Trump's pissed-off over press conference

[Frank Underwood]

It's not just the CIA and the FBI that uncovered this story, it was also a private intelligence investigator who was a former UK MI6 operative. The international media have know about these allegations for many months and have been investigating them ever since and although they have been unable to confirm the existence of the Trump video tape they have not been able to refute the story either. I don't know whether the story is true or not but it seems that Trump and many others are happy to accept reports from the FBI and CIA when it suits their narrative (e.g. those regarding Hillary's emails and the hacking of the DNC) but are very dismissive when they challenge their thinking. As for the Trump campaign having meeting with Russian officials, that seems very plausible and more than a little bit worrying.

Those that claim that this story has been created by Trump's enemies to discredit his never explain why they didn't release it during the election campaign when it would have derailed his campaign. On a balance of probabilities, I believe these allegations against Trump and that it will eventually lead to President Pence at some stage in the next 4 years.

That's all well and good, just as long as people realize that it is unverified.

My skepticism as to whether or not Russia hacked the DNC and John Podesta's emails, or whether they have dirt on Trump has nothing to do with my political narrative. It's because bogus intelligence has been released on more than one occasion to support the government's political narrative. Accusations of Russia's involvement could very well be true. The more evidence that is released, the more credibility is gained.

I don't know if any of you are familiar with Jimmy Dore, but he's done several videos on why skepticism and questioning what we're told are good things.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I have oodles of respect for Bernie Sanders, but these Bernie fans who then stated their "almost" desire to have Trump win just to stick to whomever -- or whomever they feel tripped up Bernie...

Just who are you sticking it to by Trump winning? "That bitch Hillary"?? No, it's the rest of us.

Even Sanders said it was terribly important that Trump not win.

 

[Gabriel Maxwell]

A Trump presidency is far from ideal to say the least, but we ultimately have to deal with the fact that the electoral college exists for the time being.

That is why he will be inaugurated on Friday. But Trump, being the leading force of the birther movement which outrageously questioned the legitimacy of Barack Obama's presidency not on the basis of how he became President but who he is, deserves no relief.

On the contrary, given the suspicious circumstances of his election, not to mention his pattern of arrogant behavior, he deserves that his legitimacy as President of the US be repeatedly questioned and thoroughly investigated.

Barack Obama was able to withstand birther attacks with presidential class and dignity. If Trump happens to have a short fuse and, if pushed, ends up embarrassing himself and the high office he's about to occupy - so be it. It would only prove he's not fit to be President.

I expected more from the Democratic Party than that, and I feel they have taken too many pages out of the Republicans' playbook.

As much as you clarify your position or describe your experience I can't help but see you draw a distinct equation mark between the DNC and the GOP, and I just can't go along with that.

You resent choosing a lesser evil, but I think the reality of life and any human relationship is the question - what flaws am I willing to tolerate? And I just can't see the GOP's and the DNC's flaws in the same light, thus being unable to tolerate either.

 

[SueEllenRules!]

I don't know if the Russians really possess compromising material on Trump or, the Trump organization is simply going to profit from the trillions that ExxonMobil puts their paws on once Trump has the Russian sanctions lifted (not to mention the other business opportunities in Russia) or both, but it is stunning to watch to what brazen extent Trump has parroted Putin's agenda.

After expressing increasingly suspicious admiration for Putin for months, he's now begun talking about lifting the sanctions - something we've expected all along - and today the NATO is being branded obsolete and the EU is not important to him, allegedly being "on the verge of collapse anyway", which of course shocked the European leaders, traditional allies of the US. He's gone to bed with Putin, a dangerous dictator, instead.

Putin's agenda is quite transparent - he thinks the collapse of the Soviet Union, a global superpower, was a mistake, meanwhile the Russian economy is decimated, so he's intent on rebuilding it in same modern shape or form (hence what he did to Ukraine and may do to the other states, e.g. the 3 Baltic countries). NATO and the EU are standing in his way.

The flood of immigrants from the Syrian conflict he's supported has caused trouble across the EU, namely the rise in dangerous right-wing sentiment and the vicious cycle of terrorist attacks and political instability, an added bonus for Putin. And that's just the beginning.

Meanwhile, idiot Trump is intent on helping Putin, at any cost.

I totally agree. Although, I still say Putin's holding something over Trump's head to keep him in line. I've never seen anyone kiss a corrupt dictator's backside with more passion. Hillary hit the nail on the head: Putin's puppet. It also wouldn't surprise me in the least if Trump and/or his campaign were actually in collusion with the Russians to steal the election.

Talk about doing a U turn on an issue! Does make you wonder if Russia have something on Trump that forced him to convert into becoming Putin's biggest fan, apologist and cheerleader.

Something is most definitely rotten in the state of Denmark.

