I'm willing to entertain the possibility that Trump is just an idiot who doesn't understand how foreign relations work, but I sure would like to hear more about this billion dollars the Saudis apparently gave us, where it went, and what they got for it.
The Trump administration warned Iraq this week that it risks losing access to a critical government bank account if Baghdad kicks out American forces following the U.S. airstrike that killed a top Iranian general, according to Iraqi officials.
The State Department warned that the U.S. could shut down Iraq’s access to the country’s central bank account held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a move that could jolt Iraq’s already shaky economy, the officials said.
Iraq, like other countries, maintains government accounts at the New York Fed as an important part of managing the country’s finances, including revenue from oil sales. Loss of access to the accounts could restrict Iraq’s use of that revenue, creating a cash crunch in Iraq’s financial system and constricting a critical lubricant for the economy.
There's a bit more explanation of what this means and how it works lower in the article.
I'm willing to entertain the possibility that Trump is just an idiot who doesn't understand how foreign relations work, but I sure would like to hear more about this billion dollars the Saudis apparently gave us, where it went, and what they got for it.
I didn't know he was getting his talking points on the military from that turd Erik Prince. Apparently we don't have a national military any more, just a bunch of mercs.
Boy, I can't wait to hear how they spin that one for the troops- 'oh, you'll go and fight for whoever we get paid enough to send you to fight for, so shut up and do what we say!'
Ceiling Cat, what an asshole. What the fuck does he see them as, a bucket of little green army men?
The Trump administration warned Iraq this week that it risks losing access to a critical government bank account if Baghdad kicks out American forces following the U.S. airstrike that killed a top Iranian general, according to Iraqi officials.
The State Department warned that the U.S. could shut down Iraq’s access to the country’s central bank account held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a move that could jolt Iraq’s already shaky economy, the officials said.
Iraq, like other countries, maintains government accounts at the New York Fed as an important part of managing the country’s finances, including revenue from oil sales. Loss of access to the accounts could restrict Iraq’s use of that revenue, creating a cash crunch in Iraq’s financial system and constricting a critical lubricant for the economy.
There's a bit more explanation of what this means and how it works lower in the article.
This looks like a very sound method to have governments divest from accounts at the NY federal reserve.
What a win.
He's a shy overambitious dog-catcher on the wrong side of the law. She's an orphaned psychic mercenary with the power to bend men's minds. They fight crime!
The Trump administration warned Iraq this week that it risks losing access to a critical government bank account if Baghdad kicks out American forces following the U.S. airstrike that killed a top Iranian general, according to Iraqi officials.
The State Department warned that the U.S. could shut down Iraq’s access to the country’s central bank account held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a move that could jolt Iraq’s already shaky economy, the officials said.
Iraq, like other countries, maintains government accounts at the New York Fed as an important part of managing the country’s finances, including revenue from oil sales. Loss of access to the accounts could restrict Iraq’s use of that revenue, creating a cash crunch in Iraq’s financial system and constricting a critical lubricant for the economy.
There's a bit more explanation of what this means and how it works lower in the article.
This looks like a very sound method to have governments divest from accounts at the NY federal reserve.
What a win.
Isn't the Fed normally independent from the Executive Branch?
I'm willing to entertain the possibility that Trump is just an idiot who doesn't understand how foreign relations work, but I sure would like to hear more about this billion dollars the Saudis apparently gave us, where it went, and what they got for it.
I didn't know he was getting his talking points on the military from that turd Erik Prince. Apparently we don't have a national military any more, just a bunch of mercs.
Boy, I can't wait to hear how they spin that one for the troops- 'oh, you'll go and fight for whoever we get paid enough to send you to fight for, so shut up and do what we say!'
Ceiling Cat, what an asshole. What the fuck does he see them as, a bucket of little green army men?
Of course that's how he sees them. As a commodity he can exploit. Anything else would require a level of empathy that is completely lacking in evidence so far.
The mind-boggling thing though, isn't that that's the way he thinks. I'm sure other Presidents have had an emotional detachment from the people serving. It's that he can't even fucking fake it, AT ALL. He can't even insincerely mouth the words, except when reading from a script. When caught in an off-the-cuff moment, he just blurts this shit out.
And noone is either willing or able to coach him not to be a patently absurd caricature of "wannabe tyrant". That his mental instability is so openly on display, and everyone around him is "This is fine"ing the situation.
At least with the UK and AU numbnuts, there are people around them going "Oh shit, we need to limit his exposure, and stop him from doing stupid shit". Not containing everything, but not exposing just how fucked up the situations are, either. With the US, they're just "Fuck it, come what may.". And it just freaks me out.
I'm willing to entertain the possibility that Trump is just an idiot who doesn't understand how foreign relations work, but I sure would like to hear more about this billion dollars the Saudis apparently gave us, where it went, and what they got for it.
I didn't know he was getting his talking points on the military from that turd Erik Prince. Apparently we don't have a national military any more, just a bunch of mercs.
Boy, I can't wait to hear how they spin that one for the troops- 'oh, you'll go and fight for whoever we get paid enough to send you to fight for, so shut up and do what we say!'
