Flynnghazi: Justice Dept. warned WH that advisor vunlnerable to blackmail.

[jugzilla]

I think it is pretty sad, that I have to defend my President for eating in a public restaurant. Our politics are so messed up at this point. If I were President, I would randomly show up at Applebee's and get some of that Sriracha Shrimp. Let the elites squirm that a President would dare stoop to our level...

[Crispin]

I think it is pretty sad, that I have to defend my President for eating in a public restaurant. Our politics are so messed up at this point. If I were President, I would randomly show up at Applebee's and get some of that Sriracha Shrimp. Let the elites squirm that a President would dare stoop to our level...

The issue isnt him eating out mate, it's handling security matters at a restaurent...

[Skroe]

I'm trying to say it is silly to hold our president to Cold War standards, when there is no cold war.

No. We're in a worse situation.

First, the United States is more powerful today and has more global responsibilities than during the Cold War.

Secondly, the Cold War was simple compared to this. We had a peer-level adversary during the Cold War who spent half the Cold War more powerful than we were. Today, we have no peer-level adversary. We instead have revancist Russia... more a regional spoiler than a regional power. We have rogue states in North Korea, Iran and Syria. We have the largest human migrations since World War II. We have cyberwarfare. We have ballistic missile technology spreading like wildfire. We have terrorism. This is far more multi-dimensional than it ever has been.

During the Cold War, the President of the United States could phone the Premier of the USSR to get him to reign some bad actor in. Today, it's a free for all across the Arc of Instability.

[Slant]

I don't have that delusion, I was just taking a normative stance. I want to see any president of a country age 10 years within his term. If they haven't, they did not take the job seriously. People really need to demand a lot more from their leaders.

You can demand all you want. When was the last time a President followed the demand to 180° on his attitude? Scratch that, when was the last time the US had such a narcissistic, selfish bastard as a President?

[Deleted]

With Trump supporters, national security is only relevant when it can be used as a tool to discredit a democratic candidate or get rid of non-white people.

[Shalcker]

A right, the illuminati decided that NK should launch a missile while the dinner was going on and informed Japan and the US about it so they could prepare a photo op.

So you think mobile printer to pass sensitive classified information in printed form to POTUS while illuminating it with phone flashlights is reality?

And that US intelligence isn't good enough to know about launch ahead of it happening?

Well, either is technically possible.

[Gorsameth]

I think it is pretty sad, that I have to defend my President for eating in a public restaurant. Our politics are so messed up at this point. If I were President, I would randomly show up at Applebee's and get some of that Sriracha Shrimp. Let the elites squirm that a President would dare stoop to our level...

Good on you to ignore every single reaction to your previous statement on the topic.
Keep those fingers in your ears and remember to shout "lalalala" a lot.

[Shalcker]

I think it is pretty sad, that I have to defend my President for eating in a public restaurant. Our politics are so messed up at this point. If I were President, I would randomly show up at Applebee's and get some of that Sriracha Shrimp. Let the elites squirm that a President would dare stoop to our level...

I'm pretty sure we've seen Obama and Medvedev in common burger joint on his visit to US...

[Skroe]

So... property prices in SF falling these days?

hahaha. You know what the crazy / most dangerous part is? It would be far harder to defend against a North Korean Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile than almost any other threat against the US.

Consider Russia. If they're going to launch their SLBM, they're going to strike North American and European defense targets. They aren't going to nuke Japan and South Korea. North Korea, to "strike back" against the US, they don't have to get within 500 miles of California, or Hawaii, or even Guam. They can go 10 miles off the coast of North Korea and hit Japan.

Basically, missile defense has become more important than ever.

[Machismo]

I think it is pretty sad, that I have to defend my President for eating in a public restaurant. Our politics are so messed up at this point. If I were President, I would randomly show up at Applebee's and get some of that Sriracha Shrimp. Let the elites squirm that a President would dare stoop to our level...

He can eat in a public restaurant, he shouldn't hold national security meetings in front of the public, nor should he look over such documents in full view.

