Politics And Current Events

eddy
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Postby eddy » Fri Aug 17, 2018 1:02 pm

During the course of the meeting, Weidman brought up the issue of Agent Orange, an extremely notorious component of the U.S. herbicidal warfare on Vietnam. Weidman was imploring the president and his team to permit access to benefits for a broader number of vets who have said they were poisoned by Agent Orange.

Trump responded by saying, “That’s taken care of,” according to people in the room.

His reply puzzled the group.

Attendees began explaining to the president that the VA had not made enough progress on the issue at all, to which Trump responded by abruptly derailing the meeting and asking the attendees if Agent Orange was “that stuff from that movie.”

He did not initially name the film he was referencing, but it quickly became clear as Trump kept rambling that he was referring to the classic 1979 Francis Ford Coppola epic Apocalypse Now

Source present at the time tell The Daily Beast that multiple people—including Vietnam War veterans—chimed in to inform the president that the Apocalypse Now set piece he was talking about showcased the U.S. military using napalm, not Agent Orange.

Trump refused to accept that he was mistaken and proceeded to say things like, “no, I think it’s that stuff from that movie.”

One clue belying the president’s insistence is that the famous Robert Duvall line from the scene in Apocalypse Now, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” is not “I love the smell of Agent Orange in the morning.”

He then went around the room polling attendees about if it was, in fact, napalm or Agent Orange in the famous scene from “that movie,” as the gathering—organized to focus on important, sometimes life-or-death issues for veterans—descended into a pointless debate over Apocalypse Now that the president simply would not concede, despite all the available evidence.

Finally, Trump made eye contact again with Weidman and asked him if it was napalm or Agent Orange. The VVA co-founder assured Trump, as did several before him, that it was in fact napalm, and said that he didn’t like the Coppola film and believed it to be a disservice to Vietnam War veterans.

According to two people in attendance, Trump then flippantly replied to the Vietnam vet, “Well, I think you just didn’t like the movie,” before finally moving on.
https://amp.thedailybeast.com/trump-and ... ssion=true

Viva la Ben
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Postby Viva la Ben » Fri Aug 17, 2018 1:05 pm

He probably thought they were bringing up his FSB codename.

Dickie Dunn
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Postby Dickie Dunn » Fri Aug 17, 2018 1:59 pm

Dude is such a dumbass.

CBear3
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Postby CBear3 » Fri Aug 17, 2018 2:17 pm

RC Church news:
One of the priests was the officiant at my parents wedding. Three taught at their Catholic high school while they were there (none of the reported offenses took place during their tenure there.)

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Fri Aug 17, 2018 2:23 pm

"...the big parade already scheduled at Andrews Air Force Base on a different date..." -- There is not a 'big parade' at Joint Base Andrews; there is an annual dodint-memorial open house and air show around Armed Forces Day, maybe that's what he's on about.

"...celebrating the end of the War, on November 11th..." -- Does he know which one?

"Now we can buy some more jet fighters!" -- Which ones? The only fighter jet currently in production is the - *sigh* - F-35 Thundershit, and a single one of them costs more than this dopey parade.
I hope it was the dod who leaked the $92 million dollar pricetag on Trump’s parade.
The mayor of DC says the city's cost estimate was just over $20 million, and SecDef Mattis says there has been no official costing done yet.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Fri Aug 17, 2018 5:09 pm

ESPN confirms they will not be including coverage of the national anthem as part of their pre-game broadcasts of Monday Night Football. (Which is just continuing how they normally do it)

AuthorTony
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Postby AuthorTony » Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:46 pm

https://nypost.com/2018/08/17/trump-wei ... istan-war/
President Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the Pentagon’s Afghanistan strategy and has shown interest in a proposal by Blackwater founder Erik Prince to privatize the war, NBC News reported Friday.

Prince’s plan first came up last year during the commander-in-chief’s strategy review on the Afghan War, now in its 17th year with no end in sight.

He envisions replacing troops with private military contractors who would work for a US envoy for the war who would report to the president, the network reported.

“I know he’s frustrated. He gave the Pentagon what they wanted. And they haven’t delivered,” said Prince, whose sister is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Freddy Rumsen
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Postby Freddy Rumsen » Fri Aug 17, 2018 10:06 pm

Whatever it takes us to get out of Afghanistan.

Morkle
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Postby Morkle » Fri Aug 17, 2018 10:14 pm

Wasn't the Blackwater guy implicated in the Russian investigation?

/edit they were questioned. Sure, let's give another potential friend of Trump billions in money.

