After The Acquittal

[Craig Lamson]

It looks like at least 8 Republican Senators shared the feeling that Trump may not just be rhetorical in his intentions against Iran.

If only that had had he bravery of opposing the big bully a few weeks ago... maybe some remorse?

Cheers,
Bernard

Veto...another meaningless gesture.  Kind of like the Democrats and impeachment.

[BernardLanguillier]

Veto...another meaningless gesture.  Kind of like the Democrats and impeachment.

Another example of un-democratic the executive is becoming in the US.

Wouldn't it be easier to get rid of the Congress and Senate and just be done with it? That would align appearances with the way things are actually managed.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Craig Lamson]

Another example of un-democratic the executive is becoming in the US.

Wouldn't it be easier to get rid of the Congress and Senate and just be done with it? That would align appearances with the way things are actually managed.

Cheers,
Bernard

Do you have a clue how are system even works?  You post is beyond silly.   It’s the absolute right of the president to veto any legislation that comes to his desk.  Sheesh. 

[LesPalenik]

Another example of un-democratic the executive is becoming in the US.

Wouldn't it be easier to get rid of the Congress and Senate and just be done with it? That would align appearances with the way things are actually managed.

Cheers,
Bernard

Maybe the army has to take over. John Kelly said at an event at Drew University on Wednesday that Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman did the right thing when he raised concerns about President Donald Trump's call to the Ukrainian president in late July, according to a report in The Atlantic.  John Kelly has also dismissed the U.S. president's unprecedented engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as futile, saying he had never believed North Korea would give up its nuclear weapons and Pyongyang had played the United States to its benefit.

Kelly said that when Vindman heard Trump telling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he wanted investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, he was guided by what the US military teaches -- that you report to your superiors actions which you believe to be wrong. The Atlantic reported that Kelly explained, "We teach them, 'Don't follow an illegal order. And if you're ever given one, you'll raise it to whoever gives it to you that this is an illegal order, and then tell your boss.'"

While Kelly's comments are the most wide-ranging public critique of the President and his policies by any of the generals who served in cabinet posts in the Trump administration, others have also spoken out. A leading retired four-star officer, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, told ABC News in December 2018 that he found Trump to be both immoral and dishonest.
Five months earlier, Adm. William McRaven, the architect of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, was even more blunt in the Washington Post, saying, "Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation."

Former national security adviser John Bolton defended his ex-colleague, former White House chief of staff John Kelly, after President Donald Trump belittled Kelly for comments backing an impeachment witness. "John Kelly is an honorable man," Bolton tweeted on Thursday. "John and I have disagreed at times, as is commonplace at senior government levels, but he has always served his country faithfully. Conservatives especially have a responsibility to reject baseless attacks upon him."

[Craig Lamson]

Maybe the army has to take over. John Kelly said at an event at Drew University on Wednesday that Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman did the right thing when he raised concerns about President Donald Trump's call to the Ukrainian president in late July, according to a report in The Atlantic.

The problem is that Vindman did not do the right thing.  Instead of taking it to his superior he stopped along the way and took it to his brother and the supposed whistleblower.  Of course Kelly should have known that but was long fired when it happened and he was nowhere around. 

[BernardLanguillier]

Do you have a clue how are system even works?  You post is beyond silly.   It’s the absolute right of the president to veto any legislation that comes to his desk.  Sheesh.

It certainly is his right to do so but that's not aligned with the democratic spirit, is it? Senators and Congressman are there to represent the voice of the people on subject matters. That's the reason why these 2 bodies vote.

Are you honestly comfortable with the president acting alone on such sensitive matters? Especially Trump who is known for now knowing the situations in depth due to him not listening to the briefings prepared for him?

