Slashdot Mirror


Clinton Responds To WikiLeaks During Debate, And Blames Russian Hackers (qz.com)

An anonymous Slashdot reader writes:During Sunday night's debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, moderators asked a question based on WikiLeaks documents released Friday -- to which both candidates responded. The leaked emails had included excerpts from Hillary's paid speeches to Wall Street in which she reportedly said "You need both a public and a private position on certain issues."

Clinton said she had been describing the 2012 movie Lincoln, and that Lincoln's use of different arguments for different groups of people was "a great display of presidential leadership." Then, citing intelligence reports, she said "Putin and the Russian government are directing the attacks -- the hacking on American accounts to influence our election...for Donald Trump."

Click through for a complete transcript of Clinton's remarks -- and Trump's response.
The question -- based on the WikiLeaks release -- was, "Is it okay for politicians to be two-faced? Is it acceptable for a politician to have a private stance on issues?"


Hillary Clinton's response:

Right. As I recall, that was something I said about Abraham Lincoln, after having seen the wonderful Steven Spielberg movie called Lincoln. It was a master class, watching President Lincoln get the Congress to approve the 13th Amendment. It was principled, and it was strategic. And I was making the point that it is hard sometimes to get the Congress to do what you want to do, and you have to keep working at it. And yes, President Lincoln was trying to convince some people, he used some arguments, convincing other people he used other arguments. That was a great -- I thought, a great display of presidential leadership.

But you know, let's talk about what's really going on here, Martha, because our intelligence community just came out and said in the last few days that the Kremlin, meaning Putin and the Russian government, are directing the attacks -- the hacking on American accounts to influence our election. And WikiLeaks is part of that, as are other sites where the Russians hack information -- we don't even know if it's accurate information -- and then they put it out. We have never, in the history of our country, been in a situation where an adversary, a foreign power, is working so hard to influence the outcome of the election. And believe me they're not doing it to get me elected. They're doing it to try to influence the election for Donald Trump.

Now maybe because he has praised Putin. Maybe because he says he agrees with a lot of what Putin wants to do. Maybe because he wants to do business in Moscow -- I don't know the reasons. But we deserve answers. And we should demand that Donald release all of his tax returns, so that people can see what are the entanglements and the financial relationship that he has with Russian and other foreign powers.


Donald Trump's response:

Well I think I should respond because -- so ridiculous. Look, now she's blaming -- she got caught in a total lie. Her papers went out to all her friends at the banks, Goldman Sachs and everybody else, and she said things -- WikiLeaks, that just came out. And you lied. Now she's blaming the lie on the late, great Abraham Lincoln. That's one that I haven't heard. [Audience laughs] Okay, honest Abe. Honest Abe never lied. That's the good thing. That's the big difference between Abraham Lincoln and you. That's a big, big difference. We're talking about some difference.

But as far as other elements of what she was saying, I don't know Putin. I think it would be great if we got along with Russia, because we could fight ISIS together, as an example -- but I don't know Putin. But I notice any time anything wrong happens, they like to say, "The Russians are..." She doesn't know if it's the Russians doing the hacking. Maybe there is no hacking. But they always blame Russia.

And the reason they blame is because they think they're trying to tarnish me with Russia. I know nothing about Russia. I know -- I know about Russia, but I know nothing about the inner workings of Russia. I don't deal there, I have no businesses there, I have no loans from Russia.

I have a very, very great balance sheet, so great that when I did the old post office on Pennsylvania Avenue, the United States government, because of my balance sheet, which they actually know very well, chose me to do the old post office between the White House and Congress -- chose me to do the old post office. One of the primary things, in fact perhaps the primary thing, was balance sheet. But I have no loans with Russia. You could go to the United States government, and they would probably tell you that, because they know my sheet very well.

In order to get that development, I had to have -- now the taxes are a very simple thing. As soon as I have -- first of all, I paid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. Many of her friends took bigger deductions -- Warren Buffett took a massive deduction. Soros, who's a friend of hers, took a massive deduction. Many of the people that are giving her all this money, that she can do many more commercials than me, gave or took massive deductions. I pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes, but -- but, as soon as my routine audit's finished, I'll release my returns. I'll be very proud to.

689 comments

  1. Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So it's Russia's fault you did bad things? What are you going to tell us next, that you can see Russia from your back yard?

    1. Re:Great by tripleevenfall · · Score: 5, Insightful

      She sounds like the kid who got caught accusing the kid who told of tattling.

      But at this point, if you believe Hillary is ever going to tell the trust when the truth might not paint her in as good of light as some convenient lie, you are either willfully ignorant or from another planet.

    2. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So it's Russia's fault you did bad things? What are you going to tell us next, that you can see Russia from your back yard?

      No, she was just saying that Russia seems to be on Trump's side (which would presumably encourage people to vote for her).
      Whether you agree or not, I believe that's all there was to it.

    3. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      When is the secret service going to arrest, or at least take in for questioning, Robert Deniro for threatening a Presidential candidate?

    4. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      At least one suspects Hillary knows when she is lying, Trump frankly has contradicted himself so many times, to the point of denying saying things that are readily available for review, I suspect he puts no thought into his words, and therefore, cant remember his own words afterwards.
      If it wasn't a US election, and this was the plot of a TV show, it would be great entertainment though.
      I have a feeling the entire US population is trolling their own politicians, and come election day will reject Trump emphatically.
       

    5. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Interesting grammatical mistake that you Russians make (two posts in a row as well). You don't really have sarcasm in English down pat either.

    6. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      How is rejecting Trump trolling? It's only trolling if we inflict him on Congress for 8 years. Trump 2016!

    7. Re:Great by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 2

      Well it's also to pressure him to show his taxes, which is sneaky because nobody really thinks there's going to be anything tying him to Russia in his tax filings, but there's certainly something that Donald doesn't want us to see. My bet is that he's not as rich as he wants us to think.

    8. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      So it's Russia's fault you did bad things? What are you going to tell us next, that you can see Russia from your back yard?

      No, she was just saying that Russia seems to be on Trump's side (which would presumably encourage people to vote for her).

      Whether you agree or not, I believe that's all there was to it.

      Agreed. Trump has thirty plus years of material to attack Clinton with, since her life is that well documented and someone, likely Russia, is trying to tilt the table more in Trump's favour by hacking anything that helps their preferred candidate.

      It is a matter of perspective. Had you had as much information available about Trump, well he would have never made it out of the primaries. I want all of the following released from Trump, you know just to even the playing field.

      1) 30,000 emails.
      2) All of his tax returns.
      3) All of his so called charities records.
      4) A full list of everything he is invested in.
      5) A full list of all his creditors.
      6) Every recording from the apprentice.

      That would be a start. Once all that is out, then well Clinton would still have a longer history, but it would be slightly more even.

    9. Re:Great by golodh · · Score: 5, Interesting
      That's what worrying me. It is as if people (especially his voters and journalists) have totally given up on holding mr. Trump to account on anything he says, much less on whether his words are true or reasonable. Mr. Trump has turned politics into a "reality show". Substance doesn't matter, but tone and appearance do. And personal attacks. Mr. Trump's one area of competence is personal attacks.

      It seems as if mrs. Clinton is held to a different standard of decency and veracity. One that simply doesn't apply to Mr. Trump because he's so far off the scale all of the time.

      Like mr Trump's constant tendency to say whatever sounds good at the time, no matter how misleading, counter-factual or how much it contradicts what he said earlier (Putin comes to mind: first he calls him his buddy, now he says he doesn't know).

      Most Trump supporters overlook all of that all of the time. What they forget is that no-one else in the world will.

      Especially foreign powers. And that's dangerous because the US's strength has irrevocably decreased compared to the rest of the world. Therefore consistent policy and competent diplomacy is the only way to safeguard US interests ... and security. Mr. Trump's volatile character will ensure he'll scupper whatever policy framework his GOP aides erect. And this time, if he tries to bankrupt his way out of trouble again, it's the entire US that will be saddled with his debts.

      Only a video tape with tacky (and in my opinion largely irrelevant because we already knew he's a nasty piece of work) locker room banter and a review of several years' worth of appearance on the Howard Stern show seem to be able to somehow get through to them where obvious deficiencies in competence and intelligence don't.

    10. Re:Great by SuricouRaven · · Score: 2

      My bet would be that he is using tax avoidance measures to such an extreme level - secret Swiss bank accounts, shell companies in Ireland, whatever it takes - that he fears even the people would find it distasteful.

    11. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Wat?

      I don't like Trump. I don't like Hillary. Trump says a lot of crap. He contradict himself. Throw some cheap lies. He seems like a pretty shitty president. He doesn't seem like a racist or anything like that though. Just a regular asshole.
      Hillary gets hundred of thousands killed as secretary of the state. Lies in front of the facts. She seems like fucking, genuine pure evil.

      For the debates I have watched so far, Hillary, always, a 100% of the time, tries to put Trump down with personal attacks. Trump eventually replies with his own personal attack. The whole thing is like watching 2 kids fight, which would be funny except for the implications this has. But I sure can tell which kid is bringing the other down and for what reason.

      If you wanna "save America", short of another revolution that seems like a pretty hard task right now.

    12. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's how Republicans be

      They be 'fom the dark deep south yonder sir.

    13. Re:Great by Hylandr · · Score: 1

      We owe no loyalty to *them*, but they should to us.

      --
      ~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
    14. Re:Great by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1

      This: Honestly the federal government should be paying a $10,000 bounty for evidence of criminal misbehavior of political figures. 50 years ago, this was the job that the press did, to dig up the facts and dirt on the politicians; it put the fear of God in them and it kept them more honest. These days the MSM is licking Hillarys boots so often I will be surprised if she has any sole left on them come election day. There is a lot of evidence that the leak came from a disillusioned DNC insider who was subsequently murdered, not Russian hackers. The hacker bit is just a lie to try and damn the source and vilify Trump by association.

      I am pretty sure what Hillary did to Bernie Sanders in the primary was criminal fraud and if it were you or I we would be wearing an orange jumpsuit, but seeing as how she has already committed multiple felonies (lying to congress being the most easily provable one) and she is still running for president, our system is broken at a fundamental level. The fact that there is 40% of the population who would vote for her even if she admitted on camera to murder is the more troubling issue. People act like there are no other candidates running. How about voting Libertarian for once? If everyone actually voted their conscience, Gary Johnson would probably have a real shot at the presidency. (I don't give a shit if he doesn't know where Aleppo is or that he doesn't have any world leaders he respects, neither do I.)

      --
      If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    15. Re:Great by Z80a · · Score: 2

      I don't think he or hillary will survive the first four, and i'm not talking about assassination here.
      They're just a bit too old, and being the POTUS do age you really quickly.

    16. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think they're up to it? Do you? Hey I'm talkin' to you, don't walk away from me. Do you think they're up to it? Well, do you?

    17. Re:Great by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, what he said about Warren Buffett was right, nobody pays more taxes than they have to. So I agree with him that avoiding taxes is smart. Taking a $916M loss on the other hand makes him look bad, and if he hasn't paid takes since, that means he hasn't made that money back yet.

    18. Re:Great by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 4, Informative

      Trump could point out that Saudi Arabia is on Hillary's side considering that it has provided 20% of her campaign funding, where it is illegal for foreign government to fund American political campaigns.

    19. Re:Great by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Trump has tried to open businesses in Russia and has gotten nowhere with it. That should tell you all you need to know about ties between Trump and Putin -- there are none. Putin only shares the spoils of Russia with his friends.

    20. Re:Great by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

      EITHER of them would lose against anyone but the other one. Seriously, the other party could field a water cooler next term and it would win.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    21. Re:Great by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The biggest problem I have with this election is that the ONLY argument to vote for Trump is Clinton, and the only reason to vote for Clinton is Trump.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    22. Re:Great by houghi · · Score: 1

      Isn't is great that the largest economy in the world can be manipilated so easy. What I think is also great is how "nothing" shows up for Trump with all his history. No, I do not believe he is clean, so people are not looking or are unwilling to look.

      What I can imagine is that this is all a ploy to get Trump elected and then imidiately impeached for whatever they have on him.

