Donald Trump

[Peter]

5 Ways America's Success is Ruining Our Culture by John Hawkins Posted: May 18, 2018 12:01 AM . . . . So, it’s no surprise that the dysfunctionality of our government has grown by orders of magnitude since the Evil Empire went the way of the Dodo . . . .  Instead of worrying about how to keep the capitalist Golden Goose that produced all this wealth laying eggs, the assumption is that it will go on forever, no matter what we do. If only that assumption was right . . . . end quote

How do we keep feeding the golden goose? Laissez Faire suggests we keep our hands off. President Trump is seconding that motion, except in the case of bad, former trade agreements. And he is utilizing “some” executive orders and his variation of Teddy Roosevelt’s “bully pulpit” to promote specific actions that could and should increase our nation’s wealth. Fortunately, he is not greatly increasing government funding to pet projects like electric cars or the colonization of Mars.

I am not worried. But I will add the words, “so far, so good.” In the future, there exists a majority of conservative voters who would vocally and skeptically veto any frivolous spending. As he recently said about the economy and foreign policy, “I am doing everything right.” The evidence shows Laissez Faire works and our President knows it. He has the correct method of thinking . . . and he has “the right stuff.”

I suggest Conservatives and Libertarians continue to voice their support of the President and his policies. I am still leery of giving money to political causes in November unless it is local. But I will have 20/20 vision in 2020. Wow. Did I just think that up? joke

Rightfully, the people who were promoting the “Impeach Trump” cause are now viewed as not just “lame,” but possibly “insane.” I have the TV turned to CBS and as the Young and the Restless just came on Jack Abbot said, “I am not a blood Abbot.” Oh, the drama to both dilemmas. “A pox on both your houses.”

Peter

[Peter]

Did you see the TV show “Victoria”? Political analysts sometimes do better work when their party is in the minority. Here on OL, what can you say now that, to some degree, “our dream,” is playing out? Yadda, yadda. Repeat, repeat. The same old things. Luckily we have a President who relishes the limelight and is willing to toss out new ideas.

Ah, crap. No news, is good news. Unfortunately, there is always bad news to keep feeding fodder to “the nattering nabobs of negativism,” like the news of this newest school shooting. As one idea, the lines of communication could be strengthened between high school students and mental health officials. There will be young “rat finks” who try to ruin more popular students, and groupies who want to “tell on” everyone they deem suspicious, but mental health could come up with posters on the walls and half hour classes, that tell students what to look for before reported anyone as suspicious. Should President Trump get involved? 

[william.scherk]

On 5/11/2018 at 3:03 PM, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

About Jerome Corsi, if anyone wants to see what he's about and doesn't feel like going to the alt media, why not try...

(drumroll)

... C-SPAN?

 

Jerome Corsi is such a kook and so discredited, he will be on After Words [ADDED: https://www.c-span.org/video/?442260-1/after-words-jerome-corsi]  and interviewed by Sharyl Attkisson.

 

[caroljane]

4 hours ago, Peter said:

Did you see the TV show “Victoria”? Political analysts sometimes do better work when their party is in the minority. Here on OL, what can you say now that, to some degree, “our dream,” is playing out? Yadda, yadda. Repeat, repeat. The same old things. Luckily we have a President who relishes the limelight and is willing to toss out new ideas.

 

 

Ah, crap. No news, is good news. Unfortunately, there is always bad news to keep feeding fodder to “the nattering nabobs of negativism,” like the news of this newest school shooting. As one idea, the lines of communication could be strengthened between high school students and mental health officials. There will be young “rat finks” who try to ruin more popular students, and groupies who want to “tell on” everyone they deem suspicious, but mental health could come up with posters on the walls and half hour classes, that tell students what to look for before reported anyone as suspicious. Should President Trump get involved? 

Yes, I did see "Victoria" . a n excellent and historically truthful drama.  The marriage between  Vic and her consort was quite as passionate and compatible as shown .. The only detail to my mind is,  though the court painters tried their hardest, Victoria was nowhere near as beautiful as Emily Blunt.  But I don't think Albert cared much.

You are right abut minority governments also, which have worked well for us here., but the US system seems to be winner take all. and the role of the minority is just to impede whatever they can.

