Walker88

First, it is unlikely he is actually taking it. The evidence of its harmful side effects long predates his time in office, so his comment about the one study he cited as being 'against him' is just his usual whiny nonsense. No doctor who follows the Hippocratic Oath---or in his case Hippo Oaf---would prescribe it to someone his age and with his morbid obesity. Of course he doesn't care if some gullible people follow him and subsequently die.

His comment about the veterans who died after having it administered was disgusting: "old guys almost dead already". Those are men who served the nation in war, something he escaped with a fake doctor's letter, and insults all who served. They earned and deserve more respect, even from a bone spurs coward.

Worse still is that since his initial comment, prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine jumped 4600%. That not only puts members of his cult in danger---since other people have the good sense not to take medical advice from someone who knows nothing about anything---it has made it more difficult for people suffering from Lupus---for which the drug has been prescribed---from getting their prescriptions re-filled.

For those unaware of the function of an IG, what Linick was doing is 100% legitimate. It is called 'doing his job'. When someone informs an IG of possible wrongdoing, the IG is obligated to look into it. The IG can either decide there is no 'there' there, or he can pursue it. IG's are required to have an intimate understanding of Federal Law and employee guidelines.

In this instance, IG Linick was looking into Pompeo and his wife (2nd wife) using another 45 political appointee and colleague of Pompeo, Brian Bulatao, to perform personal errands for Pompeo and Pompeo's wife.

The second matter is the arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which even the Republican Senate had halted because of Saudi support for one side in the Yemen War.  Both 45 and Pompeo have tried to pressure anything that might cause an issue for Saudi in general and for MbS in particular. Pompeo, while serving as SecState, even told DCI Gina Haspel to change the agency's finding on MbS involvement in ordering the slaughter of Jamal Khashoggi. The agency, using both HUMINT and SIGINT intel, had concluded that MbS personally ordered the Khashoggi slaughter. DCI Haspel literally told Pompeo to "F off" and never make any such request to alter agency analysis ever again, much to the applause of the men and women of CIA.

3 hours ago, Mama Noodle said:

 

When people use the term "45" in protest to Trump... Massive eyeroll. 

Don't strain the muscles in your eye. I'd hate to be responsible.

Respect is earned. I do not use his name because I find it an insult to the nation, to those who served it, and especially to my friends and colleagues who sacrificed for everything that guy doesn't understand and could never be. I feel I owe that to them. I doubt you would understand.

It was dangerous for 45 to talk about disinfectant and bleach (he absolutely was not engaging in sarcasm, as the tape clearly indicates), it is dangerous for him to champion a drug that has severe negative side effects, and his many actions over the course of his campaign and time in office are so heinous and disgraceful that he has forever sullied both the office and the country.

Thus, 45 is all I will give him, while I wait President Joe Biden the 46th President of the United States and hope that he can salvage some of the respect the US has lost under 45.

If 45 is really taking hydroxychloroquine, then it's possible he has gone Full 45 and taken his own advice re other 'cures' and palliatives.

An intrepid reporter should get close enough to see if 45 has the infamous Clorox Breath

Also, it's possible 45 stuck a UV light up his butt. The 'tell' on that would be to see if Hannity suddenly has a tan.

This is more likely:

1) 45 is lying, is not taking  it, but feels humiliated because he made a fool of himself and is covering for his painfully fragile ego, plus he couldn't care less if his goobers take it and they die

2) His doctor is just giving 45 sugar pills, but 45 doesn't know it

Of course, given his obesity and terrible cholesterol profile, he is a prime candidate for suffering the worst consequences of hydroxychloroquine, and Pence and other Administration folks see no real harm or loss in that possibility

2 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Obviously no money from international tourist is bad. But what is the alternative?

Until now Thailand has very few Covid cases and very very few death. How would that change if tourists come into Thailand unchecked? Do we need to have hundreds of dead people everyday to act? Or is it better to stay alert so that the situation does not get worse?

Maybe just open i.e. Phuket for international tourist - and close them for everybody else. And then see what happens.

I don't have an answer, because I do not know the stats on deaths due to depression, suicide, lack of medical care because of lack of money, etc. Life and death calculations are by definition cold-blooded, but necessary.

