Trump Praises Putin

[Breccia]

Hey kids, it's Liz Cheney!

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...russia-defense

Cheney's daughter slams Trump's 'deeply troubling' Russia defense

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is slamming President Trump’s comments in defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“ @Potus statement suggesting moral equivalence between Putin’s Russia and the United States of America is deeply troubling and wrong,” Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, tweeted Sunday.

[King Shark]

I love how this thread became barren after Skroe's post. Well played, Skroe. Well played.

[Breccia]

And let's hear from Christie and Pence.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-pen...ssia-comments/

“He respects Vladimir Putin because he believes that the leaders of countries deserve to get treated with respect. He wants to be treated with respect around the world, and he believes Vladimir Putin should be." -- Chris Christie

To which, the obvious reply is the phone call to Australia. Maybe Christie missed that one.

“I simply don’t accept that there was any moral equivalency in the president’s comments." -- Mike Pence

While there is no 100% hard and fast definition, The Rational Wiki says "Moral equivalence is a form of equivocation and a fallacy of relevance often used in political debates. It seeks to draw comparisons between different, often unrelated things, to make a point that one is just as bad as the other or just as good as the other. It may be used to draw attention to an unrelated issue by comparing it to a well-known bad event, in an attempt to say one is as bad as the other. Or, it may be used in an attempt to claim one isn't as bad as the other by comparison. Drawing a moral equivalence in this way is a logical fallacy." Bolded for emphasis.

I'd like to see how Pence deals with that. Maybe Trump was, in fact, not trying to suggest the US was as bad as Putin's Russia. In which case, why even say that on FOX News? Also, Trump's done this before, with Turkey. "When the world looks at how bad the United States is, and then we go and talk about civil liberties, I don’t think we’re a very good messenger." That's from July. But I, at least, don't see how a statement such as "Person A killed a lot of people, but you know, Person B killed too" is anything other than a moral equivalence.

[Felya]

If you are so ignorant you don't realize how much terror the USA has caused, you need to study more.

How would that travel ban work?

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funny if I would have called Obama supporters retarded I would get infracted.

MMOC mods turning GEN OT into a far left echo chamber more and more everyday.

#justavictimcomplex

#indeed

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-awareness

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and the Obama supporters would be defending it.

You, not Trump or Obama supporters, but you are actively defending it.

[Dug]

A true patriot Trump is. America at it's "greatest" was fucking all kinds of shit up. Is that what he means by MAGA?

[Caolela]

I love how this thread became barren after Skroe's post. Well played, Skroe. Well played.

How soon some of you forget Skrew's rabid support of Clinton for months and months on end, who it can be argued is/was as bad as Putin on similar issues. Now you're supposed to buy his ridiculous posts about Trump re Putin? (For the record, I am not a Trump supporter.)

Double standard. Pot, kettle, black. Hypocrisy. If Skrew had any integrity he'd at least toss all three into the same bag on these issues. But there is no consistency.

All it proves is some here are easily swayed by his cleverly crafted bullshit. Instead, they might ask themselves what his motives are in being so disingenuous.

[rosebull]

I think people are seriously digging way to deep into what trump said, he's not a hard person to figure out.

Man the amount of insanity this election caused is hilarious and frightening.

Trump: I think sci-fi movies are cool

Media: Trump thinks any movie that isn't in the sci-fi genre should be banned from america

[Machismo]

What adult people do in their bedroom is their own business and it's like this in Russia. Gays are not prosecuted. It is true that historically gays are not viewed favorably in Russia. It's society is more traditional. Imho that's a good thing.

You linked freedom house report, I am skeptical about its methodology, looks like Singapore(death sentence for drug crimes if I am not mistaken.) And Bhutan( a country almost as closed north Korea) and a bunch of other countries like Benin(south Africa) have higher freedom index than Russia.

Like I said, Russia is more homophobic than almost every western nation. They also ban gay marriage, have laws against gay propaganda in public, and local jurisdictions do their best to limit activities of gay groups in public. Gay couples can also be banned from adopting. Let's not forget, the country is actually shifting towards being even more homophobic, which is truly alarming.

The tradition they are holding onto, is one of bigotry and homophobia. That's not exactly a tradition I would want to keep.

