The midterms are getting more and more interesting.

NYCGOBEARS said:

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BearNIt said:

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The people will be watching the Republican controlled Congress to see if they will protect the Republic.

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They won't.

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Time to head to the bunker.

BearNIt said:

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NYCGOBEARS said:

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BearNIt said:

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The people will be watching the Republican controlled Congress to see if they will protect the Republic.

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They won't.

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Time to head to the bunker.

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Time to work to elect a different Congress.

BearNIt said:

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NYCGOBEARS said:

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BearNIt said:

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The people will be watching the Republican controlled Congress to see if they will protect the Republic.

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They won't.

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Time to head to the bunker.

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With tRump, Don, Jr., Stephen Miller, and John Bolton already in there, not sure there is any room.

dajo9 said:

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Trey Gowdy forever sacrificed whatever integrity he may have once had due to the corrupt politicization of his Clinton investigations. The phoniness of which was admitted to by Republican members of his committee and by the Podliska case.

A lot of Republicans are getting makeovers because they refuse to be part of team Trump. That doesn't eradicate their history of lies and corruption. Just because Republicans keep rolling out bigger jackasses doesn't mean the lesser jackasses are any less jackassy.

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LOL

blungld said:

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The President has zero integrity. I mean, literally none. He will not make a single decision for the good of the country. It will all be about saving face, protecting ego, and preserving wealth/power.

He will make decisions over the next few weeks that cost people's careers, financial security, and lives...all rather than admitting what he's done and owning up to it. At the most basic level this is so fundamentally un-Conserviative (personal responsibility) that it astounds me that no-nonsense thinkers are willing to twist their brain in knots to justify and believe this man, when the truth is plain and obvious. No innocent man acts like this. No Christian man acts like this. No man worth giving your respect and deference acts like this.

I am terrified that we are going to devolve into Constitutional Crisis backed by people so enraged not at the man who has broken all the laws, but by the audacity of those evil Liberals that want to hold him accountable.

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All you're doing

Shillary has loads of integrity I assume? I don't think there's one person who thinks Trump isn't a slimebag, including his supporters. Yet he triggers you. It's sad to see.

The White House just let slip a big secret about firing Robert Mueller

(CNN) Less than 24 hours removed from Donald Trump musing that "many people" have told him he should fire special counsel Robert Mueller, Sarah Sanders made clear that that the White House has researched such a move and believes Trump has the ability to do it.

"He certainly believes he has the power to do so," the White House press secretary said of the President's ability to fire Mueller. "We've been advised that the President certainly has the power to make that decision."
That. Is. A. Big. Deal.

Think about what Sanders is saying here. She is saying that the White House has sought out guidance as to whether Trump can fire the special counsel. And concluded that he can.

Which matters a lot, for two reasons.

1. That conclusion goes against the Code of Federal Regulations governing how and who can fire a special counsel.

2. That conclusion speaks to just how far Trump has come in terms of Mueller's job status in a very short period of time.

iwantwinners said:

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Shillary has loads of integrity I assume? .

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If HRC lacks integrity and is corrupt why does she have the respect of people like Leon Panetta and Gen. Stanley McChrystal?
Do you have a list of names of people who have publicly stated Hillary lacks integrity and is corrupt? Do you have a list of supporting facts that provides evidence that Hillary lacks integrity and is corrupt? If so, please state those facts and your source (s).

Whoa...now it makes sense:

TRUMP'S MOMENT OF TRUTH": WILL MUELLER FLIP COHEN?

Quote:

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The federal investigation into the president's personal attorney changes the legal and political calculus for Trump, Mueller, and Cohen. "As things heat up, the next big thing will be a shift from things like 'What was the Russian involvement in the campaign?' to 'Has the cover-up begun and where is it?'"

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blungld said:

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I know this is getting personal, but you really do behave on these boards like a terrible person.

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You're entitled to your opinion. Just as I find your subjective moralizing masquerading as an actual argument is often nothing more than irrational "warm prejudice". You clearly, knowingly or not, believe unfettered "empathy" is a reliable moral signpost (it's not as relevant to morality as you'd believe). You are the quintessential example of "well-intentioned people actively making the world worse"

A source present at the taping says James Comey's interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, airing Sunday at 10 p.m. as a "20/20" special, is "going to shock the president and his team."

The source said Comey's comments, in his first interview since being fired by President Trump last May, will generate headlines and "certainly add more meat to the charges swirling around Trump."
In an ABC promo, Stephanopoulos says Comey compared Trump to "a mob boss."

Comey's book, "A Higher Loyalty," is out next Tuesday. He taped the interview Monday at his Washington-area home.
According to the source:

The Comey interview left people in the room stunned he told George things that he's never said before.
Some described the experience as surreal. The question will be how to fit it all into a one-hour show.
Comey answered every question. Axios

B.A. Bearacus said:

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Could happen at some point-- this man gets an actual gift basket with a stuffed bear in it compliments of Off Topic posters.

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Some of these characters should be fearing for their lives because I don't doubt that if Trump goes down, he's taking some of them with him. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but they will die prematurely. Trump is into winning and is vindictive. And he has Russians with expertise, and money to pay them for it.

