There probably won’t be much of a down ballot effect. Trump is so lacking in self control that he will continue to say stupid things and deny that he said them.
But his policies do not differ at all from those of the Republican party.
Tax cuts for corporations and the rich will solve all economic problems, and will pay off the national debt.Once the black man is out of the White House, there will be no race problems.Illegal immigration will be resolved by The Wall and some massive deportations.Foreign issues will be solved by bombing.Obamacare will be repealed.And replaced by Something Better.
The New York Times (NYT) is just out with a detailed, complex, investigative piece that may spell major trouble, if not 2016 political doom, for Paul Manafort, who runs the Trump Campaign.
It was previously known that deposed former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich, was (ed. — and perhaps still is and probably will be again) a major paying client of lobbyist Paul Manafort. After firing on civilian protesters in Kyev’s Independence Square in February 2014, Yanukovich was removed from office by Ukraine’s Parliament, was accused of mass murder, and escaped to Russia, where he remains under Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s protection. Of course, Yanukovych was replaced by a pro-West regime that — while imperfect — is trying mightily to protect Ukraine’s independence from Putin’s Russia. As Slate reported here — www.slate.com/… Manafort “has built a booming business working with dictators . . . [and before Yanukovich’s ouster] remade Ukrainian politics and helped shift the country into Vladimir Putin’s sphere of influence.” Thus, Manafort has worked — albeit legally — directly against American and pro-democratic interests. Yanukovich, an ex-felon (assault and armed robbery, then assault again), has sworn he will return to power, and thus remains, under Putin’s protection, a self-declared government-in-exile. See www.newsweek.com/… Yanukovich is thus by any objective account an enemy of democracy and the West.
The NYT now reports that recently discovered ledgers showing cash payments, at least one in the tens of millions of dollars, suggest that Manafort may have facilitated, and at least knew of, such payments and a massive corruption scheme. The NYT story is here — www.nytimes.com/…
The NYT investigative article needs to be read and digested in its entirety, no small feat, but here is a highlight or two. In Kyev, “government investigators examining secret records have found [Manafort’s] name, as well as companies he sought to do business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort’s main client, former President Viktor Yanukovych.” And, the NYT article states, “Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.”
Jennifer Epstein ✔ @jenepsMeanwhile, Ivanka Trump vacations with Wendi Deng Murdoch, who just happens to be Putin’s girlfriend http://www.people.com/article/ivanka-trump-wendi-deng-murdoch-croatia …8:29 PM – 14 Aug 2016
Pals Ivanka Trump and Wendi Deng Murdoch Go Sightseeing in CroatiaDeng Murdoch is actually responsible for setting up Trump and her husbandpeople.com
The Manafort story only matters if Trump supporters care. Believe me, they don’t even know, much less care, who Paul Manafort is. All they care about is that Trump is a racist bigot bigmouth who will bully people they hate. That’s all that matters.
I know a lot of people are upset that Hillary is wooing republicans, thinking that they’ll affect her policies. I think she’s playing a longer game. If enough republicans vote for a Democrat, especially a Clinton, and see that the sky doesn’t fall, they may be able to do it again in years to come.
Several politicized accounts of Trump and Deng vacationing together elided mention of their long friendship and highlighted Deng’s new, rumored links to Putin, creating the impression that Ivanka Trump was schmoozing with a random woman linked to the Russian leader. In fact, that woman is famous in her own right and is a longtime acquaintance of Ivanka Trump.
Both the Snopes article and the People article have pictures of the two standing together.
All Trump wants to do is reshape the country and world into Trump’s point of view. That should be no problem, look how easy it was to get health care in this country.
Trump’s ISIS Speech Campaign Reboot Was Such A Disaster That It Destroyed His Candidacy
Trump didn’t give a foreign policy speech. What he offered a was low energy repetition of Republican conspiracy theories and a defense of many flip-flops. Donald Trump said that the US should not have been in Iraq, but nonsensically argued that the US should keep the oil.
The problem with Trump’s latest attempt to reboot his campaign was the candidate’s passive aggressive reading with low energy from the teleprompter. Trump spent the entire speech trying to be the “new Donald Trump” that the Republican Party wants him to be. Trump read all laundry list of Republican conspiracies against Obama with zero zeal.
^The couple has never been seen together, and the only ‘evidence’ the magazine cited was the fact Ms Murdoch had recently boarded the yacht of mutual friend Roman Abramovich in St Barts in the West Indies.
In an interview with Vogue, published in July, Ms Murdoch said, “I’ve never met Putin. But wow, so much press about it. Why did they choose me?”
Vogue also reported that Ms Murdoch had introduced Ivanka Trump to her now-husband, businessman Jared Kushner.
Ms Trump raved about her friend, saying “Everything she has is available to her friends, which, believe me, is not common… It’s really a whirlwind with Wendi. I can’t recall the last time I had a conversation with her that didn’t conclude with her connecting me to four people who might become great friends or great business opportunities.”
