Comey is out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This claptrap about our democracy being threatened is just ludicrous. We have been hearing this since Trump's nomination and even more so after Trump was elected.

He has been in office for well over 4 months and what has he done so far that represents a real threat to our democracy? We still have a free press, our elected representatives still openly express their opposition to Trump, late night comics still make fun of Trump, the courts still function and issue injunctions on EOs that they deem constitutionally questionable, people are still posting on this and other forums expressing their strong opposition to Trump both personally and in terms of policy and sometimes in quite offensive language.

I have lived for brief periods in countries where freedoms are proscribed to some degree or the other and the US is not even remotely akin to these countries and it would take a serious erosion of our democratic institutions for us to get anywhere close to those countries.

This hysteria about what Trump can do or is about to do is sheer nonsense. We have multiple safeguards to prevent autocracy in this country.

You simply are not paying attention.

Our judicial system is being discredited and undermined.
Our press freedoms are being threatened and undermined.

If you don't already see and know this, then you need to open your eyes.

Provide specifics as to what he has done to actually impact our judicial system or press freedoms.

I heard and read when the right-wing would attack Obama and how he was undermining our democracy and it was just as nonsensical.

There is a difference between right-wing commentators saying that a POTUS is undermining the judiciary and a POTUS himself saying that the courts are not to be trusted. I'm sorry (truly, because I believe your views will win the day) that you can't see the difference. Civil liberties are rarely removed overnight, they are chipped away at bit-by-bit. Trump is hastening a process that has been going on for a while. People should have woken up under Bush, they should have woken up under Obama, and now we've got an unhinged man in the Oval Office with all the consolidated power cultivated by our last two Presidents. The sharp transition from POTUS many Americans trust to lunatic with the ability to issue drone strikes against US citizens, order dragnet-style surveillance, etc is pretty jarring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Threatened to dismantle the Ninth Circuit
Called a federal judge a "so-called judge"

Tweets like this:

Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 5, 2017

Splitting the Ninth Circuit has been discussed many times well before Trump because it is unwieldy among other reasons.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/politics/lawmakers-trying-again-to-divide-ninth-circuit.html?_r=0

With regard to the "so-called judge" remark it was totally inappropriate but it did not change a thing really.

Yes, he makes comments disparaging decisions he does not like - and a president should not do so especially in the language he uses - but from a practical standpoint has it changed the outcome one iota?

The problem is that too many Americans believe our democracy is only enshrined in our laws and founding documents and not also in our political norms. Washington warned that this was not the case, but even now we refuse to believe him.

It's a good thing, in general, for a claimant to have to show standing in a court-of-law. But now we have almost universal agreement that Trump is flagrantly violating the Emoluments Clause, but no one can show standing to challenge this in court. Our best hope for holding him accountable is for the Congress to act as a check on his corruption, but they seem unwilling to do so...and decades of gerry-mandering is going to be difficult to vote them out.

Trump is violating every political norm Americans have ever held dear, and he's using our Constitution and judicial precedent to protect himself while he openly fleeces the American public. I'm less disgusted that he's doing it, because lots of people are selfish a$$hol3s, than that people are defending it by citing our democratic ideals.

[Anonymous]

^ The parties have been bought by special interests. Until we limit the amount of money in politics, we won't get anything close to functioning as a democracy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ The parties have been bought by special interests. Until we limit the amount of money in politics, we won't get anything close to functioning as a democracy

Horsepucky. The republicans are the winners at this game and as long as we have to pretend the two parties are in any way legitimate is time we aren't fixing the problem. Clapper said it: Citizens United has allowed Dark Money - like the Mercers, the Kochs and Vlad's band of oligarchs - an outsize voice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This claptrap about our democracy being threatened is just ludicrous. We have been hearing this since Trump's nomination and even more so after Trump was elected.

He has been in office for well over 4 months and what has he done so far that represents a real threat to our democracy? We still have a free press, our elected representatives still openly express their opposition to Trump, late night comics still make fun of Trump, the courts still function and issue injunctions on EOs that they deem constitutionally questionable, people are still posting on this and other forums expressing their strong opposition to Trump both personally and in terms of policy and sometimes in quite offensive language.

