Bill Barr’s Departure Reveals the Hollowness of Trumpism

[moxy 1,051]

22 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Interesting, I haven't seen Trump do anything that was against the Constitution despite all the pearl clutching from those on the Left and the Washington insiders.

Emoluments Clauses off the top of my head. Seriously, would you have been ok with Obama violating the Emoluments Clauses? Biden?

[Dashinka 24,736]

Just now, moxy said:

Emoluments Clauses off the top of my head. Seriously, would you have been ok with Obama violating the Emoluments Clauses? Biden?

I would think the IRS would be very on top of this as I expect many of the folks there are not Trump fans.  If you have concrete proof of law breaking I would like to see it as I am all for people being held accountable (Hillary).  I wonder how all the members of Congress including Joe Biden himself, and Obama went to Congress and came out a whole lot richer.

[moxy 1,051]

1 minute ago, Dashinka said:

I would think the IRS would be very on top of this as I expect many of the folks there are not Trump fans.  If you have concrete proof of law breaking I would like to see it as I am all for people being held accountable (Hillary).  I wonder how all the members of Congress including Joe Biden himself, and Obama went to Congress and came out a whole lot richer.

Some members of congress tried earlier in the year, and a federal court ruled that individual members of congress (as opposed to "congress") had lack of standing to sue on the emoluments clause violations. They did not rule on whether Trump had actually violated the emoluments clause. I don't actually know where the case stands right now.

 

So no, Trump has not been tried for violating the emoluments clause, but it seems pretty clear to anyone but the most partisan that accepting revenue from foreign interests to stay in his hotels warrants asking the question at the very least. It's unfortunate that the Republican controlled Senate is so in lock-step with the President that they won't at least investigate. I have no doubt that if Obama had done anything similar, those on the right would be (rightly) be demanding hearings, investigations, even impeachment.

[Dashinka 24,736]

2 minutes ago, moxy said:

Some members of congress tried earlier in the year, and a federal court ruled that individual members of congress (as opposed to "congress") had lack of standing to sue on the emoluments clause violations. They did not rule on whether Trump had actually violated the emoluments clause. I don't actually know where the case stands right now.

 

So no, Trump has not been tried for violating the emoluments clause, but it seems pretty clear to anyone but the most partisan that accepting revenue from foreign interests to stay in his hotels warrants asking the question at the very least. It's unfortunate that the Republican controlled Senate is so in lock-step with the President that they won't at least investigate. I have no doubt that if Obama had done anything similar, those on the right would be (rightly) be demanding hearings, investigations, even impeachment.

I never count on any investigations done by Congress since the majority of those members are lining their and their family’s pockets so they do not want to rock the boat too much.  Obama did much worse than violating the emoluments clause, but the cult of Obama cannot see beyond his halo.  My understanding is that anyone staying in a Trump property has to be duly reported and accounted for, but who knows, maybe there will be a trial at some point.  Regardless, Trump is one man, if he gets it, then we need to investigate every member of Congress as well as every high level non-appointed bureaucrat as well as their families for what they are doing to make money.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

2 hours ago, Dashinka said:

I have no idea about that as I don't watch any news broadcasts and have been that way since way before Trump was ever elected.  Trump lies, and exaggerates a lot, he also jokes a lot, not sure everyone believes what he says, but at least he is completely open.  I realize those on the Left abhor transparency because I guess it is not presidential, so now we get a puppet that the media will not question.  

How can you reconcile saying that someone lies a lot with calling him open? Lying is the opposite of being open and transparent. He didn't even release his tax returns, how is this transparent? 

[moxy 1,051]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

Regardless, Trump is one man, if he gets it, then we need to investigate every member of Congress as well as every high level non-appointed bureaucrat as well as their families for what they are doing to make money.

I don't know why investigating Trump also means we have to investigate "every member of Congress as well..." If Trump is doing something fishy, you investigate him. If a member of congress is doing something fishy, you investigate them. Investigating every member of congress just because the president is being investigated sounds Stalinistic to me.

[Dashinka 24,736]

8 minutes ago, moxy said:

I don't know why investigating Trump also means we have to investigate "every member of Congress as well..." If Trump is doing something fishy, you investigate him. If a member of congress is doing something fishy, you investigate them. Investigating every member of congress just because the president is being investigated sounds Stalinistic to me.

Because DC is a swamp.  How many Congress members have their family employed using campaign funds to pay them?  How many members of Congress greatly increase their net worth during their time in DC?  How are they doing this?  How many top bureaucrats are grifting under the table?  I know I would like to know how being part of the Federal government became so lucrative, but I also know that is not going to happen which is why I never vote for a Rep or Senator if they are an incumbent since they are not term limited. 

