craner

Beast of Burden
Its not good, but I don't think this is over yet.

The question is whether or not the report gets released. So far all we have is a Trump acolyte spinning it in the most positive way possible. This was always gonna happen as they have control of the narrative. If he was completely cleared the report would have been put out immediately.

It’s funny how Droid is generally so negative and pessimistic about everything, except this one thing where he clings to an illogical almost desperate conviction that Trump will not even get to run again because he’s going to be in jail.
 

luka

Well-known member
It’s funny how Droid is generally so negative and pessimistic about everything, except this one thing where he clings to an illogical almost desperate conviction that Trump will not even get to run again because he’s going to be in jail.

I revived the impeach bush thread to flag this kind of wishful thinking. I in no way endorse or condone craners bloodcurdling ghoulishness but the fantasy island stuff isn't helping.
 

droid

Well-known member
Please don't conflate, there's a reason I wasn't in that Bush thread. I have much more sympathy with the left critique of Russia than the Mueller fantasists. My judgement on Trump is based on the massive extant evidence of criminality. Ken Starr came up with 14 reasons to impeach Clinton (IIRC). Nixon went down via a fraction of what Trump is accused of.

That said, I agree that the likelihood of impeachment has greatly diminished. I think a very dangerous political calculation has been made to wait it out. 2nd term is vanishingly unlikely at this point in time due to key demographic collapses in support, but then again, a convenient war could change that.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Not to exonerate the democrats cos I'm sure there's many crooks among them but the republican party seems to be an organised crime syndicate at this point. Trump is just the most blatantly (stupidly) mafiosoesque of them all. That's his crime, really (leaving aside his actual crimes lol) - his corruption isn't subtle enough.
 

luka

Well-known member
One of the things I like about Ellroy is that he depicts power as being always criminal. That at the highest level the boundary between criminal and state power is blurred or annulled. This is why I find it so frustrating that he refuses to complete the arc of his work, to go from the Kennedy assassination to Regan, Bush and Iran Contra.
 

luka

Well-known member
There is a particularly compelling conspiracy story that puts Bush at the head of a crime cartel which assasinates Kennedy and takes power in the aftermath of his death.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
2nd term is vanishingly unlikely at this point in time due to key demographic collapses in support, but then again, a convenient war could change that.
Is this true though? I keep reading that with his levels at present and the traditional advantage to the incumbent it's perfectly possible for him to win again from here.
 

droid

Well-known member
Is this true though? I keep reading that with his levels at present and the traditional advantage to the incumbent it's perfectly possible for him to win again from here.

As things currently stand, yes. I cant go into the details but he's down across a large swathe of voter types and most damningly amongst particular groups (no-college educated whites) in particular key states.

Is it possible? Of course, there's a huge amount of variables and its way out, but the big arc is that his support has been denuded back to his hardcore base.
 

droid

Well-known member
There is a particularly compelling conspiracy story that puts Bush at the head of a crime cartel which assasinates Kennedy and takes power in the aftermath of his death.

Huh. You know about Bush seniors strange behaviour around the assassination don't you?
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
As things currently stand, yes. I cant go into the details but he's down across a large swathe of voter types and most damningly amongst particular groups (no-college educated whites) in particular key states.
Is it possible? Of course, there's a huge amount of variables and its way out, but the big arc is that his support has been denuded back to his hardcore base.
I hope you're right. Agreed a lot can change though - surely depends on who the Dems put up, if they can find a new Obama then great...
 

droid

Well-known member
A new Obama would be a disaster. They need a left leaning figure that can assuage widespread discontent with actual policies whilst being acceptable enough to liberals.

Centerism means doom, and not just for the US.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I mean a personality that people get excited about. I'm not talking about politics. If they put up a faceless worthy then it's no use.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
That said, I agree that the likelihood of impeachment has greatly diminished. I think a very dangerous political calculation has been made to wait it out. 2nd term is vanishingly unlikely at this point in time due to key demographic collapses in support, but then again, a convenient war could change that.

I don't think the American public has anything like the appetite for war that it did back in '03. A large measure of Trump's popularity has been due to his relative reticence in this regard compared to his two immediate predecessors (or either of the two before that, in fact). Of course the drone war continues unabated but I'm talking about boots-on-the-ground deployment.
 

version

Well-known member
I don't think the American public has anything like the appetite for war that it did back in '03. A large measure of Trump's popularity has been due to his relative reticence in this regard compared to his two immediate predecessors (or either of the two before that, in fact). Of course the drone war continues unabated but I'm talking about boots-on-the-ground deployment.

I don't think it would be hard to rally the Republican base in support of another war. They'd just have to bang on about the "evils of socialism" in Venezuela or something, get the message out through FOX and right wing talk radio and have Trump deliver a few fiery speeches and they'd be chomping at the bit for boots on the ground.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I don't think it would be hard to rally the Republican base in support of another war. They'd just have to bang on about the "evils of socialism" in Venezuela or something, get the message out through FOX and right wing talk radio and have Trump deliver a few fiery speeches and they'd be chomping at the bit for boots on the ground.

Don't think Uncle Vlad would like that very much.
 

droid

Well-known member
D4cdiBhWkAc1RNL.jpg
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I'd say that this McGahn is in a difficult position being subpoenaed by Congress and ordered not to attend by the President. Seems he could face legal trouble either way. Constitution is well and truly not fit for purpose.
 

version

Well-known member
“I have broken more Elton John records. He seems to have a lot of records. And I, by the way, I don’t have a musical instrument. I don’t have a guitar or an organ. No organ. Elton has an organ. And lots of other people helping. No, we’ve broken a lot of records. We’ve broken virtually every record. Because you know, look, I only need this space. They need much more room. For basketball, for hockey and all of the sports, they need a lot of room. We don’t need it. We have people in that space. So we break all of these records. Really, we do it without, like, the musical instruments. This is the only musical – the mouth. And hopefully the brain attached to the mouth, right? The brain. More important than the mouth is the brain. The brain is much more important.”
 
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