The absurdity of Donald Trump

[BigV]

Originally Posted by Griff

As an independent voter, I want Trump out as badly as anyone because he is obviously corrupt and a threat to the Republic. This does not excuse Democrats when they do things that undermine the integrity of the various departments. I recognize that some in the GOP are actively trying to undermine public confidence in the Justice Department. My confidence is bolstered when an internal review recommends that neither party be protected from the truth. We can come out the other side of all this with integrity intact.

I agree with this whole statement.

It's *still* a dick move. It is completely in character for Trump.

Most of all, I feel the show of it is far more important to Trump, and I think he's probably right in that regard. Why now I ask. If the report's been circulating for a while, why now? I've also read that the report hasn't even been completed yet, if so, why fire him now?

I'm looking forward to reading the report when it becomes available. The dribs and drabs I've read make things sound like there's a much different standard being applied, depending on how much Trump likes or dislikes you.

THAT'S the skeeviest part. I don't want either party to be protected from the truth ;neither do I want our government enacted by only the very best toadies.

No offense UT..

[Griff]

Peters bails on Fox/Trump propaganda machine.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fo...ine-2018-03-20

[tw]

Originally Posted by BigV

The dribs and drabs I've read make things sound like there's a much different standard being applied, depending on how much Trump likes or dislikes you.

Dribs and drabs imply propaganda - only leaking what they want to admit.

It is an old Donald trick. Leak out misinformation and lies. By the time those lies are exposed, he has moved on through two or three other lies. So nobody notices he lied again.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Or assumes he lied again unless you belong to his base.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by tw

Dribs and drabs imply propaganda - only leaking what they want to admit.

It is an old Donald trick. Leak out misinformation and lies. By the time those lies are exposed, he has moved on through two or three other lies. So nobody notices he lied again.

Correct.

#likeabrokenclock

[Happy Monkey]

The term is "Gish gallop".

[tw]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

"Gish gallop".

Excellent contribution.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Or assumes he lied again unless you belong to his base.

Still cruising along at what 43%? He is virtually untouchable. His base thinks it's a coup attempt. Good thing this country is full of AR-15s.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Griff

Still cruising along at what 43%? He is virtually untouchable. His base thinks it's a coup attempt. Good thing this country is full of AR-15s.

Hey Hey Mr Toupee. Who is it you fired today?

Well most of the 'war should never be a first and only option' advisers are now gone. McMaster was famous as a Captain in Desert Storm for leading nine tanks in the destruction of all 28 Iraqi tanks. Ted Koppel (Nightline) defined this first tank engagement in the Battle of 73 Eastings.

McMasters also wrote a doctoral thesis and later a scathing book detailing top management in the Vietnam war that was more than 85% responsible for that disaster.

This is the kind of officer that creates victories because, in part, he is not bombastic. Since negotiations always result in greater victories. Being intellectual, then Trump (who never even reads books) would eventually hate him.

43%? Are that many Americans so obviously anti-American?

Trump will replace McMaster with one who openly advocates war as the first and only solution. Who openly endorses torture. Whose entire life is never about consensus (which is the job of a National Security Adviser). Who, like Trump, knows without first learning facts.

Replacing Tillerson and McMaster with right wing wacko extremists who even openly endorse Nazi style torture makes war a likely certainty. Since both advocate attacking others without provocation. Both have openly endorsed unilateral attacks on North Korea using the same pompous rhetoric that they approved of and promoted in Mission Accomplished.

[Griff]

Honestly, I'm way more concerned about Iran than NK.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Griff

Honestly, I'm way more concerned about Iran than NK.

The Iran problem is solved if Trump and the extremists do not screw it up.

The North Korean problem was solved long ago by Jimmy Carter - until American extremists screwed it up. And then George Jr used diplomacy (his axis of evil speech) to subvert that entire solution.

An Iran situation was also being solved. Iran was actually working as an American friend to attack and conquer the Taliban. That solution was also destroyed by the "Axis of Evil" speech - given by a most evil one.

From PBS Fronline:

In November, Secretary of State Colin Powell shook hands with the Iranian foreign minister, Kamal Kharrazi, at the U.N. headquarters in New York City -- a simple yet historic gesture that seemed the most tantalizing hint of rapprochement between the U.S. and Iran since the Islamic revolution and the hostage crisis in 1979.

But on Jan. 29, 2002, in his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush branded Iran and its "terrorist allies" as part of "an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world." And on Jan. 31, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice summed up the administration's position on Iran. "Iran's direct support of regional and global terrorism," she said, "and its aggressive efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction, belie any good intentions it displayed in the days after the world's worst terrorist attacks in history."

How dumb were we (because of George Jr and people who elected him)? The Iranian situation was solved multiple times. Then wackos screwed it up. Bolton (a lover of Nazi style torture) was one who openly wanted us to invade Iran and North Korea. Which is why Trump likes him. And apparently will screw everything up but again. When will he give his axis of evil speech?

