You could always wrap the headline into the “walk into a bar” joke :). Agree there are many questions on how to move forward here and many hurdles to extract ourselves from this situation with success. Of course Trump alway does even the ‘right’ things in a wrong way. The ends always justify the means for him. That is how demagoguery works. Monroe Doctrine is a sound policy and serves us well in the right situation (Cuban Missle Crisis). But Trump speaks loudly and beats all with a stick when it serves him. We will see.
"But what Trump cannot do without Congress is prosecute a long-term war and occupation of Venezuela. The War Powers Resolution aside, Congress controls the purse strings of government, and the body is unlikely to give Trump a blank check for an unpopular and imperialistic war."
He can and he will.
The Dept. of the Treasury is not under the control of Congress, and the past year was FILLED with examples of Trump disregarding Congress's "power of the purse" when he unleashed Elon and DOGE to eliminate programs that Congress explicitly funded. Hell, the Department of Justice blew this weekend's deadline on explaining the Epstein Files redactions. His Department of Defense is going after veteran Mark Kelly for reminding troops that they have a duty to disregard illegal orders.
While we need to replace Trump's Congressional bootlickers with legislators who actually care about protecting their power, Congress isn't controlling anything until it gains the will to meaningfully sanction the President - through impeachment - and that's not happening ANY time soon. I expect Democrats to do well in the upcoming election, but not to the extent that Impeachment AND Conviction is something back on the table again.
Well written article with excellent points David. I don't have a punchline to the article title, but I did read the following description of the event:
For anyone questioning the legality of attacking Venezuela and abducting their leader: Remember we're talking about a highly corrupt leader, a known criminal who used his high office to make billions for himself, and has manipulated elections to stay in power, has used his military against his own citizens, has protected his corrupt friends, and punished his political enemies. And the president of Venezuela did some bad things too. (Every word of that statement is true!) 😉
He attempted and failed to manipulate the election outcome in Georgia in his infamous phone call to Brad Raffensperger to "find" him enough votes to overcome his GA loss[1].
In AZ (and a couple other states, if I recall correctly), he attempted and failed to set up slates of fake electors that would vote for him, instead of faithfully reflecting the outcome of the state election[2].
While he failed in these attempts, the attempts themselves are still criminal acts. Incompetence isn't exoneration.
Thanks Chris for providing some of the obvious answers to Cameron's question. Perhaps it would help to slightly modify the statement and say "manipulated elections to attempt to stay in power".
I'll also take a moment here Cameron to respond to your repeated belief that Trump wasn't responsible for attack on the capitol on J6 and that David is lying when he says that Trump was responsible. You certainly are welcome to your view of Trump's role in the events of that day, but I would suggest the great majority of people (including then speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate leader Mitch McConnell and many other republican leaders, not to mention practically all democrat officials and a large percentage of citizens) all recognized that Trump was responsible for the events of the day including the attack on the capitol and the LEO's that were there to defend it.
Furthermore, on more than one occasion in previous posts you have personally called David a "liar" for his statements regarding Trump's culpability on J6. You might disagree with David, but that doesn't make him a "liar". He along with many, many others recognize what IMO is the obvious truth that Trump was responsible. You say you're a Christian Cameron, but calling someone a "liar" in a public forum like this because they hold a different view than you doesn't speak very well of your Christian values.
David Thornton repeatedly refers to J6 as an insurrection. This is where the lie comes in. I will stand on the truth that J6 was at best a riot, not an insurrection, and even at that not one that Donald Trump was responsible for. The individuals that participated in said riot, yes, of course, but NOT Donald Trump. I have yet to see ANY credible evidence to the contrary, and there IS evidence that I can't prove, that the FBI was involved in stirring up part of the crowd that day. Mr. Arvidson, I am a Christian, but I still sin, and make my share of mistakes, hence my need of the Savior, Jesus Christ, but your attempt to shame me won't make me apologize for what I know to be right.
Well, David, you had me up until the continued lie that you always propagate that J6 was an insurrection. You really need to move past that. That dog just won't hunt.
You could always wrap the headline into the “walk into a bar” joke :). Agree there are many questions on how to move forward here and many hurdles to extract ourselves from this situation with success. Of course Trump alway does even the ‘right’ things in a wrong way. The ends always justify the means for him. That is how demagoguery works. Monroe Doctrine is a sound policy and serves us well in the right situation (Cuban Missle Crisis). But Trump speaks loudly and beats all with a stick when it serves him. We will see.
