Senate The US Politics discussion

If certain U.S. states pass laws requiring candidates, including presidential nominees, to report their tax returns, I wonder how this will affect Trump. It should be the law nationally, anyway, IMO.

 

There have been at least a couple of presidents who didn't even sniff the nomination for re-election because of their party: Pierce (Buchanan was the Democrat nominee in 1856, instead of the incumbent Pierce); Arthur (who succeeded Garfield, but wasn't chosen as the party's nominee in his bid for election on his own right). Now a days, incumbents are basically rubberstamped if they can run for another term. A pity.

 

On the topic of American state funding of reliable news sources and how impossible that would be, do you guys realise that the US picks up a lot of the bill for the rather excellent BBC World Service radio? I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong, that the money comes from the CIA budget.

Also claiming that RT is biased but BBC isn't is not exactly true. Every time they say "the BBC understands XYZ" what they mean is "the BBC has been ordered to report XYZ". BBC news is about 1000 times more reliable and 1,000,000 times less fantastical than RT or the Murdoch media, obviously, but don't be confused about its status as a state broadcaster.

 

A more recent example, with both a Republican President and a Republican-majority Congress, was when Congress in 2006 (pre-midterms) refused to cooperate with George W. Bush on immigration reform.

And I also remember hearing that Bill Clinton wasn't that popular with Democratic congressional leaders even when they were still in the majority. Likewise with Carter being unpopular with congressional Democrats, who had the majority, during his 4 years.

There's also usually distrust between the House and Senate too, even when they are both controlled by the same party. The cooperation between Obama, Pelosi, and Reid in 2009-2010 was the exception, not the norm (and even then, the filibuster in the Senate allowed Joe Lieberman and some other Democratic Senators, to block a lot of progressive action).

 

I think that analysis misses the mark. The failure of the Republican immigration reform bill was much like the failure of the Democratic Senate's carbon emissions legislation. While there was broad support within the conference, there simply wasn't enough to cross the last hurdle into making law. Both efforts failed on somewhat technical grounds that arguably had as much to do with non-cooperation from the opposing party, as with any actual fault of the bill itself. By contrast, what's being proposed here is that Trump directly contradict both his party's--and his own--long-standing messaging on a number of issues. That would be quite unusual.

 

In which case he'll be impeached faster than 2 Russian hookers can pee on each other.

Pence in '17!

 

Can we leave certain disgusting fetishistic porn garbage out of the posts please?

 

Yep, there's no love lost between the congressional Republicans and Trump. If he steps out of line, they'll turn on him faster than a cheerleader captain on the new girl in town struggling to be accepted by the popular girls*. They love him as long as he's useful to them.

*Because I can only express myself through movie tropes.

 

It has begun, the Age of the Pussy Grabbers:

http://jezebel.com/connecticut-politician-arrested-for-grabbing-womans-gro-1791231208

Idiot, but how many more will there have been engaging in this sort of conduct, feeling empowered to do so by Trump's speeches, where there isn't a CCTV camera present?

 

Putin's U.S. election strategy seems to be paying off better than he could have possibly expected:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...67fe3285cbc_story.html?utm_term=.1579aa9fadf1

or if he did expect it then his evil genius IQ must be off the charts.

 

Yeah Trump's attitude will certainly dissuade Putin from further aggression in the region.

 

Peaceful transfer of power... riiiiight.

I'd pay good money to watch Mike Pence on that podium pull a Vader/Palpatine with Trump before he's sworn in. To be followed by Mrs. Clinton shoving a bible in Roberts' face with one hand already in the air reciting the oath.

This is literally watching a train wreck and standing by as it happens. The man wasn't even the people's choice and every day new details emerge proving he wasn't our choice. That on top of the fact that he shows how treasonous he really is with his NATO comments and the rest all while bending over backwards to defend Putin. It's simply insane.

 

One thing I want to say, about Putin and regional aggression and all that... There is a lot I don't agree about with Putin. There are things he's done that I outright despise him for. I believe he should, one day, hopefully, face some sort of justice for war crimes perpetrated by the federal forces in Chechnya. A lot of people like to blame most of what happened there on Yeltsin, and erroneously assume most of the carnage was during the First Chechen War; wrong. Putin, when launching his Second War to reconquer and pacify them in 1999, ordered the military and security forces to DELIBERATELY target and kill civilians. There was the "50 for 1" rule (for every ethnic Russian civilian, policeman, or soldier killed by Chechens, in battle or a terrorist attack; 50 random Chechens were rounded up and executed...), and the indiscriminate air striking and shelling of civilian areas. Some 300,000 civilians were killed in Chechnya. 1 in 4 people in that republic were killed. No joke... Most of this, in Putin's war, not Yeltsin's... And even before the war, to gain a pretext for said war, the secret service, the FSB (modern KGB), acting on Putin's orders, who was their director before he became Prime Minister back then, and then President, staged "terrorist attacks" against apartment buildings around the country. They placed bags full of explosives into basements of the buildings, and blew up hundreds of innocent families in Buinaksk, Pyatigorsk, Moscow, and elsewhere... In Ryazan, they screwed up, local police captured the "terrorists", thanks to a call-in from a vigilant resident. The terrorists, two men and a woman, turned out to be FSB agents. The matter was hushed up, the authorities said it was all a "drill", and since then, everyone was banned from talking about it.

Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB officer who later fled to Britain with his family, wrote a book about these apartment bombings, "Blowing Up Russia: Terror from Within"

He exposed all of it.

The Russian television channel made an investigation of Litvinenko's revelations, in 2000s, a documentary was made based on this

This film is also banned in Russia now.

Shortly thereafter, in early 2001, NTV, which was the number one independent channel in Russia in the 90s, freely criticizing all the politicians, was the first victim of Putin's new censorship: OMON (special paramilitary police units) troops stormed and took over the building

and later, it was announced that there had been an ownership change. An oligarch who was a close friend of Putin took over the channel and fired many journalists who didn't want to cooperate with the government. Today, NTV is a Kremlin propaganda mouthpiece, internal, for own Russian viewers, much as English and other foreign-language versions of RT and Sputnik are for external audiences...

And Litvinenko? Putin's agents killed him in Britain in 2006, killed him horribly, poisoned him with radioactive polonium, he suffered a long time in hospital in terrible pain, lost all his hair, before he died

That was a lesson to all, especially within Russia itself, what happens when you **** with Putin...

Andrey Lugovoy, another ex-KGB agent who is alleged by British authorities to have organized Litvinenko's killing, was made a member of the Duma (Russian parliament)

(which, btw, gives him automatic immunity from all laws in Russia, FYI)

He also received from Putin the medal "For Distinguished Service to the Motherland"... and also Ksenia too was a gift from the Kremlin, I am guessing



They were married in 2012, when she was just 23

He has 3 kids from his first marriage. His oldest daughter is 2 years senior to her new step-mom lol

And Lugovoy also has a thriving price security business. He is a rich man. Yep, being Putin's assassin can work out VERY good for you...

So, yeah, Putin is a ruthless, evil mofo, closest thing to a real life Sith Lord I can imagine

All that said... I must also agree with my mom.

Much of her family are from Crimea. Many of them still live there. ALL of them voted in 2014 to leave Ukraine and join Russia. They were glad to. As were most Crimeans.


Crimeans never wanted to be in Ukraine. Not since 1991, when they voted in a referendum to become their own, separate Soviet Republic

This person crossed out the "Nyet", which means he or she are voting "Da", "Yes", for Crimea as a separate Republic. But then, USSR itself ceased to exist, and this was all forgotten, Crimeans, despite their wishes, were left in Ukraine.

In 2014, they had a chance to vote again, and they did so

There was no coercion, no Russian soldiers with guns at the polling stations





The Russian troops were indeed in Crimea. They were blocking Ukrainian military and security forces bases

to make sure the Ukrainians do not attack or forcefully interfere with the voters.

Because the situation there was explosive. The Crimeans had vehemently disagreed with what they saw as Russophobic Ukrainian nationalist coup in Kiev, on Maidan. They, frankly,. saw the Maidaners as terrorists, who had brought weapons to their "peaceful protest"

They shot at and killed members of the police.

Many of the casualties among the police and special unit "Berkut" were boys from Crimea

This enraged many Crimeans. This is a big part of why they started talking secession again. Nothing at all to do with Putin.

Ukrainian nationalists later attacked a bus full of Crimeans returning home from the mainland, allegedly, shot and killed at least one person.

There was also talk that trains full of them, nationalists, were coming to Crimea to attack people there.

In turn, militias came out in Crimea, ready to defend their land and people

The local police didn't know what to do. Most of them were local, ethnic Russian Crimeans and had no wish to go against their own brothers and sisters.

The entry of the Russian forces stopped much bloodshed there.

The kind of bloodshed you now see in Donbass.

Thousands of civilians dead. Kids left without limbs

Thanks to Ukrainian shelling...

 

Ukraine is no better than Russia, Poroshenko - than Putin. This s..t is same all over former USSR: secession attempts met with armed force, its normal there: Russia - Chechnya; Moldova - Transnistria; Georgia - Abkhazia and South Ossetia; Azerbaijan - Karabakh; etc. Now same in Ukraine, with Donbass. Its one big, violent ****hole. In my opinion, it was a mistake for the West to get involved there at all.

It's not Russian army the Ukrainian troops are fighting in Donbass. If the regular Russian military went there, this would all be over now, for better and for worse...

There are underage school children who have been fighting in the separatist militias


The rebels initially accepted underage recruits, since they were very short on manpower, in 2014, took in just about anyone who stepped forward.

