America - The Official Thread

[TenEightyOne]

According to the polls linked above, Trump is within a couple of points of Reagan, Clinton, Ford and Obama at this point in his Presidency. As Spock would say, fascinating.

Quite, it's very surprising. Of course it's also true to say that as of Day 686 he has the lowest approval rating of any post-war president. It would also be true to say that each presidency started in different circumstances and that picking a single snapshot isn't entirely fair... but I bet this is a Fake News figure nonetheless

Kennedy: 73.7%
G W Bush: 65%
Johnson: 63%
G H W Bush: 59.8%
Nixon: 57.1%
Eisenhower: 56.9%
Carter: 51.9%
Truman: 47.3%
Obama: 45.5%
Ford: 43.6%
Clinton: 43.5%
Reagan: 43.1%
Trump: 42%

 

[PocketZeven]

Quite, it's very surprising. Of course it's also true to say that as of Day 686 he has the lowest approval rating of any post-war president. It would also be true to say that each presidency started in different circumstances and that picking a single snapshot isn't entirely fair... but I bet this is a Fake News figure nonetheless

Kennedy: 73.7%
G W Bush: 65%
Johnson: 63%
G H W Bush: 59.8%
Nixon: 57.1%
Eisenhower: 56.9%
Carter: 51.9%
Truman: 47.3%
Obama: 45.5%
Ford: 43.6%
Clinton: 43.5%
Reagan: 43.1%
Trump: 42%

Im sorry but you president is really out of touch of reality. He is claiming that without the mueller investigation he would have 75% approval rating.

 

[ryzno]

Im sorry but you president is really out of touch of reality. He is claiming that without the mueller investigation he would have 75% approval rating.

Ten isn't American.

 

[UKMikey]

If he wants to see presidential harassment, he should try reading some of the outrageously disrespectful replies to this tweet.

I bet Obama's Twitter feed doesn't attract this kind of sass...

 

[Johnnypenso]

Largest Oil and Natural Gas Reserve in the History Discovered in Texas and New Mexico

The federal government has discovered a massive new reserve of oil and natural gas in Texas and New Mexico that it says has the “largest continuous oil and gas resource potential ever assessed.”

“Christmas came a few weeks early this year,” Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said of the new reserve, which is believed to have enough energy to fuel the U.S. for nearly seven years.

In all, the new reserve is said to contain 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 46.3 billion barrels of oil, and 20 billion barrels of natural-gas liquids, the Interior Department’s U.S. Geological Survey said.

 

[Danoff]

Largest Oil and Natural Gas Reserve in the History Discovered in Texas and New Mexico

The federal government has discovered a massive new reserve of oil and natural gas in Texas and New Mexico that it says has the “largest continuous oil and gas resource potential ever assessed.”

“Christmas came a few weeks early this year,” Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said of the new reserve, which is believed to have enough energy to fuel the U.S. for nearly seven years.

In all, the new reserve is said to contain 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 46.3 billion barrels of oil, and 20 billion barrels of natural-gas liquids, the Interior Department’s U.S. Geological Survey said.

Maybe it'll encourage us to stop trying to prop up coal.

 

[DDastardly00]

So Trump slammed Tillerson on Twitter today, said he is as dumb as rock and did not have the mental capacity to do the job as SoS, pretty harsh, ugly words and not one's you enjoy hearing from a sitting president (Trump is just a big meanie). My initial knee-jerk reaction was very negative towards Trump's haymakers at Tilly, but then I read this Vox article (which I will link below) which contain a quote from Paul Musgrave on the state of the State Department, very interesting:

“Tillerson would be at or near the bottom of the list of secretaries of state, not just in the post-Second World War world but in the record of US secretaries of state,” says Paul Musgrave, a scholar of US foreign policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The former Exxon Mobil CEO, whose nomination was initially greeted warmly by prominent foreign policy hands, will leave office without any major accomplishments. This is largely because he failed to wield any significant influence in internal administration debates over issues like North Korea or Russia, and in fact actively alienated the president during several key policy debates.

