The Trump Crime Family

[Doc Holliday]

Trump will soon be 72 years old. He's obviously not 'well' mentally. Analyzing his speech pattern from years ago and comparing to today it is fairly obvious that he suffers from some type of brain damage. Considering his age and his family history it is very likely early dementia or alzheimers. His father's brain succumbed to that dreadful illness decades ago. It runs in the family. And on top of all his character defects (narcissism, misogyny, bigotry, racism, delusion, etc) Trump's brain is very likely in the initial stages of dementia or alzeimers.

Many believed that this life-long liberal was putting on an act in order to get elected. How could this life-long democrat suddenly switch parties and totally do a 180 on many of his so-called 'liberal' views? I believe it's no act. Something may have short-circuited in his brain a few years ago and caused a personality change, which happens to people more often than we are led to believe.

This mentally ill person is hurting his country and the western world on a daily basis. The only people who can stop him right now are Republicans but most of them have no balls and credibility. For them it's ME first, party second and country comes next. Had Republicans in the 70's had this attitude Richard Nixon never would have resigned or been impeached. He would have served his full term until 1976 and who knows how the world would have been different today had this happened.

It's fairly obvious to most people with a brain that Trump was compromised at one point in his life by Vladimir Putin and Russia. He has criticized everyone on the planet except Vladimir Putin. He's extremely careful what he says about him. He's acting like a Russian asset. Now he's trying to get Russia back in the G-8 and doesn't give a damn what caused their exit in the first place. He's doing Putin's bidding and no one is doing anything to stop him. Russia is the most dangerous enemy on the planet and the United States' #1 security threat. Yet Trump continues to praise the murderous dictator Putin and be his obedient fool. And Putin knows that he's got Trump under his control.

Now Trump is going out of his way to break up the NATO alliance and cause chaos, which Russia has been trying to do ever since the start of the Cold War. Trump is cozying up to vicious dictators and autocrats while at the same time turning against America's long-time allies. The tariffs war he's started with Canada, Mexico and Europe won't do any good to anyone and what is ironic is that the people it'll hurt the most are Trump's very own supporters.

God Bless America. Really.

 

[Steely Dan]

Basically a Russian version Manchurian Candidate.

 

[sambuca]

Sambuca, why do you always type with such certitude when the actual record is not on your side? Obama commuted the sentences of many people like Alice Johnson who had unduly long sentences for nonviolent drug crimes, so no extra adulation necessary because it fit with the type of people Obama granted clemency. As a matter of fact, the Obama Administration reviewed Alice Johnson's case. She just didn't make the cut even though well over a thousand sentences were commuted. That's because Obama, like being Bush before him, had a system in place to vet people deserving--and that system had nothing to do with having connections but with submissions to the Pardon Attorney. Any case that made it to the President was likely due to luck (you did mention that), case merit or some factor that didn't involve a celebrity advocate. That you think money may be involved in some cases and it hasn't miraculously leaked (that'd be very corrupt) is downright risible.

To be sure, Trump did a good thing here but pardons based on personal connections mean only the well-connected get pardoned; the deserving, based on the case's merit, might just slip through the cracks. And perhaps you'd care to list Obama's controversial pardons. I may have missed a lot but the last pardon I remember as "controversial" is Clinton pardoning his buddy Mark Rich. Oddly enough, it was Clinton's crony pardoning of his buddy that led Bush to revamp the pardon system.

What certitude? I've simply said pardons (and clemencies) have always had political bias and sometimes the overt influence of the rich and powerful as in the Marc Rich case. Hmmm, why do you get to make my case for me, dismiss the example and still vehemently deny my premise?

Just because you saw an American news outlet feign outrage over Trump's pardons doesn't necessarily make them wrongly issued or bad process. Most business people who are familiar with systemic bias or bluntly Garbage In, Garbage Out would be cautious treading where you tread. You have a lot of liberal certitude to presume that Obama's Administration built the perfect system free of politics and/or influence. Are you even aware that Facebook screens out completely valid Conservative commentarists as too extreme? Yet, they have one of those perfect systems. Yes, Zuckerberg was criticized for this by Republican Congressman on Capitol Hill. He's looking into it.

I said I don't like reaching out to NFL players to suggest pardons, but I hope Trump builds a discussion about criminal justice reform.

