A.M. Links: Trump to Meet Putin, Scalise Readmitted to Intensive Care, Tillerson Says U.S. and Russia May Jointly Impose No-Fly Zones in Syria

• 

  Gage Skidmore / Flickr.com

  President Donald Trump is in Warsaw today to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

• Tomorrow President Trump is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.
• President Trump on North Korea: "It's a shame they're behaving this way—they're behaving in a very, very dangerous manner and something will have to be done about it."
• Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the U.S. and Russia may work together to impose no-fly zones in Syria.
• Rep. Steve Scalise, who was shot last month at a congressional baseball practice, has been readmitted to the intensive care unit and his condition is again listed as critical.
• "Officials in nearly every state say they cannot or will not turn over all of the voter data President Trump's voting commission is seeking, dealing what could be a serious blow to Trump's attempts to bolster his claims that widespread fraud cost him the popular vote in November."

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Donald Trump is in Warsaw today to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Okay, fine: You know who else went into Poland?

[Anomalous]

The Russians?

[loveconstitution1789]

Russians and Germans at the same time.

[Citizen X - #6]

We're not talking about your mom here.

[loveconstitution1789]

You saw that porn too?

[Citizen X - #6]

In 2002 when it first came out. I haven't masturbated since.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Never stopped cumming huh?

[DJF]

Stalin?

[Citizen X - #6]

Rep. Clay Higgins (R - Louisiana)?

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

Hitler and Trump are the same person.

TRUE STORY.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Seems a little unfair to Hitler's memory.

[Aloysious]

Rammstein?

[Drave Robber]

Klaus Schulze, Kraftwerk

[Rhywun]

Not to mention Tangerine Dream.

[juris imprudent]

Charles X?

[loveconstitution1789]

Napoleon?

[Philadelphia Collins]

Toto?

[Citizen X - #6]

"Officials in nearly every state say they cannot or will not turn over all of the voter data President Trump's voting commission is seeking, dealing what could be a serious blow to Trump's attempts to bolster his claims that widespread fraud cost him the popular vote in November."

Dude, you WON. You are the PRESIDENT.

[Rhywun]

If I suspected that hag got millions more votes than me due to fraud, I would do everything in my power to set the record straight too.

[lap83]

I think we can all agree there are plenty worse things for a president to do than trying to collect evidence of Hillary's horribleness

[Citizen X - #6]

Good point.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I can only hope that in a rare case of selflessness, the Trump Presidential Library is nothing but showcases of Hillary's shittiness.

[LarryA]

Personally, I'd much rather let her fade into obscurity. Forget her already.

[Calidissident]

That's a fair point, but in this case, if Trump really does sincerely believe this, everything points to him doing so because his fragile ego can't handle the fact that lost the popular vote even though he won the election.

[Rhywun]

I don't care why he's doing it.

[loveconstitution1789]

If you think part of Trump's plan is not to further cripple the Democratic Party, you have not been paying attention.

[Citizen X - #6]

To your weird fantasies about Trump's seven-dimensional chess skills? No, i have not.

[loveconstitution1789]

Maybe not 7th dimensional chess but they are yelling and scrambling for safe spaces while playing tic-tack-toe and he keeps advancing his pawns to Queen Hillary.

[Citizen X - #6]

Yeah, that's not what's happening either.

[loveconstitution1789]

Right, it must total coincidence.

Trump is so dumb that he cannot even wipe his own ass, ammirite?

Trump won the election while supposedly smarter people than him said Hillary had him by 20+ points.

I know its hard to admit that Trump might have some plans that work and some that don't. The alternative for you is that everything good and bad that happens relating to Trump is completely random.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Go with that justification. That's a winner.

[creech]

Seems to me that voter registration lists can be bought by political parties. If Trump's Commission cares enough, they can buy every states list.

[Brandybuck]

Precisely. He's just whining that he's not getting the lists for free.

