LaxPower Back-Up Stick

The U.S. Postal Service is experiencing days-long backlogs of mail across the country after a top Trump donor running the agency put in place new procedures described as cost-cutting efforts, alarming postal workers who warn that the policies could undermine their ability to deliver ballots on time for the November election.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... story.html

MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:35 am

Peter Brown wrote: ↑Wed Jul 29, 2020 7:51 amIf Trump has had one benefit in American life, it might have been to expose people for who they really are.

Further above, MD calls OS a 'Trumpist'. I have no doubt that MD has never even met an actual Trumpist; I live among them. They are not fans of Trump the man per se, but they see in him an idea of society which doesn't look down upon them; the more the self-important elite call them 'racist' or whatever the pejorative slur of the day is (I have lost count), the more they despise those self-important elites and the more they rally to 'Trump' the idea.

I am sure every sane human being on these boards agrees that there are no actual 'Trumpists' here. MD considers anyone who isn't similarly afflicted with TDS a 'Trumpist'. Does that say more about MD or more about the person he wildly accuses of being a Trumpist?

...to be a "Trumpist"...one needs only to be committed to supporting him in order to battle those one hates or detests or fears, whether based on race or religious belief or economic self-interest and be willing to overlook or excuse all flaws in that partisan course. Nothing will sway a Trumpist, their fear or hate is too strong.

Salty tries really, really hard to not appear to be a full-on Trumpist, but he just can't help himself in his constant apologia for Trump and his corrupt crew. I do hold out some hope for him, but suspect he will continue to disappoint. He's getting what he wants on Russia.

Fear, hate, race. The only factors which determine human behavior or decision making.

Putin is forcing NATO (mostly the US) to invest vast sums of national treasure & human capital to defend against a conventional military invasion which he has no intention of conducting. ...while our German allies smugly stand by & acquiesce, to their competitive business advantage.

The Peace Dividend was great while it lasted.

old salt wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 9:22 pm

MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:35 am

Peter Brown wrote: ↑Wed Jul 29, 2020 7:51 amIf Trump has had one benefit in American life, it might have been to expose people for who they really are.

Further above, MD calls OS a 'Trumpist'. I have no doubt that MD has never even met an actual Trumpist; I live among them. They are not fans of Trump the man per se, but they see in him an idea of society which doesn't look down upon them; the more the self-important elite call them 'racist' or whatever the pejorative slur of the day is (I have lost count), the more they despise those self-important elites and the more they rally to 'Trump' the idea.

I am sure every sane human being on these boards agrees that there are no actual 'Trumpists' here. MD considers anyone who isn't similarly afflicted with TDS a 'Trumpist'. Does that say more about MD or more about the person he wildly accuses of being a Trumpist?

...to be a "Trumpist"...one needs only to be committed to supporting him in order to battle those one hates or detests or fears, whether based on race or religious belief or economic self-interest and be willing to overlook or excuse all flaws in that partisan course. Nothing will sway a Trumpist, their fear or hate is too strong.

Salty tries really, really hard to not appear to be a full-on Trumpist, but he just can't help himself in his constant apologia for Trump and his corrupt crew. I do hold out some hope for him, but suspect he will continue to disappoint. He's getting what he wants on Russia.

Fear, hate, race. The only factors which determine human behavior or decision making.

Putin is forcing NATO (mostly the US) to invest vast sums of national treasure & human capital to defend against a conventional military invasion which he has no intention of conducting. ...while our German allies smugly stand by & acquiesce, to their competitive business advantage.

The Peace Dividend was great while it lasted.

Yup, Trumpist.
Fellow Putin admirer.

old salt wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 9:22 pm

MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:35 am

Peter Brown wrote: ↑Wed Jul 29, 2020 7:51 amIf Trump has had one benefit in American life, it might have been to expose people for who they really are.

Further above, MD calls OS a 'Trumpist'. I have no doubt that MD has never even met an actual Trumpist; I live among them. They are not fans of Trump the man per se, but they see in him an idea of society which doesn't look down upon them; the more the self-important elite call them 'racist' or whatever the pejorative slur of the day is (I have lost count), the more they despise those self-important elites and the more they rally to 'Trump' the idea.

