WWTBAM Bored

BackInTex wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:Well, well, well. A stopped clock is right twice a day. It turns out there was corruption in Ukraine. --Bob

Oh my! Businessmen are meeting with foreign country entities! The US Energy Secretary is having discussions with and about a foreign country's energy industry.

Bob, just because people who know Trump, who donated to Trump, and are now working to expand their business holdings (which they would do had they donated to Clinton's campaign)...it's kind of what business folks do, does not equate to corruption.

Probably every billionaire in the US donated to either Trump's campaign, Clinton's campaign, or both, and have folks working overseas to increase their own business holding. Nothing to see here.

But go ahead, get excited. The let down will be that much worse for you next November.

flockofseagulls104 wrote: Slamming a book and a person using shit you drag up from the batphone when you, yourself, have no personal knowledge of either the book or the man. All for the purpose of trying to prevent someone else of maybe acquiring knowledge she might not have had before.
That's what most liberals seem to do. Let other people do their thinking for them. Decide for them what is 'good' and what is 'bad'. It's very easy that way.

Bob78164 wrote:

BackInTex wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:Well, well, well. A stopped clock is right twice a day. It turns out there was corruption in Ukraine. --Bob

Oh my! Businessmen are meeting with foreign country entities! The US Energy Secretary is having discussions with and about a foreign country's energy industry.

Bob, just because people who know Trump, who donated to Trump, and are now working to expand their business holdings (which they would do had they donated to Clinton's campaign)...it's kind of what business folks do, does not equate to corruption.

Probably every billionaire in the US donated to either Trump's campaign, Clinton's campaign, or both, and have folks working overseas to increase their own business holding. Nothing to see here.

But go ahead, get excited. The let down will be that much worse for you next November.

They tried to get Ukraine to install new management into its state-run entity so that new management would give them sweetheart deals. Sounds like at a minimum they're running up against the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Perhaps Ukraine will investigate. If not, perhaps the next Attorney General will. Sure sounds like there's an awful lot of swamp-draining to do.

If you're trying to defend this as business as usual, then that's the problem. But I know there's someone who has a plan for that. --Bob

silverscreenselect wrote:

flockofseagulls104 wrote: Slamming a book and a person using shit you drag up from the batphone when you, yourself, have no personal knowledge of either the book or the man. All for the purpose of trying to prevent someone else of maybe acquiring knowledge she might not have had before.
That's what most liberals seem to do. Let other people do their thinking for them. Decide for them what is 'good' and what is 'bad'. It's very easy that way.

The purpose of reviews, whether of books, movies, restaurants, or whatever, is to provide information about something that someone else has not experienced so that they can make an informed decision as to whether to spend their own time and money on it. Mark Levin's book sells for $ 16.59 in hardback and $14.99 on Kindle on Amazon. Before spending that kind of money on any book, I would like to know more about it.

I'll admit that knowing what I know about you and Levin, I suspected his book might be what the reviews indicated. I haven't listened to an entire show of his. Only a few seconds of listening to his ranting is enough. I don't have to eat an entire spoiled food dish to know it's bad.

But here's what I will do for you Flock. I'll make the same offer to you that I make to other people who ask me to write reviews of their books. If you provide me with a copy of Levin's book (or an Amazon gift card covering the price), I'll read it and provide you with a detailed review right here on this Bored. And I'll treat it the same as I do every other book I review and provide an objective review and back up whatever I have to say.

Bob78164 wrote:

BackInTex wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:Well, well, well. A stopped clock is right twice a day. It turns out there was corruption in Ukraine. --Bob

Oh my! Businessmen are meeting with foreign country entities! The US Energy Secretary is having discussions with and about a foreign country's energy industry.

Bob, just because people who know Trump, who donated to Trump, and are now working to expand their business holdings (which they would do had they donated to Clinton's campaign)...it's kind of what business folks do, does not equate to corruption.

Probably every billionaire in the US donated to either Trump's campaign, Clinton's campaign, or both, and have folks working overseas to increase their own business holding. Nothing to see here.

But go ahead, get excited. The let down will be that much worse for you next November.