His push to slash “inefficiencies” in the State Department and seeming disinterest in working closely with longtime staff were even more damaging. Under Tillerson’s watch, 60 percent of State’s top-ranking career diplomats resigned and new applications to join the foreign service fell by half, according to a November count by the American Foreign Service Association.

Read the whole thing here: https://www.vox.com/world/2018/3/13/16029526/rex-tillerson-fired-state-department

 

[TexRex]

"Judge's" what?

 

[UKMikey]

Hollywood has always been lefty, most in the media as well.

The funny thing is when they just all assume everyone else is.

John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Ronald Reagan say otherwise. As does the HUAC blacklist.

That not to say that today the majority of Hollywood isn't liberal, or at least the most vocal are liberal, but to say that it has always been like that or that Republicans never succeeded in Hollywood is just not true.

And if you want some more recent names you can talk about the Republican views and activities of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kelsey Grammer, Melissa Joan Hart, James Woods and Gary Sinise.

I don't know about writers and directors.

No one said there wasn't exceptions, but it's atleast 90% left, and to me that's pretty one sided.

Any evidence to back up that figure? Even Trump voters put it at less than 80% in this survey.

Perhaps after they clean up the "bias" in Hollywood they can start on Wall Street and the financial institutions? Or maybe not bother since neither of them need to be politically balanced to do their job successfully.

(Not much evidence in the survey of anyone thinking "everyone else" is "lefty" either.)

 

[mustafur]

Any evidence to back up that figure? Even Trump voters put it at less than 80% in this survey.

View attachment 785141

Perhaps after they clean up the "bias" in Hollywood they can start on Wall Street and the financial institutions? Or maybe not bother since neither of them need to be politically balanced to do their job successfully.

(Not much evidence in the survey of anyone thinking "everyone else" is "lefty" either.)

Technically that's wrong, do you think people are more likely to watch films they highly disagree with politically.

 

[UKMikey]

Technically that's wrong, do you think people are more likely to watch films they highly disagree with politically.

How is it technically wrong? Nobody complained when righty led entertainment show 24 was one of the biggest things in the ratings. Do you think all movies are political or that filmmakers are all so unprofessional that their personal politics shine affect their ability to tell a story? To answer your question, personally I think the overwhelming popularity of Hollywood product shows that audiences don't see political bias in the way that it's made.

And that still doesn't explain how financial institutions can be overwhelmingly conservative and still work for the benefit of the whole country.

But hey, let's "clean up" Nashville next.

 

[mustafur]

How is it technically wrong? Nobody complained when righty led entertainment show 24 was one of the biggest things in the ratings. Do you think all movies are political or that filmmakers are all so unprofessional that their personal politics shine affect their ability to tell a story?

Most films are not political, but you really gotta find the ones that are not left leaning when there is politics involved.

I'm not saying that the left leaning people in Hollywood can't stop them selves from projecting that in their films, just that there is clearly a bias towards that direction by those in Hollywood.

That flows into social media and the rest of the entertainment industry due to fame.

 

[UKMikey]

Most films are not political, but you really gotta find the ones that are not left leaning when there is politics involved.

Birth Of A Nation, The Klansman...

I'm not saying that the left leaning people in Hollywood can't stop them selves from projecting that in their films, just that there is clearly a bias towards that direction by those in Hollywood.

That flows into social media and the rest of the entertainment industry due to fame.

And my point is that it affects their ability to make mass market entertainment that appeals to both sides... not a lot.

A director like Zack Snyder doesn't make awful films because he's an Objectivist... his political leanings have nothing to do with his ability to make successful movies.

 

[mustafur]

Birth Of A Nation, The Klansman...

And my point is that it affects their ability to make mass market entertainment that appeals to both sides... not a lot.

A director like Zack Snyder doesn't make awful films because he's an Objectivist... his political leanings have nothing to do with his ability to make successful movies.

Film and politics isn't intertwined when it comes to the fundamentals, I'm not arguing that.

I'm talking about the people, the ones with emotion that can easily project themselves, some can keep their politics away from film many can't.

