Donald Trump Presidency-Day One

And yet again, this time the Hatch Act, which it appears has been violate by Kellyanne Conway. What is the point of employing all those lawyers if they don't know what it is legal and what is not -or as said before, just don't care?

The White House aide Kellyanne Conway violated federal law on at least two occasions last year by “advocating for and against candidates” from her official position as counselor to the US president, according to a federal watchdog.

The determination was made by the US Office of Special Counsel on Tuesday, and relates to comments Conway made during the Alabama special election between Roy Moore and Doug Jones to fill the seat vacated by the attorney general, Jeff Sessions. OSC is not related to the ongoing special counsel investigation by Robert Mueller into the Trump administration.

According to the OSC, in TV appearances on 20 November and 6 December, 2017, Conway “impermissibly mixed official government business with political views about the candidates in the Alabama special election”, violating the Hatch Act.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-says-watchdog

But she's so cute, and a little bit of an airhead. Can't you find it in your heart to forgive her just one - okay - two little infractions.

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Originally Posted by trish

But she's so cute, and a little bit of an airhead. Can't you find it in your heart to forgive her just one - okay - two little infractions.

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I am not an American, merely a critical observer in these matters. There used to be a principle in the UK that if a Minister presided over a mess-up in his or her department, or misled Parliament, they would resign, a principle that seems to have died without an autopsy some years ago. Ms Conway may be as fragrant as Ann Coulter, I am not sure who has the best barnet, but if basic principles go, or are not even applied, it sounds hollow when we criticize other countries for the conduct of their government.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/u...us-mcgahn.html

Told Mcgahn to fire Mueller in June. Then when this was revealed in a NYT story, Trump had Rob Porter ask McGahn to deny it and indicated he might be fired if he didn't. Trump also asked Reince Priebus how his interview with Mueller went. None of it looks good for him. They're apparently negotiating terms with Trump to talk to Mueller. I can't wait. I recommend the full article.

On deciding the credibility issues, notice how Trump disputes conversations with three or four people already. He's the common denominator.

Trump stinks like yesterday's fish, the only sin in his world is the truth. Luckily, we've got our own Madame DeFarge, digitized, who has access to practically everything under the sun that's happened the last seven years. Anywhere. Isn't Seychelles a pretty name? I once bumped into a Russian in a bar there.
I think at one time, Trump was considering contracting out the entire Afghanistan War to Blackwater Inc., maybe he wanted to corner the world heroin market.
Dig deep, Mueller, follow the stink.

One wonders what this man uses for brains...

Donald Trump has announced his 2020 election slogan will be "Keep America Great!" The US president, speaking at a a rally in the industrial heartland of Pennsylvania, said: "We can't say 'Make America Great Again' because I already did that.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...rails-against/

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Originally Posted by Stavros

One wonders what this man uses for brains...

Donald Trump has announced his 2020 election slogan will be "Keep America Great!" The US president, speaking at a a rally in the industrial heartland of Pennsylvania, said: "We can't say 'Make America Great Again' because I already did that.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...rails-against/

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& your point is? According to UK media; The Economy as picked up & unemployment is down! I know this bloke is unpopular but facts are facts. We know him getting elected was another slap in the face for you lot but live with it. Oh...& fuck the telegraph!

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/09/b...bs-report.html

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Originally Posted by peejaye

& your point is? According to UK media; The Economy as picked up & unemployment is down! I know this bloke is unpopular but facts are facts. We know him getting elected was another slap in the face for you lot but live with it. Oh...& fuck the telegraph!
l

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And in the graph in the NYT link you have provided it shows that there has been a year on year decrease in unemployment since -wait for it- 2009, yep, that is the year Obama's presidency began to mature. So thank Obama and his team for stabilizing the US economy and returning confidence to spur a degree of economic growth without imposing tariffs or making infantile threats to China or the EU. Or maybe you really think the Russian-backed President has turned the economy around in a year? I don't think Jesus could do that, and no, that's not the LA taxi driver who ripped me off last time I was there.

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Originally Posted by peejaye

& your point is? According to UK media; The Economy as picked up & unemployment is down! I know this bloke is unpopular but facts are facts. We know him getting elected was another slap in the face for you lot but live with it. Oh...& fuck the telegraph!

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I'm curious as to why someone who is an avowed left-winger and Corbyn fan defends right-wing autocrats like Trump and Putin. You are always very critical of the UK Conservative government for favouring the rich and cutting government services - Trump is going further in the US than they would ever dream of, yet you can only say good things about him. The UK unemployment rate is about the same as the US, and has been falling at a similar rate, yet according to you the UK is a disaster while the US is going great.

