Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Ghengis Jon]

Looks like Trump removed the duct tape. NEVER EVER confirm you can intercept/decode enemy communications. EVER. Even when its apparent you can and do. Could you imagine FDR saying "Yeah, we have more difficulty cracking a Jack Armstrong decoder ring than we do with Enigma transmissions." ?!? The Iranians are certainly changing their codes and encryption methods, but that should take the NSA all of 48 hours max to crack the new ciphers. Doesn't matter THIS time, but if it were a shooting scenario, 48 hours is forever in combat.


<Note: I wrote an entire paragraph without referring to Trump as an imbecile. New record!!>

[Jeff Buchanan]

Jon, I think this entire last few days demonstrates, to me anyway - the haters will continue to hate - that in the crisis mode there appears to be some adults in the room. I know some posters here think there is nothing but confusion in the WH with an out of control executive dangerously operating from his gut and against the advice of those around him by law and statute. Well, that is a naive viewpoint when it comes to how the president gets input from the NSC, especially in a crisis or potential crisis in the Situation Room. The NSC includes a long list of heavy hitters in the DOD, Intelligence agencies and State. Contrary to the ridiculous article that called John Bolton, Chairman of the NSC, a failure because he limits what the president can hear when the Council meets is simply not possible.

In a private side bar with the president, I'm sure Bolton tells the president what he wants him to hear and not a whole lot more but when the Council sits - and that may be more than once a day - there are too many very strong personalities with very high IQs getting into the president's ear. So, to suggest Bolton's war mongering is setting the course of US FP is laughable. Does he have influence? Sure. Is he a hawk on Iran? Yep. But he is one of multiple voices weighing in on almost every important military and FP issue where the president decides. I'd say, saved by the process from himself may be one of the best things we see coming out of the tensions between the US and Iran in the ME and internationally. Pretty much like the courts and Congress have effectively restrained Donald Trump the person from doing any real damage nationally. Others may disagree but ..... the process keeps the Republic on solid ground.

Also, I agree with you about not confirming the US can intercept and decode enemy communications. In this case though, I think there is a good chance that the statement Trump made about the shoot down probably being a mistake was calculated - the haters will guffaw. Fine. Like I said, there are some very smart people in government at the level we are talking about here that advise the president. He seems, from outward appearances, to be listening to them.

[Ghengis Jon]

Making the "calculated" statement that Trump did can have no positive effect. Tell them we can listen in? They know that. Tell them they need to change encoding? They know that now. Was Trump trying to provide Iran with a face saving opportunity to say, "oops, we're sorry"? I kinda doubt it.

Having the best and brightest providing input to a person lacking the fortitude or intellect for the position he occupies, one who trusts his 'gut' far more than the best and brightest, is simply pissing in the wind.

We both respect the office of President. You simply are more tolerant of the occupant, even if that occupant is a probable foreign compromised buffoon. My disgust for Trump is only matched by my disgust for a Senate that would prefers tribal ass licking to leadership and a House that prefers shaking its fist in the air and screaming at the clouds than making a principled stand.



Here is the cascading effect of a morally bankrupt President. You don't have to tell me people to lie for you, you make it an expectation and they will.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/20/politics/hope-hicks-transcript-released/index.html

[Dr. Strangelove]

Jeff also defended Brady Hoke for 4 years and said he not only had a brilliant plan, but also that anyone who underestimated him did so at their own peril.

Brady Hoke runs a Motel 6 in Port Huron now, I believe.

[Dr. Strangelove]

NYT says Trump approved airstrikes on Iranian targets today but reversed himself just hours ago

Edit: The Post and the AP both have confirmed this too. Maybe others

[Ghengis Jon]

Now THAT was a calculated statement. "I was going to kick your ass with assets in place, but decided against it at the last moment. I will not change my mind next time."

He can now go back to his serial adultery (Barron and Melania must be so proud!) and his pathological lying for his brain dead base.