If you think this is about dinner, you are an idiot. I doubt you are an idiot, so it means you are simply trying to deflect from the actual issue. This may actually be more of a security risk than Hillary having all her work e-mails sent to a private server.

Now, he could clear this all up, by simply releasing all the documents that were on the table, and release any audio tapes of the meeting.

[jugzilla]

I don't think you quite get what you're seeing. This is a picture of a function at Trump's Mar A-lago resort / vacation home. It's a private function... a welcoming dinner for the Prime Minister of Japan. It wasn't some kind of semi-public restaurant "milling with the masses". It was a private affair. It would have been no different if Trump had done this at Camp David. He just really likes Mar A-lago.

yes, you should be hung up on this picture. Because he IS special. The President of the United States can play the role of the everyman every other time... except when it comes to security issues. As leader of the world's most powerful country and leader of the world's most powerful military, and responsible for the security of literally billions of people (only 320 million of which are Americans)... no, he doesn't get to act like an average joe when security situations come up.

Furthermore yes, when a security situation comes up, I expect the President of the United States to drop what he is doing and address it with the seriousness and professionalism it deserves... not under cellphone light at his private resort. Again, this is his private resort. The government set up secure rooms for him to use. As President, a mobile one follows him wherever he goes, and like Bush's ranch at Crawford, they probably set up a permanent one since he comes here a lot.

Again, demand more jugzilla. What are you doing excusing incompetence? You're better than this.

Because the west and our allies aren't in any sort of cold war let alone an existential threat, with North Korea. They tested a weapon. It can wait. I think it would have actually been an effective display of US supremecy if this picture was captioned "Trump informed of North Korean Weapons Test. Nods, and takes another bite of steak, while dining with the PM of Japan." The idea that the US president has to be constantly at a cold war era of footing to combat such pitiful powers, just seems silly with a dash of partisanship.

[Skroe]

I think it is pretty sad, that I have to defend my President for eating in a public restaurant. Our politics are so messed up at this point. If I were President, I would randomly show up at Applebee's and get some of that Sriracha Shrimp. Let the elites squirm that a President would dare stoop to our level...

Jugzilla... it's not a public restaurant. It's a formal event with the Prime Minister of Japan (who is the guy next to him, in that photo).

[jugzilla]

I'm pretty sure we've seen Obama and Medvedev in common burger joint on his visit to US...

Burgers are awesome. Make sure to order them medium-rare. If the waitress gives a confused look, order the chicken.

[Skroe]

Because we aren't in any sort of cold war with North Korea. They tested a weapon. It can wait. I think it would have actually been an effective display of US supremecy if this picture was captioned "Trump informed of North Korean Weapons Test. Nods, and takes another bite of steak, while dining with the PM of Japan." The idea that the US president has to be constantly at a cold war era of footing to combat such pitiful powers, just seems silly with a dash of partisanship.

First, we are in a major ongoing security situation with North Korea. This has been ongoing since the 1990s. And of a sort, the US development and deployment of Missile Defenses is a kind of mini-Cold War. The US is moving THAAD to South Korea, specifically, because of North Korea's missile program.

Secondly, it can't wait. If you don't care about the security situation for those countries, consider the hundred thousand US troops in South Korea, Japan and Guam, that all are held at risk from any North Korean SLBM. If this was a test (and evidently a successful one), it means North Korea could load up their subs with them and send them out to sea.

As head of the armed forces, command decisions must be made.

And casual displays of US supremacy, as you describe, amount to nothing and lead to disaster. Remember, we've seen this before:

[Slant]

hahaha. You know what the crazy / most dangerous part is? It would be far harder to defend against a North Korean Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile than almost any other threat against the US.

Consider Russia. If they're going to launch their SLBM, they're going to strike North American and European defense targets. They aren't going to nuke Japan and South Korea. North Korea, to "strike back" against the US, they don't have to get within 500 miles of California, or Hawaii, or even Guam. They can go 10 miles off the coast of North Korea and hit Japan.

Basically, missile defense has become more important than ever.

Should talk to the Israelis about that. I swear, their iron dome is all kinds of impressive.

