Cleveland Sports Forum

Joe, you are doing what you do best. Boring the crap out of people.

Hey I get it though. You can not help it.

Trump revokes John Brennan's security clearance

President Trump has revoked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan due to "erratic conduct and behavior," according to White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders at today's press briefing.

Why it matters:

Sanders said that Trump was using his "constitutional authority" as president to revoke Brennan's clearance — something that has never been done before, according to Lawfare. Trump is also "evaluating action" regarding the current and former clearances of several other former intelligence and law enforcement officials like James Comey, James Clapper, Michael Hayden, Sally Yates, Susan Rice, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Bruce Ohr.

The timing:

The decision comes one day after Brennan responded to Trump's infamous tweet calling former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman a "dog" with a tweet of his own:

"It’s astounding how often you fail to live up to minimum standards of decency, civility, & probity. Seems like you will never understand what it means to be president, nor what it takes to be a good, decent, & honest person. So disheartening, so dangerous for our Nation."

Sanders denied that the decision to revoke Brennan's clearance was due to his continued political criticism of Trump, instead saying that he "recently leveraged his status as a former high ranking official with access to highly sensitive information to make a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations, wild outbursts on the internet and television about this administration."

What it means:

Although most former officials will lose their physical access to classified material when they leave their government position, they maintain their eligibility for access — having passed extensive security clearances — for a few years, according to Lawfare.

Be smart:

Ohr is still active in his role at the Justice Department and will need his security clearance not only for his day to day responsibilities but also for an interview with House Republicans slated to take place later this month.

https://www.apnews.com/39bc85fbe38b4cbc ... cal-critic

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America has a recycling problem — and China is making it worse

For the last 25 years, the U.S. has exported about one-third of its recycling, the majority of it going to China. Yet most Americans recycle without realizing the complex process behind the waste management system.

This year, new regulations from the Chinese government are limiting how much recycling the U.S. can send them. That’s creating financial challenges, especially for local communities who are starting to see the consequences in their own backyards.

https://www.axios.com/americas-recyclin ... f7e62.html

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Qatar to invest $15 billion in Turkey, Ankara says

ANKARA, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Qatar pledged $15 billion of investment in Turkey that will be channeled into Turkish financial markets and banks, a government source told Reuters on Wednesday.

The investment package was announced after Qatar'sEmir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, as Turkey grapples with a collapse in the lira and tensions with NATO ally the United States.

The currency has lost nearly 40 percent against the dollar this year, driven by worries over Erdogan's growing influence on the economy and his repeated calls for lower interest rates despite high inflation.

The Turkish lira had rebounded some 6 percent on Wednesday after the central bank squeezed lira liquidity in the market, effectively pushing up rates and supporting the currency.

Turkey and Qatar have traditionally maintained good ties and Ankara stood by Doha after Saudi Arabia and other Arab states severed diplomatic, trade and travel ties with Qatar last year, accusing it of financing terrorism, a charge Doha denies.

Erdogan's spokesman praised Qatari-Turkish relations on Twitter. "The fundamentals of the Turkish economy are robust and Turkey will emerge stronger from this process," Ibrahim Kalin wrote.

[THE IZMIT AND KIRIKKALE REFINERIES IN TURKEY AND THE QATAR CHEMICAL COMPANY ARE A FEW OF OUR OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS. THE TARIFFS ON TURKEY IS A PROBLEM]

https://www.nasdaq.com/article/qatar-to ... 0815-00697

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About the tariff surcharge

The U.S. government recently imposed "an additional ad valorem duty of 25 percent" on many products imported from China. (This is in addition to the existing duty, which is about 4–5 percent for most of the products we import.) The additional duties took effect on July 6, 2018.

Products covered by this first round of tariffs include milling machines, lathes, and many of their parts and accessories. (Hold onto your hat: Two more rounds of tariffs – which will cover even more of the products we sell – are currently in the review stage and are likely to take effect in September.)

Because of this, we have had to raise our prices on items covered by the new tariffs. Unlike some of our competitors, however, we aren't increasing our prices by 25 percent. We're trying to keep our prices as low as possible and absorb what we can of the cost increase. For most of the items that we import directly, we have raised the price to you by about 17-20 percent.

What is the "tariff surcharge" shown below the price on the product page?

