******Official politics thread ******

[DinoTriz2]

The absolute state of the UK

[DinoTriz2]

#BELIEVEWOMEN

[DinoTriz2]

LOL Good ol Trump Derangement Syndrome

[Mblake81]

A staff member of Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential campaign filed a lawsuit in federal court in Florida on Monday, alleging that she experienced “racial and gender discrimination” while working for the campaign, that she was paid less than male and white colleagues, and that Trump once kissed her partially on the mouth, without her consent. The claim related to the kiss may prove difficult to verify. Four people said that the campaign worker, Alva Johnson, told them about the incident afterward, but two other people, who Johnson said were present at the time of the kiss, told me that they did not see it. In a statement, Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, denied that it had taken place.

[Mblake81]

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2020 will be here before we know it. And in 2020, it is absolutely critical that the Democratic Party is fully prepared to oust Donald Trump from the presidency. It should be quite clear by now that anyone keeping their fingers crossed for impeachment or indictment is thinking wishfully. There is one way to get rid of Donald Trump, and it is through voting him out of office, which means that there cannot be the kind of colossal screw-up that there was in 2016. This time, Democrats need to be ready with a plan, and there is only one clear one that I can see. Barring the emergence of some heroic unforeseen alternative, everyone on the left should ready themselves for it. Every single Democrat needs to come to terms with the fact that the most sensible plan for getting rid of Donald Trump is to unify behind a Bernie Sanders candidacy.

[Mblake81]

A top House Democrat has threatened to call special counsel Robert Mueller to Capitol Hill, subpoena documents and sue the Trump administration if the full report on Mueller's Russia investigation is not made public.

Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said his committee will keep close watch on new Attorney General William Barr to see if he were "to try to bury any part of this report." Schiff, D-Calif., also pledged to "take it to court if necessary."

He said anything less than complete disclosure would leave Barr, who now oversees the investigation, with "a tarnished legacy."

Schiff's comments come as Democrats have made it clear that they are ready for an aggressive, public fight with the Justice Department if they are not satisfied with the level of access they have to Mueller's findings.

Mueller is showing signs of wrapping up his nearly 2-year-old investigation into possible coordination between Trump associates and Russia's efforts to sway the 2016 election. The report isn't expected to be delivered to the Justice Department this coming week.

[JurisDictum]

This is probably the best overall recap of the Russia saga:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-polit...mueller-guilty

As far as a pro-DNC take goes...

I guess the big question (which the article admits) is "so what?"

So Trump may be getting away with using Manafort to get wikileaks to release compromising info on Hilary Clinton. He then pursued a "soft on Russia" stance that he campaigned on.

It wasn't exactly a fucking secret he was softer on Putin than Clinton was, was it? There are still people that more or less like that stance more than Clinton's, arn't there? All that shit Wikileaks said about Clinton was good information for the voters to know about her, wasn't it?

This was a leftwing Benghazi saga. Political posturing substituting policy. They knew this investigation was leading no where fast -- unless you count jailing Manafort just in time for Trump to pardon him on his way out. Which your a real mooch if you don't see coming. I'd pardon anyone politically lynched like that myself. It's just the decent thing to do at some point.

But I think we should also admit there was probably some coordination between either Trump or some pro-Trump elements and the Russian Government.

Again, so what? Advertising is only a problem when Russia does it? War with Russia is a good idea and Clinton was right? What exactly is the point of any of this?

[JurisDictum]

BTW Russia opposes Trump's pet project of overthrowing Maduro in Venezuela. So its not exactly like they agree on everything, is it?

[Mblake81]

A series of incidents in which U.S. troops have been arrested in cases involving white nationalism is of “significant concern, particularly given their combat and weapons training," several House Democrats said in a letter on Monday, pressing the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security for information about how they screen for recruits.

Maryland Reps. Elijah Cummings, Anthony Brown and Jamie Raskin and California Rep. Jackie Speier wrote that they applaud the actions taken by federal agencies in the arrest this month of Coast Guard Lt. Christopher P. Hasson, a self-proclaimed white nationalist who authorities say had a list of journalists and politicians that he planned to kill.

But citing that case and others in 2017, the lawmakers asked acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan and Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, who oversees the Coast Guard, how Hasson and others who demonstrated extremist views were able to circumvent the military’s checks.

“Our hope is that these incidents are isolated events and are not indicative of a larger, systemic issue within the United States Armed Services,” the lawmakers wrote. “Beyond the extremes of domestic terrorism, we are additionally concerned with low level racism and other identity-based harassment that disrupts unit cohesion, impacts readiness, and degrades the ability of our servicemembers to protect our nation. Servicemembers who experience or witness racist or hateful behavior must be able to report such behavior without fear of repercussions.”

[Mblake81]

Donald Trump was already embroiled in legal and political challenges to his decision earlier this month to declare a national emergency at the southern border. Now, he’s facing a new wave of pushback—this time, from a bipartisan group of 58 former national-security officials, who on Monday are expected to release a declaration condemning the maneuver and backing lawsuits aimed at blocking the workaround. “Under no plausible assessment of the evidence is there a national emergency today that entitles the president to tap into funds appropriated for other purposes to build a wall at the southern border” the group wrote, according to The Washington Post, adding elsewhere that there is “no factual basis” for the move.

The joint statement was signed by former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and former defense secretary Chuck Hagel, who served in Bill Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s administrations, respectively, as well as an array of prominent figures who served under both Democratic and Republican presidents. It represents still more opposition to the president’s contentious move, and is particularly humiliating for the administration given the source.