I'm not saying this to defend the UK government at all - I'm just interested in whether you can rationalise the apparent glaring discrepancy. Is it just that you are sympathetic toward Trump and Putin because people you regard as 'the establishment' don't like them?

I wasn't saying good things about Trump. I don't like him either. I was reporting on what the UK media are saying about the US economy! That's it.
If the Tories were doing some good in this country I wouldn't moan as much but you & I know everything they're doing is persecuting poor people & defending the rich & privileged.
Education, Health & social care, The Police Force, The Army, Public transport are all dysfunctional & we're all paying taxes for what?

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Originally Posted by Stavros

And in the graph in the NYT link you have provided it shows that there has been a year on year decrease in unemployment since -wait for it- 2009, yep, that is the year Obama's presidency began to mature. So thank Obama and his team for stabilizing the US economy and returning confidence to spur a degree of economic growth without imposing tariffs or making infantile threats to China or the EU. Or maybe you really think the Russian-backed President has turned the economy around in a year? I don't think Jesus could do that, and no, that's not the LA taxi driver who ripped me off last time I was there.

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I wouldn't believe a thing you said anymore if you told me tomorrow was Wednesday! You're just throwing toys everywhere because you've been kicked out of your millionaires club. I've got your card well & truly marked. :yayo:

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Originally Posted by peejaye

I wouldn't believe a thing you said anymore if you told me tomorrow was Wednesday! You're just throwing toys everywhere because you've been kicked out of your millionaires club. I've got your card well & truly marked. :yayo:

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What a silly post! Don't take my word for it, just look at the evidence! It is even in your link, if you actually read it. It takes more than a year to turn an economy round, the US began to recover from the shocks of 2008 when Obama became President. Those are verifiable facts, but you are free to defend the worthless drivel of those authors of 'broken America', 'American carnage' for whom evidence only exists to be dismissed when it doesn't suit their agenda.

CP Snow said it: Comment is free, facts are sacred.

It has emerged over the weekend via the whistleblower's revelations about Cambridge Analytica, that the Republican party has broken the Federal law on elections not once, but twice -in the 2014 mid-term elections and in the 2016 Presidential Election even though Steve Bannon was told by the lawyers that Cambridge Analytica was breaking the law (as if they cared!)-

Cambridge Analytica employed non-American citizens to work on US election campaigns in apparent violation of federal law, despite receiving a legal warning about the risks.

The company’s responsibilities under US law were laid out in a lawyer’s memo to the company’s vice-president, Steve Bannon, British CEO Alexander Nix and Rebekah Mercer, daughter of billionaire owner Robert Mercer, in July 2014. It made it clear that most senior and mid-level positions involving strategy, planning, fundraising or campaigning needed to be filled by US citizens.

“Any decision maker must be a US citizen or green card holder,” the memo, seen by the Observer, warned. It also provided a brief legal history of cases involving foreign involvement in election campaigns, drawn up by a lawyer at the firm founded by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

“To the extent you are aware of foreign nationals providing services, including polling and marketing, it would appear that unless it is being done through US citizens, or foreign nationals with green cards, the activity would violate the law.”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...yees-political

please

kill me now!!!!

https://image.ibb.co/cvSnnx/John_Bolton.jpg
how to host images[/CENTER]This is all a dream, right?

Your surprised? Trump is clearly on a mission to get rid of anyone who's prepared to stand up to him and argue against his worst instincts. How long for John Kelly and Jim Mattis I wonder?

I guess this marks the end of the Trump who was sceptical about foreign military interventions?

Ron Burgandy's really let himself go! :shrug

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Originally Posted by buttslinger

please

kill me now!!!!

https://image.ibb.co/cvSnnx/John_Bolton.jpg
how to host images[/CENTER]This is all a dream, right?

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Collusion!

https://www.thedailybeast.com/exclus...mpression=true

i worked for Trump at Trump Shuttle.
He fucked me over for 15 G's
Peanuts to him,a missed rent check and a apartment to me.
i did over 250 flights with the groper.
i have stories.
The man is a disease to society.
Supporters,go FUCK YOURSEVLES.

Staff members provide Trump with folders twice a day filled with favorable news articles, flattering tweets, and even pictures of the president for him to pore over. This for a man who can’t be bothered to read national security briefings,


the Cabinet meetings began with Trump calling on each member so they praise him and express appreciation for working for him

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Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs.

