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Post by hoya2x2010 on Dec 23, 2018 23:59:42 GMT -5
The most dangerous man to the US national security is Trump -- Putin's puppet. And the GOP is complicit. In a May 2017 Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was flanked by perhaps the two most important U.S. officials coordinating the fight against the Islamic State. One was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph F. Dunford. The other one was Brett McGurk, a State Department official whom Mattis introduced as “President Trump’s special envoy” to the coalition. McGurk has been described by current and former officials as tirelessly dedicated and respected by militia commanders and ambassadors alike, and his commanding expertise was sought and deferred to within the U.S. government. His involvement at high levels in government and diplomatic circles signaled a trusted presence in the coalition since his appointment as envoy by Obama. www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2018/12/23/its-very-telling-trump-didnt-know-his-own-anti-isis-point-man-former-official-says/?utm_term=.8899d6eec6aa the praise for mcgurk is interesting. It was only a year ago that he and the US sat idly by while the Kurds were sabotaged in kirkuk, handing the city over to Iranian interests. Obviously its unacceptable that trump doesn’t know this man, but rational minds can disagree on mcgurks tactics with respect to the Kurds.
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hoyarooter
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Post by hoyarooter on Dec 24, 2018 5:37:58 GMT -5
Clerked for Chief Justice Rehnquist in 2001. Appointed by George W. Bush to be special assistant to the president and senior director at the NSC for Iraq & Afghanistan. He served under both Bush and Obama. I guess it's not shocking that Trump doesn't know the people who are actually doing the work he takes credit for but it shouldn't make American citizens feel confident about him. Trump calling anyone else a grandstander is beyond hilarious. No comedy writer could top this. Are we sure he isn't auditioning for a remake of Your Show of Shows?
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Dec 24, 2018 7:14:27 GMT -5
The most dangerous man to the US national security is Trump -- Putin's puppet. And the GOP is complicit. In a May 2017 Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was flanked by perhaps the two most important U.S. officials coordinating the fight against the Islamic State. One was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph F. Dunford. The other one was Brett McGurk, a State Department official whom Mattis introduced as “President Trump’s special envoy” to the coalition. McGurk has been described by current and former officials as tirelessly dedicated and respected by militia commanders and ambassadors alike, and his commanding expertise was sought and deferred to within the U.S. government. His involvement at high levels in government and diplomatic circles signaled a trusted presence in the coalition since his appointment as envoy by Obama. www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2018/12/23/its-very-telling-trump-didnt-know-his-own-anti-isis-point-man-former-official-says/?utm_term=.8899d6eec6aa the praise for mcgurk is interesting. It was only a year ago that he and the US sat idly by while the Kurds were sabotaged in kirkuk, handing the city over to Iranian interests. Obviously its unacceptable that trump doesn’t know this man, but rational minds can disagree on mcgurks tactics with respect to the Kurds. Miscalculation on McGurk's and the US about the Iranian response as well as a failure to recognize Barzani's internal political issue(s)? Regardless, the US was walking a fine line between its "One Iraq" policy and its support of the KRG and Barzani v. the other factions in Kurdistan. www.salon.com/2017/10/23/iraq-the-kurds-and-me-what-went-wrong-in-kirkuk/President Donald Trump said the U.S. wasn't taking sides, and his government neither condemned the move by Baghdad nor mentioned the Iranian component. "We remain very concerned about the situation in northern Iraq," said Michael Anton, spokesman for the National Security Council. "We urge both parties to stand down and resolve any dispute peacefully and politically, remain united in the fight against ISIS and remain united against a common threat in Iran." "This is the first real tangible challenge to the Trump Iran doctrine, and we have our answer: it seems like there is nothing behind it," Michael Barbero, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general who served in Iraq and has close ties to the Kurds, told NBC