Amazon has lost 6% of its value today in the wake of Trump's recent attacks. Has nothing to do with Trump's disdain for The Washington Post.

BearChemist said:

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okaydo said:

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https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/george-conway-twitter-trump_us_5ab553bee4b0decad049d7e0

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That's the husband of Kellyane Conway?

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A new pro-Trump book is coming out. Author claims Kellyanne is the biggest leaker in the WH. Trashed Javanka, Bannon, and Reince repeatedly via leaks. Add that to her hubby's tweets and Kellyanne's seat's getting hot. Still think Sessions or Rosenstein will go next, but wouldn't be surprised if Kellyanne or Pruitt go soon too. Trump loves/needs the churn to deflect.

B.A. Bearacus said:

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Amazon has lost 6% of its value today in the wake of Trump's recent attacks. Has nothing to do with Trump's disdain for The Washington Post.

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I wonder how difficult it would be to make a case of insider trading against tRump's rich buddies. You can rest assured that his fat cat friends own a lot of equities and that they are not taking it up the keester like the rest of us.

tRump gives the word arsehole a bad name.

BearDevil said:

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BearChemist said:

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okaydo said:

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https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/george-conway-twitter-trump_us_5ab553bee4b0decad049d7e0

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That's the husband of Kellyane Conway?

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A new pro-Trump book is coming out. Author claims Kellyanne is the biggest leaker in the WH. Trashed Javanka, Bannon, and Reince repeatedly via leaks. Add that to her hubby's tweets and Kellyanne's seat's getting hot. Still think Sessions or Rosenstein will go next, but wouldn't be surprised if Kellyanne or Pruitt go soon too. Trump loves/needs the churn to deflect.

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This will have no impact on her standing with the president, the president doesn't read books. If it is on Fox and Friends then watch out!

The Right is claiming the Deep State is tubing the stock market to hurt tRump. Since tRump is the one taking the actions which are cratering the market, I say it is more likely it is a market manipulation to further enrich his wealthy friends because you know they have been making "smart trades."

Ann Coulter is a former-Trumper now

iwantwinners said:

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Ann Coulter is a former-Trumper now

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Well, she didn't think that Trump or Pence were eligible to vote....

Damn....

Mueller just confirmed he was investigating Manafort for collusion with Russia

Quote:

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He was authorized to probe whether Manafort worked with Russian government officials to interfere with the presidential election.

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The Latest: Trump wants military to do border control

So Dotard can't built the wall as promised, so he does this. This issue is a core for hard right wingnuts, so he's doubling down. If he fails, and why wouldn't he, I think that signals the end for Trump.

Trump, McCarthy look to cut billions from budget deal they just passed

Gotta tip your hats to these morons.

Another Bear said:

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The Latest: Trump wants military to do border control

So Dotard can't built the wall as promised, so he does this. This issue is a core for hard right wingnuts, so he's doubling down. If he fails, and why wouldn't he, I think that signals the end for Trump.

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Actually, Grump the developer has no clue on how government projects are developed, funded and executed. There used to be a fairly low threshold ($500K) for construction projects that did not require
line item congressional approval. Even if the Grump figures he has $700Billion of military budget money available; none of it is actually available for a multi billion project like the border wall.

I suspect he has already spent unauthorized money on building the wall prototypes and all the contract management types who authorized it will be prosecuted the next time a more ethical, honest administration takes over. Loss of job, pension, and jail time are all the consequences of spending unauthorized money on construction projects. And to use military operational funds for unauthorized construction would involve hundreds, thousands of contracting officials. We would probably need more Federal prisons.

The Grump's fiscal improprieties are on a path to create internal military dissension between ethical officers and swamp creature profiteers like Flynn.

BearChemist said:

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Trump, McCarthy look to cut billions from budget deal they just passed

Gotta tip your hats to these morons.

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I absolutely have to respect any person(s) that had the stones to seize the reins of power in the U.S., do so with the knowing assistance of a hostile foreign power, plunder the economy, strip all the environmental protections, espouse racist views, foment racial disharmony in the nation, brazenly allow their own families and their wealthy friends to loot the country of its riches all the while flipping the bird to the proletariat that got them into power. I will lose that respect when tRump is impeached and he and members of the tRump Crime Family are sentenced and incarcerated (and, where appropriate, executed pursuant to 18 U.S. Code 2381 ) but until then, you gotta respect the swagger.

Better to have the military occupy us than one of the half dozen countries we are fighting. Bring the boys home.

