1. #25876
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote Donald Trump a team talk.

    If I were Donald Trump's speechwriter, this is the team talk I would suggest | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | Sport | The Guardian


    “America has faced many enemies before, both foreign and domestic. The goal of those enemies has always been to destroy not just America itself, but the ideal America stands for, which is equal treatment and opportunity for all who live here, regardless of wealth, ethnic background, religion, sexual orientation, or gender. Covid-19 is an enemy that doesn’t care about politics or social justice – it’s an opportunistic organism that just wants to feed and spread. It doesn’t want to destroy America. But if we’re not careful, it might achieve that anyway.

    “People are defined by how they act, not during the good times when kindness and compassion are easy, but during the tough times, when helping a neighbor could cost us. A crisis reveals whether we are heroes are villains. Ernest Hemingway said, ‘Courage is grace under pressure,’ and I believe that Americans are ready to demonstrate their courage through grace.

    “That has to start with those of us in government who are entrusted with the task of fighting this enemy. The only way we can justify the people’s trust is by being completely transparent in our mistakes, successes, and plans for the future.

    “We have made mistakes. My administration did not act quickly enough in recognizing the serious threat that Covid-19 posed. We should have, but we didn’t. No excuse is offered because no excuse is acceptable. That delay led to a domino effect of playing catch-up in developing enough testing and in getting necessary medical supplies to health care facilities. But we have learned from our mistakes and those of other countries as well.

    “The virus has worsened already unacceptable racial and economic disparity in this country. The death rate among the black and Latinx communities is significantly higher than among white communities. I will do everything in my power to change that. The virus is also attacking our democratic process, threatening to keep people of color and those economically challenged from being able to cast their votes in November. I will do everything in my power to ensure every eligible voter’s voice will be counted.

    “As for those out there who use our national crisis as an excuse to marginalize others or do harm to others because of their race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, not only do I not support you, I will do everything in my power to see you are prosecuted. Because the whole point of the president’s power is to use it to protect those who need it most. And if that offends you, then don’t vote for me.

    “As of right now, my administration is fully committed to one mission: keeping our people physically healthy while also protecting the country’s economic health. Balancing those two crucial, yet sometimes competing goals is the greatest challenge this country has faced in decades. No one has definitive answers because this situation is unique. However, it is our pledge to never put lives at risk just for the sake of unnecessary economic policies. Any decision regarding opening businesses or reducing shelter-in-place will be data-driven, based only on the information gathered by the country’s leading scientific and medical experts, not partisan appointments.

    “No one knows definitively how the virus originated. But investigating the source is crucial to further understanding how it works and spreads and may help us to battle other viruses in the future. Countries need to work together to gather this information, not to place blame or levy accusations or seek reparations, but rather to help humanity survive. Toward that end, I pledge no actions will be sought against any country involved.

    “To ensure that my focus remains on this task, I will not participate in any campaigning for the 2020 presidency. I will continue to run for the office, but I will let my actions alone be my campaign. How I conduct myself as your leader over these next few months is my campaign.

    “I will make no campaign speeches, I will not talk disparagingly of my opponent or his surrogates. There will be no activity regarding the border wall or other divisive issues. We all need to work together to overcome this threat in the here and now, without one eye perpetually on November. President Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” That is even more appropriate now, 162 years later, as we face an increasing death toll and a declining economy. America is fighting for its survival – not just as a country, but as an ideal. And nothing is more important than proving to ourselves and the rest of the world that our shared ideals are powerful enough to overcome any enemy, seen or unseen.”

  2. #25877
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    Donald Trump brings his claim of absolute power to the supreme court

    What intrigues me is why is he so palpably desperate to keep his financial records under wraps.
    WHAT is he hiding.
    n Tuesday morning the supreme court will assemble via conference call to hear oral arguments in three cases involving President Donald Trump’s claimed right to keep his taxes and financial records secret. These are in fact this generation’s most important tests of the nature and limits of presidential prerogative.