[Ron]

Since the lists are government info do they even need to be paid for

[BestUsedCarSales]

Depending on what the cost is, it might just be the price of actually conflating all the information into one place. That might not necessarily be done ahead of time.

[MarkLastname]

"I don't feel I have to kill everyone. Just my enemies."

[Fist of Etiquette]

Tomorrow President Trump is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

He'll gladly pay Vlad Tuesday for an election win today!

[Zeb]

President Donald Trump is in Warsaw today to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Checking out their submarine screen door technology.

[Don't look at me.]

And lightbulb changing skills.

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Trump on North Korea...

Someone's about to get body slammed!

[loveconstitution1789]

President Donald Trump is in Warsaw today to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
There is the word WAR in Warsaw, so with Trump you never know.

[Citizen X - #6]

There is also the word SAW. Carpentry may ensue.

[loveconstitution1789]

Jesus, that's a good one.

[Citizen X - #6]

Not necessarily.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the U.S. and Russia may work together to impose no-fly zones in Syria.

Working separately on that could get awkward.

[CatoTheChipper]

Well done!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Rep. Steve Scalise, who was shot last month at a congressional baseball practice, has been readmitted to the intensive care unit and his condition is again listed as critical.

Now, I forget, this was all fallout from that Trump/CNN wrestling video, right?

[Citizen X - #6]

No, this one was Sarah Palin's fault.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Maybe it's because I lived in Tucson when it happened, but I heard a lot less about this than the Gabby Giffords thing. Less outrage. Hell, I saw people saying they were glad he was shot.

[Don't look at me.]

Dudes are expendable, wymin are not.

[MarkLastname]

One less dude means more puss for us! High five!

[colorblindkid]

And, despite the NYT's blatant lies, this shooting was blatantly political.

The dude was a frickin Bernie volunteer. He asked if they were Republicans or Democrats playing before shooting. He made a target list of Republican congressman. It is the most clearly politically-motivated shooting in a long time.

Loughner was a rambling anarchist who had a personal vendetta due to a perceived slight from Giffords. Also, nobody seems to recall that the only politically-related person killed that day was a Republican judge.

A woman tried to run a congressman off the road after he didn't answer a question at a Town Hall. Buzzfeed basically said he deserved it. The "rhetoric" coming from the mainstream left sure seems more violent than that from the mainstream right at the moment.

[Domestic Dissident]

80 to 90 percent of the so-called "mainstream" media was absolutely thrilled about the shooting. If anything, they were disappointed the guy didn't hit more of his targets!

[Citizen X - #6]

Yes, 80-90%. That's definitely something that actually happened exactly as Simple Mikey describes it.

[The Last American Hero]

Nope, The Federalist or NR compiled the list of headlines and 24 hour network mentions. The coverage of Giffords was significantly higher.

[damikesc]

"Officials in nearly every state say they cannot or will not turn over all of the voter data President Trump's voting commission is seeking, dealing what could be a serious blow to Trump's attempts to bolster his claims that widespread fraud cost him the popular vote in November."

Since state officials do not have the information, a federal requirement for a federal photo ID for voting seems to be the only rational response to the situation. States can run their voting lists for state elections, but for President, it might need to be nationalized as states are too inept to manage it on their own, clearly.

"There's no proof of voting irregularities"
"Then let's investigate"
"We cannot provide any information. Ergo, there is no proof!!!"

[Citizen X - #6]

Yes, if the federal government is known for one thing, it's efficiency.

[Zeb]

for President, it might need to be nationalized as states are too inept to manage it on their own, clearly.

Is it clearly so? And how is it worse than the state elections? Presidential elections are generally done exactly the same way as state elections (and are, strictly speaking, state elections of electors), on the same ballot, counted the same and with the same voter rules.

I'm not saying that there isn't a problem with fraudulent voting (or that there is, I really don't know). But I'm not convinced that getting the federal government involved is either a good idea or constitutionally called for.