The reality is Trump doesn't have a limited amount of pardons/clemencies so why can't we be happy for Alice Johnson on its own merit. Does it bother people that Obama didn't commute a deserving African-American woman's sentence? Obama had a great system and she lost out fair and square??? Get over it! Her pardon doesn't impact any other deserving candidate's chance for a pardon.

If you want to bring up Arpaio and Libby, these are certainly of a political nature. I do think Arpaio's conviction was a message sent by a Liberal Administration. I could extenuate this case to convict the Oakland Mayor for interfering with Federal law enforcement. I don't know much about Libby other than I think he was a Cheney crony and maybe they could get Libby, but not Cheney. I would be fine with throwing Cheney in jail just for being an asshole in alleged service to the country.

 

[EagerBeaver]

There was no need to pardon Scooter Libby. That pardon actually bothered me. The dude was a flat traitor and traitors should never be pardoned. You NEVER compromise the safety of an American citizen working covertly for any reason unless the person compromised is himself a traitor or double agent.

 

[sambuca]

Ironically somewhere in his life, Sambuca will be beaten out for a job posting by a less worthy candidate based on either cronyism or perhaps nepotism. He will then be taught the needed lesson because it's no different than what is going on here.

Are you an idealistic college student? Do you still believe the best person for the job always gets hired?

Of course, I've been beaten out by a crony candidate or a diversity candidate. Diversity candidates are a U.S. thing, not sure about Canada. I could elaborate, but I'd rather maintain some privacy.

 

[sambuca]

What you Canadian gentlemen have to realize when you are watching or reading U.S. media is that most of our media has nothing good to say about Trump. Everything he's doing is wrong. If he pursues different policy than Obama (i.e. Syria, Korea, regulation and a host of others), it's a very emotionally charged response (attack). Appreciate President Obama was also our first President with African ancestry in a country with race issues. He's quite beloved by the media and the Left. He inspires the same reverence as Reagan does with the Right.

Americans have also generally become more confrontational about their politics. Trump might be divisive, but he's a product of the division not the other way around. Our liberal media is openly at war with Trump. Probably both the media and Trump are to blame for the deterioration of our civic discourse.

 

[tiga]

I agree that "Probably both the media and Trump are to blame for the deterioration of our civic discourse." and it probably started a long time ago, I would also add that we(the ones that do or don't vote) have the politicians we deserve, from whatever country or party you are (luckily we still have the right to vote).
But from a Canadian point-of-view, we are so close to the US we have many of the same interests and Canada is the State's most important economic partner, in fact there is so many trade imports and exports between our two countries, more than any other two countries in the World.
We watch the same shows, follow the same sports, we drive the same cars (the Ford F150 is the most popular vehicle in Canada also) have a lot of the same interests and we too get Fox News.
In fact there is much more similarities than differences and we, as do you, do not appreciate, fake news (whatever that may be) hypocrites, bullies or liars. (G7......sigh)
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/...fs_a_23455094/?utm_campaign=canada_newsletter

 

[EagerBeaver]

Kudlow Calls Trudeau A Backstabber

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/10/politics/larry-kudlow-donald-trump-justin-trudeau/index.html

Very strong commentary by Kudlow, interesting to listen to. Not that I care whether Kudlow likes to eat pussy or suck dick, but after watching this video I am really strongly guessing the latter, meaning it's not likely he is here on MERB.

He calls Trudeau a backstabber and sophomoric.

 

[tiga]

We have learned to expect those kinds of comments coming from that administration... It's all a farce!

Can't wait to see what they will say coming back from Singapour after meeting that other nut job Kim Jung-un... That will be epic.

Always good to get news from different points of view, you have a better sense of what is fake or not.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...trump-photo-viral-g7-shinzo-abe-a8392186.html

That picture or that moment, each country has it's own and spins it around. The French, US, Italians...Canadians, all have there own pictures showing it's respective leader in charge...

 

[sharkman]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/10/politics/larry-kudlow-donald-trump-justin-trudeau/index.html

Very strong commentary by Kudlow, interesting to listen to. Not that I care whether Kudlow likes to eat pussy or suck dick, but after watching this video I am really strongly guessing the latter, meaning it's not likely he is here on MERB.

