monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

"As the President of the United States, I have an absolute right, perhaps even a duty, to investigate, or have investigated, corruption"

Which brings it all back to a man whose words and actions suggest he really does believe he can get away with anything. It is a supreme irony that Trump triumphed by exploiting public disaffection with a political system so many Americans see as infested with sleaze and controlled by forces operating entirely for their own benefit.

Rather than being the cure for such maladies, he is their apotheosis, the culmination of all that has gone wrong in our politics. The task of the impeachment inquiry is to use his Ukrainian misadventure to bring home the breadth of the president’s venality and self-dealing. The goal should be not only to rid the country of a dangerous leader but also to show how desperately our system needs repair.

I just want to point at really important topics:

The four biggest foes of America that gain from Trump’s Syria pullout

When President Trump announced his decision to pull troops from northern Syria, his critics immediately warned that the move would pave the way for a Turkish offensive with potentially catastrophic repercussions.

State Department officials swiftly denied that Trump supported the Turkish incursion. Meanwhile, Trump appeared convinced that he had made the right choice.

“Turkey, Europe, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and the Kurds will now have to figure the situation out,” Trump wrote.

They now indeed are, but not to the advantage of the United States.

“What’s clear is that the U.S. has shot itself into the foot,” said Ali Fathollah-Nejad, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center.

Who are likely winners?

The U.S. pullout has enabled Turkey to pursue its military incursion without having to fear U.S. interference, but it has also created opportunities for four of the United States’ key foes: Iran, the Assad regime, Russia and — potentially — the Islamic State group.

For some reason, I couldn't get able2know to send me a password reset.

President Donald Trump’s former top adviser on Russia, who testified before three congressional committees Monday, objected “strenuously” to the firing of former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, The New York Times reported.

...Per the Times’ source, Hill didn’t know Trump would use the call to press Zelensky for dirt on Joe and Hunter Biden. The Times reported that Hill would testify that she was “cut out of the loop as Mr. Giuliani and others ran a shadow diplomacy intended to benefit Mr. Trump’s political position,” in the paper’s words.

So why is it, exactly, that the Republican president “occasionally” has his daughter speak to world leaders?

Is it unreasonable to wonder how Republicans might react if President Hillary Clinton, after refusing to thoroughly prepare for meetings with international officials, occasionally handed the phone to Chelsea Clinton?

Quote:

"We see the growing ascendancy of secularism and the doctrine of moral relativism," he said. "Basically every measure of this social pathology continues to gain ground."

He described several social issues as "consequences of this moral upheaval."

"Along with the wreckage of the family, we are seeing record levels of depression and mental illness, dispirited young people, soaring suicide rates, increasing numbers of angry and alienated young males, an increase in senseless violence and a deadly drug epidemic."

Bill Barr, with a conspiratorial flare, added, "This is not decay. This is organized destruction. Secularists and their allies have marshaled all the forces of mass communication, popular culture, the entertainment industry and academia, in an unremitting assault on religion and traditional values."

But even putting aside these relevant details, it was the circumstances that were especially jarring: the nation’s chief law-enforcement officer delivered public remarks in which he alleged non-religious citizens of his own country are conspiring to advance a sinister “social pathology.”

Roughly one-in-five Americans considers themselves atheists, agnostics, or lacking in any specific faith affiliation. The idea that their attorney general sees them as part of a nefarious force, conspiring in the shadows to undermine morality, isn’t just ridiculous; it’s at odds with the country’s First Amendment principles.

Walter Shaub, the former director of the Office of Government Ethics, described Barr’s comments as “repugnant,” adding, “His job is to defend the First Amendment. But this immoral, unpatriotic, borderline monarchist and defender of corruption has other ideas.”

In an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Cheney had said that “there was not an accident that the Turks chose this moment to roll across the border, and I think the Democrats have got to pay very careful attention to the damage they’re doing with the impeachment proceedings.”

Jesus. I just watched the video played at the Trump Doral Miami conference. It is much worse than I'd thought. Much worse.

As I understand it, this videpo shows photoshopped trump massacring media figures and people who disagree with him.

Why did it take trump three days to say he doesn't agree with it after it's shown at his property?r?

Why does oralloy think this blatant movie brutal murderous propaganda is some sort of cultural literacy test?

Another absolutely indefensible bit of rightist trash.