The Next President of the United States

[Marky147]

I listened to the first 20 minutes or so, and thought it was better than most of the times I've seen him speak.

Did he go off script at all, or just stick to what he was supposed to say?

[MintTrav]

I listened to the first 20 minutes or so, and thought it was better than most of the times I've seen him speak.

Did he go off script at all, or just stick to what he was supposed to say?

He stuck hard to the script, with a few small asides, but no freewheeling. Always goes better for him like that.

It was a decent text, superficially conciliatory, but actually totally uncompromising. Came over well for his supporters.

[MintTrav]

Stephen Miller Rewards Self After Day Of Speechwriting With Trip To See Children In Local ICE Detention Center

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https://politics.theonion.com/stephen-miller-rewards-self-after-day-of-speechwriting-1822562453

[Marky147]

I listened to the first 20 minutes or so, and thought it was better than most of the times I've seen him speak.

Did he go off script at all, or just stick to what he was supposed to say?

He stuck hard to the script, with a few small asides, but no freewheeling. Always goes better for him like that.

It was a decent text, superficially conciliatory, but actually totally uncompromising. Came over well for his supporters.

It seemed to be lots of backslapping, and mostly about immigration the stuff I heard. Glad I went to bed, as I saw it was 80 minutes?

That Miller is a lunatic, from everything I've seen him on.

[MintTrav]

Has Rick Gates flipped?

Gates worked for Paul Manafort at the notorious consulting firms Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly and Davis Manafort, before joining Trump's campaign when Manafort became Campaign Manager. Both of them were indicted on counts of conspiracy against the United States, making false statements, money laundering and failing to register as foreign agents, and both pleaded Not Guilty.

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It was reported last week that Gates had added Tom Green to his legal team. Green has a history of negotiating plea bargains. Yesterday, all of Gates' other lawyers suddenly requested permission to withdraw from the case. Their reasons have not been disclosed and it is possible that Gates has lied to them or hasn't paid them, but the speculation is that he is now co-operating with prosecutors and Green is cutting the deal. That can only be bad news for both Manafort and Trump.

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Click to see full-size image.

[Marky147]

Hope they don't get him out until after the summer. Purely from a selfish POV, as he can't be harming the exchange rate. Can he?

[Doobs]

Hope they don't get him out until after the summer. Purely from a selfish POV, as he can't be harming the exchange rate. Can he?

was thinking that's good news as I have only paid the deposit on the hotel, then I realised the tax refund is in dollars and I have 2 or 3k at home.

Impeach him now ffs.

[Marky147]

Hope they don't get him out until after the summer. Purely from a selfish POV, as he can't be harming the exchange rate. Can he?

was thinking that's good news as I have only paid the deposit on the hotel, then I realised the tax refund is in dollars and I have 2 or 3k at home.

Impeach him now ffs.

I've got a load on a card, and they're worth about a monkey less than it was when I got back in July

[MintTrav]

The Mid-Terms campaign was kicked off by Trump yesterday, with a speech emphasising the tax cuts. He had plenty to say about Nancy Pelosi, and it's clear that one of the Republican main strategies will be to try to associate Democrat candidates with her.

A few weeks ago it looked like the Dems would have a very good result. Now it's not so clear, with polls moving significantly in Republicans' favour. Between 26 Dec and yesterday, the Democrats' lead for Congress seats reduced from 13.0% to 6.6%. In the same period, Trump's approval rating improved from 36.4% to 40.2%. The Democrats are still likely to win, but it ain't so clearcut.

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[MintTrav]

Gerrymandering is rampant in the US. Both parties have been shameless in manipulating boundries, blatantly distorting election results and disenfranchising millions of voters. There is hope, however, that fairness can be restored. A couple of weeks ago, the Supreme Court ordered North Carolina to redraw its Districts, which heavily favoured Republicans and yesterday Democrats' chances were improved again when the Court ruled that Pennsylvania must also redraw its Congressional District map within the next 10 days.

There have been three elections since the Districts were last redrawn in 2011, and all three have resulted in PA's 18 seats being split 13-5 in favour of the Republicans, despite the State's voters being split roughly evenly between the parties. To their shame, Republican Secretaries of State from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and South Carolina filed a joint objection in the Penn case on the basis that it would lead to "chaos", but their arguments were dismissed.

The Democrats need to win 25 GOP-held seats to take control of the House. These cases have probably already got them a quarter of the way there without any changes in voting. Further cases are likely to follow for other States.

This link to "The Most Gerrymandered Districts In America" shows some of the preposterous shapes that Districts have been bent into as democracy had been blatantly undermined:  https://m.ranker.com/list/most-gerrymandered-districts-in-america/eric-vega

Some examples:

Pennsylvania 7th District:

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Maryland 3rd District:

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Illinois 7th District:

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[rfgqqabc]

"In the “old days,” when good news was reported, the Stock Market would go up. Today, when good news is reported, the Stock Market goes down. Big mistake, and we have so much good (great) news about the economy!"

Trump already regretting hitching his wagon to the Stock Market.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/961253168968622086

[TightEnd]

U.S. official in charge of protecting American elections from hacking tells NBC News that Russians successfully penetrated voter registration rolls of several U.S. states prior to 2016 presidential election. http://nbcnews.to/2GZjVKi

[Marky147]

Trump talks about Rocket Man, and wants his own military parade

[MintTrav]

Pelosi Record-Breaker

Glad that's over. Nancy Pelosi, leader of the Democrats in the House, has given the longest speech that has ever taken place in the House. She is trying to ensure that the rights of the Dreamers are included in the Budget, which has to be passed by midnight Thursday to avoid another government shutdown. She is also angry that the proposal was agreed and passed by Dems and Reps in the Senate, and sent over to the House for approval, without provision for the Dreamers, so is making the point that the House is not just a rubber stamp, and is entitled to debate and reject Bills, even if the Senate has approved them.

The longest previous speech was five and a bit hours in 1909. Pelosi smashed that, not sitting down for eight hours and seven minutes. Unlike the Senate, sitting and short hourly breaks are not permitted, so she stood throughout, in four-inch heels, in one unbroken session.



This feat is all the more impressive as she will be 78 next month. She has been leader of the Democrats since 2002 and is under pressure to move on and let another generation take over. Whatever else, this has proved that she has the physical ability to continue.

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She has been around a long time

[MintTrav]

While we're on the subject of current leaders' links with JFK: