Trump's Russian Collusion

[CU88]

Have to give USA Today credit for calling it right back in 2916:

USA TODAY's Editorial Board: Trump is 'unfit for the presidency'
The Editorial BoardUSA TODAY


https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/ ... lBiJMMkoZ4

From the day he declared his candidacy 15 months ago through this week’s first presidential debate, Trump has demonstrated repeatedly that he lacks the temperament, knowledge, steadiness and honesty that America needs from its presidents.

Whether through indifference or ignorance, Trump has betrayed fundamental commitments made by all presidents since the end of World War II. These commitments include unwavering support for NATO allies, steadfast opposition to Russian aggression, and the absolute certainty that the United States will make good on its debts. He has expressed troubling admiration for authoritarian leaders and scant regard for constitutional protections.

2916... ??? what are we back to the future with yet another Trump? For the record... i am loving that cortisone to no end right now.

Good catch, my typo.

But what if it happens again???

[CU88]

CU88,
Look up page 506 - halfway down - you took a shot at Catholics per my post. I will be at the VA tomorrow wheeling vets and ensuring they have food to eat and you? I will be paying for food out of my pocket. Canandaigua, VA, come join me and I will see you in mass on Sunday.

It is great that Obama and Clinton somehow managed to get deferments. Trying to figure how they got that and not be criticized by the social media smart people.

DMac, social media has resulted IMHO into the dumbing of people. Hopefully the ship gets righted.

LandM,

Good on you for the work you do to help out at the VA. As I have told others here, over the years, I bet that you and I share a whole lot more in common than we disagree on.

Sorry to offend, I did not mean hit such a nerve. But you are being overly sensitive, as I was “poking” YOU; not your religion; in my post. I am a troll, and I will lighten up on responding to your posts.

For the record, I am a confirmed Roman Catholic, with my base education done in private Catholic schools, and I am old enough to have experienced corporal punishment from the Nuns at school; apparently not enough. I also remember Mass in format prior to the 2nd Vatican Council, my parents deciding to attend a Church which was too conservative to make the formal change over in the mid-60’s.

With that stated, I feel that I am more than justified in my "right" if I want to speak ill of the Roman Catholic Church. I have done so on this forum and the previous Lax Power boards. I do try to leave other members out of my Ire, and point it to the overall construct that is the dogma of the “Church”.

Even as a “recovering Catholic” I still admire the work of the CC and have raised my children, as atheists, to do similar outreach to aid the less fortunate in our community and the worldwide community. My oldest goes into Baltimore a couple times of year with my Mom to help out at the food kitchen; admittedly, I just send a check.

I would love to share a beverage with you one day and tell you about my Confirmation “incident”.
Peace

[njbill]

OMG, I just saw a video clip of Jim Jordan wearing a jacket! The clip was from October 31 (I kid you not) so maybe it was his Halloween costume.

[old salt]

For sure you're not suggesting that Wubya had anything other than a pretty cushy little spot, all things considered, though, right salty?
He certainly never got anywhere near Southeast Asia, and I'd bet he never left CONUS. Not really knocking the guy, those were difficult times for a draft aged young man and there were many different routes to take depending on whether you wanted to go or not.

W was fortunate to get a highly sought after ANG flying billet. I don't think completing USAF flight training, followed by a year of flying strip alert interceptor missions offshore in F-102's, is cushy duty, ...unlike the nonflying ANG duty Dan Quayle had with the IN ANG or USMC Reserve duty Richard Blumenthal had, in their home states.

Cushy duty would be boot camp, followed by 6 mos active duty in a non hazardous duty billet in your hometown, followed by reserve drills.

Fair enough.
All the NG folks I was ever around did pretty much the cushy duty you describe.
I don't think the NG recruiter would get past the front gate at UNSA, military
spit polish and sharp look wasn't of a much concern to him. I thought he was a
pretty good representative of the NG. Not sayin' they're bad people.

