Impeaching Donald Trump

[James Clark]

3. References to Chamberlain and his declaration of "Peace for our time" are very valid at this time. Same naivety then with ceasing Czechoslovakia to Germany as the well intended, but flawed Iran deal under Obama.

Here is some background information about the Munich Betrayal and Chamberlain:
In May 1938 Hitler and his generals were drawing up a plan for the occupation of Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovakia was relying on military assistance from France, with which they had an alliance. The Soviet Union also had a treaty with Czechoslovakia, and it indicated willingness to cooperate with France and Great Britain if they decided to come to Czechoslovakia’s defense.
However, both the French and British leadership naively believed that peace could be saved only by the transfer of the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia to Germany, so Czechoslovakia was informed by Britain and France that it could either resist Germany alone or submit to the prescribed annexations.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Munich-Agreement

I mean, if you want to stretch the Chamberlain analogy to any agreement that refocuses a bad actor onto something else, I guess.   Seems awfully strained to me, and more akin to the flip side of the Hitler=Trump stuff.  And hey, at least I can make a pretty solid technical comparison of media techniques the two use (Adolf and Donald, I mean).   

[Peter McLennan]

OMG! With such an omnipotent insight into the unknown, I can’t wait to hear from them who really shot Kennedy.

More distractionist absurdity.  WTF does Kennedy have to do with MH 17?

[JoeKitchen]

Of occurs she doesn't realize that - there is undeniably a faction of far-left ideologues in the Dem party that doesn't see this.  BUT...now we can dispense with the silly idea that AOC is some sort of spokesperson for everyone to the left of Trump, yes?

And in ACTUAL other news of the "witch hunt" variety (and you'll find zero mention of this on Fox (I looked), which is weird because it's taken as a truism in state media circles that HRC is a crook, but I guess nothing can be allowed to contradict the narrative),  Hillary and the Clinton Foundation have found to be clean.  Again.

Perception is reality, and so long as she is out there spewing her nonsense while getting no intense slap backs from other Dems, the Republicans will be able to use her against the Dems.  This will be especially the case if some of the progressive she is supporting win the primary. 

In years to come, I think the defining moment of this current congress will be when Pelosi failed to move her caucus to condemn Omar for her anti-semitic statements.  This completely changed the power dynamic in the House, ceding it to the progressives.  Pelosi became a Manchurian Candidate at this time. 

Insofar the Clinton Foundation, I still think it was a legitimate conflict of interested for HRC to be secretary of state while the foundation was taking large donations from foreign countries.  Just because it appears no favors were called in does not mean they would not have been. 

[LesPalenik]

I mean, if you want to stretch the Chamberlain analogy to any agreement that refocuses a bad actor onto something else, I guess.   Seems awfully strained to me, and more akin to the flip side of the Hitler=Trump stuff.  And hey, at least I can make a pretty solid technical comparison of media techniques the two use (Adolf and Donald, I mean).

I didn't say that Chamberlain was a bad actor. He was naive and incompetent. Same as the bleeding hearts who believe that Khomeini is a good partner and actor.

[James Clark]

Insofar the Clinton Foundation, I still think it was a legitimate conflict of interested for HRC to be secretary of state while the foundation was taking large donations from foreign countries.  Just because it appears no favors were called in does not mean they would not have been.

You understand that HRC doesn't actually get any of the funds that go into the Foundation, right?  Contrast that with, for example, Trump's business ventures in Turkey and Russia, and explain why people would find the former so problematic and such a scary conflict of interest, but not the latter?

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

More distractionist absurdity.  WTF does Kennedy have to do with MH 17?

Never mind the obvious diversion attempt. It is (only slightly) surprising that some people are so eager to show their ignorance about things they react to.

[James Clark]

I didn't say that Chamberlain was a bad actor. He was naive and incompetent. Same as the bleeding hearts who believe that Khomeini is a good partner and actor.