Bearister, do you have any thoughts on the SInclair merger ~ threatening employees with large fines if they try to quit or deviate from the "scripted" pro-Trump blather, as well as their false claims against legit news sources? (Sorry for the clunky wording).

I don't know about the first part ... second part i fully agree bring them home but at this point is that even feasible with how the world exists no?

Another Bear said:

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The Latest: Trump wants military to do border control

So Dotard can't built the wall as promised, so he does this. This issue is a core for hard right wingnuts, so he's doubling down. If he fails, and why wouldn't he, I think that signals the end for Trump.

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He doesn't have to, if he deports 20% more illegals than Obama, puts a halt to modern-day U.S. immigration quota policy, he will have all the political capital he needs. But he won't do that either. The ROI investing in these priorities will be substantial, given the long- and short-term savings.

bearister said:

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BearChemist said:

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Trump, McCarthy look to cut billions from budget deal they just passed

Gotta tip your hats to these morons.

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I absolutely have to respect any person(s) that had the stones to seize the reins of power in the U.S., do so with the knowing assistance of a hostile foreign power, plunder the economy, strip all the environmental protections, espouse racist views, foment racial disharmony in the nation, brazenly allow their own families and their wealthy friends to loot the country of its riches all the while flipping the bird to the proletariat that got them into power. I will lose that respect when tRump is impeached and he and members of the tRump Crime Family are sentenced and incarcerated (and, where appropriate, executed pursuant to 18 U.S. Code 2381 ) but until then, you gotta respect the swagger.

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Cool hyperbole, bro.

Cal Junkie said:

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Bearister, do you have any thoughts on the SInclair merger ~ threatening employees with large fines if they try to quit or deviate from the "scripted" pro-Trump blather, as well as their false claims against legit news sources? (Sorry for the clunky wording).

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I would imagine that at least in California and New York, a plaintiff's employment attorney could fashion some sort of claim for those brave enough to resist based on violation of public policy and/or employment discrimination. Perhaps Michael Avenatti will be picking up some new clients.

iwantwinners said:

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bearister said:

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BearChemist said:

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Trump, McCarthy look to cut billions from budget deal they just passed

Gotta tip your hats to these morons.

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I absolutely have to respect any person(s) that had the stones to seize the reins of power in the U.S., do so with the knowing assistance of a hostile foreign power, plunder the economy, strip all the environmental protections, espouse racist views, foment racial disharmony in the nation, brazenly allow their own families and their wealthy friends to loot the country of its riches all the while flipping the bird to the proletariat that got them into power. I will lose that respect when tRump is impeached and he and members of the tRump Crime Family are sentenced and incarcerated (and, where appropriate, executed pursuant to 18 U.S. Code 2381 ) but until then, you gotta respect the swagger.

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Cool hyperbole, bro.

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What horrifies me is how frequently we have similar sports analysis. When, why and where did you go astray? The one that got away.

Another Bear said:

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The Latest: Trump wants military to do border control

So Dotard can't built the wall as promised, so he does this. This issue is a core for hard right wingnuts, so he's doubling down. If he fails, and why wouldn't he, I think that signals the end for Trump.

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I think many of those to the left of Attila on this board are way too optimistic about Trump's likelihood to crash (or melt, like the Wicked Witch of the West).

He's survived
(a) multiple bankruptcies,
(b) I don't know how many personal scandals of a degree that absolutely wasted virtually every other politician who even got close to that level of sleaze,
(c) being in bed with the most vicious criminals on the planet, and
(d) his own massive ignorance, stupidity and blatant mendacity; and

(i) his poll numbers are rising, and
(ii) so far, outside of the recent Children's Crusade, the mass movement against this obvious major immorality that would seem the most natural of reactions does not seem to be anywhere in sight - to the point where I harbor some doubt that, if he fired Mueller, even that would produce the sustained reaction of a force such that, in the past, produced, among other things, labor unions (and major benefits for workers), the right to vote for women, the end of slavery, the end of the Vietnam War, and the end of legal segregation and the consequent further achievements along that line (albeit still incomplete) in numerous forms of civil rights.

Maybe one of the major reasons for this has been the failure of that energy to continue in order to deal with the new forms of oppression recently appearing - especially the artificially recalcitrant horrendous maldistribution of opportunity.