It's an approximation of the additional duty for that product, and it's the basis for the increase from our pre-tariff price. We break it out that way for two reasons:

So that you have a better understanding of our price increase

So that we can more easily "undo" the price increase if US trade policy changes

Is the "tariff surcharge" included in the price?

Yes!

[AS A COMPANY, WE ARE GETTING HIT PRETTY HARD BY OUR SUPPLIERS AND VENDORS. INCLUDING MY ENGINEERING DUTIES, I REQUEST QUOTES FOR OUR MACHINES IN THE FIELD AS WELL AS PURCHASING PARTS FOR THOSE MACHINES. JUST GUESSING, 75% OF THE QUOTES COME BACK WITH SOME TYPE OF A SURCHARGE LINE ITEM. IN THE END, WE ARE ALL PAYING THE PRICE FOR THESE TARIFFS]

https://littlemachineshop.com/info/tariffs.php

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Rusty! Sounds like you and Trump are two peas in a pod.

1. ‘SADLY MISTAKEN’

Admiral Who Oversaw Bin Laden Raid: Revoke My Security Clearance, Too

William H. McRaven, the retired Navy admiral who led the SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, published a scathing op-ed Thursday in The Washington Post that criticized President Donald Trump for revoking the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan.

McRaven began by calling Brennan “one of the finest public servants I have ever known.” He then told Trump: “I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency.”

McRaven concluded the op-ed by writing that

“If you think for a moment that your McCarthy-era tactics will suppress the voices of criticism, you are sadly mistaken. The criticism will continue until you become the leader we prayed you would be.”

McRaven’s words come only a day after the White House’s announcement that Brennan’s clearance would be revoked. Brennan—one of Trump’s most vocal critics—also fired back on his own, writing that stripping him of his security clearance was a thinly-veiled attempt to “suppress freedom of speech & punish critics.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/admiral-w ... o?ref=home

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Walmart executives believe that the economy is the best for their customers in decades, according to an analyst who spoke with Bloomberg News’ Joe Weisenthal.

Joe Weisenthal @TheStalwart
Scott Mushkin, retail analyst at Wolfe Research, just said on #WDYM that based on his conversations, Walmart executives believe that right now is the best economy for their customers that they've seen in two decades.
1:39 PM - Aug 16, 2018

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FBI agents investigating Trump can really smell the Trump support in WalMart now!

Also, just announced, Youth Unemployment just hit a 52 year low.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/youth-unem ... 1534455755

So we already had a record low unemployment rate for blacks. A record low unemployment for Hispanics. And the lowest rate since just after World War 2 for Women. Now a record low for youths aged 16 to 24 too.

Great day on market again yesterday too.

This economy is really booming.

Hyuge!

Opinions
Our republic will never be the same



By Michael Gerson
Columnist
August 16 at 6:22 PM

From the beginning of the American republic, its founders obsessed about how it all would end. “Democracy never lasts long,” said John Adams. “There never was a Democracy Yet, that did not commit suicide.”
George Washington used his farewell address to warn that partisan “factions” could tear the country apart. The Federalists worried that domestic disunity could be exploited by hostile foreign governments. James Madison in particular feared that liberty might be lost by “gradual and silent encroachments of those in power.”

Check. Check. Check.

But there is one factor in our politics that the founders could not have predicted: the debilitating infection of celebrity culture.

Were Washington to be resurrected, it would be difficult to explain how history’s most powerful nation, after surviving civil war and global conflict, turned for leadership to a celebrity known for abusing other celebrities on television. It is the single strangest development in American history. And we have only begun to process its consequences.

It is not that American leaders have never been famous. Dwight D. Eisenhower was one of the most famous men in the world for organizing victory in World War II. Ronald Reagan was famous for his acting career but also for being governor of California and an articulate conservative.

Fame usually has some rough relationship to accomplishment. Celebrity results from mastering the latest technologies of self-exposure. Ingrid Bergman was famous. Kim Kardashian is a celebrity. Franklin D. Roosevelt was famous. Donald Trump is . . . not in the same category.

Within its proper bounds — confined to stunts on a desert island or in a fake boardroom — the ethos of reality television is relatively harmless. Transposed to the highest level of politics, it is deeply damaging.

This is not only a matter of preferring a certain style of politics (though I think we should do better than the discourse of unhinged tweeting). The problem is a defect of spirit. The founders generally believed that the survival and success of a republic required leaders and citizens with certain virtues: moderation, self-restraint and concern for the common good. They were convinced that respect for a moral order made ordered liberty possible.

