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@antipodean said in US Politics:
@Duluth said in US Politics:
So does Assange follow through?
About as likely as me popping off to Jupiter for some milk.
I agree with House Speaker Paul Ryan:
"Chelsea Manning’s treachery put American lives at risk and exposed some of our nation’s most sensitive secrets," he said in a statement. "President Obama now leaves in place a dangerous precedent that those who compromise our national security won’t be held accountable for their crimes.”
The way Manning dumped data out, sure. Snowden was far more circumspect, and should have whistleblower protection. I love Obama is using the fact Snowden is in Russia as a reason not to pardon him when his Government were the ones that stranded him there on the way to Ecuador.
Obama's police state apparatus was always going to be a problem for the future. It was fine for the left when their guy was in power, but think of what they've handed Trump! And we would never have known without Snowden.
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To be fair given the existential threat posed by the current "war" surely anything goes? That's been the argument for the last 15 years. The Patriot Act pushed through some terrible loopholes allowing pretty much anything the president wanted to do re surviellance & Obama then cranked it up. No question Trump will too. Its the only response to being at war is it not?
Tho' he has closed down a few options that Trump could have had at the last minute,
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@gollum said in US Politics:
To be fair given the existential threat posed by the current "war" surely anything goes? That's been the argument for the last 15 years. The Patriot Act pushed through some terrible loopholes allowing pretty much anything the president wanted to do re surviellance & Obama then cranked it up. No question Trump will too. Its the only response to being at war is it not?
'those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.'
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@gollum said in US Politics:
Also worth noting strictly speaking Obama can't pardon Snowden till he presents himself for trial & requests clemancy. Which Snowden hasn't done.
Instead Snowden specifically requested that Obama pardon Manning. Which Obama did. The asshole!
Rubbish, he can issue a preemptive pardon - same as what Nixon got (and was confirmed as legal by the Supreme Court).
And he doesn't need to request one either.
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I found a nice poem.
TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE THE INAUGURATION:
‘Twas the night before Inauguration, and up in the tower
The Donald reflected on his newfound power.
The Deplorable masses had come out in force
Delivered a victory that would chart a new courseThe snowflakes were shell-shocked with tears in their eyes
The media had lied to them . . . ‘What a great surprise
They had been promised a blowout a criminal Hillary win
But instead ole criminal Hillary took one right on the chinFrom all corners celebrities took their far left cue
Telling the deplorables we’re far smarter than you
In their high-horse bubble, with no working-class clue
They tell us all we must follow their out of touch viewThe fake news and ignorance came at a cost
They can’t understand all the reasons they lost
Blaming it on Comey and Russian excuses are sad
Failing to acknowledge she was the one who was badYes, Hillary Clinton, in so many ways was flawed
She couldn’t help exposing she was a lying fraud
The campaign revealed her corruptness and greed
Her speeches insulted deplorables’ votes she’d needOut in the city streets there arose such a clatter
It was Soros-paid protestors…Black Lives Matter
With businesses to pillage and windows to shatter
Looting was their game knowing issues did not matterEight years of Obama had given them plenty of cause
To yearn for a replacement with another Santa Claus
Soon the bottom-feeder criminals will all feel the pain
When the wheels fall right off of their gravy trainAnd now all the snowflakes are riddled with fear
Upset the PC police will soon be out on their ear
The cocoa and crayons will help them for a while
But soon reality will creep in and cramp their styleI would’ve supported any Republican that rose
In the end I would vote for whoever we choose
He wasn’t my first choice, but soon I would concede
The one they call Trump is the one that we needI saw him on TV in front of a very large crowd
He spoke about veterans, it made me feel proud
He spoke about energy safety prosperity and jobs
Taking this country back from the Washington snobsHe was dressed in Armani, all tailored and neat
The Bruno’s he wore made his outfit complete
For a man of his vintage, he seemed rather fit
And he looked presidential, I will have to admitHis eyes glowed like embers, his smile the best
His hair was the color of my old hunting vest
His love for this country was on full display
His actions spoke louder than his words could sayHe thanked all his voters, and before he was off
Saved thousands of jobs while Obama played golf
Fate of this country he leaves nothing to chance
Filled out his superior cabinet weeks in advanceThe men he had chosen were of the same mind
Let’s set the bar high, and not lead from behind
He picked up his phone as he rose from his seat
With a flick of his finger, he sent out this tweet“Now Mattis ‘Now Kelly ‘Now Sessions’ And Pruitt’
On Perry’ On Flynn’ You’re the ones who can do it
Start lifting those restrictions and building that wall
Dash away ‘Mattis ‘Kelly’ and ‘Flynn ‘Dash away all!The roar of his audience rose from the stands
He kissed all their babies and shook all their hands
He answered their questions and calmed all their fears
They knew it was going to be a productive four yearsHe then jumped into his limo, and off to his jet
A fellow that snowflake liberals won’t soon forgetHe sent one more tweet as the evening expired
“Happy Inauguration to all, “OBAMA > YOU’RE FIRED!” -
@Donsteppa said in US Politics:
@Frank said in US Politics:
@Kirwan
You guys are no fun. My troll didn't work.Regardless, GREAT day tomorrow.
It is indeed. It's pizza night.
you fucking sick fluffybunny!
wait, this isn't the conspiracy thread, as you were
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@mariner4life said in US Politics:
@Donsteppa said in US Politics:
@Frank said in US Politics:
@Kirwan
You guys are no fun. My troll didn't work.Regardless, GREAT day tomorrow.
It is indeed. It's pizza night.
you fucking sick fluffybunny!
wait, this isn't the conspiracy thread, as you were
Pizza Hut is the plan, but I wasn't advocating for stuffed crust...
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What a load of shit, everybody knows Friday is Fish & Chips night.