B.A. Bearacus said:

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Concord, I see you've had your mad as hell moment.

Seems like shiit is about to hit the fan with today's news. Trump's three minutes of comments about the "despicable" "break-in":

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Yes, but now I'm having a happy as hell moment, as I listen to Paul Ryan announce that he's jumping ship. He has been emblematic of the sorry sack of GOP legislators who were against trump all during the primaries, and then, oh, when trump won, suddenly they lost their conviction on issues. No backbone.

Who is going to be left to fan back the flames of the anti-Trump sentiment?

Odds that trump completes his full 4-year term just dropped.

To support my point above, Trump got more votes against him in any GOP primary ever.

In fact, it looks like more republicans voted against him than voted for him. So, iwantwinners, your 63 million number should be reduced to 13 million, with 15 million against him. He is not popular, not a good man.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/06/08/donald-trump-got-the-most-votes-in-gop-primary-history-a-historic-number-of-people-voted-against-him-too/?utm_term=.62af935f46d7

Paul Ryan pulling out NOW, signals something big is going down soon. Dropping word now says he's not going to deal with the fallout or leading the GOP back after this.

Also there's a bipartisan bill being worked on to protect Mueller.

There's reports that Cohen is going to flip. He even made a comment how the FBI was decent to him and his family.

This S H ! T is going down soon.

iwantwinners said:

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concordtom said:

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I have cousins from TX who continually post #maga.
I think, what the hell is the matter with you?

It's really amazing. We were friends as kids, but they are brainwashed into insanity.

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Not just them, about 63 million others.

You're delusional.

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Per my post reply above, these are some interesting facts to consider.
Approx 13 million voted for Trump. 15 million against.
And he lost the popular vote vs Hillary by a few million, too.
I say this NOT as Pro-Hillary. I say this to illustrate how MOST of the country is against him. You can look at his approval rating polls, too.
I am not delusional. Even Ryan is bailing now, too.
If you think it's noble to go down with the ship, be my guest. I'd be embarrassed to have that on my tombstone, however. "I supported Trump, even to the bitter end." Ouch. Serious flaw in judgment. Not a rational being.

It's okay, you'll have another opportunity. The evidence you need has not yet hit you in the face yet.

https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=1484


https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=1484

bearister said:

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A source present at the taping says James Comey's interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, airing Sunday at 10 p.m. as a "20/20" special, is "going to shock the president and his team."

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Thanks for the heads up.
I'm giddy.

the guy in the back right blew it by looking down at the water.

Ryan saying he's going to resign because he consciously cannot allow his kids to only know their dad as a weekend dad --- that's hilarious.
He was willing to do it all this time.

I mean, sure, who doesn't want more time at home with the kids!
But if Trump were a triumphant president instead of a sinking ship... Ryan would not be citing that reason for stepping down. Nor would he step down at all.

bearister said:

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iwantwinners said:

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Shillary has loads of integrity I assume? .

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If HRC lacks integrity and is corrupt why does she have the respect of people like Leon Panetta and Gen. Stanley McChrystal?
Do you have a list of names of people who have publicly stated Hillary lacks integrity and is corrupt? Do you have a list of supporting facts that provides evidence that Hillary lacks integrity and is corrupt? If so, please state those facts and your source (s).

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Bear,
Forget hillary.
Don't let the other side keep trying to turn the issue into "yeah, but Hillary..."
This is NOT about Hillary, and the Anti-Trump sentiment (which dates back 35 years) has NEVER been about Hillary.

The reason why Trump needs to go down has NOTHING to do with Hillary. It has EVERYTHING to do with the fact that he's simply a horrible person, a horrible politician, and should never have been elected to anything. It's a very sad commentary on our society that he was elected.

But, you know, Hitler was elected by the people, too. So, it's a big commentary on societies. Good Germans voted for Hitler, and then said nothing and even went along with his ghastly plans. Only perhaps one day to stop and ask in some internal awakening, "Oh my, what have we done?"

A study in philosophy.

Ryan is an old-school corrupt politician. He is resigning now because after the tax cut for the wealthy he can now go to the private sector and receive his payback. His kids will be unbelievably wealthy thanks to him.

The next Republican up can pretend to be horrified at the deficit and policies of the prior regime, just like Hastert, Boehner, and Ryan. Then, as soon as he gets his chance, he'll do exactly the same as Ryan, then leave the public sector to receive his payday. Then, it will be next man up again. It's not exactly hard to crack the code, you just have to listen to what they are doing instead of what they are saying.

sycasey said:

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BearNIt said:

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Time to head to the bunker.

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Time to work to elect a different Congress.

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Exactly.
And now with Ryan gone, that is taking more clear shape than ever.

At this point it seems the GOP have signaled...EVERY MAN FOR THEMSELVES...now GTFO the way.

dajo9 said:

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Ryan is an old-school corrupt politician. He is resigning now because after the tax cut for the wealthy he can now go to the private sector and receive his payback. His kids will be unbelievably wealthy thanks to him.