The culture of celebrity is the complete negation of this approach to politics. It represents a kind of corrupt, decaying capitalism in which wealth is measured in exposure. It elevates appearance over accomplishment. Because rivalries and feuds are essential to the story line, it encourages theatrical bitterness. Instead of pursuing a policy vision, the first calling of the celebrity is to maintain a brand.

Is the skill set of the celebrity suited to the reality of governing? On the evidence, not really. Our celebrity president, as on North Korea, is prone to take credit for nonexistent accomplishments. As on the border wall and the travel ban, he deals in absurd symbols rather than realistic policies. As on Russia policy, he is easily manipulated by praise. As on the revoking of former CIA director John Brennan’s security clearance, he uses the power of his office to pursue personal vendettas. Instead of yelling at the television when people displease him, he now has the power to hurt them in practical ways.

When a real estate developer attacks an enemy in the tabloids, it is a public-relations spectacle. When the president of the United States targets and harms a citizen without due process, it is oppression.

But the broader influence of celebrity culture on politics is to transform citizens into spectators. In his book “How Democracy Ends,” David Runciman warns of a political system in which “the people are simply watching a performance in which their role is to give or withhold their applause at the appropriate moments.” In this case, democracy becomes “an elaborate show, needing ever more characterful performers to hold the public’s attention.” Mr. Madison, meet Omarosa.

Trump is sometimes called a populist. But all this is a far cry from the prairie populism of William Jennings Bryan, who sought to elevate the influence of common people. Instead, we are seeing a drama with one hero, pitted against an array of villains. And those villains are defined as anyone who opposes or obstructs the president, including the press, the courts and federal law enforcement. Trump’s stump speeches are not a call to arms against want; they are a call to oppose his enemies. This is not the agenda of a movement; it is the agenda of a cult.
Will the republic survive all this? Of course it will. But it won’t be the same.

"... turned for leadership to a celebrity known for abusing other celebrities on television.

Really? That is what Donald Trump is known for?

That's like saying Thomas Edison was known for inventing the Kinetoscope.

Donald Trump was a household name in America two decades before he was on a reality show. But the left wing media would rather eat their laptop then type the truth, how successful he was in the real estate and business world. And how successful he has been at creating a booming economy in America right now.

Actually, he is known for a whole lot worse.

But you already know that.

Or choose to ignore it.

Absolutely I choose to ignore it.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I didn’t vote for Trump to be my husband. I didn’t vote for Trump to be my pastor. I didn’t vote for Trump to be a buddy to sit and have beers with. I voted for him to be the CEO of our country, and make it great again. And YOU are ignoring the fact he is doing an EXCEPTIONAL job at that.

This country is way better off now then it was 2 years ago. Jobs, the economy, national security. All the items important to me, by any measure, is better.

And we still have 6 more years to go.

You’re welcome.

You keep worrying about style. I’ll keep worrying about substance.

I think you are being to narrowly focused and short-sighted even where you praise Trump, Hillbilly. The few things he claims as "wins" are smoke and mirrors in the long run. The damage he is doing will be long-lasting and outweigh any short-term benefits -- and more and more so the longer he stays in office and the more he seeks to be a dicator about implementing his foolishness.

Saying that support of Trump is about "substance" over "style" is laughable.

To the extent that Trump represents America, it isn't looking "Great." It is looking like Trump -- small, selfish, and petty because those are the values and the substance of the policies that Trump is implementing.

What exactly do you think is going to blow up in his face in the long run, Peter?

I did not say that all his trouble-making will blow up "in his face" while he remains in office, although some likely will and some already is. But he is well on the path to creating long-term problems for the country in which he is looking to benefit politically from short-term benefits and leave his successors to pay the long-term bills of sugar-fed parties he seeks to profit from and leave others to clean up after.

A few things that come immediately to mind:

Adding a trillion dollars to the deficit to fund tax breaks that principally benefit the wealthy and that are not raising the real wages of workers, whose spending is what will sustain the economy in the long term. Sure, it creates a sugar high jump to the economy, like everyone expected it would. But a lot more of the money was spent buying back stocks, which only puts more wealth immediately back in the hands of those of us who least needed extra financial windfalls.

Undermining the current health care system instead of making real efforts to make the corrections needed to make it work better for everyone.