[caroljane]

And further to your musings, Peter. Ho-hum, another school shooting,

If it should be your own  grandchildren dead, I must suppose you would be comforted by the fact that they died as patriots for the 2nd Amendment, and have watered the Tree of Liberty to the glory of your family

Should President Trump get involved? No worries, he already is - he made  major speeches recently in support of the NRA, which might have heartened the shooter to his task. 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

The following link goes to RCP Video.

Clapper: "A Good Thing" If FBI Had Someone "Observing" Russian Interactions With Trump Campaign

You can even see this creep saying it. But go to the link. I don't feel like embedding his sorry ass here.

As Rush Limbaugh asked earlier today, if the Russians were really the target, why didn't they put a spy in the Hillary Clinton campaign? Her collusion with the Russians to influence the presidential election is amply documented and getting more and more documented every day.

And, of course, if we extend the logic of Clapper, President Trump will be fully justified in using US law enforcement and intelligence agencies to spy the hell out of the opposition party in the next election because that would be a "good thing."

Disgusting...

Michael

[william.scherk]

Mole, Informant, 'Spy' ... Secret FBI source ... ?

On 5/11/2018 at 3:53 PM, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

There's a lot of talk going around that the FBI under President Obama planted an informer within the Trump campaign during the elections.

Edited May 19, 2018 by william.scherk
Removed extraneous link; cued MSNBC report to meat of matter

[Peter]

17 hours ago, caroljane said:

And further to your musings, Peter. Ho-hum, another school shooting,

If it should be your own  grandchildren dead, I must suppose you would be comforted by the fact that they died as patriots for the 2nd Amendment, and have watered the Tree of Liberty to the glory of your family

Should President Trump get involved? No worries, he already is - he made  major speeches recently in support of the NRA, which might have heartened the shooter to his task. 

You are one mean bitch. The "shooter" was teased because he was "different" wore a black trench coat even when it was in the 90's, and he wore Nazi medals on his jacket.  

From NEWSMAX:  Bernie Kerik: Security, Intelligence Key to Stopping School Shootings. Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik told Newsmax TV on Friday that greater school security and better intelligence were necessary to thwart shootings like the one Friday at Santa Fe High School. "If you're a school superintendent nowadays, you've got to be pretty naïve if you're not securing your facilities," Kerik, who oversaw the city's forces during 9/11, told "Newsmax Now" host John Bachman.

"If somebody wants to create death and destruction, mass casualties — if this kid didn't have the proper weapons or firearms, he would've used explosives. "If he didn't have explosives, he would've walked into the school with a machete. "You don't know what's in their minds. You have to look at them in the aftermath of what happened," he said.

"The bottom line is: You need to secure the facilities. "If any school superintendent or principal at this point doesn't get it, they shouldn't be in the position they're in." Kerik told Bachman that intelligence would also be critical. "Intelligence is going to be the big contributing factor in stopping this," he said. "Monitoring these kids' social media platforms, developing a reporting mechanism in schools where kids can report stuff like this. "It's extremely important. "Don't tell me that nobody — somebody who knew this kid — didn't know that he was like this. "Somebody knew," Kerik said. "Somebody saw his social media. "They have to have a platform to report this — and the schools have to have a platform to monitor and look at this stuff for everyone at their school, like a flagging mechanism." end quote

[Peter]

From Rasmussen Reports. What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls/ in Politics. Daily Presidential Tracking Poll. 41% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction. Democrats Hold Lead Again This Week, Saturday, May 19, 2018.

Americans seem to be coming around to President Trump’s point of view on a couple of key foreign policy issues. Fifty-one percent (51%) of Likely U.S. Voters now believe the president’s upcoming meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is likely to result in the slowing or stopping of North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons. Just two months ago, 51% considered that unlikely.

On the recommendation of his national security team, Trump has backed away from his plans to reduce U.S. forces on the Korean peninsula. But far fewer voters now oppose pulling troops out of South Korea, and more support withdrawing troops from Western Europe. 

Just over half of voters now agree with the president’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The U.S Embassy in Israel opened there this week.

end quote

[caroljane]

4 hours ago, Peter said:

You are one mean bitch. The "shooter" was teased because he was "different" wore a black trench coat even when it was in the 90's, and he wore Nazi medals on his jacket.  

From NEWSMAX:  Bernie Kerik: Security, Intelligence Key to Stopping School Shootings. Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik told Newsmax TV on Friday that greater school security and better intelligence were necessary to thwart shootings like the one Friday at Santa Fe High School. "If you're a school superintendent nowadays, you've got to be pretty naïve if you're not securing your facilities," Kerik, who oversaw the city's forces during 9/11, told "Newsmax Now" host John Bachman.

