Donald Trump

[william.scherk]

1 hour ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

[H]ow did President Trump time-travel to listen to Andrew Napolitano three days before the presser with Merkel, then go back in time one month before to make a tweet?

I am not a believer in time travel, so a prosaic explanation seems more likely to me.

And what would that prosaic explanation seek to explain?  Personally, I want to know three things: what Napolitano opined about Obama+GCHQ and when; what Spicer said about Napolitano, and when; what and who Trump was alluding to when he stonewalled, effectively saying  'talk to Fox, not me. I said nothing.' 

So, Napolitano is responsible for his words spoken to Fox and Friends on March 14, and for the words in his opinion piece published on March 16. In the written piece Napolitano gave little actual detail, and did not use quotes from any of his sources:

Sources have told me that the British foreign surveillance service, the Government Communications Headquarters, known as GCHQ, most likely provided Obama with transcripts of Trump’s calls. 

OK. Sources assessed 'most likely.'  On March 14. Or in stronger terms, or perhaps exaggerating the warrant ...

.@Judgenap: Three intel sources have disclosed that Pres. Obama turned to British spies to get surveillance on Trump pic.twitter.com/IghCFm7qhO

— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) March 14, 2017

Then on March 16, a slightly heftier claim ... Napolitano writes:

Three intelligence sources have confirmed to Fox News that President Obama went outside the chain of command ..." 

So far, 'sources,' three of them, have either said 'most likely' (Scenario X was a gambit that left no American footprints) or have 'disclosed,' or have 'confirmed' (that NSA and GCHQ are tight as part of the big Five Eyes national-security alliance).

Onward to Spicer.  Did Spicer allude in any way to either the F&F appearance or to the FoxNews opinion article, or to the claims?

While I look that down, do we have any other confirmation from 'intelligence sources' anywhere, or have any of Napolitano's sources been contacted by other outlets?  In other words, have other inquiring minds asked Napolitano who/what/what level/any quoats questions regarding his sourcing and their "most likely" opinions?  Disclose. Confirm.

Yes, well, the New York Times said they failed  to contact Napolitano, but were contacted by one Larry C Johnson, who purportedly told them Napolitano asked him to call them and explain: Johnson was a 'source,' and it was through him that "intelligence sources" indicated their opinions. 

 

Edited March 18, 2017 by william.scherk
Never complain, never explain.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

13 minutes ago, william.scherk said:

While I look that down, do we have any other confirmation from 'intelligence sources' anywhere, or have any of Napolitano's sources been contacted by other outlets?  In other words, have other inquiring minds asked Napolitano who/what/what level/any quoats questions regarding his sourcing and their "most likely" opinions?

William,

You might try the same sources that caused the mainstream press to repeat nonstop for a few months--as settled fact (although false)--that the Russians caused Trump to win the election.

Those might be good sources if someone could possibly identify them.

The NYT and other mainstream media outlets constantly said: "... according to unnamed sources within [fill in the blank]."

btw - How come you weren't all that interested in identifying those sources?

   

Michael

[william.scherk]

2 hours ago, william.scherk said:

So far, 'sources,' three of them, have either said 'most likely' (Scenario X was a gambit that left no American footprints) or have 'disclosed,' or have 'confirmed' (that NSA and GCHQ are tight as part of the big Five Eyes national-security alliance).

Onward to Spicer.  Did Spicer allude in any way to either the F&F appearance or to the FoxNews opinion article, or to the claims?

I don't know what Spicer was trying to do, other than kill time reading media accounts to the media.  But what he did do was read media accounts to the media on Thursday, among which Napolitano's opinion piece ...

OK. So ... there is nothing to talk about with Trump, I agree.  Spicer read Napolitano to the assembled, and then reporters the next day asked the President -- what about the GCHQ report reported by your press secretary to the press?

Trump correctly observed, 'We said nothing.' 'We quoted.'  Big difference. And he said, effectively, ask Fox. Ask Fox News.  Or, reading between the lines, ask The Judge.  As Spicer  briefly stated, something something common sense. As the boss said, “All we did was quote a very talented legal mind.”

And if Fox News added a wee addendum update to the Napolitano bedtime story narrated by Spicer?  

That puts the issue to bed for me. Especially the doubts about "three intelligence sources have confirmed to Fox News."  Mostly because Fox News cannot confirm that confirmation.

-- mind you, a Pollyanna-type cynic might point out that a feature of the claims made by Napolitano is that "no proof is possible," that "no American fingerprints" would be detected anyway.