They tried to get Ukraine to install new management into its state-run entity so that new management would give them sweetheart deals. Sounds like at a minimum they're running up against the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Perhaps Ukraine will investigate. If not, perhaps the next Attorney General will. Sure sounds like there's an awful lot of swamp-draining to do.

If you're trying to defend this as business as usual, then that's the problem. But I know there's someone who has a plan for that. --Bob

Bob78164 wrote:

BackInTex wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:Well, well, well. A stopped clock is right twice a day. It turns out there was corruption in Ukraine. --Bob

Oh my! Businessmen are meeting with foreign country entities! The US Energy Secretary is having discussions with and about a foreign country's energy industry.

Bob, just because people who know Trump, who donated to Trump, and are now working to expand their business holdings (which they would do had they donated to Clinton's campaign)...it's kind of what business folks do, does not equate to corruption.

Probably every billionaire in the US donated to either Trump's campaign, Clinton's campaign, or both, and have folks working overseas to increase their own business holding. Nothing to see here.

But go ahead, get excited. The let down will be that much worse for you next November.

They tried to get Ukraine to install new management into its state-run entity so that new management would give them sweetheart deals. Sounds like at a minimum they're running up against the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Perhaps Ukraine will investigate. If not, perhaps the next Attorney General will. Sure sounds like there's an awful lot of swamp-draining to do.

If you're trying to defend this as business as usual, then that's the problem. But I know there's someone who has a plan for that. --Bob

flockofseagulls104 wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:

BackInTex wrote:
Oh my! Businessmen are meeting with foreign country entities! The US Energy Secretary is having discussions with and about a foreign country's energy industry.

Bob, just because people who know Trump, who donated to Trump, and are now working to expand their business holdings (which they would do had they donated to Clinton's campaign)...it's kind of what business folks do, does not equate to corruption.

Probably every billionaire in the US donated to either Trump's campaign, Clinton's campaign, or both, and have folks working overseas to increase their own business holding. Nothing to see here.

But go ahead, get excited. The let down will be that much worse for you next November.

They tried to get Ukraine to install new management into its state-run entity so that new management would give them sweetheart deals. Sounds like at a minimum they're running up against the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Perhaps Ukraine will investigate. If not, perhaps the next Attorney General will. Sure sounds like there's an awful lot of swamp-draining to do.

If you're trying to defend this as business as usual, then that's the problem. But I know there's someone who has a plan for that. --Bob

The operative sentences are are right at the top. "Their goal was profits, not politics". Reporters do not speculate on motives, much less state them as fact. And then the oldie but goodie: "according to two people familiar ....". Who are those 2 people? Peter Strzok and James Comey? Hillary Clinton and Adam Schiff? I'm sure they could find plenty of people like you to say whatever is helpful to frame the story how they wanted it to turn out.
When will you learn to do critical thinking, BWBJ?

flockofseagulls104 wrote: fact. And then the oldie but goodie: "according to two people familiar ....". Who are those 2 people? Peter Strzok and James Comey? Hillary Clinton and Adam Schiff? I'm sure they could find plenty of people like you to say whatever is helpful to frame the atory how they wanted it to turn out.
When will you learn to do critical thinking, BWBJ?

BackInTex wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:Well, well, well. A stopped clock is right twice a day. It turns out there was corruption in Ukraine. --Bob

Oh my! Businessmen are meeting with foreign country entities! The US Energy Secretary is having discussions with and about a foreign country's energy industry.

Bob, just because people who know Trump, who donated to Trump, and are now working to expand their business holdings (which they would do had they donated to Clinton's campaign)...it's kind of what business folks do, does not equate to corruption.

Probably every billionaire in the US donated to either Trump's campaign, Clinton's campaign, or both, and have folks working overseas to increase their own business holding. Nothing to see here.

But go ahead, get excited. The let down will be that much worse for you next November.

silverscreenselect wrote:

flockofseagulls104 wrote: fact. And then the oldie but goodie: "according to two people familiar ....". Who are those 2 people? Peter Strzok and James Comey? Hillary Clinton and Adam Schiff? I'm sure they could find plenty of people like you to say whatever is helpful to frame the atory how they wanted it to turn out.
When will you learn to do critical thinking, BWBJ?