      Because if Trump is elected, BOTH parties will block whatever he wants. The thing is that the US has a LOT of influence in the world, so I do care. So just watchning the shitstorm that will be going on for at least the next 4 years is not an option. We all will be in the middle of the shitstorm and can only hope that it "only" has economical consequences.

      I really would have wanted to have lived in the future so I would only have to learn about the second time the Americans fought for their freedom from books.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    23. Re:Great by bluegutang · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The question of what Donald Trump "really believes" has no answer. It is a category error.

      When he utters words, his primary intent is not to *say* something, to describe a set of facts in the world; his primary intent is to *do* something, i.e., to position himself in a social hierarchy. This essential distinction explains why Trump has so flummoxed the media and its fact-checkers; it’s as though they are critiquing the color choices of someone who is colorblind.

    24. Re:Great by pslytely+psycho · · Score: 4, Funny

      Either one will survive just fine, after all, it's Gods doing. Let me enlighten you with a Divine Tale!

      And Gabriel walked into Gods office and said " I have the initial results of the Anti-Christ trial run."
      "Oh good," said God, "please continue!"
      "Well, as predicted, just invoking you or the kids name got most of the low intelligence and Evangelical crowd to fall in line, however the more secular and educated amongst them tended to fall in line with AC Mark II. We also noted an equally large percentage that didn't fall in line with either but are still expected to cast a vote for one or the other. And we do have a few outliers that went with that little soiree that Cthulhu and Lucifer likes to put on every four years, and they did get some pretty amusing hosts this year as well, after all we told them nobody reasonable this year for the trial run"
      "Hmmm," said God, "perhaps it's still too early for the apocolypse, we'll just give em a four year taste of what's coming as a warning until we find a way to combine the Mark I and Mark II Anti-Christs into a single Mark III model."
      "Do you mind if the Arch-Angel has a bit of fun with the debates and resulting chaos of the inaugeration?"
      "Oh, not at all," replied God, "I wouldn't miss it for anything!"

      --
      Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
    25. Re:Great by dargaud · · Score: 1

      Are US voters free to write outsiders names on their votes ? If so, I'm surprised there isn't some kind of grassroot movement to write Obama instead of the two .*u[nm][tp] you currently have to chose from ! Oh, but no, as I recall, you have machines that do the voting for whomever controls the machines...

      --
      Non-Linux Penguins ?
    26. Re:Great by wbr1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Well, the primary choices are Orange Hitler and Grandma Nixon.. it sucks.

      --
      Silence is a state of mime.
    27. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No.. A good reason to vote Trump is to give a big "fuck you" to the biased, overly-PC, manipulative media at CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC, HuffPo, etc.

      They think they own you. They think they say "dance" and you'll do a little jig.

      For some of you, it might be true, but it isn't too late to change that.

      Trump is a gross person. That's why I'm voting for him. Safe spaces and social justice agendas demand that the pendulum swing back a bit.

    28. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yup... Nobody says to their accountant, "No, that's too little. Let's cut an extra check to the IRS."

      Anyone who argues otherwise is a disingenuous moron.

    29. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol... So vote for the person who wants to flood America with millions of non-Americans who don't know or care about our society and laws.

      Once again you demonstrate incredible stupidity.

    30. Re:Great by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

      First off, Constitution only allows two terms as President. Obama has had his, and isn't eligible to be Pres again, even as a write-in.

      Secondly, he's not as popular as all that. He might come in third as a write-in, it's extremely unlikely he'd come in first.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    31. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      At least one suspects Hillary knows when she is lying, Trump frankly has contradicted himself so many times, to the point of denying saying things that are readily available for review, I suspect he puts no thought into his words, and therefore, cant remember his own words afterwards.
      If it wasn't a US election, and this was the plot of a TV show, it would be great entertainment though.
      I have a feeling the entire US population is trolling their own politicians, and come election day will reject Trump emphatically.

      No, the US population will not reject Trump. In fact they will elect him next president.
      Many still fail to understand the type of character Trump is. He's not a fascist or neo-fascist or any of the epiteths the liberals are throwing against him. He is the US version of Italy's Silvio Berlusconi.
      The parallel between the two is amazing, it's like Trump is the clone of Berlusconi. Not only in the way he carries himself, the way the speaks about his policies.... The way the criticises the press for misunderstanding his talks etc... It's all taken from Belusconi's playbook. He's a showman and the american people are being bamboozled by this guy. Clinton is going to lose to the suprise of many because you cannot argue rationnaly with someone like Trump. You have to be like him to take him down, and Clinton hasn't got the balls for that.

    32. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are we watching the same debate? Almost every time she calls him out for making things up and says "let's get the fact checkers on this" - she is wrong, and he is right. It is shocking how much of a liar she is.

    33. Re:Great by SadButResolved · · Score: 1

      Wow that is exactly opposite of what I heard from every speech he has ever given.
      What you really need is to look hard, is all the dual citizens in the whitehouse as handlers of your government. They are all Foreign Agents.
      Look really hard at where all that money went that the Fed Reserv printed. Not to you or I or anyone you will ever meet.
      Look really hard at what those poor people blown up in Yemen were doing with their children when a Saudi Bomb MADE IN THE USA, blew up the funeral killing hundreds and injuring almost a thousand.
      Look really hard at the Clinton Foundation donation that got them these bombs and missles.
      Look really hard at what Russia is doing Driving out the NWO banks and Soros. Wonder why the NWO is now trying to get you into WW3 with the Democratic Country of Russia. Please see the above statement about Handlers in the WhiteHouse.
      Look Really hard at Russia Driving the U.S. backed Terrorists out of Syria. Issuing their own NO FLY zone over it. Because America Bombed Syrian and Russian officers in an outpost under the guise of a Peace treaty situation. Not once, but many times over an hour. Their flags were on the building, Russian and Syrian. Followed by a terrorist attack that the US clearly controlled based on audio released. The Terrorists when on to kill, rape, and mutilate those they found there.
      For that matter go look really hard at Hillary Clintons Mentor and the kiss on the face she is getting from the Grand Cyclops of the KKK, Sen Bird.

      So continue in your Fluoride Lobotomized land of Opposite world, but the adults of the country that do not give 2 craps about PC and your idiocy are awakening and they are tired of the continued propaganda spewed out by the Media that is owned 98% by 5 people who are in turn owned by a Foreign Entity or pay homage to it. This makes them all Foreign Agents.

      If you think for a minute your not Drinking the Fluoride, getting the Glysophate in your food for you kids/grandkids, having mercury shot into body and put into your mouth, and aspartame shoved into every single weight loss product. Then you truly are in Opposite world. Who do you think wants all this crap in your food? Its called Eugenics, and the billionaires of 1 religion, and only 1, want you ALL dead. Feel free to search on any of this. Wake up folks, if you are still thinking this is about Dems and Repu you are truly out of touch with reality. Many of them have actually stated they believe they are gods, look up soros for example.
      Russia is moving nukes into Europe as you read this for a reason, pay attention!!!

    34. Re: Great by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They think they own you. They think they say "dance" and you'll do a little jig.

      And that's what's happened, because you're not voting for a third party. They want you to vote for Clinton; barring that they want you to vote for Trump, anything but wake up and do something different.

      Trump is a gross person. That's why I'm voting for him. Safe spaces and social justice agendas demand that the pendulum swing back a bit.

      DANCE, MONKEY, DANCE

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    35. Re: Great by Nidi62 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you want to send a "fuck you" to the whole system, why the he'll are you voting for anyone running with an "R" or a "D" after their name? They only way to take down the system is to tell the parties you aren't beholden to them any more.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    36. Re: Great by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      What worries me is that with trump there is a good chance we wind up not with a Burlesconi ( who was mostly just an embarrassment) but rather a Duterte (who has authorized and encouraged thousands of extrajudicial killings of his own citizens) or Putin (who has had political opponents murdered and is doing his best to consolidate all the power and wealth in Russia with him and his cronies). The first option is bad. The last two would be catastrophic.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    37. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > At least one suspects Hillary knows when she is lying,

      Why would we suspect that? She always either talks about something else or has a memory lapse when questioned....

    38. Re: Great by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Sorry, but that's a shitty reason. You really want to tell me a GOOD reason to vote someone into an office that is supposed to be the most important one in the most powerful country on the planet is to give a bunch of people I can't stand and frankly couldn't care less about an "up yours"?

      Are you high?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    39. Re:Great by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

      Write in Eisenhower. Even as a decomposed corpse he's ten times the president than those two goons combined.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    40. Re:Great by j-beda · · Score: 1

      Trump could point out that Saudi Arabia is on Hillary's side considering that it has provided 20% of her campaign funding, where it is illegal for foreign government to fund American political campaigns.

      Yeah, I'm sure it would be easy to cover that one up.

      Which is more likely, that the gazilllion opponents of Clinton and others who would benefit from this story being corroborated are unable to find some evidence of such massive wrongdoing beyond a single hacked website even though it is true, or the report was fabricated?

      http://www.dailydot.com/layer8...

    41. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Nixon was not equal to, nor worse than, Hitler. And I say that as a European.

    42. Re:Great by aron1231 · · Score: 1

      The issue is she side-stepped the question by trying to divert attention to Russia (which, by the way, those accusations have no factual backing yet).

      The real issue is she is exactly what you expect from an entrenched politician - someone who says what people want to hear and does whatever she wants when she thinks nobody is listening, and panders to those who can offer her the most.

    43. Re:Great by budgenator · · Score: 1

      Write ins are fine, also there is usually 20 or so Political Parties on the ballot in my state, Michigan, as well as most states. It's the nature of our Electoral College system and Federal Campaign Financing that pretty much insures only a Democrat or a Republican will be elected.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    44. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That's why I was somewhat pro trump. Of the two , he will be the most lame duck. He can't form a coherent sentence, nothing is going to get done.

      But then he picked pence. Pence scares me. Calm, cool, collected, but with an agenda that scares the piss out of me.

    45. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Trump is running on several key issues, and his positions are disruptive enough to the establishment - and attractive enough to voters - that the two parties are at the point of teaming up to defeat him (reports are the GOP knew about the tape for weeks and never told the Trump campaign, and had a parade of opportunistic, hypocritical NeverTrumpers ready to spring forth and be outraged). If it was just a matter of Trump being an asshole, but an asshole who toed the party line w.r.t. embracing full-blown corporatocracy while exploiting religion and bigotry to get the unwashed masses to go along with it, the GOP wouldn't give a shit about any of this. Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and Ben Carson have been GOP frontrunners for god's sake.

      OTOH the Hillary campaign's entire platform has openly been nothing but "Vote for me, my name isn't Donald Trump". In the mainstream media or liberal websites or Clinton campaign ads there are 20 anti-Trump items for every 1 pro-Hillary item, while Trump-sympathetic outlets run closer to 50/50, depending on the news cycle.

      In sum, "Fuck Trump" is beating "Fuck Hillary", but "Fuck yeah, Trump!" is killing "Fuck yeah, Hillary!", even if it's still a minority. Then throw in the democrats' inherent advantages in demographics and the electoral college and the laughably biased media, and we find ourselves where we are.

    46. Re:Great by nickberry · · Score: 1

      I really wish I had mod points... because holy crap... I never thought of that angle..

    47. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You complain about Hillary lying, then say she's responsible for hundred's of thousands being killed? Pot meet kettle.

    48. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the reason she is making such a point of saying it is Russia to try to distract from the information itself.

    49. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      where it is illegal for foreign government to fund American political campaigns.

      That sounds unlikely.

      It could be possible that it is illegal for American politicians to accept funding from foreign governments, but it can't be illegal for them to provide it considering that they set their own laws.

    50. Re: Great by budgenator · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Trump is a gross person. That's why I'm voting for him. Safe spaces and social justice agendas demand that the pendulum swing back a bit.

      That's one thing that cracks me up, the Progressive Liberal SJW piss and moan so much about Safe-Places and freedom from micro-aggressions, but they don't think twice about using a hot-mic conversation from the bathroom or the locker-room; as a Male WASP, the men's john is about the only safe-place left for us.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    51. Re: Great by Kierthos · · Score: 1

      You do realize that all of those media organizations you named have loved the idea of Trump running for President since he first announced, right?

      They are interested in ratings, and Trump (and his many fuckups) brings ratings. They might not like a Trump presidency, but they are digging the three-ring circus that he has turned the election cycle into.