I am sure every sane human being on these boards agrees that there are no actual 'Trumpists' here. MD considers anyone who isn't similarly afflicted with TDS a 'Trumpist'. Does that say more about MD or more about the person he wildly accuses of being a Trumpist?

...to be a "Trumpist"...one needs only to be committed to supporting him in order to battle those one hates or detests or fears, whether based on race or religious belief or economic self-interest and be willing to overlook or excuse all flaws in that partisan course. Nothing will sway a Trumpist, their fear or hate is too strong.

Salty tries really, really hard to not appear to be a full-on Trumpist, but he just can't help himself in his constant apologia for Trump and his corrupt crew. I do hold out some hope for him, but suspect he will continue to disappoint. He's getting what he wants on Russia.

Fear, hate, race. The only factors which determine human behavior or decision making.

Putin is forcing NATO (mostly the US) to invest vast sums of national treasure & human capital to defend against a conventional military invasion which he has no intention of conducting. ...while our German allies smugly stand by & acquiesce, to their competitive business advantage.

The Peace Dividend was great while it lasted.

Comrade old salt ... Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine in 2014.

There is legitimate reason to be concerned he might invade other European nations.

DocBarrister

DocBarrister wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:04 pm

old salt wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 9:22 pm

MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:35 am

Peter Brown wrote: ↑Wed Jul 29, 2020 7:51 amIf Trump has had one benefit in American life, it might have been to expose people for who they really are.

Further above, MD calls OS a 'Trumpist'. I have no doubt that MD has never even met an actual Trumpist; I live among them. They are not fans of Trump the man per se, but they see in him an idea of society which doesn't look down upon them; the more the self-important elite call them 'racist' or whatever the pejorative slur of the day is (I have lost count), the more they despise those self-important elites and the more they rally to 'Trump' the idea.

I am sure every sane human being on these boards agrees that there are no actual 'Trumpists' here. MD considers anyone who isn't similarly afflicted with TDS a 'Trumpist'. Does that say more about MD or more about the person he wildly accuses of being a Trumpist?

...to be a "Trumpist"...one needs only to be committed to supporting him in order to battle those one hates or detests or fears, whether based on race or religious belief or economic self-interest and be willing to overlook or excuse all flaws in that partisan course. Nothing will sway a Trumpist, their fear or hate is too strong.

Salty tries really, really hard to not appear to be a full-on Trumpist, but he just can't help himself in his constant apologia for Trump and his corrupt crew. I do hold out some hope for him, but suspect he will continue to disappoint. He's getting what he wants on Russia.

Fear, hate, race. The only factors which determine human behavior or decision making.

Putin is forcing NATO (mostly the US) to invest vast sums of national treasure & human capital to defend against a conventional military invasion which he has no intention of conducting. ...while our German allies smugly stand by & acquiesce, to their competitive business advantage.

The Peace Dividend was great while it lasted.

Comrade old salt ... Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine in 2014.

There is legitimate reason to be concerned he might invade other European nations.

DocBarrister

OK, Doc Strangelove -- if Russia is such an imposing threat to invade our NATO allies, why is our largest, wealthiest NATO ally unwilling to meet their current obligation in critical capabilities such as NATO's shared tactical nuc capability -- a key to deterring & slowing a Russian invasion.
The German's can't even keep 1/3 of their aging Tornado fleet airworthy. They appear unwilling to commit to a replacement, or even retaining the nuc deterrent capability.

Likewise, why can't the rest of NATO (combined) match the US combat capability deployed on NATO's E flank to deter & counter Russian invasion ?
The proposed withdrawal of a German based US Army Stryker Brigade (supposedly an insult to Germany) would be replaced by a full time rotating deployment of a US based Stryker Brigade to Romania or Bulgaria.

Why aren't our NATO allies as worried about the threat of Russian invasion as you suddenly are.
I don't recall your call to arms, or even to provide lethal military aid to Ukraine in 2014 , when the Ukrainians stood down, as Russia annexed the Crimea.