I have lived for brief periods in countries where freedoms are proscribed to some degree or the other and the US is not even remotely akin to these countries and it would take a serious erosion of our democratic institutions for us to get anywhere close to those countries.

This hysteria about what Trump can do or is about to do is sheer nonsense. We have multiple safeguards to prevent autocracy in this country.

You simply are not paying attention.

Our judicial system is being discredited and undermined.
Our press freedoms are being threatened and undermined.

If you don't already see and know this, then you need to open your eyes.

Provide specifics as to what he has done to actually impact our judicial system or press freedoms.

I heard and read when the right-wing would attack Obama and how he was undermining our democracy and it was just as nonsensical.

There is a difference between right-wing commentators saying that a POTUS is undermining the judiciary and a POTUS himself saying that the courts are not to be trusted. I'm sorry (truly, because I believe your views will win the day) that you can't see the difference. Civil liberties are rarely removed overnight, they are chipped away at bit-by-bit. Trump is hastening a process that has been going on for a while. People should have woken up under Bush, they should have woken up under Obama, and now we've got an unhinged man in the Oval Office with all the consolidated power cultivated by our last two Presidents. The sharp transition from POTUS many Americans trust to lunatic with the ability to issue drone strikes against US citizens, order dragnet-style surveillance, etc is pretty jarring.

First, let me say that I appreciate the civil and reasoned response. I agree with you that we need to always be on our guard against attempts to limit our freedoms and civil liberties. My point is that despite all of the hysteria that this is happening under Trump his critics are not able to cite what he has actually done in this regard.

Just to be clear, I did not vote for Trump and I actually find the man to be offensive and unqualified but I am respectful of the democratic process and he won under the system that we have for selecting a president. I don't respect the man but I still respect the office and so I accord to him the respect that he is entitled to as president.

As I said I have lived in countries that range from being almost akin to dictatorships to those that are subject to benevolent autocracies which are ostensibly democratic and much of the criticism that is leveled at Trump and before him other presidents would result in severe penalties and even physical harm in those countries. This is why I think the hysteria that Trump is a threat to our freedoms and democracy goes beyond the pale.

I heard Dershowitz opine that after the first EO banning entry from certain countries when the judge in Seattle blocked the order and another judge in Boston said the order was legal, he said Trump should just say that he was going to follow the Boston judge's ruling - he nonetheless complied with the injunction.

Trump has autocratic tendencies for sure but he has so far realized his limitations as president.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Threatened to dismantle the Ninth Circuit
Called a federal judge a "so-called judge"

Tweets like this:

Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 5, 2017

Splitting the Ninth Circuit has been discussed many times well before Trump because it is unwieldy among other reasons.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/politics/lawmakers-trying-again-to-divide-ninth-circuit.html?_r=0

With regard to the "so-called judge" remark it was totally inappropriate but it did not change a thing really.

Yes, he makes comments disparaging decisions he does not like - and a president should not do so especially in the language he uses - but from a practical standpoint has it changed the outcome one iota?

The problem is that too many Americans believe our democracy is only enshrined in our laws and founding documents and not also in our political norms. Washington warned that this was not the case, but even now we refuse to believe him.

It's a good thing, in general, for a claimant to have to show standing in a court-of-law. But now we have almost universal agreement that Trump is flagrantly violating the Emoluments Clause, but no one can show standing to challenge this in court. Our best hope for holding him accountable is for the Congress to act as a check on his corruption, but they seem unwilling to do so...and decades of gerry-mandering is going to be difficult to vote them out.

Trump is violating every political norm Americans have ever held dear, and he's using our Constitution and judicial precedent to protect himself while he openly fleeces the American public. I'm less disgusted that he's doing it, because lots of people are selfish a$$hol3s, than that people are defending it by citing our democratic ideals.

There is a process for dealing with a president who breaks the law: he can be impeached and removed from office or he can be voted out of office at the next election.
Alternatively the elected representatives who are not performing their duty should be voted out of office.

