US General Election 2016

{{Well that was very fortunate- the way after days of saying theyd bomb and not doing it- they choose to bomb right before the UN chemical weapon inspectors were about to arrive in the morning to verify or defy the chem attack claims- now of course the evidence is gone and bombed to bits- well isn't that handy!!! We'll have to take the US, UK and France's word that they have proof it was Assad it seems, even though none has actually been presented! }}}

A lesson learned from Bush, Colin Powell, and 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' -- inspectors just confuse the issue when you've already made up your mind

They didn't bomb anywhere in Douma so not sure how it impacts the OPCW people. I thought they were going to verify that a chemical attack had taken place and not to say whodunit.

This whole little game is stupid... the West and Russia are on shaky ground. It seems like they are doing it all on purpose too.

They didn't bomb anywhere in Douma so not sure how it impacts the OPCW people- Lance


{{{Problem is chlorine gas- it doesn't stay in the body and there is so much of it in general hanging about the environment its almost impossible to say 'yeah this bit of chlorine is from an attack' and not somewhere else- unless you have the somewhere else to inspect too- in this case the alleged chemical weapons factories round Damascus which the inspectors were due to also check out if they found anything in Doumas to confirm its origin.
Now we've bombed all those alleged sites there is nothing there to investigate. So chances are at best the team now be able to do is verify there was an attack at best, if they can find a very particular compound signature (dont ask what its top secret!) that would indicate a chemical attack indeed happened. But they have no chance even if they manage that now of proving where it came from as we blew up the evidence. }}}

Trump do nothing = PUTIN PUPPET IMPEACH REEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

Trump do something = HE'S LITERALLY STARTING WORLD WAR 3 REEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

Actually Trump's measured responses to Syrian gas incidents have been one of the things I've been happiest about with this administration. Obama simply bumbled into an agreement to get chemical weapons out of the country but obviously it didn't take.

Though we have to remember the real reason chemical weapons are banned are not because they are worse than bombs, but because they are easier to make and harder to keep track of production. So rogue states need to feel there are consequences to taking the easy way.

Halfy - I would have thought it would be there destructive potential combined with the manner in which they kill. Bombs still kill and maim obviously but I think are seen as less cruel ways if doing violence.

Petty - I actually think the attack was orchestrated a little bit. I think the Russians knew the West couldn't afford to do nothing and that is why they didn't get involved and why the places that got hit were chosen.

This whole thing is a clusterfuck waiting to go wrong though. I will be one if the first to go being that I work in London!!

{{If it was Assad then the bombing is justified for the reasons Halfy outlines- the problem is if- we just dont know and we didn't get a chance for a proper investigation to be done first before taking the retaliatory action- and that doesn't seem right. And even if the timing of the bombing was not to disrupt the weapons inspectors it was still a blunt message that they didn't care what the weapons inspectors had to say the decision to act had already been taken regardless- and that doesn't seem right either if we are the good guys upholding international law.


And not to worry Lance- Ill have evaporated right before you I'm in the middle of a square of death- Faslane nuclear fleet, Coulport missile storage and fuel dump, Loch Striven international allied shipping refueling and restocking plus mysterious bases built inside the hill and the Hunterson Nuclear power station. We were Site One in the Cold War- meaning we were the first site at the top of the 'bomb with nukes' list the Russians had. So yeah, I'm atoms!!! Again!!!  }}}

Petty... to be honest, ground zero is probably the best place to be in the event of a nuclear war. Not sure I would want to live in the aftermath and all that it would entail.

{{Oddly enough kind of used to idea- was especially acute as a child when having a great hulking US nuclear base and the accompanying 24 hour a day sounds of it outside my door was a bit of a constant reminder. }}}

Continuing the running theme of this administration, yet another totally unqualified person is put in charge of a major agency. It's not just the climate denial, its the fact that he has NO background in science or engineering. Par for the course.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/senate-confirms-climate-change-denier-184241292.html

Halfy - doesn't it piss you off (for the wrong reasons) when muppets like Kim Jong-Un choose Trump to make friendlies with?

I have a feeling this is all a timing thing and it would have been whoever was in power that he started to open up to, but politics being politics you know old oompa loompa will take full credit, rub it in everyone's face and then fuck it up.

I think timing is part of it, but Kim probably recognizes a kindred spirit - in which case the Trumpster will not be too far off in taking credit for softening up North Korea.

{{Trump is actually quiet good at this- he has a track record for taking other peoples credit since he became President- he took credit for Obamas job figures -the same ones he said were fake whilst campaigning!- he takes credit all the time for defeating ISIS- despite everything that's happened being the result of plans made since before he took office, and have been mainly carried out by Iraq, Saudi and other forces, hardly any US outside logistics and intel. And now North Korea, which I think he can take a small amount of credit for accelerating what was already going on with is bluster, but the vast majority of the diplomatic work here has been done by SK president Moon and the Chinese. }}}

Kanye tweeting clips from Scott Adams periscope sessions?

{{Is that not all connected to the MK ultra stuff and Illuminati? }}

{{Well that whole Trump/Macron thing turned out to be hilarious- Macron played Trump like a fiddle- flattered him the entire time whilst trying to persuade him away from cutting from the Iran deal, isolationism and to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and Trump lapped it up, but when he didn't bite Macron stood before Congress, and without mentioning Trump by name piece by piece ripped apart every policy Trump stands for while re-outlining the actual values the US once stood for. And as one wag in the Fox comments section put it got so many standing ovations it was starting to look like a keep fit class.
Possibly funnier even was Fox spending two days of wall to wall coverage of the President /Macron bromance- talking it up ceaselessly- then they didn't even report on the speech to Congress! Not a word! The only report of Macron now is a Gingrich piece thats from before the speech about their bromance and how they are on the same page!- and worth going to just for the comments section!   }}

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/04/22/trump-christian-evangelical-conservatives-television-tbn-cbn-218008?cid=apn

Well I have to say that I prefer Trump to May. At least with Trump he is quite non-hypocritical, when he says he is deporting Mexicans because they are *bleep*he does actually deport Mexicans. he doesn't pretend to care, he doesn't pretend he values them in any way, whereas May pretends that she will root out 'burning injustices' and it was HER racist policies that have led to misery for hundreds. She is one hypocritical mealy-mouthed cunning Tory tosser.

That was actually the attraction of Trump for many people. But what he says still isn't what happens: he'll change his mind at the drop of a hat.

yep he changes his mind, but he doesn't say he is going to protect the poor and vulnerable, he just says he is going to make America great again, which could mean anything or nothing.

Who's idea was it to have Michelle Wolf headline the Whitehouse Correspondent's Dinner? Some of her jokes look good on paper but fell flat with her mean spirited delivery. Many of her jokes don't look good no matter how you frame them. Her picking on Sara Huckabee Sanders was pure bullying, making Wolf no better than Trump. This should have been a classy affair and instead she dragged it through the mud.

Yeah, that wasn't OK.  It's different when there's a cohesive group who have a lot in common with each other. Then  teasing and throwing a few punches between friends can be a good way to blow off steam. That's typically the way these roasts go.  But when there's no cohesion to start with, it stops being teasing and becomes pure bullying. If they can't get it right, they need to stop televising this #$%$.

As for Trump doing what he says, I'm not convinced. We seem to still be getting a regular stream of crazy mixed messages. Anybody want make a bet on this recent promise?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-says-us-to-let-your-guest-workers-come-in-in-appeal-to-farmers/ar-AAwtVm4

Was Michigan the right place for him to try out this idea?

At least he's recognizing reality, even if not popular with most of his base. I think he'll let the guest worker program continue but from now on will be mum on it.