So much for the 1st Amendment with o d:

DHS compiled ‘intelligence reports’ on journalists who published leaked documents

"Over the past week, the department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis has disseminated three Open Source Intelligence Reports to federal law enforcement agencies and others, summarizing tweets written by two journalists — a reporter for the New York Times and the editor in chief of the blog Lawfare — and noting they had published leaked, unclassified documents about DHS operations in Portland. The intelligence reports, obtained by The Washington Post, include written descriptions and images of the tweets and the number of times they had been liked or retweeted by others."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... Fstory-ans

r's love their o d so much that they throw out the constitution.

CU88 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 6:46 am So much for the 1st Amendment with o d:

DHS compiled ‘intelligence reports’ on journalists who published leaked documents

"Over the past week, the department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis has disseminated three Open Source Intelligence Reports to federal law enforcement agencies and others, summarizing tweets written by two journalists — a reporter for the New York Times and the editor in chief of the blog Lawfare — and noting they had published leaked, unclassified documents about DHS operations in Portland. The intelligence reports, obtained by The Washington Post, include written descriptions and images of the tweets and the number of times they had been liked or retweeted by others."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... Fstory-ans

r's love their o d so much that they throw out the constitution.

Leaked intel reports about leaks.
How does that violate the Constitution ? It simply informs DHS personnel of leaks that have happened. It's about published media reporting.
The journalists can include these in their Pulitzer CV's

Trump’s ‘Delay the Election’ tweet checks all 8 rules for fascist propaganda

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/ ... mp-fascist

I guess that since the Fed's pulled out the troops Portland burned down these last two nights?

MSM Fake News must not be reporting it!

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (Ret.):

After 21 years, six months and 10 days of active military service, I am now a civilian. I made the difficult decision to retire because a campaign of bullying, intimidation and retaliation by President Trump and his allies forever limited the progression of my military career.

This experience has been painful, but I am not alone in this ignominious fate. The circumstances of my departure might have been more public, yet they are little different from those of dozens of other lifelong public servants who have left this administration with their integrity intact but their careers irreparably harmed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... iring-oped

CU77 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 5:55 pm Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (Ret.):

After 21 years, six months and 10 days of active military service, I am now a civilian. I made the difficult decision to retire because a campaign of bullying, intimidation and retaliation by President Trump and his allies forever limited the progression of my military career.

This experience has been painful, but I am not alone in this ignominious fate. The circumstances of my departure might have been more public, yet they are little different from those of dozens of other lifelong public servants who have left this administration with their integrity intact but their careers irreparably harmed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... iring-oped

A winner never quits and a quitter never wins. This dude is an army officer and he is scared about being bullied. I call that chickenchit. Sad way to end your career. I hope someone gave him a crying towel.

cradleandshoot wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 6:37 pm This dude is an army officer and he is scared about being bullied. I call that chickenchit.

I hope someday you get the chance to say that to his face. I'd like to be there.

Vindman completed the Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC) at Fort Benning in 1999 and was sent the next year to South Korea, where he led both infantry and anti-armor platoons.[4] In addition to overseas deployments to South Korea and Germany, Vindman is a combat veteran of the Iraq War, and he served in Iraq from September 2004 to September 2005.[3] In October 2004,[3] he sustained an injury from a roadside bomb in Iraq, for which he received a Purple Heart.[4] He was promoted to the rank of major in 2008,[12] and to lieutenant colonel in September 2015.[13]

During his Army career, Vindman earned the Ranger Tab, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, and Parachutist Badge, as well as four Army Commendation Medals and two Defense Meritorious Service Medals.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Vindman

CU77 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 7:23 pm

cradleandshoot wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 6:37 pm This dude is an army officer and he is scared about being bullied. I call that chickenchit.

I hope someday you get the chance to say that to his face. I'd like to be there.