Ceiling Cat, what an asshole. What the fuck does he see them as, a bucket of little green army men?
The mind-boggling thing though, isn't that that's the way he thinks. I'm sure other Presidents have had an emotional detachment from the people serving. It's that he can't even fucking fake it, AT ALL. He can't even insincerely mouth the words, except when reading from a script. When caught in an off-the-cuff moment, he just blurts this shit out.
The really mind-boggling thing is that his voters don't seem to have realized that. Trump can say the most vile, belittling things about people in the military and military folks are all like "MAGA! Trump! Own the libs!" etc.
I guess it's how MLM companies work. People discard obvious signs of being conned because they are emotionally invested.
I'm willing to entertain the possibility that Trump is just an idiot who doesn't understand how foreign relations work, but I sure would like to hear more about this billion dollars the Saudis apparently gave us, where it went, and what they got for it.
I didn't know he was getting his talking points on the military from that turd Erik Prince. Apparently we don't have a national military any more, just a bunch of mercs.
Boy, I can't wait to hear how they spin that one for the troops- 'oh, you'll go and fight for whoever we get paid enough to send you to fight for, so shut up and do what we say!'
Ceiling Cat, what an asshole. What the fuck does he see them as, a bucket of little green army men?
The mind-boggling thing though, isn't that that's the way he thinks. I'm sure other Presidents have had an emotional detachment from the people serving. It's that he can't even fucking fake it, AT ALL. He can't even insincerely mouth the words, except when reading from a script. When caught in an off-the-cuff moment, he just blurts this shit out.
The really mind-boggling thing is that his voters don't seem to have realized that. Trump can say the most vile, belittling things about people in the military and military folks are all like "MAGA! Trump! Own the libs!" etc.
I guess it's how MLM companies work. People discard obvious signs of being conned because they are emotionally invested.
That and most of the pro-troops folks also consider the troops expendable.
I just can't believe the president flat out said he sold the military, and that's not a horrific career destroying mistake. Like god damn is it ever apparent IOKIYAR is how our media views things.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
I just can't believe the president flat out said he sold the military, and that's not a horrific career destroying mistake. Like god damn is it ever apparent IOKIYAR is how our media views things.
Yesterday there was a report that he ordered the assassination because of impeachment and it was buried in like paragraph 23 of a WSJ story and made no further news.
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
I just can't believe the president flat out said he sold the military, and that's not a horrific career destroying mistake. Like god damn is it ever apparent IOKIYAR is how our media views things.
Yesterday there was a report that he ordered the assassination because of impeachment and it was buried in like paragraph 23 of a WSJ story and made no further news.
Its just insane we went from and admin the press hounded about every little god damn thing down to how often he golfed, to one who routinely does and says abhorrent shit and the press just shrugs "Eh its trump did you hear that Elizabeth Warren is a woman? THE SCANDAL!"
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
I just can't believe the president flat out said he sold the military, and that's not a horrific career destroying mistake. Like god damn is it ever apparent IOKIYAR is how our media views things.
Yesterday there was a report that he ordered the assassination because of impeachment and it was buried in like paragraph 23 of a WSJ story and made no further news.
Its just insane we went from and admin the press hounded about every little god damn thing down to how often he golfed, to one who routinely does and says abhorrent shit and the press just shrugs "Eh its trump did you hear that Elizabeth Warren is a woman? THE SCANDAL!"
Managed expectations. Trump does so much awful stuff that is exhausting to keep up, so most people stop trying. Also, can't sell something as shocking when Trump is like that, 24/7, on the open, since pretty much forever.
I mean, how many people on this board alone have lost the capacity to be shocked? How many more stopped reading Trump Admin threads because is too depressing?
I just can't believe the president flat out said he sold the military, and that's not a horrific career destroying mistake. Like god damn is it ever apparent IOKIYAR is how our media views things.
Yesterday there was a report that he ordered the assassination because of impeachment and it was buried in like paragraph 23 of a WSJ story and made no further news.
Its just insane we went from and admin the press hounded about every little god damn thing down to how often he golfed, to one who routinely does and says abhorrent shit and the press just shrugs "Eh its trump did you hear that Elizabeth Warren is a woman? THE SCANDAL!"
Managed expectations. Trump does so much awful stuff that is exhausting to keep up, so most people stop trying. Also, can't sell something as shocking when Trump is like that, 24/7, on the open, since pretty much forever.
I mean, how many people on this board alone have lost the capacity to be shocked? How many more stopped reading Trump Admin threads because is too depressing?
I guess for me its kind of like what happened in the last campaign the media basically equates the cars they are chasing, when the Trump admin is uniquely one of the most terrible admins of all time, and we still don't even know all the awful shit they've done.
Like Puerto Rico is in the midst of multiple large earthquakes and the trump admin is still delaying fucking hurricane relief funds! WHERE IS THE GOD DAMN OUTRAGE?!
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
I just can't believe the president flat out said he sold the military, and that's not a horrific career destroying mistake. Like god damn is it ever apparent IOKIYAR is how our media views things.