 

[Frank Underwood]

I have oodles of respect for Bernie Sanders, but these Bernie fans who then stated their "almost" desire to have Trump win just to stick to whomever -- or whomever they feel tripped up Bernie...

Just who are you sticking it to by Trump winning? "That bitch Hillary"?? No, it's the rest of us.

Even Sanders said it was terribly important that Trump not win.

I said something like that awhile back out of frustration more than anything else. I was frustrated with the party, frustrated with Hillary, and frustrated with many of her supporters. I felt and still feel that many of them look down on Bernie supporters who refused to vote for Hillary. Even if you voted third party, they still look down on you because you took away votes from Hillary. Bernie or bust is bad, but Hillary or bust is righteous.

Like Bernie, I didn't actually want Trump to win. I even respect the pragmatic reasons he supported Hillary since she took on several of his campaign proposals. However, he also said that it was up to Hillary to get the votes of his supporters. When journalists like Don Lemon mock us for being upset over policies Hillary supported "20 years ago," they're neglecting the real world consequences of those policies.

Voting for Jill Stein may have been a "pat on the back" for sticking to my principles, but voting for the least bad candidate would have felt like a show of support for neocon policies I disagree with.

 

[Frank Underwood]

That is why he will be inaugurated on Friday. But Trump, being the leading force of the birther movement which outrageously questioned the legitimacy of Barack Obama's presidency not on the basis of how he became President but who he is, deserves no relief.

On the contrary, given the suspicious circumstances of his election, not to mention his pattern of arrogant behavior, he deserves that his legitimacy as President of the US be repeatedly questioned and thoroughly investigated.

Barack Obama was able to withstand birther attacks with presidential class and dignity. If Trump happens to have a short fuse and, if pushed, ends up embarrassing himself and the high office he's about to occupy - so be it. It would only prove he's not fit to be President.

Yes, there is a a wonderful sense of irony knowing that the guy who led the birther movement is now having the legitimacy of his presidency questioned.

However, I think Democrats should focus more on mobilizing against Trump's extremist agenda, while supporting the policies that would actually benefit people. It would show that they are above partisan politics. Republicans, on the other hand, obstructed policies they agreed with simply because they came from Obama. There's a time to obstruct and a time to support the president, which Democrats should be focused on.

As much as you clarify your position or describe your experience I can't help but see you draw a distinct equation mark between the DNC and the GOP, and I just can't go along with that.

You resent choosing a lesser evil, but I think the reality of life and any human relationship is the question - what flaws am I willing to tolerate? And I just can't see the GOP's and the DNC's flaws in the same light, thus being unable to tolerate either.

Fair enough. Everybody has to decide what they're able to tolerate for themselves.

Social programs tend to fair better under Democrats, but it's interesting to me that the Clintons exploded the prison population, gutted welfare, and supported anti gay legislation. Obama, on the other hand, made the Bush tax cuts permanent, expanded the NSA's surveillance capabilities, and started wars of his own. And this election, the DNC worked to undermine the progressive candidate in favor of the moderate corporatist.

So from my perspective, it's getting progressively (pun intended) more difficult to distinguish the Democrats from the Republicans.

 

[Gabriel Maxwell]

I totally agree. Although, I still say Putin's holding something over Trump's head to keep him in line. I've never seen anyone kiss a corrupt dictator's backside with more passion. Hillary hit the nail on the head: Putin's puppet. It also wouldn't surprise me in the least if Trump and/or his campaign were actually in collusion with the Russians to steal the election.

Well, Putin brazenly claims they have the best prostitutes in the world. And he should know as, back in the late 90s, a grainy sex tape with a couple of hookers on FSB payroll compromised a federal prosecutor who was looking into presidential corruption, helping Putin achieve his present multi-billion dollar status. "We don't use these tactics", his lying pathetic Russian butt. Murderer.

However, I think Democrats should focus more on mobilizing against Trump's extremist agenda, while supporting the policies that would actually benefit people. It would show that they are above partisan politics. Republicans, on the other hand, obstructed policies they agreed with simply because they came from Obama. There's a time to obstruct and a time to support the president, which Democrats should be focused on.

Sure, but when life gives you lemons, make a lemonade. Trump's unstable personality should be used as the key to his own undoing.

 

[McGarrett]

So it's all still about Hillary.

You are right .

She failed. She blew it.. She is obsolete. .

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

You are right .

She failed. She blew it.. She is obsolete. .

She didn't know she had to kiss up to Putin and have a Moscow hooker take a leak on her.

I mean, I'm sure she would've had she known it would get her the swing states.

 

[McGarrett]

She didn't know she had to kiss up to Putin and have a Moscow hooker take a leak on her.

I mean, I'm sure she would've had she known it would get her the swing states.

She should have maybe campaigned in areas where it was close.. Too bad she was too feeble for the task.