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On the other hand, it's highly likely Zelensky would have signed up to far less onerous terms at the start of the invasion if he wasn't being egged on by NATO.

Luckily NATO were still around with the US on board to egg him on then.

What's so great about sending tens of thousands to their deaths in a proxy war that the US (/NATO) had quite a considerable role in provoking? What do we in Ireland get out of it? What does Europe get out of it? What does the average Ukrainian get out of it, even??

higher gas and oil prices 70k refugees and ww3

How many billions has been sent to Ukraine 75/100 ?
10% for the big guy ? Money laundering of epic proportions.

We wouldn't be getting ready for ww3 if he had been elected

No, we probably wouldn't.

Putin would be sitting pretty in Kiev as we speak, boasting about his referenda "wins" last week.

Zelenskyy would be dead or in some gulag.

Trump would be working on a UN resolution trying to get the new "Russian" border officially recognized for his pal.

there is reality and j70s opinion and I'm supposed  to be the tinfoil hat guy .

No drinking bleach in that thanks eamon

We wouldn't be getting ready for ww3 if he had been elected

True.

He has many, many idiotic supporters and there were reports of more than a few who tried his bleach/disinfectant advice.

Reports? From whom? The left media? Who, y'know, made a living off mocking Trump? Couldn't get enough of him! 'Even' the BBC was caught cutting his 'disinfectant' press conference to make him look more foolish. So, it's hard to believe 'reports'.

they don't need to edit anything from the current pair,  dumb and dumber .

We wouldn't be getting ready for ww3 if he had been elected

I think I'm just going to continue letting the spirit of bipartisan cooperation and respect wash over me as the feds and the states of Florida and the Carolinas together tackle the devastation of Ian, and forget about the Lizzo "crisis", Joe's embarrassing calling out of the late congresswoman, and Trump's Jedi Mind Trick declassification and anti-democracy notions.

we all can agree on the former but it must be getting obvious to you even what a disaster these 2 have been to the country and world .

Today in BS manufactured conservative outrage: Someone called Lizzo (a black female musician, oh boy is she gonna get it!) played a 200 year-old flute owned by James Madison.

Here is a selection of reactions from the howling wilderness of a planet that is the right wing rubbishosphere, from people who I guarantee never even heard of this flute a few days before:

"The Library of Congress really took out a 200-year old flute that belonged to James Madison just so Lizzo could twerk with it. They degrade our history and then call you racist if you actually value it."

"We're going to let Kid Rock crowd surf on Obama's presidential portrait if and when Republicans retake the White House."

"A humiliation ritual. They don't care about our history. They just want to mock and defile it." (Note the "they" and "our" in that sentence. Very telling.)

"If you can figure out the link between raiding the home of a peaceful man who offered to turn himself in and an anti-American singer twerking with James Madison's flute, congratulations. You know what's happening and what time it is."

"This Lizzo-flute controversy is a perfect example of what I have termed Face Tattoo Phenomenon™: the phenomenon whereby someone does something deliberately controversial in an attempt to draw attention, and then acts offended when you notice. If all we had seen was the clip of Lizzo playing the flute in the halls of the Library of Congress while wearing a semi-modest outfit, everyone would have shrugged. But that's not the clip everyone championed as groundbreaking: it was the clip where she bragged about twerking. ... It's the vulgarization of American history."

any conservative should be more worried about the state of the president and VP, joe calling on dead people at an event and then wandering around clueless after making a few speeches during the week very sad , VP doesn't know the difference between north and South Korea.
Getting beyond a joke .

The charges are garbage

The banks aren't stupid-they have some of the best and brightest attorneys and accountants overseeing these loan applications

Their work is further scrutinized by auditors and regulators

2 Manhattan DAs , Cy Vance and Alvin Bragg investigated these same charges using the same evidence and neither brought criminal charges against Trump

But the bottom line is you're on board with an AG targeting political opponents-fair enough

I am OK with wrongdoing being investigated and charges brought if there is a case there...  by your logical an AG can only prosecut those of a similar political preference....

to your first two point again, that hasn't prevented fraud, wrong doing  before so it is not 100%, this point seems lost on you..

if the charges are garage then surely Trump comes out stronger and cleaner.. he should welcome this type of challenge if nothing to hide...

Wrongdoing had already been investigated by 2 Separate Manhattan DAs and neither brought charges (and both  men would be considered hostile toward Trump)

And you are correct, if Trump gets off it's a win for him. (But this is a civil case so there's a much lower threshold so who knows how it goes)

Let's just hope that justice is done then and if he's guilty that it finishes him once and for all.

yes bring on Desantis

Eh? Where were the mines?! I know there were some in Castlecomer, all right. Pretty sure Paddy Ruschitzko was born in American to an Irish woman, but am open to correction on that.

RTE are a shambles when it comes to pronunciation!

seems that was fake news we were told probably sounded better than he came from Carlow

I've yet to hear anyone in the media pronounce Ratheniska correctly.

What is the correct way of saying it?
Laois had a hurler call Paddy Ruschitzko and have a town called Ratheniska. Is there some Polish connection?

Rath-en-eska pronounce the I with an e at least that's how I pronounced it when I hurled with them back in the say . Polish coal miners came to work in Laois in the early 1900s

It's political, I know it and everyone else does too

Dublin is not a viable place to go and stay any more. I'd 4 nights in center parcs last week and a night in a hotel in dublin wasn't far off the same cost so went to mullingar instead where I got a great apartment in a hotel for 100 odd euros.

Mullingar is great for the heifers

beef to the heel

I would think that if there is legitimate cause to investigate as there is with Trump, then it should be done, regardless of who it is.

Correct

But did she target him because he did wrong or did she target him because of who he is

He is far from the biggest real estate developer in NY

Has she investigated others for similar fraud or is this a one off

Is this is a one off, that should terrify everyone-R or D, that an attorney general can weaponize their office to target political foes

she's on tape before she was elected saying we need to get rid of this illegitimate president
Denying a democratically elected president is grounds for a prison term under current administration

I'll leave it to the legal minds but this NY AG press conference doesn't seem good for the ex-President

Initial thoughts

Real estate guys inflating property values for lending purposes and deflating them for tax purposes-it's been happening since the Stone Age

How many other real estate developers are currently being investigated for similar "crimes" or is Trump the only one?

These financial institutions have experts-highly educated, highly paid and experienced-who determine what the valuations are. They don't just take Trumps word for what a building or property is worth.

I think the tax aspect is probably more worrisome but if people are thinking this will finish him off-I wouldn't hold my breath

Will trump go down the same way as Al Capone, another American criminal who was eventually imprisoned for tax evasion.

In the same way that lenders have experts who value properties, states, cities and towns have similar experts called assessors

Were these various real estate assessors across numerous municipalities in kahoots with Trump and actively committing fraud to give him lower assessments so he could pay less taxes:, I highly doubt it

IMHO Trump chanced his arm and seems to have gotten  away with it (up until now), and either the assessors  were grossly incompetent or they were working alongside him. I think this will be very hard to prosecute

Didn't he actually brag at a debate about using every loophole known to mankind to lower his taxes

all civil actions, why  no felonies if so bad ?