Sold them for next to nothing, too, comparably. The US military costs almost $2bn a day to run. So even if everything he said is true, what he got covers a whopping 12 hours of what our military costs.
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
I just can't believe the president flat out said he sold the military, and that's not a horrific career destroying mistake. Like god damn is it ever apparent IOKIYAR is how our media views things.
Sold them for next to nothing, too, comparably. The US military costs almost $2bn a day to run. So even if everything he said is true, what he got covers a whopping 12 hours of what our military costs.
He views everything transactionally, but is terrible at transactions.
I just can't believe the president flat out said he sold the military, and that's not a horrific career destroying mistake. Like god damn is it ever apparent IOKIYAR is how our media views things.
Sold them for next to nothing, too, comparably. The US military costs almost $2bn a day to run. So even if everything he said is true, what he got covers a whopping 12 hours of what our military costs.
I just can't believe the president flat out said he sold the military, and that's not a horrific career destroying mistake. Like god damn is it ever apparent IOKIYAR is how our media views things.
Sold them for next to nothing, too, comparably. The US military costs almost $2bn a day to run. So even if everything he said is true, what he got covers a whopping 12 hours of what our military costs.
He views everything transactionally, but is terrible at transactions.
The fallacy of large numbers. One whole billion sounds like a lot of money. Hence why bad trade costs us billions and his deals make us billions. He doesn't even have to provide a real number and the incurious accept it.
I just can't believe the president flat out said he sold the military, and that's not a horrific career destroying mistake. Like god damn is it ever apparent IOKIYAR is how our media views things.
Yesterday there was a report that he ordered the assassination because of impeachment and it was buried in like paragraph 23 of a WSJ story and made no further news.
Its just insane we went from and admin the press hounded about every little god damn thing down to how often he golfed, to one who routinely does and says abhorrent shit and the press just shrugs "Eh its trump did you hear that Elizabeth Warren is a woman? THE SCANDAL!"
Because of the hack gap. Fox News &c. will gladly spin up a story for days out of liking spicy mustard because he's a Democrat. Eventually other press outlets feel obligated to cover the story because it's what people are talking about. There is no equivalent going the other way. Even for actual scandals. At best they get actual straight reporting and then land with a thud as Fox &c. try to distract and bury it.
Ugh not looking forward to the trump admin pointing to internal anti government protests in Iran and saying they are proof that this was the right thing to do, that trump was right and that we will be welcomed as liberators
I just can't believe the president flat out said he sold the military, and that's not a horrific career destroying mistake. Like god damn is it ever apparent IOKIYAR is how our media views things.
Yesterday there was a report that he ordered the assassination because of impeachment and it was buried in like paragraph 23 of a WSJ story and made no further news.
Its just insane we went from and admin the press hounded about every little god damn thing down to how often he golfed, to one who routinely does and says abhorrent shit and the press just shrugs "Eh its trump did you hear that Elizabeth Warren is a woman? THE SCANDAL!"
Managed expectations. Trump does so much awful stuff that is exhausting to keep up, so most people stop trying. Also, can't sell something as shocking when Trump is like that, 24/7, on the open, since pretty much forever.
I mean, how many people on this board alone have lost the capacity to be shocked? How many more stopped reading Trump Admin threads because is too depressing?
I guess for me its kind of like what happened in the last campaign the media basically equates the cars they are chasing, when the Trump admin is uniquely one of the most terrible admins of all time, and we still don't even know all the awful shit they've done.
Like Puerto Rico is in the midst of multiple large earthquakes and the trump admin is still delaying fucking hurricane relief funds! WHERE IS THE GOD DAMN OUTRAGE?!
We’re a white supremacist settler nation that likes to pretend we’re Freedom Eagle Land instead.
Trump lies about the fucking weather. And every President lies to the people about military stuff (Obama's lies about the Afghan surge working, Bush's notorious lies about WMD.)
Also Iran does fund terror stuff, the key is to make sure they can't do it. Benghazi happened due to insufficient embassy security. It's a lot cheaper to up embassy security or close vulnerable embassies than try to start a war.
In the days that followed, the White House and Iranian leaders exchanged further messages, which officials in both countries described as far more measured than the fiery rhetoric traded publicly by politicians.
**Trump's record on the military, veterans, and military families:**
- Pardoned a war criminal, which stomped on long standing military values. Trump has no military experience
- Trump mocked Lt. Col. Vindman for his rank and uniform. He threatened said purple heart officer, resulting in the Army providing him protection
- Trump’s Chief of Staff worked—in secret—to deny comprehensive health coverage to Vietnam Vets who have suffered from Agent Orange.
- There is a facility in Tijuana for US veterans that Trump deported. Wounded war vet, Sen Duckworth (D) marked Veterans Day 2019 by visiting this facility
- Russia took control of the main U.S. military facility in Syria abandoned on Trump’s orders. Russia now owns the airstrip we built
- On Oct 7, 2019, Trump abruptly withdrew support from America's allies in Syria after a phone call with Turkey's president (Erdogan). Turkey subsequently bombed US Special Forces.
