Politics And Current Events

[grunthy]

Can a gay fish become president?

[FlyEaglesFly]

The Bully in Chief is at it again.
https://twitter.com/jeffzeleny/status/9 ... 9873409024

[tifosi77]

To date, Macron is the only world leader who seems to have figured out how to play Trump and is willing to stoop to that level of silliness. The handshakes, the double kissing, etc. He's 'won' every personal engagement they've shared so far, and Cheeto is clearly tired of that, and so is resorting, as per usual, to pettiness. Next photo op I half expect him to lick his fingers and smooth out Macron's hair.

[tifosi77]

Our local police department asked that if anyone else wanted to blow up Yeti coolers to please donate them to the police department so they could put them to use over the hot summer months ahead.

Going back 15 years before we ever met, Mrs Tif was living in Osaka, Japan, with several coworkers at the 50s-themed diner she had moved there to help open. It was often their wont to drop water balloons off their 8th-floor balcony, because of course that's what you do. One night, there were a couple old Buick and Cadillac convertibles parked on the street below, and they dropped a few balloons into the cars. Maybe an hour passed by, and they got a knock on their door..... it was the local cops, with a fairly urgent message. Turns out, they were lobbing water balloons into cars owned by local yakuza, and the police really did not want to deal with that. "There is a park across the street; go there and throw your water balloons, if you must. But please stop throwing them at the large American cars," which is the most Japanese thing anyone has said, ever.

[FlyEaglesFly]

To date, Macron is the only world leader who seems to have figured out how to play Trump and is willing to stoop to that level of silliness. The handshakes, the double kissing, etc. He's 'won' every personal engagement they've shared so far, and Cheeto is clearly tired of that, and so is resorting, as per usual, to pettiness. Next photo op I half expect him to lick his fingers and smooth out Macron's hair.

Expect this to be part of this weeks SNL routine. I can see the SNL writers at 30 Rock putting more gifts on the alter of the comedy writers deity. It's just so easy for them with Trump. They must love coming to work each day.

[tifosi77]

Former NYC Police commissioner Bill Bratton states on @MSNBC his sources in Canada say van driver in #Toronto was known to Police and now consider incident a terrorist attack. Motivation and affiliation unknown.

It looks like more current reporting contradicts this; Minassian was not previously known to YYZPD, and the motive is shaping up to be more in line with 'generic crazy person' than 'allahu akbar'.

Also, the guy's apprehension will make for an interesting case study between the militarized US police and the much less aggro'd Canadian police. The suspect apparently stated openly that he had a gun and the arresting officer said, "I don't care. Get down." In the States, before he had articulated the 'n' sound at the end of the sentence, he'd have been shot (at) 22 times (and maybe hit three times). Both police and offender profiles here are highly Canadian in presentation.

[FlyEaglesFly]

To date, Macron is the only world leader who seems to have figured out how to play Trump

I thought about this comment for a bit and it puzzled me.
Macron seems unphased by Trumps bullying and boorish behavior. He appears to totally ignore it. But you wind up feeling bad for Macron, embarrassed for him that he has to put up with that. I'm not sure he's gained any advantage from it though.

[Troy Loney]

I think the only leaders making material gains from Trump are those that seek a diminished US global presence so they can exercise more influence in their global sphere. Russia and China.

[tifosi77]

To date, Macron is the only world leader who seems to have figured out how to play Trump

I thought about this comment for a bit and it puzzled me.
Macron seems unphased by Trumps bullying and boorish behavior. He appears to totally ignore it. But you wind up feeling bad for Macron, embarrassed for him that he has to put up with that. I'm not sure he's gained any advantage from it though.

He got Trump to pretty much reverse his stance on withdrawing from Syria in 48 hours a couple weeks ago, and this visit may (we shall see) bring about Trump signing on to continue 'supporting' the Iran nuke deal. That last bit is speculative, and is probably not a ballot motivator for his domestic supporters; re-certifying the deal might not cost him any skin.

It's just so bemusing to watch the two interact. I agree that on the one hand it's mildly embarrassing to witness - these are grown-ass men, here - but it's also somewhat entertaining to see Cheeto sort of bested at his own brand of alpha dog posing. (The handshake thing in particular gave me a kick, but I wasn't expecting the double kiss on arrival yesterday...... bon jour, President Germaphobe! *muah*muah*)

[tifosi77]

I think the only leaders making material gains from Trump are those that seek a diminished US global presence so they can exercise more influence in their global sphere. Russia and China.

Macron and Merkel are probably enjoying an elevated profile as a result, too, even if they weren't necessarily seeking it in the way Putin and Xi were.

[FlyEaglesFly]

To date, Macron is the only world leader who seems to have figured out how to play Trump

I thought about this comment for a bit and it puzzled me.
Macron seems unphased by Trumps bullying and boorish behavior. He appears to totally ignore it. But you wind up feeling bad for Macron, embarrassed for him that he has to put up with that. I'm not sure he's gained any advantage from it though.