He calls Trudeau a backstabber and sophomoric.

EB, I am shocked at your comments in regards to Kudlow. Kudlow is 100% right! Kudlow is an economic genius and the mastermind behind the tax cuts policies in the US. You can thank him for the bull market run in US equities!
Trudeau has no idea what's going on in terms of how to set economic policies and he is trying to save face politically domestically.
Just look at the fuck up with the Kinder Morgan Oil pipeline extension to the BC coastline...the provincial election loss this week by the Liberals in Ontario.
Trudeau has no idea what the fuck is going on and the US knows it that he is a flip-flop artist and a weak PM. Trudeau is losing control and fast! Mr pretty boy is for the gossip magazine covers not negotiating economic trade deals!
The bottom line is that Trump does not like Trudeau or trust him....and Trump is the 800lbs gorilla in the room!

 

[EagerBeaver]

EB, I am shocked at your comments in regards to Kudlow. Kudlow is 100% right!

I never said anything about Kudlow being right or wrong so not sure what you are shocked at. I made no judgments on the substance of what he said. I simply said the guy is effeminate, which he obviously is. Has nothing to do with right or wrong of what he says.

 

[sharkman]

Ok, so stick your comment in another thread other than "the Trump Crime Family"...maybe in a "effeminate or gay" politician thread!

 

[EagerBeaver]

I thought this was a thread for any commentary on Trump - if it was only limited to "Trump Crime Family" it would be kind of one sided. The reason I posted Kudlow's video is that it's very unusual to see one politician on the world stage to go after another like that, but I make no judgment on whether it is warranted. Clearly, Kudlow seemed to feel strongly and spoke with impassioned conviction.

 

[Sol Tee Nutz]

Trudeau has no idea what the fuck is going on and the US knows it that he is a flip-flop artist and a weak PM!

Bahahahaha Bang on.

 

[sharkman]

I thought this was a thread for any commentary on Trump - if it was only limited to "Trump Crime Family" it would be kind of one sided. The reason I posted Kudlow's video is that it's very unusual to see one politician on the world stage to go after another like that, but I make no judgment on whether it is warranted. Clearly, Kudlow seemed to feel strongly and spoke with impassioned conviction.

Ok understood EB!...Kudlow is a "cool dude " and exactly what the Trump administration needed for its economic team.

 

[tiga]

Just another yes man in my view.
Trump is playing an economic game just for his political domestic base...
I have faith in the US and cooler heads will prevail in the november elections.

 

[sharkman]

Just another yes man in my view.
Trump is playing an economic game just for his political domestic base...
I have faith in the US and cooler heads will prevail in the november elections.

Kudlow is definitely not a yes man! Kudlow worked under the Reagan administration and was instrumental in implementing the Reagan tax cuts that for all intent and purposes launched the great bull market of the 80s, and Kudlow was also instrumental in helping Trump formulate the same economic policy targeted at lowering corporate taxes in his campaign run in 2016.

Kudlow was hired by Trump for 3 reasons:
1) They both share the same view on cutting corporate taxes and market deregulation (Kudlow is a supply-side economist);
2) He has a proven track record in both government and public service. And as an economist for the government and having also worked on the investment banking side of the business Kudlow knows how to talk to the markets and implement policies that are pro-growth and stock market friendly;
3) Negotiate trade agreements that are “fair trade” agreements to the U.S. (if there is any slight contention this is where I will grant you Tiga a mild yes that Kudlow as a supply-side economist may have to tweak his “free trade” dogma to a “fair trade” dogma targeted at protecting U.S. industries).

In contrast, former president Obama and today’s Democrats have opted instead for an anti-growth, tax-hiking redistribution program, essentially policies that undermine the U.S. economy. Obama and the democrats did absolutely nothing for the U.S. economy during his 8...count them...8 lousy years in office! In fact, the Commodity Modernization Act of 2000 signed into law by Democrat Bill Clinton...yes The Democrats...contributed in a big way to the meltdown of the financial markets in 2008.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

EB, I am shocked at your comments in regards to Kudlow. Kudlow is 100% right! Kudlow is an economic genius and the mastermind behind the tax cuts policies in the US. You can thank him for the bull market run in US equities!