- Trump sent thousands of American troops to defend the oil assets of the country that perpetrated 9/11
- In Sept 2019, he made an Air Force cargo crew, flying from the U.S. to Kuwait stop in Scotland (where there's no U.S. base) to refuel at a commercial airport (where it costs more), so they could stay overnight at a Trump property (which isn't close to the airport). Trump’s golf courses in Ireland and Scotland are losing money, so he's forcing the military to pay for nights there.
- In Sept, 2019, Pentagon pulled funds for military schools, daycare to pay for Trump's border wall.
- In Aug, 2019, emails revealed that three of Trump's Mar-a-Lago pals, who are now running Veterans Affairs, are rampant with meddling. "They had no experience in veterans affairs (none of them even served in the military) nor underwent any kind of approval process to serve as de facto managers. Yet, with Trump’s approval, they directed actions and criticized operations without any oversight. They wasted valuable staff time in hundreds of pages of communications and meetings, emails show. Emails reveal disdainful attitudes within the department to the trio’s meddling."
- Veterans graves will be "dug up" for the border wall, after Trump instructed aides to seize private property. Trump told officials he would pardon them if they break the law by illegally seizing property
- Children of deployed US troops will no longer get automatic American citizenship if born overseas during deployment. This includes US troops posted abroad for years at a time (August 28, 2019)
- On August 2, 2019, Trump requisitioned military retirement funds towards border wall
- On July 31, 2019, Trump ordered the Navy rescind medals to prosecutors who were prosecuted war criminals
- Trump denied a U.S. Marine of 6 years entry into the United States for his scheduled citizenship interview (Reported July 17, 2019)
- Trump made the U.S. Navy Blue Angels violate ethics rules by having them fly at his July 4th political campaign event (July 4, 2019)
- Trump demanded US military chiefs stand next to him at 4th of July parade (reported July 2, 2019)
- In June, 2019, Trump sent troops to the border to paint the fence for a better "aesthetic appearance"
- Trump used his D-Day interview at a cemetery commemorating fallen US soldiers to attack a Vietnam veteran (June 6, 2019)
- Trump started his D-Day commemoration speech by attacking a private citizen (Bette Midler, of all people) (reported on June 4th, 2019)
- Trump made his 2nd wife, Marla Maples, sign a prenup that would have cut off all child support if Tiffany joined the military (reported June 4th, 2019)
- On May 27, 2019, Trump turned away US military from his Memorial Day speech because they were from the destroyer USS John S. McCain
- Trump ordered the USS John McCain out of sight during his visit to Japan (May 15, 2019). The ship's name was subsequently covered. (May 27, 2019)
- Trump pardoned war criminals (May&Nov, 2019)
- Trump purged 200,000 veterans healthcare applications (due to known administrative errors within VA’s enrollment system) (reported on May 13, 2019)
- Trump deported a spouse of fallen Army soldier killed in Afghanistan, leaving their daughter parentless (April 16, 2019)
- On March 20, 2019, Trump complained that a deceased war hero didn't thank him for his funeral
- On Feb 25, 2019, Trump diverted military housing funds to pay for his border wall. A judge subsequently denied this. In July 2019, SCOTUS ruled that Trump could in fact divert military housing funds to pay for his wall.
- Between 12/22/2018, and 1/25/2019, Trump refused to sign his party's funding bill, which shut down the government, forcing the Coast Guard to go without pay, which made service members rely on food pantries. However, his appointees got a $10,000 pay raise
- He banned service members from serving based on gender identity (1/22/2019)
- He denied female troops access to birth control to limit sexual activity (on-going. Published Jan 18, 2019)
- He tried to deport a marine vet who is a U.S.-born citizen (Jan 16, 2019)
- When a man was caught swindling veterans pensions for high-interest “cash advances," Trump's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined him $1. As a reminder, the Trump administration's goal was to dismantle the CFPB, installing Mick Mulvaney as the director, who publicly stated the bureau should be disbanded. (Jan 26, 2019)
- He called a retired general a 'dog' with a 'big, dumb mouth' (Jan 1, 2019)
- He increased privatization of the VA, leading to longer waits and higher taxpayer cost (2018)
- He finally visited troops 2 years after taking office, but only after 154 vacation days at his properties (Dec 26, 2018)
- He revealed a covert Seal Team 5 deployment, including names and faces, on Twitter during his visit to Iraq (Dec 26, 2018)
- Trump lied to deployed troops that he gave them a 10% raise (12/26/2018). He tried giving the military a raise that was lower than the standard living adjustment. Congress told him that idea wasn't going to work. Then after giving them the raise that Congress made him, he lied about it pretending that it was larger than Obama's. It wasn't.