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Rick Perry is hilarious, I loved this bit -
In a report getting attention on social media, the Times said that Perry accepted the nomination to be Energy secretary "believing he was taking on a role as a global ambassador for the American oil and gas industry that he had long championed in his home state."
"In the days after, Mr. Perry, the former Texas governor, discovered that he would be no such thing — that in fact, if confirmed by the Senate, he would become the steward of a vast national security complex he knew almost nothing about, caring for the most fearsome weapons on the planet, the United States’ nuclear arsenal" the Times continued.
But Michael McKenna, who at one point was part of Trump’s transition team for the Energy Department, told the newspaper Perry is educating himself.
Steve Mnuchin forgets $100m in assets he has on his disclosure form. And that he is a director of a company in the Caymans...
#draintheswamp...
Also Trump has had to ask 50 Obama folks to stay on because he hasn't replaced them, so that "I'm a businessman, I get stuff done!" thing has not gone as well as you'd expect.
While Wilbur Ross has had to fes up to having an illegal immigrant working in his house. So everything is going smoothly all round...
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@gollum said in US Politics:
Rick Perry is hilarious, I loved this bit -
In a report getting attention on social media, the Times said that Perry accepted the nomination to be Energy secretary "believing he was taking on a role as a global ambassador for the American oil and gas industry that he had long championed in his home state."
"In the days after, Mr. Perry, the former Texas governor, discovered that he would be no such thing — that in fact, if confirmed by the Senate, he would become the steward of a vast national security complex he knew almost nothing about, caring for the most fearsome weapons on the planet, the United States’ nuclear arsenal" the Times continued.
Fake news.
The only person quoted in the article said the NYT mischaracterised his comments.
Also most of the hearings today were questioning Perry on a policy document he wrote about the department back in 2011.
That document talked about the history of the department and whether the various roles would be better suited in other agencies.. much of it talked about the nuclear programs the NYT specifically said he "knew almost nothing about".
The Democrats weren't worried about a lack of knowledge, they were questioning him on very specific policies they disagreed with.Mischaracterise a quote, give an article a ridiculous angle, other media report on it, it gets spread on twitter.. then it becomes 'truth' to one set of partisans
I'm surprised the NYT allowed this to be published this given the recent media embarrassments. But maybe it served it's purpose..
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https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-01-18/the-empty-trump-administration
We're two days away from having a new president. But we're apparently a lot longer than that from having a Trump administration with even a minimally functional ability to govern.
Politico's Michael Crowley has a nice piece explaining the missing National Security Council staffers, and the dangers that could cause if there's an early crisis. Hundreds of briefing papers have been created by Obama's NSC and sent to Team Trump, but the New York Times reports that no one knows if they've been reviewed.
Yet the NSC is ahead of the curve for this administration. Look at the big four departments. There's no Trump appointee for any of the top State Department jobs below secretary nominee Rex Tillerson. No Trump appointee for any of the top Department of Defense jobs below retired general James Mattis. Treasury? Same story. Justice? It is one of two departments (along with, bizarrely, Commerce) where Trump has selected a deputy secretary. But no solicitor general, no one at civil rights, no one in the civil division, no one for the national security division.
And the same is true in department after department. Not to mention agencies without anyone at all nominated by the president-elect.
Overall, out of 690 positions requiring Senate confirmation tracked by the Washington Post and Partnership for Public Service, Trump has come up with only 28 people so far.
The Atlantic's Russell Berman had a good story two weeks ago about how far behind Trump was. Since then? If anything, it's getting worse -- he's added only two of those 28 since Jan. 5. As Berman reported, the Partnership for Public Service suggested a president should have "100 Senate-confirmed appointees in place on or around Inauguration Day." At this pace, he won't have 100 nominees by the end of February, let alone having them confirmed and hard at work.
The likely consequences?
First of all, the government actually does things, and without all the jobs filled it's not apt to do them very well. Even if there's no catastrophic failure, lack of leadership will, as should be no surprise, yield inertia and low morale, leading to steadily worse performance. ++
When it comes to policy, Trump will be only a vague presence in the executive branch during the months when presidents normally have the best chance to get things done. It's not news to anyone that bureaucrats are skilled in resisting the preferences of presidents. But an entrenched bureaucracy against a secretary (and in most cases, a secretary with little government experience or little policy expertise or both) and a bunch of empty desks? That's no contest. Congress and interest groups may still have plenty of clout inside the departments and agencies, but Trump, at least until he has some people there, will have little.
It's possible Trump, or the people around him, intend to just bypass the executive branch and attempt to run the nation, including its foreign policy, out of the White House. It's possible, to some extent, but that rarely ends well.
It's also possible Trump just wants to outsource policy beneath his main agenda to interest groups, the way he's apparently accepted a list of potential Supreme Court nominees from the Heritage Foundation, or to Congress. That's a dangerous step for a president, because even if he has no personal objections to the policy outcomes, neither interest groups nor Congress is apt to look after the best interests of the president.
If I had to guess, however, I'd say that the failure to get his administration up and running on time isn't a deliberate choice by Trump; he just has no idea what he's doing, and hasn't surrounded himself with people well-equipped to translate his impulses and his campaign commitments into a full-fledged government. This isn't exactly a surprise. Recall that the Trump Organization has never had a large bureaucracy and that his campaign didn't staff up the way campaigns normally do, so he doesn't really have any relevant management experience. And, of course, he's never demonstrated any significant knowledge in how the government actually works. The results are likely to be damaging to his presidency, and to the nation.
++ *I have nothing but respect for federal civil servants, but it's worth mentioning that the combination of loose supervision, the low morale that comes (in several agencies) from having a president and a political appointee who don't believe in the mission of the agency, and the example of the ethics practices of the incoming president himself are just about the best formula for corruption I can imagine. *
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