Shabibilicious

I didn't say you were wrong. I simply noticed your change of tone. Interestingly, you made that comment about Kamala Harris, yet Trump is potus and he has lived a life of adultery that is indisputable. There's just a bit of hypocrisy in that post of yours that you would normally steer clear of.....leaving those sort of unsavory talking points to us schleps who wallow in that kind of thing, so to speak. Like I said, just an observation. GO RV, then BV

Now that you've come to the epiphany that Trump plays his base like a fiddle just as Adolf did........you can vote to stop it. GO RV, then BV

You're normally not so acerbic is all....usually quite level headed, i.e....the Prof. Just an observation. GO RV, then BV

Trump doesn't deny asking world leader about Biden, says conversations are 'always appropriate' Politico•September 20, 2019 Scroll back up to restore default view. President Donald Trump on Friday did not deny that he discussed former Vice President Joe Biden with a foreign leader during a conversation that is reportedly the subject of a whistleblower complaint. Instead, Trump claimed the allegations against him were lodged by a "partisan" intelligence official — despite acknowledging that he did not know the official's identity — and asserted that his exchanges with world leaders are "always appropriate." He told reporters in the Oval Office that "it doesn't matter what I discussed" with the foreign leader but went on to say that "someone ought to look into Joe Biden." The remarks from the president are sure to escalate tensions between the White House and Democratic members of Congress seeking access to the complaint, which acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire has refused to turn over to lawmakers. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) threatened Thursday to pursue legal action against the administration to acquire the complaint following a classified briefing Thursday with the intelligence community’s inspector general. Trump's latest comments are also likely to heighten speculation that the conversation reportedly detailed in the complaint referred to his July 25 phone call with recently elected Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump told reporters he did not know whether that call was the subject of the whistleblower complaint. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the complaint involves a “promise” Trump made to a foreign leader, and the Post and The New York Times reported Thursday that it also has to do with Ukraine. POLITICO has not independently verified the Post's reporting. Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani revealed Thursday evening that he had asked Ukrainian officials to investigate Biden, the front-runner in the Democratic presidential primary, telling CNN: “Of course I did.” Trump earlier Friday morning denied making inappropriate comments to a foreign leader in a pair of tweets. “The Radical Left Democrats and their Fake News Media partners, headed up again by Little Adam Schiff, and batting Zero for 21 against me, are at it again!” he wrote online. “They think I may have had a ‘dicey’ conversation with a certain foreign leader based on a ‘highly partisan’ whistleblowers statement,” Trump continued. “Strange that with so many other people hearing or knowing of the perfectly fine and respectful conversation, that they would not have also come forward.” The president concluded: “Do you know the reason why they did not? Because there was nothing said wrong, it was pitch perfect!” https://news.yahoo.com/nothing-said-wrong-trump-denies-132650463.html?.tsrc=jtc_news_index Donald doesn't get to decide what's appropriate or not....that's why these fail safes such as whistleblower rules are put in place to begin with. 3 co-equal branches of government is the standard set forth by the founders. Besides if Trump has nothing to hide, he would not be stonewalling congress.....Moscow Mitch and the rest of the timid Republicans will have his back in the end anyways. GO RV, then BV

Uncharacteristic response from you. As always, just my opinion. GO RV, then BV

Your penchant for posting other people's mean tweets says other wise. GO RV, then BV

As with most stories, the situation is fluid and continues to develop....time will tell. They are reporting what's being given to them....sure ratings plays a part, but so does the potential gravity of the situation. Let's be clear here.....ratings are an important cog in the Trump mind, so none of this should come as a shock to anybody in his corner claiming Fake News as they always do. GO RV, then BV

