Trump 2019 - There are still children in detention separated from their parents

[allegro]

This is a REALLY interesting article re the Special Counsel investigation and its focus being limited to counterintelligence and criminality, vs. Congress’ focus bring wider in scope to, say, dereliction of duty, or allegiance to a foreign power, etc., which might not constitute an actual statutory crime but could be a “high crime or misdemeanor.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/585703/

[theimage13]

I'm struggling to figure out whether the sudden shift back to "let's kill the ACA" is an attempt to use the energy boost to get people on their side again and get terrible things done, or if they've learned that maybe this isn't actually the total vindication they want to sell it as and are trying to get people to ignore the fact that he's still under investigation for several other potential crimes.

[allegro]

My husband and I can’t figure it out, either, and I thought the last suggestion: diversion.

BUT IT’S SUCH A STUPID ONE!!!

GOP voters want “Repeal and Replace.”

Not “Repeal and good luck you poor stupid assholes.”

And the SCOTUS already upheld the ACA. TWICE. The same four liberal justices plus Roberts are there.

https://www-m.cnn.com/2015/06/25/pol....google.com%2F

The Democrats won back the House AT A MINIMUM TO KEEP THE ACA AND AT A MAXIMUM FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE.

I think Trump is gonna drop a bomb and say he’s not running in 2020. Because clearly this is a guy who wants to fail at 2020.

[ltrandazzo]

They feel invincible now and think they can go for the ACA again even though it's still popular among voters. Watch them try to destroy it. If they do or come close, it could be a larger blue wave than 2018.

[allegro]

James Comey says he’s confused by Mueller’s decision re obstruction:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna987771

"And I have great faith in Bob Mueller, but I just can't tell from the letter why didn't he decide these questions when the entire rationale for a special counsel is to make sure the politicals aren't making the key charging decisions," the former FBI chief said.

"The notion that obstruction cases are somehow undermined by the absence of proof of an underlying crime, that is not my experience in 40 years of doing this nor is it the Department of Justice's tradition. Obstruction crimes matter without regard to what you prove about the underlying crime," Comey said.

[Swykk]

I agree with Bill Maher less and less lately but his recent statement about not needing a report to know Trump obstructed justice because he has a TV is dead on. He said incriminating things at least twice on TV.

Trump tweeted several things that would also resemble obstruction.

I don’t think Mueller is dumb but I quit believing he was going to be a savior awhile ago. To me and many others much smarter, it looks like Kushner, DJT Jr and Trump all committed crimes.

Ive read the speculation that the investigation was ended prematurely. Again, I don’t think Mueller is dumb.

I am currently of the belief that he handed NY a bunch of meaty stuff. What they’ll do with it? I don’t know.

[theimage13]

There's no way in hell I'm actively looking this up, because it might require having to hear that gasbag's voice again....but I swear I heard on my colleague's TV the other day that he said something like "we can never allow this to happen to another president."

Did he really just say that he basically wants to make sure that presidents are above the law and no one should be allowed to question them or investigate them for potential wrongdoing? Please tell me I heard him wrong.

[allegro]

You didn’t hear him wrong, sorry.

[theimage13]

They feel invincible now and think they can go for the ACA again even though it's still popular among voters. Watch them try to destroy it. If they do or come close, it could be a larger blue wave than 2018.

I don't know...except for a small number of people, most of my friends and colleagues really don't like the ACA - and I'm talking about die-hard Democrats. I for one am extremely grateful for it, but it's definitely a kind of misshapen bandaid placed on a problem that it's just not big enough to cover. I don't know if it could be the deciding factor for record voter turnout.

Let's also think about all the people who voted for Trump last time and went "wait, he wants to deport us?" The guy's followers are idiots. He could stand up and rip away their healthcare, but if he does so in the name of "freedom", those people will be all for it.

[allegro]

I don't know...except for a small number of people, most of my friends and colleagues really don't like the ACA - and I'm talking about die-hard Democrats. I for one am extremely grateful for it, but it's definitely a kind of misshapen bandaid placed on a problem that it's just not big enough to cover.

There are a lot of voters out there who don’t understand that the cost of insurance keeps getting higher and higher NOT because of the ACA but because of the rising costs of healthcare. Which has been happening at an alarming rate for DECADES.

Employees NEVER used to have to contribute money toward their monthly premiums or deductibles, etc. That shit started in the 90s, and got WAY worse in the 2000s and has been climbing ever since.

The current pricing is a LOT of the government’s fault because of MEDICARE. The government needs to sit down with auditors and re-write these price lists. It’s complicated. The entire industry is a bureaucratic mess.

[theimage13]

There are a lot of voters out there who don’t understand that the cost of insurance keeps getting higher and higher NOT because of the ACA but because of the rising costs of healthcare. Which has been happening at an alarming rate for DECADES.

Employees NEVER used to have to contribute money toward their monthly premiums or deductibles, etc. That shit started in the 90s, and got WAY worse in the 2000s and has been climbing ever since.

The current pricing is a LOT of the government’s fault because of MEDICARE. The government needs to sit down with auditors and re-write these price lists. It’s complicated. The entire industry is a bureaucratic mess.

Yeaaaaaaaah. Case in point from this week's news: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...cey-knee-brace

And that's a modest example.

[ltrandazzo]

The Mueller grand jury is still active.

The piece doesn't go into any details or make any assumptions about what they're working on, but this is still important to note. I do wonder if we're seeing the reverse of the 2018-midterms. The first 24 hours, it seemed like it was a good night for Dems but not as good as it could have been, and then 2-3 weeks later, it turned it out it was a great night for Dems as more results came in and showed more gains. I'm wondering if Trumpians started celebrating too soon.

[theimage13]

The Mueller grand jury is still active.