[Morning dump]

You are so fucking stupid.

[Rhywun]

+1 insightful

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

What's the situation, again?

[BestUsedCarSales]

"You know what Fellow Libertatians, we need to give the Feds more power."

[Calidissident]

I don't really see what relevance photo ID has to the request here. And why would you trust the federal government to handle it more competently in the states? And why is a libertarian advocating mass collection of personal data by the federal government, from the states against their will on top of that?

Also, the Republicans control a solid majority of state governments. Do you really think they're hiding mass pro-Clinton voting fraud?

[Fist of Etiquette]

...dealing what could be a serious blow to Trump's attempts to bolster his claims that widespread fraud cost him the popular vote in November.

Dealing a blow? States refusing to cooperate with his investigation can be spun as them being guilty and hiding evidence.

[Citizen X - #6]

See damikesc's comment directly above yours.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't read anyone's comments but my own.

[Tom Bombadil]

Your reply has a logic fail, but I'm not going to tell anybody because you are a national treasure.

[Citizen X - #6]

Don't try to give Eugene a swelled head. His hydrocephaly is bad enough as it is.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't read anyone's comments but my own.

[Tom Bombadil]

That's gold, Jerry, gold!

[BestUsedCarSales]

Damn, the only reason I come here is to impress you with my posts. This is a life-changing revelation.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't read anyone's comments but my own.

[loveconstitution1789]

I don't comment on any posts but my own.

[OM Nullum gratuitum prandium]

"Officials in nearly every state say they cannot or will not turn over all of the voter data President Trump's voting commission is seeking, dealing what could be a serious blow to Trump's attempts to bolster his claims that widespread fraud cost him the popular vote in November."

"People must know they really do love me. A lot."

[Jerryskids]

"Officials in nearly every state say they cannot or will not turn over all of the voter data President Trump's voting commission is seeking, dealing what could be a serious blow to Trump's attempts to bolster his claims that widespread fraud cost him the popular vote in November."

You know what else it could deal a serious blow to? The federal government's attempt to investigate the matter of voter fraud and voting irregularities and vote manipulation, which pretty much everybody accepts as a given that it happens in some places. I mean, c'mon, there's a reason there are jokes about the dead voting in alphabetical order in Chicago. But WaPo goes with their mad mind-reading skills and asserts the reason for the investigation is Trump's fragile, over-inflated ego. That's not editorializing at all, that's just the straight facts.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Whether something is right or wrong it's probably a fair bet that anything Trump does comes from his massive ego.

[Jerryskids]

That's probably true, but there's a difference (or should be) between a random commenter on a web site making the assertion and a WaPo reporter casually dropping it into a news story.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Definitely. Don't take my comment as precluding that everyone is horrible all the time.

[Bob K]

"which pretty much everybody accepts as a given"

I don't. The GOP controls most of the governors, states legislatures and 2 of 3 of the federal branches (supreme court should be solidly theirs in a few years as well). If the Dems are involved in widespread voter fraud they must be playing some crazy 5D chess because it doesn't seem to be working out for them.

[Jerryskids]

"which pretty much everybody accepts as a given that it happens in some places"

You left out the "in some places", i.e., not widespread. I didn't make the assertion that it was widespread, WaPo did. And that's how they get you, they throw in some biased, loaded language and suddenly you're arguing on their terms without even realizing that they've framed the discussion.

Like with the discussion of "voter fraud" being narrowly tailored to in-person, election-day voting booth fraud that could be stopped with Voter ID laws and isn't widespread. The Daley machine didn't rig elections in Chicago by having lots of accomplices with fake ID's running around voting multiple times, they just made sure they were the ones in charge of counting the votes and they announced whatever vote totals they felt like.

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

Trump's claim is that millions of votes were cast illegally. That requires widespread fraud.

[loveconstitution1789]

Not really. Taxifornia gives all sorts of government issued IDs to people ineligible to vote. Driver's licenses are one example.