[iam416]

Jonah Goldberg, once again, nails it. https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/...controversies/

Ok, so he's shooting fish in a barrel with a cannon when it comes to pointing out media double standards, but it does crack me up that the AA viewpoint on men shall not lie with men is always, ALWAYS, taken seriously or not discussed at all. But, man, Pence...have at it.

Also mentioned, of course, the fact that the US now has Concentration Camps. The same Concentration Camps we had with Obama, of course, but those were detention centers.

And folks wonder why PDJT continues to use the media as his personal punching bag. Well, not many folks, but some.

[Dr. Strangelove]

[froot loops]

Jeff Buchanan's blaming the media for the negative coverage of Trump is simply blaming the messenger. There is no shortage of people working inside the White House that paint the same consistent picture. Jeff is operating in idealized world where normal things happen, The West Wing meets The Apprentice if you will. The media didn't force Rex Tillerson to confess that his boss was a moron. The picture of Trump as a fast food junkie who gets his foreign intel from Fox and Friends is 100 percent true. If they show something inflammatory at 7:20 AM, he is tweeting about it at 7:40 AM. The problem is Jeff is a lack of imagination that he could have pulled the lever for the guy Rex Tillerson described.

[iam416]

I wish I could figure out PDJT's approval ebbs and flows. I understand the major ones -- usually ebbs -- and understand that water eventually finds it level and gets back to 42/43. What I don't understand is the movement between 43 and almost 45. Today he is sitting about as high as he gets in the RCP. Even 538 shows it -- though it's 41 to high 42s for them. I guess it's probably within the MoE -- even factoring in the sheer number of polls.

Anywho, I'm sure it'll be back down to 42.5 or something in no time.

Of some note, a D poll has PDJT winning NC against almost everyone (except Biden). Quinnipiac has PDJT losing Florida to everyone. At this stage, I tend to think those numbers are about as pro-D as they're going to get. They are essentially a referendum on PDJT as most voters still don't know a great deal about the D candidates (except Biden -- I think Biden-PDJT numbers are pretty durable). I'd expect PDJT to pick up ground on any non-Biden nominee as he finally gets a target to go after.

[iam416]

On to something more critical to our republic -- great job by the House Ds yesterday. Danny Glover testifying in favor of reparations was about as moving and important as it gets. I still have a shred of hope for our Republic. Thank you, Mr. Glover, for participating in the Ds own personal minstrel show.

[froot loops]

Maybe an unlikely actor had a say in this.

[iam416]

Finally, and also critically important, San Francisco is removing a mural of George Washington. Of note, the mural is actually intended to criticize early America's treatment of injuns and black folks. But, it must come down: https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/...sive-politics/

It will cost the SF Bd of Education several hundred thousand dollars, minimum, to do so. LOL.

[Jeff Buchanan]

.........The picture ......... (that) Trump ........gets his foreign intel from Fox and Friends is 100 percent true.

Froot, you are a smart guy but its statements like this that hurt your credibility. I tried to explain from who and how the president gets information that will inform his decisions. You're not listening.

If we had been flies on the wall in the Situtation Room yesterday, I think we would have been impressed by the interchange. The one aspect of the process that evolved yesterday that the haters have right is while the information getting to the president is pretty good what he does with it and the action that results can be questionable.

All-in-all the president's actions yesterday, certainly derived from advice he got from the NSC, seems pretty rational. Surprisingly restrained in comparison to what we might have expected actually from Bolton the war monger and the single voice in the president's ear according to some..... oh, and, of course, Tucker Carson. LOL.

But, yeah, Trump's a moron according to Tillerson ...... and markets are reaching all-time highs, Mexico and countries in South America are actually going to do something about the flow of people through their territory seeking to gain access to the US (I wonder why - jobs, safety, well stocked shelves in Super Markets, schools or their kids?), China is trying to mediate some kind of rapprochement between the US and NK, the Mullahs in Iran are running out of options ..... and money. Finally, one more observation: the process in the Republic works.

[Dr. Strangelove]