[Dashinka 24,736]

13 minutes ago, Orangesapples said:

How can you reconcile saying that someone lies a lot with calling him open? Lying is the opposite of being open and transparent. He didn't even release his tax returns, how is this transparent? 

Not everything he says is a lie despite what many people think.  He uses a lot of over-the-top hyperbole that gets reported as outright lies, but for those that are actually critical thinkers, they know what he is doing.  Additionally, the fact that he engages in a hostile media that was intent on not giving him any respect and doesn't hide in a basement to me shows much more transparency.  All politicians lie, and they all lie about the same amount, but for some reason people seem intent to make decisions based on the style of the lying.

[moxy 1,051]

1 minute ago, Dashinka said:

Because DC is a swamp.  How many Congress members have their family employed using campaign funds to pay them?  How many members of Congress greatly increase their net worth during their time in DC?  How are they doing this?  How many top bureaucrats are grifting under the table?  I know I would like to know how being part of the Federal government became so lucrative, but I also know that is not going to happen which is why I never vote for a Rep or Senator if they are an incumbent since they are not term limited. 

Did you vote party line in November? Did you vote for incumbents? And if you didn't, there's a lot of people that did. The "swamp" is the result of the "all Democrats are horrible" and "all Republicans are horrible" line drawing.

 

Term limits would be a great help, but it won't happen because we complain that Washington is corrupt but we also keep those corrupt people in office because they have that "R" or "D" next to their name.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

20 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Not everything he says is a lie despite what many people think.  He uses a lot of over-the-top hyperbole that gets reported as outright lies, but for those that are actually critical thinkers, they know what he is doing.  Additionally, the fact that he engages in a hostile media that was intent on not giving him any respect and doesn't hide in a basement to me shows much more transparency.  All politicians lie, and they all lie about the same amount, but for some reason people seem intent to make decisions based on the style of the lying.

No human being is capable of lying 100% of the time. But Trump is a pathological liar, he lies way more than your average politician. I think he even believes his own lies at some point. He's also way more brazen with his lying and he doesn't even flinch when he lies. 

 

Also, I don't understand why Trumpers want anyone to to show respect to Trump. Trump never shows any respect to anyone, he might praise someone when they are giving him what he wants but he quickly turns on them and calls them nasty names. He even had that ridiculous Twitter post where he compared how much hotter his wife is than Ted Cruz's wife, which is not just disrespectful, but childish and pathetic. He is one of the most disrespectful people in existence, no one owes him any respect. 

[Dashinka 24,736]

3 minutes ago, Orangesapples said:

No human being is capable of lying 100% of the time. But Trump is a pathological liar, he lies way more than your average politician. I think he even believes his own lies at some point. He's also way more brazen with his lying and he doesn't even flinch when he lies. 

 

Also, I don't understand why Trumpers want anyone to to show respect to Trump. Trump never shows any respect to anyone, he might praise someone when they are giving him what he wants but he quickly turns on them and calls them nasty names. He even had that ridiculous Twitter post where he compared how much hotter his wife is than Ted Cruz's wife, which is not just disrespectful, but childish and pathetic. He is one of the most disrespectful people in existence, no one owes him any respect. 

That is simply a matter of opinion based on confirmation bias and style.  If a politician is lying, but some like what they are saying, they get a pass.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

1 minute ago, Dashinka said:

That is simply a matter of opinion based on confirmation bias and style.  If a politician is lying, but some like what they are saying, they get a pass.

Not true but OK 

[moxy 1,051]

2 minutes ago, Orangesapples said:

No human being is capable of lying 100% of the time. But Trump is a pathological liar, he lies way more than your average politician. I think he even believes his own lies at some point. He's also way more brazen with his lying and he doesn't even flinch when he lies. 

 

Also, I don't understand why Trumpers want anyone to to show respect to Trump. Trump never shows any respect to anyone, he might praise someone when they are giving him what he wants but he quickly turns on them and calls them nasty names. He even had that ridiculous Twitter post where he compared how much hotter his wife is than Ted Cruz's wife, which is not just disrespectful, but childish and pathetic. He is one of the most disrespectful people in existence, no one owes him any respect. 

His absolute disrespect for John McCain ("He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.") should have made any "support the troops" conservative immediately dismiss him. There's no gray area here. If any Democrat had said that, conservatives would have called for blood.

 

When Trump required to cover the name on the USS John McCain during his visit to Japan, "support the troops" conservatives should have howled with rage. But it was all crickets.

 

I really wish I could understand how anyone who professes to support the troops can support a man that has consistently denigrated us/them. You'd never have tolerated it from any Democrat.