People just sign the voting form that they are eligible to vote. Democrats probably tell them that the government cannot check 120 million forms for fraud. Democrats consider illegals expendable pawns anyway.

[paranoid android]

I didn't make the assertion that it was widespread, WaPo did.

Isn't *Trump* the one making the assertion that it's widespread? If there's only a few places where it's a problem, surely the administration could have narrowly tailored its request to only the counties at issue instead of an ultra-broad dragnet? It smacks of ulterior motives.

[Rhywun]

They could hardly tailor it to only those areas where Democrats conduct large-scale get-out-the-vote initiatives among "migrant" communities and not expect to get a bit of pushback.

[loveconstitution1789]

Ulterior motives? Like comparing who is legally allowed to vote and who is not?

Oh, you must mean taking those lists and going after Democrats kind of ulterior motives? Anybody can get voters rolls legally and politically go after opponents right now.

I am not for government "lists" but until we get rid of this welfare state, I am fine with driver's license lists, passport lists, voter lists.

[Rebel Scum]

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the U.S. and Russia may work together to impose no-fly zones in Syria.

Clearly two world powers working together instead of being adversaries is bad because Trump. It's cuckholsters all the way down.

[loveconstitution1789]

This just proves that Trump and the Russians were working together to steal the election!

Imagine the media TDS when Trump meets Putin this week.

[Square = Circle]

Clearly two world powers working together instead of being adversaries is bad because Trump.

NPR was saying essentially exactly this just this morning.

They found that most people naturally go with "two superpowers working together to avoid war is a good thing" until they're asked the question of whether it's good when Trump is involved. At that point, 70% of Democrats decide that it's bad, and we want war.

[The Last American Hero]

Unless he and Putin started feuding publicly - then the headline will be "Secret Nazi President leading us to Nuclear War with Russia!"

It's heads they win, tails you lose.

[Rebel Scum]

President Trump on North Korea: "It's a shame they're behaving this way?they're behaving in a very, very dangerous manner and something will have to be done about it."

We can provide air support while S. Korea and China handle their shit on the ground.

[Jerryskids]

Two CNN links, two WaPo links and a NYT link. Some people might say that's some pretty weak and lazy linkage. Where's something that looks like it might have taken more than 2 seconds on Google News to come up with?

Not me, of course, I'd never be so crass as to shit-talk on the host here.

[Citizen X - #6]

Damon doesn't usually do the Links so i guess he half-assed it. Man has more important things to do than mollify a bunch of degenerates anyway.

[Tom Bombadil]

There is nothing more important that mollifying us.

[Tom Bombadil]

*than

[Unlabelable MJGreen]

He's on Links schedule like all the other chumps. He is simply cold and efficient about it.

[BestUsedCarSales]

The truest libertarian on the Reason staff.

[Citizen X - #6]

Damon Robot?

[Rhywun]

They really don't want us to stray from this page.

[DRM]

Ever since Google News broke its own site over a week ago, coming up with those links alone would take more than 2 seconds.

[Griffin3]

"Supervolcano" Concerns Rise After Montana Hit By Strongest Earthquake In 20 Years

Will be linked to global warming/climate change in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

[Sevo]

Fracking, dammit! Fracking!

[pan fried wylie]

which was in a movie with Kevin Bacon, who also starred in another film alongside climate change. done, and done.

[Citizen X - #6]

Are you a Battlestar Galactica character with Tourette's?

[Sevo]

"White House gender pay gap more than triples under Trump"
[...]
"Perry notes that the highest-paid staffers in the Trump White House are primarily men: Nearly 74 percent of the top 23 staffers are male. By contrast, in the Obama White House of 2015 only 52 percent of the highest-paid staffers were men.As the Economic Policy Institute points out in its gender wage gap primer, "gender discrimination doesn't happen only in the pay-setting practices of employers. ... A woman's occupational choice is the culmination of years of education, guidance by mentors, expectations of parents and other influential adults, hiring practices of firms, and widespread norms and expectations about work/family balance held by employers, co-workers, and society."
WaPo; you can find it.