Ultimately, Spicer let the media squabble among themselves. Does anything they say about Napolitano's claims outweigh what Napolitano says himself?

As for sources saiding, I think that opinion pieces like Napolitano's are held to lower standards than a more hard-news piece would be within Fox. When news stories are being assembled at Fox, editors presumably gain the identity of otherwise anonymous sources.

If Fox News was unable to 'confirm the confirmation claimed,' then I think nobody but Napolitano can know who the sources are. Considering Larry C Johnson is offered as corroboration, the truth is out there, somewhere ... way way way out there. And the latest talking-among-themselves scuttlebutt takes us back into the epistemic  swamps ...

Napolitano's sources are "most likely" to be Russians!  I kid you not.

I kid you.  But Larry C Johnson did peddle the bones of the GCHQ bedtime story on Russia Today on March 5th.  It took a while to percolate in the Truth Media, but.

Trump has the evidence, and the evidence is me!

Quote

NEIL HARVEY (HOST): Let’s bring in former CIA analyst and State Department official Larry Johnson, joins me live over the line. Very good afternoon to you, Larry. We’ve heard it said that these are really serious accusations by some guests we’ve had on so far. What’s your assessment of what Donald Trump’s had to said -- how big a deal is this?

LARRY JOHNSON: I think it’s a huge deal. The problem is Trump probably shouldn’t have done this via Twitter, because to call it that it was a wiretap is technically inaccurate. And the denials by the Obama people are like Bill Clinton asking what the meaning of “is” is with respect to was oral sex a sexual act. In this case, I understand from very good friends that what happened was both Jim Clapper and John Brennan at CIA were intimately involved in trying to derail the candidacy of Donald Trump. That there was some collusion overseas with Britain’s own GHCQ (sic). That information that was gathered from GHCQ (sic) was actually passed to John Brennan, and it was disseminated within the U.S. government. This dissemination was illegal. Donald Trump is in essence correct that the intelligence agencies and some in the law enforcement community on the side of the FBI were in fact illegally trying to access, monitor his communications with his aides, and with other people. All of this with an end to try to destroy and discredit his presidency. I don’t think there will be any doubt of that. 

My "very good friends." Heh.

Notable on Johnson's CV is a stint making up shit about Michelle Obama. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Note to Peter Taylor. I am withholding my sources and refusing to provide URL links. I am on HTML strike until I hear more about Johnson from an unimpeachable source.

Edited March 18, 2017 by william.scherk
Never explain. Let timestamps do the work. Keep moving.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Look at how the world is caving to President Trump.

G20 - Protectionism OK. Climate Change out--no problem.

Bids are opening for the wall with Mexico amid some righteous competition. 

Germany came over to talk to President Trump because he wants Germany to pay it's share in arrears for NATO.

That's just in the headlines today.

It's almost like Ayn Rand projected in Atlas Shrugged. Once you tell people you aren't giving them free shit anymore, they start acting a lot more respectful. Oh, the fanatics and their toady mouthpieces in the press are snarky, but not everybody else who had their hand out.  

Michael

[Peter]

Heartless and cruel, William wrote: Note to Peter Taylor. I am withholding my sources and refusing to provide URL links. I am on HTML strike until I hear more about Johnson from an unimpeachable source. end quote

You know how I crave links and verification. It is a verified fact that Canadians are related to Hobbits, are too short to play basketball, lack college funds for basketball, and refuse to participate in March Madness.   

Peter

Court Bans Use of I.Q. Tests for Blacks for Any Purpose in California State Schools: Press Release by Law Offices of Public Advocates, Inc., San Francisco, California. Dent, H.; And Others, Negro Educational Review, v38 n2-3 p190-99 Apr-Jul 1987: The use of standardized I.Q. tests for Blacks has been banned in California State schools. This court settlement culminated 15 years of legal action on a class action suit filed by Black parents for their children who had been disproportionately assigned to classes for the mentally retarded. (VM)

[Marc]

7 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

William,

You might try the same sources that caused the mainstream press to repeat nonstop for a few months--as settled fact (although false)--that the Russians caused Trump to win the election.

Those might be good sources if someone could possibly identify them.

The NYT and other mainstream media outlets constantly said: "... according to unnamed sources within [fill in the blank]."

btw - How come you weren't all that interested in identifying those sources?

   

Michael

Gotta love this !!!!!!!!!

