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Rich Marzullo
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Posted: 17 May 2017 at 6:07pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

And we have a special counselor (finally) appointed to lead the Trump-Russia investigation: Robert Mueller, former FBI Director.

This whole Trump presidency thing is unraveling rather quickly. 
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Scott Morrissey
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Posted: 17 May 2017 at 8:21pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

“No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly”.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2017/live-updates/tr ump-white-house/trump-comey-and-russia-how-key-washington-pl ayers-are-reacting/trump-says-no-president-has-been-treated- more-unfairly/?utm_term=.0dd5e1a9363d


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David Miller
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Posted: 17 May 2017 at 9:24pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

It's pretty rich listening to conservatives whine about being bullied. Is victimhood the new last refuge of scoundrels?
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Vinny Valenti
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Posted: 17 May 2017 at 9:32pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

"No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly”.

Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy would beg to differ.
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Vinny Valenti
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Posted: 17 May 2017 at 9:37pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Oh, and a good time to bring this up again:

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Jason Czeskleba
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Posted: 18 May 2017 at 12:12am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

It's a funny joke, but criticizing Ryan for lacking a spine misses the point.  Acting against your own self-interest in order to do what's right does not require bravery, it requires unselfishness.  It's not cowardice that keeps Ryan from speaking out against Trump, it's calculated self interest.  If at any point it becomes clear that Trump poses more hindrance than help to Ryan's all-consuming goals of enacting massive tax cuts for the very wealthy and dismantling the social safety net, he will be the first in line to support impeachment. 


Edited by Jason Czeskleba on 18 May 2017 at 12:12am
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Vinny Valenti
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Posted: 18 May 2017 at 6:24am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

Whoops and sorry David Miller, I should have scrolled up
To see that you beat me to it before posting!


Edited by Vinny Valenti on 18 May 2017 at 6:25am
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Charles Valderrama
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Posted: 18 May 2017 at 7:35am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

It's not cowardice that keeps Ryan from speaking out against Trump, it's calculated self interest.
••••••

Ryan IS a coward (among of things!) because he let Trump disrespect him throughout the campaign and even a few times earlier this year... and STILL supported him! Sorry, but I don't believe "calculated self-interest" justifies going thru that in public. Ryan's leaving himself quite a legacy.

-C!


Edited by Charles Valderrama on 18 May 2017 at 7:35am
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David Miller
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Posted: 18 May 2017 at 8:38am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

Vinny: High five!
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Jason Czeskleba
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Posted: 18 May 2017 at 12:34pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

 Charles Valderrama wrote:
Ryan IS a coward (among of things!) because he let Trump disrespect him throughout the campaign and even a few times earlier this year... and STILL supported him!

Ryan is very single-minded about his goals.  He wants to enact very large tax cuts for the rich which will significantly increase the deficit, then he wants to use that resultant growth in the deficit as an excuse to say we have to end Medicare and make massive cuts in social security.  This is the entire focus of his political career.  Everything else is secondary.

Standing up to Trump's criticism during the campaign would have made Trump less likely to win the election, which would have made it much less likely he could achieve the above policy goals.  At this point, he continues to believe that criticizing Trump would impair his policy goals, so he doesn't do it.  I do not see that as fear, but as simple pragmatism.  He is willing to swallow his pride and look like Trump's bitch if he feels it will ultimately help him get what he wants.  If at any time that changes, he will be first in line to attack Trump.

Calling upon him to be brave and do "the right thing" presupposes that he has some sense of morality and public-spiritedness about his role as a leader.  I've seen no evidence that is the case.  He is a deeply selfish man, dedicated to increasing the power and wealth of others who are deeply selfish, and that is all that guides his actions.  


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Thom Price
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Posted: 18 May 2017 at 5:11pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Someone can be two things.  Ryan can be both a coward and driven by self-interest.

While I have zero sympathy for them, being a Republican in the Age of Trump is no easy feat.  Any Republican who is overly critical of Trump runs a serious risk of alienating a large segment of their own base who still support Trump.  People on the other side of the aisle seem to lose sight of the fact that, so far, there's virtually no evidence that Trump's base is turning against him.  Any Republican who opposes Trump might please the Democrats and the media, but they will be shooting themselves in the foot with their own voters.
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Brian Miller
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Posted: 18 May 2017 at 7:53pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

So now it's out that Rosenstein knew about Comey's firing BEFORE he drafted his recommendation letter. 

Edited by Brian Miller on 18 May 2017 at 7:53pm
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