xpost
I didn't mean it would start with preemptive nuking, but it might end that way: I can certainly imagine Trump deciding on a "surgical" strike on NK's nuclear capabilities and things quickly escalating from there
― Zelda Zonk, Thursday, 4 January 2018 23:02 (six years ago) link
Americans are very into nuclear attacks if they believe that it's a tradeoff against US soldiers dying in an invasion.
https://news.stanford.edu/2017/08/08/americans-weigh-nuclear-war/
Their findings demonstrate that, contrary to the nuclear taboo thesis, a clear majority of Americans would approve of using nuclear weapons first against the civilian population of a nonnuclear-armed adversary, even killing 2 million Iranian civilians, if they believed that such use would save the lives of 20,000 U.S. soldiers.
― jmm, Thursday, 4 January 2018 23:03 (six years ago) link
then i dunno what your point is cuz mine is that americans have a boundless capacity to rationalise military atrocities xxp
― pee-wee and the power men (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 4 January 2018 23:03 (six years ago) link
the unthinkable human cost aside, nuking NK as a "distraction" would not be good for trump politically
the politics of pre-emptive nuclear war! strange times. i think that the problem with guessing at trump's take on the political consequences is that his decisionmaking is driven more by inpulse than reason. this is the guy that thought liberals would like him more if he fired comey, and was surrounded with multiple inner-circle people advising the same. he has no clue what's going on. the only thing he reads are his speeches. so yeah, it might not make any sense politically, but...he's also so very dumb and childlike, and the big nuclear button might be a little bit more of a flashy and attention-getting issue for him to focus on.
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 4 January 2018 23:19 (six years ago) link
i mean does trump want to run again or does he just like the excuse of 'campaigning' in order to have ego-boosting rallies with his true believers
― maura, Thursday, 4 January 2018 23:23 (six years ago) link
also, it's january 4 and this thread is almost at 600 posts. good lord
― maura, Thursday, 4 January 2018 23:24 (six years ago) link
It would be easy to fabricate a case - we saw that NK had loaded a warhead onto a missile and was hours away from launching at X. Who would know it was a lie? It's extremely unlikely, but justification wouldn't be a problem - fallout would be (radiation and political).
― Leaghaidh am brón an t-anam bochd (dowd), Thursday, 4 January 2018 23:29 (six years ago) link
Here we go. You can buy it (and read it) tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. President.— Michael Wolff (@MichaelWolffNYC) January 4, 2018
― maura, Thursday, 4 January 2018 23:29 (six years ago) link
can't really believe we're having a debate about the optics of preemptive nuclear strikes, but gbx otm
― k3vin k., Thursday, 4 January 2018 23:43 (six years ago) link
Seeing a report that the current head of the NSA, Mike Rogers, has announced he'll be retiring.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 4 January 2018 23:45 (six years ago) link
i guess i worry about the instincts of a person who has demonstrably responded to any criticism by lashing back as hard as he can, often with terrible political consequences for him and his party, and then brags to others about having that impulse
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 4 January 2018 23:48 (six years ago) link
it's not hard for anyone to look back at the brief history of nuclear weapons and conclude that a pre-emptive strike never, ever makes sense for any reason. that's mutually assured destruction. but does anyone think that trump has even the most cursory knowledge of truman, WWII, escalation, cuban missile crisis, détente, SALT, etc? he literally doesn't know.
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 4 January 2018 23:54 (six years ago) link
Whomp whomp
SCOOP: The Mercers split from Steve Bannon was so complete — & so bitter — that they cut off funding for Bannon's private security detail. More juicy details TK as we update our story. https://t.co/SXrjOD3miD— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) January 4, 2018
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 4 January 2018 23:56 (six years ago) link
nyt: now with "juicy details TK"
― Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Friday, 5 January 2018 00:10 (six years ago) link
MSNBC’s Katy Tur just revealed the sordid details of how Trump seduced friends’ wives
― sleeve, Friday, 5 January 2018 00:11 (six years ago) link
xpost As it's in reference to Bannon, they could be using 'juicy' literally.
― Bobby Buttrock (Old Lunch), Friday, 5 January 2018 00:13 (six years ago) link
I wouldn't call puss "juicy"
― Evan, Friday, 5 January 2018 00:51 (six years ago) link
Typo
― Evan, Friday, 5 January 2018 00:52 (six years ago) link
Whoops!
EXCLUSIVE: Mueller's Investigation reveals details of how Trump had WH counsel lobby Sessions not to recuse; how a WH lawyer tried to mislead the president about whether he could fire Comey; Preibus notes corroborate some of Comey's claims. https://t.co/OxhitbBfg2— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) January 5, 2018
Wow. McGahn lobbied Sessions to remain in charge of the inquiry, but "Mr. McGahn was unsuccessful, and the president erupted in anger in front of numerous White House officials, saying he needed his attorney general to protect him." https://t.co/M4XIkww3yT— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) January 5, 2018
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 5 January 2018 00:55 (six years ago) link
It’s like he’s never heard the “...and while i am AN attorney, I am not YOUR attorney...” speil/joke before.