Not that it's a problem, Hollywood is market driven, the market will decide what it wants and the people it wants acting, in the end of the day that's what it will serve.

 

[PocketZeven]

Film and politics isn't intertwined when it comes to the fundamentals, I'm not arguing that.

I'm talking about the people, the ones with emotion that can easily project themselves, some can keep their politics away from film many can't.

Not that it's a problem, Hollywood is market driven, the market will decide what it wants and the people it wants acting, in the end of the day that's what it will serve.

The problem is that nowadays the republican party is Trump. I remember the republican party being Reagan, Bush, Schwarzenegger, Eastwood, Heston etc. Trump just has other values then the Conservatives I remember.

 

[Dotini]

The problem is that nowadays the republican party is Trump. I remember the republican party being Reagan, Bush, Schwarzenegger, Eastwood, Heston etc. Trump just has other values then the Conservatives I remember.

What are the values that are important, and most important?
I submit Peace and Prosperity as the most important values. Perhaps others would say Truth and Justice. Freedom, Equality, Progress, Democracy are also good things. Sustainability might be a good thing.

 

[PocketZeven]

What are the values that are important, and most important?
I submit Peace and Prosperity as the most important values. Perhaps others would say Truth and Justice. Freedom, Equality, Progress, Democracy are also good things. Sustainability might be a good thing.

Respect, unity and decency are also important.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Respect, unity and decency are also important.

Republicans have always been "evil", the party of the wealthy, stuck in the 1700's, as far back as I can remember and Democrats the party of virtue who supports all that is good and right with the world. All that has changed in the last 40 years is the language used to express it.

 

[PocketZeven]

Republicans have always been "evil", the party of the wealthy, stuck in the 1700's, as far back as I can remember and Democrats the party of virtue who supports all that is good and right with the world. All that has changed in the last 40 years is the language used to express it.

I am only telling it, as I remember it.

 

[UKMikey]

Not that it's a problem, Hollywood is market driven, the market will decide what it wants and the people it wants acting, in the end of the day that's what it will serve.

That's pretty much what I was saying. I only turned up because I took issue with the statement that "90% of Hollywood is lefty and it's funny when they think everybody else agrees with them" since it's not, and they don't.

 

[PocketZeven]

Highlight of Trumps biggest lies:

 

[Keef]

I think it's fair to say that once the Democrats are seated, the House may begin the impeachment process early next year. We just have to sit back and wait for Mueller to wrap up the Russia investigation. Pretty sure Pence and several other very important people, possibly even in congress, are wrapped up in this whole mess as well. This is a big deal for America right now. We're about to find out if our laws and the passion to uphold them are stronger than foreign pressure to break them.

I submit Peace and Prosperity as the most important values.

Values or morals?

Values are up to individuals. There is no answer. Morality is a different story. My goal is to make morality as black-and-white as possible so I've got a process of decision making that I can live by.

Here's something I value: The rule of law. As in, our president is a criminal and we're about to impeach him but none of you are talking about it.

 

[PocketZeven]

I think it's fair to say that once the Democrats are seated, the House may begin the impeachment process early next year. We just have to sit back and wait for Mueller to wrap up the Russia investigation. Pretty sure Pence and several other very important people, possibly even in congress, are wrapped up in this whole mess as well. This is a big deal for America right now. We're about to find out if our laws and the passion to uphold them are stronger than foreign pressure to break them.


Values or morals?

Values are up to individuals. There is no answer. Morality is a different story. My goal is to make morality as black-and-white as possible so I've got a process of decision making that I can live by.

Here's something I value: The rule of law. As in, our president is a criminal and we're about to impeach him but none of you are talking about it.

I have been one of the most vocal critics of Trump here on this forum. But instead of impeachment I'd rather see him finish his Term in shame and then thrown in jail, without the risk of Pence pardoning him.

 

[TexRex]

As much as I want to see Trump gone, I really don't want to see Pence take his place. While he may well be more presidential, that's still not remotely a win in my book.

 

[Danoff]

As in, our president is a criminal and we're about to impeach him but none of you are talking about it.