- He fired service members living with HIV just before the 2018 holidays (Dec 19, 2018-present)
- He tried to slash disability and unemployment benefits for Veterans to $0, and eliminate the unemployability extrascheduler rating (Dec 17, 2018)
- He called troops on Thanksgiving and told them he's most thankful for himself (Thanksgiving, 2018)
- He urged Florida to not count deployed military votes (Nov 12, 2018)
- He canceled an Arlington Cemetery visit on Veterans Day due to light rain (Nov 12, 2018)
- While in Europe commemorating the end of WWI, he didn't attend the ceremony at a US cemetery due to the rain -- other world leaders went anyway (Nov 10, 2018)
- He used troops as a political prop by sending them on a phantom mission to the border and made them miss Thanksgiving with their families (Oct-Dec, 2018)
- He stopped using troops as a political prop immediately after the election. However, the troops remained in muddy camps on the border (Nov 7, 2018)
- Trump changed the GI Bill through his Forever GI Act, causing the VA to miss veteran benefits, including housing allowances. This caused many veterans to run out of food and rent. (reported October 7, 2018)
- Trump doubled the rejection rate for veterans requesting family deportation protections (July 5, 2018)
- Trump deported active-duty spouses (11,800 military families face this problem as of April 2018)
- He forgot a fallen soldier's name (below) during a call to his pregnant widow, then attacked her the next day (Oct 23-24, 2017)
- He sent commandos into an ambush due to a lack of intel, and sends contractors to pick them up, resulting in a commando being left behind, tortured, and executed. (Trump approved the mission because Bannon told him Obama didn't have the guts to do it) (Oct 4, 2017)
- He blocked a veteran group on Twitter (June 2017)
- He ordered the discharge of active-duty immigrant troops with good records (2017-present)
- He deported veterans (2017-present)
- He said he knows more about ISIS than American generals (Oct 2016)
- On October 3, 2016, Trump said vets get PTSD because they aren't strong (note: yes, he said it's 'because they aren't strong.' He didn't say it's 'because they're weak.' This distinction is important because of Snopes)
- Trump accepted a Purple Heart from a fan at one of his rallies and said: “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier.” (Aug 2, 2016)
- Trump attacks Gold Star families - Myeshia Johnson--gold star widow, Khan family--gold star parents, etc. (2016-present)
- Trump sent funds raised from a January 2016 veterans benefit to the Donald J Trump Foundation instead of veterans charities (the foundation has since been ordered shut because of fraud) (Jan, 2016)
- Trump said he has "more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military" because he went to a military-style academy (2015 biography)
- Trump said he doesn't consider POWs heroes because they were caught. He said he prefers people who were not caught (July 18, 2015)
- Trump said having unprotected sex was his own personal Vietnam (1998)
- For a decade, Trump sought to kick veterans off of Fifth Avenue because he found them unsightly nuisances outside of Trump Tower. “While disabled veterans should be given every opportunity to earn a living, is it fair to do so to the detriment of the city as a whole or its tax paying citizens and businesses?” - 1991
- Trump dodged the draft 5 times by having a doctor diagnose him with bone spurs.
- No Trump in America has *ever* served in the military; this spans 5 generations, and every branch of the family tree. In fact, the reason his grandfather immigrated to America was to avoid military service
I just can't believe the president flat out said he sold the military, and that's not a horrific career destroying mistake. Like god damn is it ever apparent IOKIYAR is how our media views things.
Yesterday there was a report that he ordered the assassination because of impeachment and it was buried in like paragraph 23 of a WSJ story and made no further news.
Well, the WSJ is a Murdoch/Fox News rag now, so a) it's better used to line bird cages and catboxes and b) no big surprise there.
I mean, what with Sinclair parroting his bullshit through piles of local news stations as "must-run" segments and the WSJ trying to bury his shit, it's no wonder the base still has a bubble to where they can sit around and giggle like morons about how he's still trying to own the libs.
People talk about breaking up Google and Microsoft? Take a mallet to Sinclair and make them divest all their local TV channels, too, so people get both sides of the issue instead of just one.
To keep this on topic, though, we're already seeing the effects of Trump's dick-waving- Iranian hackers are making more runs than ever at American educational/industrial/utility/government systems, looking for weaknesses. Iran doesn't want to get into a shooting war with us, but if they can make us look like a bunch of idiots in cyberspace, they utterly will.
Trump is a lying liar who lies freely and often, soon he'll pivot to another scandal and another lie or set of lies. How openly and brazenly stupid and corrosive to democracy it is doesn't enter into the equation for those who enable him.
"I wonder what US troops think of being commodities bought and sold, rather than patriotic heroes."
"The really mind-boggling thing is that his voters don't seem to have realized that. Trump can say the most vile, belittling things about people in the military and military folks are all like "MAGA! Trump! Own the libs!" etc.
I guess it's how MLM companies work. People discard obvious signs of being conned because they are emotionally invested."
While not as much as I'd wish, I've definitely noticed a shift in peoples attitudes away from Trump at work. It's weird, the younger active duty folks are eyeing the Dem candidates with cautious acceptance, the older retirees I work with still focus on Hillary somehow.
I know it's just one single example, but it makes me hopeful that military folks in general aren't in being completely duped.
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Justin Amash is a congressman from Michigan.