      --
      Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
    52. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      But for some reason I think Trump is incapable. He is not a good choice, but I think he also is incapable of actually doing something. I think 4 years of Trump will be like 4 years without president instead of 4 years with a bad president. No anarchy, but a society where companies know they can't make any deals with the government to get subsidies or tax breaks, so they have to rely on the economy and their customers. 4 years where the government doesn't hire nor fire people, and where the government just has to pay the bills but can't threaten to not pay for diplomatic reasons, like blocking some healthcare bill they don't like.
       
        Clinton however is capable and will be able to actually achieve some things of her political view. I think that Clinton will have a lasting impact on the US, and when you don't like her political view you will not like the impact. Trump will not achieve anything, I think, but will have a lasting impact on the 'normal' politicians who finally (hopefully) understand that they do have to listen to the average people to get votes, even when the politicians think the average person is dumb.

    53. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "it is illegal for foreign government to fund American political campaigns"

      If only that were still true. :(

    54. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think that was the implication. It has become de rigeur here for partisan democrats who failed middle school history to equate Trump with Hitler, since they do not possess the verbal capacity to express their intense hatred in a more sophisticated way than just Tourette's-ing "Hitler" over and over. If any justification is offered, it typically boils down to "Hitler was a demagogue, Trump is a demagogue, therefore Trump=Hitler." (Incidentally, I've found the more intellectual among them might offer Mussolini as a 'compromise' - implicitly presenting their knowledge of the name of a fascist leader *besides* Hitler as evidence of their superior education - despite the historical comparison being somehow even more ridiculous.)

      Fun fact though: Hillary did work as a lawyer on the Nixon impeachment and aggressively tried to derail it to get Nixon off, prompting the chief counsel for the House Judiciary Committee to call her an unethical liar who conspired to violate the constitution.

      http://www.cato.org/blog/was-hillary-clinton-fired-nixon-impeachment-inquiry

    55. Re:Great by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      So one is "vote me, I'm not Trump", the other one is "vote me, I'm not the old establishment".

      So essentially you say that the statement is "vote me, I'm not him/her". And that alone isn't enough for me to want either of them. They're both despicable. Rarely has there been a moment when a third candidate had a bigger chance, because the number of people who think NEITHER of those two is fit to be president is rising with every "debate" (I'll use the term loosely now, "preschool bickering" is a more apt name of the travesty we get presented every single time).

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    56. Re:Great by Kierthos · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You might want to look at some poll numbers there, chief. Yes, Trump is still doing fine in strongly red states. That's because in those states, you could nominate a turnip truck and it would receive the majority of the votes.

      The problem is, Trump not only needs to win every single state that Romney won in 2012, he needs to win several battleground states, and that's not happening.

      His ground game is non-existent. He has a minuscule presence in Florida, which is one of the most important battleground states. The RNC is in the process of pulling away from him, and he's losing endorsements left and right.

      After 2012, the Republican party realized that they cannot ignore the minority voters any more. They started trying to make inroads to Hispanic and African-American voters. Trump torpedoed that shit in the first weeks of his campaign. In the 2012 election, African-American voters made up 13% of the voters. Romney got 6% of that vote. Trump will be lucky if he gets half that.

      He's pissed off the minority voter blocks, he's pissed off the establishment Republicans (okay, not all of them are turning away, but enough are that it's going to make a difference), and he's pissed off women voters. In previous elections, you could maybe still win the Presidency if you upset one or two of those groups, but all three?

      --
      Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
    57. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      after the us did the same in irak, lybia and syria before, hypocrite

    58. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      third party

      Get over it, third parties will never be a thing. The two party system may as well be written into the constitution (Duverger's Law). Moreover, with as much money and power as there is wrapped up in the two political parties today, the ability and will of the two major parties to crush a threatening upstart party is absolutely insurmountable beyond anything in other democracies or in American history. The Libertarian party can't even afford enough security to stop fat dudes from crashing their convention and stripping onstage, how are they going to fend off the Republican Party and their armies of marketing people?

      Nothing short of a literal revolution - or other total societal collapse - will change any of this. The only thing a third-party voter accomplishes is making the line longer for people whose votes actually matter (to the extent that anyone's vote actually matters).

    59. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Impressive. No matter what happens, Hillary just can't go wrong as long as there is someone else to blame. Can you at least admit she is scum. It is okay to say that Hillary is scum but Donald is more scum, but at least admit she is in the top 5 most crooked people around.

    60. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > You do realize that all of those media organizations you named have loved the idea of Trump running for President since he first announced, right?
      Yeah and you know WHY? Because he would be the perfect candidate for Hillary, her media, and her on-line trolls to pound into the ground with the 24/7 relentless stories of why he should NOT be president, leaving poor Hillary to walk into the White House. Just like Romney did for Obama in 2012.

    61. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not all states allow write-ins on President. South Carolina, for example, does not.
      (source: I've lived and voted in SC for the past 22 years.)

    62. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So vote for Johnson, and make the Electoral College implode with the responsibility.

      This is our chance to get rid of this antiquated system, where the voters in the electoral college are delegates picked by the major two parties.

      BREAK THE SYSTEM. Vote Johnson. If no one gets 270 votes, it forces the EC into a VERY inconvenient situation.

    63. Re: Great by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Well, it's the UK so HMRC rather than the IRS, but Alan Sugar pays his tax.

      You're welcome to call him a disingenuous moron, but only after you've gone from nothing to billionaire too.

    64. Re:Great by budgenator · · Score: 1

      My bet would be that he is using tax avoidance measures to such an extreme level - secret Swiss bank accounts, shell companies in Ireland, whatever it takes - that he fears even the people would find it distasteful.

      None of that is likely to show up in his Federal Individual Income Taxes, it's all buried in the Corporate Individual Income taxes. Same with the Clintons, Individual Income taxes tell you nothing, hell the Clintions used the same Capital lose deduction the she was ragging on Trump about!

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    65. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is astonishing how little so many folks overseas seem to inderstand about Obama or the US political system in general. No offense, but nobody wants Obama to serve again, even if he could (which thankfully is impossible without outright tyranny). He is one of the lowest rated presidents in history. We are permitted to write in candidates, and I'm sure many will, but thanks to Citizen's United (which is actually the least of the corrupt shenanigans going on) that action couldn't make a dent in aluminum foil, let alone this election.

    66. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      tl;dr In Opposite world, we're not concerned about our precious bodily fluids?

      WAKE UP SHEEPLE!

    67. Re:Great by sls1j · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There are other viable candidates, if you reject the notion that you have to vote democrate or republican. There is McMullin, Johnson, and Castle running as well. It only "sucks" if your dim witted enough to play the "official" game.

    68. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If I'm campaigning on issue X and you violently disagree with my position, that doesn't mean I'm campaigning on the "I'm not you" platform.

      And third parties will never be a thing, stop deluding yourself. If the libertarian (or whichever) party was ever a serious threat, the concerted effort to absorb/eliminate them by the most damaged party would make the NeverTrump campaign look like child's play. Perot was able to get some support through sheer force of personal wealth, but the Reform Party was a joke. Trump is effectively an independent, but he recognized that to actually contend you need a major party backing you. So he basically hijacked one. He had the cash and the name recognition and the media savvy (and the giant balls) to do it, and the republican party was ripe for takeover after the 'tea party' scam had run its course and left millions of disaffected "republicans" out there looking for the revolution they were repeatedly promised.

    69. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So in exactly which state is Johnson polling within 40 points of the frontrunner in? What's his plan to close the gap?

      Enjoy your futile, meaningless gesture. I would think you could find more enjoyable ways to piss away an hour, but whatever.

    70. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would literally vote for the cat that is trained to pick stocks over either of these two any day if it was on the ballot. No doubt that Trump is the worse of the pair but I wouldn't trust either of them to manage a hotdog cart let alone the country. Its sad that our "only choice" this election cycle is a choice between corrupt or crazy.

    71. Re: Great by ScentCone · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you want to send a "fuck you" to the whole system, why the he'll are you voting for anyone running with an "R" or a "D" after their name?

      Because saying "fuck you" by voting for the Libertarian or Green candidates is like saying "fuck you" while you're standing out in the middle of the woods with nobody listening. The vote is lost.

      You have two real choices: vote for the Supreme Court nominees that Trump has already listed for you, or vote for the ones that Clinton will seat, about which we have no details, though she's signaling lots (she wants people with no federal judicial experience who "know what people are facing," etc). The difference is stark. She wants to make and execute her policies through court activism. There are bones to pick with Trump's list, but by and large, it reflects a group of choices that actually understand and embrace the three-way checks and balances that the constitution established. That issue, right there, is the ONLY thing that this election is really about.

      He's a buffoonish bro in his public manner, and she's a sociopathic, corrupt liar that would already be indicted if not in jail, were she anyone with less of a political machine protecting her. So he's distasteful at best, and she's practically a James Bond villain. You want to shake up "the system?" Vote for the one that "the system" definitely hates, but who will at least seat some justices more inclined to preserve the three co-equal branches of government in the roles they're supposed to play. He will have an adversarial congress and a sober court to counter his policy learning curve phase. She will have an adversarial congress and a lapdog activist liberal court anxious to pursue her agenda from the bench.

      The repercussions will last for decades - long after we care in the least about either of their personalities, or whether or not the third party candidates can think their way out of a wet paper bag. No, I won't give a vote to a guy who isn't just ignorant of foreign affairs, but is willfully so and considers it a badge of phony Libertarian honor. And I wont' give a vote to a professionally trained medical doctor whose actively anti-science positions show her to be simply irrational right out of the gate - on the very types of topics that she, unlike normal politicians, should be held to the highest standard.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    72. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The vote is lost.

      No, it is not.

      Put your vote on a candidate you support.

      If there is none, then do not vote, at all.

      The only truly lost vote is the vote on a candidate you do not support, in order to spite another candidate you support even less. In either case, the vote is lost, because you betrayed your own beliefs.

      The tendency of people to vote on the lesser evil is the reason we are in the current mess. You need to stop perpetuating it. The only way to do so is to only ever vote on someone you support. If that is currently none, then so be it.

      And now you, ever vigilant at perpetuating the mess, will flame me, thus proving my point.

    73. Re:Great by Lord+Apathy · · Score: 1

      Well, the primary choices are Orange Hitler and Grandma Nixon.. it sucks

      Oh that brought tears to my eyes. I've not laughed so hard in a while. good job.

      --

      Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification

    74. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh come on, now, you're on the internet. No need to be coy. If you hate Jews, say so straight out. Let people see what kind of a person you really are.

    75. Re: Great by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Given the fact that most of the GOP establishment has opposed Trump from the beginning (and many of its "leaders" are now calling on him to step down), I think Trump is an "R" in name only. He's the last guy they wanted, they let him in simply as a way to boost interest in the race and in their ratings. Now that little plan is biting them in the back and they can't stand it.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    76. Re:Great by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 1

      Write ins are fine, also there is usually 20 or so Political Parties on the ballot in my state, Michigan, as well as most states. It's the nature of our Electoral College system and Federal Campaign Financing that pretty much insures only a Democrat or a Republican will be elected.

      There will be 6 presidential candidates listed on the Michigan ballot. The first hurdle 3rd parties face is gaining ballot access. The second hurdle 3rd parties face is maintaining ballot access. 3rd parties typically have to spend so much time & effort gaining ballot access that it makes it even that much more difficult for them to ever get elected. I'm not a huge fan of Gary Johnson, but his positions align more closely to mine than Clinton or Trump, and I'd really like to see the LP get major party status in Michigan, so they don't have to keep on going through the same ballot access cycle every 2 years.

      --
      Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    77. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're not only moderating pro-Russian and pro-Trump positions up (not that there's much distinction, mind), they're also moderating down any voice that points this out, such as yours. What a waste of all that Russian intellect, to pay so many young people to subvert elections in another country. It's really frigging depressing.

    78. Re: Great by budgenator · · Score: 1

      It doesn't matter who you do or don't vote for, to really screw them just say you will not vote for them when the pollsters call, tell them you'll vote for some 3rd party candidate. If we start getting 4 people on the Presidential debates than it will shift (slowly perhaps) from which of two are the worst to who is the best.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    79. Re:Great by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      At least it sends the message "I registered to vote. I came here to vote. But NEITHER of you two idiots is worth it".