[Marc]

On February 12, 2017 at 1:34 AM, moralist said:

Thanks Marc... all the credit belongs to Ayn Rand for inspiring me to build my own Galt's Gulch.

Greg

 

She inspired so many , yet you did build your own GG !!!!!!!   Way to go and tell me how to build mine, pretty please ?

[Marc]

On March 15, 2017 at 1:09 PM, Peter said:

"Truth may be stretched but cannot be broken. It always gets above falsehood as oil does above water." Miguel de Cervantes.

 

William quoted CNN who say they quoted: “GOP Rep. Devin Nunes says he has seen no evidence of President Trump's wiretapping claim against President Obama.”

 

Show me your badge! Is that proof or puff n stuff? Well, the tax bombshell backfired. Trump paid taxes! Some are speculating that the leak was FROM the Trump camp.

Peter

 

Gorden Lightfoot is 78 and still touring a little.

Early Mornin' Rain by Gordon Lightfoot

In the early mornin' rain
With a dollar in my hand
And an aching in my heart
And my pockets full of sand
I'm a long ways from home
And I missed my loved one so
In the early mornin' rain
With no place to go

Out on runway number nine
Big 707 set to go
Well I'm out here on the grass
Where the pavement never grows
Where the liquor tasted good
And the women all were fast
There she goes my friend
She's rolling out at last

Hear the mighty engines roar
See the silver wing on high
She's away and westward bound
For above the clouds she flies
Where the mornin' rain don't fall
And the sun always shines
She'll be flying over my home
In about three hours time . . .

people always be quoting us Canadians !!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

 

 

[Marc]

On March 5, 2017 at 11:18 AM, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

An excellent post at Free Republic:

Trump Set the Trap and the Rats (and RINOs) Walked In

I wrote the following elsewhere:

LS (the author) is Larry Schweikart. It's a very good analysis. I understand President Trump through this kind of lens. 

Besides, the doofuses who think they own the intelligence community forgot about a term called "industrial espionage." It looks like it simply didn't occur to them that a man who made $10 billion out of $1 million on the open market would know a thing or two about "industrial espionage," which can get even more dirty and brutal than government spy stuff.

And here's a HUUUUUUUUUGELY interesting section from Schweikart's post (my bold).

In a nutshell, when I saw President Trump say on TV a few days ago that Obama's opposition, etc., was nothing but politics and that's just normal, my antenna wiggled. That didn't sound like him.

Now I know it was rope-a-dope.

 

Michael

Float like a butterfly , sting like a bee . The great smell of Brut , and the punch of Ali

[Marc]

On February 25, 2017 at 3:31 PM, BaalChatzaf said:

You assume two things:

 

Trump will last until 2020  and that he will want to run again. 

I remember some goon stating on those here threads that Trump could not even win a single primary !!!!!

 

Dayam , I bet you he even wins the 3rd term !!!!

 

Remember some say that Hillary would be a 3rd Obama term , I am willing to bet dollars to donuts ( Canadian jokes - please insert here ----------  ) that Trump gets a 3rd term in 2024 , the 2nd term has already been guaranteed . 

 

Jared Kushner , 

[Marc]

On February 26, 2017 at 10:36 AM, Brant Gaede said:

Trump will last until 2019. He'll resign and let Pence take over.

--Brant

I can dumb speculate with the best of them!

And he puts on Chelsea Clinton as his VP !!!!!!!! 

[Marc]

On March 2, 2017 at 1:19 PM, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

This should go in the Trump Humor thread, but it fits so well here, I can't resist.

Michael

Mark Cuban did call the market collapse one time correctly .  I mean , he hedged his Yahoo shares but was that really a market prediction or a straight out hedge ?

 

I say it was a perfectly placed Hedge .

 

He did well on Netflix stock , I think .

 

Dow hits 50,000 before President Trump bows out in 2025 . 

[Marc]

On February 7, 2017 at 4:29 AM, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Here's a very funny episode regarding the segment of Trump's interview with O'Reilly aired before the Superbowl.

When O'Reilly said Putin was a killer, Trump said lots of people are killers. Then, "What? Do you think our country is so innocent?"

The media went apeshit in mass. Moral equivalence! Proof that Trump is a Putin puppet! Yada yada yada.

Rush Limbaugh had a few thoughts (see here). The gist is that the same people who think America is to blame for everything bad in the world are suddenly proponents of American Exceptionalism so they can bash Trump. Rush wonders where this outrage was when Obama went on his apology tour, essentially apologizing to the world for America being a killer.

