Trump is this dumb. He is a braggart who is always trying to hide his stupidity.