[Glorious Leader]

Well get ready, because with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the prospect of something like National Voter ID (or legitimizing State VoterID laws) to "fight voter fraud" (read: rig the game by adding a voting barrier to minorities and immigrants) becomes a real possibility.

That Bannon / Miller anti-immigration EO was part of the plan. We liberals, moderates and conservatives who are part of the traditional political aparatus see immigration as generally a good thing. We want to attract the best and brightest, and get them to live here and so forth because it enhances our economy, contributes to our culture, etc. Bannon/Miller see non-European immigration as undermining their ethno-nationalist worldview (and non-European immigration is mostly what American immigration is now days). Even by sullying America's reputation as a "nation of immigrants", outside of the legal realities of that (which could always come later), it accomplishes their goal in part. Beyond just the law blocking them, they want would-be non-European immigrants to be looking elsewhere.

All put together, this is the far-right's "fight back" against the Democrats "Demographics is Destiny" argument, which is still probably correct to a degree, that as this country diversifies and the White Population goes from Majority to Plurality to Minority-Majority, that Democrat's electoral fortunes are far brighter than the demographically screwed republicans. If you can "Keep America whiter" and "more European", the right can complete.

The joke of it is, non-other than Karl Rove new how bullshit this entire philosophy was 13 years ago when he pushed for a "Big Tent" Republican party. A center-right Republican Party could utterly thrive in this country focused on economic opportunities / neoliberalism, federalism, efficiency, and in the most general sense, family values (a more traditionalist spin on Democrat's "working families" thing). But it would require sacrificing the adherence to the Southern Strategy's White ethnocentrism. Karl Rover and Bush had big plans to make Latino's a reliable republican bloc.

So much for that in any event. But here we are. Steve Bannon see the model as it is now, and wants to blow it up.

Neo liberalism is precisely the reason we are here in the first place.

[jugzilla]

Jugzilla... it's not a public restaurant. It's a formal event with the Prime Minister of Japan (who is the guy next to him, in that photo).

Mar-a-Lago country club restaurant. Of course, it costs 200k to become a member...but these people weren't expecting Trump and Abe to show up. http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/02/1...be-north-korea

I also remember 9/11 very clearly. GWB committed no sin while reading to those children. And the entire government was confused until HOURS later...it would have made no difference if he was in the WH at the time.

I don't get it Skroe...the North Koreans test a weapon, does there really need to be an immediate and impulsive US response?

[Skroe]

You can really tell who has the knowledge of nuclear weaponry and who doesn't, eh Skroe?

I mean yeah, North Korea has been missile testing for a few years now to the point that people who otherwise have no clue what's going on would be like "They launched a missile, so what?" Where someone with half a clue actually knows how big of a deal this is.

Yep. It's a game changer.

And its worth stating, that the Obama Administration also, basically neglected this issue, hoping to encourage China to reign North Korea (out of the kindness of their heart of course). US Security experts have been screaming about how fast the North Koreans have been moving for years.

Obama spent a lot of time patting himself on the back for the Iran Nuclear Deal. No such deal with North Korea is possible. They're going to become a nuclear power armed with solid-fueled Submarine launched ballistic missiles before to long. That will happen during Trump's tenure, due to the Bush Administration, Obama Administration and Trump Administration failing to come up with a lasting solution to it.

If we can't get them to disarm or get China to disarm them, the only solution will be to basically ring the Pacific Rim with under sea sensor nets and missile defenses. Get ready to spend tens of billions of dollars.

[Sharkconas]

Its funny Trump ran not as politician but as a business man, he though he could run our country like one of his businesses so far hes been wrong. And if our government were business he would have been fired by now. I really do hope this rabbit hole goes deeper than Flynn because this administration is a disaster that will damage us all.

[Skroe]

Mar-a-Lago country club restaurant. Of course, it costs 200k to become a member...but these people weren't expecting Trump and Abe to show up. http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/02/1...be-north-korea

You're really reaching to make something not normal and not okay for a President to do... Okay. Equating a $200,000 resort that is owned by the President as a vacation home, that hosted a private function for Abe, with going to Applebees and milling with us small people, is an absurdity.

Why aren't you asking your President to take his job seriously?