monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

William Burns, a career foreign service officer who served as both ambassador to Russia and deputy secretary of state, sees “a conflict of ideas and models” playing out on the world stage. Both Russia and China are holding up what Mr. Burns calls their “authoritarian managed economic models” as alternatives to democracy.

Moreover, to the extent that the U.S. itself sometimes seems not to take its own democratic ideals seriously, or fails to make them work well, it can actually help erode the appeal of a system that has long served as an international beacon of hope.

The U.S.: His critics charge that Mr. Trump exhibits some authoritarian tendencies of his own, and his occasional disparaging remarks about “rigged” democratic institutions seem to suggest that. The fact is, though, that the American system of checks and balances—a hallmark of the democratic model—remains strong and vibrant.

Yet there are reasons to worry about the health of the American model. Current leaders seem unable to find their way to consensus or even compromise on the biggest issues of the day, which can breed voter despair and disillusionment.

Demographic trends also are straining the American model. Because of the way the Electoral College works, two of the past three presidents first won office while losing the popular vote. And David Birdsell, dean of the school of public and international affairs at Baruch College, notes that by 2040, about 70% of Americans are expected to live in the 15 largest states. They will have only 30 senators representing them, while the remaining 30% of Americans will have 70 senators representing them.

That’s the way the system works, of course. But there will be growing need for enlightened leaders who can show it actually does work for all.

They're not bigoted against "coastal elites," of course. Just "rural" foke, that's all.

I mean, like, is there some inherent reason why a guy living in the country can't represent the will of the people?

“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” he said Monday morning.

“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” he added.

Pakistan fired back at President Trump on Monday, saying the U.S. has given it "nothing but invective and mistrust" after Trump lashed out at the country and threatened to withhold aid in an early morning tweet.

"[Pakistan] as anti-terror ally has given free to US: land & air communication, military bases & intel cooperation that decimated Al-Qaeda over last 16yrs, but they have given us nothing but invective & mistrust," Pakistan's defense minister, Khurram Dastgir-Khan, said on Twitter.

"They overlook cross-border safe havens of terrorists who murder Pakistanis," he added.

I think we should get out of the ME completely...seems to me we could use the money in our own country.

The only thing we need over there is a shitload of drones smokin terrorists, I figure.

Quote:

“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” he said Monday morning.

“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” he added.

“The United States does not plan to spend the $255 million in [Fiscal Year] 2016 Foreign Military Financing for Pakistan at this time,” a National Security Council official told Fox News on Monday.

The official added, “The president has made clear that the United States expects Pakistan to take decisive action against terrorists and militants on its soil, and that Pakistan’s actions in support of the South Asia Strategy will ultimately determine the trajectory of our relationship, including future security assistance.”

It was in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad where Usama bin Laden hid until U.S. Navy SEALS killed him in 2011. The country is still holding Dr. Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA pinpoint Bin Laden ahead of the raid.

The Trump administration will continue to “review Pakistan’s level of cooperation,” the official said.

DNC passes resolution supporting Black Lives Matter

Leaked 2015 Memo Told Dems: ‘Don’t Offer Support’ For Black Lives Matter Policy Positions

WASHINGTON ― “Don’t offer support” for the “concrete policy positions” of Black Lives Matter protesters, the chief organization charged with electing Democrats to the House of Representatives warned its candidates in an internal memo leaked online on Wednesday.

The document was posted online by Guccifer 2.0, a hacker who has claimed to be responsible for the Democratic National Committee email leak. Guccifer claims the document is from the personal computer of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

"This document should not be emailed or handed to anyone outside of the building. Please only give campaign staff these best practices in meetings or over the phone” reads the memo.

The memo, which describes BLM as a “radical movement,... continues. “Don’t offer support for concrete policy positions."

It recommends avoiding phrases like “all lives matter” and warns not to bring up “black on black crime,” since the “response will garner additional media scrutiny and only anger BLM activists.”

Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi, told HuffPost. “In regard to the memo about Black Lives Matter, Leader Pelosi does not support the content or attitude of this memo. On many occasions, Leader Pelosi has publicly supported the ideals embraced by the Black Lives Matter movement and continues to do so.”

Finn dAbuzz,
The Democrats have transcended Marx and give their full support to the criminals and bums, too, eh?

Verbally, I mean, just for the votes. They don't mean it.

Hillary Clinton wrote:

"Look, the average Democrat voter is just plain stupid. They're easy to manipulate. That's the easy part."


Rather tautological, actually. "Democratic voter" is a synonym for "just plain stupid," aint it?

Black Lives Matter’s political clout grows as Democrats disavow leaked memo

Democrats faced a thorny dilemma this week after a leaked memo showed that a party strategist had described Black Lives Matter as a “radical movement” and urged candidates not to endorse its policy positions.

Democrats rushed to show support for Black Lives Matter, denouncing the memo in spite of recent alarm over the movement’s anti-Israel stance and exorbitant race-based demands, including free college and a guaranteed minimum income for black people.

“The problem is that Black Lives Matter is a very radical movement, and the Democrats can’t fully control it,” said David Horowitz, a conservative author who has written extensively about left-wing activism. “It’s a violent movement, but it’s really been embraced by the Democratic Party, and it’s very important to the Democratic Party.” Black Lives Matter activists are “indispensable,” he said. “They’re also uncontrollable. That’s the Democrats’ problem.”

Black Lives Matter responded Wednesday with a statement decrying the memo and accusing Democrats of trying to mollify activists without taking them seriously.

“We are disappointed at the DCCC’s placating response to our demand to value all Black life,” said the statement. “Black communities deserve to be heard, not handled.”

The Black Lives Matter movement has benefited from the largesse of top Democratic donors, including billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and the Center for American Progress. Mr. Soros gave in one year an estimated $33 million to the cause.

Even so, activists targeted Democratic presidential candidates over Republicans during this year’s primary, embarrassing Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley on separate occasions by taking over the podium and drowning them out.

A friend and advisor to Bill Clinton during his time as Governor of Arkansas, since his 1978 run,[7] Morris became a political adviser to the White House after Clinton was elected president in 1992. Morris encouraged Clinton to pursue third way policies of triangulation that combined traditional Republican and Democratic proposals, rhetoric, and issues so as to achieve maximum political gain and popularity. He worked as a Republican strategist before joining the Clinton administration, where he helped Clinton recover from the 1994 midterm elections by advising the President to adopt more moderate policies.[8] The president consulted Morris in secret beginning in 1994.[9] Clinton's communications director George Stephanopoulos has said, "Over the course of the first nine months of 1995, no single person had more power over the president."[10] Morris went on to become campaign manager of Bill Clinton's successful 1996 bid for re-election as President.

More recently, Morris has emerged as a harsh critic of the Clintons and has written several books that criticize them, including Rewriting History, a rebuttal to then-Senator Hillary Clinton's Living History. In it, he argues that Hillary Clinton has presented a false "nice" persona in the book. Morris instead remembers her as manipulative, cold, and single-minded in her pursuit of power.

Quote:

Hillary Clinton wrote:

"Look, the average Democrat voter is just plain stupid. They're easy to manipulate. That's the easy part."

Which is completely and totally bogus. Suppposedly from a book Dick Morris wrote.. Snopes researched it. It's a made=up quote. It's not in the book that is the alleged source. It's from a website with alleged quotes srom Hillary complete with links to the sources.