I'm willing to entertain the possibility that Trump is just an idiot who doesn't understand how foreign relations work, but I sure would like to hear more about this billion dollars the Saudis apparently gave us, where it went, and what they got for it.
US troops are patriotic heroes?
You can argue about the veracity, but that's the image they're selling.
Also, Trump is threatening to cut off Iraq's access to it's money in the New York Federal Reserve if they persist in acting like an independent country.
There's a bit more explanation of what this means and how it works lower in the article.
That's how they think of themselves. Not as mercenaries whose lives can be traded for profit.
I didn't know he was getting his talking points on the military from that turd Erik Prince. Apparently we don't have a national military any more, just a bunch of mercs.
Boy, I can't wait to hear how they spin that one for the troops- 'oh, you'll go and fight for whoever we get paid enough to send you to fight for, so shut up and do what we say!'
Ceiling Cat, what an asshole. What the fuck does he see them as, a bucket of little green army men?
I can has cheezburger, yes?
This looks like a very sound method to have governments divest from accounts at the NY federal reserve.
What a win.
Isn't the Fed normally independent from the Executive Branch?
Of course that's how he sees them. As a commodity he can exploit. Anything else would require a level of empathy that is completely lacking in evidence so far.
The mind-boggling thing though, isn't that that's the way he thinks. I'm sure other Presidents have had an emotional detachment from the people serving. It's that he can't even fucking fake it, AT ALL. He can't even insincerely mouth the words, except when reading from a script. When caught in an off-the-cuff moment, he just blurts this shit out.
And noone is either willing or able to coach him not to be a patently absurd caricature of "wannabe tyrant". That his mental instability is so openly on display, and everyone around him is "This is fine"ing the situation.
At least with the UK and AU numbnuts, there are people around them going "Oh shit, we need to limit his exposure, and stop him from doing stupid shit". Not containing everything, but not exposing just how fucked up the situations are, either. With the US, they're just "Fuck it, come what may.". And it just freaks me out.
The really mind-boggling thing is that his voters don't seem to have realized that. Trump can say the most vile, belittling things about people in the military and military folks are all like "MAGA! Trump! Own the libs!" etc.
I guess it's how MLM companies work. People discard obvious signs of being conned because they are emotionally invested.
That and most of the pro-troops folks also consider the troops expendable.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Yesterday there was a report that he ordered the assassination because of impeachment and it was buried in like paragraph 23 of a WSJ story and made no further news.
Its just insane we went from and admin the press hounded about every little god damn thing down to how often he golfed, to one who routinely does and says abhorrent shit and the press just shrugs "Eh its trump did you hear that Elizabeth Warren is a woman? THE SCANDAL!"
pleasepaypreacher.net
Managed expectations. Trump does so much awful stuff that is exhausting to keep up, so most people stop trying. Also, can't sell something as shocking when Trump is like that, 24/7, on the open, since pretty much forever.
I mean, how many people on this board alone have lost the capacity to be shocked? How many more stopped reading Trump Admin threads because is too depressing?
I guess for me its kind of like what happened in the last campaign the media basically equates the cars they are chasing, when the Trump admin is uniquely one of the most terrible admins of all time, and we still don't even know all the awful shit they've done.
Like Puerto Rico is in the midst of multiple large earthquakes and the trump admin is still delaying fucking hurricane relief funds! WHERE IS THE GOD DAMN OUTRAGE?!
pleasepaypreacher.net
Bud, you shit on the military all the time and nothing has happened yet. And also you're not a Democrat. Benghazi isn't going to happen to you.
What was funny to me is he doesn't want to be thought worse than Obama when literally every fucking thing he does is worse than Obama.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Sold them for next to nothing, too, comparably. The US military costs almost $2bn a day to run. So even if everything he said is true, what he got covers a whopping 12 hours of what our military costs.
He views everything transactionally, but is terrible at transactions.
pleasepaypreacher.net
I think under these circumstances the appropriate term would be rented.
The fallacy of large numbers. One whole billion sounds like a lot of money. Hence why bad trade costs us billions and his deals make us billions. He doesn't even have to provide a real number and the incurious accept it.
Because of the hack gap. Fox News &c. will gladly spin up a story for days out of liking spicy mustard because he's a Democrat. Eventually other press outlets feel obligated to cover the story because it's what people are talking about. There is no equivalent going the other way. Even for actual scandals. At best they get actual straight reporting and then land with a thud as Fox &c. try to distract and bury it.
We’re a white supremacist settler nation that likes to pretend we’re Freedom Eagle Land instead.
That is why no outrage and why, you know, Trump.
Aaron Rupar is a vox journalist.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Also Iran does fund terror stuff, the key is to make sure they can't do it. Benghazi happened due to insufficient embassy security. It's a lot cheaper to up embassy security or close vulnerable embassies than try to start a war.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/swiss-back-channel-helped-defuse-u-s-iran-crisis-11578702290
- Pardoned a war criminal, which stomped on long standing military values. Trump has no military experience
- Trump mocked Lt. Col. Vindman for his rank and uniform. He threatened said purple heart officer, resulting in the Army providing him protection
- Trump’s Chief of Staff worked—in secret—to deny comprehensive health coverage to Vietnam Vets who have suffered from Agent Orange.