He got Trump to pretty much reverse his stance on withdrawing from Syria in 48 hours a couple weeks ago, and this visit may (we shall see) bring about Trump signing on to continue 'supporting' the Iran nuke deal. That last bit is speculative, and is probably not a ballot motivator for his domestic supporters; re-certifying the deal might not cost him any skin.

It's just so bemusing to watch the two interact. I agree that on the one hand it's mildly embarrassing to witness - these are grown-ass men, here - but it's also somewhat entertaining to see Cheeto sort of bested at his own brand of alpha dog posing. (The handshake thing in particular gave me a kick, but I wasn't expecting the double kiss on arrival yesterday...... bon jour, President Germaphobe! *muah*muah*)

Personally, I love watching it play out. I agree that the overall dynamic plays into Macrons hands. Trump has always had an affection for those who look the part. Macron certainly fits that bill. Macron on the other hand has a background as an investment banker, he's dealt with CEO ego his entire career. There's a book out there somewhere on Macron which casts him as a smooth operator who courts power and then opportunistically grabs it for himself. The only wildcard is that these two disagree on nearly every political issue they face.

I'll also question the assertion that Macron convinced Trump to reverse his Syrian stance. I think the chemical attack and his campaign rhetoric that Obama was weak for not responding to a similar event had more to do with that.

[shafnutz05]

I kind of like Macron...seems to be a reasonable, charismatic leader.

However, I had no idea that he is actually married to his former teacher They met when he was 15 (she was 39) and made it official when he turned 18.

[DigitalGypsy66]

Here's video of the Toronto van guy getting arrested:

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-can ... ow_twitter

Threateningly pointing an object that looks like a gun at police would've gotten him lit the **** up here in the U.S.

[FlyEaglesFly]

Here's video of the Toronto van guy getting arrested:

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-can ... ow_twitter

Threateningly pointing an object that looks like a gun at police would've gotten him lit the **** up here in the U.S.

Looks like a failed attempt at suicide by cop.

[tifosi77]

I kind of like Macron...seems to be a reasonable, charismatic leader.

However, I had no idea that he is actually married to his former teacher They met when he was 15 (she was 39) and made it official when he turned 18.

That is pretty much the only thing I know about him other than "president of France".

[Troy Loney]

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/ ... ate-461749

This article from last month is great.

Paul seemed to have no qualms about taking on President Donald Trump, giving a news conference on Wednesday and then launching into a flurry of media hits in opposition to Trump’s attempts to reshuffle his Cabinet after ousting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

“People complain sometimes about the filibuster; they complain about trying to obstruct. I think the debate over whether or not America is a country in favor of torture or not is an important one,” Paul said. “I’m going to do everything I can to block them.”

[tifosi77]

Whoops, I totally misread that quote as, "I think the debate over whether or not America is a country in favor of torture is not an important one," and was like 'what point are you trying to make here, mister?'

[shafnutz05]

Is this finally going to be the scandal that ruins Joy Reid's career? She has gotten away with the homophobic stuff for a long time. This time, she is claiming that "hackers" somehow edited the Internet wayback machine to add the following statements:

Some of the lowlights, as Mediaite itemized, include:

“defend[ing] former NBA star Tim Hardaway’s aggressively anti-gay comments by writing that while such comments are stupid for a public figure to make: ‘most straight people cringe at the sight of two men kissing’”;

saying she “couldn’t go see [Brokeback Mountain] either, despite my sister’s ringing endorsement, because I didn’t want to watch the two male characters having sex. Does that make me homophobic? Probably”;

arguing that “intrinsic” to being straight is finding gay sex acts “gross”;

“defending Marine General Peter Pace after he condemned ‘homosexual acts’ as ‘immoral’ by suggesting his views are actually normal”;
opposing Harriet Miers’ nomination to the Supreme Court by implying she is a closeted lesbian and comparing her “lesbian haircut” to those worn by the presidents of NOW and GLAAD;

promoting the ugliest and most destructive stereotype of gay men as pedophile predators by suggesting that anti-gay attitudes are based in “concerns that adult gay men tend to be attracted to very young, post-pubescent types, bringing them ‘into the lifestyle’ in a way that many people consider to be immoral” and that “gay rights groups seek to organize very young, impressionable teens who may have an inclination that they are gay.”

Full Greenwald story here. There's no question she has gotten a free pass so far because of...several factors, but would think this has to be the end, right?

https://theintercept.com/2018/04/24/msn ... ts-ignore/

[FlyEaglesFly]

She kinda runs against the grain, eh?

[dodint]

*googles*

Oh, she's a black woman? hah. Yeah, she'll be okay.

[Troy Loney]

She should take a hiatus and watch Moonlight on a nightly basis.

[DigitalGypsy66]

https://twitter.com/jameswest2010/statu ... 26402?s=19

[MR25]

Missed opportunity for Macron to adjust Trump's hairpiece

[eddy]

https://twitter.com/Todd_Spence/status/ ... 23552?s=19

[Gaucho]

https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status ... 8886353920