Now, thankfully, they no longer need to. Have more than enough adult volunteers, both locals and from outside, Russians, Belarusians, Abkhazians, Uzbeks, Kyrgyzs;

(local girl, rebel field nurse, with volunteer from Abkhazia) and outside ex-USSR also, many Serbs, hundreds of Serbs, including living legends, like the sniper Dejan "Deki" Beric

Veteran of fighting in Bosnia, reportedly. This guy killed 6 Ukrainian snipers in a single battle once! Among other things. He is said to have more kills, at this point, than your Chris Kyle, and that's in Ukraine alone. What he did in Bosnia before even his comrades in Donbass don't really know, aside from, maybe, a couple older Russian and Serbian guys who might have also fought there back then and knew him then too...

He later brought over a girl known only as "Bagira" (like the panther in Kipling's "Jungle Book", which I know is supposed to be male, but in all the Russian and Eastern European translations seems to always be female)

She is his pupil. Some say, his daughter. Others - his lover. Nobody knows for sure. Either way, Deki has taught her all he knows. And the girl knows how to kill. And have fun doing it.

The Ukrainians have been terrified of Deki, put a $100,000 price on his head. But Bagira is becoming even more infamous than her mentor. She is said to deliberately shoot the enemy in the... genitals. I kid you not. And then not finish them off, but let them die of either the pain or the bleeding. The Ukrainians bloody hate her now... And she is apparently taking command of an elite force of 12 local young men and women Deki has been personally training since '14.

Other than the Serbs, there are people there now from all over the world, actually.

Alfonso Caño, 27, from Colombia, former FARC, believe it or not

He is not the only Marxist volunteer from South America who came to Donbass to join the "Essence of Time" brigade, a Communist militia made up mainly of Russian and international volunteers. There are plenty of others, including a guy from Brazil who also became famous in Donbass; and even a fellow from Texas lol None of them have Caño's FARC guerilla warfare experience and skills though. This dude was useful indeed, taught a lot to the defenders of Donbass, even if the environment there is very different from the jungles of his home...

Here is the Brazilian (right, next to his country's flag)

Other guy is a volunteer from France, an ethnic Serb, who had served in the French Foreign Legion, fought in all kinds of hellholes, and now came to Donbass to aid his Russian Slavic brothers...

And here is Russell Bentley, from Texas

The Donbassians just call him "Texas" lol He is said to be an explosives specialist, knows a lot about bombs. Another useful guy... Also a Communist, believe it or not. Apparently even Texas has Communists lmao

Italian volunteers are also said to have fought in Donbass, on the rebel side:

Massimiliano Cavalleri


Gabriele Carugati


Antonio Cataldo


And Alessandro Bertolini

among others.

All are connected to neo-fascist groups in Italy.

A Spanish fighter

The Spanish group all came from far LEFT, Communist, Marxist anti-fascist groups. Fighting alongside Italian fascists, and super racist, far right Slavic nationalists from Russia, Belarus, Serbia, and Donbass itself

Supposedly, all the foreign "talent" are there purely for selfless reasons, none are paid to fight. I find that hard to believe, honestly.

But the Ukrainians are using mercenaries too, like these two

Guy on left is a Swedish neo-Nazi. One on the right is British, ex-military.

Very complicated this war is. Big, big mess. Again, the West should stay out.

 

One other thing. I have heard some in Western media lament the fate of the Crimean Tatars, the so-called "indigenous people" of Crimea.

That too is wrong.

First, the Crimean Tatars are NOT the indigenous people of Crimea. They came from Asia with the Mongols.

The original, indigenous Crimeans are the Tauridian Greeks

Spoiler

My maternal grandma is one. The Greeks are very much pro-Russian, unlike (some) Tatars.

There are ancient Greek ruins at Khersones, near Sevastopol


Near there, stands the Cathedral of St. Vladimir

This is the holiest place in Russian Orthodox Christianity, where, 1,000 years ago, the Byzantine Greeks baptized to Orthodoxy Tsar Vladimir I, who would go on to Christianize all of then-pagan Russia.

It's a huge pilgrimage site

After 2014, the whole area, including the Greek ruins, was handed over to the Russian Orthodox Church. This has left many archeologists and historians concerned about the Church's ability to professionally care for the ruins. The Church promised to fully cooperate with the scientists on this. We shall see, time will tell.

Anyway, also Crimean Tatars are not persecuted. Not as a people. Even the Ukrainian media had to admit this: http://en.sobytiya.info/human-right...ut-dissentients-are-persecuted-in-crimea.html

lol So, their examples are folks like Hizb ut-Tahrir

an Islamist group that is considered terrorist and banned as such in Germany, Russia, China, Egypt, Turkey, and all but 3 Arab countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizb_ut-Tahrir

It was legal for them to assemble in Crimea under Ukraine (in photo above). But not anymore.