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Remember when he tweeted this? Yet Hillary was the liar.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.0ce61c3e4e2d

Maybe Amazon.com is going to show Trump what real money and pull can do. They're dancing him into a corner.

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Originally Posted by buttslinger

Maybe Amazon.com is going to show Trump what real money and pull can do. They're dancing him into a corner.

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What you could do is wait for the President to bad mouth a major corporation, watch its stock price fall -and buy, counting your profits with a smile six months later. Why else is this man in the Presidency if not to use it for financial gain?

As for prosecutions, the first person prosecuted by Mueller has been given a 30-day jail sentence for lying, which at least makes it clear that lies can be punished.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-investigation

As for Amazon, the President either doesn't bother with the facts, can't add up, or is only interested in their stock price...his nonsense remarks about Amazon and the US Postal Service debunked here-
https://www.independent.co.uk/infact...-a8287016.html

Donald doesn't give a shit about Amazon's business practices or how it uses the mail. The pressure in his bloviating pipes is caused by his irrepressible hatred for the Washington Post and it's owner Jeff Bezos.

Besos has a lot more money than Trump. More Power??? We'll see.
Trump should buy some tobacco companies, I heard in Prison the currency is cigarettes.

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Originally Posted by trish

Donald doesn't give a shit about Amazon's business practices or how it uses the mail. The pressure in his bloviating pipes is caused by his irrepressible hatred for the Washington Post and it's owner Jeff Bezos.

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It now appears that it might go beyond your tasteful assessment. It is about the difference between 'bricks and mortar' and e-commerce, something that has passed by the Chief Executive and his buddy Rupert Murdoch. One assessment of property in Manhattan suggests that the success of online retailers like Amazon has led to a decline in the value of Manhattan real estate and that this has directly affected the Billionaire CEO of America LLC-

“Values of several Manhattan properties, particularly those on or near Fifth Avenue, have dropped, shaving nearly $400 million off his fortune,” the magazine says.Appearing on CNN Tuesday, Forbes assistant managing editor Kerry Dolan specifically leveled blame for Trump’s losses on Amazon. Specifically citing the lease of the Niketown store and the Trump Tower property, Dolan said that retailers are suffering--even on the high end. It would appear that Amazon’s strategy of e-commerce over brick and mortar retail is winning, and that is having an effect on real estate values, she added.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazo...225554760.html

But, if the President were to propose the use of anti-trust law to break up Amazon, this would surely not revive the 'mom and pop' or corner stores of ye olde Amerique? E-Commerce is here to stay, it is not a fad. Are city councils going to reduce their rents for commercial property?

In rural areas mom-and-pop businesses died a long time ago when franchises spread and took root everywhere. WallMarts, Hallmarks, CVS’s, Barnes & Nobles, Olive Gardens, etc. Homogeneity is the price Americans are willing to pay for predicable quality and service.

When Amazon first started it sold books. You bought them online and they sent them to you through the mail. Then they sold kindles and e-books. Border’s Books was one of the first brick and mortar franchises to die probably because of direct competition with Amazon. Now that Amazon sells just about everything under the Sun, others find themselves in a much more competitive market because of Amazon’s head start on online-commerce.

I had not thought what it means to the real estate market as brick and mortar stores either die or switch to the online model. But apparently those with an interest in these matters see a correlation between declining real estate values, the decline in the retail market and the rise of online shopping.

Oddly, the mom-and-pop stores that are able to thrive often do so because they have an online presence. Arts and crafts supplies, vitamins, birdhouses, scratching posts for cats etc. can be bought from small online businesses. Some are businesses that have a brick and mortar presence in some small town somewhere, others are literally ma and pa working out of their home. Some of these businesses work with and through Amazon.

Is Amazon too big? Should it be broken up? I have no current opinion, although I’m quite certain Trump’s opinion on the matter is biased in many ways: 1) Jeff Besos owns the Washington Post; 2) Jeff Besos’s networth is twenty-fives times greater than Trump’s; 3) and now Amazon may be having a negative effect on the value of Trump’s real estate.

Thanks for the article.

Trish summed up perfectly what I wanted to say about what led to demise of "mom and pop" businesses in the United States. The only thing I will add is that the first mall opening up 30 years ago, probably signaled the first death knell for them as well.

