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[smjjames]

Days since Europe Elected a Xenophobic Madman (Post-Trump) sign needed?

Also:

I looked at my phone and the Israeli flag is pretty distinct from the Nicaraguan flag. So, unless he was in a hurry (doubt it), distracted (possible), or didn't know the Israeli flag (or the staffer that checked the phone), I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't know the Israeli flag. I don't expect him to have memorized every single flag, but considering the US's support and relatonship with Israel, it seems reasonable to expect him to at least know what the flag looks like.

edit: 5 new replies? lol.

[Baffler]

He's not a young man, and it's very small.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Personally, I'm more of a fan of Chile/Texas confusion.

[smjjames]

The Nicaraguan and Israeli flags do look pretty similar though. They both have blue, white and blue horizontal lines with a blue symbol in the middle. Looking at that emoji I can't even tell the difference, let alone if I were looking at this on my phone.

Which makes me wonder: When politicians tweet, do they do it directly from their smartphones? Or do they draft their tweets, think of what to say, go over it with an advisor, and then post it from a government computer?

They're pretty distinct on my phone, the Israeli flag has darker and thinner bands and the Star of David is evident. Might be explained by different phones having differing emojis.

And I do know that during the campaigns, candidates generally have their tweets checked by a bunch of advisors (Hillary is notorious for this), but no idea for in general, or in VP Pence's case.

Europeans still have yet to elect xenophobic madmen to power

uuuuuuhhhhhhhhh

In recent history, I mean. Situation was different before that. Before 1970s-1980s, America was actually the more developed/more civilized one out of two. But Europeans have managed to pull themselves (with some help from USA's better parts) out of the quagmire of xenophobia, racism and stupidity and become enlightened, while USA has started to embrace those vile values around that time, though it has managed to keep said process relatively under the wraps and suppressed away from the outwards-facing parts until recently.

I've heard the phrase applied to this guy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Orb%C3%A1n

He was elected before Trump, but close enough.

One relatively unhinged governor does not really change the overall picture in Europe, especially since the province in question is also one of the poorest and least significant ones within the Union.

Orban is the Premier (Prime Minister equivalent), not the Governor.

He's not a young man, and it's very small.

True enough.

Also, it could be worse, there's another flag that looks ALMOST EXACTLY like the Nicaraguan flag, not sure what country it is, somewhere around N. There's also Argentina which looks similar. Edit: No wait, THAT one is Nicaragua, then what's the one close to Israel on my phone? edit2: Oh, Honduras. Funny that I was mistaking Honduras for Nicaragua.

[Sergarr]

Orban is the Premier (Prime Minister equivalent), not the Governor.

The Union has no Prime Minister, and even if it had one, Orban would not be one. He's just a governor of the Union's province, allowed to rule his area at the benevolence and with the help of the Union, which donates funding to him. Nothing more.

[Max™]

Personally, I'm more of a fan of Chile/Texas confusion.

Which seemed absurd to me, but then I remembered the rest of you didn't take Texas History for some reason, like, why bother learning Ohio History or All The Shit That Didn't Happen in Vermont!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[smjjames]

Orban is the Premier (Prime Minister equivalent), not the Governor.

The Union has no Prime Minister, and even if it had one, Orban would not be one. He's just a governor of the Union's province, allowed to rule his area at the benevolence and with the help of the Union, which donates funding to him. Nothing more.

Oh I get it, ha.

[Sergarr]

Just seen something, from an unknown source so obviously much salt, also it kinda sounds really REALLY dubious and it's most likely just an anti-Trump hit piece (god knows why do we still need those, with the amount of shit he's been openly doing), but that fucking headline is too explosive not to quote it, if only to mark just how deep in political shit USA currently is:

White House Uses Illegal Wiretaps, Intimidation to Block FBI Probe Into Illegal Russian Contacts

Trump turns to Koch Brothers "fixer" to block impeachment and jail "the donald"

In a White House meeting last week between Don McGahn, Sean Spicer and the new “White House Plumbers,” described as a team put together to ‘stop leaks,’ enacted a broad program of wire tapping, surveillance and “dirt digging” on White House staff thought to be collecting information for either the FBI investigation of Russian contacts with the Trump organizations or the bipartisan Senate group planning investigations.  From the Guardian:

The FBI has in fact made no public comment on its investigation into alleged contact between Trump associates and Russian operatives, which was first reported two weeks ago by the New York Times and CNN, citing anonymous law enforcement and intelligence community sources. The labeling of the story as “BS” has been attributed to the FBI’s deputy director, Andrew McCabe, by anonymous administration officials.

Blocking the FBI probe is a felony, not just conspiracy to obstruct justice but “after the fact” full complicity in the act themselves involving illegal contact with Russian spy agencies, termed “espionage.”

McCahn, current White House Counsel, was chosen by Trump for his experience in blocking probes into Russian “issues” involving bribery and espionage.  It was McCahn that defended Tom Delay when the same Russian oligarchs that are accused of backing Trump were accused of laundering stolen funds into the Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) and to US Family Network, tied to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

McGahn’s primary clients have been the Koch Brothers, funders of climate change denialism, who used McGahn to put together a plan to “gerrymander” Texas congressional districts, seen by many as the most bizarre abuse of America’s electoral system in history.

Sources say the FBI had put software into informants phones that allowed them to text “real time” logs of illegal meetings, used to backup potential testimony.

When  leaks within the FBI reached the White House, “burly” private security contractors began escorting staffers into an interrogation room where they were scanned, searched and their phones cloned and gone over by Israeli trained security teams.

Kinda interesting if this goes anywhere.

[EnigmaticHat]

That doesn't look like a reliable source.

[smjjames]

-snip-

Doesn't Trump hate the Koch brothers? Also, did you look at the sites main page? Especially the 'top 50 articles read this month'. They're peddlers in conspiracy theories. It's about as trustworthy as Breitbart or Infowars.

That doesn't look like a reliable source.

Agreed, theres bits of normal news, but it's largely conspiracy and sensationalist stuff. Actually, if any of it is real news, it's been heavily twisted and distorted.

[Sergarr]

Which is why I've put that "probably not true" disclaimer first. It's still rather interesting, if only because it's not a pro-conservative conspiracy theory. Which is a rare sight these days.

[smjjames]

Random thought, does anybody think that maybe Dems, or rather the Progressiveist/Liberalism movement, need something like the CPAC to help find their way? Like a PPAC or a LPAC of their own.

Of course though, the CPAC itself has fallen victim to it's own echo chamber and has embraced Trump, so, it may not neccesarily be the answer.

[Flying Dice]

Aha, the last thing we need on the left is another echo-chamber.

[misko27]

The attempt to save the leaking ship of state continues:

The campaign to sniff out a series of damaging leaks, which Spicer is convinced originated from his communications department, has led to a tense environment in the West Wing. During meetings, the press secretary has repeatedly berated his aides, launching expletive-filled tirades in which he’s accused them of disclosing sensitive information to reporters and saying that they’ve disappointed him.

[Frumple]

Could swear someone already posted that. Or at least linked to something that used the exactly line "is convinced originated from his communications department".

... regardless, you'd think someone would have told the guy berating the aides and cussing at them is a good way to get sensitive information disclosed to reporters...