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PoliGAF 2017 |OT6| Made this thread during Harvey because the ratings would be higher

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Doc Holliday

SPOILER: Columbus finds America
Stupid question...

If there is something in trump's taxes that is illegal why hasn't the Irs done something already?

With such a high profile individual, why wouldn't they investigate anything fishy.

Do they have a very limited scope on what they are allowed to investigate?
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
Stupid question...

If there is something in trump's taxes that is illegal why hasn't the Irs done something already?

With such a high profile individual, why wouldn't they investigate anything fishy.

Do they have a very limited scope on what they are allowed to investigate?

It depends on what's there. Remember, you can lie on your taxes. If he's doing that to obscure illegal activity it can be hard to find, especially if there's a ton of stuff going on in there.
 
FOX just wrapped a roundtable accusing Hillary of selling access through her book tour, for when she runs again in 2020. Getting to the real issues.
Kinda surprised they aren't taking more about how Obama is secretly working as we speak to repeal the 22nd Amendment so he can become President again and finally take everyone's guns for real this time, when they least expect it. They're kinda slipping on that one.
 
Politico | GOP senators: Comey drafted statement clearing Clinton before her interview
Grassley, Graham say evidence suggests decision not to file charges was 'prejudged'.



Any insights on this? Are Graham and Grassley trying to slander Comey? Or may there actually be some truth to what they say?

It's pretty normal to have everything pretty tied up before a final exit interview. That in no way indicates prejudice. It only indicates that Comey followed where the facts led. With the access that the FBI had, it's conceivable that an actual interview with Clinton herself wasn;t necessary. Comey still needed to talk to her before he closed the case because Republicans would have freaked out if he hadn't.
 
Stupid question...

If there is something in trump's taxes that is illegal why hasn't the Irs done something already?

With such a high profile individual, why wouldn't they investigate anything fishy.

Do they have a very limited scope on what they are allowed to investigate?
Because Trump was using all sorts of tricks to stay legal. IRS can't say he's doing illegal stuff if he's showing clean money and legally not obliged to pay taxes because of bankruptcy laws. But if a crime unit comes to IRS with probable cause, its financial crimes time.
 
Stupid question...

If there is something in trump's taxes that is illegal why hasn't the Irs done something already?

With such a high profile individual, why wouldn't they investigate anything fishy.

Do they have a very limited scope on what they are allowed to investigate?

No one with relevant expertise took a look. Alternatively, someone raised a red flag, sounded the alarm and nothing happened because Trump was a big shot. In general there's been a shift in enforcement policies and staffing with respect to white collar crime since around the time Pres. Clinton took office.
 

Doc Holliday

SPOILER: Columbus finds America
Gotcha,

Actually knew an irs guy who used to do fraud investigations. He was dealing mostly with drug dealers at the time.
 
New, long WashPost palace intrigue story out ... I think the main takeaways are a) that, as described (and as many expected), Trump and Kelly are on an "inevitable collision course" and b) Tillerson's departure was described by people close to Trump as "imminent".

On Kelly:




On Tillerson:


More here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...b32d72-8d97-11e7-91d5-ab4e4bb76a3a_story.html
I'd say if anyone were to be fired next it's Cohn. Based on the full article, Trump still seems to have some tolerance for Kelly and Tillerson. However, Tillerson has been in full "What are you going to do, Fire Me?" mode since August. On the other hand, Trump and co. seem to be done with Cohn. They don't seem to show any outward respect or acknowledgement towards him like Trump does for Kelly and Tillerson. Other difference between Kelly and Tillerson is that Cohn's usefulness is more limited. If he doesn't get the results Trump wants soon then he will be replaced, as another failure is added to the chalkboard. Kelly strikes me as someone Trump will fire if it begins to effect his public perception. All Kelly needs is a few SNL skits and memes to be fired over.

Trump was especially upset that Cohn went public with his complaints about the president’s handling of Charlottesville, even after Trump listened to Cohn vent during a private meeting on Aug. 18 in Bedminster, N.J.

The president has been quietly fuming about Cohn for the past week but has resisted dismissing him in part because he has been the face, along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, of the administration’s tax-cut strategy.

Still, Trump has other ways to slight Cohn. The economic adviser traveled with Trump on Wednesday to Springfield, Mo., for his speech about tax reform, yet when the president ticked through “the many distinguished guests” in attendance, he did not mention Cohn. Afterward, Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter, tweeted a call for tax reform with a picture of Trump backstage flanked by her and Mnuchin. Notably absent was Cohn, the plan’s co-architect.
Seems like when tax reform/budget goes up in smokes later this month. Trump and co. will set him and Mitch McConnell as the people to take the fall for it.


Also I found this bit really amusing:

the firing of Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci after just 10 days earned the flamboyant aide the moniker “suicide bomber” in the West Wing for having taken down with him Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and press secretary Sean Spicer.
 

Nelo Ice

Banned
Anyone else listen to WaPo's Constiutional podcast?. Caught up to episode 4 and so far over learned white people really fucking hate people of color. And throughout the history of the US they have gone out of their way to fuck people like me over. And It seems it all stemmed from the botch up of reconstruction.
 
Trump is going to do a bunch of fucked up shit tomorrow to try to take heat and media coverage away from Russia. Buckle up.
 