News. www.nbcnews.com/news/mideast/iranian-general-helped-iraqis-seize-kirkuk-u-s-allies-n811026Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Mattis called the Iraq invasion a strategic mistake. And in that speech he gave his standard for when you resign in protest. In a wide-ranging speech at an ASIS International Conference in Anaheim, California that covered everything from Iran, ISIS, and other national security issues, retired Marine Gen. James Mattis told attendees: "We will probably look back on the invasion of Iraq as a mistake, a strategic mistake." He was asked specifically about whether there was a scenario in which he may have retired in protest during a talk in San Francisco in April 2014. Mattis allowed some unethical orders and other scenarios that would lead him to do so, but he said, "you have to be very careful about doing that. The lance corporals can't retire. They're going. That's all there is to it." He added: "You abandon him [the President] only under the most dire circumstances, where the message you have to send can be sent no other way. I never confronted that situation." www.businessinsider.com/mattis-iraq-war-mistake-2016-12
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Dec 24, 2018 7:33:02 GMT -5
This is what happens when a reality TV star appoints a guy more known as a movie producer than for his time at Goldman/hedge fund manager as the Secretary of Treasury. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin startled financial analysts, bankers and economists on Sunday by issuing an unusual statement declaring that the nation’s six largest banks had ample credit to extend to American businesses and households. Several analysts said Sunday night that his outreach to the banks and subsequent statement were likely to backfire and drive even more concern. “Panic feeds panic and this looks like panic in the administration,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton. “Suggesting you might know something that no one else is worried about creates more unease.” www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/12/23/treasury-secretary-makes-unusual-pre-christmas-call-top-bank-ceos-amid-market-mayhem/?utm_term=.3b4d251a1678
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Dec 24, 2018 9:29:07 GMT -5
Sound familiar? Birds of a feather: Netanyahu and Trump. Netanyahu likely to be indicted, government in chaos, and stock market tumbling. . . The only question is how is Jared Kushner and Trump making $$$ off this? MK Shelly Yacimovich (Zionist Union) said: “’The Redeemer has come to Zion.’ All the tricks did not help him, we must have elections and bring about the end of the Netanyahu government, which has become a government that sows destruction in every possible area to preserve the Netanyahu’s personal survival.” MK Merav Michaeli (Zionist Union) tweeted: “The worst government that served here is going home. Israel needs rehabilitation from the disasters of this government, and quickly. The corrupt rule that destroyed democracy, sold out our security and led us into diplomatic isolation and an economic deficit. The Zionist Union will be here to rebuild Israel on the ruins of democracy.” The Justice Ministry announced that the early elections would not impact the ongoing criminal probes into Netanyahu's alleged corruption. Tel Aviv stocks sharply turned direction downward in mid-afternoon trading following the announcement. While Israeli shares had been mixed with a negative bias in early afternoon following a 5% drop by Israeli large-caps the day before, the announcement seems to have spooked local investors, at least to some degree. The large-cap index,TA-35 and the broader TA-125 are both down 1.7% and smaller-cap indices are losing about 0.9%. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-to-hold-elections-in-april-coalition-heads-announce-1.6775062
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Dec 24, 2018 22:27:32 GMT -5
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Dec 26, 2018 7:54:05 GMT -5
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Elvado
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Post by Elvado on Dec 26, 2018 8:03:02 GMT -5
Can we stop with the Joseph and Mary as refugee silliness for five minutes? They went, as taxpaying citizens, to register in Joseph’s hometown. Now if you want to talk about them as refugees when they fled to Egypt to avoid Herod, have at it, but the refugee in a manger story is dead wrong.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2018 9:20:49 GMT -5
¯\_(ツ)_/¯"
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2018 10:15:24 GMT -5
Wut? That second paragraph is a doozy... Unbelievable.
US: Thanks to the Kurds for helping us in our fight against ISIS. We left you some bigly presents under the tree on our way out, Merry Christmas.
