All we want for Christmas is an IMPEACHMENT! Trump con't

[AcrossthePond55]

Dear Father Christmas/Santa, Please grant our Christmas Wish. We have been very good this year. We promise not to say shit, cunt, or fuck too terribly much unless we're driven to it by Trump CuntFuckery. Oh shit, so much for that promise! Well, we'll TRY. Thank You, the MN Viper Freedom Squad

Old thread;

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3081957-The-zephyrs-of-change-Trump-continued?msgid=73548297

Putin’s proposal for Ukraine is another trap for Trump

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/putins-proposal-for-ukraine-is-another-trap-for-trump/2017/11/26/2b238622-cfc3-11e7-9d3a-bcbe2af58c3a_story.html?utm_term=.daaf5455166d

After playing into Russia’s hands on Syria, the Trump administration now risks repeating the error in Ukraine, where diplomatic discussions over a Russian initiative are heating up. Moscow’s plan is to legitimize its invasion and control over parts of two eastern provinces by drawing President Trump into another bad deal.

Vladi­mir Putin’s pattern is familiar. He uses his military to escalate fighting on the ground and then approaches the West with a proposal sold as de-escalation. Appealing to European and U.S. desires for peace without Western intervention, the Russian president puts forward an alleged compromise. But in the details, Putin’s proposals are really designed to divide his adversaries and cement his gains.

Such was the case in September, when Putin introduced a proposal for “peacekeepers” inside eastern Ukraine, where Russia continues to fuel a violent separatist uprising that has resulted in more than 10,000 deaths and displaced more than 1.5 million people since 2014. Ukraine, European powers and the United States all decided to engage Moscow on the idea.

[...]That process is stalled primarily because Russia won’t honor provisions mandating a cease-fire, the removal of its heavy weapons from eastern Ukraine and access to the border. Russia still won’t even acknowledge that it has forces on the ground in eastern Ukraine, much less remove them.

But the U.S. strategy is based on the assumption that Putin is looking for — or at least considering — a way out of his financial and military commitments in eastern Ukraine. If Putin’s long-term goal is to create a pro-Moscow Ukraine, his continued interference is having the opposite effect, Volker said.

“What we are trying to do is clarify the options,” Volker said. “If they want to dig in, they can, but it’s going to cost a lot. If they want to move on, it can be something we all agree on and we can find a way to make that work out.”

Ukraine has responsibilities under Minsk as well, including holding local elections in eastern Ukraine, giving the region special status and granting amnesty for the separatists. That can happen only if Putin holds up his end.

But if Putin’s goal is to stay in Ukraine and keep the country destabilized, prevent it from joining European institutions and maintain control over a buffer zone, he will never agree to a peacekeeping mission that meets Ukraine or Western conditions.

Most likely Putin is repeating his strategy in Syria, which was to engage in Kabuki diplomacy with the United States to buy time to consolidate battlefield gains he has no intention of giving up. Trump — and before him, President Barack Obama — went along with it, ensuring that the next phase of the conflict plays out on Russia’s terms.

The Russian Owner Of The Independent And The Evening Standard Met Milo Yiannopoulos In London

www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/evgeny-courts-milo?utm_term=.ecYgEnxe#.ujknBVD5

Evgeny Lebedev, the media mogul who owns the Independent and the London Evening Standard, met with disgraced journalist turned right-wing activist Milo Yiannopoulos for lunch in London on Tuesday, BuzzFeed News has learned.

According to a source, Lebedev, who also owns TV channel London Live, has kept in regular contact with the cheerleader of the alt-right over recent years.

The meeting raises questions as to whether Lebedev is considering business opportunities with Yiannopoulos, who recently was exiled from US-based website Breitbart after an in-depth BuzzFeed News investigation exposing the ties between the British tech journalist, website chairman Steve Bannon, and the political alt-right.

Responding to a BuzzFeed News request for comment about the London meeting and whether business opportunities between the two men were discussed, Lebedev's spokesperson said the Russian socialite had no comment.

"Evgeny is a very unusual man, like Milo, so there are similarities for a start," said a source familiar with the meeting. "Lebedev has some sympathetic views to the right. He was at that Farage party."

Late last year, BuzzFeed News revealed Lebedev was among the press barons who gathered at London's Ritz hotel to celebrate UKIP MEP Nigel Farage's success during the Brexit campaign.

Leading figures on the American right have distanced themselves from Yiannopoulos since BuzzFeed News revealed the extent of coordination between him and Bannon in the formation of the alt-right.

Hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer has cut ties with Breitbart, writing in a resignation memo from his company earlier this month: "... actions of and statements by Mr. Yiannopoulos have caused pain and divisiveness undermining the open and productive discourse that I had hoped to facilitate."

A source close to Yiannopoulos told BuzzFeed News he had returned to London and was now looking to move on.

"Milo is always looking for more rich people to speak to," the source said. "You can see what happened after the Mercers – he’s moving on."

Yiannopoulos is no longer booked on major news networks in the US and UK, which might be why the self-dubbed "iconoclast" has turned his attention to Australia, where the media seem less familiar with his reputation.

He recently appeared on several of Australia's biggest TV news programmes to promote a December tour of the country, where fans will be charged $1,000 to have dinner with him.

BuzzFeed News did not receive a response from Yiannopoulos about whether there were plans to work with Evgeny Lebedev.

Michael Flynn’s role in Middle Eastern nuclear project could compound legal issues

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michael-flynns-role-in-middle-eastern-nuclear-project-could-compound-legal-issues/2017/11/26/51ce7ec8-ce18-11e7-81bc-c55a220c8cbe_story.html?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.4e2e20fa14ad

Interesting. I'd been wondering where Lebedev was in all this.

Also, I'm not sure Robert Mercer selling his stake in Breitbart to his daughter amounts to having "cut ties" with Breitbart.

His former editor doesn't think so:

“This seems to me much more like Robert Mercer separating . . . his image from his money-making capacity than an actual disassociation with the people he funded for so long,” said Ben Shapiro, the former editor-at-large at Breitbart who broke with the site in 2016. “The only person who’s really damaged here is Yiannopoulos. Rebekah’s gonna continue funding Breitbart, [and] there’s no repentance or shift here . . . it’s just a P.R. maneuver to [take] pressure off his hedge-fund investors.”
www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11/bob-mercer-defunds-milo-yiannopoulos-sells-stake-in-breitbart

There are a lot of great comments on this thread. So you all think Pence would be better? Ideologically I think he's much worse than Trump but I think he might not be mentally ill, which is a plus. If I had to pick someone to handle a real standoff with North Korea I'd pick Pence I think.

The problem with all these very substantive issues is that no one cares about them. Trump's base hasn't wavered.

I agree with all you said, Teapot. Rock and hard place.

As we keep saying, the aftermath period of 45 is going to be at least as dangerous.

I suspect that the 'standoff' is being - and will continue to be - handled by Mattis, Teapot.

I prefer Trump to Pence - yes his cult is unwavering but there is a core demographic that is stupid and deplorable and that isn't going to change without radical changes to the media and social fabric. Pence is more dangerous because he has a veneer of respectability and competence, which may persuade those who would be put off by more bombastic idiocy.

This is all assuming we have fair and free elections where the electorate can make decisions about those in power, which of course is looking less and less likely. In the end, Trump, Pence, Ryan et al are all just front men for plutocratic oligarchs so unless the whole cancer is excised, it makes little difference to the policies being enacted, e.g. ultra conservative judges being appointed, tax cuts given to the wealthy etc.

Matt Fuller
Matt Fuller
@MEPFuller

We actually have two people claiming to be the CFPB acting director and this is not a romantic comedy where they fall in love at the end.

Kyle Griffin‏*@kylegriffin1*

In a memo seen by Reuters, Mulvaney has instructed CFPB staff to disregard directions from Leandra English: “Please disregard any instructions you receive from Ms.
English in her presumed capacity as Acting Director.”

www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-cfpb-memo/white-houses-mulvaney-tells-cfpb-staff-to-disregard-leandra-english-memo-idUSKBN1DR1UD

Ouch.

Steven Shepard‏
@POLITICO_Steve

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House official: Trump will not campaign for embattled Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore before Dec. 12 election.

Now that doesn't surprise me at all.

Trump on Twitter: We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!

"your favourite president (me)"

I just....he's......I need a drink.

(But at least he realizes that he needs to remind instruct people who their favourite president is. You know, just in case some the majority of us think it's NOT HIM!!!!!!)

