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Speaking of lying.....

Best election ever

Chris Christie should be named Infrastructure Czar in charge of highways and bridges.

So this should be fun.

 

Make predictions here about the absolute worst things that will happen during the first 4 years of Trump and for extra credit, a 2nd term Trump (that way you have an out if he doesn't get elected to a 2nd term, you can always claim that the really scary stuff would've come then)

 

What you do think he's actually going to do that is dangerous and destabilizing.

 

I guess I'm not quite as afraid of being friends with Russia as some of the others here, but I'd be interested to hear people make concrete predictions about 1) what Trump will do that's going to ruin something and 2) what the actual outcome will be.

 

Here's mine.

 

He will appoint Supreme Court justice that will seriously empower the surveillance and authority-state.

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It's dangerous to have somebody with little foreign policy experience and who is probably insane as Sec of State (Hello Rudy)

 

Why do you think Rudy is insane?

Do bear in mind that as far as 'foreign policy experience' goes, neither Hillary Clinton nor John Kerry were ever in the diplomatic corps. Time Magazine saw fit to name him Man of the Year and the Queen knighted him...

 

Also, 'experience' can he hugely overrated. That was the argument against Hussein and he's a lock for Top 10 president.

You staff with the best brains. That's the Jim Simons formula.Not by picking job titles or people who are 'next in line'.

Simons found that the best HFT and hedge fund guys weren't necessarily those with the most lush investing pedigree, but people who had a track record of making good science, even if it was in fields totally unrelated to investing. Using this general formula, he put together a team that crushed it on Wall Street which is the most ruthless and unforgiving performance evaluation marketplace there is.

 

When we have to go make deals with some other country, I'd feel completely OK with a man like Giuliani representing the interests of the United States, opposed to some Mr Rogers type or reducing the position to a dumb titular honorarium owed to some grand old man of a given political party, which is what 'Secretary of State John Kerry' was.

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What you do think he's actually going to do that is dangerous and destabilizing.

 

Well if the rumours are right there's a giant battle between the alt-right (Bannon is tied to the SuperPAC that basically funded Trumps campaign) and the 'traditional' Republicans. And i guess the kids that are trying to push him to the establishment.

 

The evangelical right agenda is pretty well known, anti-abortion and anti-GLTB. There is some speculation that the Supreme Court, even if stacked, might not overrule the precedents.

 

If the alt-right gets his ear then all bets are off. He was elected with an anti-illegals platform which is, for a better description is "safe", but we have seen that Bannon is a litany of anti-stuff like anti-Jewish and anti-Asian CEOs. Then the bombshell below:

 

Donald Trump's team 'discussing plans for Muslim registration system'

 

So it's tbd how bad it gets will depend on what direction he goes and what your political preferences but:

- bad understanding of economics likely will kill the US economy and will introduce crushing deficits

- potential collapse of the Paris agreement / warming goes up even faster (something for the other thread I guess)

- ideological > rational decision making

- The spike in hate crimes will probably continue

- More urban blacks will get shot by police & riots (justified or not)

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The similarities between the conviction you guys had about Trump and your knowledge of the inner thinking of the Trump possible picks is funny.

 

It's very much like the reporters who got the whole election about Trump wrong, and are now telling us what happened.

 

When you are wrong over and over and over and over, maybe sit out a few days and ask yourself what is causing you to constantly be wrong.

 

Spoiler: It rhymes with Biberal Bindset.

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And the ignorance of saying someone doesn't believe in science is pure drivel.

 

Just because I can point out that evolutionary thinking isn't scientific, nor has it ever been, doesn't mean I don't believe in trigonometry, or that I don't believe that many economist are full of crap most of the time.

 

Just because I point out that global warming is and has always been a power/money grab that has nothing to do with changing the climate, doesn't mean that I don't believe that the polar ice caps are larger now than they were in 1979, which was the base line GWing nutcases used to use when it fit their world view.

 

I think the better way to phrase your objections would be that your biased world view does not allow differing conclusions of raw data and as such you refuse to accept that you might be wrong because science!

 

In the mean time, get ready for the shift in the consensus of scientist when the money dries up in funding the GW scam.

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I liked the story Trump's campaign manager told on the news today that Christie is out of the inner circle because he wanted to stick with the old way of using political hacks and Trump is going to find the best based on experience and knowledge and not political favors and who's due.