I have been trying not to follow that story very closely, as it just changes week-to-week and I figure I'll get the cliffs notes when it all settles out. There has been too much noise. If you want to break it down here, I'm sure it would be welcome.

 

[PocketZeven]

I have been trying not to follow that story very closely, as it just changes week-to-week and I figure I'll get the cliffs notes when it all settles out. There has been too much noise. If you want to break it down here, I'm sure it would be welcome.

Most important facts that are known before the official Mueller report comes out:
1. Trump lied about not having contact with Russians during his campaign
Cohen has confessed to the Mueller team he represented Trump with a Trump Moscow tower deal gifting Putin a 14 million dollar penthouse for free. First contact was established already in 2015. Both Manafort as Cohen kept in contact untill deep into 2016.

2. Trump lied about paying off 2 women who implicated him with sexual affairs.
Cohen has confessed he represented and was directed by Trump to do these illegal payments. Not disclosing them is a federal offence.

These are the 2 most important impeachable offenses disclosed recently.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Most important facts that are known before the official Mueller report comes out:
1. Trump lied about not having contact with Russians during his campaign
Cohen has confessed to the Mueller team he represented Trump with a Trump Moscow tower deal gifting Putin a 14 million dollar penthouse for free. First contact was established already in 2015. Both Manafort as Cohen kept in contact untill deep into 2016.

2. Trump lied about paying off 2 women who implicated him with sexual affairs.
Cohen has confessed he represented and was directed by Trump to do these illegal payments. Not disclosing them is a federal offence.

These are the 2 most important impeachable offenses disclosed recently.

You have sources for all these claims?

Here's something I value: The rule of law. As in, our president is a criminal and we're about to impeach him but none of you are talking about it.

It's hard to talk about when the story is constantly changing and the media narrative is so biased it's hard to decipher what is legitimate and what is not. At this point it's like a whole lot of noise to me and it'll only come into focus once the Mueller report is released. From what I've gathered so far I can't see anything that ties Trump himself to collusion with the Russians to throw the election and I think the payment to Stormy Daniels will be easy to defend as a personal transaction. He may have lied about one or the other but he didn't lie under oath which is all that matters at this point, in terms of impeachment.

 

[Rallywagon]

You have sources for all these claims?

It's hard to talk about when the story is constantly changing and the media narrative is so biased it's hard to decipher what is legitimate and what is not. At this point it's like a whole lot of noise to me and it'll only come into focus once the Mueller report is released. From what I've gathered so far I can't see anything that ties Trump himself to collusion with the Russians to throw the election and I think the payment to Stormy Daniels will be easy to defend as a personal transaction. He may have lied about one or the other but he didn't lie under oath which is all that matters at this point, in terms of impeachment.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/07/michael-cohen-trump-former-fixer-prison-time

Take it for what it's worth, but it sounds like Cohen is spilling some beans. If this were Clinton instead of Trump, poor old Cohen would likely have offed himself, or got mugged to death by now.

 

[PocketZeven]

You have sources for all these claims?

It's hard to talk about when the story is constantly changing and the media narrative is so biased it's hard to decipher what is legitimate and what is not. At this point it's like a whole lot of noise to me and it'll only come into focus once the Mueller report is released. From what I've gathered so far I can't see anything that ties Trump himself to collusion with the Russians to throw the election and I think the payment to Stormy Daniels will be easy to defend as a personal transaction. He may have lied about one or the other but he didn't lie under oath which is all that matters at this point, in terms of impeachment.

I misquoted. It was allegedly 50 million. He lied and is still lying about all allegations.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...giving-putin-50-million-penthouse-broker-says

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/09/us/trump-organization-federal-prosecutors.html

Explain how the media is being biased concerning the recent Cohen documents?



Edit: added a source from Fox News. Because according to JohnnyP the media narrative is biased.

 

[Keef]

You have sources for all these claims?

Brb.

Ah, here they are. Who needs a news article when the sentencing memoranda filed by prosecutors are public record? Here are the sources.