    One case arises out of the efforts of the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, to obtain tax records and other financial information from the Trump Organization as part of a grand jury investigation. More particularly, it raises the question of whether the president can refuse to comply with Vance’s subpoena in order to shield those records.


    The other two involve the question of whether a congressional committee has the legal power to subpoena Trump’s accountant and some of his lenders.

    President Trump’s term in office has been marked by repeated refusals to comply with subpoenas, whether from law enforcement officials or from congressional oversight committees. He also used this strategy of defiance to frustrate Congress’s impeachment investigation.


    His insistence that he does not have to follow the rule of law is perfectly in keeping with his assertion during the last Republican national convention, that “I alone” can fix America’s problems and with his outrageous belief, as he said later in the campaign, that “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”


    Trump has taken this inflated view of his importance into the Oval Office, recently claiming that he had total authority to supersede governors in dealing with the current pandemic and that the constitution’s article II, which defines the executive branch’s powers, means that he can “do whatever” he wants.


    The president is supported by an attorney general who believes in the so-called “unitary executive” theory: the fate of the country, on this theory, depends on virtually unchecked presidential power.


    On Tuesday, in the New York case, the president’s lawyer, Jay Sekulow who also represented Trump during the Senate impeachment trial, will make the breathtaking argument that the supreme court should recognize what he calls “temporary absolute immunity”. That he will be joined in this argument by Noel J Francisco, solicitor general of the United States, is further indication of the complicity of the attorney general, William Barr, in this effort to create an environment in which this president can behave with impunity.


    In their view, article II and the supremacy clause, mean not only that the president cannot be indicted or put on trial for committing a crime, but also that he cannot be subject to any criminal investigation during his term in office.


    In the other two cases, the president’s lawyers will contend that the constitution limits Congress’s authority to investigate the president.


    And, as if these theories of presidential immunity were not extreme enough, Trump’s lawyers will try to persuade the court that the constitution immunizes not only the president himself but also the businesses that he owned before becoming president as well as people they hire to handle their financial affairs.


    The president’s lawyers made these same claims before the federal district court for the southern district of New York and second circuit court of appeals, neither of which were persuaded of the wisdom and legality of these positions. Courts in the District of Columba also ruled against the president in his dispute with Congress.


    All of those courts were unpersuaded because the applicable legal precedents do not line up in Trump’s favor. Two cases seem particularly relevant.


    In 1974, a unanimous supreme court ruled that “executive privilege” (the right to withhold information from other branches of the government to protect confidential communications within the executive branch) could not be invoked to permit presidential non-compliance with a grand jury subpoena. President Richard Nixon, from whom Trump recently said that he had learned a lot, had to surrender documents and tapes pertaining to the possible criminal conduct of members of his staff during the Watergate affair.


    Chief Justice Warren Burger, whom Nixon appointed to the court, spoke for all the justices when he said that “the allowance of the privilege to withhold evidence that is demonstrably relevant in a criminal trial would cut deeply into the guarantee of due process of law and gravely impair the basic function of the court.”


    The court has experienced both a deepening of partisanship and an emboldening of its conservative majority
    Twenty-three years later, in 1997, the supreme court returned to the question of the scope of presidential immunity. In Clinton v Jones it again decided unanimously that a president, this time Bill Clinton, could be forced to testify in a civil case during his term in office.


    Because of the strengths of these precedents, some commentators confidently predict that the court will rule against President Trump.


    But a lot has happened in the supreme court since the United States v Nixon and Clinton v Jones decisions. The court has experienced both a deepening of partisanship and an emboldening of its conservative majority. Moreover, in several areas, the John Roberts court has been eager to defer to presidential power.


    In the face of these developments, the chief justice has tried to convince observers of his investment in and concern about the court’s institutional legitimacy. Thus he memorably spoke out when President Trump impugned the integrity of a ninth circuit court of appeals judge calling him an “Obama judge”.


    Roberts responded by insisting that “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges … [only] dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.”