The whispers ultimately intensified after Rupert Murdoch, 85, ended his 14-year marriage with Deng, 47, back in June 2013, citing irreconcilable differences. At the time some reports claimed that he no longer trusted her close friendship with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is the godfather of their daughter Grace. The following year, Putin, 63, announced his divorce from his Lyudmila Putina, wife of 30 years.
Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Deng has been enjoying a sunshine break in St Barts aboard the $400 million yacht of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, a close friend of Putin. As a result of the mounting rumours, Deng has been likened to Carla Bruni, the former model who is now married to the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Just like Deng, she is believed to have a penchant for powerful men.
And that’s not where their similarities end. Bruni famously enjoyed a clandestine affair with Rolling Stone legend Mick Jagger when he was with Jerry Hall, and just to make things that bit more complicated, Hall recently tied the knot with Murdoch after a whirlwind romance.
I would like to know which lenders he deals with given his risk profile. I have heard comments about Russian money being used to finance Trump’s various endeavors. But I don’t know whether any of that is true. I know the major lenders won’t touch him. I don’t think the private credit markets would lend him money at anything short of usurious rates and terms. So where does he go for his debt? Does he need to be a minority partner for a project to secure financing? Must he overcollateralize any debt with ironclad pledges? And, has he turned to less savory lenders like the Russians to avoid onerous terms and rates demanded by the rest of the global finance system?
Odon Premium Member almost 8 years ago
ZING!!!
StCleve72 almost 8 years ago
Trump is such a mentally unbalanced demagogue that Hillary could send a careless email right on 5th Ave and she still wouldn’t lose my vote.
braindead Premium Member almost 8 years ago
There probably won’t be much of a down ballot effect. Trump is so lacking in self control that he will continue to say stupid things and deny that he said them.
But his policies do not differ at all from those of the Republican party.
Tax cuts for corporations and the rich will solve all economic problems, and will pay off the national debt.Once the black man is out of the White House, there will be no race problems.Illegal immigration will be resolved by The Wall and some massive deportations.Foreign issues will be solved by bombing.Obamacare will be repealed.And replaced by Something Better.
It’s all very simple, you see.
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
The New York Times (NYT) is just out with a detailed, complex, investigative piece that may spell major trouble, if not 2016 political doom, for Paul Manafort, who runs the Trump Campaign.
It was previously known that deposed former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich, was (ed. — and perhaps still is and probably will be again) a major paying client of lobbyist Paul Manafort. After firing on civilian protesters in Kyev’s Independence Square in February 2014, Yanukovich was removed from office by Ukraine’s Parliament, was accused of mass murder, and escaped to Russia, where he remains under Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s protection. Of course, Yanukovych was replaced by a pro-West regime that — while imperfect — is trying mightily to protect Ukraine’s independence from Putin’s Russia. As Slate reported here — www.slate.com/… Manafort “has built a booming business working with dictators . . . [and before Yanukovich’s ouster] remade Ukrainian politics and helped shift the country into Vladimir Putin’s sphere of influence.” Thus, Manafort has worked — albeit legally — directly against American and pro-democratic interests. Yanukovich, an ex-felon (assault and armed robbery, then assault again), has sworn he will return to power, and thus remains, under Putin’s protection, a self-declared government-in-exile. See www.newsweek.com/… Yanukovich is thus by any objective account an enemy of democracy and the West.
The NYT now reports that recently discovered ledgers showing cash payments, at least one in the tens of millions of dollars, suggest that Manafort may have facilitated, and at least knew of, such payments and a massive corruption scheme. The NYT story is here — www.nytimes.com/…
The NYT investigative article needs to be read and digested in its entirety, no small feat, but here is a highlight or two. In Kyev, “government investigators examining secret records have found [Manafort’s] name, as well as companies he sought to do business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort’s main client, former President Viktor Yanukovych.” And, the NYT article states, “Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.”
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/14/1560213/-NY-Times-Ledgers-Suggest-Manafort-Facilitated-Massive-Corrupt-Payments-to-Putin-Acolyte-Yanukovych
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
Jennifer Epstein ✔ @jenepsMeanwhile, Ivanka Trump vacations with Wendi Deng Murdoch, who just happens to be Putin’s girlfriend http://www.people.com/article/ivanka-trump-wendi-deng-murdoch-croatia …8:29 PM – 14 Aug 2016
Pals Ivanka Trump and Wendi Deng Murdoch Go Sightseeing in CroatiaDeng Murdoch is actually responsible for setting up Trump and her husbandpeople.com
ARodney almost 8 years ago
The Manafort story only matters if Trump supporters care. Believe me, they don’t even know, much less care, who Paul Manafort is. All they care about is that Trump is a racist bigot bigmouth who will bully people they hate. That’s all that matters.
kaffekup almost 8 years ago
I know a lot of people are upset that Hillary is wooing republicans, thinking that they’ll affect her policies. I think she’s playing a longer game. If enough republicans vote for a Democrat, especially a Clinton, and see that the sky doesn’t fall, they may be able to do it again in years to come.