 

 

The Alt-right way of thinking is permeating the Trump transition, and it's glorious.

 

 

BTW, watch the news nutcases going crazy over how long it's taking Trump to give them someone they can destroy, even though almost no President-elect ever announced a single appointment sooner than 3 weeks after defeating their drunken opponent. Most took 6-7 weeks before filling every position.

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Here's mine.

 

He will appoint Supreme Court justice that will seriously empower the surveillance and authority-state.

 

Do you think Trump is going to ignore the role Wikileaks played in his win?

 

Seems to me this would make him realize the awesome power for anyone who can get the secrets of people in power is.

 

Add to that the Alt-right's role in his election and their position on this issue.

 

I hope I'm right and you are wrong about the furthering of the power the government is amassing. Given to them largely by the democrats who want a bigger and bigger government more intertwined in every role of our daily lives. And allowed by the republicans who like the power.

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I think the alt right definitely played some role, but in many regards its much like the ballyhooed 'blogosphere' of the 2004 election.

If you were inside that bubble, it seemed like a huge deal but outside of it, the huge majority of most people didn't care. Like Gamergate. Or just Twitter in general.

 

One thing the alt right absolutely contributed to is narrative. A lot of their observations/points/snarks eventually made it into the mainstream, as well as being ground 0 for right wing creative resources.

 

The left's problem right now is that they enjoy almost total supremacy in terms of institutional values. The right wing is now the dissident wing. The left has gotten lazy. Their values are self-proclaimed universally moral and if you don't believe (y), then you're an evil (y)'ist and "ignorant", thus not worth listening to. That formula always favors the dissenters- be they they left in the 1950's and 60's or the right wing now- since the supreme party will eventually devolve into idealistic bullshit that doesn't withstand scrutiny yet they still demand people believe it.

 

This is what 'bullshitting some of the people, some of the time' looks like when it turns.

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This isn't surprising but is very not good. The National Security Advisor doesn't require Senate confirmation, if it did no way that Flynn would get confirmed.

 

Flynn has taken money from the Russian government. The party of Ronald Reagan is putting people compromised by Russia in the most senior intelligence positions.

 

Mike Forsythe 傅才德 ‏@PekingMike 7h7 hours ago

Mike Forsythe 傅才德 Retweeted Kevin Baron

The man who said "Russia Today" is just like CNN will be the new National Security Advisor?

https://www.washingt...-just-like-cnn/

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oh, not just on the payroll of the Russian government.

 

southpaw

‏@nycsouthpaw

NSA-designee Gen. Flynn is currently on the payroll of the government of Turkey.

 

 

Trump adviser linked to Turkish lobbying

 

A company tied to Erdogan's government hired retired general Michael Flynn's lobbying firm.

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Just because I point out that global warming is and has always been a power/money grab that has nothing to do with changing the climate, doesn't mean that I don't believe that the polar ice caps are larger now than they were in 1979, which was the base line GWing nutcases used to use when it fit their world view.

 

I would reply:

* interesting that you have no problems seeing the money grab of going with "green" tech but seem to give no credence to the ties to the fossil fuel industries for the deniers.

* the earth is interconnected in ways we truly do not understand. The long term trends are pretty clear (the fact that there is an increase could be dismissed as long term trends but the rate at which it is increasing is key) but we see weird and unexplained local phenomena. I would put that to failure of the model and shouldn't be an excuse to throw out everything

http://www.nasa.gov/...-record-maximum

http://www.nasa.gov/...owest-on-record

* that being said; I do think we need to be extra careful about what we do (like the NE still gets a lot of its power from coal so driving an electric car there is actually worse overall)

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This isn't surprising but is very not good. The National Security Advisor doesn't require Senate confirmation, if it did no way that Flynn would get confirmed.

 

Flynn has taken money from the Russian government. The party of Ronald Reagan is putting people compromised by Russia in the most senior intelligence positions.

 

Mike Forsythe 傅才德 ‏@PekingMike 7h7 hours ago

Mike Forsythe 傅才德 Retweeted Kevin Baron

The man who said "Russia Today" is just like CNN will be the new National Security Advisor?

https://www.washingt...-just-like-cnn/

 

Wait, so taking money from a foreign government could compromise your integrity and makes you unfit for a high government post?

 

What changed since 8 days ago?