I suppose I am pretty mean. I feel mean knowing that these so-easy-to-spot-in-hindsight shooters will just keep killing and shooting, and shooting and killing, because they will always be able to easily get hold of those first guns, the only ones they  need.

4 hours ago, Peter said:

"If somebody wants to create death and destruction, mass casualties — if this kid didn't have the proper weapons or firearms, he would've used explosives. "If he didn't have explosives, he would've walked into the school with a machete. "You don't know what's in their minds. You have to look at them in the aftermath of what happened," he said.

Much as I respect retired NYPD officers,  fatalism  and turning schools into civil war zones seems  a sad remedy.  many, many unbalanced people are thwarted in violent intentions, homicidal or suicidal, by being balked in their preferred means (usually firearms). Suicide barriers on bridges, for example, actually do reduce suicides. Strict civilian gun control does reduce gunshot deaths and injuries, statistically speaking, in the countries where it exists. But America  being Exceptional,  led by your brave draft-dodger president,  you  know your way is better, and your youngest generation is there to prove it for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Peter said:

 

 

"The bottom line is: You need to secure the facilities. "If any school superintendent or principal at this point doesn't get it, they shouldn't be in the position they're in." Kerik told Bachman that intelligence would also be critical. "Intelligence is going to be the big contributing factor in stopping this," he said. "Monitoring these kids' social media platforms, developing a reporting mechanism in schools where kids can report stuff like this. "It's extremely important. "Don't tell me that nobody — somebody who knew this kid — didn't know that he was like this. "Somebody knew," Kerik said. "Somebody saw his social media. "They have to have a platform to report this — and the schools have to have a platform to monitor and look at this stuff for everyone at their school, like a flagging mechanism." end quote

This is how to do it!  Spy on the kids and get the government involved, what a foolproof idea!

[Peter]

Remember Marilyn Monroe singing, "Happy Birthday, Mr. President," to JFK and the expression on John's face? Boing! He couldn't stop grinning. Come on Duance, sing . . . 

I see the security guy who ran at the school shooter has flatlined, but they brought him back to life. I wish him well. 

Fox is saying Trump has cancelled some of the "war games" with South Korea.    

[william.scherk]

Cernovich 2X: "Texas shooter wore ANTIFA hammer-and-sickle gang logo" ... "the demonic energy is a far-left-wing energy" ... "a perfect demonstration of the connection between Satanism and the demonic forces at work ..."

2 hours ago, caroljane said:

6 hours ago, Peter said:

On 5/18/2018 at 2:52 PM, caroljane said:

Should President Trump get involved? No worries, he already is - he made  major speeches recently in support of the NRA, which might have heartened the shooter to his task. 

You are one mean bitch. The "shooter" was teased because he was "different" wore a black trench coat even when it was in the 90's, and he wore Nazi medals on his jacket.  

I suppose I am pretty mean. I feel mean knowing that these so-easy-to-spot-in-hindsight shooters will just keep killing and shooting, and shooting and killing, because they will always be able to easily get hold of those first guns, the only ones they  need.

Edited May 19, 2018 by william.scherk
Added 2X hook for my Cernovich being helpful meme intro; added verbatim teases ...

[Peter]

Thanks, William , but the sound was so fast I could not understand what he was saying, except the patch on the monster's jacket was the hammer and sickle, not a Nazi emblem. Who has killed more "innocent people," the Commies or the Nazis? I will bet it was the butchering commies. So, the high school murderer knows his evil! Did that theory that "the downward sloping outside of the eyes indicates a greater chance of being a psychopath" ever pan out or was it like phrenology? Uh, oh, Beavis he said 'slope." Maybe Asian people are excluded from that slander.

Or as Stormy said about the Prez, average, average, average, but back in those days, she probably can't remember.

Crossword clue, four letters: What ends with a bell? The NYSE.

Crossword clue, four letters: Who said, "Two by Two?" Noah.   

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

5 hours ago, caroljane said:

I feel mean knowing that these so-easy-to-spot-in-hindsight shooters will just keep killing and shooting, and shooting and killing, because they will always be able to easily get hold of those first guns, the only ones they  need.

