President Donald J. Trump

[21st Century Man]

Ok. Whatever, FTF.

[GravitySucks]

That is fascinating.  How odd to have a fear of lettuce.  That would make a funny comedy sketch in the Monty Python tradition.   I can see cannons being loaded with iceberg lettuce and shot.   I jest but I hope they are doing ok.

The pumpkins would leave a mark.

[Value Of Pi]

He's occupying it and no one is willing to head in there and kick him out. He won.

It's actually pretty amazing that we survived the cold war.

I'm not sure what interests we have in Syria. We don't need more oil on the market and they have nothing else of interest. Assad is bad for Israel, but Israel is more than capable of dealing with Syria. What's in our interest is stability, yet we continue to hold a policy of destabilization.

I'm sorry but it doesn't seem like you are too familiar with the facts, issues and implications involved in these two conflict areas. Most of Ukraine is run by the new Ukrainian government, which kicked out the old Russian-influenced one. Russia occupies Crimea, a small but significant part of Ukraine. Another small section in the east, DonBass, is partially occupied by the rebels. The Ukranian government is not only allied with the EU instead of Russia, but is seeking to join NATO. This is not a win for the Russians but a stalemate they are paying for in a big way with economic sanctions and the expansion of NATO and the EU to their neck of the woods.

Our interests in Syria are the same as the ones we have throughout the Middle East: fighting terrorist groups (ISIS and Hezbollah in particular); rolling back Iranian influence and destabilization; safeguarding our friends and allies; keeping the Persian Gulf open and passable for oil and other trade; ending the refugee crisis; damping down or ending sectarian conflicts for humanitarian reasons; preventing the persecution of religious minorities; and on and on. What happens in Syria will continue to affect all of these priorities across the Middle East.

The Obama administration has taken a mess in Syria and made it worse. The next president needs to make it better. And not by trusting or attempting to enable Putin to do it. We have some common interests we can agree on, but we shouldn't expect Russia to become a positive force in that region -- or any other.

[albrecht]

Remember this?

The Yazidis, a People Who Fled

The religious minority is once again threatened by genocide in Iraq. What happens to a faith when it's forged in persecution?
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/the-yazidis-a-people-who-fled/375964/

They are an interesting people. The peacock, Melek Taus, who is their main god and the story is interesting. I forget if it was C2C or some other show but I recall a show talking about the Yazidi religion. The guy, as usual, was a new-agey type but it was interesting. The "story" of their religion is really cool actually and worth looking into if anybody into that kind of stuff. It really is too bad they are being decimated by the Muslims. The somewhat related Yazdanism of some of the Kurds is also interesting.

Back to Trump. I saw my first Trump commercial just now during the hockey game. A few moments later I saw my first Billary commercial. So it begins. Friggin push polling folks have been calling incessantly because there is a 'controversial' vote coming up regarding Uber/Lift. I won't answer and they called back EVERY hour til I finally answered. Annoying (yes I have call blocker with TWC but I'm at my limit of blocked #s. And, yes, I still have a landline.)

[The King of Kings]

You think a lot of voters stayed home when Romney ran? Just wait until Trump is nominated. He`ll have the lowest turn out in 20 years and Hillary will be President.

Record turn out at Trump rallies

Record turn out at Caucus sites and primary voting.

Right, Trump will have the lowest turn out...

It's like you aren't even comprehending who people are voting for and who is the reason there are record number of turn out.  Let me help, it's Trump, and if you think people won't spend 10-15 minutes voting for Trump in November when they are coming out in droves to caucus for and vote for in primary season, then I really don't know how to convince you otherwise of something that is so clear and evident.

[starrmtn001]

Ok. Whatever, FTF.

Just trying to un-derail the Trump thread (not to be confused with undie rail).  I'm leaning toward Trump, but I am still deciding whom to support.  Much can happen between now and election day.

[21st Century Man]

The pumpkins would leave a mark.

Pumpkins could kill a person.

[GravitySucks]

Pumpkins could kill a person.

http://youtu.be/WfnJ2Zah8Kg

[Value Of Pi]

They want countries to buy their airplanes, tanks, and missiles the same way we do. There isn't a whole lot of difference in the logic of us vs. them behind wanting influence in that area.

They have different rules of engagement than we do. They will always be more successful in conflicts like Syria than we will. We should have learned from their lesson in Afghanistan, but we didn't. We were going to change minds. All we did was change dollars and a bunch of lives.

One difference is, the Russians are happy to sell advanced arms to the Iranians or anyone with the money -- and they will when sanctions are lifted in five years, if not sooner. We choose to sell to Israel and some Arab countries, plus Turkey. These countries don't threaten the region the way Iran does.

The Russians have no scruples, we have more than a few.