I assume that you're being facetious, but correct me if I'm wrong.

The bull market in US equities started in 2009 and continued, no thanks to Trump, for his first year in office. The Dow was at $7,949 when Obama took office and $19,827 when he left. That's 31% per year. That's a gain of 14% per year.

At the start of 2018, the Dow stood at $25,075. It closed today at $25,322. It's up 1% for the last five+ months. Kudlow is quite a genius.

As for Reagan, he built the US economy on credit cards. The US debt increased by 186% while he was in office. We're still paying for his largesse today. (By comparison, the debt grew by 32% under Bill Clinton, 101% under GW Bush, and 74% under Barack Obama.) It will have grown by 41% in Trump's first two years if his budget passes. Interesting how it's the Republicans who are profligate rather than the Dems.

 

[sharkman]

I assume that you're being facetious, but correct me if I'm wrong.....

Aha! Aha! Oh really Rumples...tell me you did not spend the day regurgitating the Stock Trader's Almanac with those numbers!!! I guess you did not understand too much about the point I tried to make about Kudlow or that the Trump tax cut election promise was in fact on Kudlow's advice in 2016....so your 1% market gain since Kudlow was officially appointed in May 2018 makes absolutely so fucking sense!...Please tell me that your argument in this thread does not hang on historical data!!!

Let me phrase it in a few simplistic words...We are talking about the impact of corporate tax cuts on the U.S. economy (there is also another very big corporate tax benefit but I will let you guys figure it out what it is). Obviously what is good for the economy is good for the stock market. But tax cuts is MAJOR...BIG TIME MAJOR....Off the top of my head there are only 3 instances of a U.S. administration cutting corporate taxes since the 1920s...JFK, Reagan and now Trump.....this tax cut coupled with a low interest rate environment is a major reason for the huge run up in stock prices since Trump got elected...One does not even need the numbers you published...it was a no-brainer since November 2016....However, your numbers is not the topic at hand...Kudlow and the tax cuts are the issue!

Reagan pulled out the U.S. economy from disaster and mismanagement by the previous administration run by peanut farmer Democrat Jimmy Carter in the late 70s. The economic team of Stockman and yes...Larry Kudlow instituted the tax cuts that have now years later have been referred to as REAGANOMICS! Couple that with FED Chairman Volcker lowering interest rates from a high of 18% and the recipe was set for the recovery of the U.S. economy in the 80s that was teetering on the brink of disaster! Supply-side side economics...produce as much as you can to lower prices and inflation!!!

The same tax cuts (coming from the economic mastermind of Larry Kudlow) that Trump ran his election campaign on are the ones that have jump started the U.S. economy and propelled the U.S. stock market....what does that low in the market in Nov 2008/ March 2009 have anything to do with tax cuts...Are YOU the one being FACETIOUS!!! If anything Bill Clinton is the one to blame for signing the CMA Act of 2000 and promulgating the ensuing collapse of the stock market...and the ensuing rally had nothing to do with Democratic economic policy...it was in most part the market overeacting on the downside and re-adjusting coupled with idiotic Democratic excessive market regulation (Dodd Frank). In fact, the Dodd Frank Act that the Democrats formulated was simply an admission that the Democrats had fucked up passing the CMA Act of 2000. You don't need to show those useless numbers to justify your beliefs as a Democrat!....Don't make me laugh too hard! :lol:

If this is a Republican vs Democrat argument or point you are trying to make...then you can stick it you know where!

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

The run up in the stock market started in 2009. The tax bill passed in late December and took effect in early February. The stock market is down since that time. The Dow closed at $26,149 on February 1. It's down $800 since most of those working for me got an additional $10 per week, while the major corporations started buying back stock rather than investing in jobs. So much for your trickle down bullshit.

Reagan's tax cut had the effect of making rich people richer and saddling the rest with huge debt. Trickle down has long been proven to be a hoax. The Reagan tax cuts made the 1% the 1%. It created the greatest wealth disparity since before the great depression.

I do understand your problem with historical data, i.e. facts. They disprove your nonsense completely. Thanks for playing.

And for the record, I did not say that the market is up 1% since Kudlow was appointed. I said it's up 1% since the start of the year. And it's down 3% since my employees got their little tax cut and Donald Trump and family got their massive one.