As for their freedom index scores, I posted three. I can post more if you like. Places like Singapore and Hong Kong have very high scores for economic freedom, which props them up over all. There isn't much personal freedom, economic freedom, or even social freedom in Russia. If there were, then there wouldn't be bans on "gay propaganda."

[Felya]

I think people are seriously digging way to deep into what trump said, he's not a hard person to figure out.

Man the amount of insanity this election caused is hilarious and frightening.

Trump: I think sci-fi movies are cool

Media: Trump thinks any movie that isn't in the sci-fi genre should be banned from america

You think others are thinking way too much, yet this is your justification? How is what you are saying remotely relevant to:

There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent

[lockedout]

Clickbait title.

[Sulfate]

I think people are seriously digging way to deep into what trump said, he's not a hard person to figure out.

Man the amount of insanity this election caused is hilarious and frightening.

Trump: I think sci-fi movies are cool

Media: Trump thinks any movie that isn't in the sci-fi genre should be banned from america

Rather than movies, the analogy should be about something we know Trump watches: the media.

In which case Trump's quotes would be about how any news channel that isn't in his camp is FAKE NEWS, and how he has a running war with the media.

As you say, Trump broadcasts his intentions very well. The problem isn't reading too deeply into what he's saying. The problem is the things he says.

[Shalcker]

Now you are trying to put words into my mouth. He has authority over where they strike, that is a fact.

Unlike Obama's drone strikes, Putin doesn't actually signs off on each and every military target...

[Sulfate]

I don't understand Trump's line of play. The easy and factual answer would be denial. As many posters have pointed out, there is no proof of Putin's involvement. If Trump said that the evidence was inconclusive, or that he even had 'extremely credible sources' proving Putin's innocence, that would be the end of it.

Instead Trump seems to accept the premise of Putin killing journalists, but continues to be on friendly terms with him regardless.

And to head off the obvious counterargument:
If the argument is that Clinton is just as bad as Putin, and Trump is friends with Putin, is that really an argument in Trump's favor?

[Kasierith]

And let's hear from Christie and Pence.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-pen...ssia-comments/

“He respects Vladimir Putin because he believes that the leaders of countries deserve to get treated with respect. He wants to be treated with respect around the world, and he believes Vladimir Putin should be." -- Chris Christie

Literally the only thing Christie has left in his political career is to stand near Trump and make Trump look better by comparison. Trump said it himself in his book, paraphrasing: you always want to keep someone fat and unsuccessful in the room with you. I'm not sure why we're even considering anything the prop says anymore.

[Deleted]

I don't understand Trump's line of play.

It's simple: he does not think before he speaks.

And he's an amoral asshole who is cool with assassinated Russian journalists ... and dragging the name of America into the same cesspool that the assassins dwell in.

Trevor Noah calls this "truth Trump", when Trumps' words betray his heart.

[Shalcker]

It's simple: he does not think before he speaks.

Thinking that complex things are simple is how Trump got elected (on many levels).

[Caolela]

And to head off the obvious counterargument:
If the argument is that Clinton is just as bad as Putin, and Trump is friends with Putin, is that really an argument in Trump's favor?

Nowhere did I say or imply it's an argument in Trump's favor. In fact, I said all three should be damned in this area.

[Deleted]

Thinking that complex things are simple is how Trump got elected (on many levels).

There was a time when I entertained the notion that Trump's mind was complex: that, for example, he might be firing off odd but trivial tweets to distract from more serious potential criticisms.

But now we've seen President Trump, I think the most reasonable interpretation is the simplest: he is what he appears to be.

Just as Obama appeared thoughtful and prepared, choosing his words carefully, Trump appears to fire from the hip and is not well briefed, saying the first thing that comes into his mind. Appearances are not deceptive: one was ex-President of Harvard Law Review; the other, a former reality TV star.

But I agree - America chose the simple solutions: the wall, the Muslim ban, the tariffs, the tax cuts, the fundamentalist reading of the constitution, the anti-elitism, the "making great again" etc.

[Sky High]

yeah Trump likes a lot of authoritarians and despots, he wishes he could be one.

[rowaasr13]

So fun to see so many butts flaming in excruciating pain over simply truth that "US is not saint".