Vindman completed the Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC) at Fort Benning in 1999 and was sent the next year to South Korea, where he led both infantry and anti-armor platoons.[4] In addition to overseas deployments to South Korea and Germany, Vindman is a combat veteran of the Iraq War, and he served in Iraq from September 2004 to September 2005.[3] In October 2004,[3] he sustained an injury from a roadside bomb in Iraq, for which he received a Purple Heart.[4] He was promoted to the rank of major in 2008,[12] and to lieutenant colonel in September 2015.[13]

During his Army career, Vindman earned the Ranger Tab, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, and Parachutist Badge, as well as four Army Commendation Medals and two Defense Meritorious Service Medals.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Vindman

I would say it to his face in a heartbeat. The man is a Lt Col. in the US Army and he is whining about being "bullied" I would happily at no extra charge throw in a few extra euphemisms to the LTCs face that I believe also describe his chicken chit attitude. One of either two things will happen, he will slap me in the face ala George Patton or he will break down and cry. Since this sorry ass excuse for an officer has no Patton in him, I'm sure the waterworks will be his option. In case you are unaware an officer in the US Army never whines and b****es, not in public at least. All of his decorations mean nothing to me when you become a whiny little crybaby. For God sakes he had a Ranger tab, an Army Ranger never complains about being bullied. They are the bullies on the battlefield.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ca ... ORM=VDQVAP

cradleandshoot wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 9:00 am

CU77 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 7:23 pm

cradleandshoot wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 6:37 pm This dude is an army officer and he is scared about being bullied. I call that chickenchit.

I hope someday you get the chance to say that to his face. I'd like to be there.

Vindman completed the Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC) at Fort Benning in 1999 and was sent the next year to South Korea, where he led both infantry and anti-armor platoons.[4] In addition to overseas deployments to South Korea and Germany, Vindman is a combat veteran of the Iraq War, and he served in Iraq from September 2004 to September 2005.[3] In October 2004,[3] he sustained an injury from a roadside bomb in Iraq, for which he received a Purple Heart.[4] He was promoted to the rank of major in 2008,[12] and to lieutenant colonel in September 2015.[13]

During his Army career, Vindman earned the Ranger Tab, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, and Parachutist Badge, as well as four Army Commendation Medals and two Defense Meritorious Service Medals.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Vindman

I would say it to his face in a heartbeat. The man is a Lt Col. in the US Army and he is whining about being "bullied" I would happily at no extra charge throw in a few extra euphemisms to the LTCs face that I believe also describe his chicken chit attitude. One of either two things will happen, he will slap me in the face ala George Patton or he will break down and cry. Since this sorry ass excuse for an officer has no Patton in him, I'm sure the waterworks will be his option. In case you are unaware an officer in the US Army never whines and b****es, not in public at least.

+1

PB, you're a vet?

I had no idea.

Veterinarian?

CU77 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:13 pm PB, you're a vet?

I had no idea.

Hah! He wears American flag swim trunks. Isn’t that enough?

If Vindmann had the moral courage to stand up for himself & the " dozens of other lifelong public servants who have left this administration with their integrity intact but their careers irreparably harmed ", he would have stayed on active duty & waited a few weeks to see if Trump blocked his promotion before submitting his retirement papers, making Trump pay a political price.

After the Army selected Vindmann for promotion, he was afraid Trump might NOT block his promotion, denying him the opportunity to retire as a martyr celebrity hero victim, able to cash in before his 15 minutes faded. He could have remained on active duty for 30 years total, long after Trump was term limited out of office, even if re-elected. The Army would have been careful not to give him an unattractive assignment or unfavorable performance report for fear of being accused of retribution by his supporters in Congress. The brass will do anything to keep Congress off their back.

Vindmann was golden, whether he stayed or retired. He took the option with the bigger immediate pay off.
He was not forced out, he chose to leave now. If he loved the Army as much as he says, he'd have stayed & outlasted Trump.
Perhaps he was not encouraged by the reaction of his fellow soldiers to what he had done.

It's always discouraging to have some of the trumpista fascists chime in here. It's a reminder that those of us who actually believe in the ideals of this country, and know that our current POTUS is the very antithesis of those ideals, must continue to work ever harder to remove him and his followers from positions of power.