US Politics April 2019 Thread: 'I find that pretty hard to believe'

I was talking with a coworker who’s probably a soft (r) republican voter the other day and a conversation I didn’t link to current events seems relevant. I was griping about the gerrymandering of zoning that led to NYC’s Hudson Yards receiving funds and he was shrugging saying that if it’s legal, it’s ok, right?

I said something about the zoning board acting inappropriately, the difference between my moral objections and the difference between law and morality, the spirit of the law versus the letter

It’s still that realm with all the Trump crap. Outside of taking down individuals for specific acts, will it go anywhere? While driving home I was daydreaming about this becoming a RICO case, because it’s only the addition of all the malfeasance, the dumb “lawyers don’t take notes” because you’re talking about an institution of ass-covering when your lawyer is in the room, that makes it a major criminal case. No president should be within a midday shadow of these things, but power breeds litigation and that’s less to the assumption anyone with power is tied up in the courts and severity is a secondary thought.

I mean SDNY still has RICO air RICO adjacent stuff in process

he was shrugging saying that if it’s legal, it’s ok, right?

at the risk of getting too trenchant, philando castile was a legal gun owner

people like trump get to forget things, and people like trump jr. are just wacky middle-aged kids who never meant any harm. if you're rich enough, it's not illegal -- it's just a mistake

You have to love that the President of the United States started a charitable organization named after himself, which then committed so many legal infractions that it had to be shut down, pay out $2.8 million, and he and three of his children were banned from ever managing another charity in NY. And almost no one recalls this, despite it happening just last December, at the end of 2018.

His misdemeanors are high crimes for most people

aimless, i'm at the stage of hearing about trump foundation antics and my reaction is "MAN WE REALLY GOTTA SHUT THAT RIDICULOUS SHIT DOWN!"

NPR: "mmhmm, yes, interesting! but what about those mild embarrassments, which we won't ever ask you to be specific about during this interview, so really just deliver your message, take as much time as necessary, i'm just going to step out for a moment, keep this going until i get back"

this is all of NPR's news coverage ime, not special to today

NYT has a piece on the pattern of the redactions, will read on paper and link if nec

tbqh

Dems ran in 2006 on a promise to stop funding the Iraq War, and won the House based on it. They then didn't keep their promise because they feared doing it & wanted to run against the war in 2008.

That's why they won't impeach now: they fear doing it & want to run against Trump.

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 19, 2019

Loool, Greenwald is such a piece of shit.

More incoherent than usual. He damned the Dems last month for giving a shit about Russia, he damns them now for lacking a courage that he thought was zeal in March. Fuck him.

Oh, he was on Tucker yesterday talking about how there is nothing bad in the Mueller report, and now he pretends to want impeachment?

shut up, foreign asshole

let's deal w/ that statement. any doubt?

ok, fuck glenn greenwald

greenwald forfeits the right to be taken seriously by hobnobbing with Tucker Carlson, he has handed in his union card & is scabbing for the other side now

"Sure, he delivered a sermon at Westboro Baptist Church -- but let's see what he said in that sermon!" permanent no thanks

He had his use in 2004-2009, for which I'm grateful. Now I have no patience for a man who gets his jollies accusing Dems of a cowardice whose contours he can define one tweet at a time, often at a remove, always high enough for him to avoid sullying his conscience.

let's deal w/ that statement. any doubt?

I feel like we should wait to see what Dennis Perrin has to say before beginning discussion in earnest. Let us know, won't you?

I've a friend with whom I'm losing patience because he emphasizes, "Of course Trump is terrible, but." The "but" is an example of Democratic perfidy. There is no "but"! Insisting one exists is creating an equivalence.

glenn greenwald takes “high on his own farts” to new levels

shut up, foreign asshole

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, April 19, 2019 6:38 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol thought for a second you were turning on greenwald

hahaha c'mon doc, glenn greenwald is like 10 gajillion times more sanctimonious/patronizing/disingenuous than fred b. fuck him.

FPed you for that comment Morbs. I get you guys butt heads all the time, but that's getting into some ugly xenophobic territory.

I cannot tell a lie, I LOL'ed.

Can we agree that Karl Malone is a welcome beacon of comparative sanity itt?

getting into some ugly xenophobic territory.

glad you got the joke, genius

but i'll see you poltics guys just b4 the Iowa caucuses, ta

and Soto, u read the fucking NRO, pick yr pariahs more consistently

I study Greenwald and NRO like pathogens.

lol, as a longtime lurker if i actually thought morbs could step away i would be pissed. the levels of sanctimony and self-righteousness his pseudo-retweets provoke is truly wonderful.

also, glennwald can be a truly odious prick and correct on this one issue, which it kinda seems like he is (on both counts)

Morbs, this type of "humor" is far less amusing than you may think.

"Making people laugh is the lowest form of comedy." - Michael O'Donoghue

Yeah, I liked that quote a lot when I was a nihilistic teenager, too.

"Making people laugh is the lowest form of comedy."

Ilxor itself was relatively split on the merits of impeachment

Impeach Trump Y/N

I'm in favor of impeachment, but I'm also fine with Putin deciding Trump is no longer of value and slipping some polonium into his KFC.

but i'll see you poltics guys just b4 the Iowa caucuses, ta

constantly threatening to leave a thread that you’ve single-handedly turned unreadable is the purest form of comedy

trump said the report was "total bullshit" today

tbf he's an expert in total bullshit

trump said the report was "total bullshit" today

And apparently reached orgasm and passed out right after, because that tweet ends with an ellipse that's never picked up in the next one.

the more i get a chance to dig into the mueller report, the more slimy barr's pre-emptive press conference yesterday morning seems. he completely distorted the tenor of the report, and he did so before anyone could call him out on it because it wasn't even released yet. what a fucking asshole

If impeachment isn't a valid option in this instance I don't understand why it exists as an option at all.

impeachment is only an option when the opposing political party has at least 67 members in the senate, as the founding fathers intended

failing that, all consequences for being the slimiest human in the executive branch must be deferred until after the subsequent presidential election, when the enlightened masses have had their say

Trump spazzing on twitter all morning about the report seems to hint that the shifting narrative on this away from 'total exoneration' to 'actually no.... should probably go to congress' is rattling him.

all consequences for being the slimiest human in the executive branch must be deferred until after the subsequent presidential election, when the enlightened masses have had their say they can be forgotten about because we must "look forward"

we must issue pre-emptive pardons to the entire trump administration so that we can look forward. we must manufacture our own blinders and then tend to them. there is no present or past, only the exponential future

bloop beep doop 0101

Yes I melted your entire family but let us look together upon the promise of a new day