Engaging in showmanship diplomacy without seriously preparing and without any real plan to address the complexity of the real world, and then praising dictators and declaring victory without getting any REAL concessions or creating any real incentive for change. He has done a lot more harm by dismantling the human resource infrastructure of the State Department so that we lose the benefit of the experience of the people who have actually worked on foreign affairs for their entire careers and understand the complexities of foreign diplomacy.

Emphasizing short term gains for business over the long term needs to address the impact of human activity on the environment and the costs that such impacts are creating to society and will impose in ever-increasing measures if we continue on our present course rather than prudently addressing those issues now.

Climate change denial in general and willful blindness to the overwhelming evidence of the impact of human activity on that concern. The impact that U.S. indifference to damage that we and other highly industrialized countries are doing to the world-wide environment will have on the rest of the world and how that will create more and more social unrest and the problems for us that comes with that - things that being the biggest bully on the block will not resolve.

He enables and encourages Russian interference in democracies here and throughout the world. It is not good that Trump is sucking up to Putin and that he refuses to let the country see what is business connections actually are with Russian political elites. It is not good that he refuses to divest of his businesses and instead governs to provide himself the highest levels of benefit from tax breaks to letting his hotels be used by foreign governments to curry favor. Supporting dictators and alienating democratic allies is a long-term recipe for disaster.

I know you poo-poo the idea that national leadership should try to model values and ideals of our society. And I understand that no one is perfect and above reproach in all aspects of their personal or professional lives. But Trump introduces a new low in this respect, and one which hugely disserves the nation in its emergence with Trump as the new normal. He lies more often than not about whatever he talks about -- literally. No one can trust his word, not the public and not foreign leaders. That is not a sound foundation for leadership of any kind. He is more concerned about self-aggrandizement than anything else, whether it is warranted (or even factually supportable) or not. He puts himself above country and party. He is destroying norms of government upon which health democracies and republics are founded.

He is the biggest source of "fake" news in the country, and yet seeks to demonize the press whenever it seeks to call him into account. That will hurt the country and him in the long run, because it misleads and recklessly divides the people and undermines any and every challenge to his own constant parade of lies. Hiring yes-people incapable of doing their jobs for high level government positions and then offering $180k annual bribes when they can no longer be tolerated in those positions in order to force them to say only good things about the president is blowing up in his face at this moment.

Exceeding all budget requests on military spending when massively cutting taxes and cutting or freezing pretty every department budget item aimed at helping the poor.

Out-Nixoning Nixon.

Really, the list can go on and on.

Hillbilly, I have zero expectation that any of this will carry any weight with you. Afterall, you have been enthusiatically carrying his water on this forum pretty much alone. But, from my perspective, Trump is continuing to show that is he is the worst president -- and probably the worst human being -- who has ever held that office. The fact that, overall, I personally will probably finacially benefit from his tax breaks for businesses and the most wealthy in the country is never going to outweigh, in my view and values, the harm he has already done and is continuing to do to our country and the world.

Well, you are right. Your points do not carry any weight with me. But not because I'm ignoring your post or any facts. But because you did not post any facts. Let's take it one by one. Though I doubt you are even reading because some of your points have already been proven true by facts I have posted here in recent months.

Adding a trillion dollars to the deficit to fund tax breaks

I have already posted facts here that the government is taking in record tax revenue. The problem is not the tax breaks, the problem is spending. Trump has not addressed it yet, due mainly to the fact that he needed to rebuild our military that Obama let deteriorate.

I don't know where you got that bullshit that the military did not ask for that money, but you need to stop watching that news source immediately. Seriously, do a quick search for God's sake. That is idiotic. Widely reported before Obama left office of how our military was unfit.

I just did a quick search and this is the first site that popped up.

https://www.politifact.com/texas/statem ... lvage-par/

And I quote ...

As it turns out, it’s true that some of U.S. military planes are 20 years old — and some are much older.

Contacted by email, Carl Rhodes, director of Force Modernization and Employment Program at RAND Project AIR FORCE, a federally funded research and development center that provides analytical support to the Air Force, told us "some are over 60 years old like the B-52" while "others are brand new, like the F-22 and F-35."

At a Feb. 9, 2016, news conference, Major General James F. Martin Jr., the Air Force deputy assistant secretary for budget, said the average age of its aircraft is over 27.

The Air Force Posture Statement for fiscal year 2017, released on February 10, 2016, states that makes the current fleet the oldest ever: "While our Airmen remain heavily engaged around the world, the average age of our aircraft is at an all-time high, and the size of our force and state of our full-spectrum readiness are at or near all-time lows."