If the duly elected representatives don't want to impeach him or the voters decide at the next election to reelect him, perhaps it is because the perceived illegal actions - which may bother some - is still not sufficiently egregious to others.

But that is how a democracy works ........ we have to trust the voters even though it sometimes results in an outcome we may not agree with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This claptrap about our democracy being threatened is just ludicrous. We have been hearing this since Trump's nomination and even more so after Trump was elected.

He has been in office for well over 4 months and what has he done so far that represents a real threat to our democracy? We still have a free press, our elected representatives still openly express their opposition to Trump, late night comics still make fun of Trump, the courts still function and issue injunctions on EOs that they deem constitutionally questionable, people are still posting on this and other forums expressing their strong opposition to Trump both personally and in terms of policy and sometimes in quite offensive language.

I have lived for brief periods in countries where freedoms are proscribed to some degree or the other and the US is not even remotely akin to these countries and it would take a serious erosion of our democratic institutions for us to get anywhere close to those countries.

This hysteria about what Trump can do or is about to do is sheer nonsense. We have multiple safeguards to prevent autocracy in this country.

A reporter was arrested for asking Secretary Price a question.

The FCC is investigating Stephen Colbert for making fun of Trump.

There is no FCC investigation of Colbert.

Aha, I see now that the FCC clarified its statement from last week yesterday. Forgive me, there was a lot of other news going on.
"An FCC spokesman confirmed to The Post on Monday that the commission was not launching an investigation."
Have anything to say regarding the other issue, which is a lot worse?
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/business/media/reporter-arrested-tom-price.html?referer=

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ The parties have been bought by special interests. Until we limit the amount of money in politics, we won't get anything close to functioning as a democracy

Horsepucky. The republicans are the winners at this game and as long as we have to pretend the two parties are in any way legitimate is time we aren't fixing the problem. Clapper said it: Citizens United has allowed Dark Money - like the Mercers, the Kochs and Vlad's band of oligarchs - an outsize voice.

Horsepucky to you. I think we're saying the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This claptrap about our democracy being threatened is just ludicrous. We have been hearing this since Trump's nomination and even more so after Trump was elected.

He has been in office for well over 4 months and what has he done so far that represents a real threat to our democracy? We still have a free press, our elected representatives still openly express their opposition to Trump, late night comics still make fun of Trump, the courts still function and issue injunctions on EOs that they deem constitutionally questionable, people are still posting on this and other forums expressing their strong opposition to Trump both personally and in terms of policy and sometimes in quite offensive language.

I have lived for brief periods in countries where freedoms are proscribed to some degree or the other and the US is not even remotely akin to these countries and it would take a serious erosion of our democratic institutions for us to get anywhere close to those countries.

This hysteria about what Trump can do or is about to do is sheer nonsense. We have multiple safeguards to prevent autocracy in this country.

A reporter was arrested for asking Secretary Price a question.

The FCC is investigating Stephen Colbert for making fun of Trump.

There is no FCC investigation of Colbert.

Aha, I see now that the FCC clarified its statement from last week yesterday. Forgive me, there was a lot of other news going on.
"An FCC spokesman confirmed to The Post on Monday that the commission was not launching an investigation."
Have anything to say regarding the other issue, which is a lot worse?
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/business/media/reporter-arrested-tom-price.html?referer=

Not the pp, but here is another take on the story.

Heyman was arrested for "yelling" questions at Price and Conway and "aggressively [trying to] breach Secret Service security," a criminal complaint filed by police claims. He has been charged with "willful disruption of governmental processes" and was released from jail Tuesday night after posting $5,000 bail. A hearing date has not yet been set, but he could face up to six months in jail and a $100 fee.

"This was not about someone asking questions, it was about physical actions. Other reporters there asked questions without taking physical action ... [Heyman] crossed a line," said Capitol Police spokesman Lawrence Messina.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/west-virginia-reporter-arrested-after-yelling-questions-hhs-sec-tom-n757516

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

First, let me say that I appreciate the civil and reasoned response. I agree with you that we need to always be on our guard against attempts to limit our freedoms and civil liberties. My point is that despite all of the hysteria that this is happening under Trump his critics are not able to cite what he has actually done in this regard.