[The King of Kings]

Just trying to un-derail the Trump thread (not to be confused with undie rail).  I'm leaning toward Trump, but I am still deciding whom to support.  Much can happen between now and election day.

1. God Emperor Trump- Wants to make America great again
2. Ted Cruz-Wants to star in Teen Tit films and gridlock Washington DC, he is a constitutionalist, but only for the parts he likes
3. Marco Rubio- Wants a great pair of leather shoes and turn the Lincoln Bedroom into a nightclub for young shirtless men where every night is foam party night, also wants to make it legal to hang out in cars with gay porn producers in parks at night where the park is known as a place men cruise for other gay men

[21st Century Man]

Just trying to un-derail the Trump thread (not to be confused with undie rail).  I'm leaning toward Trump, but I am still deciding whom to support.  Much can happen between now and election day.

Oh no,  I was commenting on fightthefuture, not you.  A little derailment is fine with me. I'm going to go with Cruz this Tuesday.  I just can't stomach Trump right now.  Rubio and Trump remind me of kids getting in a fight at school.  Rubio dances around and screams,  "I got you!  I got you!"  Trump yells back "You're a choker!  You're a choker!" 

[starrmtn001]

Pumpkins could kill a person.

Ya think?

[The King of Kings]

What I love about Marco Rubio, he has totally derailed his campaign by stopping to attack Trump.  Marco is falling into Trump's trap.

[21st Century Man]

Yeah think?

Well, I was thinking of ones that are a bit smaller.  LOL.  That one could do a whole lot of damage to a whole brigade.

[albrecht]

One difference is, the Russians are happy to sell advanced arms to the Iranians or anyone with the money -- and they will when sanctions are lifted in five years, if not sooner. We choose to sell to Israel and some Arab countries, plus Turkey. These countries don't threaten the region the way Iran does.

The Russians have no scruples, we have more than a few.

I don't know about that. We sell a crap load of stuff to the Saudis and they are one of the main reasons for the radicalization of what was already a pretty violent religion and the spread this version around the world. Heck the UK even did kickback deals to sell the Saudis arms. And, if rumors are true, the Saudis are connected to various terrorist actions, including 911 (whatever became of that Llyod's lawsuit. Hmm. Secret settlement?) We give, not sell, stuff to radical Islamist "rebels" and "springers" who often end up even being worse than Al Qaeda.

[Jackstar]

Trust me, their military sucks.

Is this a new Trump soundbite?

[starrmtn001]

Oh no,  I was commenting on fightthefuture, not you.  A little derailment is fine with me. I'm going to go with Cruz this Tuesday.  I just can't stomach Trump right now.  Rubio and Trump remind me of kids getting in a fight at school.  Rubio dances around and screams,  "I got you!  I got you!"  Trump yells back "You're a choker!  You're a choker!"

I can see the same behavior with Cruz and him.  Maybe Trump just doesn't play well with others.

[starrmtn001]

1. God Emperor Trump- Wants to make America great again
2. Ted Cruz-Wants to star in Teen Tit films and gridlock Washington DC, he is a constitutionalist, but only for the parts he likes
3. Marco Rubio- Wants a great pair of leather shoes and turn the Lincoln Bedroom into a nightclub for young shirtless men where every night is foam party night, also wants to make it legal to hang out in cars with gay porn producers in parks at night where the park is known as a place men cruise for other gay men

Decisions, decisions.  So, how is this supposed to make it easier?  

[21st Century Man]

I can see the same behavior with Cruz and him.  Maybe Trump just doesn't play well with others.

Cruz has a calmer demeanor than Rubio and he doesn't resort to cheap gotcha's like Rubio.  Trump's response to anything Cruz says is "Liar, liar."  Rubio also attacks Cruz in the same way.  I usually find the ones who scream liar, liar the most are the ones who resort to lies most often.  Just sayin'.

[SciFiAuthor]

I'm sorry but it doesn't seem like you are too familiar with the facts, issues and implications involved in these two conflict areas. Most of Ukraine is run by the new Ukrainian government, which kicked out the old Russian-influenced one. Russia occupies Crimea, a small but significant part of Ukraine. Another small section in the east, DonBass, is partially occupied by the rebels. The Ukranian government is not only allied with the EU instead of Russia, but is seeking to join NATO. This is not a win for the Russians but a stalemate they are paying for in a big way with economic sanctions and the expansion of NATO and the EU to their neck of the woods.

Too much spin. Putin achieved his objective, he's occupying the Crimea and no one has thus far forced his hand. It doesn't appear that anyone will, nor do I see Ukraine joining NATO or especially the EU any time soon. The sanctions have proven ineffective, so much so that Putin was able to project Russian military power into Syria.