I also find it funny that this is the first concern you bring up. Yet Obama added more money to our national debt than every president before him COMBINED, yet you never complained one time.

Second - Undermining the current health care system instead of making real efforts to make the corrections needed to make it work better for everyone.

1) He is instituting his "associations" plan. Which allows groups of workers across the country and across state lines to purchase insurance as a group which will allow them to pay much less for insurance.
2) He put into place "the right to try", allowing terminal ill patients the right to try experimental drugs, cause they have nothing to lose.
3) He announced his "American Patients First" plan to reduce drug prices.
4) He attempted to repeal ObamaCare, which has been a disaster, and would have done it if not for John McCain, who campaigned on repealing it the last time he ran for senate, but voted no at the last moment. And let's get one thing straight right now, every single year after Obamacare was implemented my health coverage insurance rates through my company went up. Every year. And my coverage got worse. Every year. And I paid more out of pocket. Every year. So don't try telling me how great Obamacare is supposed to be. It was a disaster for the working man like me.

So while the jury is still out because his plans have not yet fully took effect he is indeed working behind the scenes with people Like (Dr) Rand Paul to get these plans into place and helping Americans. We'll see what happens. In other words, he is "making a real effort".

I will also say, if he could get a single democrat to vote for anything it would make it easier to pass plans to help Americans. But they are more interested in resisting than helping Americans.

On your next point, diplomacy. Why would he trust and work with the state department? Right after taking office they were leaking all sorts of info trying to make him look bad. His call with Australia and Mexico come to mind. Both the Justice Department and the State Department were full of Obama holdovers more interested in scoring political points to hurt Trump then they were to work with him to help America. He has a small group he can trust, and that is all he can work with now. Not of his doing.

Now I will say, he does have a much different style of diplomacy than those before him. So you may end up right that this might end up hurting us in the long run. I will wait and see on this one too. Unlike you I won't be afraid to tip the hat when you are right.

Now to your points on the environment and climate change. What are these facts you speak of? All I've seen are outrageous predictions that never come true and doctored evidence. I have posted numerous articles combating the lies of man made climate change. I have yet to see any proof of it. So you and I will not have anything to talk about here. I do, however, have that great spot of lake front property in Glacier National Park that I will sell you. Send me a check.

Your next point ... He enables and encourages Russian interference in democracies here and throughout the world. ... Again, I just addressed this not long ago here.

There was a press conference that Obama had before leaving office where he was asked about not taking a more harsh tone with Russia publicly. He said something to the effect of, if anybody thinks that the way to get anywhere with Russia is to berate them in the public eye simply does not know what they are talking about. Loosely paraphrased. (Laura Ingraham played the clip on her show a few weeks ago)

So Trump runs the same diplomatic playbook as Obama and he is horrible. ... Trump is also vilified for not supporting his intelligence agencies at that Helsinki presser. The same intelligence agencies that tried to screw him out of the election and firing people left and right now. Yeah, let's blindly trust those people.

Now I just posted about this but to repeat ...
1) Trump bombed hundreds of Russian soldiers posing as mercenaries in Syria. Known Russian soldiers.
2) Trump expelled 60 Russian diplomats from the U.S.
3) Trump has imposed harsh sanctions on Russia that is having an effect on their economy.
4) Just before the Helsinki trip Trump tried to talk Germany out of buying Russian oil and helping the Russian economy.
5) Trump has forced NATO allied countries to start paying what they are supposed to, causing NATO to be more financially secure and as strong as ever.

Simply put, Trump is the worst Russian and dictator colluder ever!! (Is colluder a word? Oh well)

There is an actual complaint for you. One that is factual for a change...

When I asked you what your concerns were I actually thought you were going to say his tariffs on other countries.

I'm interested in seeing how his style of diplomacy works out. He seems to say very nice things in public about everyone he has disagreements with, but behind the scenes he is very tough. Not sure how this will work out but we will see. You may be right about that one.

I am also interested in seeing how all these tariffs and trade deals work out. I must say I am more confident in that one though. I think all these countries need us more than we need them and they will eventually come around. I am glad that we are finally trying to do something about all these trade deficits that total into the hundreds of billions.

I do not share your concern about anything else you brought up though.

‘CLOSED LOOP’

Ex-Fox News Analyst Ralph Peters Calls Former Colleagues Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson ‘Prostitutes’

‘The polite word is prostitutes, so we’ll just leave it that,’ Ralph Peters said when he was asked about Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.

“As a a former Russia analyst,” Lt. Col. Ralph Peters said on CNN’s Reliable Sources Sunday, “I am convinced that the president of the United States is in thrall to Vladimir Putin.”

That was hardly his most provocative statement of the morning.

Peters, who left his job as a military analyst for Fox News earlier this year declaring the network a “destructive propaganda machine” for President Trump, spent much of his sit-down with Brian Stelter excoriating his former employer. He explained that he left Fox because he could not be part of an institution that was “assaulting the Constitution, the constitutional order, the rule of law.”

“Fox isn’t immoral, it’s amoral,” Peters explained. “It was opportunistic. Trump was just a gift to Fox and Fox in turn was a gift to Trump.” Echoing Stelter — and inadvertently evoking a particularly iconic moment from HBO’s Succession — he said, “it’s a closed loop, so people who only listen to Fox have an utterly skewed view of reality.”

Later in the segment, Stelter played side-by-side clips from Fox News and MSNBC on Trump’s decision to strip former CIA director John Brennan of his security clearance. While Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson accused Brennan of “serious misconduct” and questioned his “intellectual” competence, the MSNBC hosts and pundits blasted the president for punishing his prominent political critic.

Asked by Stelter if his former colleagues are “proud of their performance,” Peters closed his eyes for a second and said, “The polite word is prostitutes, so we’ll just leave it that.”

“I don’t want to be the go-to guy for Fox-bashing forever,” Peters added. “But what Fox is doing is causing real harm to our country right now.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-fox-ne ... s?ref=home

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You know a lot of todays arguments can come back to one thing. Media. If they all covered stories fairly many of us would end up on common ground far more often. But sadly it is not the case.

A recent study by The Media Research Center showed that 91% of coverage of Trump since he announced he was running for president has been negative.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/20 ... new-study/

There are liberals who only watch news coverage on major media like CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and MSNBC that would be shocked to find out that Trump ever does anything right.

Recently Korea sent remains of dead U.S. soldiers home, per Trump asking Li'l Kim for that favor. ABC covered that story for 21 seconds. NBC, MSNBC, CNN, and CBS combined to cover that story for 0 seconds. ZERO.

Just one example off top of my head.

Fox News covered the remains arriving home live.

Those networks are simply the propaganda arm of the democrat party now. Period. They do not report good news from Trump administration, and repeatedly hammer what they deem as negative news.

I find that when I engage in a debate with a liberal, 99% of the time it's not that they are lying, they are just terribly misinformed and uninformed.

And to make matters worse liberals always stoop to insults, trying to act like conservatives are idiots, when it is almost always the conservatives that are informed about the subject.

I don't come here to "carry water" for Trump. I come here to share the good news because I know many of my liberal friends here are not hearing about it on their news shows or reading about it in their newspapers.

Some say ignorance if bliss. If that is the way you wish to live life that is fine. Your prerogative. But you guys really should make an effort to be informed and not just listen to red meat from liberal media 100% of the time. Take 10 minutes of a morning with your coffee to log on to the Wall Street Journal and just see what is going on from the other side. They are pretty darn fair, IMO. I've seen negative stories and Op-Eds there about Trump as well. Or take a half hour of your day and turn on a hard news show on Fox News (Not talking about commentators shows like Hannity or Tucker, talking about hard news, like Baier, Breem or Wallace. There are always democrats on those shows arguing their points as well) just to see things from another side.

If you choose not to fine, but please quit tossing insults at people who disagree with you when you obviously have no idea what you are talking about.

I mean I literally just about fell out of my chair when Peter said the military did not ask for the money Trump got for them. For the last couple years of Obama's last term it was widely reported that the military was in disrepair and unfit. That they were literally going through airplane graveyards looking for parts for our military planes. High ranking military officers would not talk about it, because if you diss your commander-in-chief your career is over. But many retired military guys were speaking out about what they were hearing from their friends still serving. Trump talked about it quite a bit on the campaign trail. I find it unfathomable that some Americans did not know it. This was a huge story and a huge concern for every American!

If your news outlets hid that from you they ... well ... at some point it is your own fault. Everyone knows the truth about them now. It is truly fake news. It's up to you if you want to be truly informed or not.