Maridia

Member

Pixieking

Banned
Unless you're talking full-on Neo-Nazi/White Supremacist, I don't think anyone thinks they're racist. Arpaio is obviously a racist, but there were reports he was hurt by the reporting that focussed on his racism, and I think a lot of people are like that. They see nothing wrong with how they view the world, and I'm sure a lot of the time they rationalise racist behaviour by saying to themselves that they don't hate all of X, they just hate the ones who are criminals, or rude, or arrogant... Not realising that they won't ever meet someone who doesn't fit into one of those catagories, because of their bias.

So, yeah, I can believe that Trump wouldn't think himself racist, because he tells himself he just hates the Mexican criminals, and he hires non-Whites for his gold clubs, and has the Chinese manufacture his ties.
 
Unless you're talking full-on Neo-Nazi/White Supremacist, I don't think anyone thinks they're racist. Arpaio is obviously a racist, but there were reports he was hurt by the reporting that focussed on his racism, and I think a lot of people are like that. They see nothing wrong with how they view the world, and I'm sure a lot of the time they rationalise racist behaviour by saying to themselves that they don't hate all of X, they just hate the ones who are criminals, or rude, or arrogant... Not realising that they won't ever meet someone who doesn't fit into one of those catagories, because of their bias.

So, yeah, I can believe that Trump wouldn't think himself racist, because he tells himself he just hates the Mexican criminals, and he hires non-Whites for his gold clubs, and has the Chinese manufacture his ties.

Arpaio said it was an honor to be compared to the KKK.
 
Stupid question...

If there is something in trump's taxes that is illegal why hasn't the Irs done something already?

With such a high profile individual, why wouldn't they investigate anything fishy.

Do they have a very limited scope on what they are allowed to investigate?
There is nothing illegal in Trump's taxes. :p the reason people wanted to see them was to show he paid no taxes.
 
Reading the thread over the past day or so, what's the trend with calling investigative reporting as "oppo"?

Opposition research is done by a partisan campaign to dig up dirt on their opponent to seek political advantage. You guys play into the "Liberal Media" / "MSM" meme when you treat investigative reporting as opposition research for Democrats.

Find a new term.
 
Was fox news on this or something? Where is he getting This from?
there was this politico article yesterday http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/31/fbi-comey-clinton-email-242213. I guarantee Trump saw Fox & Friends talking about it this morning.



DIov2IbXUAAmF2n.jpg:small


the president does not do words good
 
The president of the United States doesn't know how to spell the word "heal"

This is a mistake he's made multiple times. That's when it stops being a typo and starts getting into illiteracy.
 
Trump is such a piece of shit. He is making Harvey all about himself, and I guarantee within 2 weeks he just forgets it happened and the recovery turns into an absolute nightmare...
 

Blader

Member
Axios put together a list of 2020 Dem candidates based on early conversations among campaign veterans, donors, potential staff members, etc. While this is basically the roughest of rough drafts (it includes Bob Iger and George Clooney lol), and there are plenty of the usual suspects on here, I thought these two bits were the most interesting:

Has begun seeking staff: Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.), Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio).

Wants to be mentioned: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.).

I know Bullock has been on lists like these before, but if he's already looking at staffers, that seems like a pretty serious sign of his intentions. Also surprising that Chris Murphy might actually make a go at it (lol @ Tim Ryan though).

Not sure what to make of the "wants to be mentioned" next to Klobuchar...does that mean she wants to run and wants to get her name out there because nobody outside of Minnesota knows who she is? Or that she isn't that serious about running but wants people to think she is?

Here's the rest: https://www.axios.com/dems-begin-lining-up-2020-staff-cash-2480249930.html
 
Reading the thread over the past day or so, what's the trend with calling investigative reporting as "oppo"?

Opposition research is done by a partisan campaign to dig up dirt on their opponent to seek political advantage. You guys play into the "Liberal Media" / "MSM" meme when you treat investigative reporting as opposition research for Democrats.

Find a new term.

It's a meme from the last few days of the election when we were all expecting that last bombshell.
 

mclem

Member
Do you think Trump believes he's not racist?

Yes.

I think the biggest blockage to understanding your (er, the general 'your', not you personally!) prejudice is the concept of "If it's true, espousing that viewpoint isn't racist". It's one of the things at the centre of "he tells it how it is" praise.

Of course, the problem with that is when 'it' isn't true (or, often, when there's a lot more nuance to it that the prejudiced person is unaware of or ignoring), but the person fervently believes it. At that point anyone who points out accusations of prejudice is 'ignorant', or 'burying their head in the sand', or 'overly PC', or 'deluded'.

And so you become "One of the few people unafraid to tell the truth" in your mind, you're the person standing up against the oppression, you're the persecuted. It becomes an idea that 'racism' is 'choosing to be nasty against people who are different', but you're not choosing to do it, you're coming to a perfectly reasonable conclusion based on an (erroneous) collection of facts. "That's not racism! That's just common sense!". Which in turn is why the accusation of racism is so objectionable to them, because as far as they're concerned they're being perfectly reasonable and logical, you just don't see that because you're prejudiced.

Catch-22. I've no idea where we as a society start to unravel this.
 

mclem

Member
Reading the thread over the past day or so, what's the trend with calling investigative reporting as "oppo"?

Opposition research is done by a partisan campaign to dig up dirt on their opponent to seek political advantage. You guys play into the "Liberal Media" / "MSM" meme when you treat investigative reporting as opposition research for Democrats.

Find a new term.

Strictly speaking the Steele dossier - which is arguably at the root of a lot of this - literally was opposition research, indeed it started out as opposition research by Republicans against Trump. I guess that's why the term stuck.
 
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