So the "gap" is because society!

[loveconstitution1789]

If this is such an issue, why didn't the head of the Executive Branch, Obama, make the government pay gap 0%? The Democrats controlled both Houses of Congress too.

[Citizen X - #6]

The alleged issue is not that women in the administration are being paid less for the same work, it's that only 6 of the 23 highest-paid White House staff are women when in 2015 it was 12.

It still almost certainly doesn't mean anything. Reading comprehension can be your friend, though, if you let it.

[Citizen X - #6]

Sorry, that's 11 out of 23 in 2015. Math is hard.

[Rhywun]

The alleged issue is not that women in the administration are being paid less for the same work

Their own headline would seem to say otherwise

[Citizen X - #6]

I was just citing Sevo's quoted bit*, but since when do we expect headlines to accurately reflect the story anymore?

*not a euphemism

[Sevo]

"Their own headline would seem to say otherwise"

Correct.
That was written like commie-kid's justification for the M/W; just lie a little bit and hope no one notices.

[Rhywun]

It still almost certainly doesn't mean anything.

Of course it doesn't. And look at the long list of excuses they've left open for themselves. It is obvious that the "problem" can never be solved to their satisfaction.

[loveconstitution1789]

"White House gender pay gap more than triples under Trump"

...and how many women work for the Executive Branch.

Reading comprehension is NOT hard, if you let it in.

[Rhywun]

So the "gap" is because society!

Obviously, society needs fixing.

[Tom Bombadil]

There is only one female gap that interests me.

[Rhywun]

You know what they say about a gap in the front teeth... What?

[Citizen X - #6]

Actually, the gap Mr. Bombadil is referring to is the hairless space between the eyebrows, which he would prefer not exist at all.

[loveconstitution1789]

Distance between shoulder blades?

[loveconstitution1789]

Women ALWAYS talking?

[mad.casual]

A woman's occupational choice is the culmination of years of education, guidance by mentors, expectations of parents and other influential adults, hiring practices of firms, and widespread norms and expectations about work/family balance held by employers, co-workers, and society.

Jesus Christ, at least unclench your fist with a backhanded compliment like that. What a fucking terrible investment. All that work to get into the top tier and nobody thought to look into whether it would pay off. You're better off having a dick, which costs you effectively nothing, and stumbling ass-backwards into the Presidency.

[The Last American Hero]

And a man's occupational choice isn't?

[lap83]

I blame deregulation

[damikesc]

So, Scalise is critical again.

Media seemed way more interested in Giffords than in Scalise.

Wonder why.

[Citizen X - #6]

Just to freak you out, man.

[ThomasD]

She was a hero.

A hero, man.

Scalise is just an old white guy on the wrong side of history.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I'm just glad that little girl died so Gabby could live.

[loveconstitution1789]

They are praying for ANOTHER special election that they can try and win as a referendum on Trump.

[Dillinger]

>>>the U.S. and Russia may work together to impose no-fly zones in Syria

who else is flying over Syria?

[Kivlor]

"Officials in nearly every state say they cannot or will not turn over all of the voter data President Trump's voting commission is seeking, dealing what could be a serious blow to Trump's attempts to bolster his claims that widespread fraud cost him the popular vote in November."

And yet 36 states have either agreed to provide the data, or are considering it.

Just depends on how you want to spin this information Reason.

[Stormy Dragon]

Note the very key phrase " At present, 20 states have agreed to provide the publicly available information requested by the Commission". So they're not actually giving the committee what they asked for, just the publicly available voter roles that literally anyone can get.

[Kivlor]

If you take the time to actually learn about topics before speaking about them, you'd realize that this is actually the information that Trump's/Pence's voter commission is requesting.