But the funniest was between Tucker Carlson and David Horowitz last night. I don't know how long the following video will stay up, but it's funny as hell.

Tucker tried to nail David by practically adopting the Neocon stance that America does not kill, this is a moral equivalence, etc. etc., etc. All this was said in the right tone of subdued outrage.

David was having none of it. He said Trump was a patriot who deeply loves America, not someone who wants to denigrate it. When asked to give an example of America killing, David said that was easy. President Obama killed Muammar Gaddafi with no reason whatsoever to do that. And Hillary Clinton, his Secretary of State, showed up and said, "We came. We saw. He died." Har har har har har...

 

The look on Tucker's face was priceless. You can see him visibly giving it up and deflate.

I love Tucker and what he is doing, but I don't think he expected that one.

What's worse, the Neocons can't even complain because David mentioned the killing by their open adversary (Obama and Clinton).

Michael

I freaking love OL and the OL community !!!!!

 

 

[Brant Gaede]

The two-term presidential limit finally has benefited the country for it gave no chance for a third Obama term.

Eisenhower is the only prior President--the one after Roosevelt--who would have gotten a third term. (Kennedy is unknown for he was in his first term when assassinated.) Well, maybe Reagan.

--Brant

[Brant Gaede]

3 hours ago, Marc said:

Mark Cuban did call the market collapse one time correctly .  I mean , he hedged his Yahoo shares but was that really a market prediction or a straight out hedge ?

 

I say it was a perfectly placed Hedge .

 

He did well on Netflix stock , I think .

 

Dow hits 50,000 before President Trump bows out in 2025 . 

30,000, max.

Invest in emerging markets.

--Brant

[BaalChatzaf]

5 hours ago, Marc said:

I remember some goon stating on those here threads that Trump could not even win a single primary !!!!!

 

Dayam , I bet you he even wins the 3rd term !!!!

 

Remember some say that Hillary would be a 3rd Obama term , I am willing to bet dollars to donuts ( Canadian jokes - please insert here ----------  ) that Trump gets a 3rd term in 2024 , the 2nd term has already been guaranteed . 

 

Jared Kushner , 

third terms are not permitted under the 22 amendment.

The most anyone cans service as president is two terms plus a half term minus a day.

[moralist]

14 hours ago, Marc said:

She inspired so many , yet you did build your own GG !!!!!!!   Way to go and tell me how to build mine, pretty please ?

It's actually pretty straightforward and direct, Marc.

We bought a cheap piece of land in an unincorporated area with no local city government, on the border between civilization and raw open land. Then we cleared it and built a cheap little house for cash. There are no sidewalks or streetlights. The neighbors ride their horses down the road. The Coyotes howl at night and the Owls hoot. Outside our front door is thousands of acres of open land. It's quite rural here.

By definition, Galt's Gulch was a place where the ethical business values of Capitalism are the dominant ideology instead of the corrupt values of the government economic system.

What is the main control government has over people? It's debt. The government controls people through their debts. The whole corrupt economy runs on debt. So to live free of that system in Galt's Gulch simply means being 100% solvent. In this way, I'm free to operate my business by the ethical values of the Gulch. It's not difficult to find others who also live by the same ethical values with whom to do business. In this way I created my own economic microclimate which operates independently of the corrupt system.

[william.scherk]

22 hours ago, Lucida Console Peter Taylor said:

Heartless and cruel, William wrote: Note to Peter Taylor. I am withholding my sources and refusing to provide URL links. I am on HTML strike until I hear more about Johnson from an unimpeachable source. end quote

[Impacted-ed]

You know how I crave links and verification.

 

Dear Lucida Console Peter,
Microsoft Word is pleased to announce that from this moment forward, if you 'copy' and 'paste' a URL it will be 'saved' within the brain of MS Word. Thus, when you paste your internet-page copy-pasta splodges from MS Word to Objectivist Living, readers do not have to guess or hunt down where you 'copied' the information. Eg, http://splodgesource.org/splot/snip/flake.php&username=Lucida

F Y CN RD THS MSSG, Y MGHT WN SX MLLN DLLRS.

 

Senior advisor Bannon gets wind of Merkel's plans for Yurp:

-- to my HTML Strike conditions. I have found what may be a relatively unimpeachable source for more about Johnson's part in the GCHQ Napolitano Ask-FOX hoopla -- Johnson himself:

Ex-intelligence official: Napolitano's British wiretapping claim 'didn't get it right' … Larry Johnson, a former intelligence officer, said he served unknowingly as a source of Fox News senior analyst Andrew Napolitano, who incorrectly used his information to back the claim that British intelligence wiretapped Trump Tower.