Cheers,
Bernard

[JoeKitchen]

Maybe the army has to take over. John Kelly said at an event at Drew University on Wednesday that Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman did the right thing when he raised concerns about President Donald Trump's call to the Ukrainian president in late July, according to a report in The Atlantic.  John Kelly has also dismissed the U.S. president's unprecedented engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as futile, saying he had never believed North Korea would give up its nuclear weapons and Pyongyang had played the United States to its benefit.

Yep, that is just the solution, stage a Coup d'Etat.  I'm sure that would make everything better and not end of complete disaster.  I mean, that is what history has taught us, right?

[JoeKitchen]

It certainly is his right to do so but that's not aligned with the democratic spirit, is it? Senators and Congressman are there to represent the voice of the people on subject matters. That's the reason why these 2 bodies vote.

Are you honestly comfortable with the president acting alone on such sensitive matters? Especially Trump who is known for now knowing the situations in depth due to him not listening to the briefings prepared for him?

Cheers,
Bernard

Come on now Bernard, this just shows a total lack of knowledge of how our system works. 

The president has the right to veto any policy that gets through congress, and the congress has the right to overturn a presidential veto if it so chooses with a 2/3s majority. 

[Craig Lamson]

It certainly is his right to do so but that's not aligned with the democratic spirit, is it? Senators and Congressman are there to represent the voice of the people on subject matters. That's the reason why these 2 bodies vote.

Are you honestly comfortable with the president acting alone on such sensitive matters? Especially Trump who is known for now knowing the situations in depth due to him not listening to the briefings prepared for him?

Cheers,
Bernard

It’s exactly in the democratic spirit.  Three co-equal branches of government.  Lest you forget the President is also there to represent the voice of the people...and was duly elected.   Or do you think the Congress should just run things?  You appear to be less that educated on how this system works...again

So far it looks like a Trump is doing just fine on “such sensitive matters”.

[Robert Roaldi]

I see in the headlines that Barr is criticizing Trump's tweeting. I predict that Barr will be gone soon, like all the rest. Should we start a raffle on a departure date?

Trump is nothing if not consistent. Eventually, everyone around him quits or is fired except for his family who don't have the luxury of leaving.

I wonder if Barr's book will be as good as Bolton's. Maybe it's like Alan says, all these guys are just in it for the eventual book deal. It's all an elaborate ruse to do a book tour.

Who's next?

[Alan Klein]

Maybe the army has to take over. John Kelly said at an event at Drew University on Wednesday that Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman did the right thing when he raised concerns about President Donald Trump's call to the Ukrainian president in late July, according to a report in The Atlantic.  John Kelly has also dismissed the U.S. president's unprecedented engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as futile, saying he had never believed North Korea would give up its nuclear weapons and Pyongyang had played the United States to its benefit.

Just what we need in America.  Unelected generals taking over and deciding political and international matters on their own without elected civilian oversight.  What would you do if we got one who didn't like Canada? 

[Alan Klein]

I see in the headlines that Barr is criticizing Trump's tweeting. I predict that Barr will be gone soon, like all the rest. Should we start a raffle on a departure date?

Trump is nothing if not consistent. Eventually, everyone around him quits or is fired except for his family who don't have the luxury of leaving.

I wonder if Barr's book will be as good as Bolton's. Maybe it's like Alan says, all these guys are just in it for the eventual book deal. It's all an elaborate ruse to do a book tour.

Who's next?

We pick our friends.  Relatives we're stuck with. 

[Alan Klein]

It certainly is his right to do so but that's not aligned with the democratic spirit, is it? Senators and Congressman are there to represent the voice of the people on subject matters. That's the reason why these 2 bodies vote.

Are you honestly comfortable with the president acting alone on such sensitive matters? Especially Trump who is known for now knowing the situations in depth due to him not listening to the briefings prepared for him?