No, Iran/Gernamy are the bad actors in the analogy, not Chamberlain.  Sorry if that wasn't clear.  And I'm not sure who thinks Khomeini is a good or reliable partner - literally everyone admits the deal is flawed and Iran is an untrustworthy partner.   The debate is over how to get a better deal in the long term, and if the current state of affairs is better.  (Pro tip - it's not)

[Alan Klein]

Nkorea is only isolated from your point of view- China and Japan think otherwise... NKorea has camps with thousands of prisoners... treats its population like shit, has not even enough food for them and has never intended to give up their nuclear rocket program, because it is the only reason the regime can stay in charge.
Even Trump (hopefully) understands that now. Kim used Trump to emphasis its importance in the world and tried to get the sanctions lifted without compromizing its nuclear program.
Iran was willing to stop their program and did, before Trump stept out of the agreement that was supported by many nations worldwide. On top of that Trump came with sanctions not only for trading between the US and Iran, but forbid trade between Iran and any country or else...
I am not saying i agree with the Iranian government; they have a very bad record on human rights, of whom the women carry most of the burden. But the Iranian government has shown it can act logical and has not violated the deal they made. The inspections showed they kept their promises. Kim can never be trusted as records has shown.

The problem with our relation with Iran is first we did have a good one under the Shah.  Then the ayatollahs took over, he grabbed our embassy which is a violation of international law and held Americans hostages for 444 days.  We lost brave soldiers trying to get them out unsuccessfully.  Since then Iran has called us the Great Satan and acted like that.  They have been trying to be a hegemon over the entire Middle East, threaten Israel with extinction, and have been a threat to ours and your oil suppliers the Arabs.  They have supplied their allies with weapons that have killed America soldiers and have coordinated military activities with dangerous terrorist groups.  Soleimani was meeting with one of them when he was killed along with the leader of the terrorist group.  To argue that Iran just an unimportant minor nation of no consequence that just wants to get along is not consistent with history or the current situation. 

Like I said before, they're a bigger problem for Europe now since we're oil independent.  The question is what is Europe  going to do about them if they start to squeeze you

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

The problem with our relation with Iran is first we did have a good one under the Shah.

I suggest reading up on the 1953 coup d'état and the oppressive regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Iranians were not happy with the foreign (Anglo American) attempts to control their oil reserves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution

A good relation with a dictator is not the same as a good relation with the people of a sovereign nation.

[LesPalenik]

Speaking about Iran, Germany and bad actors:

Last Sunday, the Imam Ali Mosque in Hamburg, Germany one of the largest mosques in Europe had held "a memorial event in honor of Soleimani and the nine other victims".

No further funeral service is planned for Thursday; there is only a sermon "to the martyrdom of Fatima Zarah", the daughter of the Prophet Mohammed, according to the IZH. It was "but of course many community members are still in mourning" and wanted to commemorate their hero. One pays homage to a martyr "who risked his life to fight extremism and thereby make the world, including Germany, a safer place," said a representative of the mosque.

https://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/qasem-soleimani-regimetreue-iraner-trauern-in-hamburg-um-terrorgeneral-a-c44ed568-5159-435d-b604-016219cb6836&prev=search

[Peter McLennan]

The problem with our relation with Iran is first we did have a good one under the Shah.  Then the ayatollahs took over, he grabbed our embassy which is a violation of international law ...

Oh, the irony.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... to condemn Omar for her anti-semitic statements...

I am more concerned with her anti-American statements.

[RSL]

False, and I should know as I spent some 15 years "training" med students. What you say is true of some, but not all. And, main point here, it's that TRAINING that teaches them how to recognize mental disorders.

Let's try this again Peter. Maybe you'll answer the question this time.

So you're a psychiatrist, or at least an MD with psychiatric training? Right? And your diagnosis of Trump is. . ?

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

More distractionist absurdity.  WTF does Kennedy have to do with MH 17?

I thought that with your psychiatric training you are able to see the connection? I mean, supernatural skills of the Dutch investigators are your domain, no? Only with such supernatural skills of knowing the unknown they would be able to come up with exact names and ranks of people that supposedly fired the missile? Or maybe all four of them dropped their IDs on the site? The investigators were, of course, granted full access to the very site on the rebels territory? And access to every rebel fighter they wanted to interview, right? And full cooperation with the Russian government, who provided all the necessary info?