Always learn from history. Extremists even in the Cellar will deny all this because it contradicts what their propaganda sources have ordered them to believe. And because they use emotions rather than facts from history to know otherwise.

Dexter Filkins details what has long been known in the New Yorker on 30 Sept 2013. Yes, this reality has been known for that long.

In the chaotic days after the attacks of September 11th, Ryan Crocker ... flew discreetly to Geneva to meet a group of Iranian diplomats. “I’d fly out on a Friday and then back on Sunday, so nobody in the office knew where I’d been,” Crocker told me. “We’d stay up all night in those meetings.” It seemed clear to Crocker that the Iranians were answering to Suleimani, whom they referred to as “Haji Qassem,” and that they were eager to help the United States destroy their mutual enemy, the Taliban. Although the United States and Iran broke off diplomatic relations in 1980, after American diplomats in Tehran were taken hostage, Crocker wasn’t surprised to find that Suleimani was flexible. “You don’t live through eight years of brutal war without being pretty pragmatic,” he said. Sometimes Suleimani passed messages to Crocker, but he avoided putting anything in writing. “Haji Qassem’s way too smart for that,” Crocker said. “He’s not going to leave paper trails for the Americans.”

Before the bombing began, Crocker sensed that the Iranians were growing impatient with the Bush Administration, thinking that it was taking too long to attack the Taliban. At a meeting in early October, 2001, the lead Iranian negotiator stood up and slammed a sheaf of papers on the table. “If you guys don’t stop building these fairy-tale governments in the sky, and actually start doing some shooting on the ground, none of this is ever going to happen!” he shouted. “When you’re ready to talk about serious fighting, you know where to find me.” He stomped out of the room. “It was a great moment,” Crocker said.

The cooperation between the two countries lasted through the initial phase of the war. At one point, the lead negotiator handed Crocker a map detailing the disposition of Taliban forces. “Here’s our advice: hit them here first, and then hit them over here. And here’s the logic.” Stunned, Crocker asked, “Can I take notes?” The negotiator replied, “You can keep the map.” The flow of information went both ways. On one occasion, Crocker said, he gave his counterparts the location of an Al Qaeda facilitator living in the eastern city of Mashhad. The Iranians detained him and brought him to Afghanistan’s new leaders, who, Crocker believes, turned him over to the U.S. The negotiator told Crocker, “Haji Qassem is very pleased with our coöperation.”

The good will didn’t last. In January, 2002, Crocker, who was by then the deputy chief of the American Embassy in Kabul, was awakened one night by aides, who told him that President George W. Bush, in his State of the Union Address, had named Iran as part of an “Axis of Evil.” Like many senior diplomats, Crocker was caught off guard. He saw the negotiator the next day at the U.N. compound in Kabul, and he was furious. “You completely damaged me,” Crocker recalled him saying. “Suleimani is in a tearing rage. He feels compromised.” The negotiator told Crocker that, at great political risk, Suleimani had been contemplating a complete reëvaluation of the United States, saying, “Maybe it’s time to rethink our relationship with the Americans.” The Axis of Evil speech brought the meetings to an end. Reformers inside the government, who had advocated a rapprochement with the United States, were put on the defensive. Recalling that time, Crocker shook his head. “We were just that close,” he said. “One word in one speech changed history.”

Could the George Jr wackos have done any more to screw it up? Notice how The Donald is replacing educated people with many of the same wackos. In part, because Fox News tells him what to think. (The Donald does not read books.) How many educated people were fired or quit just this week?

Every responsible person in the Cellar should know this internationally known story. Suleimani remains a legendary leader of the Quds and is probably now a if not the most powerful person in the Middle East. He could have very easily become an America friend if not for a wacko extremist (dumb, uneducated) George Jr administration.

(How many forget that Ho Chi Minh five times ask for Vietnam to become a protectorate of the US. Same wackos wasted 50,000 American lives uselessly there. How many Nam Vets are appropriately angry about that. Learn from history.)

Same wackos destroyed an entire North Korea solution that was made at great risk and courage by North Korea's Fatty Two (Kim).

Wars are averted by international diplomacy followed by trade. A president so dumb is doing everything to destroy both all over the world to make America a first, a second class power. He wants war. He is so dumb (educated only by a propaganda machine called Fox News) that he does not even realize he only wants war.

The North Korean problem had been solved until wacko extremists destroyed it. The Iranian problem was solved twice. And again, wackos are doing everything they can to destroy it.

Meanwhile Putin is successfully playing chess with Trump at the expense of America. Where did North Korea get all those rockets and nuclear technology? Where is the Taliban suddenly getting so many weapons?