GO RV, then BV

News Ukrainian Official: We’re Ready to Investigate Biden’s Son—if Trump Asks Officially The Daily Beast•September 20, 2019 Mark Makela/REUTERS KYIV—Ukraine is ready to investigate the connections Joe Biden’s son Hunter had with the Ukrainian natural-gas company Burisma Holdings, according to Anton Geraschenko, a senior adviser to the country’s interior minister who would oversee such an inquiry. Geraschenko told The Daily Beast in an exclusive interview that “as soon as there is an official request" Ukraine will look into the case, but “currently there is no open investigation.” “Clearly,” said Geraschenko, “Trump is now looking for kompromat to discredit his opponent Biden, to take revenge for his friend Paul Manafort, who is serving seven years in prison.” Among the counts on which Manafort was convicted: tax evasion. “We do not investigate Biden in Ukraine, since we have not received a single official request to do so,” said Geraschenko. His remarks last week came amid widespread speculation that U.S. President Donald Trump had made vital U.S. military aid for Ukraine contingent on such an inquiry, but had tried to do so informally through unofficial representatives, including his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Giuliani’s adviser on Ukraine, Sam Kislin. But Geraschenko spoke before the appearance of a Washington Post story on Thursday that implied that an intelligence-community whistleblower may have reported the untoward quid pro quo was put forth directly by Trump in a phone call with Ukraine’s recently elected president last July. Geraschenko reconfirmed his statements in a phone call on Friday. The U.S. administration has thus far blocked efforts by Congress to learn precisely what the whistleblower reported, which Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson deemed an “urgent matter” while offering no details. The Post, citing two sources, said the allegation involved a “promise” made to a foreign leader. Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25. Toward the end of August, the White House reportedly was considering whether to block $250 million to support Ukraine’s military in its war against Russian-backed separatists. On Sept. 12, however, that funding was released, and even increased. Congressional pressure played a role, and it is unclear whether the whistleblower’s reported “promise” allegations, made soon after the Zelensky phone call, did as well. (On Friday, Zelensky’s office announced that he will meet with Trump next week.) What’s certain is that American and Ukrainian politics are closely connected these days, and on Thursday evening Giuliani admitted he had asked officials in Ukraine to investigate Biden. Giuliani told CNN’s Chris Cuomo in a contentious interview that there is nothing wrong with pressing for an investigation into corruption. Others might call this whole affair a matter of political—indeed, geopolitical—extortion. At a minimum, Giuliani’s pressure has been interpreted here as weakening this country’s institutions by pressing them to dig for dirt on Trump’s most important Democratic challenger. Ukraine’s law-enforcement agencies believe that it is up to U.S. investigators to ascertain, specifically, whether Biden’s son had any missed U.S. tax payments on income from Ukraine. Hunter Biden actually took a job with the Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holding in 2014 and worked there for five years, then quietly quit in April, soon after his father announced his presidential candidacy. It is unclear how much money Burisma paid Hunter Biden in total. Whatever it was, he may rue the work, given the political cost. Ex-MP Serhiy Leshchenko, the Ukrainian pro-Western politician and corruption fighter, has been in the epicenter of the scandal since Giuliani mentioned his name as one of “the enemies of Donald Trump and the USA.” The Trump attorney continued to criticize Ukraine’s leadership by saying that Ukraine’s president “is surrounded by people who are the enemies of the president [Trump] and people who are clearly corrupt.” Any word of criticism pronounced by such influential Americans may be damaging to careers here. As a result of Giuliani’s statements, Leshchenko has lost a promising role on Zelensky’s team. “Both the United States and Ukraine are throwing Biden’s case at each other like a hot potato, pushing each other to begin investigating Biden,” Leshchenko told The Daily Beast on Tuesday. “I totally understand, and I don’t want to be in the way, since Zelensky clearly does not want to quarrel with Trump. The United States is our main strategic partner and I value that.” Earlier this month, President Zelensky publicly thanked Trump for releasing the military aid vital for his country. Zelensky spoke at the annual Yalta European Strategy conference, which this year had a symbolic title: Happiness Now. Ukraine elected Zelensky and his supporters in parliament by a landslide earlier this year, largely in response to the alleged corruption of his predecessor and amid hopes the former comedian-turned-politician could end the war with separatists that has killed more than 13,000 people. To bring an end to the carnage, Zelensky needs strong international support. He hopes to strike a peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin with backing from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron at a so-called Normandy Four meeting later this month. Russia and Ukraine recently swapped prisoners, a positive sign, but Zelensky has offered no clues on possible concessions. He demands, as did his predecessor, that Russia return the annexed Crimean peninsula to Ukraine, a non-starter for Putin. The Trump administration eventually released $390 million in military aid to Ukraine, $140 million more than the amount Kyiv had expected before the administration suspended the funds for “review” last month. “For now, we would like America to support us more, and not only with money but also with the newest weapons in our war against the aggressor, the Russian Federation,” Geraschenko, the adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, told The Daily Beast. “We want a status as NATO’s special partner, allowing us to buy any weapons in the U.S., including the newest anti-aircraft rockets to defend our country in case Russia decides to attack from the air; our technology is more than 40 years old.” Zelensky’s team is struggling to overcome war, poverty, and corruption. Clearly, the idea of helping politicians of foreign states win elections is not a part of his public agenda. “This is a very special stage in Ukraine’s development: We have completely changed this year, our mentality has changed, we realize that the entire world is watching us right now,” Roman Truba, head of the State Bureau of Investigations, said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast. Truba’s agency neither investigated Biden’s son nor Burisma Holding. There were no signs of illegality in Biden’s work in Ukraine, he said. “The State Bureau of Investigations should be an independent institution. I wish we would become as highly qualified, equipped with all modern technologies, and professional as the FBI.” https://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-ready-investigate-bidens-son-131037560.html GO RV, then BV