Carol,

Let's be fair. The mass shooters will almost always use them in gun-free zones. They need gun-free zones in addition to a gun to do their mass shooting evil.

Here's an idea. We could outlaw gun-free zones...

   

Michael

[caroljane]

11 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Carol,

Let's be fair. The mass shooters will almost always use them in gun-free zones. They need gun-free zones in addition to a gun to do their mass shooting evil.

Here's an idea. We could outlaw gun-free zones...

   Michael

.... Exactly!  We wouldn't need the zone designation if there weren't any guns to be free of! By George, I think you've got it!

Happily, 

Carol

[anthony]

"...if there weren't any guns to be free of..." is quite a Utopian fallacy. Guns won't simply disappear, since when law-abiding people will hand their guns over, by their nature, criminals and killers won't. Outlawing them will just drive the market for weapons underground - for the right price anyone will continue to have access, without even the present background checks.

[Brant Gaede]

The primary reason Americans need guns is in case of general societal breakdown and chaos to protect themselves from others with guns. There is no guaranteeing the future political stability of the USA. When push comes to shove--and it likely will one day--the good Americans with guns will neutralize the bad Americans--with or without guns--and spike that chaos. Consider the 200 lb bad guy breaking into grandma's house, even if he's unarmed, but she has a gun and uses it.

--Brant

the Second Amendment is a secondary right codified in constitutional law; the primary right is the right to self defense which logically implies the right of someone to have the necessary tools for self defense; if the Amendment--or any Amendment for that matter--is repealed the primary right remains; anyone has the right to do anything one wants to and can do as long as physical force is not initiated

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

3 hours ago, caroljane said:

We wouldn't need the zone designation...

Carol,

I don't follow. How would passing a law making gun free zones illegal work if you ban the name of the very thing you are outlawing? How can I ban you from entering my safe space if I can't use your name? (I, Michael, would never want to do that, but suppose there are multiple universes as in quantum physics and reincarnation existed and in one of the universes I was reincarnated as a lilly-white snowflake on a university campus...)

Let's put it this way. My kind of solution would reduce mass shootings to almost nothing. So that solves a big problem. Most gun control advocates find this kind of solution repugnant. That tells me their problem is not the mass shootings. It's their need to keep validating an inner belief and, of course, all that delicious outrage they get to express.

But mass shootings. Ah... if we find a way to eliminate that with guns, that doesn't count for them.

 

Michael

[caroljane]

1 hour ago, Brant Gaede said:

The primary reason Americans need guns is in case of general societal breakdown and chaos to protect themselves from others with guns. There is no guaranteeing the future political stability of the USA. When push comes to shove--and it likely will one day--the good Americans with guns will neutralize the bad Americans--with or without guns--and spike that chaos. Consider the 200 lb bad guy breaking into grandma's house, even if he's unarmed, but she has a gun and uses it.

--Brant

Consider the poor one-legged guy "defending" himself against his able-bodied girlfriend,  who is hiding from him in a bathroom.  Overwhelmingly, statistically, it is people you know who will shoot you, either accidentally or on purpose, in gang hate or ruined disappointed love and rage.

Your belief that it is "likely" for US society to break down may be likely but is unprovable ; I personally have more faith in your fellow Americans that you do. But your belief, and other rationalizations like that one,  are beliefs strong enough to die for, as we have seen.  Or rather, to sacrifice your youngest and most vulnerable citizens for, while the safe  old armed men chase phantom pedophile rings as far more dangerous  than real murderers.. 

[caroljane]

5 minutes ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Carol,

I don't follow. How would passing a law making gun free zones illegal work if you ban the name of the very thing you are outlawing? How can I ban you from entering my safe space if I can't use your name?

 

 

Michael

Michael, I was being disingenuous, for once trying to find a lightness in this horribly heavy subject.

Not too successfully, I guess.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

6 minutes ago, caroljane said:

... while the safe  old armed men chase phantom pedophile rings as far more dangerous...

Carol,

And, believe me, we will catch them.

And woe be to them when we do.

We love children and despise those who want to damage children (including indoctrinators who mask themselves as teachers, but that's another subject  ). 

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

13 minutes ago, caroljane said:

Michael, I was being disingenuous, for once trying to find a lightness in this horribly heavy subject.

Not too successfully, I guess.

Carol,

The problem comes from politicizing a tragedy and blaming people who were not part of that tragedy to prompt feelings of shame and guilt in them--all in order to get them to submit to more and more big government.