 

But please continue throwing up chicken-little objections for people who haven't even been nominated yet. Your Bannon scares were spot on, well, a little spotty. No they were completely wrong,

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I think the alt right definitely played some role, but in many regards its much like the ballyhooed 'blogosphere' of the 2004 election.

If you were inside that bubble, it seemed like a huge deal but outside of it, the huge majority of most people didn't care. Like Gamergate. Or just Twitter in general.

 

One thing the alt right absolutely contributed to is narrative. A lot of their observations/points/snarks eventually made it into the mainstream, as well as being ground 0 for right wing creative resources.

 

The left's problem right now is that they enjoy almost total supremacy in terms of institutional values. The right wing is now the dissident wing. The left has gotten lazy. Their values are self-proclaimed universally moral and if you don't believe (y), then you're an evil (y)'ist and "ignorant", thus not worth listening to. That formula always favors the dissenters- be they they left in the 1950's and 60's or the right wing now- since the supreme party will eventually devolve into idealistic bullshit that doesn't withstand scrutiny yet they still demand people believe it.

 

This is what 'bullshitting some of the people, some of the time' looks like when it turns.

 

I do agree the Alt-right is claiming a lot of credit they probably aren't due. Making me a little sad to read Cernovich's perspective on his importance.

 

And I agree that the left has been "fighting the power" while ignoring that they had become the power.

 

Ann Coulter's book Adios America probably had more to do with Trump's platform and eventual win than any other single thing, short of the Donald himself.

 

 

I do love the Gamergate meme now saying "They just wanted to play video games and you wouldn't leave them alone."

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what changed since 8 days ago...LOL well done.

 

The media seems to have made a change as well, all of the sudden they think they are the watch dogs again instead of the marketing arm of the current administration. I hope they learn to get the story right and show some objectivity sometime in the near future.

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There are no issues, this is fear mongering and poorly thought out arguments. We are just trying to help you lefties grow beyond your inner child.

 

Crying about how everyone on the right is a secret racist and a plant for Russia is why you lost to the worst candidate ever.

 

Continuing the same insane thought processes will only result in your choosing something like a diaper pin to represent your world view.

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There you go with "you" again.

 

Here's what you need to know about "me".

 

I don't automatically adopt and agree with everything every Liberal has ever said or done. You keep bringing up the Diaper Pin. I don't know anything about that, or give two shits about it, or even care enough to look up what it is you are even talking about. Yet you've directed multiple posts at "me" and addressed this as though I personally came up with it, or "my side" came up with it, and therefore I personally endorse it.

 

Truth is, the election is over and I think America made a mistake, not because they elected a Republican, but because they elected Donald Trump. but it's over, I'll mostly go back to not caring about American Politics again, and not even thinking about the "left vs. Right", or even personally identifying with one side of the political scale. The world is grey, there's more than two sides to every argument, and usually neither side is completely in the right or wrong. There are shitty liberals and shitty conservatives. There are good people on both sides too. I personally agree with more of the ideals of the Liberal side, but I don't think they are inherently "better".

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I guess I could go to the sports section of this forum, click on the hockey threads, pick a topic that people are discussing and explain why I don't really care all that much about Hockey...but that would be silly.

 

It would be really silly if I ignored the give and take between two people, interjected my disapproval of one side, and then tried to act like I didn't really care.

 

Maybe I will try that in the near future

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I guess I could go to the sports section of this forum, click on the hockey threads, pick a topic that people are discussing and explain why I don't really care all that much about Hockey...but that would be silly.

 

It would be really silly if I ignored the give and take between two people, interjected my disapproval of one side, and then tried to act like I didn't really care.

 

Maybe I will try that in the near future

 

To use your analogy:

 

You might come into the hockey forum and say something like: The Toronto Maple Leafs have terrible management, and That is the reason they will never win the Stanley cup.

 

 

and I could say: "Haha, you ignorant Habs fans are all the same, living in the past. I'm just helping you idiots see the light of the day and dig your heads out of the sand. This is the reason YOU GUYS have always failed to build a good team despite having the best player in the world in his prime. YOU GUYS will never learn"

 

 

and you would probably say.. "You guys? I'm not a Habs fan, what does that have to do with what I posted"

 

 

And then you'd know what it is like interacting with you in the political forum.

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That's rich coming from the guy who decided to join an obscure poker forum with like 20 active members for the sole purpose of expressing his political views to an unreceptive audience. Unless of course there's another reason that you are here that hasn't manifested itself in your terrible posting.

