Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Low Hanging Fruit]

Sure it is. Look at Bill Clinton's approval rating after the impeachment against him failed.

Already dipping to look at Bill for Donald. Funny. The gold standard for a Republican is using a Clinton as a positive comparison. When does the spin zone ever end for you?

[Dontrike]

Turkey Offensive: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he won’t meet U.S. Vice President Mike Pence tomorrow to discuss a ceasefire-he will only speak to U.S. President Donald Trump
https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/sta...22846531018752

Haha! Denied!


The BIG OLE middle finger to the US and Pence.

He knows it's far easier to sway Trump than Pence.

[Levelfive]

Already dipping to look at Bill for Donald. Funny. The gold standard for a Republican is using a Clinton as a positive comparison. When does the spin zone ever end for you?

Of course, Bill Clinton WAS impeached, and Bush won the next election, so.

- - - Updated - - -

Turkey Offensive: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he won’t meet U.S. Vice President Mike Pence tomorrow to discuss a ceasefire-he will only speak to U.S. President Donald Trump
https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/sta...22846531018752

Haha! Denied!


The BIG OLE middle finger to the US and Pence.

Isn't that what set off the whole thing in the first place, that Erdogan was pissed he didn't get a private meeting with Trump?

[Low Hanging Fruit]

Of course, Bill Clinton WAS impeached, and Bush won the next election, so.

Right, and it was an election against someone not Bill Clinton. Clinton stayed in office. Then Bush got elected. We had 911, a false pretense war, and a major recession.

Spin spin spin...

[Bodakane]

Well, I would call that brazen, not brave, but otherwise, agreed.

Fair. The main point though, is not underestimate the right and their ability to do literally anything, to further their agenda.

[Levelfive]

Right, and it was an election against someone not Bill Clinton. Clinton stayed in office. Then Bush got elected. We had 911, a false pretense war, and a major recession.

Spin spin spin...

Yes, the "price" Republicans paid was winning the next election.

- - - Updated - - -

Fair. The main point though, is not underestimate the right and their ability to do literally anything, to further their agenda.

100% agreed.

[Breccia]

Isn't that what set off the whole thing in the first place, that Erdogan was pissed he didn't get a private meeting with Trump?

Not necessarily. It's not the meeting itself, but what would be discussed in the meeting. Erdogan is many things, most of them vile, but he wouldn't invade a country just to prove a point. He really wanted to invade Syria anyhow.

Now you've still got a good point, so does @Dontrike on this. Turkey could possibly have been threatened or bribed hard enough to stop them from invading, but Trump sure didn't do it. Now that Turkey is getting what they want -- killing hundreds of Kurds, including civilians -- and Trump's reaction is "more steel tariffs" and that's about it, they'll need something even better to leave. Putin might give it to them.

I suppose there's also the option Erdogan will say "give us really good compensation, or we'll continue killing your allies and also we'll shut down Trump Tower Istanbullshit". That tactic would have zero effect on Pence, who would probably make that threat public and refuse to give an inch. Trump? Well..I think it would work, and more importantly, I think Trump wouldn't announce that threat, since it would
a) imply the threat, by virtue of being made, could have worked, and
b) expose his conflict of interest isn't so minor after all

[Molis]

Wow what the hell have I been clicking on to get this ad on MMO Champ

https://action.donaldjtrump.com/the-...SAAEgI5FfD_BwE

[Paranoid Android]

The parents of Harry Dunn came to the White House to meet with President Trump – and he had an unpleasant surprise for them, they said. They were told that the woman they want to hold accountable for their son's death in a car crash was in the next room. https://t.co/VMpzTCddAV

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1...825075712?s=19

Ah Trump always the reality tv show. Nothing like ambushing grieving parents with the person who killed him.

Context of the story an ambassador's wife to the United Kingdom killed Harry Dunn. Admitted it and then fled to the United States claiming diplomatic immunity.

[Breccia]

Ah Trump always the reality tv show.

Wow, that's Jerry Springer levels of tasteless.

Also: while the rabid fanbase tries to defend Trump's actions with China as a bigly yuge win, there is a major hurdle.

And that's Congress reacting to China's human rights violations in Hong Kong.

China threatened unspecified “strong countermeasures” if the U.S. Congress enacts legislation supporting Hong Kong protesters, in a sign of the deepening strain between the world’s two largest economies as they attempt to seal a trade deal.

China’s foreign ministry issued the warning Wednesday after the U.S. House passed a package of measures backing a pro-democracy movement that has rocked the former British colony for more than four months. Among them was the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which subjects the city’s special U.S. trading status to annual reviews and provides for sanctions against officials deemed responsible for undermining its “fundamental freedoms and autonomy.”

While the legislation must also pass the U.S. Senate and be signed by President Donald Trump to become law, it already has strong bipartisan support in the Republican-run upper chamber. The Hong Kong measures were passed by the Democrat-controlled House by unanimous voice votes Tuesday.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang warned American lawmakers to stop meddling in China’s internal affairs “before falling off the edge of the cliff,” without specifying how it would retaliate. The House action “fully exposes the shocking hypocrisy of some in the U.S. on human rights and democracy and their malicious intention to undermine Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability to contain China’s development,” Geng said.

Which means one of three things must happen.

1) McConnell has to take yet another one for the team, blocking the bill in the Senate.

2) If McConnell allows the bill to a Senate vote, it will probably pass. Trump could veto it, taking personal responsibility for saying money is more important than human rights.

3) Or, if the vote is high enough that we enter crying like a bitch territory, China will just walk away from even this partial trade deal, and Trump has nothing.

