Bolton's Book

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

This is only vaguely-related to the thread, but did you see Trump whining about Fox news?

Oh well it's my thread.

I read somewhere he is looking to buy another station that he wants Don-not nice-but-dim to run as a Trump TV channel.

[oxmixmudd]

The first few entries in that review make me think he's not the least bit objective about it...

I'm not sure it matters. He's right about Bolton betraying his country for a cash grab. Had Bolton done his civic duty and testified, we may have been rid of trump in time to respond objectively to covid-19. That makes Bolton also at least potentially responsible for 10's of thousands of lives.

Otoh, the gop being 99% trump minions may have made Bolton's testimony moot even if he'd given it. And he may have been absolutely aware of that, in that unless he had some sort of backing by the democrats he just wasnt going to take the risk or loss that testimony at that time would have meant.

[Cow Poke]

I tend to agree. If he has published what he should not have, he will have to accept the consequences. However, given Bolton's political position and his past experience I consider that extremely unlikely. He is a blood red Republican Hawk through and through.

I admit that watching these creatures turning on one another is quite fascinating.

"creatures".

Interesting.

[Whateverman]

Oh well it's my thread.

I read somewhere he is looking to buy another station that he wants Don-not nice-but-dim to run as a Trump TV channel.

I hope he spends the money, because the channel will flop.

[Reepicheep]

Otoh, the gop being 99% trump minions may have made Bolton's testimony moot even if he'd given it.

That is the argument Bolton made during his ABC interview yesterday. To paraphrase: Boulton said that the GOP Senators would have found Trump innocent, no matter who testified or what evidence was presented.

[Whateverman]

That is the argument Bolton made during his ABC interview yesterday. To paraphrase: Boulton said that the GOP Senators would have found Trump innocent, no matter who testified or what evidence was presented.

He was absolutely right. Congressional Republicans are the real problem, not Trump.

[JimL]

He was absolutely right. Congressional Republicans are the real problem, not Trump.

Got to give a little credit to the people who continue to support those republicans as if they were blind to what's happening to their country. Perhaps they like the idea of a dictatorship. They seem to admire Putin.

[Cow Poke]

That is the argument Bolton made during his ABC interview yesterday. To paraphrase: Boulton said that the GOP Senators would have found Trump innocent, no matter who testified or what evidence was presented.

I think that's a dumb argument (not from you) - if there was a case to be made - it could have been made to the American people through the hearings. Had it been a STRONG case, there may have been a much bigger response at the ballot box.

The way Bolton's doing it - there is no testimony under oath, nothing subject to cross examination --- he can just spew forth whatever he wishes. It's a classic "tell all" book for money.

[Cow Poke]

...he wants Don-not nice-but-dim...

I actually had thought you were higher class than this.

[Whateverman]

Got to give a little credit to the people who continue to support those republicans as if they were blind to what's happening to their country. Perhaps they like the idea of a dictatorship. They seem to admire Putin.

While you're right, this points to a question I've had for a long time now:

How much should congressmen/women be beholden to their constituents?

If a state has an honest/ brilliant senator who represents a majority of his/her state's voters who support Trump - shouldn't he support Trump too, even if he thinks it's a bad idea? There are valid arguments for Yes and No. People elected to Congress should be leaders, and know when a particular thing (a piece of legislation, a vote in a sub-committee, support for a certain idea/person, etc) is good/bad for their state - independent of voter opinion. On the other hand, they were elected to represent the voters, so they should represent their voters.

All I'm saying is that when *I* blame congressional Republicans, I'm blaming them for their lack of leadership, and their total abdication of responsibility for the consequences of a Trump administration. Yes, the voters deserve "credit" for continuing to support Trump despite his rank incompetence, but the Republican men and women of Congress should know better. They were elected to know better.

[Cow Poke]

While you're right, this points to a question I've had for a long time now:

How much should congressmen/women be beholden to their constituents?

If a state has an honest/ brilliant senator who represents a majority of his/her state's voters who support Trump - shouldn't he support Trump too, even if he thinks it's a bad idea? There are valid arguments for Yes and No. People elected to Congress should be leaders, and know when a particular thing (a piece of legislation, a vote in a sub-committee, support for a certain idea/person, etc) is good/bad for their state - independent of voter opinion. On the other hand, they were elected to represent the voters, so they should represent their voters.

All I'm saying is that when *I* blame congressional Republicans, I'm blaming them for their lack of leadership, and their total abdication of responsibility for the consequences of a Trump administration. Yes, the voters deserve "credit" for continuing to support Trump despite his rank incompetence, but the Republican men and women of Congress should know better. They were elected to know better.

This is actually an interesting point, though almost impossible to implement.
Since MONEY is the mother's milk of politics, and ALL politicians maintain office with MONEY, they are beholden to their respective political parties.
If they go against the party, they lose funding.

It would truly take a brilliant and resourceful politician to go against the flow of their own party, to convince their constituents to support their 'standing up to' their own party, and get reelected.

Personally, I would greatly respect that.

[Mountain Man]

I haven't heard much from Biden recently. He is apparently following the adage "never interfere with your enemy when he is making a mistake", although perhaps the version "never interfere with your enemy when he is destroying himself" is more accurate.

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[Mountain Man]

I think that's a dumb argument (not from you) - if there was a case to be made - it could have been made to the American people through the hearings. Had it been a STRONG case, there may have been a much bigger response at the ballot box.

The way Bolton's doing it - there is no testimony under oath, nothing subject to cross examination --- he can just spew forth whatever he wishes. It's a classic "tell all" book for money.

And then there's the fact that the judge made clear in his recent decision that Bolton can be held civilly and possibly criminally liable for rushing the book to publication without sufficiently clearing it with the relevant government agencies.

[DivineOb]

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Trump is up to 55.2% disapproval, with a net approval rating of -14.1%. I think Biden is doing just fine by keeping his head down and letting Trump continue to humiliate himself.

child_rapist.jpg

[oxmixmudd]

And then there's the fact that the judge made clear in his recent decision that Bolton can be held civilly and possibly criminally liable for rushing the book to publication without sufficiently clearing it with the relevant government agencies.

I'm sure Bolton can find plenty of people willing to help pay his legal bills if Trump tries such a strategy. I for one am happy at least one of the hundreds of people that know Trump is a corrupt lying idiot and can prove it is willing to put it into print.

Of course, the Trump/GOP smear machine does make it likely anyone that actually speaks up will suffer greatly. I guess the only difference between Trump and Putin then is that Putin is not above having people that expose his misdeeds executed. Trump hasn't quite gotten there yet.