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    80. Re:Great by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      "Do you mind if the Arch-Angel has a bit of fun with the debates and resulting chaos of the inaugeration?"

      I am going to have fun? SWEET!

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    81. Re:Great by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      My guess is he's using the tax return thing as schmuck bait.

      1. No one is going to be deciding their vote based on his tax returns. There is not a single person saying "gee, I'm find with building a wall, deporting millions of people, and banning muslims, but what if there's something shady in his tax returns?!?! Nope, #ImWithHer!" Similarly, ask any Hillary voter who's demanding to see Trump's taxes "so, if the taxes turn out good, and he's rich as fuck and gives lots to charity and has no Russian ties, you'll vote for him?" Of course not. Which makes the entire issue a red herring.

      2. Since the content of the tax returns will not effect anyone's vote, it's great to keep the establishment media harping on them. Let them waste days of breath and gallons of ink on something of absolutely no consequence. If he released them and they're fine, do you think the media would say "oh, then he's a great choice for president, we have no further complaints." No, they would just move on to something else that might actually be damaging. Don't interrupt your enemy while they're making a mistake.

      So if were Trump's media strategist (which is to say, Trump) and at the beginning of the year when they started going after him for his tax returns I would have said "regardless of the contents of the taxes, do not release them...pretty much ever and let the media scream about nothing." Alternatively, if the taxes show good things, wait until a week before the election, then release them and make everyone who was screaming about the taxes for a year look stupid.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    82. Re:Great by Alomex · · Score: 1

      This is just hysterics. All indications are that Hillary would be an ok candidate. As for Trump the problem is we just can't tell. He gives no specifics. "Make America great again". Well duh! we can all agree that we want America to be great. I mean, you might disagree 100% with Obama, but I'm sure Barry spends every waking minute of his life trying to make this country as good as it can be. Where we differ is in the specifics, Democrats believe that the government has a role to play in a developed country, Republicanss thiink that if you give enough tax breaks, the rest happens by magic.

      So what is the specific way to make America great again as per Trump? no one knows. He never goes into specifics. So all we have to judge him is his previous record as administrator, and this one is quite a bit worse than Hillary's: bankrupt many times, not a single business partner has something positive to say about him, short-tempered and easily baited, lies pathologically, mistreats women.

    83. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'll vote Mojo Nixion!

    84. Re: Great by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      The vote is lost.

      No vote is lost. Never. A vote not only decides an election in a immediate time, but sets the "mood" for the future....

    85. Re: Great by rholtzjr · · Score: 1

      I do not recall seeing a Trump Death List YET, however there is a Clinton Death List

    86. Re:Great by budgenator · · Score: 1

      I stand corrected, I thought there were 3 or 4 variants of the libertarians on the ballot, 3 or 4 Socialist parties and a couple outright Communist Parties on the ballot.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    87. Re: Great by Archtech · · Score: 2

      It's been my observation that Russians are somewhat less likely to make errors in English grammar than Americans are.

      --
      I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
    88. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The US has a pretty damning history when it comes to meddling in other countries internal affairs.

      Stopping at the waters edge has never been how you operated.

    89. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. Putin only share the spoils of Russia with Russians. Non-Russians cant play in Russia without at least a Russian partner. They take protectionism to other levels there. Trump as a protectionist should appreciate that at least.

    90. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > He is one of the lowest rated presidents in history

      Amazing how dumb americans are even about their own country.
      Obama's approval rating is middle of the pack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_approval_rating

      If he was able to run today he'd win by a landslide.

    91. Re:Great by galabar · · Score: 1

      I think the republicans are more blameworthy here. They actually chose their candidate.

    92. Re:Great by RandomSurfer314 · · Score: 1

      Hillary's strategy is 100% calculus. Troves of aides have analyzed Trump's key vulnerability, which is the question whether he has the personal integrity to be a statesman, and now they act on this knowledge. They started early with this strategy to counter Trump's attempt to portray his campaign as a sort of grass-root movement, which would have been very powerful if successful. At the same time, the strategy also deflects from Hillary's lack of empathy and robot-like evil smiles, issues that would be decisive against her if she ran against another Republican candidate.

      Hillary will win without a doubt, but she's going to be hated a lot and might not get re-elected for a second term.

      Overall, this campaign will go down as the lowest, most personal and most childish campaign in history so far, and certainly not just because of Trump's annoying personality, but also because of the Democrats' working strategy.

    93. Re: Great by NoImNotNineVolt · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because saying "fuck you" by voting for the Libertarian or Green candidates is like saying "fuck you" while you're standing out in the middle of the woods with nobody listening. The vote is lost.

      That's a gross oversimplification of the way presidential elections work in the USA.

      If you live in a swing state, what you said is true. However, most American voters don't live in swing states, and indeed, they have no say in the contest between Democrats and Republicans. Their vote is effectively lost regardless of how they vote.

      Unless they vote for a third party. You see, though the D/R contest is already settled in most states, there is another one in which these voters can still have a say: the fight for more money.

      For your convenience:

      Minor party candidates and new party candidates may become eligible for partial public funding of their general election campaigns. (A minor party candidate is the nominee of a party whose candidate received between 5 and 25 percent of the total popular vote in the preceding Presidential election. A new party candidate is the nominee of a party that is neither a major party nor a minor party.) The amount of public funding to which a minor party candidate is entitled is based on the ratio of the party's popular vote in the preceding Presidential election to the average popular vote of the two major party candidates in that election. A new party candidate receives partial public funding after the election if he/she receives 5 percent or more of the vote. The entitlement is based on the ratio of the new party candidate's popular vote in the current election to the average popular vote of the two major party candidates in the election.

      Source.

      So, in many ways, you're advocating for people to dutifully throw their votes away on statistically-impossible outcomes instead of actually casting them in a way that is considerably more likely to actually have a practical outcome. For a Californian, like it or not, their state is going for Clinton (99.9% probability as per Nate Silver's projections as of this writing), regardless of who they vote for. If their vote was somehow going to be the deciding factor in California, then virtually all other states would already be in the bag for Trump, and the contest would have already been decided anyway. The only way their vote can have any practical impact is by helping to push a third party past the 5% threshold, enabling the collection of partial public funding for the next election.

      Emphasis added for people with short attention spans.

      --
      Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
    94. Re:Great by RandomSurfer314 · · Score: 1

      True, but Putin has a vested interest in seeing Trump elected. His goal is to destabilize Europe and further pro-Russian right wing movements there, and Trump as US president would make this happen for sure even if he'd just stick to 10% of the isolationism he has advocated so far.

    95. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's "lost" because nobody does it. It doesn't matter if they hear you, you have to keep screaming so that other idiots won't think a vote is "lost" if you vote for someone you like rather than against someone you hate.

    96. Re: Great by Atryn · · Score: 2

      If you want to send a "fuck you" to the whole system, why the he'll are you voting for anyone running with an "R" or a "D" after their name?

      Because saying "fuck you" by voting for the Libertarian or Green candidates is like saying "fuck you" while you're standing out in the middle of the woods with nobody listening. The vote is lost.

      This reminds me of a popular anecdote at Georgia Tech. The question was "when is it ok to leave class if the professor hasn't shown up?" and the (comic) answer was "you should only leave if 15% of the class has already left." Of course, this implies that if everyone followed this rule, nobody would ever leave. Sound familiar?

      --
      Come play Moral Decay!
    97. Re: Great by Atryn · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Trump is a gross person. That's why I'm voting for him. Safe spaces and social justice agendas demand that the pendulum swing back a bit.

      That's one thing that cracks me up, the Progressive Liberal SJW piss and moan so much about Safe-Places and freedom from micro-aggressions, but they don't think twice about using a hot-mic conversation from the bathroom or the locker-room; as a Male WASP, the men's john is about the only safe-place left for us.

      Yeah, there ought to be SOMEWHERE we can still talk about using our power to take advantage of or sexually assault women without fear of repercussions... Geez, what has the world come to??? (sigh)

      --
      Come play Moral Decay!
    98. Re:Great by shaitand · · Score: 2

      Actually I'm shocked people aren't talking about writing in Bernie Sanders. Everyone pretends the dnc chair getting sacked took care of her collusion with them, Clinton should have been ineligable for nomination as a result.

    99. Re:Great by Atryn · · Score: 1

      No, what he said about Warren Buffett was right, nobody pays more taxes than they have to. So I agree with him that avoiding taxes is smart. Taking a $916M loss on the other hand makes him look bad, and if he hasn't paid takes since, that means he hasn't made that money back yet.

      Warren Buffet (and his tax returns) would disagree with you: http://www.reuters.com/article...

      --
      Come play Moral Decay!
    100. Re:Great by Atryn · · Score: 1

      No, nothing in common... I mean, Trump's daughter vacations together with Putin's girlfriend and Trump's campaign manager is deep in with Russian financeers, but no, no connection. http://gawker.com/ivanka-trump...

      --
      Come play Moral Decay!
    101. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm going with Gary on this one, but would switch my vote in a heartbeat if Trump stood up in the final debate and said:
      "Are you not entertained? Is this not what you expected -- nay, Demanded?" ,,,, "Kneel before Zod!"

    102. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eisenhower's stance on illegals would be similar to Trump's, if not harsher.

    103. Re: Great by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      If you want to send a "fuck you" to the whole system, why the he'll are you voting for anyone running with an "R" or a "D" after their name?

      Because saying "fuck you" by voting for the Libertarian or Green candidates is like saying "fuck you" while you're standing out in the middle of the woods with nobody listening. The vote is lost.

      This reminds me of a popular anecdote at Georgia Tech. The question was "when is it ok to leave class if the professor hasn't shown up?" and the (comic) answer was "you should only leave if 15% of the class has already left."

      Knowing the kind of people that go to Tech, I would say the answer is really "when your beer starts getting warm".

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    104. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny. I'm voting for Hillary. I'd compare TRUMP to Nixon along with so many. The comparison has already been written by so many. Trump hasn't killed anyone that we know of. So comparing him to hitler is a bit of fantasy.

      There is already so much exaggeration going on -/ DO WE NEED IT HERE?

    105. Re: Great by Mike+Van+Pelt · · Score: 1

      Trump would be a very soft target impeachment bait. At least half the Republicans, and all the Democrats, would be aching for any excuse to remove him from office. The moment he does the first thing that can be construed as a "high crime or misdemeanor", the impeachment in the House and the removal from office vote in the Senate will bounce him out of the White House so fast he'll crack the sidewalk at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

    106. Re: Great by shilly · · Score: 1

      Don't be a twat. People here on Slashdot and in lots of other places are comparing Trump to fascist demagogues because he is labelling entire races and religions as flawed, and has proposed Muslim Americans be put on a register and all Muslim visitors be banned. Here's an exciting challenge for you: name a leader of a developed world country who's done this sort of thing in the last 70 years who's *not* been a fascist.

    107. Re: Great by shilly · · Score: 1

      Thank you for articulating what I thought but couldn't be arsed to type.

    108. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      After reading that, I'm more sure Clinton will get things done!

    109. Re: Great by shilly · · Score: 1

      Apparently, Warren Buffet disagrees with you to the tune of more than $2bn

    110. Re: Great by shilly · · Score: 1

      It's pretty clear that there are plenty of undecided voters out there, and that some of them are being swayed by what they're hearing in the last few days (with more breaking for Clinton than Trump). The notion that there's nothing left to play for is decidedly at odds with the facts: this election is especially volatile.

    111. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Like the birth certificate thing. Exactly.

    112. Re: Great by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      If you mean Obama, then yeah. The reason Obama didn't release his birth certificate was because it was a great way to discredit his political opposition. The people calling for it looked like racist nutters and so it's really helpful to him for his political opponents to waste time doing dumb shit. It's not like him releasing it changed his opponents' political opinions of him. Keep them busy chasing a red herring, and laugh at them.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    113. Re: Great by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      Pointing out that one of the two leading candidates will win, and what that means for the Supreme Court here in the real world where that's what is actually going to happen, is not an example of flaming you or anyone else. How is it a betrayal of my beliefs to choose the candidate that will do the least damage? My "belief" is that I'd like to see less damage, rather than more. Should I encourage the choice that will result in MORE damage, so that I can say I'm a purist? Are you even listening to yourself?