 

.... from Memeorandum.com.

[Marc]

22 hours ago, Brant Gaede said:

30,000, max.

Invest in emerging markets.

--Brant

The dow is an emerging markets now due to John Galt being President . Its a new frontier  ! Lets settle on 40k and I buy you lunch

[Marc]

20 hours ago, BaalChatzaf said:

third terms are not permitted under the 22 amendment.

The most anyone cans service as president is two terms plus a half term minus a day.

 

20 hours ago, BaalChatzaf said:

third terms are not permitted under the 22 amendment.

The most anyone cans service as president is two terms plus a half term minus a day.

I meant like by proxy tongue in cheek such as Hillary being Obamas 3rd term

[Marc]

12 hours ago, moralist said:

It's actually pretty straightforward and direct, Marc.

We bought a cheap piece of land in an unincorporated area with no local city government, on the border between civilization and raw open land. Then we cleared it and built a cheap little house for cash. There are no sidewalks or streetlights. The neighbors ride their horses down the road. The Coyotes howl at night and the Owls hoot. Outside our front door is thousands of acres of open land. It's quite rural here.

By definition, Galt's Gulch was a place where the ethical business values of Capitalism are the dominant ideology instead of the corrupt values of the government economic system.

What is the main control government has over people? It's debt. The government controls people through their debts. The whole corrupt economy runs on debt. So to live free of that system in Galt's Gulch simply means being 100% solvent. In this way, I'm free to operate my business by the ethical values of the Gulch. It's not difficult to find others who also live by the same ethical values with whom to do business. In this way I created my own economic microclimate which operates independently of the corrupt system.

OMFG , how amazing !!!!!!!!!!   Is that in California or can you even tell me ? PM or DM me , if better !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Love it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Are Canadians allowed to come there ??????  I want in 

[Brant Gaede]

45 minutes ago, Marc said:

The dow is an emerging markets now due to John Galt being President . Its a new frontier  ! Lets settle on 40k and I buy you lunch

32,500 is the best I can do.

--Brant

and buy me lunch

[Brant Gaede]

12 hours ago, moralist said:

It's actually pretty straightforward and direct, Marc.

We bought a cheap piece of land in an unincorporated area with no local city government, on the border between civilization and raw open land. Then we cleared it and built a cheap little house for cash. There are no sidewalks or streetlights. The neighbors ride their horses down the road. The Coyotes howl at night and the Owls hoot. Outside our front door is thousands of acres of open land. It's quite rural here.

By definition, Galt's Gulch was a place where the ethical business values of Capitalism are the dominant ideology instead of the corrupt values of the government economic system.

What is the main control government has over people? It's debt. The government controls people through their debts. The whole corrupt economy runs on debt. So to live free of that system in Galt's Gulch simply means being 100% solvent. In this way, I'm free to operate my business by the ethical values of the Gulch. It's not difficult to find others who also live by the same ethical values with whom to do business. In this way I created my own economic microclimate which operates independently of the corrupt system.

And I'll huff and I'll puff . . . 

--Brant

[moralist]

1 hour ago, Marc said:

OMFG , how amazing !!!!!!!!!!   Is that in California or can you even tell me ? PM or DM me , if better !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Love it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Are Canadians allowed to come there ??????  I want in 

There's no secret to this, Marc.

Property ownership is public record in California. So I'm living right out in plain sight totally legal, all permitted and inspected with a Certificate of Occupancy.

The complete "Galt's Gulch" venture cost $200K. Current Zillow valuation is $940K. For an equity ROI of 470%. This is the beauty of American Capitalism. If you're willing to assume personal risks with your own personal capital... you can reap fantastic rewards.

To me, "Atlas Shrugged" isn't fiction. It's an American Capitalist business ethics operations manual.  And Galt's Gulch is a project building plan.

I took Ayn Rand literally...  and manifested what she wrote about.

 

Greg

[jts]

1 hour ago, moralist said:

To me, "Atlas Shrugged" isn't fiction. It's an American Capitalist business ethics operations manual.  And Galt's Gulch is a project building plan.

I took Ayn Rand literally...  and manifested what she wrote about.

 

Greg

Did Ayn Rand herself achieve Galt's Gulch?