The piece doesn't go into any details or make any assumptions about what they're working on, but this is still important to note. I do wonder if we're seeing the reverse of the 2018-midterms. The first 24 hours, it seemed like it was a good night for Dems but not as good as it could have been, and then 2-3 weeks later, it turned it out it was a great night for Dems as more results came in and showed more gains. I'm wondering if Trumpians started celebrating too soon.

This one really goes both ways. The "no collusion" thing is a HUGE thing to celebrate because he's literally been shouting it for years. Great for him and his supporters.

He is still under investigation for many things, so from a practical standpoint, he is far from out of the woods. Bad for him, but his supporters couldn't care less, because...well...see above. So not TOO bad for him. Not yet, anyway. Time will tell.

[ickyvicky]

"Twitter Considering Labeling Trump Tweets that Violate Rules" Oh man, he's gonna have a field day with that!

https://thehill.com/policy/technolog...-violate-rules

[theimage13]

"Twitter Considering Labeling Trump Tweets that Violate Rules" Oh man, he's gonna have a field day with that!

https://thehill.com/policy/technolog...-violate-rules

Vijaya Gadde, Twitter's head of legal, policy, and trust and safety, at a Washington Post event on Wednesday said the company might start annotating offensive tweets from public figures with a message about why they remain up.

I've got a better idea. How about instead of putting politicians above the laws of your platform and just put tiny little footnotes on them, you hide the tweets entirely behind a banner that says "This tweet hidden because it violates our terms of service. Click to continue." Then a SECOND banner says "This tweet has been left up because we believe it has significant newsworthy value, but all likes, retweets, and comments have been disabled. This message has been left for posterity only." THEN you can click to see - but not interact with - the tweet.

I'd say just delete them outright like they do with anyone else, but there is a certain value to having someone's horseshit remain publicly visible instead of giving them a way to deny it or cry "fake" if someone makes a screen grab only to have no easy way of going back to prove the tweet existed.

[ricardo]

People must be free to say whatever they want regardless of how stupid they are. Censorship is not the way to go. But yeah, the left has a history of loooving dictators. Not surprised they want to censor the internet. And here was I thinking they were soooo advanced and liberal.

[theimage13]

People must be free to say whatever they want regardless of how stupid they are. Censorship is not the way to go. But yeah, the left has a history of loooving dictators. Not surprised they want to censor the internet. And here was I thinking they were soooo advanced and liberal.

Wow. Simone Biles is shit compared to whatever gymnastics you're currently pulling off.

[Jinsai]

wait... the "left has a history of loving dictators."

Do we really need to unpack this and address it, or can we just move on have a nice evening?

[Wretchedest]

I think that might collapse the thread. The preceding sentence was "People must be free to say whatever they want regardless of how stupid they are." So it might have been meant as a qualifier.

[BRoswell]

Trumpy is about two meetings away from fucking Kim Jong-un's brains out in the Oval Office, so...I don't know if that statement really plays well at the moment.

[Dryalex12]

Okay trump...you got one thing we both see eye to eye with, thank you for keeping the special olympica funded.

You're still a piece of crap though and so are most of you GOP friends

[Tabris]

He says it's funded.

But when it actually 'happens', it'll probably be in some tiny ass elementary school gymnasium with an inflatable kiddie pool they bought second hand and he'll expect the highest of praises for it.

[ltrandazzo]

Mick Mulvaney Gets His Ass Kicked In His Private Trivia League: Or, at least, someone with his exact name and background does.

[Jinsai]

I'm reading this transcript of Trump's speech in Grand Rapids Michigan... I just can't anymore. I got to the part where he's talking about how green energy sources like wind power won't work because the wind's not always blowing, and what if "darling I wanna watch television."

Somehow, managing to sound more old-timey than someone who's newly heard of batteries. Who the fuck makes up this guy's support base?! I fucking DO NOT get it.

[ltrandazzo]

I have more tweets to embed but -

[bRoot]

i.redd.it/4fk1q7qgbcp21.jpg

[elevenism]

I'm reading this transcript of Trump's speech in Grand Rapids Michigan... I just can't anymore. I got to the part where he's talking about how green energy sources like wind power won't work because the wind's not always blowing, and what if "darling I wanna watch television."

Somehow, managing to sound more old-timey than someone who's newly heard of batteries. Who the fuck makes up this guy's support base?! I fucking DO NOT get it.

I can't help but feel like a lot of the base is made up of assholes: like, selfish bigots and such.
I try to get along with everyone, regardless of their political leanings, but, in this case, yeah. I'm not saying they're ALL assholes: some are likely xenophobic by way of ignorance, and some are just, idk, moderate republicans who sort of support him in spite of some of the shit he does, just because he's a Republican.

But, yeah. A lot of these people are just assholes, I think. And, good god, I didn't know there were so MANY of them.

[allegro]

The weird thing is - Look at Michigan and clean energy, especially wind energy: Michigan is totally behind it. Michigan has invested in it, implemented it.

See this: https://www.michiganradio.org/post/w...gest-wind-farm

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/energy...ntinues-growth

More than 9,800 jobs have been created in the renewable and alternative energy sector, as of spring last year, according to the Michigan Workforce Development Agency and the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives. In 2015, according to a previous MPSC report, 8,760 jobs were created, compared with 6,775 renewable energy-related jobs in 2005.

See this: https://www.grbj.com/articles/92186-...newable-energy

There is clean energy all over the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. A company that BUILDS wind turbines is based in Holland, MI, just outside of Grand Rapids, where Trump held his rally. Another clean energy company is based in Grand Rapids.

This has the potential to blow up in Trump’s face. The blue collar workers who work in these clean energy industries in MI don’t want their careers threatened.

[bRoot]

re; the network movie and the tv show re politics.

[Mantra]

LOL