Kaiser
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Postby Kaiser » Fri Aug 17, 2018 11:36 pm

I'd rather not pay this scumf*** to kill more people.

Willie Kool
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Postby Willie Kool » Sat Aug 18, 2018 12:05 am

Whatever it takes us to get out of Afghanistan.
:face:
Wasn't the Blackwater guy implicated in the Russian investigation?

/edit they were questioned. Sure, let's give another potential friend of Trump billions in money.
Prince was the Trump contact at the secret Seychelles meeting with the Russians, and lied to Congress about it.
I'd rather not pay this scumf*** to kill more people.
:thumb:

He should be in prison, and Trump wants to give him an open-ended, multi-billion dollar contract.

Gaucho
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Postby Gaucho » Sat Aug 18, 2018 5:06 am

Image

eddy
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Postby eddy » Sat Aug 18, 2018 8:32 am

Whatever it takes us to get out of Afghanistan.
:face:
Wasn't the Blackwater guy implicated in the Russian investigation?

/edit they were questioned. Sure, let's give another potential friend of Trump billions in money.
Prince was the Trump contact at the secret Seychelles meeting with the Russians, and lied to Congress about it.
I'd rather not pay this scumf*** to kill more people.
:thumb:

He should be in prison, and Trump wants to give him an open-ended, multi-billion dollar contract.
I think that would be viceroy Trump in this situation

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Sat Aug 18, 2018 1:34 pm

Handing things over the Blackwater would not in any measure equate to 'getting out of Afghanistan'. American lives and our national reputation would still be on the line, we'd just be saddling someone else with the bill.

Freddy Rumsen
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Postby Freddy Rumsen » Sat Aug 18, 2018 1:37 pm

I wasn't actually supporting the idea, if I need to clarify.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Sat Aug 18, 2018 1:59 pm

Many surprised at sentence for ex-Baylor doctor who raped a Houston hospital patient
When a former Houston doctor was sentenced to probation Friday for raping an incapacitated patient at a county hospital, the punishment surprised defense attorneys, disappointed law enforcement, elicited concern from a rape victims advocacy group and sparked outrage on social media.

The doctor, who has been stripped of his license, admitted during the trial that he had sexual contact with the woman during the night shift at Ben Taub Hospital in 2013, but told jurors it was consensual. Although he was not assigned to her case, he slipped into her room anyway after he noticed her breast implants.

Veteran defense lawyers with no connection to the case called the outcome “unusual” and “a big victory” for the defense, explaining there was a very high likelihood a person who did not turn himself in to law enforcement and misrepresented the assault would face prison time.

“When you’re a doctor, I’d expect you’d get prison time,” said attorney Casey Kiernan, who has defended sexual assault cases for nearly four decades. “We hold doctors to a higher standard.”

The jury of five women and seven men sentenced Dr. Shafeeq Sheikh, a former Baylor College of Medicine resident, to 10 years on probation for raping the patient while she was tethered to machines and receiving treatment for an acute asthma attack.

AuthorTony
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Postby AuthorTony » Sat Aug 18, 2018 2:30 pm

BEDFORD — A mixture of dismay and relief filled the courtroom where a judge accepted a plea bargain of no jail time and no filing of felony charges for former Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins.

President Judge Thomas Ling sentenced Higgins to eight years of probation, four months on an ankle bracelet, 1,125 hours of community service and a $9,700 fine. Higgins is also to undergo alcohol, sexual addiction and mental health counseling.

The former DA pleaded guilty in May to numerous misdemeanor counts for abusing his position to gain sexual favors from female drug dealers for overly lenient sentences or to avoid arrest and for compromising the identities of multiple undercover informants.

“We’re extremely pleased with the results of the sentencing hearing,” Steven Passarello, Higgins’ defense attorney, said. “We believe the sentence was fair, and we believed it balanced the sentencing factors appropriately.”

Higgins faced multiple misdemeanor counts of obstruction of law enforcement, intimidation of a witness, hindering prosecution, recklessly endangering another person and official oppression. He resigned as district attorney April 4, the same day of his arraignment in front of Magisterial District Judge Kathy Calhoun.

The plea bargain brought forth by the Office of Attorney General guaranteed no incarceration and no filing of felony charges. Supervision and fines were up to the court’s discretion.

“The court-imposed sentence today for a former district attorney who abused the powers of his office to commit crimes and deprive the people of Bedford County of a fair, impartial justice system,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said.

