Politics And Current Events

Postby **Morkle** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 4:08 pm

This White House is an absolute **** show.

Postby **tifosi77** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 4:28 pm

The Brennan thing was clearly announced today solely because the administration has been behind the power curve on the news cycle for a couple of days. It would be funny if Omarosa just released another recording of Trump.

Clearly, since we're so worried about the integrity of security clearances, Mike Flynn's clearance will be next on the block. (Although, that may have been automatically effected via his felony confession.)

Postby **Troy Loney** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 4:30 pm

I believe the last word on the Mike Flynn thing, was that it was Obama's fault because he was granted the clearance during his admin.

Postby **MR25** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 4:33 pm

Wasn't it also revoked under Obama, or am I confusing Flynn with the guy that Obama told Trump camp not to hire?

Postby **Troy Loney** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 4:36 pm

Wasn't it also revoked under Obama, or am I confusing Flynn with the guy that Obama told Trump camp not to hire?

I don't think it was revoked. But Obama fired Flynn and also told Trump not to hire him at the WH.

Postby **Kaiser** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:03 pm

Decided to check out the trump reddit finally, and I gotta say I had a good time watching some dudes kick the **** out of a guy who was about to acid-bath a girl for wearing shorts.

Postby **Freddy Rumsen** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:16 pm

A man trolls Colorado baker Jack Phillips, asks him to bake Satanic cakes and a cake celebrating a transgender transition. Colorado's civil rights division falls for it and launches yet another case against him.

https://mobile.twitter.com/DavidAFrench ... 1711064074

Postby **shafnutz05** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:26 pm

Decided to check out the trump reddit finally, and I gotta say I had a good time watching some dudes kick the **** out of a guy who was about to acid-bath a girl for wearing shorts.

Oooh, just watched that. That is some good content.

Postby **tifosi77** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:26 pm

the President will consider pulling clearances for ex-FBI Director James Comey, ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok, ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page, ex-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, ex-CIA Director Michael Hayden, ex-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, ex-National Security Adviser Susan Rice and ex-Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr.

Three of those people (the three FBI men) have already had their clearances terminated as pursuant to their firing.

My worry is that Trump might just figure out he might as well try to do this to Mueller et al.

Postby **tifosi77** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:27 pm

Annnd literally as the comment was posting Mark Warner said the same thing on TV.

Postby **NailedPenguin** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 9:01 pm

Any day now...

Postby **MWB** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:40 pm

the President will consider pulling clearances for ex-FBI Director James Comey, ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok, ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page, ex-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, ex-CIA Director Michael Hayden, ex-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, ex-National Security Adviser Susan Rice and ex-Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr.
Three of those people (the three FBI men) have already had their clearances terminated as pursuant to their firing.

My worry is that Trump might just figure out he might as well try to do this to Mueller et al.

Why would ex FBI people or other ex employees who have clearance retain it? I guess I don’t understand the process.

Postby **Kaiser** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 11:01 pm

Security clearances last for a period of time before you need to apply again, no matter what you're doing. Unless there's a reason to have it taken away.

Postby **dodint** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 11:23 pm

Which makes you very marketable in certain sectors given how expensive they are.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Thu Aug 16, 2018 9:37 am

The Daily from the NYT did this morning's episode on the Catholic Church scandal. There was a really salient point towards the end about the need to get rid of the celibacy nonsense. While, I think there is a bit of a chicken vs the egg element to whether men abuse children after becoming priests, vs predators becoming priests. The culture of silence and cover-up seems to be a direct function of the celibacy BS. Because so few of these folks abide, and a lot of those folks are higher ups, abusers, so there's a major element of blackmail and vulnerability that prevent folks from speaking out, being afraid that there will be retaliation.

Postby **eddy** » Thu Aug 16, 2018 9:47 am

sure, I don't think anyone here is saying they can't get married so this is happening, end of story. What is it hurting if it helps prevent even one of these from happening.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Thu Aug 16, 2018 9:50 am

sure, I don't think anyone here is saying they can't get married so this is happening, end of story. What is it hurting if it helps prevent even one of these from happening.

