The Trump/Russia connection thread

[kickingandscreaming]

Let us pray.

[Simon Dog]

Trump will not win on the Florence relief.

If he fails, then he failed.

If he succeeds, then he is a racist because he failed in PR.

[Rerun]

Simon!  Go lay down.  Rest.  Go take a pee!

If 3,000 people can blame death on Harvey and Maria in Puerto Rico then the 9/11 death toll blamed on Islamic Terrorists can jump from 3,000 to 10,000 for the causes of death from lung cancer.

Puerto Rico is an "Island" and their energy grid was already about dead because they don't take care of things.  Trump did the best he could.  He dumped billions on that POS Island.

Russia :  No evidence of cullision.  Manafort is already gong to spend the rest of his life in prison for tax evasion.   His bestie Rick Gates had nothing to say.  Neither does Manafort. 

Dream on Dems............

[Michael Murphy]

A lot could have been done to reduce the casualties on Puerto Rico.  First instead of throwing paper towels the moron should have done what was done in New Orleans. Deploy Navy LPH helicopter carriers.  Each one has the capability of hosting a 600 bed hospital, and providing helicopter support for the distribution of supplies.  Plus with on board electricity and a hospital patients needing Dialysis could have been saved.  One army engineering brigade one have gone a long way in restoring the island facilities’
Instead nothing was done.  The Presidunce just claimed a wonderful job and did nothing.  Finally we don’t know what Manafort, Flynn, Gates, Cohen, and every one else who has pleaded guilty has told Muellar, and we won’t know until after the 2018 election at the soonest.  Remember Manafort attended the Trump tower Russian meeting and maybe able to disclose collusion with the Russians.  His cooperation with the investigation has already done something wonderful it seems to be the first time the Presidunce has stopped his moronic tweeting.

[Rerun]

He did do that you "orange beak" (where has it been).  They sent Cruise Ships and they went to the mainland half empty.   People die everyday.  If you die from something six months later you can't blame it on the storms.  He did more than throw paper towels or toilet paper.  Do you believe everything CNN tells you?   

So far Florence has killed 5 people.  Lets see if that explodes to 3,000. 

[Michael Murphy]

During Katrina 2 large cruise shops were rented by FEMA. The only thing they provided was rooms for the FEMA workers the Army Lt. General sent down to fix the mess that was New Orleans canceled the cruise ships since all they were was glorified hotels for Aid workers. He instead brought Navy LPD which not only housed the Aid workers but each of the 2 held 2 600 bed hospitals,facilities to support and maintain numerous Navy and Coast Guard helicopters used for rescue and delivery of supplies to remote locations. They also could have been used to transport additional electric utility workers from the east coast.  2 cruise ships and paper towels were not a proper response to the needs of the American Citizens of the Island of Puerto Rico.

[Michael Murphy]

One off the major problem in Puerto Rico is the law that requires all shipments arriving by sea to shop in American ships.  This adds 60% to the cost of shipping heavy good like electrical grid equipment and generally add cost to every thing on the island.  It easy to criticize the Puerto Rican government when a large tax on every thing they do is imposed by the US government to subsidize American ships.

[Simon Dog]

The infamous Jones Act.

[willowtreewren]

So far Florence has killed 5 people.  Lets see if that explodes to 3,000.  [/quote]]

So far Florence has killed 5 people.  Lets see if that explodes to 3,000. 

[/ftp]

When hurricanes hit the mainland there are huge differences. Already power has been restored to many who lost it because crews from other areas rushed in to fix the problem. Many were able to evacuate to safer areas and will stay there until it is safe to return home. I actually met a "refugee" family from North Carolina in Knoxville, TN, yesterday while I was doing voter registration. An island lacks those advantages. You should well know that without power and clean water, those on dialysis will not survive, even if they aren't killed in the initial devastation. And when hospitals can no longer accommodate those who are injured, they may die, too. Your lack of compassion for those people astounds me.

Rerun, you made a comment regarding CNN. While it has its particular slant, it is more reliable than Fox. Do you watch anything besides Fox?

Aleta

[Paul]

Your lack of compassion for those people astounds me.

The problem here is not a lack of compassion, but a lack of the ability to see that Trump can possibly do anything wrong. That is the mark of a true despot. All great leaders have their faults, and even their staunchest followers will see some of these faults. But when a leader is a useless despot his/her followers desperately defend everything he/she says, however wrong or stupid or just plain evil that action/speech is, because they are terrified that the slightest criticism will burn their paper hero down.

As an Englishman I have no first hand experience of Trump's rule, it is all filtered through British news media sources. That is why I find the political threads so useful, I get to hear about it first hand from Americans. And to be honest, the most damning of these are not the anti-Trump posts, but the pro-Trump ones. Reading posts by people like Rerun (and others, Rerun is just the most vocal) make him out to be a real monster.

In other words: If you are standing for political office, do not fear your enemies - fear your friends the most.

[Bill Peckham]

I would put the political fallout of tragedies at one end of a continuum of things to care about and towards the other end I would place the Trump/Russia connection.

The Ukraine was the proof of concept. Is the West ready if Russia is ready to proceed? The threat is very real and there is no evident interest from the President. That is something to care about.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/09/the-russian-hacking-of-2016-was-just-a-taste-heres-what-may-lie-ahead/

EDIT
Imagine, Robinson says, if New York City’s trains were to stop working on Election Day because their systems were hit with a cyberattack.

In Washington State we vote by mail, why is it not the norm? The idea that Russia has the unchecked ability to disrupt our infrastructure is hard to comprehend. Forget NY what if there were power failures in only red states during what is assumed to be a blue wave election?? How do you suppose that will turn out?

EDIT x 2
The intelligence community says it was the Russians, Trump say bulls**t. Now what?

[willowtreewren]

Ah, Bill. Thanks for getting us back on track. 

[MooseMom]

Just follow the money.

Those "best" people that Trump promised us he'd surround himself with are falling like flies.

[Bill Peckham]

Last night during his  60 minutes interview the president said he "relies on them"  as a an explanation for why he doesn't care about Russian (and Saudi) assassinations.


In what way does the President rely on Russia?

[Michael Murphy]

The Russians provided intelligence operations for his campaign and the Saudis provided money to bail out his many bankruptcies.

[Rerun]

We will soon find out Muller's long awaited report.  But, why wait until after the mid-terms?

1. There is nothing and they don't want to discourage Dems from going to the poles.

2. There is something and they don't want to Take Trump away in handcuffs.

Hmmm which one?

[Paul]

Or:

3. They are politicians and civil servants (or whatever the American equivalent of a civil servant is). These people take 17 times as long as "normal people" to do something, then an extra 6 months to check it, followed by spending as long as possible looking for a reason never to release the information.

[Michael Murphy]

To paraphrase trump,  lock him up!  Lock  up the whole crooked family.  Dinky Donnie’s days are numbered.

[Rerun]

    

[Rerun]

Hmmmm