The Many Faces of US Politics...

Started by Tyrones own, March 20, 2009, 09:29:14 PM

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J70

Quote from: whitey on August 05, 2020, 10:03:34 PM
So the people who posted about Trump and the Axios interview-were they outraged or were they just pointing out that Trump is a clown?

MSNBC and WaPo dissected the Axios interview today

I wonder will Joes train wreck interview this morning will get the same scrutiny from them tomorrow

You can point out that Biden is gaffe-prone and looks very frail at times (not exactly headline news) without your usual rant about the media and what they'd supposedly do with a hypothetical GOP politician.

And like it or not, Trump is the president NOW, at a time of national crisis, looking to be reelected, and his mendacity and ignorance is almost never challenged to his face and the results seen. THAT is why the Axios interview elicited such a reaction.

J70

Quote from: whitey on August 06, 2020, 01:39:01 PM
Quote from: RadioGAAGAA on August 06, 2020, 12:11:45 PM
Quote from: whitey on August 05, 2020, 10:58:19 PM
Quote from: RadioGAAGAA on August 05, 2020, 10:10:37 PM
Quote from: whitey on August 05, 2020, 10:03:34 PMI wonder will Joes train wreck interview this morning will get the same scrutiny from them tomorrow

The only train wreck is in your little mind.

So it will be absolutely no surprise when it gets virtually no mention.


Haha-believe what you want

So was it widely mentioned?

Or did the dastardly left-wing-commie media operate in cahoots with the Mao-loving-Dems to keep it off the front cover of Pravda?

Don't know or care

Got to keep the pressure on them big time though. Scream holy blue murder every time they don't appear to be playing it down the middle.

Uh-huh.

whitey

Quote from: J70 on August 06, 2020, 02:00:52 PM
Quote from: whitey on August 05, 2020, 10:03:34 PM
So the people who posted about Trump and the Axios interview-were they outraged or were they just pointing out that Trump is a clown?

MSNBC and WaPo dissected the Axios interview today

I wonder will Joes train wreck interview this morning will get the same scrutiny from them tomorrow

You can point out that Biden is gaffe-prone and looks very frail at times (not exactly headline news) without your usual rant about the media and what they'd supposedly do with a hypothetical GOP politician.

And like it or not, Trump is the president NOW, at a time of national crisis, looking to be reelected, and his mendacity and ignorance is almost never challenged to his face and the results seen. THAT is why the Axios interview elicited such a reaction.

Joes a nice guy and a good guy but an absolute walking disaster

The media (from my vantage point) seem to be giving him a pass that they would never give ANY Republican. Absolute unapologetic character assassination of a decent people like Mitt Romney and John McCain during the 2008 and 2012 campaigns

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehill.com/opinion/campaign/404543-medias-praise-for-mccain-is-warranted-but-where-was-it-in-08%3famp

Cvnts is the only word I can use to describe them and I hope they get what's coming to them

RadioGAAGAA

Quote from: whitey on August 06, 2020, 01:39:01 PM
Quote from: RadioGAAGAA on August 06, 2020, 12:11:45 PM
Quote from: whitey on August 05, 2020, 10:58:19 PM
Quote from: RadioGAAGAA on August 05, 2020, 10:10:37 PM
Quote from: whitey on August 05, 2020, 10:03:34 PMI wonder will Joes train wreck interview this morning will get the same scrutiny from them tomorrow

So it will be absolutely no surprise when it gets virtually no mention.


Haha-believe what you want

So was it widely mentioned?


Don't know or care


::)

I suppose your further evidence of the old adage. Don't argue with an idiot.
i usse an speelchekor

RadioGAAGAA

Quote from: whitey on August 06, 2020, 03:07:50 PM
Joes a nice guy and a good guy but an absolute walking disaster

The daily death toll in the states is running at a rate higher than the average casualty rate for US servicemen during the second world war.

If Joe Biden is "an absolute walking disaster" - then just what the fukk is Donald Trump?
i usse an speelchekor

five points

Quote from: RadioGAAGAA on August 06, 2020, 03:25:24 PM
Quote from: whitey on August 06, 2020, 03:07:50 PM
Joes a nice guy and a good guy but an absolute walking disaster

The daily death toll in the states is running at a rate higher than the average casualty rate for US servicemen during the second world war.

If Joe Biden is "an absolute walking disaster" - then just what the fukk is Donald Trump?

Rubbish statistic.

36 times more people die each day in the US (In 2018, 2,839,205, or 7,778 per day) than the 291,557 (213 per day) US servicemen who died during the entire 45 months of US involvement in the second world war.

J70

Quote from: whitey on August 06, 2020, 03:07:50 PM
Quote from: J70 on August 06, 2020, 02:00:52 PM
Quote from: whitey on August 05, 2020, 10:03:34 PM
So the people who posted about Trump and the Axios interview-were they outraged or were they just pointing out that Trump is a clown?

