All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[ImprobableQuestion]

People wanted change from Obama's directions and tone so much that they voted Trump over a Hillary that could not shake the widespread belief that she was the Obama/Dem establishment third term.

And now they're all going to die.

[ImprobableQuestion]

Can you imagine the Trump administration trying a grand propaganda effort like the Bush administration did when it persuaded much of the US that if we didn't invade Iraq, Saddam would attack us with his awesome arsenal of weapons of mass destruction?

Trump and his basket could never pull it off.

As soon as they tried, the leaks from White House staffers and in the intelligence community would start gushing out. They would explain exactly what Trump’s intent was and exactly where they weren't being honest. Trump would never benefit from the kind of media naïveté W enjoyed, and we’d watch whole scheme in a matter of days.

This administration can't successfully defend one of the POTUS’ tweets, much less pull the wool over our eyes in order to start a war.

They don't have to have propaganda, there's no system of checks and balances anymore to stop them. Again I say, we are powerless to stop our own destruction.

[The Negative Zone]

People wanted change from Obama's directions and tone so much that they voted Trump over a Hillary that could not shake the widespread belief that she was the Obama/Dem establishment third term.

Sounds like a great idea except you picked someone absolutely crazy to do it.

[BeastieRunner]

Well on the brighter side of life, this has been the best 46 days EVER for Mental Health Awareness!

[Gray Lensman]

Well on the brighter side of life, this has been the best 46 days EVER for Mental Health Awareness!

But hasn't the budget for that been cut too?

[Tazirai]

Republicans' Obamacare repeal plan would cut taxes on the wealthy



Show of hands if you're surprised by this revelation.

So I spent a lot of yesterday and today reading the GOP Healthcare plan. Trumpcare/Ryancare whatever the fuck they wanna call it. It's not healthcare at all. If you voted GOP, you cannot call yourself the party of family values anymore. You can't say you value American lives anymore. You can't say you are the party of the little people, or small Government anymore.
You are literally ONLy for Rich people. That's it. I'm not trying to be partisan, because Obamacare needed work, and we should as a nation be on Singlepayer. What the GOP just started will lead to the deaths of thousands of Americans.

[Kirby101]

People wanted change from Obama's directions and tone so much that they voted Trump over a Hillary that could not shake the widespread belief that she was the Obama/Dem establishment third term.

Except for the MAJORITY of voters who voted for her. Yes, he won because of the vagaries of process, but don't try to sell that the American people wanted Trump.

[Kirby101]

They don't have to have propaganda, there's no system of checks and balances anymore to stop them. Again I say, we are powerless to stop our own destruction.

Sadly this is true.

[Darkspellmaster]

So I spent a lot of yesterday and today reading the GOP Healthcare plan. Trumpcare/Ryancare whatever the fuck they wanna call it. It's not healthcare at all. If you voted GOP, you cannot call yourself the party of family values anymore. You can't say you value American lives anymore. You can't say you are the party of the little people, or small Government anymore.
You are literally ONLy for Rich people. That's it. I'm not trying to be partisan, because Obamacare needed work, and we should as a nation be on Singlepayer. What the GOP just started will lead to the deaths of thousands of Americans.

This won't pass due to the fact you still have republican's wanting full repeal, and democrats will not be okay with this set up. I'm honestly seeing a lot of the issue that plagued Rome in the 160s echoing here. Yeah we should be on singlepayer, the issue is how do you get people that don't understand healthcare and just want to have the chance to see a doctor to get how single payer works?

[Handsome men don't lose fights]

But hasn't the budget for that been cut too?

Ugh. You're that guy who reminds Die Hard* that Hans Gruber still killed a bunch of people, while he's hugging his wife at the end of the movie.