As for retailers, they have to start thinking twice before they open a brick and mortar location. Especially in a place like NYC. Unless they can figure out a way to have the location also operate as a fulfillment center that offers same day delivery. But even with that, I don't think they could do enough business to pay rent, electricity, wages, etc..

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Originally Posted by blackchubby38

Trish summed up perfectly what I wanted to say about what led to demise of "mom and pop" businesses in the United States. The only thing I will add is that the first mall opening up 30 years ago, probably signaled the first death knell for them as well.
As for retailers, they have to start thinking twice before they open a brick and mortar location. Especially in a place like NYC. Unless they can figure out a way to have the location also operate as a fulfillment center that offers same day delivery. But even with that, I don't think they could do enough business to pay rent, electricity, wages, etc..

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This is a fascinating post, because it raises a profound question: what are cities for? We may have to re-configure the urban environment if e-commerce does lead to the decline of shops, though I think that a balance may be found because I do think people love the physical act of 'going into town' to browse and maybe buy stuff, and although fruit and veg even a carton of milk can be bought online from the supermarket in town, I still believe that seeing and touching things matters a lot, though I make the observation as an older man.

The CEO and Murdoch it seems to me have missed their chance with e-commerce. We know from past reports that Murdoch is attached to newsprint because he inherited so many Australian titles from his father, much as the Boy from Queens inherited a property empire from his father and grandfather and must have some emotional attachment to 'bricks and mortar' or in his case, 'concrete and glass' even if the concrete is provided by a firm -'a legitimate business'- owned by the New York Mafia. I don't know how cities will change, I think there will always be a place for bookshops as well as coffee shops, and designer outlets where Sears no longer stands, but the city-scape will be different. And so far away from the Norman Rockwell America of David Dennison that he seeks to revive.

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Originally Posted by Stavros

This is a fascinating post, because it raises a profound question: what are cities for? We may have to re-configure the urban environment if e-commerce does lead to the decline of shops, though I think that a balance may be found because I do think people love the physical act of 'going into town' to browse and maybe buy stuff, and although fruit and veg even a carton of milk can be bought online from the supermarket in town, I still believe that seeing and touching things matters a lot, though I make the observation as an older man.

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Actually, the cities that have embraced the knowledge economy seem to be thriving. The declining cities are the ones still stuck in the old 'rust belt' economy - see this recent Paul Krugman column. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/o...er=rss&emc=rss

The idea that technology will mean that it no longer matters where people live seems to be wrong, or at least greatly overstated. There still seem to be big advantages in knowledge industries and the people who work in them clustering together in cities.

I suspect there may a bit of a dichotomy happening, where the supply of 'mass market' physical goods becomes more concentrated in those larger businesses who can do this most efficiently, but there remains a large field for niche products and services that can be supplied by smaller business. As people's incomes rise they tend to spend a larger proportion on the latter.

Meanwhile in advance of the book James Comey is about to publish, I found two reviews of books one of which -Russian Roulette seems to have gone unnoticed, being an account so far of Russian involvement in US election politics, with an essay by Samantha Power in the second book edited by her husband Cass Sunstein also an interesting new book, the two reviews are here:

Russian Roulette
https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...-biden-treason

Can it happen here? Authoritarianism in America
https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...merica-fascism

Is it considered a bad sign when the FBI breaks into your Lawyer's Office?

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Originally Posted by Stavros

This is a fascinating post, because it raises a profound question: what are cities for? We may have to re-configure the urban environment if e-commerce does lead to the decline of shops, though I think that a balance may be found because I do think people love the physical act of 'going into town' to browse and maybe buy stuff, and although fruit and veg even a carton of milk can be bought online from the supermarket in town, I still believe that seeing and touching things matters a lot, though I make the observation as an older man.

The CEO and Murdoch it seems to me have missed their chance with e-commerce. We know from past reports that Murdoch is attached to newsprint because he inherited so many Australian titles from his father, much as the Boy from Queens inherited a property empire from his father and grandfather and must have some emotional attachment to 'bricks and mortar' or in his case, 'concrete and glass' even if the concrete is provided by a firm -'a legitimate business'- owned by the New York Mafia. I don't know how cities will change, I think there will always be a place for bookshops as well as coffee shops, and designer outlets where Sears no longer stands, but the city-scape will be different. And so far away from the Norman Rockwell America of David Dennison that he seeks to revive.

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Nordstrom's maybe on to something:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bhXDKmK-P0

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Originally Posted by buttslinger

Is it considered a bad sign when the FBI breaks into your Lawyer's Office?