Somebody---I assume those who hold authority---has to make the determination as to whether keeping 8 million people jobless, sending hotels and restaurants into bankruptcy protection, sending the national air carrier into bankruptcy protection, etc., is better than opening borders and screening arrivals as best one can. I have seen an alarming rise in homeless in Bangkok, both men and women, and even young people. Perhaps I have not seen those passing away, alone, in a hospital, in quarantine.  Both situations are horrific. It is likely a proper decision cannot be made until more data is analyzed regarding the actual virulence of CV-19 and an accurate assessment of the danger can be made. I sit in neither camp---open up or keep closed---because the data is incomplete. All I see are the initial numbers (deaths + infected) vs unemployed. Both engender sympathy. I might be willing to take my chances, but I cannot impose that desire on anyone else.

This is uncharted territory, both in Thailand and worldwide. Opening or closing bars and nightclubs (this article) is but one aspect, important to some, less so to others. Leadership has difficult decisions and many constituencies to please. One hopes it is well-thought out, because none of us has that decision-making authority. One hopes.

39 minutes ago, Canuck1966 said:

1259 puritan junta lovers isn't representative of the country

 

Thousands and thousands of jobs on the line 

Unless you know the selection methodology, you can only have an opinion about the poll. If they are good at polling, 1,259 people is more than enough to constitute a representative sample.

Statisticians have spent a lot of time and effort developing their methods and confidence levels. It undoubtedly seems arcane to those who never studied statistics, but just because a person has no knowledge of the methods doesn't make the methods wrong.

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

It seems there are extreme few infected people in Thailand. So who is going to infect whom?

As long a no "outsiders" arrive who bring the virus the risk is minimal.

So it seems the most important issue is: Keep the borders closed. And/or anybody who comes to Thailand must be tested and/or quarantined.

That is obviously inconvenient for the people who want to come to Thailand. But the best way to make sure there are no new infections.

Thailand can survive without foreign tourists for a year or two.

 

So I'm guessing you don't work in the tourism industry.

In 2019, Tourism accounted for 17.7% of Thai GDP, perhaps more if gray money was counted.

The tens of millions of foreigners who came to Thailand in 2019 supported upwards of 8 million Thai jobs. It also allowed hotel owners to make debt payments, which in turn helped banks keep bad debts lower.

A year or two is okay with you? Those 8 million Thais, hotel owners, and banks might have a different view.

17 minutes ago, topt said:

 

Firstly I have no axe to grind in this discussion especially as I don't follow US politics that closely but overall I would tend to agree with Tugs comments above.

 

I was happily nodding along with your reasoning until I read the lines I quoted above. Sorry but just too dogmatic without any real background of why yours are "facts".

Your point is legit, and I accept your reasoning. I'm a voice on the internet, though time and the coming change of govt will bring to light every single thing I note. I can wait.

What capability I absolutely do have, however, is that I can ask a question or two and know immediately when other posters are dead wrong. Perhaps that knowledge is available only to me, but that is the nature of access vs having only media sources and opinions, as the other posters have.

It baffles me, however, how so many can be blind to the undeniable reality of things that are not opinions or media based, but rather can be seen by the body of evidence from 45's own Tweets and video recordings of what he says. Similarly, it baffles me that his followers simply refuse to accept that these IGs, like IG Linick, were fired not because they did not do their job, but because they WERE doing the job for which the taxpayer pays them. That willful blindness to the reality of the situation is cult behavior. Democrats are fully justified---as part of the Article 1 powers handed to them in the US Constitution, to pursue the matter. It's called 'oversight', and is one of the bedrocks upon which the US system of checks and balances---so as to obviate the chance of a POTUS acting as an autocrat or monarch---was based.

Yes, 45 has a right to fire any appointed official, but Dems have a Constitutional right, as well as the responsibility, to investigate the rationale for why IG Linick was fired. Like Linick, the Dems are doing their job.

While this website is for opinions, including re the firing of IG Linick, it would be interesting if those siding with 45 could point out what facts other people post here, including me, to which you take exception. Please back up your view with relevant facts and explain what job or access allowed you to become so 'well-informed'.  In other words, please explain your rationale for why---other than 'because he can'---45 fired IG Atkinson, fired the IG who would have overseen much of the CV-19 Bailout money distribution, and fired Intel Community IG Atkinson, who---like all other IGs---had followed the book in terms of opening investigations into alleged wrongdoing on the part of 45 or members of his Administration.

As I noted, Pompeo is not new to investigation. AG Sessions quashed the first one into campaign finance malfeasance. IG Linick was fired because he was looking into new allegations of violations by Pompeo at State. In other words, IG Linick was doing the job for which the taxpayer pays him.

