The US Presidency 2020

[OceanBonfire]

...

Does the FDA have a say in what medical supplies are brought in to the US? Should they have been alerted?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-ventilators-ex/exclusive-white-house-kept-fda-in-the-dark-on-russian-ventilators-for-new-york-and-new-jersey-idUSKBN23536O

To help cope with the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic that has now infected more than 1.7 million Americans and killed over 100,000, the FDA had introduced an emergency protocol to allow ventilators to be distributed without the agency’s routine, and more time-consuming, approval process.

The Russian ventilators, however, did not even receive the FDA’s expedited Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) before being delivered to New York and New Jersey, the agency told Reuters. The FDA has issued EUAs for ventilators from other sources.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Yes.  They are responsible to ensure that medical equipment is safe.

This sounds like right hand / left hand bureaucratic error in a tense, rushed situation, though, which is not uncommon.

Thanks, I guess the name threw me off a little.

 

[kkwd]

The investigation will continue into the whole Flynn matter and rightly so.

Michael Flynn transcripts reveal plenty except crime or collusion

Remember ... Ambassador, you're not talking to a diplomat, you're talking to a soldier.” When President Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Michael Flynn, said those words to then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, he also spoke to American intelligence agents listening in on the call. For three years, congressional Democrats have assured us Flynn’s calls to Kislyak were so disturbing that they set off alarms in the closing days of the Obama administration.

They were right. The newly released transcripts of Flynn’s calls are deeply disturbing — not for their evidence of criminality or collusion but for the total absence of such evidence. The transcripts, declassified Friday, strongly support new investigations by both the Justice Department and by Congress, starting with next week’s Senate testimony by former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

It turns out Flynn’s calls are not just predictable but even commendable at points. When the Obama administration hit the Russians with sanctions just before leaving office, the incoming Trump administration sought to avoid a major conflict at the very start of its term. Flynn asked the Russian to focus on “common enemies” in order to seek cooperation in the Middle East. The calls covered a variety of issues, including the sanctions.

https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/500247-michael-flynn-transcripts-reveal-plenty-except-crime-or-collusion

 

[OceanBonfire]

Trump appoints Conair heir who promoted conspiracy theories to head US consulate in Bermuda

Republicans and Democrats had already rejected his nomination for another role.

The Trump administration has appointed a controversial Republican donor and businessman to head the U.S. consulate general in Bermuda, bypassing bipartisan opposition to his nomination to be a U.S. ambassador.

Lee Rizzuto, heir to the Conair Corporation fortune, was nominated by President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019 to be the U.S. envoy to Barbados and other Caribbean island countries, but his nomination was sunk by Senate Republicans and Democrats after his controversial tweets promoting a conspiracy theory about Sen. Ted Cruz's wife and trashing Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, and others came to light.

His new appointment has sparked criticism for the message it sends America's closest neighbors and the State Department's rank and file, many of whom were upset with the decision.

...


https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-appoints-conair-heir-promoted-conspiracy-theories-head/story?id=70939625

 

[FJAG]

The investigation will continue into the whole Flynn matter and rightly so.

...The newly released transcripts of Flynn’s calls are deeply disturbing — not for their evidence of criminality or collusion but for the total absence of such evidence. The transcripts, declassified Friday, strongly support new investigations by both the Justice Department and by Congress, starting with next week’s Senate testimony by former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein....

You're either missing the point, or like the Trump administration, deliberately misconstruing it. The transcript itself or what was said wasn't the crime Flynn was charged with. What the transcript discloses quite fully is that:

it’s inappropriate for a member of a presidential transition team to communicate with foreign officials secretly about current U.S. national security or foreign policy matters (i.e., without the knowledge of the State Department or some other process for informing the current Administration), and far worse still to do so in an effort to undermine the national security or foreign policy objectives of the United States as determined by the President then in office.

https://www.justsecurity.org/70431/understanding-the-michael-flynn-case-separating-the-wheat-from-the-chaff-and-the-proper-from-the-improper/

I'll ignore whether this constitutes "collusion" or not, because what the actual crime was, was the fact that Flynn lied about the conversation to numerous people including the Vice President, but more importantly FBI investigators. It's a Federal crime in the US under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 to make a false statement.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—

(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device[ , ] a material fact;
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331),[11] imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.

Flynn lied. Simple fact. The obscuration is that the administration is now claiming that the investigation and therefore the interview with the FBI should never have happened in the first place and therefore the lie "doesn't count". That's pure sophistry. Flynn was caught Lying and tried to cover it up back then and now is trying to back out of his admission that he lied. In the slightly amended words of Michael Flynn, "Lock him up."

:cheers:

 

[kkwd]

You're either missing the point, or like the Trump administration, deliberately misconstruing it. The transcript itself or what was said wasn't the crime Flynn was charged with. What the transcript discloses quite fully is that:

https://www.justsecurity.org/70431/understanding-the-michael-flynn-case-separating-the-wheat-from-the-chaff-and-the-proper-from-the-improper/

I'll ignore whether this constitutes "collusion" or not, because what the actual crime was, was the fact that Flynn lied about the conversation to numerous people including the Vice President, but more importantly FBI investigators. It's a Federal crime in the US under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 to make a false statement.

Flynn lied. Simple fact. The obscuration is that the administration is now claiming that the investigation and therefore the interview with the FBI should never have happened in the first place and therefore the lie "doesn't count". That's pure sophistry. Flynn is a weasel who was caught weaselling and tried to weasel out of it back then and again now. In the slightly amended words of Michael Flynn, "Lock him up."