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Apparently it is an attack on the USA...is it a bad sign when the President believes he is the embodiment of the country and not just its Chief Executive officer?

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Originally Posted by blackchubby38

Nordstrom's maybe on to something:

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I don't think we have Nordstrom in the UK at the moment, although I have seen their stories in Canada. I am not going to browse the internet at 2am looking for trousers and then get on a train to go to London to buy them, but I see the point about retaining a retail presence in the city. I guess in the end it is about customer satisfaction -and affordability. I don't know how it works in Manhattan, but in a lot of small towns in the UK there is a vicious circle where declining revenues mean local council seek the compensate by increasing rents and rates on commercial properties. Chain stories can often take the hit, even in this small town Starbucks used to have two outlets and although it has rationalized to one, Caffe Nero and Costa both have two outlets, but an independent trader I have spoken to complains about the margins as they are squeezed not just by rents and rates on the property but charges for tending the street outside. That she runs a coffee shop which is popular with young people gives her a base but other independent outlets are visibly struggling and at least three or four have closed since the New Year. And I don't see councils making it any easier, but this is not really relevant to the this thread on the President.

From The Guardian:
Donald Trump has issued a full pardon to I Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former chief of staff to vice-president Dick Cheney under George W Bush.
Libby was convicted in 2007 of obstruction of justice and perjury, in connection with an investigation into the leak of the identity of a CIA agent, Valerie Plame. His conviction was the result of an investigation by the special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who was appointed by the then deputy attorney general, James Comey.

The report ends:

Matthew Dowd, an ABC political analyst who was chief strategist on Bush’s re-election campaign in 2004, wrote: “This pardon of Scooter Libby is simply outrageous. “I worked for President Bush from 1999 to 2005, and Scooter is a felon whom President Bush would not even pardon. He was convicted of obstruction of justice, lying, and perjury. This is a dark day for the rule of law in America.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...f-lying-to-fbi

But the man concerned, who now appears to be leader of a cult rather than the President, has regard the rule of law with contempt for so long nobody can remember the last time he obeyed it. A higher purpose motivates him, it is called revenge.

& you & that fucking poodle bitching about him every single fucking day is going to change everything, right?

Nobel! Nobel! Nobel!
This is what BAD looks like.

So, what's up with Trump's Medicine Man, he went from A+......to Candyman, now I think he's a potted plant in the West Wing, seems like tying your wagon to Trump's star is career suicide for most folks. Trump is like the Hindu God that dances on the flames but is not consumed by the fire. I guess we need a bigger fire. Can Trump sell North Korea on the Lybian Model for Nuclear de-Escalation? If he can sell that he most definitely wins some kind of prize. Did they confiscate Trump's private cellphone? Who's he talking to, Cohen, Sarah Palin, Sherriff Joe? Dennis Rodman?
What was that Kevin Costner movie, "No Way Out" where he is looking for the Russian Mole, but the Mole is HIM. Too bad Trump couldn't have found a nice girl and settled down. Maybe he could have done something with his life.

The President of the USA, it is alleged, hired the intelligence services of a foreign country to investigate the staff of the President he succeeded with a view to smearing their reputations as part of his proposal to withdraw from the 'Iran Nuclear Agreement'.

My first thought was that this must be treason, but I guess as this happened in May 2017 it is the actions by the elected President rather than an action against Obama -there can only be one President at a time. Nevertheless this seems to me to close to treason as it recruits a foreign intelligence agency to operate inside the USA against American citizens.

I am not sure what the law is on this, even if it is morally outrageous, but not surprising as the President of the USA has publicly ridiculed and insulted the FBI, the CIA, the Justice Department, Congress -anyone who does not agree with him; and, as we know, twice on one day during the 2016 election campaign publicly invited a foreign country (Russia) to help attack his fellow American and rival candidate for the Presidency.

Which side is he on?

Aides to Donald Trump, the US president, hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to orchestrate a “dirty ops” campaign against key individuals from the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal, the Observer can reveal.

People in the Trump camp contacted private investigators in May last year to “get dirt” on Ben Rhodes, who had been one of Barack Obama’s top national security advisers, and Colin Kahl, deputy assistant to Obama, as part of an elaborate attempt to discredit the deal.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...n-nuclear-deal

I can't decide which is more surreal, Trump's quest to make the glass all empty, or the millions of voters who put him in charge. I say the latter.
I guarantee you Fox News targets stupid people.

https://preview.ibb.co/ihpEAd/school.jpg