Our interests in Syria are the same as the ones we have throughout the Middle East: fighting terrorist groups (ISIS and Hezbollah in particular); rolling back Iranian influence and destabilization; safeguarding our friends and allies; keeping the Persian Gulf open and passable for oil and other trade; ending the refugee crisis; damping down or ending sectarian conflicts for humanitarian reasons; preventing the persecution of religious minorities; and on and on. What happens in Syria will continue to affect all of these priorities across the Middle East.

About half of those priorities are at direct odds with each other. The only objective we had in Syria was trying to overthrow Assad by taking advantage of a popular movement. That hasn't happened, we simply got mired in a giant civil war where the very worst possible faction started winning. It's a huge blunder that Russia seems willing to fix at the cost of keeping Assad in power. We should allow that. The sensible policy would have been to keep Assad in power in the first place, it would have killed a lot less people, cost less, would have maintained stability, and there would be no refugee crisis.

The Obama administration has taken a mess in Syria and made it worse. The next president needs to make it better. And not by trusting or attempting to enable Putin to do it. We have some common interests we can agree on, but we shouldn't expect Russia to become a positive force in that region -- or any other.

Syria was a Russian ally before the war. We failed at making Syria an ally of the US through arming rebel groups. Now that Russia is directly involved, the answer is not shooting down Russian aircraft that violate a no-fly zone. WWIII does not need to start over Syria.

[Jackstar]

If GIF's hadn't been invented; your principal method of conveying what goes on in your head would remain lost to the world. I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

heh heh

[Value Of Pi]

I don't know about that. We sell a crap load of stuff to the Saudis and they are one of the main reasons for the radicalization of what was already a pretty violent religion and the spread this version around the world. Heck the UK even did kickback deals to sell the Saudis arms. And, if rumors are true, the Saudis are connected to various terrorist actions, including 911 (whatever became of that Llyod's lawsuit. Hmm. Secret settlement?) We give, not sell, stuff to radical Islamist "rebels" and "springers" who often end up even being worse than Al Qaeda.

Our support of the Saudi government is a very legitimate issue, beyond U.S. arms sales. On the arms sales specifically, we haven't seen the Saudis use the high-tech stuff we sold them in any truly objectionable way. They're using the F-16s we sold them to bomb the Houthis and their Iranian friends in Yemen? Fine. We should have no problems with that. Send them more bombs.

[Jackstar]

We choose to sell to Israel and some Arab countries, plus Turkey. These countries don't threaten the region the way Iran does.

The Russians have no scruples, we have more than a few.

I don't know whether you believe this tripe or not but it's revolting either way.

[Jackstar]

On the arms sales specifically, we haven't seen the Saudis use the high-tech stuff we sold them in any truly objectionable way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1mNQTUbhbM

[WhiteCrow]

It still amazes me that we can have more meaningful discussions in the Politics threads than we can have in the Art Bell or Heather Wade threads. We should apply for a Federal Grant to research this phenomenon.

Just what I was thinking..

Although I still believe that Billary is the post WWII safe candidate, that will honor our traditional world cop, leadership  and alliance roles. Her give away buy the votes, social justice programs are more of, national bankruptcy.

I will likely vote for Trump. Time to role the dice, take a chance, help America become an economic power house again. The Business of America, should be America's Businesses. Tax the Fat Cats. Strength and safety, as always, who can afford the biggest and most guns.

[starrmtn001]

Cruz has a calmer demeanor than Rubio and he doesn't resort to cheap gotcha's like Rubio.  Trump's response to anything Cruz says is "Liar, liar."  Rubio also attacks Cruz in the same way.  I usually find the ones who scream liar, liar the most are the ones who resort to lies most often.  Just sayin'.

Okay, made my decision.  I'm taking the next flight to Pluto.  The politics has just got to be better in a place run by a cartoon character celebrity.

[SciFiAuthor]

What I love about Marco Rubio, he has totally derailed his campaign by stopping to attack Trump.  Marco is falling into Trump's trap.

He should have learned his lesson from the other candidates. Everyone that attacked Trump dropped in the polls as a result. Rubio was hoping for media face time after the debate by continuing to attack Trump, but Trump derailed that by keeping the media's attention by unveiling Christie's endorsement.

[21st Century Man]

Well I've spent enough time on Bellgab today.  Had a great time.  Auf wiedersehen.

[Jackstar]

Well I've spent enough time on Bellgab today.  Had a great time.  Auf wiedersehen.

That's just what I was thinking.

They're using the F-16s we sold them to bomb the Houthis and their Iranian friends in Yemen? Fine. We should have no problems with that. Send them more bombs.

[21st Century Man]

Okay, made my decision.  I'm taking the next flight to Pluto.  The politics has just got to be better in a place run by a cartoon character celebrity.

LOL.    I think I may want to do that anyway.  I'll join you.  Later, star.