Oh, you say there were Ukrainians on the investigative team too? They surely would be biased and blame the Russians, right? Just like they immediately floated a theory that the Ukrainian plane that was just shot down was shot down by Russians? Surprise, surprise.

So, if those Dutch investigators have such supernatural powers to see the invisible and know the unknown, I was hoping they could help us resolve the other mysteries of the mankind, like who really killed Kennedy. 

[LesPalenik]

So, if those Dutch investigators have such supernatural powers to see the invisible and know the unknown, ...

Much more plausible explanation is that some of the involved individuals got drunk and talked.
Apparently, Girkin one of the accused, who initially ruled the rebel stronghold of Slavyansk, was squeezed out of the separatist leadership in late 2014 and returned to Russia, where he lost all influence and run into financial difficulties.

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/global-manhunt-for-four-key-suspects-in-downing-of-flight-mh17/news-story/d4d7d8f7e9071ab646ab1fae139a13c0

The Russian former commander of militants in eastern Ukraine is out of cash and out of favor with the Kremlin, leading him to sell a gold medal he was awarded in 2014 for his role in the occupation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

Igor Girkin, a 48-year-old self-described Russian nationalist who goes by the name of Strelkov, says he is selling the medal because he needs the money and has no respect for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is depicted on the medal triumphantly wearing a laurel wreath. Girkin is under U.S. and European Union sanctions both for his role in the seizure of Crimea and as the onetime military leader of pro-Russian separatists fighting against Kiev's forces in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. Since 2014, Girkin has been a critic of the Kremlin and has largely fallen off the media radar, though he was spotted in February riding alone on the Moscow subway and has held single-person protests.

https://www.rferl.org/a/onetime-russian-hero-selling-gold-crimea-medal-bearing-despised-putin/29815575.html


As to them knowing anything about J.F. Kennedy, I'm not sure if any of the four even knew who he was. Lee Harvey Oswald was in Moscow in 1960. At that time they were not even born yet.

[Alan Klein]

I suggest reading up on the 1953 coup d'état and the oppressive regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Iranians were not happy with the foreign (Anglo American) attempts to control their oil reserves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution

A good relation with a dictator is not the same as a good relation with the people of a sovereign nation.

I never said the relation with the Shah or the IRanians were good or bad.  I was just showing that we had a good relation with Iran that went south when Khomeini took over and has be downward ever since.  Putting America aside, the Iranian government after the Shah has tried to change the Middle East against all western interests including yours.  So while we were in bed with the Shah and put him into power, Europe and the west had advantages they lost as well as America after the Iranian revolution.  WHile you might not helped the Shah directly, you were applauding what we did from the sidelines. 

In any case, they have been a danger and thorn in the side and we can't have them running the ME.  What are you going to do if they block the Strait of Hormuz?  Are you going to ask Trump to help free it up?  What if he tells you that Europe has to provide the ships to do it.  We'll just provide satellite intelligence while you do the bloody work. 

[Alan Klein]

Oh, the irony.

Here's irony.  So an American Navy ship accidentally shoots down Iranian commercial jet years ago during tensions between the two countries thinking it was an Iranian fighter that was going to attack.  So now Iran shoots down a Ukrainian jet, everyone says by mistake.  But what if the truth is that they thought it was an American bomber, that it just wasn't a misfiring or whatever? WHy else would they fire?  Why isn't anyone talking about this?

[LesPalenik]

It was an accident. It was dark and hard to tell what kind of plane it was. They shoot first and talk later.

[Alan Klein]

Pelosi blinks. Must be the botox.

Pelosi caves on articles of impeachment because she has no leverage
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/pelosi-caves-on-articles-of-impeachment-because-she-had-no-leverage

[Alan Klein]

It was an accident. It was dark and hard to tell what kind of plane it was. They shoot first and talk later.

60+ of your countrymen, plus ten Swedes and others.  The crash video looked horrendous.  I can't imagine what thoughts the passengers must of had.  My niece Lisa was on Flt 77 on 9-11 that the terrorists crashed into the Pentagon.  I can't get that thought out of my head what terror she went through.