And when will you learn to think for yourself and not just regurgitate what the right wing throws at you to justify tuning out every news story you don't like. The concept of unnamed sources has been with us for decades, and without it, we wouldn't have had Woodward and Bernstein's Watergate reporting or the Pentagon Papers. Major news organizations have rigorous rules for the use of unnamed sources and require verification and editorial approval. Yes, they make mistakes, more now than in the old days, but their overall track record is very good. And when multiple news agencies report on the same major story, they each verify it independently.

I guess you don't believe it any time a doctor gives you a diagnosis you don't like because every doctor has made a mistake at one time or another. But that's what you do here. If you don't like the story, you just choose not to believe it (even though the vast number of reports on Trump have been borne out). As far as the "profits, not politics," that's a pretty accurate summation of the rest of the paragraph.

flockofseagulls104 wrote: You have admitted (great surprise) that you have no personal experience with Mark Levin, yet you adamantly cling to OTHER PEOPLE'S opinions and take them for the gospel truth.

silverscreenselect wrote:

flockofseagulls104 wrote: You have admitted (great surprise) that you have no personal experience with Mark Levin, yet you adamantly cling to OTHER PEOPLE'S opinions and take them for the gospel truth.

I have personal experience with the man. I've heard some of his show on more than one occasion, and it's always the same. Ranting and raving similar to what's on the youtube clip I posted. As far as the opinion of his book is concerned, I've got the opinion of several reviewers who point out the same problem in his research and logic, accompanied by your adamant and ridiculously childish refusal to explain it.

I don't care if Sprots reads the book, other than to say that I would hate for her to waste her time and money just to make you happy.

flockofseagulls104 wrote: Oh really? The only time youve seen or heard Mark Levin is in Media Matters snippets, and you know it.

silverscreenselect wrote:

flockofseagulls104 wrote: Oh really? The only time youve seen or heard Mark Levin is in Media Matters snippets, and you know it.

If you knew what I know, you'd be in far better shape. I have heard parts of Levin's show. A little of it goes a long way.

flockofseagulls104 wrote:

flockofseagulls104 wrote:I have just purchased The Fifth Risk and will read it. Is that appropriate? I will tell you what I think of it if I think it is appropriate.

The first thing I've noticed about this book, from reading the prologue, is he puts a lot of conversations in quotes. Conversations that seem like they are very private conversations known to only a few select sources. But there are no footnotes to his book that I can see. No attributions. No references to sources. From where or from whom did he get this information? Is this a work of speculative fiction?
But I will press on.

The Wall Street Journal wrote:Breaking: Two foreign-born men who helped Rudy Giuliani's efforts to investigate Joe Biden were arrested in the U.S. on charges of violating campaign-finance rules, say people familiar with the matter

jarnon wrote:

The Wall Street Journal wrote:Breaking: Two foreign-born men who helped Rudy Giuliani's efforts to investigate Joe Biden were arrested in the U.S. on charges of violating campaign-finance rules, say people familiar with the matter

This tweet is inexcusable. We foreign-born are just as American as anybody else, and identifying criminals that way is as insulting as calling out their race or religion.

WSJ must have realized their error, because they removed "foreign-born" from the headline of the article on their website.

silverscreenselect wrote:(Ted Cruz is foreign born).

silverscreenselect wrote:

jarnon wrote:

The Wall Street Journal wrote:Breaking: Two foreign-born men who helped Rudy Giuliani's efforts to investigate Joe Biden were arrested in the U.S. on charges of violating campaign-finance rules, say people familiar with the matter

This tweet is inexcusable. We foreign-born are just as American as anybody else, and identifying criminals that way is as insulting as calling out their race or religion.

WSJ must have realized their error, because they removed "foreign-born" from the headline of the article on their website.

If they were born in Russia or the Ukraine, the countries most involved with the Biden situation, then there could be some relevance. But foreign born in general, no (Ted Cruz is foreign born).