The next Republican up can pretend to be horrified at the deficit and policies of the prior regime, just like Hastert, Boehner, and Ryan. Then, as soon as he gets his chance, he'll do exactly the same as Ryan, then leave the public sector to receive his payday. Then, it will be next man up again. It's not exactly hard to crack the code, you just have to listen to what they are doing instead of what they are saying.

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Ryan also knows that he's facing a tough re-election fight in a Democratic wave year, so he wants to spare himself the embarrassment of losing as a sitting Speaker. A profile in courage, as ever.

dajo9 said:

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Ryan is an old-school corrupt politician. He is resigning now because after the tax cut for the wealthy he can now go to the private sector and receive his payback. His kids will be unbelievably wealthy thanks to him.

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It seems to me that the tax cut on the corporate side was not out of line - we need to be competitive with rest of world to a degree. I'm not sure how far out of whack we were but capital is mobile, so....
Certainly there is an argument to be made that it should cost more to operate in this efficient and large market, but it can't cost too much more.

The problem with the tax bill that was passed is that it did not find offsetting revenue, and it relies too much on a growing economy to be the offset. It already was going to add $1T to the national debt, and if they are wrong about their growth projections, then it will be much larger than that. This increased debt merely punts the ball further down the road to our children and grandchildren and does not protect America's position as the only country that can print money (as it is THE reserve currency worldwide). Once that goes away, we are just like everyone else, and if we run our debt too high, that privilege will be lost forever. And that would be HORRIBLE.

So, the debt is playing with fire.

And Republicans have long stood for low debt levels, at least publicly. They ran on that this cycle, too. And yet, they did the OPPOSITE, which I find shameful.

I don't agree with your cynicism re Ryan's motivations. Sure, he'll get paid somehow. But I think he left not to get paid but because he knows his run in the race of politics was coming to a close. Better to step off while still appearing as a winner. Last gasps.

The Dems are going to end up controlling all 3 chambers, and then it will be very interesting to see what plans they can come up with. I'd love it if they could get the debt under control, but we are very likely going to have to suffer a decline in growth in order to do so. Better that, however, then the debt bubble pops. I do not believe that we can continue to prime the economy thru debt spending.

And look, the economy is always cyclical, and we have been on an up cycle for 10 years now, which is historically unprecedented. The Trump projections aside, I think we are overdue for contraction. And the longer that we artificially prop things up with debt spending, the worse the correction will be. Same thing we went thru last cycle.

dajo9 said:

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Trey Gowdy forever sacrificed whatever integrity he may have once had due to the corrupt politicization of his Clinton investigations. The phoniness of which was admitted to by Republican members of his committee and by the Podliska case.

A lot of Republicans are getting makeovers because they refuse to be part of team Trump. That doesn't eradicate their history of lies and corruption. Just because Republicans keep rolling out bigger jackasses doesn't mean the lesser jackasses are any less jackassy.

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Interesting.
I never considered.
Can you provide a good summary of this "Podliska" case? Never heard of it.

blungld said:

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The President has zero integrity. I mean, literally none. He will not make a single decision for the good of the country. It will all be about saving face, protecting ego, and preserving wealth/power.

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Precisely!
But, uh, like, wasn't this aspect of him known before he ever announced he was going to run for office????
Anyone who didn't know this about him was just "out of it" and unawares as to who the man was.

blungld said:

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it astounds me that no-nonsense thinkers are willing to twist their brain in knots to justify and believe this man

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TOTALLY!

blungld said:

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I am terrified that we are going to devolve into Constitutional Crisis backed by people so enraged not at the man who has broken all the laws, but by the audacity of those evil Liberals that want to hold him accountable.

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I get your point, but, hey, the two don't have to be mutually exclusive.

Audacious and evil Liberals that want to hold him accountable CAN ALSO be enraged that this man has broken many laws (not to mention decency and truth - values we hold dear), and THAT is what should drive what you are calling a Constitutional Crisis.

By the way, I don't think that if Impeachment comes to pass it's a crisis. It would be a crisis if the constitution did not provide a remedy for a corrupt president, and we had to come up with one. But we have the process already in place, and it's been enacted a couple of times, so, it shouldn't be a problem.

The problem I see is this:

You can't outlaw LYING - because it's protected under Free Speech. I mean, the best politicians always bend the truth, avoid the truth, reshape the truth. "It depends on what your definition of IS is."

Trump is a HUGE LIAR.

Also, decency cannot written into the law books, and Trump is hugely INDECENT.

It will have to be up to the people to VOTE upon such things. We goofed this time around.

The poor people of Syria are soon to pay for success of the Mueller investigation.

CNN says that Ryan wants to step down not only because he doesn't want to be a known by his kids as a Weekend Dad, but also due to "Trump-xhaustion". Funny word.

Paul Ryan is a class A punk beotch. He received social security benefits because his father died young and left a wife and family, as it should be. The social safety net helped him get to where he is today. Of course he tried his best to gut that same safety net. I hope karma pays back the asshat. As devout Catholic, yeah he's going to hell. Have fun Paulie, that hot poker in the butt hurts every time! Enjoy!

concordtom said:

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The poor people of Syria are soon to pay for success of the Mueller investigation.

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The poor people of Syria have been paying since 2011- nothing can be worse.