Cheers,
Bernard

I think your motives are OK.  It's just that you going about it the wrong way.  The US Constitution made it difficult for our presidents to go to war.  It requires Congress to declare war.  Over the years, however, Congress has forfeited its responsibility over to the executive branch.  Maybe because they're intellectually lazy.  Or probably because it's politically expedient to let presidents make the hard decisions of war and peace.  Then when the sh!t hits the fan, they can blame him and claim they took the opposite position whichever way it goes if it goes badly.  So over the years, they've given more and more decision making power to the president.  Presidents like the power.  That's why they want to be presidents.  Once you give it to them, they don't want to give it up.

So now, when congress thinks maybe it went to far in giving the president too much power after 9-11, 19 years ago, they decided they want some of it back.  So Trump will probably veto the legislation and they're not enough Senators to override the veto.  Well, it's their fault they got themselves into this situation.  Don't blame Trump or any previous president.  Congress is made up of a bunch of cowards.

In any case, Trump doesn't want to go to war with Iran.  That's why he passed on retaliating when they sent missiles to our bases and rattled our troops some what.  He let it slide.  War is the last thing he wants to do.  Sure, he'll lob  a few unmanned drones over there.  But he won;t send troops which are required for a real war.  It would mess up his re-election.  Plus, he really is opposed to getting involved in wars.  In 4 years he's lobbed a lot.  But sent very few troops to actually fight. 

Fortunately, he has our potential enemies so bamboozled, they don't know what he'll do so they're very cautious.  That's why he yells a lot and acts crazy.  It unhinges a lot of America's foreign enemies and his domestic political ones as well.   So while everyone stays unhinged, they stay busy trying to psychoanalyze him when all he's doing is playing "bad cop", "good cop".   First Kim is "rocket man".  The Trump calls him a great leader.  He does that with everyone.  It's amazing the press hasn't noticed they're so psychotic with TDS. He's leading the entire world by their noses and nobody notices. 

[LesPalenik]

Just what we need in America.  Unelected generals taking over and deciding political and international matters on their own without elected civilian oversight.  What would you do if we got one who didn't like Canada? 

I don't know what's worse - unelected or unqualified?

[Alan Klein]

I don't know what's worse - unelected or unqualified?

We've had many unqualified presidents.  I don;t think TRump is one of them.  The economy is good.  We're staying out of major wars?  We are NOT looking for new foreign adventures.

In any case, unqualified is measurably better than unelected.  But, what are you suggesting?  Would a coup be better?  A military junta? 

In any case, presidents' powers are restrained by Congress and the Constitution.  Especially unqualified ones of which we've had many, .    How well did Johnson do with Vietnam?  Kennedy nearly got us into WWIII with the Cuban missile crisis and his earlier Bay of Pigs embarrassing fiasco that led directly to the missiles crisis. Do you think Buttigieg has the experience to run America?  Kobluchar?  The same can be said about other countries.  Do you think Boris Johnson is another Churchill? How about your guy?

 

[LesPalenik]

We've had many unqualified presidents.  I don;t think TRump is one of them.  The economy is good.  We're staying out of major wars?  We are NOT looking for new foreign adventures.

In any case, unqualified is measurably better than unelected.  But, what are you suggesting?  Would a coup be better?  A military junta? 

In any case, presidents' powers are restrained by Congress and the Constitution.  Especially unqualified ones of which we've had many, .    How well did Johnson do with Vietnam?  Kennedy nearly got us into WWIII with the Cuban missile crisis and his earlier Bay of Pigs embarrassing fiasco that led directly to the missiles crisis. Do you think Buttigieg has the experience to run America?  Kobluchar?  The same can be said about other countries.  Do you think Boris Johnson is another Churchill? How about your guy?

I'm no advocating for a putsch, that could be interpreted as meddling in the affairs of a foreign country. But some military decisions should be left to the military.

[Alan Klein]

I agree.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Just what we need in America.  Unelected generals taking over and deciding political and international matters on their own without elected civilian oversight.  What would you do if we got one who didn't like Canada? 

Build a wall?

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Build a wall?

 

[kers]

Build a wall?

why not a dome?