MSNBC and WaPo dissected the Axios interview today

I wonder will Joes train wreck interview this morning will get the same scrutiny from them tomorrow

You can point out that Biden is gaffe-prone and looks very frail at times (not exactly headline news) without your usual rant about the media and what they'd supposedly do with a hypothetical GOP politician.

And like it or not, Trump is the president NOW, at a time of national crisis, looking to be reelected, and his mendacity and ignorance is almost never challenged to his face and the results seen. THAT is why the Axios interview elicited such a reaction.

Joes a nice guy and a good guy but an absolute walking disaster

The media (from my vantage point) seem to be giving him a pass that they would never give ANY Republican. Absolute unapologetic character assassination of a decent people like Mitt Romney and John McCain during the 2008 and 2012 campaigns

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehill.com/opinion/campaign/404543-medias-praise-for-mccain-is-warranted-but-where-was-it-in-08%3famp

Cvnts is the only word I can use to describe them and I hope they get what's coming to them

McCain deserved the negative coverage following the RNC in 2008.

HE thrashed around cluelessly as the financial crisis unfolded.

HE unleashed Sarah Palin and her proto-Trump brand of know-nothing, grievance-based politics and allowed his campaign to be taken over by her and her bigotted supporters (there was no GOP fervour for McCain - it was all for HER).

Was it a coincidence that men like John Lewis, formerly close, harshly criticized McCain during this period?

That Colin Powell, a major figure in the outgoing administration and fixture of GOP politics for more than a decade, endorsed his opponent following the emergence of Palin?

Maybe just for once you can look at the actual people and party themselves instead of always crying about media bias?




RadioGAAGAA

#17677
Quote from: five points on August 06, 2020, 03:36:48 PM
Quote from: RadioGAAGAA on August 06, 2020, 03:25:24 PM
Quote from: whitey on August 06, 2020, 03:07:50 PM
Joes a nice guy and a good guy but an absolute walking disaster

The daily death toll in the states is running at a rate higher than the average casualty rate for US servicemen during the second world war.

If Joe Biden is "an absolute walking disaster" - then just what the fukk is Donald Trump?

Rubbish statistic.

True statistic.

Furthermore, COVID has now killed more Americans than US servicemen killed World War I, Korea, Vietnam and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - combined.


But hey, lets worry about Joe Biden.


[and I have it at approx 400k US servicemen killed in WW2...?]
i usse an speelchekor

Denn Forever

The only on who can beat Donald Trump is Donald Trump.
I have more respect for a man
that says what he means and
means what he says...

five points

Quote from: RadioGAAGAA on August 06, 2020, 03:46:31 PM
[and I have it at approx 400k US servicemen killed in WW2...?]

I think your figure is correct.

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-us-military-numbers

My figure was based on Wikipedia including under another heading "all non-combat deaths including those from accidents, disease, suicide, and murder".

five points

#17680
Quote from: RadioGAAGAA on August 06, 2020, 03:46:31 PM
True statistic.

Furthermore, COVID has now killed more Americans than US servicemen killed World War I, Korea, Vietnam and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - combined.


But hey, lets worry about Joe Biden.


True alright but in a country of 328 million people and with limited historical involvement in external wars, almost all macro vital statistics will dwarf those relating to its wartime casualties.

And isn't it Andrew Cuomo and his counterpart Governors in New Jersey, Connecticut and Massacheusetts that we should be worrying about, and blaming?

RadioGAAGAA

Quote from: five points on August 06, 2020, 04:30:20 PM
And isn't it Andrew Cuomo and his counterpart Governors in New Jersey, Connecticut and Massacheusetts that we should be worrying about, and blaming?

No.

Not because they don't share a portion of the blame, but because they aren't the one actively hindering a response to the problem.
i usse an speelchekor

J70

#17682
/You can criticize Cuomo for certain things. His self-regard and spats with DeBlasio. His admin's decision to send recovering patients back to nursing homes to save hospital capacity was poorly judged, although understandable giving the panic over what was happening in Italy at the time. In retrospect he could have shut things down a few days earlier than he did.

I don't see how you can blame him for the community spread that took place in NY in February, leading to the explosion of cases in March. No one knew.

Cuomo has done a very good job overall since those initial mistakes though and led the state very calmly and maturely in dramatically reducing infection rates and deaths (a bit like Giuliani's leadership in the weeks after 9/11, before he turned back into a c**k) .

What excuse does Trump have? He's still in denial and pseudoscientific mode, undermining and sidelining his health professionals every chance he gets, spreading nonsense?

Or the governors of those states that have had the summer outbreaks?


Eamonnca1

New York Attorney General Moves To Dissolve The NRA After Fraud Investigation

The Attorney General of New York took action today to dissolve the National Rifle Association, following an 18-month investigation that found evidence the powerful gun rights group is "fraught with fraud and abuse."

Attorney General Letitia James claims in a lawsuit filed Thursday that she found financial misconduct in the millions of dollars, and that it contributed to a loss of more than $64 million over a three year period.