They are asking for publicly available voter roll information. And that's what the DNC is having a temper tantrum about.

[Stormy Dragon]

No, they were asking for things like social security numbers, criminal records, etc. that are not part of the public voter rolls.

Trump asked for a sandwich and is now trying to act like he only wanted a slice of bread.

[loveconstitution1789]

The letter, sent to the secretaries of state of all 50 states and obtained by The Hill, directs states to turn over "publicly-available voter roll data including, if publicly available under the laws of your state, the full first and last names of all registrants, middle names or initials if available, addresses, dates of birth, political party (if recorded in your state), last four digits of social security number if available, [and] voter history from 2006 onward."
Trump Commission info

[CE]

Also, their first pet's name, the city where they met their spouse, the street they grew up on, and their grandfather's occupation. Asking for a friend. (A Russian hacker friend.)

[Azathoth!!]

Trump asked for--and got-- a sandwich but the DmediaC wants to pretend that he only got some crumbs.

[Rhywun]

Not surprising when most of their links lead to WaPo or NYT.

[Kivlor]

There's also a narrative that Reason has to adhere to: Illegal immigrants / legal non-citizens are always good for the country, and never ever do things like vote illegally in US elections. So even if they weren't linking to NYT / WaPo, they'd still spin this the way they are. Have to keep those borders open.

[Zeb]

Have to keep those borders open.

Which borders are those?

[loveconstitution1789]

Every border, of course.

[Zeb]

Every border is open?

The US does not have open borders or anything close. Perhaps they are inadequately secured, but hardly "open". We spend huge amounts on border patrol, border walls and fences and border crossing checkpoints (not to mention illegally detaining and searching people going about their business within 100 miles of the border).

[The Last American Hero]

Yes, but if Reason had their way, there would be no such thing as a border.

It's one leg of the 3 legged stool of Mexicans, Pot, and Ass Sex.

[Zeb]

Yes, if Reason had their way, the whole world would respect people's rights and people would work and compete peacefully and there would be no need for borders. Who doesn't want that?

But I don't think that they are calling for an end to all border controls right now or in the near future, but rather for allowing more people to immigrate legally.

[loveconstitution1789]

The border's not closed.
border
Scroll down to Jacumba, California image. The walls ends.

"Open border" alluding to some people wanting open immigration.

[Zeb]

So anything short of a completely walled and fortified border is an "open border"? By that standard has there ever been a non-open border in the history of the world? I suppose some walled cities and easily defended islands might count.

Border walls also end in the vertical direction, so what we probably really need to make sure borders aren't open is a dome completely enclosing the entire country.

"Open border" is a border without and controls or checks, like in the Schengen area in Europe. Open immigration is something different.

How about we try to not caricature and mischaracterize the arguments of those we disagree with. I don't think that every proponent of stronger border controls is a racist "they took our jerbs" moron. And people who favor more open immigration are not all dishonest people who secretly want the country overrun by Mexicans and Sharia law.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Going to cross validate the voting records with pictures of the voters wearing U Voted stickers.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin]

: "It's a shame they're behaving this way?they're behaving in a very, very dangerous manneR

Yeah. They should immediately cease and desist their aggressive behavior, quit threatening air strikes on San Francisco, placing their warships along the US coast, and engaging in joint Mexico/North Korean military operations with the Mexico Caliphate to take out Dear Leader.

[Citizen X - #6]

Your contributions to this forum never fail to disappoint, amsoc.

[BestUsedCarSales]

There's a lot of questionable things from Trump. I don't know if him saying N. Korea is rude is one of those things.

[Eek Barba Durkle]

I actually agree with the retard. The Kim family are totalitarian degenerates who have all deserved to be fed to a pack of hungry, rabid Jindo...

But there are few things more hypocritical and shit-mouthed than a US politician or citizen talking trash about how some other country handles their foreign policy, or especially calling them 'dangerous'.

We're the worst country in the world at threats of violence and acts of violence against others. Factually, and without logical rebuttal.

