Triple Espresso of Coffee Talk

[sabresfaninthesouth]

So when is impeachment starting? Get it rolling in the House. There's literally no downside. Even if it doesn't stick in the senate, it's going to be a very public airing of a corrupt administration, and when Republicans fall in lockstep with that corrupt administration, it will out them [more obviously and unavoidably] as corrupt themselves.

And they don't have to meet some legal standard of guilt and criminality, just demonstrate Trump's already clear unfitness for the office to have a case. Just do it. Don't waste time. There's more than enough in the report, and Barr's willful and intentional mischaracterization of the report on Trump's behalf only adds to it.

Except that it solidifies the Republican base even further behind him.

And gives a chance for vulnerable Senate and House Repubs to campaign hard on opposing impeachment.

There's a HUGE political risk for the Dems if they choose to pursue impeachment.

 

[forty_three]

Except that it solidifies the Republican base even further behind him.

And gives a chance for vulnerable Senate and House Repubs to campaign hard on opposing impeachment.

There's a HUGE political risk for the Dems if they choose to pursue impeachment.

Yes, when large swaths of the voting public are angry that Obama did nothing on 9/11, and believe that the report completely exonerates the president anyway.

We need to let the baby boomers die off and try to educate Generation X better.

 

[Darkstone42]

It’s pretty telling that much of the most salacious parts of the report are subjects’ reactions to the special counsel investigation itself. As funny as it is to know that Trump exclaimed “I’m fucked!” when he found out about the special prosecutor, I don’t really understand why notes either relating to the investigation itself or instances where Trump either directed or pondered closing it made their way into it.

There’s nothing in it that would cause Trump any trouble either with his party or with the voting public. Giving him another “witch hunt” to rail against going into the campaign will do him more good than harm.

The most salacious things in the report were likely redacted due to their involvement in an ongoing counterintelligence investigation. There are two things in the report sufficiently damning to make impeachment proceedings worthwhile, even just to publicly air them and investigate them further:

1. The suggestion that Russia has something compromising on Donald Trump which they can leverage against him to get Russia-favoring policy, and
2. the known fact that Trump made Russia-favoring policy with no benefit to the United States and communicated that intention to Russia before his election, irrespective of their helping him to get elected.

Both suggest Donald Trump doesn't have the best interests of the country he's tasked with leading at heart or at the forefront of his policy (despite all his blustering to the contrary), and gives a jumping-off point for public hearings into other matters we know about about (campaign finance and emoluments clause violations, sexual harassment allegations, potential conspiracy with Saudi Arabia, etc.) the impeachment hearings could conceivably branch off into fruitfully given even the slightest connection to their starting point.

Besides all of which, if the Democrats just sit on this report, it's like a concession that the whole Mueller inquiry was, in fact, a witch hunt, when it very clearly wasn't, and makes them look frankly spineless to do the right thing irrespective of political maneuvering, which I suspect will hurt them far more than any spin the Trump administration tries (or even succeeds in) to put on it.

 

[Comeds]

Yes, when large swaths of the voting public are angry that Obama did nothing on 9/11, and believe that the report completely exonerates the president anyway.

We need to let the baby boomers die off and try to educate Generation X better.

They really are the fucking worst. Born in an ideal time and situation and successfully stripped things from the following generations all the while looking down at them for not being as successful.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Yes, when large swaths of the voting public are angry that Obama did nothing on 9/11, and believe that the report completely exonerates the president anyway.

We need to let the baby boomers die off and try to educate Generation X better.

Every generation says that about every prior generation.

Sure there are plenty of thinly-veiled racist measures to reduce turnout of certain groups at the polls (see NC's gerrymandering, etc.) and we've got a long way to go, but I'd argue that's still significantly better than explicit bans on blacks and women voting that we had for 80 and 130 years, respectively.

There's a certain % of the population that we're never going to touch. Some people will always wrongly believe that <insert marginalized group> is worse than "us" because of <insert shitty reason>.

But at least we're not banning interracial marriage. Or co-habitation by unmarried couples. Or specific consensual sexual acts.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

The most salacious things in the report were likely redacted due to their involvement in an ongoing counterintelligence investigation. There are two things in the report sufficiently damning to make impeachment proceedings worthwhile, even just to publicly air them and investigate them further:

1. The suggestion that Russia has something compromising on Donald Trump which they can leverage against him to get Russia-favoring policy, and
2. the known fact that Trump made Russia-favoring policy with no benefit to the United States and communicated that intention to Russia before his election, irrespective of their helping him to get elected.

Both suggest Donald Trump doesn't have the best interests of the country he's tasked with leading at heart or at the forefront of his policy (despite all his blustering to the contrary), and gives a jumping-off point for public hearings into other matters we know about about (campaign finance and emoluments clause violations, sexual harassment allegations, potential conspiracy with Saudi Arabia, etc.) the impeachment hearings could conceivably branch off into fruitfully given even the slightest connection to their starting point.

Besides all of which, if the Democrats just sit on this report, it's like a concession that the whole Mueller inquiry was, in fact, a witch hunt, when it very clearly wasn't, and makes them look frankly spineless to do the right thing irrespective of political maneuvering, which I suspect will hurt them far more than any spin the Trump administration tries (or even succeeds in) to put on it.

I'm not sure what incidents or legislation exactly that you're referring to in either of those points. Care to expand?

From everything I read and saw the "dossier" was fake and I can't really look at any recent US-Russia policy and say it's been "favourable" to Russia in any way.

 

[Darkstone42]

I'm not sure what incidents or legislation exactly that you're referring to in either of those points. Care to expand?

