JonnyF

It shouldn't be a surprise, he's been lying since day 1. "There will be no coup". "It's only for 6 months". "I will not be PM". etc. etc. Anyone who believes a word he says is stupid beyond belief.

Another negative consequence of lockdowns that were far too severe and went on far too long. Many of us warned against this but were labelled irresponsible, Granny killers etc. for wanting to find a better balance between keeping people safe and keeping the economy moving. Protect the vulnerable and allow the healthy to continue with their lives, we said. Now, here we are. Reaping what was sown.

That would be much too clear. Better to make a rule that is subject to interpretation. That way, the decision is essentially left up to the jurustic person and the rule can be bent if the owner is rich, unusually attractive, famous, flirtatious, offers some cash etc.

Assuming it's position is favourable. It's also possible they found nothing, and hence have nothing to reveal. Playing for time while they try to figure a way out of this without heads rolling. Both scenarios perfectly possible...

Witnesses made to disappear? And I'm the conspiracy theorist? ???? Wire taps found? Yep, no way Trump's team are going to look for things like wire taps until the FBI release these details. I bet they're just keeping their powder dry until THAT happens. Off your reading list? ???? Are you 'cancelling' me for disagreeing with you? Showing your left wing credentials there... ????

Because it's word salad. Nothing of substance in there. A standard statement that could mean they found evidence, or could mean they didn't. I know it annoys you, but I refuse to apologise for remaining open to both possibilities.

Likewise, an FBI raid is not proof of Trump's guilt. If nothing is found during the raid, serious questions will need to be answered. Like I said, this isn't the local cops raiding a frat party because someone told them the kids were smoking weed. Let's see how it plays out. As we stand, there was an unprecedented raid and no reasons for the raid have been given, and nothing has been released to indicate they found anything of note. Are the FBI hiding the stacks of evidence they found, or did they come up empty handed? We don't know. One of us is keeping an open mind to both eventualities.

At this point it's no more a conspiracy theory than those accusations being made against Trump. No evidence has been released either way. Nothing proved, nothing released, no indictment. Nothing has been proved in court. Try to keep an open mind, or at least if your political bias precludes you from doing that, try to reduce the vitriol for us neutrals that do ????.

Nothing to do with ego. If it turns out to be politically motivated they deserve to be sued. But yes, I could see this going one of two ways. Indictment (no guarantee of conviction of course), or a massive lawsuit against the FBI. Let's wait and see. Should be interesting.

Given the amount of criticism they have taken, if they had solid reasons for such unprecedented action they may have wished to disclose it to quash the rumours and restore some credibility to the Bureau. This is not some low level dope dealing investigation, it is core to the credibility of the country. That's if they had anything of course. If they had very spurious reasons for raid and found nothing, the current policy of saying nothing might be prudent. Let things die down, then try to let it fade away until there's some new drama stealing the headlines. Kind of like the policy countries like Thailand take.

Possible... Another possible reason? The evidence was so flimsy that the only reason that could be concluded from such unprecedented action was state agencies being used to harrass/discredit political rivals. Just trying to see both sides of the coin...

That's great, better you stop replying to my posts in that case.

Or maybe there will be no indictment, and the whole thing will be a 'big misunderstanding', like another third world country so close to our hearts. I mean you've done the raid, refused to give the reason for having 'good cause'. Why not go the whole hog?

Simple things confuse simple minds ????

Who knew that the FBI having 'good cause' to believe a crime has been committed, was the equivalent of a criminal conviction. Shame they won't release what evidence they had to believe they had 'good cause'. Weird huh? Who could have predicted that? "Yeah we've got loads of evidence, but we're not telling anyone what it is". Sounds legit... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62558319 No need for due process. String him up.

Quite the rant. Back to reality, as a neutral, I would like to know what evidence they had to make the raid. Unfortunately they won't release it. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62558319 I'd have thought if they had sufficient evidence they would release it to shut up the people who are saying it was politically motivated. But no, they want to keep it a secret. No doubt all the Democrats on the forum will conclude that is because there is so much damning evidence there is no need to release it, it's clearly a slam dunk so what's the point of telling everyone. Some kind of weird logic like that. It's Trump anyway, no need for due process. Him very very bad man ????.

Actually, I said "a large number of people on this thread would do well to bear this in mind". As you will no doubt note, the people who made those comments on the other thread are also present on this thread. So your point, while extremely pedantic, is also moot. Not a bad effort though... ????

Oh I have come to terms with it. It was actually the very point I was making. I'm glad we can agree that many of the "Progressives" on this forum have decided he is guilty before there is due process. They haven't even seen any evidence yet. Doesn't sound very 'progressive' to me. But then, neither does CRT and other outdated nonsense pushed by the "Liberals".

OK, it didn't take me too long. The second post of the attached thread, calling for him to be locked up hours after news of the raid broke. Post 6 saying they wouldn't have done the raid unless they had good reason. Post 7 saying the FBI must be damned sure a crime had been committed otherwise they wouldn't do it. Post 12 stating it is another case of treason. That's 4 examples in the first 12 posts. Continue to read it if you need more.

Because you acknowledged that assuming Trump is guilty and calling for him to be locked up at this stage is inappropriate (someone on this forum called for him to be locked up for life, and no I'm not going to spend time looking for the quote). But you couldn't resist the "what about when it happened to someone else" addendum. A simple acknowledgement that due process is required before he can be assumed guilty would have sufficed.

I said narrative, with the quote in inverted commas. Saying there is a narrative does not suggest anyone made that quote word for word (although they may well have done, I can't be bothered to check 31 pages as I have other things to do today). It means that is the general narrative, for example, many people have suggested the FBI wouldn't have raided unless they had a very good reason to do so (not sure if that was on this thread or the other one, you can check for me if you like).

Agreed. Both were a disgrace. However, this thread is about Trump so whatabouterry isn't really on topic.

Absolutely right. It would seem a large proportion of the people on this thread would do well to bear this in mind. The whole "they wouldn't have raided him unless he was guilty" narrative is most unbecoming.

Good to see Australia's descent into an authoritarian police state continuing. Banning certain clothes being worn? Very Orwellian but in keeping with the direction of the country. Aside from the infringement on civil liberties, I'd have thought allowing these idiots to wear their patches was an easy way to identify them. A bit like having 'nobhed' tattooed on your forehead. I remember 5 of them walking into a bar in Chiang Mai like they had a hedgehog under each armpit. Ordering JD, trying to look menacing but looking more like a reject from Village People. Walking cliches, every one of them. It's weird that they would choose a world class family friendly resort like Pattaya to wage their gang wars though. ????

Anything is possible in Thailand, but I really hope Thailand can get someone with a bit more integrity than this guy. Prayut has done enough damage, Thailand needs to move forward now.