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The Whitehouse announced they would withhold 20 emails between two Trump aides discussing Ukrainian military aid.

Penguin Central has recovered bits and flecks of the emails.

Aide 1 - This high treason stuff feels strange. I hope we don't get caught.

Aide 2 - You can say that again.

1 - I hope we don't get caught.

2 - It would look terrible on our resumes.

1 - Pretty sure one of those conservative think tanks would hire us.

2 - You think so?

1 - Yeah, they would probably throw in thousands in a signing bonus for every indictment we received. We would be pretty hot properties at Liberty and Brigham Young Universities. Big profs on campus and all that.

2 - You're probably right. I doubt anyone around here would have enough integrity to blab.

1 - President T might. Heck, he might start talking and reveal that it was Putin who put him up to the whole insane high treason scheme.

1 - Got to run. One of the Trump chefs is making taco salads down in the cafeteria.
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I think it would take a fractal analysis to crack any more of these withheld emails. Best to let the arrogance of criminality speak for itself.

There's a simple fact pattern here where the Trump admin has been repeatedly caught in serious lies designed to mislead about improper conduct the Trump admin engaged in. These lies became clear when more facts became available. At the exact same time, they are doing everything in their power to prevent more facts about what happened from seeing the light of day.

This is the fact pattern to expect when someone is innocent? I'd like to think that if anyone was being honest with themselves, the answer would obviously be no, but I also think there is a segment of the public who is blinded to that.

EAllusion wrote:There's a simple fact pattern here where the Trump admin has been repeatedly caught in serious lies designed to mislead about improper conduct the Trump admin engaged in. These lies became clear when more facts became available. At the exact same time, they are doing everything in their power to prevent more facts about what happened from seeing the light of day.

This is the fact pattern to expect when someone is innocent? I'd like to think that if anyone was being honest with themselves, the answer would obviously be no, but I also think there is a segment of the public who is blinded to that.

Or the segment who wanted him to do what he did and want him to get away with it.

huckelberry wrote:Or the segment who wanted him to do what he did and want him to get away with it.

Oh, there's those people too. Broadly speaking, there's people who think cheating and dishonesty is no vice when it is done with the aim to help Republicans/hurt Democrats, people who are uninformed or misinformed about what's going on, and people whose biases are so severe that they can't see even the most obvious guilt.

Nothing Trump does is the behavior of an innocent man. You have to be in-the-tank-brain-dead to imagine Trump an innocent person. Everything he says and does screams, "I'm guilty and I don't care who knows it!" It's as obvious as daylight.

I guarantee every damned GOP politician knows Trump is a thug (unless they are as stupid as their supporters). None of the impeachment talk is over whether he's guilty or not; that's already settled. It's all about process and politics.

I agree that it is becoming ever more obvious that Trump is guilty of both gross incompetence and corruption. As already mentioned, even his most prominent supporters hardly even try to argue that he is innocent of wrongdoing. Anyone who still doesn't realize that is either severely impaired cognitively or as pathologically dishonest and corrupt as Trump himself. Even flat earth believers are no more irrational or delusional than Trump supporters. Certainly Trump's boss, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and other Despots around the world are delighted with what Trump has done to this country. Even Iran's leaders, however dismayed they may be with the loss of General Soleimani due to Trump, must take comfort from how severely Trump has undermined our nation's reputation, integrity and respectability around the world, even among our closest allies.

Does anyone really still believe Trump's decision to withdraw from the international Iran/Nuclear accord and impose still harder sanctions on Iran has improved the situation or enhanced U.S. Leadership and trustworthiness in the world? I can't blame Iran decision to renew efforts to develop nuclear given how insultingly Trump abandoned any pretense of honoring our end of the deal. I can't help but believe that he and his warhawk supporters deliberately hoped to goad Iran into abandoning that deal, so they could use that as an excuse to go to war against Iran.

Iran does not have nuclear weapons. Trump feels able to assassinate a member of the highest circles of the Iranian government while he is on an official visit to another country.

Korea does have nuclear weapons. Despite his from time to time extremely belligerent language directed towards North Korea, Trump is very unlikely to assassinate a member of the highest circles of the North Korean government while he is on an official visit to another country, or anywhere else for that matter - because even he can imagine what might happen as a result.

Iranians, not being dumb, can work it out: they really, really need to get nuclear weapons as soon as they possibly can. I mean, in their position, and with the risk of Trump in the White House for another five more years, what would you do?

Exactly.

Chap wrote:Iran does not have nuclear weapons. Trump feels able to assassinate a member of the highest circles of the Iranian government while he is on an official visit to another country.

Korea does have nuclear weapons. Despite his from time to time extremely belligerent language directed towards North Korea, Trump is very unlikely to assassinate a member of the highest circles of the North Korean government while he is on an official visit to another country, or anywhere else for that matter - because even he can imagine what might happen as a result.

Iranians, not being dumb, can work it out: they really, really need to get nuclear weapons as soon as they possibly can. I mean, in their position, and with the risk of Trump in the White House for another five more years, what would you do?

Exactly.

I would not underestimate the ingenuity or resolve of asymmetrical strategists and actors. 9/11 should have taught us that.

Chap wrote:Iranians, not being dumb, can work it out: they really, really need to get nuclear weapons as soon as they possibly can. I mean, in their position, and with the risk of Trump in the White House for another five more years, what would you do?

Exactly.

And Iranians are not the only ones who can work that out. Trump, whether inadvertently or by design, because of his irrational, bullying tendencies, will probably have caused numerous signatories to the nuclear non-proliferation pact to reconsider and withdraw from that pact.

I Fear it will not be long before nearly all tin pot dictators on earth will push their nations to join the "Nuclear Club." This will hasten the day when some fanatical idiot will attempt to initiate Armageddon or the next nuclear war. History will not likely forgive Trump for his role in helping to hasten that day, though his fanatical Evangelical base probably looks forward stupidly towards that end.

Gunnar wrote:And Iranians are not the only ones who can work that out. Trump, whether inadvertently or by design, because of his irrational, bullying tendencies, will probably have caused numerous signatories to the nuclear non-proliferation pact to reconsider and withdraw from that pact.

I really do wonder how easily the next President will be able to restore the US's reputation around the world. I think it's going to require a show of faith, like tossing Trump in prison and throwing away the key (since we likely won't Ned Stark the bastard like he deserves).