You'll appreciate this. living in my little town, we had a USCG recruiter & a MO ANG full time career guy (he was a F-100 mech).
Between the 2 of them, they took care of most on my hometown buddies.
I recall only 2 HS buddies being drafted. 1 went to 'Nam & ended up with a commission.
Of my 2 best HS friends, 1 went to West Point & became a tanker, the other was a frat President at a good private college, then went on to be a USAF instructor pilot. In '74, we all ended up stationed in TX. We'd meet up in San Antonio. I was the only lifer in the bunch.

[njbill]

Time to get back to giving Trump the Joan of Arc treatment. I wonder if the environmental folks will make an exception for the massive pyre of flames if it means the end of Trump.

I checked with AOC. Yes, an exception will be granted to burn Trump at the stake even if it means the world will end in 11 years, not 12.

[seacoaster]

Weighing in:

https://medium.com/@legalscholarsonimpe ... 18b5b6d116

"We, the undersigned legal scholars, have concluded that President Trump engaged in impeachable conduct.

We do not reach this conclusion lightly. The Founders did not make impeachment available for disagreements over policy, even profound ones, nor for extreme distaste for the manner in which the President executes his office. Only “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors” warrant impeachment. But there is overwhelming evidence that President Trump betrayed his oath of office by seeking to use presidential power to pressure a foreign government to help him distort an American election, for his personal and political benefit, at the direct expense of national security interests as determined by Congress. His conduct is precisely the type of threat to our democracy that the Founders feared when they included the remedy of impeachment in the Constitution.

We take no position on whether the President committed a crime. But conduct need not be criminal to be impeachable. The standard here is constitutional; it does not depend on what Congress has chosen to criminalize.
Impeachment is a remedy for grave abuses of the public trust. The two specific bases for impeachment named in the Constitution — treason and bribery — involve such abuses because they include conduct undertaken not in the “faithful execution” of public office that the Constitution requires, but instead for personal gain (bribery) or to benefit a foreign enemy (treason).

Impeachment is an especially essential remedy for conduct that corrupts elections. The primary check on presidents is political: if a president behaves poorly, voters can punish him or his party at the polls. A president who corrupts the system of elections seeks to place himself beyond the reach of this political check. At the Constitutional Convention, George Mason described impeachable offenses as “attempts to subvert the constitution.” Corrupting elections subverts the process by which the Constitution makes the president democratically accountable. Put simply, if a President cheats in his effort at re-election, trusting the democratic process to serve as a check through that election is no remedy at all. That is what impeachment is for.

Moreover, the Founders were keenly concerned with the possibility of corruption in the president’s relationships with foreign governments. That is why they prohibited the president from accepting anything of value from foreign governments without Congress’s consent. The same concern drove their thinking on impeachment. James Madison noted that Congress must be able to remove the president between elections lest there be no remedy if a president betrayed the public trust in dealings with foreign powers.

In light of these considerations, overwhelming evidence made public to date forces us to conclude that President Trump engaged in impeachable conduct. To mention only a few of those facts: William B. Taylor, who leads the U.S. embassy in Ukraine, testified that President Trump directed the withholding of hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid for Ukraine in its struggle against Russia — aid that Congress determined to be in the U.S. national security interest — until Ukraine announced investigations that would aid the President’s re-election campaign. Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified that the President made a White House visit for the Ukrainian president conditional on public announcement of those investigations. In a phone call with the Ukrainian president, President Trump asked for a “favor” in the form of a foreign government investigation of a U.S. citizen who is his political rival. President Trump and his Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney made public statements confirming this use of governmental power to solicit investigations that would aid the President’s personal political interests. The President made clear that his private attorney, Rudy Giuliani, was central to efforts to spur Ukrainian investigations, and Mr. Giuliani confirmed that his efforts were in service of President Trump’s private interests.

Ultimately, whether to impeach the President and remove him from office depends on judgments that the Constitution leaves to Congress. But if the House of Representatives impeached the President for the conduct described here and the Senate voted to remove him, they would be acting well within their constitutional powers. Whether President Trump’s conduct is classified as bribery, as a high crime or misdemeanor, or as both, it is clearly impeachable under our Constitution."