Michael Flynn sentencing memo from Special Counsel Mueller, 12/4/18. (Very heavily redacted)

Michael Cohen sentencing memo from US Court of the Southern District of New York, 12/7/18 (Long one, read it)

Michael Cohen sentencing memo from Special Counsel Mueller, 12/7/18

Paul Manafort sentencing memo from Special Counsel Mueller, 12/7/18 (also heavily redeacted)

Short summaries:

Michael Flynn was Trump's National Security Advisor for less than a month. Now, he's been a fully cooperating witness to Mueller's investigations and has given so much information that Mueller recommended no prison time in his sentencing. Flynn was so helpful that he just got off felony charges with a zero-time recommendation. Let that sink in.

Michael Cohen has been Trump's personal lawyer for many years. The SDNY's sentencing memo is very long because it details a long history between him and Trump, and many mistakes during that time. The biggest takeaway One takeaway is his involvement in the "Storm Daniels" affair scandals. There were two sexual scandals with two different women, and Cohen's role was to pay off these women to buy their silence so their stories didn't effect the election. The details of these transactions are explained in the filing, but ultimately they amount to felony campaign finance violations. These two felonies were committed at the direction of "Individual-1" which you'll see in several places in all these filings. There was a lot of speculation before this filing about who that was, but this filing specifically cites "Individual-1" as a person who was President of the United States during 2017. What that means is that Cohen committed felonies at the direction of Donald Trump, meaning Trump is liable for those felonies. That's impeachable right now, before any more evidence comes out. We'll see what happens. There are also bits a lot of stuff about Russian involvement in this memo, such as a business deal for a Trump Tower in Moscow, for which "political synergy" would be offered from Russia. It's a lot but you need to read the whole thing. Ultimately, SDNY was not impressed by Cohen's coooperation, especially given he'd previously lied about all this. They recommended sentencing in line with regulations, 4-5 years.

Mueller was more impressed with Cohen's cooperation and recommended an appropriate sentence to be co-served with the previous one.

Paul Manafort has a very complex and extremely dirty history. He was convicted of felonies back in August, and in November got in trouble again for violating the plea deal he made with Special Counsel Mueller. This guy is a walking piece of garbage he's so dirty. Just read the thing. It's an absolute miracle that a snake traitor like Manafort could even exist. There are public documents available concerning his previous troubles as well.

_____

The Russian Interference investigation by Mueller is ongoing but reports have come out recently saying that Mueller's team "knows everything" about Russia, and many analysts believe it's just a matter of time until the whole thing is pieced together and the bomb is dropped on some extremely high-level people in our government. The President himself has already been named indirectly, and the Vice President is probably involved along with previous employees of the administration and campaign, and possibly even members of congress (recently the CIA briefed some senators about ongoing investigations but they hand-picked 8 senators to brief which seems like an odd tactic). This briefing was about Saudi Arabia's assassination of the journalist, after which at least one Republican senator was convinced that Saudi's Crown Prince ordered the assassination himself.

Somehow, various investigators, even State investigators, and especially Mueller, are going to half to piece together the three guys from last week, Trump, other people, Russia, and Saudi Arabia into one big giant cluster of a conspiracy. All of it seems very closely related, with zero coincidence. I mean hell, even the new acting Attorney General appointed a month ago (because the previous dude resigned due to these investigations) just had a private meeting with Jared Kushner in Marine 1. Jared Kushner is the guy who has been telling the Saudis to stay calm, and telling Trump that the Saudis didn't kill anybody, all the while our own intelligence agencies and senators know for a fact that the Saudis assassinated that journalist.

This whole thing is a nightmare conspiracy scenario. Trump being elected, Russian interference, and Saudi's assassination are all related.

Now we can add substantial evidence of Republican election fraud in North Carolina, and some pretty aggressive legislation tactics in Wisconsin and Michigan on the part of Republicans to the mix.[/S]

EDIT: On the Politics subreddit there have been megathreads about this news, compiling dozens of news stories throughout last week. It's hard to miss. You're already on the internet, you might as well set your forum aside to visit "the front page" which centralizes the entire process.