President Donald Trump: The Thread

[caulfield12]

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/trum...nfluence-237341

 

Trump billionaire advisors stand to gain substantially from campaign's China economic policy flip-flops...

 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/lawsuit-against-...-152222290.html

Lawsuit against Trump over foreign payments (from hotel customers) expands

Edited April 19, 2017 by caulfield12

[StrangeSox]

It turns out, unsurprisingly, that the whole Susan Rice/unmasking fake scandal was generated entirely by the White House and congressional allies in order to provide some justification of Trump's claim that Obama wiretapped him.

 

THE CONTINUING FALLOUT FROM TRUMP AND NUNES’S FAKE SCANDAL

It is now clear that the scandal was not Rice’s normal review of the intelligence reports but the coördinated effort between the Trump Administration and Nunes to sift through classified information and computer logs that recorded Rice’s unmasking requests, and then leak a highly misleading characterization of those documents, all in an apparent effort to turn Rice, a longtime target of Republicans, into the face of alleged spying against Trump. It was a series of lies to manufacture a fake scandal. Last week, CNN was the first to report that both Democrats and Republicans who reviewed the Nunes material at the N.S.A. said that the documents provided “no evidence that Obama Administration officials did anything unusual or illegal.”

 

I spoke to two intelligence sources, one who read the entire binder of intercepts and one who was briefed on their contents. “There’s absolutely nothing there,” one source said. The Trump names remain masked in the documents, and Rice would not have been able to know in all cases that she was asking the N.S.A. to unmask the names of Trump officials.

The intelligence source told me that he knows, “from talking to people in the intelligence community,” that “the White House said, ‘We are going to mobilize to find something to justify the President’s tweet that he was being surveilled.’ They put out an all-points bulletin”—a call to sift through intelligence reports—“and said, ‘We need to find something that justifies the President’s crazy tweet about surveillance at Trump Tower.’ And I’m telling you there is no way you get that from those transcripts, which are about as plain vanilla as can be.” (The White House did not respond to a request for comment.)

 

trump himself had no idea how FISA warrants actually work before launching his ludicrous accusations against Obama

 

So much of this is new to Mr. Trump that only after he publicly accused Mr. Obama of having wiretapped his telephones last year did he ask aides how the system of obtaining eavesdropping warrants from a special foreign intelligence court worked.

 

 

 

 

[StrangeSox]

Todd Ricketts, Trump's deputy commerce secretary pick, withdraws from consideration

 

Couldn't untangle his financial ties enough to satisfy ethics concerns so he stepped down, which was the proper thing to do.

[caulfield12]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/20/asia/south-k...nson/index.html

Mockery and anger from South Koreans over Vinson "bluffing" by Trump admin

 

"I understand strategic ambiguity for military authorities. However, it's different (for a) political leader," Yang Moo-jin, of the University of North Korean Studies, told CNN.

 

"Trump, (Vice President Mike) Pence and (Secretary of Defense James) Mattis all used this to raise tension and pressure North Korea. Strong nations' power comes from transparency, not the opposite.

 

"How does the US expect South Koreans to trust the US when its leader bluffs and exaggerates? South Koreans' feelings were hurt considerably by remarks by the leader of a close ally."

 

And as the country prepares to vote for a new president on May 9, the claim could have far-reaching implications for the two countries' relations.

 

"What Mr. Trump said was very important for the national security of South Korea," Presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo told the Wall Street Journal.

 

"If that was a lie, then during Trump's term, South Korea will not trust whatever Trump says,"​ said Hong, who is currently trailing in the polls.

Edited April 20, 2017 by caulfield12

[StrangeSox]

Exclusive: Putin-linked think tank drew up plan to sway 2016 U.S. election - documents

A Russian government think tank controlled by Vladimir Putin developed a plan to swing the 2016 U.S. presidential election to Donald Trump and undermine voters’ faith in the American electoral system, three current and four former U.S. officials told Reuters.

 

They described two confidential documents from the think tank as providing the framework and rationale for what U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded was an intensive effort by Russia to interfere with the Nov. 8 election. U.S. intelligence officials acquired the documents, which were prepared by the Moscow-based Russian Institute for Strategic Studies [en.riss.ru/], after the election.

 

The institute is run by retired senior Russian foreign intelligence officials appointed by Putin’s office.

 

The first Russian institute document was a strategy paper written last June that circulated at the highest levels of the Russian government but was not addressed to any specific individuals.

 

It recommended the Kremlin launch a propaganda campaign on social media and Russian state-backed global news outlets to encourage U.S. voters to elect a president who would take a softer line toward Russia than the administration of then-President Barack Obama, the seven officials said.

 

A second institute document, drafted in October and distributed in the same way, warned that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was likely to win the election. For that reason, it argued, it was better for Russia to end its pro-Trump propaganda and instead intensify its messaging about voter fraud to undermine the U.S. electoral system’s legitimacy and damage Clinton’s reputation in an effort to undermine her presidency, the seven officials said.

 

 

 

[StrangeSox]

South Korea is not too thrilled with Trump ignorantly parroting China's line on Korea:

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/world...t.co/MXJLTfiaii

[bmags]

Wow I missed that he said that. Nervous that he will meet with Abe and then say that China was once part of Japan.

[chw42]

Wow I missed that he said that. Nervous that he will meet with Abe and then say that China was once part of Japan.

 

That might actually start WWIII.

 

"Who knew history was so complicated?"

[Quin]

Well, it's a fact that fewer players went this year than last time.

