Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

Everyone should take time out of every day to thank our God-Prince that rules us like a king and blesses us with riches. No President has mastered the economy like PDJT and none ever shall again.

He has declared imported nails and staples to be national security threats. PDJT will always keep us safe! Without PDJT will you ever feel secure again? No? Be glad then, friend! His Majesty's scientists have worked fiendishly on an age-defying elixir with but a few unfortunate side effects (Orange peel complexion, incoherent speech patterns, etc.).

[iam416]

He inherited a strong economy with unemployment below 5% and took it down another 1-1.5% lower. All by closely supervising the management of the economy, day and night, for the past 3 years. Perhaps the greatest achievement ever committed by an organic life form.

Well, on election night the dire predictions of market collapse were rolling. Economic disaster by tariff or otherwise was always following. And these were predictions made by some of he smartest, most honest, most objective motherfuckers in the world. To think that PDJT somehow fought against those long odds to achieve a historic economy -- even with a very favorable starting point -- is nothing short of amazing. I mean, Paul Motherfucking Krugman didn't think it could happen. Do I need to say more?

But, I fear you need to spend some time in the gulag, comrade. The economy is not good. It's only working for the billionaires. It's actually really terrible for everyone else, so we need a $100 trillion infusion of cash to get things out of this hellish pit of despair. Learn your talking points, Son, or they will gulag your ass.

[iam416]

Everyone should take time out of every day to thank our God-Prince that rules us like a king and blesses us with riches. No President has mastered the economy like PDJT and none ever shall again.

I'll leave it to you and Dersh to figure out proper 18th century royal court etiquette. All I ask is that folks occasionally recognize reality and the reality of the American economy. Facts be facts, Boss.

[lineygoblue]

The peace proposal for Israel and the Palestinians does include allowing them to have a police force to cover their territory, and it also includes proposals that Palestinians end their "pay for killing" policies, and it grants more land to them than they have now. Its telling that Egypt added a condition that requires ISRAEL to have a land buffer between Egypt and a larger Gaza, to 'prevent cross border terror' into Egypt, which means Egypt considers Israel a better partner for peaceful existence than they do the Palestinians. Good move by Egypt.

I don't necessarily think its a perfect proposal, but its a proposal. It could be a starting point if the Palestinians were truly interested in peace rather than bloodshed.

The biggest problem is that the Palestinians do not truly want peace with Israel. The Palestinians stated goal, over and over again, is "the liberation of Palestine". Contrary to popular belief, this does not mean that Palestinians want an Israeli return to pre-1967 borders. What the 'liberation of Palestine' means to Palestinians is, the total and complete elimination of Israel as a country, and the removal of Jews from the area. This cannot happen, of course, but it is still the Palestinians goal, and they refuse to give up that goal as part of any peace agreement.

Even the larger Arab countries in the area have abandoned any idea of eliminating Israel, and if the truth be known, most of their leaders probably wish the Palestinians would shut up, and make an agreement with Israel that is similar to the agreements they have with both Egypt and Jordan. Arafat had an opportunity to do so at Camp David with Bill Clinton and Ehud Barak, but he walked away when he couldn't get a "right of return", which would eliminate Israel with the stroke of a pen.

Israel has long demonstrated that they are a reliable partner for peace with countries like Egypt and Jordan, who truly want peaceful coexistence. The Palestinians are more in line with Hamas and Hezbollah, which have no desire for peace with Israel.

[iam416]

The biggest problem is that the Palestinians do not truly want peace with Israel. The Palestinians stated goal, over and over again, is "the liberation of Palestine". Contrary to popular belief, this does not mean that Palestinians want an Israeli return to pre-1967 borders. What the 'liberation of Palestine' means to Palestinians is, the total and complete elimination of Israel as a country, and the removal of Jews from the area. This cannot happen, of course, but it is still the Palestinians goal, and they refuse to give up that goal as part of any peace agreement.

Correct. As noted, Hamas and Palestine have no interest in reality.