    The outcome of the cases argued on Tuesday hinges on the chief justice’s willingness to make good on those words when the stakes for the future of America’s constitutional design are high. It will also depend on his skill in marshaling the court to join him.


    The stakes in the cases are heightened by the failed effort to impeach the president and remove him from office. Having survived that effort to hold him accountable for obstruction of Congress and abuse of power, Trump is all the more emboldened in 2020. If he were to prevail in the current cases, little would be left of America’s vaunted system of checks and balances. The country would inch closer to the fulfillment of Trump’s authoritarian designs.


    The president has worked hard to appoint to the supreme court justices and to other federal courts Trump-friendly judges, believing that they would provide legal cover for his often corrupt arrogation and abuse of power. Tuesday will provide an important glimpse into the justices’ thinking and a chance to see whether they will muster the wisdom, courage and commitment to prove him wrong, and to defend the rule of law.
    Donald Trump brings his claim of absolute power to the supreme court | Austin Sarat | Opinion | The Guardian

  3. #25878
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    Quote Originally Posted by beachbound View Post
    That just cracks me up.

  4. #25879
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    well he has every right not to disclose his financials to the press or the media, we all know they would be picking bits and go on for ages with interpretation, creating financial scandals out of thin air

  5. #25880
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cujo View Post
    why is he so palpably desperate to keep his financial records under wraps.
    because he is a charlatan - just like our fat belgian boiler room fluffer

    garners the same respect also

  6. #25881
    Thailand Expat peaches's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dragonfly View Post
    well he has every right not to disclose his financials to the press or the media, we all know they would be picking bits and go on for ages with interpretation, creating financial scandals out of thin air

    Are you the official snake oil salesman’s Apologist ?

  7. #25882
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cujo View Post
    What intrigues me is why is he so palpably desperate to keep his financial records under wraps.
    WHAT is he hiding.
    1. Money from Russia
    2. His net worth
    3. Deflated values on tax returns and inflated values on loan applications

    Think that sums it up.

  8. #25883
    กงเกวียนกำเกวียน HuangLao's Avatar
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    Swimming in his own self-deluded sociopathic qualities.
    Might be more metaphorically reflective of the population.

  9. #25884
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dragonfly View Post
    well he has every right not to disclose his financials to the press or the media, we all know they would be picking bits and go on for ages with interpretation, creating financial scandals out of thin air
    Except its congressional and criminal subpoenas seeking financial records from his bankers and accountants.

  10. #25885
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  11. #25886
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    ^ Quite damning for Trump and his administration

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    Been a few articles about his "connections".....

    President Donald Trump-rmt-png


    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post

    1. Money from Russia
    2. His net worth
    3. Deflated values on tax returns and inflated values on loan applications

    Think that sums it up.

  13. #25888
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    Quote Originally Posted by thailazer View Post
    Been a few articles about his "connections".....

    President Donald Trump-rmt-png

    Yes, still there is no answer as to what happened to the $60 Million he got from a Russian in a dubiously overpriced mansion sale - in the middle of a financial crisis.

    In 2016, Trump told reporters assembled at a press conference in Miami: “What do I have to do with Russia? You know the closest I came to Russia, I bought a house a number of years ago in Palm Beach ... for $40 million, and I sold it to a Russian for $100 million.”

    Russian interference in the 2016 elections, plus the number of contacts the Trump campaign had with Russian officials, have cast new light on this old purchase.

    The House Intelligence Committee already has signaled its interest in further probing this deal, according to a January report in the New York Times. Earlier this month, the committee chairman said House investigators planned to probe Trump’s relationship with Deutsche Bank.
    The sale to Rybolovlev came at a time when Trump owed millions to Deutsche Bank.
    https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/2...yer-make-money

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    Quote Originally Posted by TizMe View Post
    Except its congressional and criminal subpoenas seeking financial records from his bankers and accountants.
    they are digging for shit after they failed with the impeachment, quite desperate

    if they had something, they would caught him before he had any chance to get to the oval office

    in the meantime, he got MOSSAD and the CIA protection, so it's all futile at the end

  15. #25890
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    President Donald Trump-ex7pxemxgayzndk-jpg

  16. #25891
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    Rump steak, anyone?