[seacoaster]

The Boston Globe:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2019/12/06/ ... peachment/

"...Impeachment does not require a crime. The Constitution entrusts Congress with the impeachment power in order to protect Americans from a president who is betraying their interests. And it is very much in Americans’ interests to maintain checks and balances in the federal government; to have a foreign policy that the world can trust is based on our national interest instead of the president’s personal needs; to control federal spending through their elected representatives; to vote in fair elections untainted by foreign interference. For generations, Americans have enjoyed those privileges. What’s at stake now is whether we will keep them. The facts show that the president has threatened this country’s core values and the integrity of our democracy. Congress now has a duty to future generations to impeach him."

[Trinity]

WE WANT A FLOOR VOTE!
ok we had a floor vote
WE WANT PUBLIC HEARINGS!
ok here’s public hearings
BUT WE WEREN’T INVITED!
ok you’re invited
WE DON’T WANNA COME!
ok well we’re gonna draft articles
BUT IT’S CHRISTMAS!
happy holidays

Mueller, She Wrote podcast

[Trinity]

Schiff has called out Pence for his bogus classification of his Zelensky call. Schiff knows what was said. Pence doesn’t want Americans to hear it.

[cradleandshoot]

Time to get back to giving Trump the Joan of Arc treatment. I wonder if the environmental folks will make an exception for the massive pyre of flames if it means the end of Trump.

I checked with AOC. Yes, an exception will be granted to burn Trump at the stake even if it means the world will end in 11 years, not 12.

[MDlaxfan76]

MD,
NO is New Orleans - my point is you grew up in a family that 95% of America did not grow up in. Can I afford a peloton (spelling) - yes. Do I have one? No, I ride a bike that my wife bought at a garage sale for $20 and still lift with my 30 year old weights - I get the same calorie loss. Sometimes it is ok to mingle with the deplorables or average - it can be refreshing.

ahh, NO means New Orleans...I assume NE really did mean New England?

But again you are way off base in your "guesses" despite your apparent homework gleaning through my prior posts (hard to imagine anything more boring ).

Nope, my grandfather and his family was from NO, and yeah, I know how to pronounce the town, love me some gumbo and nothing better than 'pinching tails and sucking heads' with some cold beers overlooking the river.

Crawfish reference for those not having had the experience.
Analogous to picking hard crabs in Baltimore.
Take your time, savor being with friends.

Heck, I even have some Klan in my family background. Prefer the crawfish.

Of course I understand that I was born into all sorts of advantages that 95% or some such statistic were less lucky to have. Two educated parents who loved each other and us, married over 60 years until my dad's passing last year...mother who read to us...dad who couched my rec teams, showed up for dinner each night...committed to our getting an education...never totally without resources, never had to live in a neighborhood with folks shot on the block, never lost a friend or family member to violence...

Ton of advantages. Not a 'silver spoon' and certainly that was not the family ethic, but yeah, ton of advantages.

Enjoy your $20 bike; you sound a lot like me, why pay more if existing equipment gets the job done?
But yeah, I've recently become addicted to the Peloton experience, using it near daily...Ally Love, Emma Lovewell, Alex, et al make me peddle harder !

I gotta say LandM, the arrogance and pretensions you display towards others comes through pretty darn ugly in all your wrong-headed assumptions.

Do you really think you're the only one on here who has "mingle(d) with the 'deplorables' or average"? Stood in hip boots in a waterman's bar or dug ditches all summer or helped out at a soup kitchen or mentored kids from broken families...or all sorts of ways your fellow posters have gotten off their high horses and "mingled"?

Probably better that you simply express your opinions, make your case with facts and logic, without attacking other posters based on 'assumptions' about their backgrounds.

[ggait]

But yeah, I've recently become addicted to the Peloton experience, using it near daily...Ally Love, Emma Lovewell, Alex, et al make me peddle harder !

Sounds like Peloton should have hired MDLF as their spokesman for their holiday TV commercials.

The commercial they are running instead took 15% ($1.5 billion) off their market cap while being derided as dystopian, sexist, creep-ey, etc. Pretty amusing how that ad has become such a thing.