You're going to be a mental mess if 2020 doesn't turn out as you envision. Me, on the other hand, have nothing to lose in 2020....the situation stays the same, Trump is reelected, and the fight continues....or better days for the United States of America prevail. GO RV, then BV

I must agree in this case.....there really was no point in them mentioning Trump's tiny hands to the public and embarrassing him. GO RV, then BV

FOR ALL RIGHT THINKING PEOPLE GO RV, then BV

Fox & Friends co-host defends Trump “making promises” to another head of state as “The Art of the Deal” Ainsley Earhardt: “They say the president was making promises, leaking maybe some delicate information to another heads of state. But this is what they do. They talk, they negotiate. And the president's known for this, The Art of the Deal.” WRITTEN BY MEDIA MATTERS STAFF PUBLISHED 09/20/19 8:48 AM EDT AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): They say the president was making promises, leaking maybe some delicate information to another heads of state. But this is what they do. They talk, they negotiate. And the president's known for this, The Art of the Deal. And if he's talked to someone -- who's leaking this? Is it someone that works in the White House, overheard the conversation? STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): We don't know. But we know they did not like whatever the president said. They said the president made an outrageous promise to a world leader.

Trump call involving Ukraine at center of inspector general complaint, sources say ABC News•September 19, 2019 President Donald Trump's phone call with a foreign leader that has become the focus of a complaint to the director of national intelligence's inspector general involved Ukraine, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News. According to a readout released from the White House, Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25 "to congratulate him on his recent election." A more extensive readout from the Ukrainian president's office, however, noted that the two also spoke about "investigations into corruption cases that have hampered interaction between Ukraine and the U.S.A." The president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has publicly and privately urged in recent months for Ukrainian officials to investigate ties between former Vice President Joe Biden's diplomatic efforts in the country and any connections between his son's business ventures. PHOTO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives for a meeting with the new members of the government and new president of Parliament, in Kiev on Sept. 2, 2019. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images) The Washington Post was first to report the news. It remains unclear the exact details of the call. DNI Inspector General Michael Atkinson in a Sep. 9 letter to the House Intelligence Committee said that the complaint rose to a level of "urgent concern" and "appeared credible" enough to warrant the notification of Congress. The DNI's general counsel and the Department of Justice, however, has disputed that characterization of the complaint, resulting in a constitutional showdown between members of Congress and the Trump administration regarding matters of potentially privileged material. https://news.yahoo.com/trump-call-ukraine-center-inspector-general-complaint-sources-010239379.html GO RV, then BV

'It’s Treachery If Not Treason': Harvard Law Professor On Trump-Ukraine Report HuffPost•September 20, 2019 'It’s Treachery If Not Treason': Harvard Law Professor On Trump-Ukraine Report Harvard constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe on Thursday lamented America’s election of a president in Donald Trump who “seems to know no bounds.” “He violates the emoluments clauses, he enriches himself at the expense of American taxpayers, he takes money from foreign governments in order to benefit himself, he bends policy in the direction of those governments, whether it’s Saudi Arabia or another country, to enhance his own wealth,” Tribe told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell. “And now, we understand, he may have been making some kind of deal with Ukraine, perhaps to get information of a negative kind about Joe Biden’s son in exchange for aid to Ukraine,” he added, in reference to a report in The Washington Post last week. “It’s treachery if not treason and it’s bribery and it’s unacceptable,” he said. https://news.yahoo.com/laurence-tribe-donald-trump-treachery-082310390.html?.tsrc=jtc_news_index GO RV, then BV