[Brandybuck]

Voter data: It's essential public record. In my county it's free to candidates and political parties, and to none of the above it's available for $500. And from what I understand, we're expensive. It tells you what party you've registered with and what elections you've shown up for. All those robocalls and mailers and stuff. How do they know who you are? That same data.

To me it just sounds like Trump wants it for free.

[Robespierre Josef Stalin]

Trump is doing it wrong. Republican Presidents are supposed to wait until the 3rd year of their term to launch some ruinous bullshit war. He's only going to end up prematurely ejaculating thousands of US soldiers into yet another desperately poor 3rd world country. He's blowing his load of war hysteria way too early. Ease up buddy.

[Citizen X - #6]

Shouldn't you be busy not paying your mortgage?

[ChipToBeSquare]

What's the timetable for a Dem to do the same exact thing?

[creech]

Wilson only waited one year after winning re-election on an anti-war platform.

[The Last American Hero]

Obama fought 7 wars during his tenure, 2 of which preceded him and 1.5 of those had some form of Congressional authorization. The other 5.5 were on him.

[loveconstitution1789]

Obama and LBJ were the only Presidents with the US being involved in war during their entire terms.

[Ken Shultz]

"Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the U.S. and Russia may work together to impose no-fly zones in Syria."

For goodness' sake, Trump campaigned on coordinating with Russia against ISIS in Syria, something that only makes sense since ISIS is as much a threat in Syria as anywhere else, and the Assad regime has been in Russia's orbit since the Cold War.

In addition to whatever other criticisms that need to be leveled against the investigation into Mueller's' investigation (lack of evidence, etc.), it should also be added that it's interfering with the President's ability to conduct security policy.

Disagree with that policy all you want (I certainly object to aspects of it), but as far as I can tell, the point of Mueller's investigation isn't to find any actual collusion with Russia--its two primary purposes are 1) give Democrats a means to discredit the legitimacy of Trump's election and 2) for McCain and the neocons to interfere with the president's efforts to forge a working relationship with Russia against ISIS in Syria.

P.S. Have recent revelations about the Democrats funding the piss-gate dossier gone down the memory hole already? I guess the news media doesn't want to talk about that. Not when they can focus on whatever Trump tweeted this morning when he was on the can.

[colorblindkid]

I have a third reason for the Democrats' need to find collusion. If there was no collusion, then it means Obama failed to confront Russia and protect US interests. Trump colluding with Russia absolves Obama, who was in office for over 7 years and failed to stop the "greatest attack on American democracy in history". For perspective, Bush was in office for less than 8 months when 9/11 happened, yet he gets all the blame for that.

Obama started off with the bungled Russian reset (spearheaded by Hillary). He was caught whispering to Medvedev about having flexibility after the election. He had that stupid line about Romney's foreign policy being stuck in the 80s that the media thought was the greatest line in political history (The NYT actually ran an op-ed entirely about how dangerous and incompetent Romney was for considering Russia a threat). Then there's the red line in Syria he walked back on.

Obama was manhandled by Putin for 8 years and he did nothing. Even his retribution for the election hack was largely symbolic and had no teeth. I, for one, don't have a particular problem with that, but for the people saying this is the worst thing in American history and Russia is the most dangerous enemy we've ever faced, there is no way to get around Obama being an abject failure.

[colorblindkid]

Also, on non-Russia related things, his "ISIS is JV team" comment and his "We're Leaving Behind a Sovereign, Stable and Self-Reliant Iraq'" line were arguably far worse than Bush's "Mission Accomplished" gaffe. Obama's foreign policy legacy was only slight less disastrous than Bush's and, in many ways, worse.

I honestly still have hope that Trump's foreign policy could be less disastrous than Bush and Obama.

[ChipToBeSquare]

I don't feel bad for Romney, but he should demand a formal apology from the Democratic party for hijacking his 2012 foreign policy