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Dec 27, 2018 12:07:52 GMT -5
All in all, it was the most cringe-worthy presidential visit to the troops in memory, a reminder that while Trump loves to talk about “his generals” and wrap himself in military pomp, he has never learned the basics of military culture and decorum, nor shown any understanding of the military ethic exemplified by career military men such as Mattis. As in all things, the military for Trump is all about him; hence, his performances come across as tone-deaf and ham-handed, lacking the dignity and high-mindedness appropriate for such occasions. Leave it to Trump to make a visit to the troops look like a crass political campaign rally. He manages to defile just about every institution he touches. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2018/12/27/trump-misses-another-layup/?utm_term=.31f0e77ffff1
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TC
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Post by TC on Dec 27, 2018 13:18:41 GMT -5
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Dec 27, 2018 14:13:59 GMT -5
I had posted a link to this Lawfare article earlier this month (can't wait to see the "pee tape" emerge, ha ha): These materials buttress some of Steele’s reporting, both specifically and thematically. The dossier holds up well over time, and none of it, to our knowledge, has been disproven.
As we noted, our interest is in assessing the Steele dossier as a raw intelligence document, not a finished piece of analysis. The Mueller investigation has clearly produced public records that confirm pieces of the dossier. And even where the details are not exact, the general thrust of Steele’s reporting seems credible in light of what we now know about extensive contacts between numerous individuals associated with the Trump campaign and Russian government officials. However, there is also a good deal in the dossier that has not been corroborated in the official record and perhaps never will be—whether because it’s untrue, unimportant or too sensitive. As a raw intelligence document, the Steele dossier, we believe, holds up well so far. But surely there is more to come from Mueller’s team. We will return to it as the public record develops. www.lawfareblog.com/steele-dossier-retrospective
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hoya9797
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Post by hoya9797 on Dec 27, 2018 14:17:49 GMT -5
I can't wait until the pee tape is leaked. Should be shortly after Trump is out of office and is no longer useful to Putin. If we're lucky, this will be soon.
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Dec 27, 2018 14:22:53 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2018 10:19:50 GMT -5
Reasons why Trump focuses on "racial flashpoints", fake media etc... Convince people that a common enemy is the source of their problems and they won't notice that you're robbing them blind.
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Dec 30, 2018 10:47:38 GMT -5
Reasons why Trump focuses on "racial flashpoints", fake media etc... Convince people that a common enemy is the source of their problems and they won't notice that you're robbing them blind. Radical nihilists. Destroy the so-called "administrative state" without regard to the human consequences. That sounds like a Trump GOP agenda!
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DFW HOYA
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Post by DFW HOYA on Dec 30, 2018 13:42:36 GMT -5
The disconnects between Washington and places like Clay County could not be more stark.
The bureaucrats and journalists pontificating on climate change are resolute about shutting down the coal industry. Well, the bureaucracy certainly did that in Clay County, and what did they leave?
Median household income of $16,271. 35% of families are below the poverty line, 39% of the county is on food stamps. Average life expectancy is six years less than the national average. No new industry and even less in the way of opportunity. Per a state of Kentucky audit: From 2010 to 2016, McKesson distributed 18,434,834 doses of prescription opioids in one Kentucky county alone. Based on an average population of 38,638, it amounts to 477 opioid pills for every man, woman and child living in the county." If this was in Marin or Fairfax or Westchester County, Congress would shut the entire industry down. But it's Kentucky, so no big deal.
As far as the Whole Foods Party is concerned, rural America "is on the wrong side of history." So why wouldn't they sign up for the Lyle Lanley of modern American politics?
They call it a "mono-wall"...
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Dec 30, 2018 13:54:22 GMT -5
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TC
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Post by TC on Dec 30, 2018 17:08:29 GMT -5
The bureaucrats and journalists pontificating on climate change are resolute about shutting down the coal industry. We had an entire Presidential election with maybe 10 minutes of airtime devoted to climate change and months dedicated to emails. It's literally an existential issue which is going to destroy the world our children inherit. You're acting it like it is emails.
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