― y'know, LIBS! libertarians, libertines, even liberians and librarians (Hunt3r), Friday, 5 January 2018 01:04 (six years ago) link
What is a speil
― y'know, LIBS! libertarians, libertines, even liberians and librarians (Hunt3r), Friday, 5 January 2018 01:05 (six years ago) link
xp re: Ned's quoted tweets: two very small pieces of a much, much larger puzzle that Mueller must piece together successfully, if his report is to critically wound the prez. but they fit right in with all the other pieces we've seen so far, pointing to obstruction of justice.
My opinion is that indulging in obstruction of justice would not take down trump all by itself (sad!). It must be seen as the final step in a pattern of criminal activity by his campaign, and his staff, with Trump fully and knowingly complicit. iow, something too big to be dismissed as an aberration or ignorant mistake.
― A is for (Aimless), Friday, 5 January 2018 01:06 (six years ago) link
― y'know, LIBS! libertarians, libertines, even liberians and librarians (Hunt3r), 5. januar 2018 02:05 (twelve minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
It's 'mirror' in Danish
― Frederik B, Friday, 5 January 2018 01:23 (six years ago) link
I put a speil on youand nowur dane
― fuck you, your hat is horrible (Neanderthal), Friday, 5 January 2018 01:24 (six years ago) link
spiel = story
― Dan S, Friday, 5 January 2018 02:01 (six years ago) link
It's 'game' in Danish.
― Frederik B, Friday, 5 January 2018 02:12 (six years ago) link
apologies if this was already posted:https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/03/bannon-trump-white-house-alliance-322624
CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story misidentified the fictional character name Bannon uses to refer to Jared Kushner as Frodo, a “Lord of the Rings” reference, rather than Fredo, a reference to “The Godfather.”
― Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Friday, 5 January 2018 02:27 (six years ago) link
xp who the fuck cares about what the fuck anything is in danish
― j., Friday, 5 January 2018 02:58 (six years ago) link
According to Wikipedia the population of Denmark on Jan. 1 2017 was estimated at 5,748,769. One assumes the great majority of Danes speak Danish and consequently would care what the fuck anything is in danish.
― A is for (Aimless), Friday, 5 January 2018 03:12 (six years ago) link
There is evidence for the presence of one or more Danes on ILX.
― A is for (Aimless), Friday, 5 January 2018 03:13 (six years ago) link
'Anything' is 'hvad som helst' in Danish.
― Frederik B, Friday, 5 January 2018 03:15 (six years ago) link
lol
― Dan S, Friday, 5 January 2018 03:18 (six years ago) link
some have cheese
― Evan, Friday, 5 January 2018 03:19 (six years ago) link
Weak, low energy, and some might say, sad:
I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don’t exist. Look at this guy’s past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 5 January 2018 04:01 (six years ago) link
sloppy steves for lunch, kids
― Scatperson (ski-ba-bop-ba-dop-whore.) (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 5 January 2018 04:04 (six years ago) link
So Truman is seen as a Hitler-level war criminal then?
Levels? Ready Killer One...
Yam is gonna order a Sloppy Steve w/ extra mayo.
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, 5 January 2018 04:05 (six years ago) link
The Urban Dictionary definition of Sloppy Steve is one for the ages...
― Zelda Zonk, Friday, 5 January 2018 04:15 (six years ago) link
really wish i hadn't looked that up.
― piscesx, Friday, 5 January 2018 04:41 (six years ago) link
One day, someone will write a kids' picture book with the main characters Lyin' Ted, Sloppy Steve and Little Marco.
― Zelda Zonk, Friday, 5 January 2018 04:47 (six years ago) link
when you want to write a really killer tweet proving you’re not an idiot but you also don’t know the difference between curated and cultivated https://t.co/Jsc8vKCDIr— Kilgore Trout (@KT_So_It_Goes) January 5, 2018
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 5 January 2018 05:07 (six years ago) link
XP Or the worst early Springsteen song.
― Never Learn To Mike Love (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 5 January 2018 06:32 (six years ago) link
A few months ago I dreamt Trump thought I was a spy and nicknamed me Nosy O’Donnell.
― Darin, Friday, 5 January 2018 07:05 (six years ago) link
your dream nickname is much more clever than actual trump nicknames
― while my dirk gently weeps (symsymsym), Friday, 5 January 2018 08:09 (six years ago) link
It’s Frodos all the way down, right?
― Google Murray Blockchain (kingfish), Friday, 5 January 2018 09:16 (six years ago) link
Alternating Frodos, Fredos, and Faygos.
― Andrew Farrell, Friday, 5 January 2018 12:36 (six years ago) link
More like Fraud-os amirite, sad!
― Bobby Buttrock (Old Lunch), Friday, 5 January 2018 12:58 (six years ago) link
https://d2ffutrenqvap3.cloudfront.net/items/0c2i103I2w0s102Y3p03/Wolff%20on%20Stephen%20Miller.jpg
i'm not sure wolff needs to be throwing shade about sentence construction here...
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Friday, 5 January 2018 13:55 (six years ago) link
Governor Skeleton is angry with his bud Trump.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 5 January 2018 14:20 (six years ago) link
Irl lol’ing at “Nosy O’Donnell”
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 5 January 2018 14:25 (six years ago) link
misread that as Governor Skeletor and thought "to be honest how would he even be worse?"
― mark s, Friday, 5 January 2018 14:29 (six years ago) link