From everything I read and saw the "dossier" was fake and I can't really look at any recent US-Russia policy and say it's been "favourable" to Russia in any way.

Everything in the dossier that has any evidence found one way or another has supported its veracity. It's not verified, but it's certainly not been demonstrated to be "fake" either.

Trump promised--and delivered--lifting of sanctions on Russia without getting anything back for the USA for it. There's information in the Mueller report consistent with this being a quid-pro-quo, though it couldn't be established beyond a reasonable doubt that's what it was. Still, the gift to Russia bears at least oversight committee scrutiny.

 

[forty_three]

Every generation says that about every prior generation.

Sure there are plenty of thinly-veiled racist measures to reduce turnout of certain groups at the polls (see NC's gerrymandering, etc.) and we've got a long way to go, but I'd argue that's still significantly better than explicit bans on blacks and women voting that we had for 80 and 130 years, respectively.

There's a certain % of the population that we're never going to touch. Some people will always wrongly believe that <insert marginalized group> is worse than "us" because of <insert shitty reason>.

But at least we're not banning interracial marriage. Or co-habitation by unmarried couples. Or specific consensual sexual acts.

Judging by Nixon's approval rating at the time of his resignation, that number is 25%.

And those people believe stuff like that because it's a viable political strategy laid out by the last of the true Southern Democrats:

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Everything in the dossier that has any evidence found one way or another has supported its veracity. It's not verified, but it's certainly not been demonstrated to be "fake" either.

Trump promised--and delivered--lifting of sanctions on Russia without getting anything back for the USA for it. There's information in the Mueller report consistent with this being a quid-pro-quo, though it couldn't be established beyond a reasonable doubt that's what it was. Still, the gift to Russia bears at least oversight committee scrutiny.

From the report:

10/30/16 Text Message, Rtskhiladze to Cohen. Rtskhiladze said “tapes” referred to compromising tapes of Trump rumored to be held by persons associated with the Russian real estate conglomerate Crocus Group, which had helped host the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in Russia. Rtskhiladze 4/4/ l 8 302, at 12. Cohen said he spoke to Trump about the issue after receiving the texts from Rtskhiladze. Cohen 9/ 12/ 18 302, at 13. Rtskhiladze said he was told the tapes were fake, but he did not communicate that to Cohen. Rtskhiladze 5/ l 0/ 18 302 at 7.

So, the only evidence we have of any "blackmail" material is some texts indicating that the campaign caught wind that there may be some recordings out there they may be interested in but it came to nothing. No "pee" tape, no smoking gun, just some hot air that some real estate company held some sort of recording that they evidently didn't. Nobody's impeaching on that.

Re: sanctions, I'm not aware of any sanctions being lifted by the White House without congressional approval, and even of those that have been lifted the only ones that come to mind were against an aluminum giant whose sanctioned CEO quit in exchange for them to be lifted. The US has imposed sanctions against Russia on 8 different occasions since Trump took office. You aren't gonna find much support for impeachment based on that even on the Democrat's side.

By all means, the Democrats should keep investigating anything and everything they want. Nixon won a landslide re-election while Watergate was being investigated. Impeachment just doesn't make sense right now though, certainly not based off of anything in the Mueller Report.

 

[thedddd]

Why Conservatives Are So Angry About Obama’s Reference to “Easter Worshippers”
So the so called "anti PC" police are upset with Obama and Clinton for saying Easter worshippers.

I thought that was the whole point of not being PC saying what ever you want?

Finally just a side note a few days prior on FoxNews.com...

Exhibit 1: Notre Dame's Paris worshippers displaced for Easter Mass
Exhibit 2: Tourists, Easter worshippers lament closure of Notre Dame

oops...
I guess it is ok when it is posted on their website.

 

[forty_three]

Story

Okay, so here's how I understand this. The UN is trying to pass a resolution to ban the use of r*pe as a weapon of war. Essentially adding r*pe to the list of war crimes.

And the US is threatening to veto the resolution because the resolution provides for the care of victims of r*pe. Including health services and abortion.

The US government favors war crimes over women's reproductive health.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Everyone who had the Philippines declaring war on us this week say aye.

 

[dash]

Everyone who had the Philippines declaring war on us this week say aye.

As a peace offering, I suggest we relocate the Flames and rename them the Manila Folders.

 

[Comeds]

As a peace offering, I suggest we relocate the Flames and rename them the Manila Folders.

Or we, on your behalf, could relocate the Philadelphia Phillies and not rename them.

The Eagles can inherit The Philly Fanatic.

 

[thedddd]

As a peace offering, I suggest we relocate the Flames and rename them the Manila Folders.

Exactly what they did in the elimination game, not that I have room to talk the Penguins did that in all 4 games.

 

[dash]

The Eagles can inherit The Philly Fanatic.

Just like the Habs inherited Youppi!

 

[puckhead]

Everyone who had the Philippines declaring war on us this week say aye.

aren't the getting paid to accept the garbage? and would have had to go through a bidding process to win the contract?
it's not like we are just randomly sending boatloads of garbage 10,000 km away

 

[jstewismybastardson]

aren't the getting paid to accept the garbage? and would have had to go through a bidding process to win the contract?
it's not like we are just randomly sending boatloads of garbage 10,000 km away

I think they were getting paid to take recycling and we sent them garbage

 

[forty_three]

Twitter CEO Gently Tells Trump: Your ‘Lost’ Followers Are Bots

Jack Twitter has to break some harsh news to Donnie.

 

[Comeds]

aren't the getting paid to accept the garbage? and would have had to go through a bidding process to win the contract?
it's not like we are just randomly sending boatloads of garbage 10,000 km away

For some reason the idea of this really makes me laugh