Which theater is a greater danger? Easily debated. But both dangers exist only because so many Americans vote for people who don't even read books, have low intelligence, ignore history, and are driven only by their political extremist agenda inspired by a big dic mentality. IOW they are not moderates so they are anti-Americans. We are expected to suffer even in our schools, infrastructure, influence, an already decreasing number of friends, economic power, military power, and, well we are raising generations of militaristic inspired youth who have no idea what once made America great. A military and wars did not do that. Diplomacy and free trade do.

Which is a greatest threat? Iran? North Korea? Actually it is Trump and the people who tell him what to think (Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Bolton, Fox News, and the wackos who voted for him).

[tw]

Because he is so dumb, so anti-American, and so egotistical - from the NY Times of 29 Mar 2018 -

The Trump administration is expected to launch an effort in coming days to weaken greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy standards for automobiles,

Anyone with basic technical knowledge knows innovation (not enriching the central committee - top management) made America great. But Trump only campaigns to people so dumb as to even want carburetors, leaded gas, $120 tune ups every three months or 5000 miles, massive NO2 clouds, annual wheel alignment, and lower gasoline mileage.

We know why technologies required by EPA standard made innovators relevant and wealthier. EPA requirements massively increased auto reliability that even required fuel injection, no more lead, and electronics ignitions (meaning all cars after 1970s needed no tuneups).

Trump hates innovation and other factors that make America great. So now wants to stop all innovation in automobiles. Because he is preaching to people (supporters) so dumb as to be told (and believe) that is good.

Even a 70 Hp per liter engine, stifled in America by people so much like The Donald, is necessary in all cars. Innovation and EPA standards even forced crap automakers such as GM and Chrysler to innovate. Trump wants to fuck that over. Profanity only resevred for those as evil and dumb as a leader of 1940 Germany. Another wacko extremist.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by Griff

As much as you and I enjoyed No Drama Obama despite his failings some folks prefer bluster constant fucking bullshit. They wanted a disgusting individual and we all get him.

Griff, dear fellow: are you really going to state you'd want the Unindicted Felon over somebody who has done more to keep the Bill of Rights than the last three Democrats at the helm combined?

Fortunately, I'm smart enough to appreciate the mouthy blowhard for the libertarian things he's managed to do, and which the Unindicted Felon would never do, because the statist Democratic Party would be inconvenienced. As a Libertarian, I say if you inconvenience, even infuriate, just one statist every day, you're doing the Republic a lot of good.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Right. Out of date sig. Edited.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

So... 70hp per liter displacement. Brief google on such terms. Oh, lookee... on this list -- a Dodge, two Cadillacs, and a Chrysler, all in the top ten of a list of cars doing 70hp/liter or better. These models do not seem remotely remarkable -- and this list dates from 2004. Where have you been these fourteen years since, tw? Apparently your neurotic mentality prevents growth, or -- anything, really. I am glad that I disagree with you.

1. Honda S2000: 240hp/2.2L = 109hp/L
2. Mercedes-Benz CL65: 604hp/6.0L = 101hp/L
3. Dodge SRT-4: 230hp/2.4L = 96hp/L
4. Honda Accord: 240hp/3.0L = 80hp/L
5. Nissan Maxima: 265hp/3.5L = 76hp/L
6. Nissan Altima: 250hp/3.5L = 71hp/L
7. Cadillac CTS: 255hp/3.6L = 71hp/L
8. Cadillac CTS-V: 400hp/5.7L = 70hp/L
9. Toyota Camry: 210hp/3.0L = 70hp/L
10. Chrysler 300C SRT-8: 425hp/6.1L = 70hp/L
11. Kia Spectra: 138hp/2.0L = 69hp/L
12. Pontiac Grand Prix: 260hp/3.8L = 68hp/L
13. Ford Taurus: 201hp/3.0L = 67hp/L
14. Chevrolet Corvette: 400hp/6.0L = 67hp/L
15. Chevrolet Aveo: 103hp/1.6L = 64hp/L
16. Chevrolet Impala SS: 240hp/3.8L = 63hp/L
17. Dodge Viper: 500hp/8.3L = 60hp/L
18. Pontiac Bonneville: 275hp/4.6L = 60hp/L
19. Chrysler 300C: 340hp/5.7L = 60hp/L
20. Chevrolet Malibu: 200hp/3.5L = 57hp/L
21. Ford Crown Victoria: 239hp/4.6L = 52hp/L

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f...mparison-6726/

And some other none-too-special-grade factory models coming only a little short of the 70hp threshhold, which may be quite arbitrary, the better to utter micro-bitchery about. As of, I repeat, fourteen years ago. Where is any reason to suppose there has been falling back from 70hp/L? There is no reason to assert there is or was an active effort to hold power per displacement down on the part of Big Government (my fave swearword, isn't it?), Big Labor, Big Auto -- or Big Anybody, really. Technological advance ignores both conspiracies and conspiracist thinking.

My own vehicle is an example: a 2008 VW with the 2.5L normally aspirated engine, 177hp: 78.8hp/L. Heh, not bad. My mechanic thinks it's a terrific engine too.