(February 15, 2017 at 1:17 pm)alpha male Wrote:

(February 14, 2017 at 3:09 pm)Tiberius Wrote: True enough, though I've been observing American politics for years. It seems to me that we're not even 1 month into Trump's term and he's already caused no end of controversy and scandal. If that keeps up for 2 years, it's going to have to be one hell of a narrative spun to avoid mid-term losses.

It seems that way because the MSM hates Trump and criticizes everything about him. But consider:
- the public's faith in MSM is very low
- they're desensitizing us to it. Every day I open my Google News, and there's a dozen things Trump is doing wrong. I've quit clicking on them. Trump's going to get away with actual, serious wrongdoing because it will just blend in with all the inconsequential crap.

Blaming the MSM for this is a weak argument, IMO. This isn't just another thing people can blame on the "liberal news", for multiple reasons. Trump has inarguably had the most controversial first few weeks of any presidency, due in part to the fact that he's inexperienced as a politician (not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, but his inexperience shows), his administration has been caught lying multiple times already, and the fact that he was elected as a populist candidate claiming to "take on" various institutions and as soon as he was sworn in he hired many of their executives as either advisors or to his cabinet.

Desensitization is a real problem, but so is underreporting. Media have to find a balance. Again, sometimes it's not their fault though. Take for instance the whole inauguration crowd size debacle. It could have gone down as a gaffe if the Trump administration had just not commented on it or had even just come out originally and said that Trump was talking about people watching online, etc. Instead, they made it a massive issue by saying that photos of the inauguration were wrong, and continuing to lie about it to the press. Trump even lied about the weather. So what was such a small issue originally was blown up by the Trump administration themselves, and it would have been reckless of the media not to report on that, IMO.

(February 15, 2017 at 3:49 pm)Orochi Wrote: When Russia hacks an email server of a government official and leak information about them to try and manipulate and election.(it doesn't matter if America does it to other countries or not ) Then they receive praise for airing said officials dirty laundry  from none other then Trump himself .But when the intelligence community in the United States  do the same thing to Trump himself. There villains who need condemnation.

I think you are misrepresenting the facts. Russian operatives attempted to hack both Republican and Democrat campaigns. Democrats had poor digital security and their questionable moves became public. Republicans had better fire-walls and thwarted the attacks. Everyone expects foreign meddling. That's not the same as when the CIA/NSA spy on Americans. People should be concerned when their government's spies collect private conversations of its own citizens and then use that information against them and especially when the CIA/NSA use that information to manipulate our elected officials. How can anyone trust the NSA collecting massive data to "keep us safe" when they use that information to advance political agendas?

Admin has a different reason every day for the Flynn implosion, hard to take seriously when it's an excuse of the day situation. And adding Conway's assurance Flynn was safe the day before makes it even more disjointed.

As for misleading the veep, still haven't worked out why Pence already wasn't up to speed on whatever agenda Flynn was advancing, Flynn's been ass to mouth with Trump since the early pub primary season, so I'd think the disinformation was part of the big picture and redundant as far as Pence is concerned.

(February 15, 2017 at 2:00 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: I do not find it comforting that U.S. intelligence agencies (i.e. spies) are leaking information about the civilian authorities to whom they are supposed to be accountable. I know the CIA has meddled in foreign governments but its very disturbing to know that it has turned its attention inward.

Are you this worried about Russian meddling in our politics?

ETA: Never mind, just read that you're not at all.

(February 14, 2017 at 11:03 am)Tiberius Wrote:

(February 14, 2017 at 10:34 am)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: Good luck with that, Brian.   Have you checked the current makeup of the House recently?

He may deserve it, but it's not happening any time soon.

Part of me wonders if the Republican party are running any polls behind the scenes to see how many people support "Trump" vs "Republicans". A vote to impeach isn't a vote against the Republican party, because Mike Pence becomes President.

unless the impeachment happens very early during the administration, any impeachment invariably tarnishes the reputation of the party and reduces the chance of any republican in the whitehouse from 2020-2024 to zero. So the republican agenda is almost certainly better served by letting trump take the country down the toilet.

(February 15, 2017 at 5:44 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:

(February 15, 2017 at 2:00 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: I do not find it comforting that U.S. intelligence agencies (i.e. spies) are leaking information about the civilian authorities to whom they are supposed to be accountable. I know the CIA has meddled in foreign governments but its very disturbing to know that it has turned its attention inward.

Are you this worried about Russian meddling in our politics?

ETA:  Never mind, just read that you're not at all.

Of course foreign meddling is a concern! I most definitely did not state or imply otherwise, so you did NOT just read it. What I did write is that foreign hacking attempts are to be expected. I also expect terrorists will try to kill people. That too concerns me.

(February 15, 2017 at 6:06 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote:

(February 15, 2017 at 5:44 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: Are you this worried about Russian meddling in our politics?

ETA:  Never mind, just read that you're not at all.

Of course foreign meddling is a concern! I most definitely did not state or imply otherwise, so you did NOT just read it.

Of course I didn't just read. I also inferred a sense of what concerns you based on the relative attention you give to subjects in this conversation.

It's as if I stumbled onto a murder scene in a kitchen, and you heard me complaining that the camembert was a little stale. Wouldn't it be fair for you to assume I was more worried about the cheese rather than the corpse?

(February 15, 2017 at 5:15 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote:

(February 15, 2017 at 3:49 pm)Orochi Wrote: When Russia hacks an email server of a government official and leak information about them to try and manipulate and election.(it doesn't matter if America does it to other countries or not ) Then they receive praise for airing said officials dirty laundry  from none other then Trump himself .But when the intelligence community in the United States  do the same thing to Trump himself. There villains who need condemnation.

I think you are misrepresenting the facts. Russian operatives attempted to hack both Republican and Democrat campaigns. Democrats had poor digital security and their questionable moves became public. Republicans had better fire-walls and thwarted the attacks. Everyone expects foreign meddling. That's not the same as when the CIA/NSA spy on Americans. People should be concerned when their government's spies collect private conversations of its own citizens and then use that information against them and especially when the CIA/NSA use that information to manipulate our elected officials. How can anyone trust the NSA collecting massive data to "keep us safe" when they use that information to advance political agendas?

1, I misrepresented nothing Russia try and influence the election in trump favor it's been shown beyond reasonable doubt excuses change nothing

2. weather it is expected or not means nothing

3. As I said before it's irrelevant who does it

4. it's you who is misrepresenting the facts of this case and it's the same senerio

(February 15, 2017 at 2:00 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: I do not find it comforting that U.S. intelligence agencies (i.e. spies) are leaking information about the civilian authorities to whom they are supposed to be accountable. I know the CIA has meddled in foreign governments but its very disturbing to know that it has turned its attention inward.

I do not find it comfortable that despite the fact that the man in the White House is clearly a deranged, megolomaniac traitor, there are still people like you thick enough to defend him.

I didn't say it was inconsequential. I said that items of consequence are being lost in the sea of inconsequential crap that the MSM is putting out on Trump.