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Flynn will fit in perfectly with Trump. He hates Muslims, has spread false news stories, loves Russia and thinks Hillary belongs in jail.

 

He also was considered one of the best tactical Generals in the US Military but was fired from his position as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency and forced to retire and seems to hold grudges.

 

He's also been on the payroll of the Russian and Turkish governments since retiring from the military.

 

Michael Flynn, Trump’s new national security adviser, loves Russia as much as his boss does

 

 

Michael Flynn, Trump’s reported pick for national security adviser, sat in on intel briefings — while advising foreign clients

 

A spy at war with the nation’s other spies

Colin Powell wasn’t pulling punches.

 

“I spoke at DIA last month,” the former secretary of state wrote in a hacked email released this summer. “Flynn got fired as head of DIA. His replacement is a black Marine 3-star. I asked why Flynn got fired. Abusive with staff, didn’t listen, worked against policy, bad management, etc. He has been and was right-wing nutty every [sic] since.”

 

Those who know Flynn best say the roots of his enmity towards Obama and Clinton —and his startlingly enthusiastic embrace of Trump — dates back to his abrupt dismissal from the DIA, the Pentagon’s intelligence-gathering arm and a longtime bureaucratic rival to the CIA.

 

In 2012, Flynn proposed overhauling the agency so it would maintain a network of covert operatives to expand its network of overseas spies, according to a long article I co-wrote in Foreign Policy about the fight. The move infuriated the CIA, which worked hard to stop the creation of what could have ultimately come to rival its larger and better-known cadre of covert operatives. The agency, backed by a network of former CIA personnel in senior jobs at the Pentagon and elsewhere in the national security bureaucracy, succeeded in killing the idea.

 

In 2014, two years into what was supposed to be a three-year term, Flynn was summoned to the Pentagon by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and then-Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers and told that he was being removed from his post.

 

According to the Washington Post, Flynn tried to salvage his job by sidestepping his superior officers and making a direct appeal to the vice chief of the Army. When Clapper found out, he warned Flynn that he would fire him on the spot if Flynn made another attempt to do an end-run around his bosses, according to the newspaper.

 

Clapper, arguably Flynn’s biggest bureaucratic adversary, announced his resignation Thursday, just hours before Flynn’s appointment.

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Without disclosing his lobbying relationship with the Turkish-owned firm, Flynn published an op-ed in the newspaper the Hill on Election Day, in which he advanced the No. 1 cause of Erdogan’s government: advocating the extradition of Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish exile living in Pennsylvania whom Erdogan has blamed for instigating the failed military coup against his government last summer.

 

In the op-ed, which ran under the headline “Our ally Turkey is in crisis and needs our support,” Flynn described Gülen as a “shady Islamic mullah,” who runs a “vast global network [that] has all the right markings to fit the description of a dangerous sleeper network. From Turkey’s point of view, Washington is harboring Turkey’s Osama bin Laden.”

 

This is the not the first time questions have been raised about Flynn’s overseas ties. Last December, Flynn, who served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 until 2014, flew to Moscow to participate in the 10th anniversary of RT, the Russian government propaganda network. He gave an interview to one of its anchors and attended a gala dinner where he sat at the same table as Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 

In a testy exchange with Yahoo News during the Republican Convention in Cleveland in July, Flynn acknowledged that he was paid through his speakers bureau to attend the RT event, but he declined to say how much.

 

What was striking, according to ethics experts, is that given his overseas consulting business, Flynn began sitting in on classified intelligence briefings with Trump last summer. Flynn was reportedly so assertive during the initial briefing in August, peppering the briefers with rapid-fire questions, that Trump’s adviser Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who also attended the briefing, was prompted to try to calm him down by placing a hand on his arm.

 

Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, an outside watchdog group, said that she finds it “deeply disturbing” that Flynn attended these briefings at a time that he was representing foreign clients with interests before the U.S. government. “It’s exactly the kind of foreign entanglements our laws are designed to prevent,” she said.

 

One retired military officer who has advised both Republican and Democratic presidents said of the allegations about Flynn: “If this is true, it’s a disqualifying conflict of interest — if not by ethics laws, certainly in the spirit of conflict of interest, not to mention security regulations. We should be deeply concerned about his ethical judgment, but more specifically how can he possibly provide unbiased advice to the POTUS about Turkey and Russia, when he’s taken money from both.”

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