That, to me, is dancing on the graves of the dead children to promote a political agenda.

What's worse, most of the people who do the dancing don't even realize they are holding an outrage party with beer and pretzels in a graveyard. They don't even realize their dance floor--the one they want to show on TV and anywhere they can get an audience--is on top of graves. But, man, when they feel there's an audience looking, do they like to grandstand.

So I don't hate them like they tend to hate people like me, but I don't accept unearned shame and guilt from them, either. The shooter killed those children, not me.

I do my own share of protecting children.

Michael

[caroljane]

1 hour ago, anthony said:

"...if there weren't any guns to be free of..." is quite a Utopian fallacy. Guns won't simply disappear, since when law-abiding people will hand their guns over, by their nature, criminals and killers won't. Outlawing them will just drive the market for weapons underground - for the right price anyone will continue to have access, without even the present background checks.

Of course I am not that utopian; as I said above, it is known that where there are fewer guns  among the population, legal and illegal, there are fewer gunshot deaths. It is about harm reduction.  Or saving lives that would otherwise be lost, to be starry-eyed about it.

[caroljane]

4 minutes ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Carol,

The problem comes from politicizing a tragedy and blaming people who were not part of that tragedy to prompt feelings of shame and guilt in them--all in order to get them to submit to more and more big government.

That, to me, is dancing on the graves of the dead children to promote a political agenda.

What's worse, most of the people who do the dancing don't even realize they are holding an outrage party with beer and pretzels in a graveyard. They don't even realize their dance floor--the one they want to show on TV and anywhere they can get an audience--is on top of graves. But, man, when they feel there's an audience looking, do they like to grandstand.

So I don't hate them like they tend to hate people like me, but I don't accept unearned shame and guilt from them, either.

I do my own share of protecting children.

Michael

The last instance I heard of advancing a political agenda by dancing on the graves of the dead children,  was Alex Jones who got a lot of mileage out of insulting them and their parents by pretending they weren't even dead -- somehow, it was the left who were at fault.  He had to recant because he's getting sued, but that likely won't be a problem. The Texas judges are friendly to his views.

[Peter]

2 hours ago, Brant Gaede said:

The primary reason Americans need guns is in case of general societal breakdown and chaos to protect themselves from others with guns. There is no guaranteeing the future political stability of the USA. When push comes to shove--and it likely will one day--the good Americans with guns will neutralize the bad Americans--with or without guns--and spike that chaos. Consider the 200 lb bad guy breaking into grandma's house, even if he's unarmed, but she has a gun and uses it.

--Brant

the Second Amendment is a secondary right codified in constitutional law; the primary right is the right to self defense which logically implies the right of someone to have the necessary tools for self defense; if the Amendment--or any Amendment for that matter--is repealed the primary right remains; anyone has the right to do anything one wants to and can do as long as physical force is not initiated

As weapons become more advanced, their affect is more instantaneous and perhaps more humane, but if a person survives, I would prefer weapons that leave fewer scars and permanent damage. It is a shame that there needs to be a “wounded warrior project” but the alternative is worse for our soldiers.  

Which method of dispatch is more “humane?” Hand phasers. Phaser Rifle. Compression phaser rifle. Phaser cannon. Disintegrator. Cannon. Projectile rifle. Hand gun. Catapult. Bow and arrow. Sling shot. Spear. Pitch fork. Rock. Hand or foot.

I spared everyone from suffocation by question marks, which brings up all those forensic books and shows throughout the years. How a person is murdered is a fascinating subject. Here are a few more recent shows I may have watched. Bones, all the NCIS shows, Law and Order and SVU, both Hawaii Five O’s, Elementary, Bull, Sherlock, How to get away with murder, The sopranos, Midsummer murders on PBS, The wire, The mentalist, Person of interest, Monk. Boardwalk Empire, Rizzoli and Isles, The Closer, and Major Crimes, and Unforgettable,   

And going back further, all things Agatha Christie, and Murder she wrote, Columbo, Perry Mason, NYPD Blue, Baywatch,  Without a Trace, Boston Legal, Barnaby Jones, Charley’s Angels, the Rockford Files, Quincy, and Cagney and Lacey.  

I must say the ones with female detectives and were my favorites. Brenda on The Closer may be my all-time favorite. I am not sure why female detectives are better but they just are.

Peter