      This would all go away if the third parties you're pitching for would put forth some non-absurd candidates that they know won't spend their time talking about weed, homeopathy, their lack of any familiarity with foreign heads of state, etc.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    114. Re: Great by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      Nope, that will still produce nothing but noise. Because the "third parties" that are screaming about wanting more representation coalesce around people who pander to one-topic voters like stoners, homeopathy fans, irrational isolationists, and frustrated communists. Giving those platforms more horsepower, at the expense of the taxpayers, isn't constructive.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    115. Re: Great by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      No, that doesn't sound familiar. Because it's a thought experiment, not real life. We have real life Supreme Court justices to seat. Now. Here in the real world. One of the two candidates we all hate is going to name those judges. That's not a though experiment, it's reality. And it will impact every one of us, personally and professionally, for decades.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    116. Re:Great by Comrade+Ogilvy · · Score: 1

      For the debates I have watched so far, Hillary, always, a 100% of the time, tries to put Trump down with personal attacks.

      Those of us who watched merely the first 40 minutes of the second debate know you are utterly wrong. Clinton often tried to stay on topic. Trump couldn't handle that and kept interrupting, including throwing in personal attacks.

      Your own argument is actually an argument FOR CLINTON, but you are too stupid and dishonest to understand your own words.

    117. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh puleaze, we wouldn't even be talking about Aleppo if it wasn't for Hillary's atrocious foreign policy. You need to quit drinking the cool aid. Both of the 3rd party candidates are leagues against that fake left Republican lite.
      A huge segment of the population is voting 3rd party this election cycle because the two main candidates haven't a clue how to properly run this country and are unqualified to be leaders of the free world. Its the only way to buck the 2 party duopoly which has got us to this point.

    118. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you feel depressed often? Difficult to get up in the morning? Asking yourself why even bother?

    119. Re: Great by Atryn · · Score: 1

      No, really... I had professors that didn't show up. It was more than a thought experiment.

      --
      Come play Moral Decay!
    120. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You realize this was from a bus, not a bathroom or locker-room right?

    121. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That doesn't mean Putin isn't using Trump now does it? Even worse if Trump is getting nothing from the deal.

    122. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That wasn't a threat, it was just a man expressing his heart's thoughts.

      Well, maybe the second amendment people can do something, I don't know.

      I think that [Clinton's] bodyguards should drop all weapons. They should disarm. Right? I think they should disarm immediately.

      Take their guns away. She doesn’t want guns let’s see what happens to her. Take their guns away, OK? It’d be very dangerous.

    123. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even if it were as you describe, there is no contest. Nixon a thousand times over, please!

    124. Re: Great by painandgreed · · Score: 1

      Because saying "fuck you" by voting for the Libertarian or Green candidates is like saying "fuck you" while you're standing out in the middle of the woods with nobody listening. The vote is lost.

      As a long time Libertarian voter, I would disagree. Voting third party is well worth it for the next four years of sitting back and being able to say "not my fault, I didn't vote for them" no matter who won.

    125. Re:Great by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      People are not looking, or are unwilling?

      Are you serious? Every single media outlet bigger than a weekly classifieds publication would trip over themselves to find some more dirt on this guy. Why do you think everyone has gone ape shit over this tape of him talking about being a sex offender?

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    126. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trump is a gross person. That's why I'm voting for him. Safe spaces and social justice agendas demand that the pendulum swing back a bit.

      Yes, what this country needs is a "shocker". This country needs Trump to grab it by the pussy and fuck it up the ass.

      Please, stay home on election day, parent AC.

    127. Re:Great by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Except Gary Johnson. He tried to make this exact point that he could be speaking gibberish and still look good next to them, and proceeded to actually speak gibberish on camera.

      And so suddenly Trump who uses full articulate words while babbling looks good in comparison. Not in policiy perhaps. But the hardest thing for a politician to learn I think is how to speak to people who are NOT your fan base and who do not agree with you. It's fine and good to be all Libertarian and use secret Libertarian code phrases at a Libertarian party convention, but to the average undecided voter (by which I mean "smart" voter) it sounds suspicious, odd, goofball, etc. Trump is never going to convince anyone who's not already a Trump supporter to vote for him, Hillary is never going to convince anyone who's not already a Hillary supporter to vote for her, and Gary Johnson is only going to manage to get undecided voters to vote for him by keeping quiet (unless asked about Aleppo in which case he should answer clearly).

      The water cooler has the advantage of keeping mostly quiet, except for the occasional gurgle which can be excused due to the $100 a plate compaign donor luncheon.

    128. Re:Great by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      So you found the one thing they are at least comparable at.

      Eisenhower was the last decent president the US had. Wonder if it had anything to do with him being a general.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    129. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why does this parent have a score of 5 Insightful. Did anyone even read the full excerpt of the WikiLeaks which shows that the Clinton statement has been completely taken out of context and used for inflammatory purposes. So yes it is Russia's fault for misleading and attempting to sway us the American public and you blindly fell for it.

    130. Re: Great by mea_culpa · · Score: 1

      If you want to send a "fuck you" to the whole system, why the he'll are you voting for anyone running with an "R" or a "D" after their name? They only way to take down the system is to tell the parties you aren't beholden to them any more.

      I take it you haven't watched any of the primary debates or the Republican Convention.

      Trump beat the living shit out of the Republican party. He is the biggest "fuck you" the party and the establishment has ever dealt with and are still dealing with. If you've only been getting your information from the media then you are probably not aware of the revolution that is taking place.

      Here's a sample of what's been happening over the last year and half and why so many people are behind him.
      Trigger warning: viewer discretion advised

    131. Re:Great by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Nixon wasn't so bad though. He did some good things. Pulled us out of Vietnam, opened diplomatic relationships with China, formed the EPA, etc. He was only evil when it came to campaigning. Or to put it another way, he was the first president to be caught doing this.

    132. Re: Great by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      However, voting for president is often the least important thing on the ballot. Your logic implies that if you're not in a swing state then voting is pointless, when it is still very vital.

    133. Re: Great by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Safe place for what? People who talk like Trump were frowned upon forever, it's not something new. It may be ok in the frat house but to the rest of the university the frat houses are recognized as a bastion of boorish behavior. In the dorms if someone talked this way in the 80s, you'd nod and try dislodge yourself from the conversation. Men do have the ability to recognize when other men are scumbags.

    134. Re:Great by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I don't think Putin is trying to help Trump per se, only that he prefers political instability in the US. So a Trump win, or a Trump lawsuit when he doesn't win, or a too-close-to-call election, or four more years of cat-calling, are all Putin wins.

    135. Re:Great by blackest_k · · Score: 1

      I honestly think Trump is backed by Putin just as Farage was and he was successful too, it was very damaging to the UK and also Europe which is just what Putin wanted. Funny isn't it that Farages German wife is apparently from about 20 miles from the former East German Border supported with regular payments and appearances on Russia Today.

      A couple of days ago, it was impossible to find an American Politician to back up Trump but you know who did Nigel Farage. Putin won in Europe and it is likely he will win again in the USA.

      There are plenty of smart people, who realise how bad Trump is but unfortunately Smart is in the minority and just as in the Uk there will be people voting this year who have never voted before, because Trump says he will make "America Great Again"

      There is a war going on, and sadly too few people recognise it.

    136. Re:Great by Tuidjy · · Score: 1

      Putin doesn't need to like Trump to support is candidacy. It is enough that Putin thinks Trump's presidency will isolate, fragment and eventually weaken the United States. I see variations of the same phrase in the Eastern European press: "Not everyone who supports Trump hates the US, but all who hate the US hope he wins." Judging from how Putin, Kim Jong-un, ISIS, etc. act, thre may be some truth in it.

      --
      No good deed goes unpunished...
    137. Re: Great by budgenator · · Score: 1

      What Trump says women let him do pales in comparison to what the Bill/Hillary tag-team did to women who didn't let them; Bill would abuse them sexually then Hillary would abuse them psychologically to keep it covered up. There has only been two presidents Impeached ever and Bill Clinton was one of them, and it was for perjury over the attempted cover up of is sexual escapades with Monica Lewinski.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    138. Re: Great by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 1

      Yeah, there ought to be SOMEWHERE we can still talk about using our power to take advantage of or sexually assault women without fear of repercussions...

      Who's this "we", white man? And what power? Or did you think all straight white cisgendered males are nationally known television stars who do billion dollar real estate deals?

      I'm thinking the number of people who can get away with what Trump has gotten away with are precisely as limited as the number of male billionaires, who have far too much power in every aspect of life, not just in sexual matters.

    139. Re: Great by Atryn · · Score: 1

      Trump said he did those things to women WITHOUT their permission, not that they let (your emphasis) him do it. All he said about their action was that he could get away with it (i.e. they wouldn't accuse him or call him out) because of his powerful position.

      That is sexual abuse.

      I think calling Bill/Hillary (a husband/wife pair) a "tag team" when it comes to extra-marital affairs shows a deep misunderstanding of marriage.

      The affair with Lewinski was consensual, btw, unless you aren't believing Monica herself?

      http://www.vanityfair.com/news...

      --
      Come play Moral Decay!
    140. Re: Great by Atryn · · Score: 1

      The "we" in the sarcastic commentary was referring to misogynistic and abusive men.

      I think far more men are guilty of using power over women to get away with sexual assault than just billionaire tv stars, yes.

      We have a wealth of reports from all sorts of workplaces, schools, military, college campuses, etc. And that is despite the fact that many cases are never reported at all (often due to fear, humiliation or possible retaliation).

      --
      Come play Moral Decay!
    141. Re: Great by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Well, it's the UK so HMRC rather than the IRS, but Alan Sugar pays his tax.

      Trump pays his tax, too. It's just that he uses the laws and regulations as best he is able to minimize his tax burden. Like pretty much everyone does. There's nothing illegal, or even unethical about that. As Judge Learned Hand (a staunch progressive from the 20th century, who "has been quoted more often by legal scholars and by the Supreme Court of the United States than any other lower-court judge") states:

      Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes. Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands.

      I personally don't know anyone who does not avail themselves of every potential deduction and tax reduction strategy. And if a person feels they are paying too little in taxes (for example, Warren Buffet who's famous for "complaining" about a low tax burden), one can always just give more money to the Federal Government.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    142. Re: Great by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      Your logic implies that if you're not in a swing state then voting is pointless, when it is still very vital.

      Always vote. There's more on the plate than the president. But even then, when you know for a fact, as we do now that it's going to be one of two people: vote the one that's going to do the least real-world, right-now damage. Trump is an annoying person with a likely better outcome for court. Clinton is a slicker, but more sinister person, whose vision of the court is completely incompatible with the constitution's three co-equal branches framework.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    143. Re:Great by bongey · · Score: 1

      Hillary is going only be known as Senator Clinton , former first lady Pardoned by Obama

    144. Re:Great by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Where's Stein? Or are you only listing the 3rd party candidates you like?

    145. Re: Great by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Constitution does not have the co-equal branches concept written into it. It just has three branches. The supreme court started as something of a joke, and then later during Marbury v. Madison claimed constitutional jurisdiction for itself. But even then it had no possibility of enforcing any of its decisions without either congress or executive going along with them (ie, if it suited their politics). Andrew Jackson completely ignored the court decisions against him. The status of supreme court basically grew slowly over time; not all at once at the beginning, and not all at once with some reactionary court in the 60s.

    146. Re:Great by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but he timing is that he took the $1B loss from his incompetent management, then deducted it, then bankrupted it. So he deducted a non-loss. If he takes a $1B loss and doesn't bankruptcy it away, how many billions did he wipe in his 6 bankruptcies (yes, I know, they were corporate, not personal, but for billionaires, that's the same thing).

    147. Re:Great by kybred · · Score: 1

      Water cooler? Hell, I'd vote for the Inanimate Carbon Rod!

    148. Re:Great by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      In Rod we trust!

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    149. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I see you swallowed whole the slime the media threw at Stein. More the fool you. She and Baraka are your only hope for a rational POTUS, and you piss into the wind. You don't really deserve a vote if you dismiss Jill and Ajamu so out of hand from 3rd party propaganda.