For sure, this point was made in the context that when faced with some fairly tangible reasons for the church to ditch the celibacy commitments, church officials balked at it.

Postby **Morkle** » Thu Aug 16, 2018 9:53 am

Security clearances last for a period of time before you need to apply again, no matter what you're doing. Unless there's a reason to have it taken away.

A lot of the time too, these people have their clearances left open so current officials can consult with their thoughts and ideas on the subject matter. This hurts the public more than a single person, imo.

Postby **eddy** » Thu Aug 16, 2018 9:57 am

sure, I don't think anyone here is saying they can't get married so this is happening, end of story. What is it hurting if it helps prevent even one of these from happening.
For sure, this point was made in the context that when faced with some fairly tangible reasons for the church to ditch the celibacy commitments, church officials balked at it.

What exactly is their reasoning for this? Is it just that they are supposed to be married to the religion kind of thing?

Postby **Troy Loney** » Thu Aug 16, 2018 10:00 am

No clue, Freddy probably knows.

Postby **Lemon Berry Lobster** » Thu Aug 16, 2018 10:03 am

https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status ... n-saavedra

Vermont Democratic Candidate for Governor: "I'm not sure I even know what socialism is."

Postby **tifosi77** » Thu Aug 16, 2018 10:09 am

Why would ex FBI people or other ex employees who have clearance retain it? I guess I don’t understand the process.

There's more to it than the simple fact that the duration of the term of the clearance might outlast their term of service. Just because someone is no longer in public service doesn't mean their knowledge dries up.

It's common to lean on people in positions like that long after they leave their respective agencies. That's not to say these people are necessarily continually briefed on a regular basis or anything like that. But to take Brennan's case in particular, we're talking about someone with just about as much knowledge of global terrorist operations as there is in this country. If a large domestic terror cell operation were uncovered, in past administrations it would be totally normal for the current heads of related departments to call back their immediate predecessors and brief them up on the current situation and ask for their counsel. They can't do that with Brennan now. (Not that I think someone like Kirstjen Nielsen would do, but that's a different discussion.)

The phrase I've heard pundits use regarding this is 'brain drain'. By stripping Brennan of his clearance, they've effectively removed the ability of current leadership to lean on his knowledge and expertise.

Postby **tifosi77** » Thu Aug 16, 2018 10:16 am

While, I think there is a bit of a chicken vs the egg element to whether men abuse children after becoming priests, vs predators becoming priests.

That's just not how it works. The latter highlighted bit is, in probably 99% of cases, how it comes to pass. We're not just talking about pedophilia, we're talking about people who act on those urges. And that is not a creation of their environment.

While I don't think it would be a bad idea to allow priests to marry, ultimately we're talking about a population of people for whom it wouldn't make a difference. Marrying an adult woman wouldn't make these people less deviant.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Thu Aug 16, 2018 10:32 am

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/40211 ... nist-japan

caveat, Cuomo's remarks about American greatness are pretty stupid. But this is truly a gem of a response.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Thu Aug 16, 2018 10:36 am

While, I think there is a bit of a chicken vs the egg element to whether men abuse children after becoming priests, vs predators becoming priests.
That's just not how it works. The latter highlighted bit is, in probably 99% of cases, how it comes to pass. We're not just talking about pedophilia, we're talking about people who act on those urges. And that is not a creation of their environment.

While I don't think it would be a bad idea to allow priests to marry, ultimately we're talking about a population of people for whom it wouldn't make a difference. Marrying an adult woman wouldn't make these people less deviant.

Right, I do see it that way as well. I also wonder how far back priests were sexually abusing children. like, in the hidden history of pedophilia, has it been centuries of those folks knowing that entering the priesthood was the way to act out on those sexual urges.