  17. #25892
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    TRUMP: Well, we'll be together. I'm going to a Camp David meeting — a big meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Camp David is this very special place that nobody ever gets to see but it's a great work environment. And we're going to have meetings on different things.

    Our military has never looked better. It's never been better. We've never had the kind of equipment that we have now. We had planes that were 50 years old and more. Fighter jets, now we have the best in the world. The F-35 and the F-18. What we have is incredible. The equipment and the people we have are great, but you know, they have to have equipment.

    And we spent $1.5 trillion — really, more than that. And we've totally rebuilt our military, which you have to do. You know, I'm a very budget-conscious person. But you have to do.

    The nice thing is — it's all built in the USA. And plenty of equipment coming. Lot of this equipment is coming. So it's very important that we have the best military and we have the.

    Our military has never been in condition like it is now and soon will be.
    Another incoherent, rambling, Trump response to a question. On first viewing nothing in particular stands out about it and he's known for waffling on like a deranged loon, but here's the question that prompted it:

    AINSLEY EARHARDT, HOST: This Sunday is Mother's Day. What are your plans? What are you going to do for Melania? And do you have a message for all the moms that are watching.
    The softest of softball questions from one of his chief propagandists on 'Fox & Friends', one of his main propaganda shows, on a propaganda network...

    And he completely flubbed it. He's just completely lacking in normal human decency, emotion, and ability to think of anyone other than himself.


  18. #25893
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    And people flip out when Biden makes an error . . . one.
    this is one of the few remaining tactics that the trump campaign and its supporters have.....portray biden as have dementia.

    trump is going to try and make this a choice election...because he can't run on his record....so he has to make biden look worse than him.

    IMO, they're going to go all in with these:

    1. sleep joe' has lost it. you can't put him in charge.
    2. biden is soft on china
    3. biden was a key player in 'obamagate'.


    as of today, i don't think it's going to work.

  19. #25894
    กงเกวียนกำเกวียน HuangLao's Avatar
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    And yet, the bigger and more important picture is being missed by most.
    This is what you're left with - these two.
    One's insane and the other is slightly less than insane.

    Always the same cycle.
    And not recognized.
    The dumbed down continue on with their charade.

  20. #25895
    Thailand Expat raycarey's Avatar
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    ^
    good point about 'thinking republicans'....i think many will stay home/won't mail in their ballots.

  21. #25896
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    Quote Originally Posted by HuangLao View Post
    The dumbed down continue on with their charade.
    FOJ. You haven't had an original thought or opinion in decades other than "duh, both sides are as bad as the other."

  22. #25897
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    Quote Originally Posted by happynz View Post
    "duh, both sides are as bad as the other."
    it is really the dumbest of takes....it's goes beyond lazy and races toward flat-out wrong.

    it is undeniable that there are significant differences between the platforms and objectives of the two major parties, and the differences between trump and biden couldn't be more stark.

    it really is just stupid to think otherwise.

  23. #25898
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    Quote Originally Posted by raycarey View Post
    it is undeniable that there are significant differences between the platforms and objectives of the two major parties, and the differences between trump and biden couldn't be more stark.

    it really is just stupid to think otherwise.

    Yes; one candidate is a nutter and the other isn't. Just a bit over the hill, but the winner of Democrats got Talent

    You can't lure your own voters to turn up for Biden.

    You'll lose. Sadly

    Maybe you could win the Congress

    We'll see in november, who's the stupid one

  24. #25899
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    Quote Originally Posted by raycarey View Post
    it is really the dumbest of takes....it's goes beyond lazy and races toward flat-out wrong.

    it really is just stupid to think otherwise.
    Consider the source.

  25. #25900
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HuangLao View Post
    And yet, the bigger and more important picture is being missed by most.
    Maybe they don't smoke as many 'dobbies' as you?


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