[froot loops]

My 'defense of Trump' actually has more to do with the political hypocrisy of it all, rather than defending PDJT's actions. The roles were completely reversed during the Clinton impeachment, with Republicans harrumphing about Clinton's actions, and Dems defending and minimizing them. My assertion is that none of them are interested in real justice, because if they were, a large number of them would put themselves out of a job because they all have skeletons in the closet that they do not want to be found. They like their cushy jobs, and they want to keep them. Priorities, and all that ...

I don't expect Mr. Loops to understand that, but I thought I'd set the record straight anyway.

Clinton lied under oath, he deserved what he got. That doesn't mean the Starr investigation was correct, when you have a creep like Bert Kavanaugh grilling Hillary Clinton about Vince Foster and accusing her of sleeping with him, it was an investigation out of control. The whitewater investigation lasted 8 fucking years, it was.an investigation in search of a crime.

Trump is arguing anything goes for him and it's not impeachable. I'm sure you are on board with that. If the senators vote.to acquit, that will be the way he approaches the rest of his presidency. He started this latest fiasco right after the Mueller investigation. He will be emboldened by this along with 63 million zealots who pulled the lever for him.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I'll leave it to you and Dersh to figure out proper 18th century royal court etiquette. All I ask is that folks occasionally recognize reality and the reality of the American economy. Facts be facts, Boss.

2019 had 2.3% GDP growth. Slowest year in Trump's presidency (TRADE WARZ!). Now certainly that's not at all bad, but it doesn't necessarily merit North Korean-style praise either. After all, I'm old enough to remember under Obama 2.3% growth was considered an economy on life support.

Of course, trump promised quarterly growth in the 4-6% range (cuz he's Trump. Always oversell). And that's basically what it would take to come close to a balanced budget.

But I will say that GDP growth is more stable than under Obama. Obama was much more of a see-saw

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/30/us-gdp-q4-2019-first-reading.html

[iam416]

Now certainly that's not at all bad,

Is it any bad?

but it doesn't necessarily merit North Korean-style praise either

I appreciate your efforts to continually torch strawmen. Quite the bonfire we have going today. Again, it's really only a matter of recognizing reality. The problem is that reality undercuts the basic premise of every fucking D candidate's campaign (to the extent the premise is something other than "I'm not Trump"). It's really not that hard.

Maybe they'll get lucky and we'll suffer economic collapse in the coming months and then their policies will address actual problems. Fingers crossed.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Liney is a fellow Trumpista?

Cool.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Hahaha I nearly posted a joke like <<insert accusation that I'm rooting for the economy to fail>> but I knew you wouldn't let me down.

The economy is good. Said it a bunch of times. Thank you, President Trump!

But here's hoping my 401k gets wiped out!!! SKID ROW HERE I COME!! Already have begun excitedly hoarding cardboard boxes and stole a shopping cart from Target. I prefer the Target carts. Never had a janky wheel on one of those. Nice smooth ride.

[iam416]

insert accusation that I'm rooting for the economy to fail

I consciously did not do that, but rather used "they" -- not "you". Heh.

Of course, given the current ambiguity over what "they" means these days, perhaps I accidentally said "you" when I said "they." I'm not an expert on the current meaning of pronouns. Rather, I'm stuck way back in 2018.

[froot loops]

Embracing enormous deficit spending in power and becoming deficit hawks when out of power serves them well.

[Ghengis Jon]

Jeff B - shoot me a txt- seems you've changed #s.

[THE_WIZARD_]

...is DSL really as stupid as he appears here...or is it just a wizardesque act...to amuse Talent...

[Dr. Strangelove]

I've mentioned this probably more than anyone cares to hear but it's amazing that on the same day Trump is being tried in the Senate, just down the street a DOJ is arguing that it's inappropriate for Congress to try to enforce its subpoenas in court. The judge said, well, if Congress can't use the court system, how can they force the Executive to comply? Without hesitation the DOJ lawyer said: impeachment.

It doesn't need to be said that Trump's personal lawyers have been arguing that no, no, this can only be decided in court.

Schiff brought this up a couple hours after it happened and got quite a bit of laughter in the Senate.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/30/politics/trump-impeachment-subpoena-hearing/index.html