:cheers:

Like I said, the investigation continues, that's all I said. You can prejudge all you want but the investigators have access to information we don't. A federal crime did occur without dispute, the leaking of Flynn's unmasking info to the press.

 

[Brad Sallows]

"Lock him up."

Of course, but also all the others who have lied under oath, or unlawfully deviated from procedures.

There are a couple of ways things could unfold fairly: everyone in that basket is prosecuted and punished, or everyone in that basket is shown some forgiveness.

 

[FJAG]

Fire, pestilence and a country at war with itself: the Trump presidency is over

Robert Reich

A pandemic unabated, an economy in meltdown, cities in chaos over police killings. All our supposed leader does is tweet

You’d be forgiven if you hadn’t noticed. His verbal bombshells are louder than ever, but Donald J Trump is no longer president of the United States.

By having no constructive response to any of the monumental crises now convulsing America, Trump has abdicated his office.

He is not governing. He’s golfing, watching cable TV and tweeting.

How has Trump responded to the widespread unrest following the murder in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for minutes as he was handcuffed on the ground?

Trump called the protesters “thugs” and threatened to have them shot. “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” he tweeted, parroting a former Miami police chief whose words spurred race riots in the late 1960s.

On Saturday, he gloated about “the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons” awaiting protesters outside the White House, should they ever break through Secret Service lines.

In reality, Donald Trump doesn’t run the government of the United States. He doesn’t manage anything
Trump’s response to the last three ghastly months of mounting disease and death has been just as heedless. Since claiming Covid-19 was a “Democratic hoax” and muzzling public health officials, he has punted management of the coronavirus to the states.

...

See rest of article here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/31/donald-trump-coronavirus-pandemic-george-floyd-minneapolis-tweets?fbclid=IwAR2TLjb2eryXarzcVpSaJyaLj24defPT8janiss0WC6PKZbGFuJPuA6rVzw

:cheers:

 

[Remius]

Up until a few weeks ago I was sure that he would be re elected. 

Now I’m sure he won’t.

What a mess.  I’ll be glad for the US when this experiment is over.

 

[MilEME09]

Up until a few weeks ago I was sure that he would be re elected. 

Now I’m sure he won’t.

What a mess.  I’ll be glad for the US when this experiment is over.

At this rate the democrats might get a super majority in the house, senate, and take the presidency

 

[FJAG]

At this rate the democrats might get a super majority in the house, senate, and take the presidency

Don't ... count ... chickens. Jinx. Jinx.

anic:

 

[tomahawk6]

At this point I will inject some common sense into the argument. The majority of cities and states are blue run by democrats who clearly are out of their depth. Rather confront the rioters the blue staters gave up ground losing control. Many people arrested seem to be out of staters. The people who have been hurt are local communities. I doubt that Target will rebuild. Small businesses are gone forever in these areas. Riots occurred under Obama but it didn't hurt him politically. If Trump sends in Federal troops to restore order then he will be fine. He will be even better off if he cans ultra lib Jerod Kushner.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Hard to predict.  A V-shaped contraction-recovery - which is what many are predicting - will throw the economic meltdown out the window.  If the president offers resources to stop riots and the offer is taken up and used successfully, he'll claim a win.  If the offer is spurned, he can't exactly claim a win but the blame won't fall on his shoulders either.

Democrats are particularly worried about 2 things: a V-shaped recovery, and having no excuse for Biden to [not] resume public appearances.

 

[FJAG]

... Trump ... will be even better off if he cans ultra lib Jerod Kushner.

We disagree about whether Kushner is an Ultra-lib. We agree that he should be caned.

... If the president offers resources to stop riots and the offer is taken up and used successfully, he'll claim a win.  If the offer is spurned, he can't exactly claim a win but the blame won't fall on his shoulders either.
...

There's another option: his offers are accepted but the whole thing goes sideways anyway. Trump will blame everyone else because ... Trump.

:worms:

 

[Cloud Cover]

We disagree about whether Kushner is an Ultra-lib. We agree that he should be caned.

That’s harsh but fitting ...

 

[FJAG]

That’s harsh but fitting ...

That was an unintentional typo .. or a Freudian slip. I'm not sure which now.

;D

 

[Blackadder1916]

That was an unintentional typo .. or a Freudian slip. I'm not sure which now.

;D

Maybe you were channeling press comment from a few years ago.

https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/how-trumps-soninlaw-jared-kushner-went-from-americas-boy-wonder-to-whipping-boy-a3554496.html

"How Jared Kushner went from America's boy wonder to whipping boy"

 

[FJAG]

Maybe you were channeling press comment from a few years ago.

https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/how-trumps-soninlaw-jared-kushner-went-from-americas-boy-wonder-to-whipping-boy-a3554496.html

"How Jared Kushner went from America's boy wonder to whipping boy"

Jared Kushner was NEVER America's boy wonder! A legend in his own and Daddy-in-law's mind maybe; America's boy wonder - No.

:clubinhand:

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Jared Kushner was NEVER America's boy wonder! A legend in his own and Daddy-in-law's mind maybe; America's boy wonder - No.

:clubinhand:

He is a very talented slum lord though  ;D

 

[FJAG]

He is a very talented slum lord though  ;D

Don't get me started. I read "Kushner, Inc.: Greed. Ambition. Corruption. The Extraordinary Story of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump" months ago. I'm still trying to wash the bile out of my mouth.

ullhair: