Trump’s hostage taking begins

I had expressed some surprise at the fact that Donald Trump agreed to deals with the Democrats on raising the debt ceiling and funding the government at least through December 12 without demanding anything in return. I had expected him to demand funding for his precious border wall as part of the deal. He also indicated that he was willing to do something to accommodate the so-called Dreamers, those undocumented immigrants who had been brought here as children and had led normal lives here.
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And the schoolyard taunting continues

Tennessee senator Bob Corker, a Republican who has announced that he will not run for re-election in 2018, clearly feels free to speak his mind now about what he really thinks about Donald Trump, without fear of consequences. In an extraordinary statement last week, Corker said that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly “are those people that help separate our country from chaos.”
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The unthinkable is no longer unthinkable

Late last evening juts before going to bed, I read a news report that said that after a meeting with his senior military advisors, Donald “Moron” Trump had ominously told the people present that what they were witnessing was the “calm before the storm”. When asked what he meant, he had added “You’ll find out”. While trying to drop off to sleep, I honestly worried that he was about to launch an attack on North Korea that would unleash unpredictable consequences.
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Stephen Colbert on Trump being called a moron

He has a lot of fun with the Tillerson story. I really wonder how long the Trump-Tillerson relationship can last, now that the latter did not unequivocally deny that he called Trump a “fucking moron”. Even someone as self-absorbed as Trump has to realize that Tillerson did call him that. I think that unless Trump fires him, Tillerson will stay until he has completed a year in office so as to avoid a tax bill, because these people love money the most. It may happen that Trump, out of spite, fires Tillerson before the year is up just to have him pay the tax, unless being fired lets Tillerson off the hook.
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And now the hoax stories start

Things like the Las Vegas shooting reveal that there is something seriously wrong with the psyche of many people in the US. I am not talking about their deep love of guns and the paranoid fear that many have that they are defenseless unless armed to the teeth with massive weaponry, even though such heavy weaponry is overkill for any ordinary everyday need and utterly inadequate when confronting (say) the US military, which some gun enthusiasts feel is on the verge of declaring martial law.
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New discussion question: Is the US president a moron?

Yes, we have now reached the stage where this is now a question for serious public discussion. It follows a report that this past summer, secretary of state Rex Tillerson had referred to Donald Trump as a moron and had said that he wanted to resign his position. In a press conference that he called today, Tillerson denied that he had even thought of resigning or had to be talked out of it but did not deny that ‘moron’ quote.
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US votes against UN resolution condemning death penalty for LGBTQ community

It is said that you can tell a lot about a person by the company that they keep. Going by that standard, the US’s reputation is in tatters. Take for example the issue of governments executing LGBTQ people simply for being who they are. You would think that if the UN came up with a resolution condemning such a practice and calling for its end, that would be a really easy call and the US would sign on. But no. According to Alex Emmons:
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Shooter had a acquired a massive arsenal

The shooter in Las Vegas 64-year old Stephen Paddock is said to be a well-to-do retired accountant who liked to gamble for high stakes. But his motives remain obscure. Had he lost his money due to gambling and was lashing out at the world? Paddock’s live-in girl friend who is currently in Japan at the time is likely the person who can shed most light on the motives. The reports emerging about him have some surprising twists.
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