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
http://www.people.com/article/ivanka-trump-wendi-deng-murdoch-croatia
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
The bottom line on your Snopes article says
Several politicized accounts of Trump and Deng vacationing together elided mention of their long friendship and highlighted Deng’s new, rumored links to Putin, creating the impression that Ivanka Trump was schmoozing with a random woman linked to the Russian leader. In fact, that woman is famous in her own right and is a longtime acquaintance of Ivanka Trump.
Both the Snopes article and the People article have pictures of the two standing together.
Kip W almost 8 years ago
Thanks, Baslim. I won’t pass the story further.
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/rupert-murdochs-ex-wife-wendi-deng-is-dating-vladimir-putin-w200077
A Murdoch dating Putin, has Fox gone soft on commies too?
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
Trump’s current speech is sounding old and tired and stupider than usual.
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/291465-ivanka-trump-vacationing-with-putins-rumored-girlfriend
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
All Trump wants to do is reshape the country and world into Trump’s point of view. That should be no problem, look how easy it was to get health care in this country.
Simon_Jester almost 8 years ago
There won’t be a downballot effect in the House because a Gerrymander doesn’t have coattails either.
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
Trump’s ISIS Speech Campaign Reboot Was Such A Disaster That It Destroyed His Candidacy
Trump didn’t give a foreign policy speech. What he offered a was low energy repetition of Republican conspiracy theories and a defense of many flip-flops. Donald Trump said that the US should not have been in Iraq, but nonsensically argued that the US should keep the oil.
The problem with Trump’s latest attempt to reboot his campaign was the candidate’s passive aggressive reading with low energy from the teleprompter. Trump spent the entire speech trying to be the “new Donald Trump” that the Republican Party wants him to be. Trump read all laundry list of Republican conspiracies against Obama with zero zeal.
http://www.politicususa.com/2016/08/15/trumps-isis-speech-campaign-reboot-disaster-destroyed-candidacy.html
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
All I know is what i read on the internet, to paraphrase Will Rogers.
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
Perhaps Putin is playing the field, I never dated him so I don’t know about his personal life.
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
Like it or not the story has moved to Australia now.
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/celebrity-news/putin-conspiracy-theories-swirl-as-wendi-murdoch-holidays-with-ivanka-trump-20160815-gqt7fk.html
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
^The couple has never been seen together, and the only ‘evidence’ the magazine cited was the fact Ms Murdoch had recently boarded the yacht of mutual friend Roman Abramovich in St Barts in the West Indies.
In an interview with Vogue, published in July, Ms Murdoch said, “I’ve never met Putin. But wow, so much press about it. Why did they choose me?”
Vogue also reported that Ms Murdoch had introduced Ivanka Trump to her now-husband, businessman Jared Kushner.
Ms Trump raved about her friend, saying “Everything she has is available to her friends, which, believe me, is not common… It’s really a whirlwind with Wendi. I can’t recall the last time I had a conversation with her that didn’t conclude with her connecting me to four people who might become great friends or great business opportunities.”
Happy Two Shoes almost 8 years ago
The whispers ultimately intensified after Rupert Murdoch, 85, ended his 14-year marriage with Deng, 47, back in June 2013, citing irreconcilable differences. At the time some reports claimed that he no longer trusted her close friendship with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is the godfather of their daughter Grace. The following year, Putin, 63, announced his divorce from his Lyudmila Putina, wife of 30 years.
Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Deng has been enjoying a sunshine break in St Barts aboard the $400 million yacht of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, a close friend of Putin. As a result of the mounting rumours, Deng has been likened to Carla Bruni, the former model who is now married to the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Just like Deng, she is believed to have a penchant for powerful men.
And that’s not where their similarities end. Bruni famously enjoyed a clandestine affair with Rolling Stone legend Mick Jagger when he was with Jerry Hall, and just to make things that bit more complicated, Hall recently tied the knot with Murdoch after a whirlwind romance.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/wendi-dengs-complicated-love-web-how-murdoch-mick-jagger-putin-became-intertwined-1553702
tauyen almost 8 years ago
Can’t wait for the next GOP ‘autopsy’ to see if they can actually get a clue as to what went wrong. This time.
twclix almost 8 years ago
I would like to know which lenders he deals with given his risk profile. I have heard comments about Russian money being used to finance Trump’s various endeavors. But I don’t know whether any of that is true. I know the major lenders won’t touch him. I don’t think the private credit markets would lend him money at anything short of usurious rates and terms. So where does he go for his debt? Does he need to be a minority partner for a project to secure financing? Must he overcollateralize any debt with ironclad pledges? And, has he turned to less savory lenders like the Russians to avoid onerous terms and rates demanded by the rest of the global finance system?
pmaerz almost 8 years ago
No coattails on a straightjacket huh – who am I to question that since Bennett would know.
Kip W almost 8 years ago
Cool sneer bro huh.
markjoseph125 almost 8 years ago
Best. Zinger. Ever.