The two general models for this that I keep in mind are:

(1) After hundreds of years of slavery and oppression, somehow the African-American middle class had accumulated enough capital that they no longer could be simply dismissed; and they therefore could sustain the long-term effort necessary to break the most original of sins; and

(2) After enough years of insanity in Viet Nam, and with EVERY DRAFT AGE PERSON IN THE COUNTRY FACING PREMATURE DEATH IN VAIN, there was enough sustained energy on the ground to overcome ANYTHING in order to stop the madness - and the process of this is instructive in that it took so much from so many (individuals and groups), in so many different forms, and to getting past every imaginable political trick.

I don't know at this point what it will take to get out of this current pit.

mikecohen said:

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(i) his poll numbers are rising, and
(ii) so far, outside of the recent Children's Crusade, the mass movement against this obvious major immorality that would seem the most natural of reactions does not seem to be anywhere in sight - to the point where I harbor some doubt that, if he fired Mueller, even that would produce the sustained reaction of a force such that, in the past, produced, among other things, labor unions (and major benefits for workers), the right to vote for women, the end of slavery, the end of the Vietnam War, and the end of legal segregation and the consequent further achievements along that line (albeit still incomplete) in numerous forms of civil rights.

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My responses to this are:

(1) Trump's poll numbers have risen slightly in the last few months (a few percentage points), but at about 40% approval he's still lower than any other modern president at this stage in his first term.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/

(2) I'm not sure where you're looking, but if you examine almost every special election since Trump's inauguration you've seen Democrats make huge gains over their usual baselines. There has been a heavy turnout to vote against Trump. The Women's Marches and March For Life were also all very well-attended, even though those marches were spaced out over the span of a year and a half. That doesn't tell me that the Left is lacking in political energy.

The midterms will be the proof in the pudding. If Democrats can take back at least one house of Congress then there will be a real check on Trump.

tRump current Mueller investigation status: Subject trending towards Target.
tRump will end up like his mentor, Roy Cohn.

Trump is the least of our problems. He is the id of America, emblematic of a rotten system where people have been and will continue to be marginalized by the nexus of the two political parties and their corporate masters. Until there is a grassroots movement to overthrow them, this will continue but with a slightly more benign face. The Tea Party and OWS were fits and starts but Trump may have actually precipitated more activism than we've seen in 50 years.

There are some hopeful signs-the rising of teachers unions and resistance in Oklahoma and West Virginia; plus, election of thirty five members of the Democratic socialist party in 2018 is not a normal year. The election of Conor Lamb in a district Clinton lost big was huge as was Doug Jones victory. Both were powered by local uprisings-white working class and labor in PA and in Alabama, labor and African Americans. And both were also reactions against DC. What is happening in France with general strikes and Macron on the ropes is also encouraging. The rise of right wing nationalism has peaked. The pendulum is moving and hopefully this time people don't settle for Neo-liberal bulls$it.

Mueller says Trump is not a criminal target

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mueller-told-trumps-attorneys-the-president-remains-under-investigation-but-is-not-currently-a-criminal-target/2018/04/03/d7832cf0-36c1-11e8-acd5-35eac230e514_story.html?utm_term=.9639a68327bf&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1

Anarchistbear said:

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Mueller says Trump is not a criminal target

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mueller-told-trumps-attorneys-the-president-remains-under-investigation-but-is-not-currently-a-criminal-target/2018/04/03/d7832cf0-36c1-11e8-acd5-35eac230e514_story.html?utm_term=.9639a68327bf&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1

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Just in case, guys...

Mmm k ... your sense of humor is ______

In truth, that could be nuanced. Doesn't mean there isn't anything that could be regarded as impeachable, but that is a higher and more vague bar.

Mueller is trying to reel Trump and his incompetent lawyers in. Just like how up until recently Trump said he wasn't under investigation. Does anyone really think Trump is clean?

"Radiating personal and professional sleaze lets Trump quickly and easily identify individuals who have any kind of public ethics and to sort them out. (James Comey's accounts of his interactions with the president depict Trump probing for some vein of corruptibility in the FBI director; when he came up empty, he fired him.) Trump is legitimately excellent at cultivating an inner circle unburdened by legal or moral scruples. These are the only kind of people who want to work for Trump, and the only kind Trump wants to work for him."
Jonathan Chait

I think some members of the tRump Crime Family and associates may seriously consider suicide as an option rather than being Admirals of the Windward Passage at Leavenworth for 25-30.

Comey has no ethics. He knew about the Steele Dossier in the summer/fall of 2016. In the waning days of the election he chose to publish damaging information on one candidate but not another. He did more damage to Clinton than any Russians.