My knowledge comes via a multi decade association with a certain organization in the govt, which afforded me TS/SCI clearances as well as allowed me to form relationships with many of the people now being vindictively pursued in violation of every norm upon which the US was founded. I am guessing not a single one of you has any such first hand knowledge, but rather merely have opinions. Yes, you are entitled to opinions, but opinions are weightless, while facts have gravitas.

The floor is yours.

49 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

He was an Obama pick who decided to investigate one of the government team. I have no idea why Trump did not fire them ALL when he first took office. Of course Dems will be bleating and whining and grinding there pure white teeth trying to come up with a new Russia/Ukraine impeachment scandal.  

IGs generally last through Administrations, even when the Party in power changes. They are professionals and are tasked with rooting out malfeasance, corruption and violation of laws and norms. They tend to have a particular expertise and are not viewed as political, despite being an appointment.

Neither you nor any other commenter here can name a single rule violation any of the fired IGs committed, because none did. Similarly, you cannot refute the investigations that got each of them fired, because every single one of the investigations was legitimate and was being carried out by the book. This is similar to Russiagate. When the first indications came in that Russia was going to aid one candidate over another, President Obama warned every single person on the Bigot List (that identifies every single person who has knowledge of a particular issue) that all must be done 'by the book'. When additional intel began to come in that Russia was receiving cooperation from 45's campaign, all were again reminded both of the seriousness of the intelligence and the absolute need to perform the investigation 'by the book'. You will not hear this on Fox, either because they do not know or do not care.

You are blissfully unaware of your own lack of knowledge of both this IG firing and the Russia investigation. Perhaps reality does not matter to you, perhaps it does not matter to you that a hostile foreign govt interfered in the 2016 election with the cooperation of the candidate and his campaign, but for those of us who served and who understand that independence from foreign interference is something we cherish, it is important. Current AG Barr said recently, when asked by CBS about pure partisan politics in the so-called Dept of Justice, 'history is written by the winners'.  Perhaps that is true. November is coming, and after the Dems retake both the WH and the Senate, some history will be written. Those who actually broke the law, as opposed to those who merely criticized a person with thinner skin that a 13 year old schoolgirl, will face justice. Those of us who served owe that to everyone who has ever served to defend the ideals upon which the United States was founded.

If your post is allowed to stand, then my reply is equally relevant. Mine has the added benefit of being fact based. I know exactly how Russiagate began and how it progressed. You, I am willing to bet, do not, because you never had access.

Similar to IG Atkinson of the Intel Community, IG Linick was fired for doing his job. Under 45, there is fealty or fired. Atkinson and Linick refused to accept that the United States is not a Democratic Republic, but a monarchy. They were so naive that they thought the Founders system of checks and balances in government, of which IGs are an integral part, has been disbanded and eradicated by 45. Cronyism and blatant self-interest rule the day, and like North Korea, all must bow to the wishes of the new king.

This firing represents the second quashed investigation into Pompeo. The first was when it was uncovered that he and his wife fraudulently used campaign funds for personal use, just as Rep Duncan Hunter had done. Hunter was found guilty and will be going to jail. 45 had former AG Sessions stop the investigation of Pompeo. Pompeo also misused, for purely personal reasons, govt assets while he served as DCI. He had brought in his former business associate, a Filipino American (Brian Bulatao), to serve with him at CIA, and had the man, who was on the govt payroll, spend his time doing personal favors for both Pompeo and his wife. When Pompeo switched to Foggy Bottom, he took the man with him there and again used him---while on the Taxpayer clock---do personal errands for Pompeo and his wife.  This latter behavior was just one of the things IG Linick was tasked with investigating, but since under 45 drinking at the taxpayer trough is encouraged, IG Linick was fired for doing his job.

In the agency, Pompeo's departure for State garnered mixed feelings:  jubilation that such an unqualified and self-serving person had left the agency to professionals, mixed with sympathy for what agency folks knew the folks in Foggy Bottom would have to endure.

Those commenting here who get their 'news' from Fox or Gateway Pundit or other such know-nothing venues, have no clue of the reality of the situation. As one with a long association with these matters and direct first hand knowledge, I do know. I assure those who champion the firing of IG Linick, that your beliefs are ill-informed and wrong. Your beliefs, of course, are up to you, but you are wrong. Mine is not an opinion, just fact.