MSN.COM wrote:Since late 2018, Mr. Fruman and Mr. Parnas have introduced Mr. Giuliani to several current and former senior Ukrainian prosecutors to discuss the Biden case.

Mr. Parnas in July accompanied Mr. Giuliani to a breakfast meeting with Kurt Volker, then the U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations. “We had a long conversation about Ukraine,” Mr. Volker wrote in his testimony to House committees last week. During that breakfast, Mr. Giuliani mentioned the investigations he was pursuing into Mr. Biden and 2016 election interference.

MSN.COM wrote:Messrs. Parnas and Fruman also worked to oust the ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, whom Mr. Trump had removed from her post this spring.

In May 2018, Pete Sessions, at the time a GOP congressman from Texas, sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking for her removal, saying he had been told Ms. Yovanovitch was displaying a bias against the president in private conversations.

Mr. Sessions told the Journal his letter was in line with a broader concern among members of Congress that the administration wasn’t moving swiftly enough to put new ambassadors in place. He declined to say where his information about the ambassador came from but said he didn’t follow up on his letter and didn’t hear until months later about Mr. Trump’s interest in replacing her.

The indictment references a congressman, identifiable as Mr. Sessions, whose assistance Mr. Parnas sought in “causing the U.S. government to remove or recall the then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine.” The indictment says those efforts were conducted “at least in part, at the request of one or more Ukrainian government officials.” Mr. Sessions didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Messrs. Parnas and Fruman told the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project in July that they told Mr. Sessions last year that Ms. Yovanovitch was “bad-mouthing” the president. They later donated to his campaign.

Mr. Trump moved to oust Ms. Yovanovitch this spring after Mr. Giuliani told him that she was undermining him abroad and hindering efforts to investigate Mr. Biden. House committees are seeking Ms. Yovanovitch’s testimony.

MSN.COM wrote:Since late 2018, Mr. Fruman and Mr. Parnas have introduced Mr. Giuliani to several current and former senior Ukrainian prosecutors to discuss the Biden case.

Mr. Parnas in July accompanied Mr. Giuliani to a breakfast meeting with Kurt Volker, then the U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations. “We had a long conversation about Ukraine,” Mr. Volker wrote in his testimony to House committees last week. During that breakfast, Mr. Giuliani mentioned the investigations he was pursuing into Mr. Biden and 2016 election interference. … Messrs. Parnas and Fruman also worked to oust the ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, whom Mr. Trump had removed from her post this spring.

In May 2018, Pete Sessions, at the time a GOP congressman from Texas, sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking for her removal, saying he had been told Ms. Yovanovitch was displaying a bias against the president in private conversations.

New York magazine wrote:Why did [Giuliani] get involved with Parnas and Fruman, and what did they have to offer? Parnas owns a club called Mafia Rave. He is, amazingly, the less shady of the two. Fruman has ties to Russia mafia figures and runs a company called Fraud Guarantee. If you were looking to undertake an aboveboard investigation into political corruption, those are not the two people you would pick to run it.

What laws Giuliani may have allegedly broken in this process, we don’t know yet. Asked about his work for Parnas’s aptly named firm, Giuliani told the New York Times, “All I can tell you is that most of the Fraud Guarantee work, in fact the Fraud Guarantee work, which — or I should say — I can’t acknowledge it’s Fraud Guarantee, I don’t think.”

BackInTex wrote:[quote="New York magazine""]What laws Giuliani may have allegedly broken in this process, we don’t know yet.

Bob78164 wrote:

BackInTex wrote:[quote="New York magazine""]What laws Giuliani may have allegedly broken in this process, we don’t know yet.

A semi-legitimate journalist would have added an "if any" after the word laws and not put "allegedly". Giuliani may have allegedly committed murder, rape, incest, and bestiality in the process. We don't know because all of the allegers haven't come up with the allegations yet. Any thing can be alleged (Russian collusion, rape at a high school party, ect.).

A legitimate journalist wouldn't speculate about broken laws unless there was some evidence other than the fact that someone had a meeting.