- There is a facility in Tijuana for US veterans that Trump deported. Wounded war vet, Sen Duckworth (D) marked Veterans Day 2019 by visiting this facility
- Russia took control of the main U.S. military facility in Syria abandoned on Trump’s orders. Russia now owns the airstrip we built
- On Oct 7, 2019, Trump abruptly withdrew support from America's allies in Syria after a phone call with Turkey's president (Erdogan). Turkey subsequently bombed US Special Forces.
- Trump sent thousands of American troops to defend the oil assets of the country that perpetrated 9/11
- In Sept 2019, he made an Air Force cargo crew, flying from the U.S. to Kuwait stop in Scotland (where there's no U.S. base) to refuel at a commercial airport (where it costs more), so they could stay overnight at a Trump property (which isn't close to the airport). Trump’s golf courses in Ireland and Scotland are losing money, so he's forcing the military to pay for nights there.
- In Sept, 2019, Pentagon pulled funds for military schools, daycare to pay for Trump's border wall.
- In Aug, 2019, emails revealed that three of Trump's Mar-a-Lago pals, who are now running Veterans Affairs, are rampant with meddling. "They had no experience in veterans affairs (none of them even served in the military) nor underwent any kind of approval process to serve as de facto managers. Yet, with Trump’s approval, they directed actions and criticized operations without any oversight. They wasted valuable staff time in hundreds of pages of communications and meetings, emails show. Emails reveal disdainful attitudes within the department to the trio’s meddling."
- Veterans graves will be "dug up" for the border wall, after Trump instructed aides to seize private property. Trump told officials he would pardon them if they break the law by illegally seizing property
- Children of deployed US troops will no longer get automatic American citizenship if born overseas during deployment. This includes US troops posted abroad for years at a time (August 28, 2019)
- On August 2, 2019, Trump requisitioned military retirement funds towards border wall
- On July 31, 2019, Trump ordered the Navy rescind medals to prosecutors who were prosecuted war criminals
- Trump denied a U.S. Marine of 6 years entry into the United States for his scheduled citizenship interview (Reported July 17, 2019)
- Trump made the U.S. Navy Blue Angels violate ethics rules by having them fly at his July 4th political campaign event (July 4, 2019)
- Trump demanded US military chiefs stand next to him at 4th of July parade (reported July 2, 2019)
- In June, 2019, Trump sent troops to the border to paint the fence for a better "aesthetic appearance"
- Trump used his D-Day interview at a cemetery commemorating fallen US soldiers to attack a Vietnam veteran (June 6, 2019)
- Trump started his D-Day commemoration speech by attacking a private citizen (Bette Midler, of all people) (reported on June 4th, 2019)
- Trump made his 2nd wife, Marla Maples, sign a prenup that would have cut off all child support if Tiffany joined the military (reported June 4th, 2019)
- On May 27, 2019, Trump turned away US military from his Memorial Day speech because they were from the destroyer USS John S. McCain
- Trump ordered the USS John McCain out of sight during his visit to Japan (May 15, 2019). The ship's name was subsequently covered. (May 27, 2019)
- Trump pardoned war criminals (May&Nov, 2019)
- Trump purged 200,000 veterans healthcare applications (due to known administrative errors within VA’s enrollment system) (reported on May 13, 2019)
- Trump deported a spouse of fallen Army soldier killed in Afghanistan, leaving their daughter parentless (April 16, 2019)
- On March 20, 2019, Trump complained that a deceased war hero didn't thank him for his funeral
- On Feb 25, 2019, Trump diverted military housing funds to pay for his border wall. A judge subsequently denied this. In July 2019, SCOTUS ruled that Trump could in fact divert military housing funds to pay for his wall.
- Between 12/22/2018, and 1/25/2019, Trump refused to sign his party's funding bill, which shut down the government, forcing the Coast Guard to go without pay, which made service members rely on food pantries. However, his appointees got a $10,000 pay raise
- He banned service members from serving based on gender identity (1/22/2019)
- He denied female troops access to birth control to limit sexual activity (on-going. Published Jan 18, 2019)
- He tried to deport a marine vet who is a U.S.-born citizen (Jan 16, 2019)
- When a man was caught swindling veterans pensions for high-interest “cash advances," Trump's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined him $1. As a reminder, the Trump administration's goal was to dismantle the CFPB, installing Mick Mulvaney as the director, who publicly stated the bureau should be disbanded. (Jan 26, 2019)
- He called a retired general a 'dog' with a 'big, dumb mouth' (Jan 1, 2019)
- He increased privatization of the VA, leading to longer waits and higher taxpayer cost (2018)
- He finally visited troops 2 years after taking office, but only after 154 vacation days at his properties (Dec 26, 2018)
- He revealed a covert Seal Team 5 deployment, including names and faces, on Twitter during his visit to Iraq (Dec 26, 2018)
- Trump lied to deployed troops that he gave them a 10% raise (12/26/2018). He tried giving the military a raise that was lower than the standard living adjustment. Congress told him that idea wasn't going to work. Then after giving them the raise that Congress made him, he lied about it pretending that it was larger than Obama's. It wasn't.