47 minutes ago, Mama Noodle said:

 

Its like people don't remember the previous 8 years prior to Trump that led to the election of Trump. 

Obviously you don't remember.

Let me refresh your memory:

The entire world's financial and insurance systems were on the brink of total collapse in 2009.  That is what President Obama inherited. It was imperative to restore confidence in the system, lest a total Mad Max world was in the offing.

-Obama forced US banks to recapitalize, issue new equity, shed bad debts, and slash leverage to 10:1 from upwards of 40:1 in some banks

-Bailed out the insurance industry, whose collapse would have, inter alia, halted all flights, all trains, all delivery trucks, all sea shipping, as no one would take the risk of losing expensive assets that were uninsured.

-Saved the money market industry

-Saved the Commercial Paper market

-Saved the auto industry

Under Obama Unemployment fell from a high of 10.4% to 4.8% (BTW, US UE now is 28.5%). The S&P500 rose from a low of 666 to 2200, dwarfing 45's market, even before it crashed.

Had Obama not acted as he had, your bank and all your money (if you have any) would have disappeared. Grocery stores would have had empty shelves.

Oh, and Obama also stopped the Ebola virus dead in its tracks by deploying his Pandemic Response Team, both inside the US and by sending troops and medical personnel to Africa to address the virus there. He left the Playbook (Entitled "Playbook for Addressing Pandemics") to the incoming Administration, which promptly tossed it, and now claims---with McConnell's lies, that it didn't exist---well, now they admit they lied and it did exist, but "Ours is better"...85,000 CV-19 deaths so far argues otherwise).

Obama, via the 103-page comprehensive JCPOA compeltely took Iran out of the nuke game, and laid the framework for ongoing agreements to reign in Iran's support for Shi'a terror groups. Because it was great and Obama achieved it, 45 abrogated it, so that Iran is back enriching U-235.

The US was respected in the world under Obama. Under 45 it has become a joke, a laughing stock or an object of pity.

(For the poster whose knee-jerk reaction is to "laugh" at my fact-filled posts, your inadequacy is readily apparent because you cannot refute a single point I make.)

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

US is not in a position of strength.

The world knows how to handle 45, appealing to his painful insecurity and Narcissism. Saudi won him over on his first visit there merely by projecting his image (a very old photo, too) on to some buildings seen from the airport-to-hotel ride. Xi (President Eleven as 45 calls him when 45 wants to show off his Putonghua prowess, LOL) gave him insincere praise, but 45 bought it. Hence, Xi got praise in January for his 'transparency and excellent handling of CV-19'.

The one who hosed him worst of all, however, was Kim Jong-un. The whole world saw that and will act accordingly. Kim sent 'beautiful love letters', and as a result got the US to halt joint military exercises with South Korea, got plenty of propaganda tapes to show his people, got 45 to actually salute a DPRK General, and was able to do the following:

-up his enrichment of U-235

-build and test solid fuel rockets

-improve and build a new factory for producing his Hwasong ICBMs that can reach Washington, DC

-build more than a dozen new atomic bombs

-learn to miniaturize atomic bombs so they can be mounted on Hwasong ICBMs

-move to testing his nukes via supercomputer, exactly how the US tests

All it took was telling 45 how great 45 wants everyone to think he is.

2 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

It's just pathetic to see the numbers of posters who hate Trump to the point they support the Commie Xi. 

Remember who initialized this Wuhan Flu <deleted>, eh? 

 

I know what you mean. Really. Doesn't it just make your blood boil that guys like 45 talk out of both sides of his mouth, criticizing Xi (only to deflect from 45's abject failure to deal with CV-19), but he continues to manufacture his products in China, as does his hand-bag designer daughter. Oh, and those MAGA hats and the new MAGA "Dem Hoax Model" face masks, also made in China.

The US has never been in a weaker position in the world, at least since the end of WWI. 45's total lack of understanding of geopolitics is handing Asia to China for the next generation or two. 45's idiotic battles with long-term allies in Europe has given Putin a window into expanding Russian influence there, and diminishing US influence. After 9-11 Pres Bush got 80 countries to join the Coalition of the Willing to help the US take out al Qaeda's stronghold in Afghanistan. Because of worldwide utter contempt and mistrust of 45, if the US suffered another 9-11 today, it is unlikely a single nation would come to the US aid, particularly after 45 disparaged NATO. NATO's charter has Article 5, where nations pledge to come to the aid of another member in time of crisis. Article 5 has been invoked just once: after 9-11 to aid the US. That will not happen again so long as 45 sits in the WH.