[Dontrike]

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1...825075712?s=19

Ah Trump always the reality tv show. Nothing like ambushing grieving parents with the person who killed him.

Context of the story an ambassador's wife to the United Kingdom killed Harry Dunn. Admitted it and then fled to the United States claiming diplomatic immunity.

For those of us who don't know about diplomatic immunity am I correct in assuming killing someone isn't something that is protect by it?

[some guy]

All of my knowledge of diplomatic immunity comes from Lethal Weapon 2. So I assume it's wrong.

[Paranoid Android]

Documents show stark differences in how Trump’s businesses reported some expenses, profits and occupancy figures for two NYC buildings -- making them appear more profitable to a lender and less profitable to officials who set the buildings’ property tax.

https://t.co/GOzgsLCfQv

https://twitter.com/TimOBrien/status...729631232?s=19

Good ole tax fraud and bank fraud.

It has been discussed that Trump has committed so many crimes it is hard to know which one for impeachment. So yeah be thankful on the Ukraine fiasco.

Still let's hope he gets charges on all his crimes after out of office.

@Breccia. Jerry Springer analogy is perfect.

[Breccia]

For those of us who don't know about diplomatic immunity am I correct in assuming killing someone isn't something that is protect by it?

It is actually covered.

The story of Gueorgui Makharadze is actually quite similar. A Georgian Ambassador (y'all), he got drunk and ran over a child. He asserted diplomatic immunity, and he was successful.

Until Georgia declared him persona non grata and revoked it, and he was immediately jailed.

It's also worth noting that diplomatic immunity doesn't cover everyone. If, for example, a low-level embassy staffer in charge of recovering lost passports for American tourists wanders outside of the embassy and, say, blows up a hospital, he's not covered. It's typically high-ranking members only.

[Belize]

For those of us who don't know about diplomatic immunity am I correct in assuming killing someone isn't something that is protect by it?

All dependent on wether the country issuing diplomatic immunity is willing to extradite the person in question.

Extradition to the U.K. would effectively revoke diplomatic immunity.

[Breccia]

Good ole tax fraud and bank fraud.

This is exactly what Cohen said had happened.

If this report is true, then Trump either committed bank/insurance fraud by inflating his property's value and revenue, or he committed tax fraud by deflating his property's value and revenue on his taxes, which he refuses to show. Gee, guess which one I think it is?

Oh, and NYState is going to take a very dim view of this. And Trump can't pardon that.

[Paranoid Android]

This is exactly what Cohen said had happened.

If this report is true, then Trump either committed bank/insurance fraud by inflating his property's value and revenue, or he committed tax fraud by deflating his property's value and revenue on his taxes, which he refuses to show. Gee, guess which one I think it is?

Oh, and NYState is going to take a very dim view of this. And Trump can't pardon that.

More on the tweet thread. Now to be clear this is secondhand knowledge or hearsay from O'Brien.

The Trump Organization has been at this game for a long time. When I interviewed Trump's CFO, Allen Weisselberg, in 2005 for "TrumpNation," he told me that Trump valued 40 Wall Street at $400 million -- at a time when it was assessed for property tax purposes at only $90 million

https://twitter.com/TimOBrien/status...506560512?s=19

[kaelleria]

Wow what the hell have I been clicking on to get this ad on MMO Champ

https://action.donaldjtrump.com/the-...SAAEgI5FfD_BwE

I think adsense on MMOC is drunk. I've been getting ads for Trump, makeup, shoes, male hookup sites, gaming glasses, the NRA and birth control.

[Breccia]

More on the tweet thread. Now to be clear this is secondhand knowledge or hearsay from O'Brien.

Maybe, but it's not hearsay when Cohen says it. Cohen was Trump's lawyer for years. He absolutely checked Trump's loan applications and tax forms.

- - - Updated - - -

Nothing like ambushing grieving parents with the person who killed him.

For more, we turn to NBC News.

"The bombshell was dropped not soon after we walked in the room: Anne Sacoolas was in the building and was willing to meet with us," Dunn's mother, Charlotte Charles, told reporters in Washington afterward. "We made it very clear that as we've said all along … we would still love to meet with her but it has to be on our terms and on U.K. soil."

Mark Stephens, a lawyer for the Dunn family, told Sky News on Wednesday the plan of the Trump team was to set up the meeting and then "bring in the press corp to show it was all happy families."

"Unfortunately, that was a gargantuan miscalculation," he said, describing the way the meeting was proposed as "so wrong."

Dunn's father, Tim Dunn, had said earlier that Trump was "very gracious and respectful" throughout the meeting, holding Charles' hand at one point and promising her he would seek a solution. "He was understanding and I think he genuinely will look to try and resolve this," he said.

But Charles, the teenager's mother, said the meeting ultimately went "round in circles" as Trump and his team tried to get the family to "accept the invitation to meet her [Sacoolas] on their terms which we weren't willing to do."

She said that any meeting would need to involve "therapists and mediators in the room and not just her and us. I wouldn't imagine that's even advisable for her, let alone us."

Tim Dunn said they felt "a bit rushed" and that they "don't think it would have gone too well" if they had gone through with the president's plan.

Anyone happen to have the definition of "sociopath" lying around? Trump did this for a photo op.

[Benggaul]

I think adsense on MMOC is drunk. I've been getting ads for Trump, makeup, shoes, male hookup sites, gaming glasses, the NRA and birth control.

Not to derail further, but I had to start blocking ads here a year or two ago when that shit started happening. I think my breaking point was some sort of popcorn ad I couldn't read because it was inexplicably in Cyrillic.