Mike Pence pushes conspiracy theories to justify Suleimani killing

[seanD]

From here

"Mike Pence was born to an Irish Catholic family in Indiana. He earned a B.A. in history from Hanover College in 1981 following which he studied law at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, receiving his J.D. in 1986. Before politics, he was a successful attorney and hosted a local radio show. In 1985, he married an elementary school teacher, Karen. Today they have three children."

Doesn't sound like an "idiot" to me but if you really want to go there then I guess I won't stop you.

He could have forgotten. That he tried to equate this to Iran in order to justify military action to me is much more disturbing.

[DivineOb]

He could have forgotten.

Could have forgotten the number of hijackers? I remember that it was 19 and so do you. And so does Pence and so does his staff. And google exists.

That he tried to equate this to Iran in order to justify military action to me is much more disturbing.

I agree the entire statement is concerning. I don't think Trump or Pence are idiots. I think they are quite smart and are playing *all* of us.

[seanD]

Could have forgotten the number of hijackers? I remember that it was 19 and so do you. And so does Pence and so does his staff. And google exists.



I agree the entire statement is concerning. I don't think Trump or Pence are idiots. I think they are quite smart and are playing *all* of us.

What would be your explanation? Since he's clearly using it for US support against Iran, why do you think he would give an inaccurate number since that just ended up being a distraction from his initial intent?

[DivineOb]

What would be your explanation? Since he's clearly using it for US support against Iran, why do you think he would give an inaccurate number since that just ended up being a distraction from his initial intent?

I think the statement serves two purposes

1) For true believers it can provide the minimum justification they need to accept that the strike was appropriate. (obviously not everyone on this board is impressed by the statement so I don't know how well that is working)
2) For the rest we will argue about what an "idiot" he is and how could he not know X, distracting the news cycle from both the strike itself and but probably mainly to further distract from the bad news that keeps dripping (last week was a doozy for Trump, as they all are lately).

Don't you notice how every time there is significant bad news for Trump something frivolous comes along and sucks the oxygen out of the room? (Buying Greenland? What happened with that? 15 flushes? Showers that don't work? Why would *any* president spend their time on such fluff?)

[seanD]

I think the statement serves two purposes

1) For true believers it can provide the minimum justification they need to accept that the strike was appropriate. (obviously not everyone on this board is impressed by the statement so I don't know how well that is working)
2) For the rest we will argue about what an "idiot" he is and how could he not know X, distracting the news cycle from both the strike itself and but probably mainly to further distract from the bad news that keeps dripping (last week was a doozy for Trump, as they all are lately).

Don't you notice how every time there is significant bad news for Trump something frivolous comes along and sucks the oxygen out of the room? (Buying Greenland? What happened with that? 15 flushes? Showers that don't work? Why would *any* president spend their time on such fluff?)

I think that's a stretch, man. The Iranian killing was distracting enough -- what an anti-Trump individual, including the anti-Trump MSM could very easily argue a wag the dog scenario. You don't have to go out of your way to show everyone how much of an idiot or scatterbrained you are. But to each his own.

[DivineOb]

I think that's a stretch, man. The Iranian killing was distracting enough -- what an anti-Trump individual, including the anti-Trump MSM could very easily argue a wag the dog scenario. You don't have to go out of your way to show everyone how much of an idiot or scatterbrained you are. But to each his own.

Maybe so. But I even fell for this trick again in creating this thread. He's obviously smart enough to know that saying he doesn't need an exit strategy makes him look bad if he was being serious and I fell for the bait.

[seanD]

Maybe so. But I even fell for this trick again in creating this thread. He's obviously smart enough to know that saying he doesn't need an exit strategy makes him look bad if he was being serious and I fell for the bait.

Oh, I definitely believe Trump trolls intentionally. This is evident when he tweeted that image of a cat chasing a laser dot and the whole MSM thought it was bizarre and couldn't tell what it meant. In this case, however, a distraction like this just looks more damaging to what he was trying to achieve, especially since it wasn't necessary.

[simplicio]

Oh, I definitely believe Trump trolls intentionally. This is evident when he tweeted that image of a cat chasing a laser dot and the whole MSM thought it was bizarre and couldn't tell what it meant. In this case, however, a distraction like this just looks more damaging to what he was trying to achieve, especially since it wasn't necessary.

Communicating foreign policy via trolling is appropriate for the president of the United States of America? Or am I misreading your position?

[seanD]

Communicating foreign policy via trolling is appropriate for the president of the United States of America? Or am I misreading your position?

I don't know if he was trying to cause a distraction in that particular case, but it might have just been Trump's way of saying, that's a matter of national security so I'm not going to comment.

[simplicio]

I don't know if he was trying to cause a distraction in that particular case, but it might have just been Trump's way of saying, that's a matter of national security so I'm not going to comment.

Good Lord, help us! Its come to this, "Trump's way of communicating". A diplomat would be recalled, and should be disgraced if the direction of US' might and power was communicated in such a fashion, because it would he irresponsible.

[seanD]

I'm not sure why you find that more disturbing than what Pence tweeted. To me that's even more horrifying.

[simplicio]

I'm not sure why you find that more disturbing than what Pence tweeted. To me that's even more horrifying.

Not so much "more horrifying", but it shows the degree which the administration has fallen.

I would have cast my vote for Pence as President, and had an image of Pence's role in the administration as an adult in the room. This latest does not pass the smell test, it stinks of manufactured reasons for war. The threat of escalation is real, Iran is signaling its intention to resume nuclear development, hinting at retaliation, and isolating the US in the region. None of which are in America's interests.

Bush's administration is marred over the wmd evidence (and I don't concede it was all manufactured), whether we went to war over falsified evidence.