    150. Re: Great by qaz123 · · Score: 1

      He said "when you are a star they let you do anything". A star. He didn't say "when you are a boss...". What he meant was when you are a star or a rich person, women "jump" on you. And this is true. Not for all women, but for many enough.

    151. Re: Great by budgenator · · Score: 1

      Juanita Broaddrick, rape of an subordinate,1999,
      Kathleen Willey, groped an subordinate without consent
      Paula Jones, Sexual harrasment/indecent exposure settled out of court for $850,000.
      Dolly Kyle, Adulterous affair
      Gennifer Flowers, Adulterous affair
      Monica Lewinsky, Adulterous affair with an subordinate
      Sandra Allen James sexually assaulted 1991,
      Eileen Wellstone, sexually assaulted, 1969,
      Christy Zercher Groped 1991,
      Carolyn Moffet Attempted rape, 1979,
      Helen Dowdy groped 1986,
      Becky Brown sexually harassed her in the mid-1980
      Regina Blakely Hopper predominately consensual with a sexual assault
      Elizabeth Ward Gracen consensual affair,
      Dolly Kyle Browning consensual affair from the 1970s until 1992
      Sally Miller (Sally Perdue) consensual affair 1983
      Lencola Sullivan unconfirmed affair

      It's a freaking laundry list most were either a Miss Arkansas or in a subordinate work position

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    152. Re: Great by Atryn · · Score: 1

      Seriously? Read the transcript.

      Trump: ... I just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

      Unidentified voice: Whatever you want.

      Trump: Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.


      That is not a woman "jumping on him", that is him grabbing women unsolicited and bragging about how he can get away with it. As for the "boss" thing, there have been numerous other complaints about his role as the "boss" on the Apprentice. So much so that they won't even release those for scrutiny.

      http://www.latimes.com/politic...

      --
      Come play Moral Decay!
    153. Re: Great by Atryn · · Score: 1

      I grabbed one from your list, because 1969 sounded odd... Here's the first thing I found: http://www.snopes.com/bill-cli...

      So I grabbed the first one and found this NPR background: http://www.npr.org/2016/10/09/...

      Confusing, at best. She has both claimed it did happen and specifically claimed it did not happen. If it did happen as the accusation suggests, that is terrible. However, with the amount of $$ being thrown around to falsify stuff about the Clintons for 30 years, we really need evidence.

      You know, a tape of Clinton bragging about how he can assault women unsolicited and get away with it would be great. Oh wait, we only have that from Trump.

      Regardless, it is also worth re-iterating that Bill isn't the opposing candidate here. The biggest claims against Hillary (again, mostly unproven) are that she was antagonistic toward the accusers of her husband and that she stood by him throughout all these incidents. Should she have divorced Bill? Probably, in my opinion. But for many people divorce isn't even an option, especially in religious circles.

      Again, what we are talking about here and now is a candidate who wants to be President who has been on tape saying he could sexually assault women and get away with it AND then defending that on TV saying "its just locker room talk" and "you hear it all the time". That just compounds a misunderstanding or mistake about sexual assault with a complete endorsement that its a normal part of society and everyone should just be ok with it.

      --
      Come play Moral Decay!
    154. Re:Great by richieb · · Score: 1

      Not really. There are many reasons to vote for Hillary and the Democrats. For one thing, if the Republicans win 20 million Americans will loose their health insurance.

      --
      ...richie - It is a good day to code.
    155. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ummm....really? you don't even read the news before forming your opinion?

      http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/business/buffett-calls-trumps-bluff-and-releases-his-tax-return.html?_r=0

    156. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That isn't what she is saying, she is saying that everyone has dirty laundry and that Russia has selectively hacked the democratic party's information specifically to influence public opinion and the election while no hacks have come from the RNC or have targeted Trump. You may not like her and you wouldn't be alone but all signs really do point to Russia and that the "nonpartisan" Assange (who has admitted bias against Clinton) are attempting to do this.

    157. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you wanna "save America", short of another revolution that seems like a pretty hard task right now.

      it's not about "saving" your country- it is about not burning your fucking country to the ground and salting the earth

    158. Re:Great by djcopi · · Score: 1

      True. If you notice, she doesn't really answer the question, just like a trapped kid. "He started it!" It's a mute point, though -- we're not getting an honest person no matter who wins the election.

    159. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > He is one of the lowest rated presidents in history

      Amazing how dumb americans are even about their own country.
      Obama's approval rating is middle of the pack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_approval_rating

      If he was able to run today he'd win by a landslide.

      Good way to prove the parent correct.
      Most polls are manufactured nowadays, either by design or botting.

      There are lies everywhere while the view from the ground level tells a truth that can't be spoken.

    160. Re: Great by qaz123 · · Score: 1

      He said that if you're a star they let you do anything, but he didn't say why they let you do anything. It's your speculation that that's because they are afraid of him. If he had said "a boss" I would have agreed with you. Because "boss" means authority over people. But he said "a star". There are always many "gold digging" women around stars. They let him do it because they don't mind it, because that's how they dig their gold. They know it and he knows it.

    161. Re:Great by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

      What indications are those? The string of dead bodies she's left in her wake over a 30 year career, or maybe the fact that she doesn't even know enough about technology not to run a unsecure server out of her house?

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    162. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's so funny/sad is that what Nixon did would barely make the news nowadays.
      We're so used to corrupt politicians that it doesn't surprise us anymore.

    163. Re: Great by Atryn · · Score: 1

      OK, so you agree that, as a star, its ok for him to grab women by the pussy without asking?

      --
      Come play Moral Decay!
    164. Re: Great by kaatochacha · · Score: 1

      The corpse of Richard Nixon would win in a landslide. Its not a very high hurdle.

    165. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It seems as if mrs. Clinton is held to a different standard of decency and veracity.

      No I am holding her to the same standards I and all the other peons have to following. She knowingly and willingly broke the law over thousand times. Then she continues to lie about it and blame it in the Russians.

      This just shows we also have a two party justice system also. Sadly I'm with the wrong party.

      Blaming it on the Russians is just a false flag attack. If the elections are hacked it will be the DNC and Cliton doing the hacking NOT the Russians.

    166. Re: Great by qaz123 · · Score: 1

      You're twisting my words because you don't understand or is pretending that you don't understand what I just told you

    167. Re: Great by Atryn · · Score: 1
      Sorry... To quote you:

      There are always many "gold digging" women around stars. They let him do it because they don't mind it, because that's how they dig their gold. They know it and he knows it.

      You said that if he had said "boss" you would have agreed with me but because he said "star" you saw it differently, per the above quote?

      I don't care what role he has, had, will have or what role any other guy has, had or will have. Presuming women will accept sexual contact without prior approval and also acting on that presumption is simply wrong. At best, the guy is "correct in his assumption", which still doesn't excuse the action or the "climate" such actions promote.

      --
      Come play Moral Decay!
    168. Re: Great by kaatochacha · · Score: 1

      I don't actually think Trump wants the job. I think he got in the race for the same reason he did previously: Publicity. But the lackluster candidates kept allowing him to win, and his ego is to big to have ever bowed out.

    169. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no such string of dead bodies, except on the scurrilous pages of paid GOP hound dogs. Sure some people around here died, because people in real life die. People like you accused her of killing Vince Foster, special republican prosecutor Ken Starr found nothing there.

      As for the server, which was a mistake, it was never broken into, so once again your accusation that it was insecure is a lie.

      You know how I can tell she's innocent? because all the accusations are so ridiculously exaggerated. I don't need to make up bankruptcies to prove to you that Donald is an incompetent businessman. The ones on the record are enough for that.

    170. Re:Great by kaatochacha · · Score: 1

      Loose them upon whom?

    171. Re:Great by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

      So JFK Jr. is still alive? And didn't die in a plane accident *just in time* for her to take the New York Senate Seat?

      And all of those wikileaks releases are false?

      There's also a lot more than one bankruptcy related to The Donald, it's just that after that he played a little game called name licensing to give himself an extra layer of deniability.

      I see no reason to vote for either of these idiots.

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    172. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Clinton is no Nixon. No way Nixon would approve of Clinton.

      Third parties are not the most convenient way to take over the Government. The best way to take over the Government is to co-op one of the main political parties. To take it from the inside. Generally, that is what Trump has done in the Republican Primary. It may be the party of Lincoln, but good or bad, for the next four more years, it's going to be associated with the party of Trump.

    173. Re: Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "anything but wake up and do something different".

      Meh. Don't care much for the "wake up" rhethoric, that suggests everyone is a sheep and you're the enlightened one. Most of the time, you're just a different kind of sheep.

      And I cannot imagine anyone more different than Trump. Everyone else is a POLITICIAN. Trump may be rude and offending everyone but that shows how little of a politician he is. I am tired of politicians and their populist lies. We all know presidents don't get to do all they lied about in their campaigns (Obama certainly 180-d on a lot of his promises) but at least this guy is going to be honest in his rudeness.

    174. Re:Great by piers_downunder · · Score: 1

      No, what he said about Warren Buffet was wrong. At least according to Warren Buffet: http://www.businessinsider.com...

  2. Wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, it's that third guy mentioned in the first debate. The 400 lb guy eating chips.

    1. Re:Wrong by Sam36 · · Score: 2

      Hey I resemble that remark in insensitive cod!

  3. "we don't even know if it's accurate information" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "we don't even know if it's accurate information"...right after a weird anecdote about Abe Lincoln clarifying what she meant in that transcript, the one that may or may not be accurate.

    She's right - we don't know if they're accurate, but she does, and it sure sounded like that particular transcript was accurate. How about the rest of them?

  4. Hacking Vs. The Mouth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    This has turned into a foot race between Assange & friend's hacking, and Mr. Trump's own mouth.

    1. Re:Hacking Vs. The Mouth by avandesande · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's the difference between the three branches of government working independently and publicly or four years of silence. Take your pick.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    2. Re:Hacking Vs. The Mouth by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

      turned into a foot race between Assange & friend's hacking, and Mr. Trump's own mouth.

      In other words, a foot-in-mouth race.

  5. Good answer by rsilvergun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    there's no point to going on the defensive. She's got nothing to gain and lots to lose. Push back. That's how you make the sausage that is real American politics.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:Good answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I totally agree.
      When emails are mentioned, she should respond that healthcare and education are more important. But she takes the bait instead.
      Btw, it's clear to me that Wiki leaks itself is a Russian front.

    2. Re:Good answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't think Hillary really answered the question. Then again, there were a lot of questions during the debate that neither candidate really answered. The amount of deflection from both sides was pretty shameful.

      In terms of a public and a private position on issues, I understand that being successful in Washington means going along with some things you don't agree with, supporting legislation you don't like, and reacting to changing situations. I think it's okay to say that something goes against your ideals, but you're doing it because it's the right thing to do at the time. Being pragmatic is usually a good thing. Compromise often leads to a good result, too. But that's not what Clinton said.

      I understand making different arguments to different people to support the same position. It's completely reasonable to tailor your message to different audiences in order to make the same point different ways. It's also reasonable to emphasize one part of your message for some people and a different part for others. Different people care about different issues and respond to different types of arguments. That's what Lincoln did, but that's what Clinton is doing, either.

      I also understand that sometimes it's important to not release information publicly while negotiations are going on in private. That's a good policy when there's a situation in which not all the facts are known. It's also useful when trying to negotiate agreements, to not release potential terms until the agreement is agreed to in principle. For example, it's totally reasonable when negotiating an agreement with a foreign leader to not publicly disclose the terms of the agreement until you're ready to take it to Congress for approval. The public reaction could cause an agreement to fall through, when the negotiation is in progress. But that's not what Clinton is defending, either.

      This is about whether it's fair to make mutually exclusive promises to different groups. That's being two-faced, which is what Clinton is accused of. It's dishonest, but her answer seems to dodge the question. There's absolutely no way I'm voting for Trump, but I don't like Clinton's response. I've concluded that winning the presidential debates is about who can make the best use of logical fallacies.

    3. Re:Good answer by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1

      That's how you make the sausage that is real American politics.

      sausage... Assange... Is the similarity pure coincidence? I think there's more than meets the eye here.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    4. Re: Good answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When did she make "mutually exclusive promises to two different groups"?

      I saw a lot of references to things people won't like, but nothing wholly inconsistent with her public comments. She has never been rabidly anti-Wall-Street, and she doesn't appear to have told the group she was speaking to that they'd get off free, either.

    5. Re:Good answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you been molesting women, Donald?

      My public position is that I am a gentleman (gasps from the audience). My private position is that I am a sexual predator.
      No I didn't say that at all, despite it being on tape.
      What about ISIS, then? ISIS is all her fault.
      After being asked again to answer the question, very quietly, as if not wanting to release the words into the world, "No, I have not."
      What about ISIS, then? ISIS is all her fault.

    6. Re:Good answer by ravenshrike · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My public position is that I'm for women's rights. My private position is that I will ruthlessly crush anything that threatens my political power, even multiple accusations of rape by my husband from people willing to identify themselves.

    7. Re: Good answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If she were to talk about education and healthcare in any answer, that would be the exact definition of making public statements that have nothing to do with her actual positions⦠Because she doesn't do anything for healthcare or education⦠She does things for bankers and billionaires

    8. Re:Good answer by Mashiki · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Just like CNN is a DNC/Hillary front. Right? Gotta love those "undeclared voters" being coached on what to say.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    9. Re:Good answer by butzwonker · · Score: 1

      Btw, it's clear to me that Wiki leaks itself is a Russian front.

      You're totally overinterpreting this. Wikileaks is not a front to any state, they just publish almost anything sent to them without much editing, whether it comes from Russia or elsewhere. At the same time Julian Assange and Hillary Clinton are in a personal clinch. Hillary Clinton was and is the main driving force in favor of prosecuting him, because he almost ended her political career when he published mostly material from embassies. They thoroughly hate each other and its quite personal on both sides.

    10. Re: Good answer by ravenshrike · · Score: 2

      If she had shown disapproval or even only passive support for her husband you might have some kind of point. She actively worked to crush and discredit the women claiming rape, which means she accepts culpability for her husbands actions.

    11. Re:Good answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I didn't watch the second debate, but did check headlines this morning. When I saw none talking about who won, I knew Trump must have.

    12. Re: Good answer by HBI · · Score: 1

      "bimbo eruptions" "not believable" "a distraction" - all things Hillary has said in public.

      Laughing about the (guilty) child rapist she got off back in the 70s was worse than all of that, though.

      --
      HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
    13. Re:Good answer by unixisc · · Score: 1

      She doesn't have to answer for her husband. She does have to answer for herself. Had she not intimidated the various women who made allegations, there indeed would have been nothing. And the one about Kathy Sheldon - the 12 year old whose rapist she cut loose as a lawyer - that's totally her, Bill doesn't even come into the picture

    14. Re: Good answer by shilly · · Score: 1

      Do you lot ever stop to even listen to yourself? Have you never heard of CHIP? Or her efforts on behalf of 9/11 first responders to secure them help for their health issues?

    15. Re: Good answer by shilly · · Score: 1

      She was the court-appointed defence lawyer who didn't want the case.

      If you had the wit to be a lawyer (IKR, but bear with me on this...), what would you have done when assigned the case by the judge? You'd have turned it down, right? Because you're a Man of Principle. Do you know what would have happened next? No? Let me enlighten you: you'd have had to stop practising law. Because providing every defendant with a decent defence is a principle of the law.

      How can people be so dumb as to not know this. Seriously, did you never read a legal thriller? Or watch a TV show about the criminal law? Or pay any attention *at all* in class?

      And the transcripts and recordings are there for all to review, and she did not laugh about cutting the defendant loose. If you weren't hard of thinking, you could find this out for yourself.

    16. Re:Good answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It seems key parts were edited out. Suspicious slice-job.

    17. Re: Good answer by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      'He came right at me, I was in fear for my life' Denny Crane. After shooting a child rapist/killer in both knees after being ordered to defend him.

      You're the one who brought up TV.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  6. Schizophrenia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is it okay for politicians to be two-faced?

    Just reading the ramblings of these answers now, it seems the question should be is it ok for politicians to be Schizophrenic?

  7. Serious question by ArylAkamov · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is there any actual evidence that "the scary russians" are to blame for this?

    Disregard everything else. Is there any evidence?

    1. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Real, conclusive evidence?

      No.

      Stuff that suggests someone WANTS us to blame the Russians? Yes.

      The evidence that "it was the Russians" is essentially attacks that came from Russian IP addresses (that were associated with VPNs so that means nothing) and the presence of Cyrillic characters is code "left" by the hackers (but why would the hackers leave anything behind?).

      What I got out of the debate is that, if we elect Hillary Clinton as president, we will be going to war with Russia. That terrifies me.

    2. Re:Serious question by bloodhawk · · Score: 1, Insightful

      If their is then it certainly hasn't been shown. It is this sort of shit that really irritates me. I can't see how they can possibly have established state sponsors attacks unless they have managed to catch and interrogate one of the hackers, maybe they have and just haven't told anyone? but I think it is more likely speculation that happens to conveniently fit politically with the current Anti Russian Sentiment.

    3. Re:Serious question by PrimaryConsult · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Of course not. For some reason there's a Neo-McCarthy era going on right now about Russia. I hope we aren't really buying this crap. Everyone intelligent I've talked to takes these claims as nothing more than fearmongering until some evidence shows up.

      This isn't the 1980s any more, and the Russians aren't out to get us, and our ideologies are more similar than they are different. If we'd stop sanctioning them we'd probably get along pretty well at this point...

    4. Re: Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes there is, just go to hillarycliton.com. There is no reason for it to be biased.

    5. Re:Serious question by AHuxley · · Score: 2

      The US usually has a list that gets presented as filler deeper in the tech media.

      Time zone, daytime working hours in Russia.
      The ip range, someone had a staging server with an expected Russian ip range.
      Thats basically it for information thats in public.
      The other aspect is well understood code thats always found by contractors and then the media is told about.
      The code samples and log litter is given the name "Bear"
      So the public is to understand that another nation can enter the US at will, collect vast amounts of data undetected and is then totally discovered.
      The discovery part is in the form of code every contractor and the media knows about and is not unexpected or new.
      No protection but its fully understood by contractors. That time zone, ip range, easy to discover code is then passed around the US tech media and tech sites as evidence.
      So no evidence, just ever repeating press reports that builds to a gov mention about ip ranges and having seen public "reports" in the past.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    6. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Silly brother, we've always been at war with the russians.
      Stop that kind of thinking, it's doubleplusungood

    7. Re:Serious question by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Interesting

      the Russians aren't out to get us, and our ideologies are more similar than they are different.

      There are some differences:
      1. In Syria, America and Russia support factions that are ideologically at least several centimeters apart.
      2. In Ukraine, Russia supported the democratically elected government, while America supported the military coup.
      3. In Crimea, Russia only had the support of 90% of the people, while America supported (with words but not actions) the other 10%.
      4. In America, Russians tell American voters the truths that American politicians were trying to hide.

    8. Re:Serious question by quenda · · Score: 1

      I can't see how they can possibly have established state sponsors attacks unless they have managed to catch and interrogate one of the hackers,

      When Russian researchers discovered the Stuxnet worm, it soon became apparent that, call it terrorism or an act of war, it was state sponsored.
      But I don't see any evidence that the attack on the DNC was remotely as sophisticated.

    9. Re: Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      The hacker (Guccifer 2.0) who has claimed credit for the hacking says he's Romanian, but he could only give canned responses in fluent Romanian. When he was interviewed by a Romanian speaker, and had to give off-the-cuff answers, his Romanian (a Romance language) was full of errors that someone who spoke a slavic language (like Russian) would be likely to make. There's more evidence than you suggest.

    10. Re: Serious question by ArylAkamov · · Score: 1

      I'd be interested in more if you can provide a source. That's the kind of detail I find interesting.

    11. Re:Serious question by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      re 'was remotely as sophisticated."
      Recall the early "Julian Assange: 'A lot more material' coming on US elections" (July 27, 2016)
      http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07...
      "Perhaps one day the source or sources will step forward and that might be an interesting moment some people may have egg on their faces. But to exclude certain actors is to make it easier to find out who our sources are,"
      Insider walk out like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... or Watergate like help https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/....
      The US has a long history of insiders contacting the press, whistleblower laws and press publication protection.
      Getting into any network from another nation's ip range is hard work. Staying in undetected, gathering data and then transferring it out in bulk without any discovery in real time is not safe using well understood tools that the wider public knows about.
      US politics as normal, data walks the waiting press offers its full supports.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    12. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stuxnet is a VERY different scenario where it was a very specific piece of code developed to target a very specific piece of equipment in a foreign governments nuclear program. Even without other evidence that alone was sufficient to make it almost certainly state sponsored and only a few specific states that could pull it off at that. Hacking a US political figure and leaking information is in so many countries and individuals interests and doesn't require any specialised skills or knowledge that isn't public domain to perform. It could have been the Russians, could have also been any number of a million other hackers or states or even US based interests.

    13. Re: Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He talks funny therefore he's secretly a russian KGB agent.

      So instead of the suggested 'no' evidence, there's 'a shred'.

    14. Re:Serious question by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Informative

      Is there any actual evidence that "the scary russians" are to blame for this?

      Joint Statement from the Department Of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election Security

      "The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process. Such activity is not new to Moscow--the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there. We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities."

      https://www.dhs.gov/news/2016/...

    15. Re: Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So your evidence that he is Russian is that he doesn't appear to be Romanian as he has trouble with Romanian language?? So why couldn't he be American? or any one of the myriad of other Slavic speaking countries, especially given many of them have very large hacker communities, even if Russian (certainly just as possible) it really doesn't prove state sponsored. That is the sort of evidence that would be laughed out of a court room as ridiculous. Even in Romania Russian speakers are not uncommon, same as other Slavic countries so even not being well spoken in Romanian is not even proof that they aren't Romanian, just possible that it is not there first language.

    16. Re: Serious question by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Prevention of social engineering is often a thought.
      The risk of a live mic before or after an interview. Not been pulled into a deeper conversation is often just been media aware.
      A honey trap is always a risk so careful use of comments and staying on message is often wise.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    17. Re:Serious question by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1

      For some reason there's a Neo-McCarthy era going on right now about Russia.

      I don't think it runs that deep. The USA and USSR^w Russia are just having a catfight, where they take turns accusing each other of bad behavior in hopes of getting some advantage out of it with the international community.

      Kind of like a presidential debate...

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    18. Re:Serious question by bloodhawk · · Score: 2

      your example 1. is the thing I always find the most astounding that people don't seem to get, when you look at factions on either side, they really aren't dissimilar and the reality is no matter which faction ends up in control their it will be pretty much business as usual, maybe a different group being mistreated but the same old shit. The other reality is it will actually take someone like Assad to have any hope of maintaining control over the disparate groups. IT is a sad situation all around. Examples 2 and 3 won't go down well on this site as most here only like to view Russia as Evil and ignore the US involvement in the Ukraine/Crimea mess.

    19. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So their proof is that "this kinda looks like something the Russian's might want to do and have done in the past". hmmm perhaps the US government use a different version of the definition of "proof" to the rest of the world.

    20. Re:Serious question by SuricouRaven · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Just look at what happened in Iraq. The country was under the control of a brutal, oppressive dictator. America marched in, took out his regime, executed him, and celebrated at the introduction of freedom and democracy - and then it all went to hell, as it turned out the country was full of violently opposed factions and Saddam's brutal oppression was the only thing keeping them from turning on each other. So Shia-v-Sunni terror attacks became so commonplace they didn't even make the news after a while, and eventually Islamic State were able to form and rapidly recruit.

      That's the Syria situation. How many rebel groups do they have now? Fighting each other half the time. Even a brutal dictator is better than anarchy.

    21. Re: Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If positions were permuted, you'd be called a score -1 conspiracy theorist.
      Double standards...

    22. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes there is, but expect everyone here to pretend there isn't, because all the intelligent people left Slashdot long ago and all that's left are fascist loving Putin apologists.

      Once upon a time people here liked things like freedom, now they're all backing a guy who wants to shut down the internet, create concentration camps, calls for political opponents to be silenced by assassination or beating, who thinks it's fine for cyber warfare to be waged on anyone who disagrees with him, and who defends annexation of sovereign foreign territory.