China deserves blame for its early failure to be transparent and warn the world of the threat of CV-19. US intel, however, was aware of what was happening, and began to inform 45 as early as November 2019 of the threat and the possibility CV-19 would hit the US. By January the intel community was certain CV-19 would hit the US, but at that time 45 was still praising China and Xi for their "transparency", when 45 knew full well China was involved in a cover-up. 45 feared it would impact his re-election if measures were taken to protect the US as other nations were wisely doing, and 85,000 deaths later we see the effect of his self-serving incompetence.

Translation:  45 thinks he's losing FL, so this is an attempt to pander to the Cuban-American community.

Also, 45 has no business interests there and is never going to get funding from Cuba. Saudi Arabia on the other hand, gets a free ride, It doesn't matter than Saudi funds Sunni terror groups like al Qaeda and ISIS, nor that its leader ordered the brutal slaughter of a US Person and journalist....they loan money to 45 and his son-in-law, and 45 wants a mixed-use tower in Riyadh, so Saudi and MbS get a free ride.

In contrast, 45 abrogated the best deal the US had ever put together (JCPOA) simply because it was done under Obama. The JCPOA, aka "Iran Deal" completely took Iran out of the nuke game. Reactors were filled with cement, high speed centrifuges used to enrich U-235 were smashed, and IAEA Inspectors were allowed full and instant access to any facility they so chose. The agency kept tabs on Iran and was required to issue a report on compliance by Iran ever six months, and every single time Iran was found to be 100% in compliance with the agreement. The main goal, of course, was to take Iran out of the nuke game, but the agreement was also to be used as a stepping stone to reach additional agreements regarding Iran sponsoring Shi'a terror groups like Hezbollah. An intelligent POTUS and real dealmaker would have used the JCPOA to put further restrictions on Iran, but sadly the US lacked such a person. Then DCI Pompeo, a 100% 45 sycophant, actually tried to get the agency to state Iran was not in compliance with the JCPOA. The analysts and senior staff of the agency refused, Pompeo subsequently left and went over to destroy the State Dept instead. As SecState Pompeo tried to get the agency to state that MbS had nothing to do with the slaughter of Jamal Khashoggi. Gina literally told Pompeo to "F off", much to the delight of the agency workforce.

The saddest part of the abrogation of the JCPOA was that the youth of Iran had been moving toward the West, and an intelligent Administration could have made overtures and made plans for when the Ayatollahs die off and Iran could be welcomed back into the family of nations. The new sanctions destroyed all the goodwill that had arisen in Iran's youth toward the US, and guarantees the clerics will retain power for the foreseeable future. In contrast, under 45 the US is embracing Saudi at a time when its youth, particularly male youth, are becoming more fanatic and anti-Western.

Now 45 will insure Cuba remains a foe for another generation.

Your "Alternative Facts" are incorrect.  Also, there is no such thing as a "Perjury Trap", which is what you mean by erroneously using the term 'entrapment'.

The correct word for "Perjury Trap" is Lie. I'm guessing you are not a lawyer, as you misused that word.

In any interrogation, a skilled interrogator asks questions to which he or she already knows the answers, because that is the best way to judge the veracity and credibility of the person under interrogation. Flynn got caught lying. SIGINT had picked up Kislyak's phone call with flynn, so what he promised Russia was known to the bureau, as the NSA is required, as is the agency, to pass on to the bureau anything involving a US Person.  (Oh, and a call from Kislyak to Moscow also caught 45's son-in-law going to the Russian Embassy in Washington in Dec 2016 asking to set up a secret back channel to Russia using the secure commo system at the Embassy. Kislyak was so excited by the offer he violated Op-Sec and SIGINT picked it up. What 45's son-in-law did was 'conspiracy to commit espionage', which, incidentally, is the charge that got the Rosenbergs their date with Sparky at SIng Sing. There is no Statute of Limitations on that charge. When rule of law is returned, that guy is likely to be in deep trouble.)

Note that when the bureau interrogated HRC, they found nothing, as she was truthful. That's kind of like when she underwent 11 straight hours of grilling by the then-Repub House and trey gowdy's $30 million "Benghazi !!!" boondoggle that indicted no one and found nothing. Also, she didn't get caught in a "Perjury Trap", which is to say she, unlike flynn, did not lie.

Mueller made a profit, by the way.