But the mainstream, normal Tatar Muslim leaders cooperate with the new Russian authorities, including their head, Emirali Ablaev, the Grand Mufti of Crimea, head of the Spiritual Directorate of Crimean Muslims

(with the Russian-appointed Governor Sergey Aksyonov)

According to Ukrainian media and Lenur Islyamov (Mejlis leader exiled in Ukraine, who led an effort to "blockade" Crimea from their side of the border), Ablaev collaborates with Russian law enforcement and snitches to them about Hizb and other Muslim groups both he and the Russians find unacceptable: http://en.sobytiya.info/the-mufti-of-crimea-informs-on-crimean-muslims.html

Or, look at Ruslan Balbek, who once led Tatar opposition to Mustafa Jemilev and the Mejlis, and was harassed for this by Ukrainian authorities

and even arrested and jailed in 2011


Balbek is now Deputy Prime Minister of Crimea


There are plenty of Tatars who have taken powerful positions in new, Russian Crimea.

Teyfuk Gafarov - Deputy Mayor of the capital city, Simferopol


Zaur Smirnov - head of Crimean government Committee for Inter-ethnic Relations


Ruslan Yakubov - Deputy Head of the regional legislative assembly of the Simferopol region


Refat Derdarov is head of the regional legislature of the Bakhchisaray region


Eskander Belyalov, head adviser to Putin's Presidential Envoy in Crimea


Anver Arpatly, Deputy Mayor of the city of Alushta


And, of course, Remzi Ilyasov - Deputy Speaker of the Crimean regional parliament


So... It's bs that Tatars are mistreated or discriminated in Crimea. Those who oppose the Russian government are mistreated, regardless of ethnicity. Those who cooperate, have no problems and are even rewarded

Most Crimeans do support Russia, NOT Ukraine, that's just a fact.

Here are Crimeans singing along with the Russian anthem in 2015

Look at their faces. Look how happy these people are... You can't force that on them or make it up somehow... They feel that they are, finally, home.

Leave Crimea to Crimeans. It is a beautiful place, a jewel on the shore of the Black Sea

My mother's birth place. I don't want to see it f-d up by war, like Donbass...

Oh, my, I have really gone on and on here... I'll just wrap this up now. Good day, my friends.

 

It is great to have your perspective here Sergey. I remember Litvinenko's story and death.

Who was the opponent Putin allegedly tried to poison yet survived with facial disfigurement?

edit: Found it. It was Yushchenko.

 

Sergey, I echo Shane that your perspective is welcome.

That was a very interesting read, thank you for all your effort into typing it up. These horrible situations happening in Europe and in the Middle East and in Africa are easy for people in the West or people who are sitting in relative comfort to analyze through a simple lens of right and wrong that has been appropriated to them by their culture, but in the end war and chaos are a much more complicated machine to dismantle into easily digestible thoughts for people who don't experience those things first-hand.

 

The Germans didn't seem really happy today after learning that Trump heavily criticized Angela Merkel for having opened their borders to the Syrian refugees. Refugees, may we remind people, that are the result of war which his the outcome of another war created by the Americans more than 10 years, as the European leaders reminded Trump today:

Of course Merkel responded to Trump in a very polite, but somewhat bitter tone, telling him to mind his own business:

Link: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...r-hands-angela-merkels-defiant-reply-to-trump

I think there's no better way to illustrate Trump's current foreign policy and ideas (this caricature is from the China Daily newspaper):

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...icism-of-refugee-policy-and-bmw-tariff-threat

This cracked me up, because it's Peak American Thought from Trump:

In an interview with Bild and the Times, the US president-elect had indicated that he would aim to realign the “out of balance” car trade between Germany and the US. “If you go down Fifth Avenue everyone has a Mercedes Benz in front of his house, isn’t that the case?” he said. “How many Chevrolets do you see in Germany? Not very many, maybe none at all … it’s a one-way street.”
Asked what Trump could do to make sure German customers bought more American cars, Gabriel said: “Build better cars.”

 

Not going to lie; as I scrolled down I thought it was another Ghostpost.

 

If we have Ghost
We have everything

 

lol Bikers coming to guard Trum's inauguration


So, Trump is friends with bikers...


Copying Putin...

But Putin's "Night Wolf" biker gang looks way tougher than Trump's guys, I'm sorry to say lol

 

In all seriousness, what's a reasonable "worst case scenario" here?

From the latest interview, it seems that Trump wants a trade war with Germany, thinks NATO should be dismantled and is hoping for the collapse of the EU. Basically, he wants a return to the good ol' days of the 19th century, AFAICT, which aligns nicely with Putin's ambitions.

So, how much damage can Trump actually do to set us all on that course?

 

Both look like a bunch of ageing men that are insecure about their masculinity to me.