The suit alleges that top NRA executives misused charitable funds for personal gain, awarded contracts to friends and family members, and provided contracts to former employees to ensure loyalty.

Seeking to dissolve the NRA is the most aggressive sanction James could have sought against the not-for-profit organization, which James has jurisdiction over because it is registered in New York. James has a wide range of authorities relating to nonprofits in the state, including the authority to force organizations to cease operations or dissolve. The NRA is all but certain to contest it.

NPR has reached out to the NRA for comment, but has not received a response.

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"The NRA's influence has been so powerful that the organization went unchecked for decades while top executives funneled millions into their own pockets," James said in a statement. "The NRA is fraught with fraud and abuse, which is why, today, we seek to dissolve the NRA, because no organization is above the law."

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James' complaint names the National Rifle Association as a whole, but also names four current and former NRA executives: Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, general counsel John Frazer, former CFO Woody Phillips, and former chief of staff Joshua Powell.

It lists dozens of examples of alleged financial malfeasance, including the use of NRA funds for vacations, private jets, and expensive meals. In a statement, her office said that the charitable organization's executives "instituted a culture of self-dealing, mismanagement and negligent oversight" that contributed to "the waste and loss of millions in assets."

The lawsuit seeks to dissolve the NRA in its entirety and asks the court to order LaPierre and other current and former executives to pay back unlawful profits. It also seeks to remove LaPierre and Frazer from the organization's leadership and prevent the four named individuals from ever serving again on the board of a charity in New York.

Allegations against CEO Wayne LaPierre

LaPierre, who also serves as CEO, has held the top position at the organization for nearly 30 years. In the Attorney General's lawsuit he is accused of using charitable funds for personal gain, including a post-employment contract valued at more than $17 million that was not approved by the NRA's board of directors.

The lawsuit also claims that LaPierre received more than $1.2 million in expense reimbursements over four years, including gifts for friends, travel expenses and memberships at golf clubs and hotels.

And it alleges that he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on private plane trips, including for extended family when he was not present; traveled to Africa with his wife on a safari gifted by an NRA vendor, and spent more than $3.6 million on luxury black car services and travel consultants in the last two years.

Those that attempted to blow the whistle on this behavior, the suit claims, were retaliated against by LaPierre.

Allegations against former CFO Woody Phillips, former chief of staff Joshua Powell and general counsel John Frazer

James' lawsuit alleges that Phillips, whose job it was to manage the financial operations of the charitable organization, lied on financial disclosure forms and set up numerous deals to enrich himself and his girlfriend.

The New York Attorney General claims that Phillips set up a contract for himself just before he retired, and that the package was worth $1.8 million — purportedly for consulting services to the incoming treasurer. But the incoming treasurer told the New York attorney general that he was not aware of this contract. Phillips also directed a deal worth more than $1 million to his girlfriend, the suit alleges.

Meanwhile, James alleges that former NRA chief of staff Joshua Powell's salary more than tripled a little more than two years into his tenure, which began in 2016. While he began at $250,000, Powell's salary rose to $800,000.

Powell is also accused of directing charitable funds to be used for the benefit of his family members. The New York Attorney General said that Powell approved of a $5 million consulting contract with the firm McKenna & Associates. That firm, in turn, hired Powell's wife and passed her $30,000 monthly consulting fee through the NRA. Powell also arranged for an NRA vendor to hire his father as a paid photographer, leading to $90,000 in fees for his father — funds that were ultimately billed to the NRA.

The New York Attorney General did not allege that NRA general counsel John Frazer committed financial misconduct, but said that he failed to comply with board governance procedures, failed to ensure the NRA was in compliance with whistleblower laws and repeatedly certified false or misleading annual statements by the NRA.

The NRA's already precarious financial situation

James' lawsuit is sure to be contested in court by the National Rifle Association.

But even before this move, the NRA was in dire financial straits. A secret recording of an NRA board meeting obtained by NPR in April showed LaPierre telling the audience that the NRA's legal troubles have cost the organization $100 million.

"The cost that we bore was probably about a hundred-million-dollar hit in lost revenue and real cost to this association in 2018 and 2019," LaPierre said, according to a tape recorded by a source in the room. "I mean, that's huge."

Much of this has to do with its legal troubles. Facing Congressional inquiries and investigations by multiple state attorneys general, as well as internal whistleblower complaints, the NRA's finances have sagged under the burden of legal costs. In the ongoing litigation between the NRA and Ackerman McQueen, its former public relations firm, a brief filed by the firm on April 15 indicates its belief that the NRA has paid its outside legal counsel "over $54 million" in the last two years.

The turmoil at the NRA also could have political ramifications ahead of the 2020 elections. The NRA spent tens of millions of dollars in 2016 to support then-candidate Donald Trump — a role it appears it will be unlikely to be able to repeat given its current financial condition.

Eamonnca1

The NRA's reign of terror is about to come to an end! Slap it up them!