Just to be clear, I did not vote for Trump and I actually find the man to be offensive and unqualified but I am respectful of the democratic process and he won under the system that we have for selecting a president. I don't respect the man but I still respect the office and so I accord to him the respect that he is entitled to as president.

As I said I have lived in countries that range from being almost akin to dictatorships to those that are subject to benevolent autocracies which are ostensibly democratic and much of the criticism that is leveled at Trump and before him other presidents would result in severe penalties and even physical harm in those countries. This is why I think the hysteria that Trump is a threat to our freedoms and democracy goes beyond the pale.

I heard Dershowitz opine that after the first EO banning entry from certain countries when the judge in Seattle blocked the order and another judge in Boston said the order was legal, he said Trump should just say that he was going to follow the Boston judge's ruling - he nonetheless complied with the injunction.

Trump has autocratic tendencies for sure but he has so far realized his limitations as president.

When the President refers to any media that he doesn't like as "fake", he undermines it.
When the President refers to the judiciary as "so called judges" because he doesn't agree with their decisions; when he seriously suggests a circuit court be broken up, he undermined it.

This happens slowly, but the fact that a sizable percentage of the US population actually believes the President despite the contradictions and lies that re on video and can be viewed side by side is telling. Facts are beginning not to matter; alternative facts (ie lies) become acceptable; the rule of law is eroded as Trump pushes more and more without any penalty.

Benjamin Franklins response when asked the result of the Constitutional Convention said "We have a republic, if we can keep it" - we have kept it for over 200 years, but we are seriously at the point where we are about to fall into an autocracy. The administration is flauting nepotism laws - it sets up Ivanka or Jared as a "successor"; the GOP has gerrymandered itself into the ruling class and is rubber stamping most of the agenda - as long as they get the crumbs, they are willing to turn a bling eye to the overt corruption. The Administration is seriously looking at alterations to the First Amendment.

Ideas are floated, some are sticking, some are getting push back. But as much as this reads like a conspiracy theory, until someone with the ability stands up to it, it will continue to erode until we reach a tipping point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There is a process for dealing with a president who breaks the law: he can be impeached and removed from office or he can be voted out of office at the next election.
Alternatively the elected representatives who are not performing their duty should be voted out of office.

If the duly elected representatives don't want to impeach him or the voters decide at the next election to reelect him, perhaps it is because the perceived illegal actions - which may bother some - is still not sufficiently egregious to others.

But that is how a democracy works ........ we have to trust the voters even though it sometimes results in an outcome we may not agree with.

This makes an assumption of fair and free elections. News yesterday that over 200,000 registered voters in Wisconsin were turned away last November and examples of other issues in North Carolina, Florida and other states suggests otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Ha! Love it, about time.

I can't stand Hillary but that entire thing was handled poorly.

I read the termination letter and all true imo. This has been a long time coming, it took someone with guts to follow through on the right decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm assuming it has to do with this article which just hit the news wires 30 minutes ago. He misstated the number of emails that Abedin forwarded to Weiner, the FBI issued a correction to his testimony. Seems like the WH has been waiting for any excuse to can him.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/comey-misstated-key-clinton-email-evidence-at-hearing-say-people-close-to-investigation/2017/05/09/074c1c7e-34bd-11e7-b373-418f6849a004_story.html

I would have fired him after negotiating with Hillary over taking the email server with classified material on it. You don't negotiate, you confiscate it immediately, no questions asked.

Exactly, that's what was suppose to be done. Did they negotiate with Martha when she erased that message on the answering machine? She got 6 mo in club Fed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This claptrap about our democracy being threatened is just ludicrous. We have been hearing this since Trump's nomination and even more so after Trump was elected.