*I can't remember the main character's name, so I'm just calling him Die Hard.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

So I spent a lot of yesterday and today reading the GOP Healthcare plan. Trumpcare/Ryancare whatever the fuck they wanna call it. It's not healthcare at all. If you voted GOP, you cannot call yourself the party of family values anymore. You can't say you value American lives anymore. You can't say you are the party of the little people, or small Government anymore.
You are literally ONLy for Rich people. That's it. I'm not trying to be partisan, because Obamacare needed work, and we should as a nation be on Singlepayer. What the GOP just started will lead to the deaths of thousands of Americans.

The Republican Party never was about American values, never was about the little people, never was about small government. That was all a steaming load of bullshit to reel in all the clueless, low IQ lemmings who had been fooled into thinking only Trump could save them from the wolf at the door that was Hillary Clinton. Now that those voters, more than a few had signed up with the ACA are coming around to realizing just how their elected officials are going to screw them six ways to Sunday, I hope they're every bit as worried as the rest of us.

[Shining Trapezohedron]

*shuffles a good news in here for a change*

A wonderful little boy only sees one difference between him and his best friend – their hair.Jax is 5-years-old and his mom, Lydia Stith Rosebush, told him he needed to get a haircut over the weekend.

Jax said he wanted his hair cut really short so he could look like his best friend Reddy, and that way their teacher wouldn’t be able to tell the two boys apart.

Jax couldn’t wait for the school day to start because he thought it would be hilarious to confuse his teacher with the same haircut.

I’m sure you all can see the striking resemblance.

Lydia wrote on her Facebook wall, “The only difference Jax sees in the two of them is their hair.”

Her post has been shared all over social media over 50,000 times.

We are so proud of the big person in this little boy.

http://www.valleynewslive.com/conten...415412473.html

[jeanvaljean]

The fish rots from its bloated head:

Donald Trump has claimed repeatedly that he has had no contact with Russian officials as a presidential candidate.

He was lying.

Trump personally met with the Russian ambassador on April 27, 2016, prior to a major foreign policy speech. The Wall Street Journal, in a report that was little-noticed at the time but was recently picked up by AMERICABlog News, reported the meeting last year.

A few minutes before he made those remarks, Mr. Trump met at a VIP reception with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak. Mr. Trump warmly greeted Mr. Kislyak and three other foreign ambassadors who came to the reception.

Kislyak, according to multiple contemporaneous news reports, was seated in the front row. It was an invitation-only event.

A photo from AFP captures Kislyak taking his seat.

(...)
Trump used the speech to call for warmer relations with Russia.
(...)

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-pers...032#.98kzja789

[Shining Trapezohedron]

The fish rots from its bloated head:


https://thinkprogress.org/trump-pers...032#.98kzja789

I can add to this

Politico: Trump campaign approved Carter Page's trip to Moscow

Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski approved foreign policy adviser Carter Page’s now-infamous trip to Moscow last summer on the condition that he would not be an official representative of the campaign, according to a former campaign adviser.

A few weeks before he traveled to Moscow to give a July 7 speech, Page asked J.D. Gordon, his supervisor on the campaign’s National Security Advisory Committee, for permission to make the trip, and Gordon strongly advised against it, Gordon, a retired Naval officer, told POLITICO.

Page then emailed Lewandowski and spokeswoman Hope Hicks asking for formal approval, and was told by Lewandowski that he could make the trip, but not as an official representative of the campaign, the former campaign adviser said. The adviser spoke on the condition of anonymity because he has not been authorized to discuss internal campaign matters.

The trip is now a focus of congressional and FBI investigations into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election.

Lewandowski told POLITICO he did not recall the email exchange with Page, but did not deny that it occurred.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/0...ndowski-235784

At this point it seems a good 75% of the people surrounding Trump had contact with Russians in one or another capacity.

[Shining Trapezohedron]

The fish rots from its bloated head:


https://thinkprogress.org/trump-pers...032#.98kzja789

...wait

I just realized something...

A few minutes before he made those remarks, Mr. Trump met at a VIP reception with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak.

This guy!
AGAIN!

The same guy the others have met!

Holy crap!