Question -- is it not such a good idea to give the wifey exercise equipment for Christmas? Asking for a friend.

[Typical Lax Dad]

But yeah, I've recently become addicted to the Peloton experience, using it near daily...Ally Love, Emma Lovewell, Alex, et al make me peddle harder !

Sounds like Peloton should have hired MDLF as their spokesman for their holiday TV commercials.

The commercial they are running instead took 15% ($1.5 billion) off their market cap while being derided as dystopian, sexist, creep-ey, etc. Pretty amusing how that ad has become such a thing.

What’s ironic is that I thought the commercial was strange when I first saw it and then a couple of weeks later it hit the general population! I think peloton will be fine.

[a fan]

But yeah, I've recently become addicted to the Peloton experience, using it near daily...Ally Love, Emma Lovewell, Alex, et al make me peddle harder !

Sounds like Peloton should have hired MDLF as their spokesman for their holiday TV commercials.

The commercial they are running instead took 15% ($1.5 billion) off their market cap while being derided as dystopian, sexist, creep-ey, etc. Pretty amusing how that ad has become such a thing.

Question -- is it not such a good idea to give the wifey exercise equipment for Christmas? Asking for a friend.

Ryan Reynold's brilliant retort using the woman from the Peloton ad. Watch Aviation Gin's sales soar.......

[MDlaxfan76]

But yeah, I've recently become addicted to the Peloton experience, using it near daily...Ally Love, Emma Lovewell, Alex, et al make me peddle harder !

Sounds like Peloton should have hired MDLF as their spokesman for their holiday TV commercials.

The commercial they are running instead took 15% ($1.5 billion) off their market cap while being derided as dystopian, sexist, creep-ey, etc. Pretty amusing how that ad has become such a thing.

Question -- is it not such a good idea to give the wifey exercise equipment for Christmas? Asking for a friend.

Better to ask for it for yourself, with an understanding that you both will use it...pitch that there are 5 users per subscription and it makes it quite affordable if multiple users...more the merrier!

I was recovering from my second new hip operation, had gained a bunch of weight as I couldn't do the normal routines that pounded, and had just gotten back a blood test saying my cholesterol was a little high. So I made a comment to my wife that I thought I'd actually use it, and, frugal gal that she is, she went and found a very lightly used one online and signed us up on the monthly plan as a 'Father's Day' plus 'anniversary' gift...and now she too uses it daily.

I knew I'd need to get off my keister and commit to it...went the first 60 days without a miss. Hooked now. I've lost 20 lbs over 5 months, easier to eat healthy too; plenty of endorphins. She's fitting into clothes she hasn't worn in 15 years. She wasn't weight challenged, but gravity inevitably takes its toll...itty bitty pants fit again, had to give away a whole bunch of clothes to charity that just don't look right...me too. We're committed to not needing those clothes again!

Can even access the app when not with the bike, traveling etc, to do floor exercises, yoga, meditation etc or use it with the hotel's stationary bike...don't get the same measurement of output, but do get 'credit' for getting the workout in...my son and his girlfriend even use it from Shanghai.

[DMac]

ggait wrote
Question -- is it not such a good idea to give the wifey exercise equipment for Christmas? Asking for a friend.

No. Better idea to give her a subscription to Curvy & Plus Size-Positive Body Image.
That's where we are in the land of obesity.

[njbill]

I sense another thread hijack coming on.

[Trinity]

There’s no defense when you’ve already confessed on TV. Might as well swap workout secrets.

[seacoaster]

House Judiciary Committee report:

https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/democ ... %20v.3.pdf

[njbill]

Thanks for posting. We members of the public see the politicians talking, speechifying, and pontificating, but there are countless minions, on both sides of the aisle, who are furiously paddling beneath the surface, day and night, seven days a week, subsisting on Red Bull and stale pizza, catching 40 winks here and there, to keep this process going. Many are young lads and lasses for whom this no doubt is their first experience with Big Washington. It doesn't get much bigger than impeachment. Heady stuff for some of these future CNN, MSNBC, or Fox talking heads.