[chw42]

NYT caught lying about Patriots Trump visit. Patriots expose them. Twitter explodes.

 

https://twitter.com/patriots/status/854858415012806656

 

I don't think they lied...

 

Picture might have been misleading, but if you read the article, it says less players attended this year (34) vs. 2015 (50).

 

The article also said this...

 

James said, however, that the size of the Patriots’ full delegation for each trip to the White House has been roughly the same. Some photos of the ceremonies include support staff, he said, making the turnout appear bigger. That, he said, was the case in 2015.

 

Blame whoever runs NYT's Twitter. The article itself doesn't seem biased.

[Soxbadger]

Caught lying? Really?

 

You werent aware that its lying to post pictures?

 

 

[caulfield12]

What is the lie again?

 

All the media outlets already had the full list of players not seen in any of the photos 24 hours ago. Reports covered all the no name players who were mentioned specifically by Trump, the Amendola "mistake" and the rewriting of what actuallly happened in the game based on who was actually there in attendance to receive praise.

[caulfield12]

You werent aware that its lying to post pictures?

 

Here we go again, just like Inauguration Day...and the parks service photo comparisons.

 

The greatest number of Super Bowl heroes to ever appear together in the White House. And Brady's quite fortunate he had cover for his absence.

 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/gisele-bund...-153928312.html

Gisele's climate change politics and not Aaron Hernandez likely the reason for Brady ditching WH appearance

Edited April 20, 2017 by caulfield12

[StrangeSox]

The "two fewer players" was a spin with picking specific years and circumstances. Compared directly to 2015, it was far fewer players.

 

 

[StrangeSox]

Jeff Sessions is "amazed" a U.S. judge "on an island in the Pacific" (ie Hawaii) can impact federal law

https://twitter.com/natemcdermott/status/855132517187366912

[chw42]

All the feels when the media f***s up. Wow. Patriots say turnout was the exact same as far as people from the Patriots. Tweet says turnout was less and posts a deceiving picture. Yes, less players. Amendola and Brady specifically had death of a friend/personal issues. NYT has an agenda and they got caught in it.

 

Of course they do. But don't pretend any of the stuff you post doesn't have any either. All media (conservative/liberal) are black/white nowadays. You're not exposing the MSM for what it is when most people on this board can already see through it.

[BigSqwert]

All the feels when the media f***s up. Wow. Patriots say turnout was the exact same as far as people from the Patriots. Tweet says turnout was less and posts a deceiving picture. Yes, less players. Amendola and Brady specifically had death of a friend/personal issues. NYT has an agenda and they got caught in it.

 

To quote you from another thread, with minor tweaks highlighted:

 

There are much bigger atrocities going on and stories that should actually demand the public's attention.

 

Just because people hate UA Trump and the Pats doesn't mean this should overshadow the real issues in the country/world.

[chw42]

To quote you from another thread, with minor tweaks highlighted:

 

Yeah, but this is clear proof that the MSM is biased!

[BigSqwert]

Luckily you've been assigned this hot scoop to make sure we're all caught up on this important story.

[southsider2k5]

Luckily you've been assigned this hot scoop to make sure we're all caught up on this important story.

 

Man, I could copy and paste this all day long in this forum.

[Kyyle23]

I feel like the last week in this forum has been zapruder gotcha for the lamest stuff. Both sides of the aisle

[Steve9347]

Guys.

 

The NYT tweet was misleading. The Patriots' tweet corrected it because it misrepresented the truth about their team.

 

Stop wasting your time with this story and focus on what matters. Good Lord, if we can't agree on the above, what can we agree upon?

[chw42]

Totally fair points here but I don't post many links to opinion pieces or anything like that, more just my opinions. So I am not sure what you're referring to when you say "what I post" unless you mean my opinions as opposed to links. If I did post any right leaning publication then SS and the left wing guys laugh at the source. If I post a more centrist link athen Caulfield and others will respond with a Vox/Salon link as if it's not as fringe as the Breitbarts of the world. I lose either way.

 

As far as what I underlined in your post, I agree most people see through the MSM, just not on this board. We have people defending the media like it's their job and acting as if there isn't a bias. As if they're not a corporate entity that's entirely bought out for influence. The public's trust in the MSM is almost as bad as their trust in Congress. For instance, CNN has been defended as evenhanded around here.

 

 

I haven't been watching the MSM today. Is that all everybody is talking about? I can't imagine they're giving all the airtime to the NYT's gaffe. If they are, you're right. If they're not, you're wrong. United dominated the news for days. This just blew up on Twitter. There's no opportunity cost in me posting on a forum.

 

EDIT: Just checked CNN, FOX and MSNBC's websites. Fox and MSNBC don't mention it. It's about the 20th link listed on CNN. So you're wrong.

 

I mean they don't slant as obviously as Fox or MSNBC, so I guess that makes them less biased. But that doesn't mean they don't also have an agenda. There was a good video the other day about how CNN is covering politics like it's sports and paying Trump surrogates so they can have their other experts argue with them and talk about the stupid s*** they say all day.

 

As for the stuff you post, you, Caufield, StrangeSox, DickAllen obviously have some sort of pissing match going on about who can troll each other more. Of course you guys are going to mock each other endlessly regardless of what is posted.

 

 

[caulfield12]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/campaign-books-h...-090024400.html

 

Campaign books help shatter politics (changes in the way elections are covered)

[Middle Buffalo]

Man, I could copy and paste this all day long in this forum.

You can also just pop in here every few days and say, "I don't even understand what you guys are arguing about," and the post wouldn't be out of place at all.