Yet again I have had to check Twitter to make sure the tweet OYBBK’s posted isn’t from a parody account. First of all, first amendment! Secondly, lowest poll ratings evah does not a favourite POTUS make. And third, that tweet sound like it was written by a year 4 junior school kid. WTAF?!?!?

Maybe his youngest child (or a grandchild) has swiped pop-pops phone and is having a bit of fun?

Just read Trump’s latest tweet to my 9 year old. “Oh my God, he’s so self-centred!” Out of the mouth of babes ‘n’ all that.

We were discussing “global issues” at beavers tonight and some of the seven year olds talked about people killling elephants and how trump was letting them. I was very impressed that they were so well informed (and had more compassion than the president, though that was a bit of a depressing realisation).

Garrett M. Graff
@vermontgmg
This, from @POLITICO Playbook, is odd: "Trump and former CIA Director James Woolsey had a 'lengthy conversation' at his table [at Mar-a-Lago]." Remember Woolsey is wrapped up in Mike Flynn's alleged kidnapping plot:

amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/03/25/politics/james-woolsey-mike-flynn-cnntv/index.html

Ryan Goodman
@rgoodlaw
Oct '17 NBC (@KenDilanianNBC): Mueller interviewed Woolsey as witness to Flynn-Turkey meeting

Nov 5 '17 NBC (@JuliaEAinsley @carolelee): Mueller has enough evidence to indict Flynn

Nov 25 '17: Politico (@apalmerdc): Trump has "lengthy conversation" with Woolsey at Mar-a-Lago

Also

A key witness in the Russia probe had a 'lengthy conversation' with Trump at Mar-a-Lago

amp.businessinsider.com/trump-james-woolsey-mueller-mar-a-lago-2017-11

Ah well. We'll find out, I guess.

Trump’s Russian Schizophrenia

There are two approaches to the Kremlin inside this administration: the president’s and everyone else’s

www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/27/trumps-russian-schizophrenia-215869

The United States should send arms to Ukraine to help in its “self-defense” against Russian aggression. It should hold Russia accountable for its illegal “occupation” of territory there, and push for international peacekeepers. Russian President Vladimir Putin bears the blame for this conflict in Europe, and he will be the “decision maker” on whether to end it too.

At least, that’s according to Ambassador Kurt Volker, the Trump administration’s special envoy charged with ending the war in Ukraine. If this sounds like a perfectly reasonable American policy toward Russia, that’s because it is, and more or less one that either party would pursue. But of course, there’s just one big problem with this: It almost certainly does not fully reflect what the president of the United States actually thinks.

In a new interview for The Global Politico, his first extensive one with a U.S. publication since taking on the post this summer, Volker talked at length about just how troubled relations are with Russia these days despite Trump’s hoped-for reconciliation, how the several rounds of talks he’s held with a top Putin adviser have not yet made any progress, and what it’s like to be a special envoy for a secretary of state who’s vowed to get rid of them.

Overall, he said, prospects for peace are so dim he reckons it’s very likely that active fighting will continue a year from now in Ukraine, which has been embroiled in military conflict since 2014, when Russia forcibly annexed the Crimean Peninsula, the first such takeover since World War II in Europe, and fomented a separatist war in eastern Ukraine—leading to international condemnation and, ultimately, sanctions that Putin is desperate to lift.

How likely?

“I’d say it’s at least 80 percent,” Volker told me. “There’s a chance that there won’t be, but the most likely scenario is that this continues,” he added grimly, noting that more than 10,000 people in eastern Ukraine have been killed since the fighting broke out.

The rest is worth a read

Thanks for that, Pain. Yes. The rest is worth a read.

Urgh he’s saying more racially offensive things but I think it’s all part of the circus.

Caroline O.
@RVAwonk
A Breitbart writer just got caught running a secret, virulently racist far-right Facebook group

thinkprogress.org/a-breitbart-contributor-is-running-a-secret-far-right-facebook-group-1b68fc3ebfff/amp/

Caroline O.
@RVAwonk
Now is a good time to remember that Breitbart is reportedly under federal investigation and that secret Facebook groups could be quite meaningful.

So much for today being a day of consequences

Senate panel relaxes deadline for Kushner to hand over documents

www.politico.com/story/2017/11/27/jared-kushner-senate-document-deadline-260798