He has been in office for well over 4 months and what has he done so far that represents a real threat to our democracy? We still have a free press, our elected representatives still openly express their opposition to Trump, late night comics still make fun of Trump, the courts still function and issue injunctions on EOs that they deem constitutionally questionable, people are still posting on this and other forums expressing their strong opposition to Trump both personally and in terms of policy and sometimes in quite offensive language.

I have lived for brief periods in countries where freedoms are proscribed to some degree or the other and the US is not even remotely akin to these countries and it would take a serious erosion of our democratic institutions for us to get anywhere close to those countries.

This hysteria about what Trump can do or is about to do is sheer nonsense. We have multiple safeguards to prevent autocracy in this country.

You simply are not paying attention.

Our judicial system is being discredited and undermined.
Our press freedoms are being threatened and undermined.

If you don't already see and know this, then you need to open your eyes.

Provide specifics as to what he has done to actually impact our judicial system or press freedoms.

I heard and read when the right-wing would attack Obama and how he was undermining our democracy and it was just as nonsensical.

There is a difference between right-wing commentators saying that a POTUS is undermining the judiciary and a POTUS himself saying that the courts are not to be trusted. I'm sorry (truly, because I believe your views will win the day) that you can't see the difference. Civil liberties are rarely removed overnight, they are chipped away at bit-by-bit. Trump is hastening a process that has been going on for a while. People should have woken up under Bush, they should have woken up under Obama, and now we've got an unhinged man in the Oval Office with all the consolidated power cultivated by our last two Presidents. The sharp transition from POTUS many Americans trust to lunatic with the ability to issue drone strikes against US citizens, order dragnet-style surveillance, etc is pretty jarring.

First, let me say that I appreciate the civil and reasoned response. I agree with you that we need to always be on our guard against attempts to limit our freedoms and civil liberties. My point is that despite all of the hysteria that this is happening under Trump his critics are not able to cite what he has actually done in this regard.

Just to be clear, I did not vote for Trump and I actually find the man to be offensive and unqualified but I am respectful of the democratic process and he won under the system that we have for selecting a president. I don't respect the man but I still respect the office and so I accord to him the respect that he is entitled to as president.

As I said I have lived in countries that range from being almost akin to dictatorships to those that are subject to benevolent autocracies which are ostensibly democratic and much of the criticism that is leveled at Trump and before him other presidents would result in severe penalties and even physical harm in those countries. This is why I think the hysteria that Trump is a threat to our freedoms and democracy goes beyond the pale.

I heard Dershowitz opine that after the first EO banning entry from certain countries when the judge in Seattle blocked the order and another judge in Boston said the order was legal, he said Trump should just say that he was going to follow the Boston judge's ruling - he nonetheless complied with the injunction.

Trump has autocratic tendencies for sure but he has so far realized his limitations as president.

Democracy is subverted by coup or the drip, drip, drip of despotism like undermining the rulings of a federal judge whose parents immigrated from Mexico or whose court is located in our 50th state. It's attacking news as fake on a daily basis. It's calling the Minority Leader a clown and hurling insults at your political opponents. It's threatening to jail the person running against you in a national election. It's surrounding yourself with thugs, bigots and white supremacists and offering them validation. It's threatening to abandon our military alliances. It's refusing to speak out forcefully against Islamophobes and anti-Semites. There are literally hundreds of these aggressions. BTW Dershowitz's judgement is clouded by his Islamophobia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm assuming it has to do with this article which just hit the news wires 30 minutes ago. He misstated the number of emails that Abedin forwarded to Weiner, the FBI issued a correction to his testimony. Seems like the WH has been waiting for any excuse to can him.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/comey-misstated-key-clinton-email-evidence-at-hearing-say-people-close-to-investigation/2017/05/09/074c1c7e-34bd-11e7-b373-418f6849a004_story.html

I would have fired him after negotiating with Hillary over taking the email server with classified material on it. You don't negotiate, you confiscate it immediately, no questions asked.

Exactly, that's what was suppose to be done. Did they negotiate with Martha when she erased that message on the answering machine? She got 6 mo in club Fed.

Martha Stewart lied to a federal agent investigating allegations of insider trading. Hillary did no such thing. Nice try.