- He fired service members living with HIV just before the 2018 holidays (Dec 19, 2018-present)
- He tried to slash disability and unemployment benefits for Veterans to $0, and eliminate the unemployability extrascheduler rating (Dec 17, 2018)
- He called troops on Thanksgiving and told them he's most thankful for himself (Thanksgiving, 2018)
- He urged Florida to not count deployed military votes (Nov 12, 2018)
- He canceled an Arlington Cemetery visit on Veterans Day due to light rain (Nov 12, 2018)
- While in Europe commemorating the end of WWI, he didn't attend the ceremony at a US cemetery due to the rain -- other world leaders went anyway (Nov 10, 2018)
- He used troops as a political prop by sending them on a phantom mission to the border and made them miss Thanksgiving with their families (Oct-Dec, 2018)
- He stopped using troops as a political prop immediately after the election. However, the troops remained in muddy camps on the border (Nov 7, 2018)
- Trump changed the GI Bill through his Forever GI Act, causing the VA to miss veteran benefits, including housing allowances. This caused many veterans to run out of food and rent. (reported October 7, 2018)
- Trump doubled the rejection rate for veterans requesting family deportation protections (July 5, 2018)
- Trump deported active-duty spouses (11,800 military families face this problem as of April 2018)
- He forgot a fallen soldier's name (below) during a call to his pregnant widow, then attacked her the next day (Oct 23-24, 2017)
- He sent commandos into an ambush due to a lack of intel, and sends contractors to pick them up, resulting in a commando being left behind, tortured, and executed. (Trump approved the mission because Bannon told him Obama didn't have the guts to do it) (Oct 4, 2017)
- He blocked a veteran group on Twitter (June 2017)
- He ordered the discharge of active-duty immigrant troops with good records (2017-present)
- He deported veterans (2017-present)
- He said he knows more about ISIS than American generals (Oct 2016)
- On October 3, 2016, Trump said vets get PTSD because they aren't strong (note: yes, he said it's 'because they aren't strong.' He didn't say it's 'because they're weak.' This distinction is important because of Snopes)
- Trump accepted a Purple Heart from a fan at one of his rallies and said: “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier.” (Aug 2, 2016)
- Trump attacks Gold Star families - Myeshia Johnson--gold star widow, Khan family--gold star parents, etc. (2016-present)
- Trump sent funds raised from a January 2016 veterans benefit to the Donald J Trump Foundation instead of veterans charities (the foundation has since been ordered shut because of fraud) (Jan, 2016)
- Trump said he has "more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military" because he went to a military-style academy (2015 biography)
- Trump said he doesn't consider POWs heroes because they were caught. He said he prefers people who were not caught (July 18, 2015)
- Trump said having unprotected sex was his own personal Vietnam (1998)
- For a decade, Trump sought to kick veterans off of Fifth Avenue because he found them unsightly nuisances outside of Trump Tower. “While disabled veterans should be given every opportunity to earn a living, is it fair to do so to the detriment of the city as a whole or its tax paying citizens and businesses?” - 1991
- Trump dodged the draft 5 times by having a doctor diagnose him with bone spurs.
- No Trump in America has *ever* served in the military; this spans 5 generations, and every branch of the family tree. In fact, the reason his grandfather immigrated to America was to avoid military service
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Well, the WSJ is a Murdoch/Fox News rag now, so a) it's better used to line bird cages and catboxes and b) no big surprise there.
I mean, what with Sinclair parroting his bullshit through piles of local news stations as "must-run" segments and the WSJ trying to bury his shit, it's no wonder the base still has a bubble to where they can sit around and giggle like morons about how he's still trying to own the libs.
People talk about breaking up Google and Microsoft? Take a mallet to Sinclair and make them divest all their local TV channels, too, so people get both sides of the issue instead of just one.
To keep this on topic, though, we're already seeing the effects of Trump's dick-waving- Iranian hackers are making more runs than ever at American educational/industrial/utility/government systems, looking for weaknesses. Iran doesn't want to get into a shooting war with us, but if they can make us look like a bunch of idiots in cyberspace, they utterly will.
I can has cheezburger, yes?
Wait wait wait what? The guy overseeing a huge chunk of the IC, including the NSA and DIA, hasn't seen it?
"The really mind-boggling thing is that his voters don't seem to have realized that. Trump can say the most vile, belittling things about people in the military and military folks are all like "MAGA! Trump! Own the libs!" etc.
I guess it's how MLM companies work. People discard obvious signs of being conned because they are emotionally invested."
While not as much as I'd wish, I've definitely noticed a shift in peoples attitudes away from Trump at work. It's weird, the younger active duty folks are eyeing the Dem candidates with cautious acceptance, the older retirees I work with still focus on Hillary somehow.
I know it's just one single example, but it makes me hopeful that military folks in general aren't in being completely duped.