“Higgins abused his office and committed crimes over an extended period of time, but no one did anything. Our office worked with the Pennsylvania State Police to charge and remove Higgins from office, so the district attorney’s office could function with stability and integrity. Higgins will never again be able to use the tools of a prosecutor’s office to commit these crimes,” he added.

Others at the hearing expressed differing opinions about the sentencing.

John Coyle described the judge’s actions in court as biased. “Ling acted like he was on the defense’s side. He acted like a lawyer,” Coyle said.

Coyle had stood up in court during public comment to say he predicted this abuse of power by Higgins. “I told you so. I told you so,” he said.

Robert Lewis, who during public comment at the hearing expressed his disgust at the “serious offenses” and the “gross abuse of power” committed by Higgins, described the sentencing as a joke.

“Your everyday citizen is not going to get that kind of consideration,” Lewis said. “Josh Shapiro came in and he immediately said ‘I will bump them down to misdemeanors.’ That way he won’t do any jail time. Who else is going to get that kind of favoritism?”

“Nobody. Nobody,” he added. “You have to be a member of the club.”

Lewis shared the story of his daughter dying from a heroin overdose about seven years ago while in front of the court, calling for “some kind of serious restitution” for Higgins. He accused the defendant of helping “drug dealers who sold poison.”

He suggested to the judge that Higgins serve a probation sentence that equaled the same length of time he served in office.

While Lewis called for a more strict sentencing, others, including Higgins’ mother and uncle, requested leniency from Ling.

Patricia Higgins, the defendant’s mother, described her son as a “good person” who doesn’t do things with the intention of hurting anyone. She urged those in court to remember the drug busts Higgins did while in office and argued for leniency for the sake of her son’s children.

Higgins’ uncle, James Giberson, said the defendant has done nothing but “embrace the law.”

Passarello, Higgins’ attorney, argued he thinks his client took responsibility for his actions and demonstrated his remorse, imploring the court to consider Higgins’ wife and children. He added his client has lost a “great deal” already including his job, pension, good name and law license.

“He’s already been sentenced,” Passarello said. “I don’t know how much more punishment he needs.”

With teary eyes and his hair slicked back, Higgins stood up during his hearing to apologize to those in court.

“I’m deeply sorry,” he said, with his body turned halfway to address the crowd with a cracked voice. “I’ve accepted full responsibility for my actions.”

He said he put himself at the mercy of the court and will miss serving the community and using the talents God gave him.

Higgins explained that he was in a “difficult spot in his life” between 2014 and 2015, the time the crimes allegedly occurred.

He said he had been drinking too much and was not acting like the husband and father his family deserved.

Higgins added he panicked when he learned of the attorney general’s investigation. He said he made serious mistakes, but has been “soul searching” and trying to better himself, including attending daily Mass, seeing a counselor, spending more time with his family and attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

In response to Higgins’ apology, Senior Deputy Attorney General Tomm Mutschler said the defendant used his position to strengthen his power and committed actions that were “predatory, illegal and dangerous.”

Mutschler added Higgins controlled information on drug investigations and chose to help drug dealers over police while attacking the credibility and reputation of certain officers.

He said the Office of Attorney General undertook a plea bargain, but “not lightly,” and decided to trade the possibility of jail for certainty of removing Higgins from office and his platform of power.

Ling told the court, prior to giving the sentencing, to consider Higgins initiative to step down as district attorney and to recognize some of the good work the defendant did while in office.

He said he had a hard time believing Higgins did more harm than good but added the former DA put his personal interest before the community.

If Higgins had been convicted at trial, he would’ve potentially faced a maximum of 62 years in prison and $155,000 in fines.

Viva la Ben
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Postby Viva la Ben » Sat Aug 18, 2018 3:12 pm

Don McGahn may soon be the subject of a Trump tweet. Stay Tuned!

Troy Loney
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Postby Troy Loney » Sat Aug 18, 2018 3:26 pm

Question now is, will the house keep the mueller obstruction report from the public

count2infinity
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Postby count2infinity » Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:20 am

Image

MWB
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Postby MWB » Sun Aug 19, 2018 12:37 pm

Truth

Troy Loney
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Postby Troy Loney » Sun Aug 19, 2018 7:07 pm

Cohen charges could come soon for bank fraud according to nyt

eddy
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Postby eddy » Sun Aug 19, 2018 8:47 pm

Michael Shannon. Playboy. Trump. https://t.co/3SeiLCY38Z

eddy
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Postby eddy » Sun Aug 19, 2018 9:02 pm


dodint
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Postby dodint » Sun Aug 19, 2018 9:36 pm

I read that letter as a really long drawn out apologist statement.

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