Here's a punchline: They decide to blame it on the Jews.
"But what Trump cannot do without Congress is prosecute a long-term war and occupation of Venezuela. The War Powers Resolution aside, Congress controls the purse strings of government, and the body is unlikely to give Trump a blank check for an unpopular and imperialistic war."
He can and he will.
The Dept. of the Treasury is not under the control of Congress, and the past year was FILLED with examples of Trump disregarding Congress's "power of the purse" when he unleashed Elon and DOGE to eliminate programs that Congress explicitly funded. Hell, the Department of Justice blew this weekend's deadline on explaining the Epstein Files redactions. His Department of Defense is going after veteran Mark Kelly for reminding troops that they have a duty to disregard illegal orders.
While we need to replace Trump's Congressional bootlickers with legislators who actually care about protecting their power, Congress isn't controlling anything until it gains the will to meaningfully sanction the President - through impeachment - and that's not happening ANY time soon. I expect Democrats to do well in the upcoming election, but not to the extent that Impeachment AND Conviction is something back on the table again.
Well written article with excellent points David. I don't have a punchline to the article title, but I did read the following description of the event:
For anyone questioning the legality of attacking Venezuela and abducting their leader: Remember we're talking about a highly corrupt leader, a known criminal who used his high office to make billions for himself, and has manipulated elections to stay in power, has used his military against his own citizens, has protected his corrupt friends, and punished his political enemies. And the president of Venezuela did some bad things too. (Every word of that statement is true!) 😉
"Irony is dead." Indeed.
Perhaps the understatement of the century.
Maybe turn it into an Epstein files joke, considering only around 1% of the files has been reviewed by the Feds?
Where and when has Donald Trump "manipulated elections to stay in power," Mr. Arvidson?
He attempted and failed to manipulate the election outcome in Georgia in his infamous phone call to Brad Raffensperger to "find" him enough votes to overcome his GA loss[1].
In AZ (and a couple other states, if I recall correctly), he attempted and failed to set up slates of fake electors that would vote for him, instead of faithfully reflecting the outcome of the state election[2].
While he failed in these attempts, the attempts themselves are still criminal acts. Incompetence isn't exoneration.
[1] https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/politics/georgia-sec-of-state-rafensberger-speaks-out-after-trump-call-released/2654932/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_prosecution_of_fake_electors
Thanks Chris for providing some of the obvious answers to Cameron's question. Perhaps it would help to slightly modify the statement and say "manipulated elections to attempt to stay in power".
I'll also take a moment here Cameron to respond to your repeated belief that Trump wasn't responsible for attack on the capitol on J6 and that David is lying when he says that Trump was responsible. You certainly are welcome to your view of Trump's role in the events of that day, but I would suggest the great majority of people (including then speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate leader Mitch McConnell and many other republican leaders, not to mention practically all democrat officials and a large percentage of citizens) all recognized that Trump was responsible for the events of the day including the attack on the capitol and the LEO's that were there to defend it.
Furthermore, on more than one occasion in previous posts you have personally called David a "liar" for his statements regarding Trump's culpability on J6. You might disagree with David, but that doesn't make him a "liar". He along with many, many others recognize what IMO is the obvious truth that Trump was responsible. You say you're a Christian Cameron, but calling someone a "liar" in a public forum like this because they hold a different view than you doesn't speak very well of your Christian values.
David Thornton repeatedly refers to J6 as an insurrection. This is where the lie comes in. I will stand on the truth that J6 was at best a riot, not an insurrection, and even at that not one that Donald Trump was responsible for. The individuals that participated in said riot, yes, of course, but NOT Donald Trump. I have yet to see ANY credible evidence to the contrary, and there IS evidence that I can't prove, that the FBI was involved in stirring up part of the crowd that day. Mr. Arvidson, I am a Christian, but I still sin, and make my share of mistakes, hence my need of the Savior, Jesus Christ, but your attempt to shame me won't make me apologize for what I know to be right.
Well, David, you had me up until the continued lie that you always propagate that J6 was an insurrection. You really need to move past that. That dog just won't hunt.
Happy J6 Day