      The first thing to understand is that these attacks are state sponsored, they're not just some script kiddie using SQL injection because many of them are highly targetted, focussing on very specifically chosen individuals, with information that could only be acquired by physical research against the target - open source intelligence aint going to cut it. You then also have to realise that this isn't just Hillary creating an excuse, this is part of a broader pattern - Russia has been using cyber warfare to pursue political goals for years, when the UEA was about to present information at an international climate conference that would've condemned oil use and forced international consensus it was hacked and resulted in Climategate, that was traced back to Russian hackers fearing the loss in oil revenue (something that's now happened anyway - Hah!). When Ukraine cut powerlines to annexed Crimea, Russia hacked and shut down one of Ukraine's power plants. France's TV5Monde was almost shut down by attacks that were claimed by IS, but for which a Russian link was actually uncovered.

      People say, well, the NSA/CIA/FBI etc. is on Hillary's side, that's why they're also making these claims, but it's nonsense of course, they're making the claims simply because they're true. If anyone seriously believes that absolutely no one at the NSA/CIA/FBI is a Trump supporter (which is basically a statistical impossibility) and wouldn't in a heartbeat leak evidence that Hillary has control of these organisations then they have to be impressively deluded. When 1 in 3 Americans are hardcore Trump supporters you can guarantee that at least one of them somewhere would have access to the damning evidence showing that the TLAs are intentionally backing Hillary- that evidence hasn't been forthcoming because the whole premise is sheer fantasy. If the TLAs were genuinely backing Hillary then don't you think Trump's most recent tax returns would've been a trivial thing for them to access and release by now? The only candidate getting state sponsored hacking support is Trump because his opponent is the only candidate seeing multiple data leaks that could only stem from hacks by state sponsored resource.

      The reality is that Russia is using cyberwarfare not just to try and sway the US election but as a general tool in geopolitics. Trump supporters don't get this because they really are just not very smart and because they just want to hate whoever he tells them to hate. His whole campaign is based on complete drivel - there is just absolutely no hard evidence for many of the claims the Trump camp makes from claims of Hillary's corruption through to allegation of sexual assault by Bill (meanwhile Trump has now openly admitted to exactly that). He says things without saying things and people buy it, but if Hillary says anything they immediatley disbeleive it. It's insane how far departed from objectivity and rationality Trump supporters and those on Slashdot are now.

      For what it's worth, if you're after detail, then the evidence of Russian involvement stem from things like use of Cyrillic in the code and comments by the purported hacker who claims to be Romanian but speaks with Russian dialect, re-use of an SSL certificate that was used in a hack on Germany's parliament that Germany's BND also traced back to Russia, IP logs from Russia (traced back through proxies), the use of phishing attacks based on information that could only be obtained physically by following the targets meaning the h

    23. Re:Serious question by dbIII · · Score: 1

      No problem. Just take one of the hundred thousand plus NSA private contractors to Vegas, keep them going until they lose badly (bank always wins in the end) and offer to cover their bill.
      You may think there is some conspiracy with top people doing a difficult job but I see a bunch of toy soldiers who got there via nepotism. A lot of them are barely out of their teens.

    24. Re:Serious question by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2, Funny

      Looks like the Kremlin has hacked your account. Might want to change your password there mate.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    25. Re:Serious question by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The source is Guccifer 2.0. Previously he has released other material supporting Russia, like the private medical records of US athletes showing that they were doping too.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    26. Re:Serious question by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      Time zone, seriously? Russia spans over what, 12 timezones?
      And bear, really? Let me guess, you also identify Klatchians by the sand in their sandals.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    27. Re:Serious question by dbIII · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Not quite so simple. Backing one faction over the other for some years turned it into an angry bloodbath when we pulled out and that faction was no longer strong.
      It needed careful management. Instead we had Rumsfeld and similar wastes of space calling the shots. He picked a side arbitrarily without having the least clue what he was doing.

      Even a brutal dictator is better than anarchy.

      Sometimes it's hard to be sure, and besides, it's rarely true anarchy anyway since there are existing power structures that can step in. For example, it's no accident that Egypt ended up with an Islamic government, the religious groups were the only ones that had been allowed to meet and organise because political assemblies had been banned for years. All other groups had to start from tiny secret cells or from zero while the people in the religious political groups had been meeting for years.

    28. Re:Serious question by quantaman · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Is there any actual evidence that "the scary russians" are to blame for this?

      Disregard everything else. Is there any evidence?

      Yup. The main points are:

      1. In this case it is possible to tell that the same group (or groups, there seem to be two Russia agencies at work) had committed previous hacks. They often used the same tools, the same control IP, and even the same encryption keys.

      2. These other hacks included attacks on the German parliament, as well as a French TV station. Things that make more sense for Russia.

      3. When they hacked the French TV station they claimed to be ISIS.

      4. Guccifer 2.0 looks a lot like a committee. He claims to be Romanian but can't really speak Romanian (only Russian) and he's fluent in English when talking politics but not technology.

      Is it absolute proof? No. But it's a pretty damn convincing case.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    29. Re:Serious question by quantaman · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      the Russians aren't out to get us, and our ideologies are more similar than they are different.

      There are some differences:
      1. In Syria, America and Russia support factions that are ideologically at least several centimeters apart.

      Russia has been gleefully supporting the brutal dictator from the start.

      The US has been desperately looking anyone decent to support, but that fell apart when the brutal dictator deliberately released a bunch of jihadists to turn the resistance into an extremist group.

      2. In Ukraine, Russia supported the democratically elected government, while America supported the military coup.

      If you don't want mass protests to turn into a coup then don't start shooting protesters. Don't blame the Americans for Yanukovych being a dumbass.

      3. In Crimea, Russia only had the support of 90% of the people, while America supported (with words but not actions) the other 10%.

      That figure is about as convincing as Donald Trump's hair.

      4. In America, Russians tell American voters the truths that American politicians were trying to hide.

      Only the American politicians Russia doesn't like.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    30. Re:Serious question by qaz123 · · Score: 1

      This is not an evidence. This is just words "they could do it"

    31. Re: Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      http://motherboard.vice.com/read/dnc-hacker-guccifer-20-full-interview-transcript

    32. Re: Serious question by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      If I was to give an interview in German, French or Italian, I'd do my best to add a few grammatical errors here and there, too, since I would want you to believe that I'm lying to you about my whereabouts. That way I can stay where I am, give an interview in a language I speak reasonably well (and hence can concentrate on what words I use instead of concentrating on getting the message across) and still keep you guessing about my origin.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    33. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      wasn't Rumsfeld in office under the first Bush? who led Iraq to surrender in the Kuwait war? ...how quickly we forget.

    34. Re:Serious question by loonycyborg · · Score: 1

      There are some differences: 1. In Syria, America and Russia support factions that are ideologically at least several centimeters apart.

      I kinda disagree here. Current Syrian government is a secular one, is formed by socialist Ba'ath party. Assad and many others here are Alawites, which is kinda local syncretistic religion combining elements of Islam and Christianity. And there is a sizable population of Christians who pretty much all are on government side. That is due to the nature of other side, which are all pious Muslims, and proper implementation of Islam requires removal of all infidels like Christians and Alawites. Such intolerance doesn't fit in modern world, but each Muslim who is becoming more tolerant is betraying his roots and his Prophet. Sad but true.

    35. Re: Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If there is enough source material, it would be possible to determine the origin of the speaker/writer. Forensic linguists do this all time with blackmailers who almost universally believe they can trick investigators by faking their writing and accents. But such investigations are never fully conclusive, of course, and intelligence agencies are aware of the possibilities and employ trained linguists themselves.

    36. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the Russians aren't out to get us, and our ideologies are more similar than they are different.

      There are some differences:
      1. In Syria, America and Russia support factions that are ideologically at least several centimeters apart.
      2. In Ukraine, Russia supported the democratically elected government, while America supported the military coup.
      3. In Crimea, Russia only had the support of 90% of the people, while America supported (with words but not actions) the other 10%.
      4. In America, Russians tell American voters the truths that American politicians were trying to hide.

      Dam bro. I wounder if you can say all this shit with a straight face. Nice touch with mixing it up a little.

    37. Re:Serious question by bytesex · · Score: 1

      Although I'm pretty much of the position: bring Assad back, I cannot see that happening anymore at this point. Sure, you could stop bombing his army and even start supporting it and by doing that, drive ISIS out. But:

      a) ISIS will simply re-emerge in Lybia.
      b) The Kurds will farked (again).
      c) Assad may forgive, but he won't forget.

      --
      Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
    38. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. The state department officially blamed them the other day. She didn't just make it up.

      https://www.google.com/amp/www.cnbc.com/amp/2016/10/07/us-officially-blames-russia-for-political-hacking-attempts.html

    39. Re:Serious question by qaz123 · · Score: 1

      >> The code samples and log litter is given the name "Bear"

      HA HA HA!!

    40. Re:Serious question by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

      Iraq needed to be split into three countries along tribal lines: Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish. It also needed to be patrolled by millions of indigenous security forces rather than American soldiers. Make this the best-paying job a young man can get and you stop a lot of idle young men from becoming terrorists. You also spend $billions instead of $trillions.

    41. Re: Serious question by Ogive17 · · Score: 2

      It's funny, I was able to "out" a couple Chinese "paid per post" accounts on CNN a few years ago using similar methods. Their English was quite good except they made the same grammatical errors as my wife, who is Japanese. There are certain nuances with American English especially that foreigners can never pick up.

      --
      "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
    42. Re: Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So if the Russian state was responsible wouldn't they be able to provide a Romanian speaker for the interview???

    43. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is there any actual evidence that "the scary russians" are to blame for this?

      Disregard everything else. Is there any evidence?

      No and there never will be because it will never be "good enough" to be usable anywhere, and even if it is by some miracle Russia will deny everything and not give a flying fuck anyway. What is going to happen? More "sanctions"? As someone born in USSR, I assume that rotting corpse of Soviet Union is involved in something, documents be damned.

    44. Re:Serious question by hey! · · Score: 1

      Well, General Clapper, the US Director of National Intelligence, believes so, although we are not privy to all his lines of evidence. Clapper was appointed to the DNI position by Obama, but also served in the Bush administration as Director of National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and later as Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence.

       

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    45. Re:Serious question by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      Because Trump has stated his admiration of Putin, therefore Putin and Russia must be demonized (this from a media and administration that has done NOTHING for years following Russian invasion and occupation of Crimea, and conducted a proxy war in Ukraine).

      60mins had a long piece the other weekend about how Russia could start a nuclear war. That sort of shit hasn't been prime time media since the mid 1980s.

      --
      -Styopa
    46. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A country gets the dictator it deserves. Most leaders attempt to act rationally within the context of internal and external forces and the geographical boundaries of their control. If you want different outcomes you need to change the internal political/ethnic/religious structure through either inclusive change or partition, the geographical boundaries through partition or contraction. Changing external forces is a little difficult. Decapitation of leadership whilst demanding the all other factors remain the same can only lead to the same situation that existed before the decapitation.

    47. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Technically, China was the main instigator of the Battle of Anchorage in 2021, which most of us who survived the year from hell recognize as the beginning of World War 3.

      Given everything that's in motion, I have little hope that a Trump presidency will do anything to change these events. The pieces are on the board: the 2018 riots, the TPTISA half world government, BRICS moving away from the US dollar, martial law, and the FEMA concentration camps. The walk to the gas station will be for your own good.

    48. Re:Serious question by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      You know, you and the GP are not mutually exclusive. Both happen to be true. The problem is, people (like you) see things through the prism of a 1950's black n white TV, while some of us see things in 4K Color.

      The problem for Clinton and Obama is that Libya and Syria are proof that even leftwing idiots haven't learned from the lesson we learned from rightwing idiots. While the actions are different, the results are exactly the same: Chaos, Death and Destruction.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    49. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This. Damn near every problem in the middle east is the result of post-Ottoman colonialism and Zionism. I don't have anything against the Jews but stealing a chunk of land and giving it to somebody else doesn't typically endear you to the people that still live there.

    50. Re: Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Plenty of Romanian speakers in Russia. You would think if it was a state sponsored attack and Guccifer was really the FSB they could find a Russian who spoke Romanian to do the talking. Of course, there never was any talking so WTF are you talking about? Guccifer's only communications were typed and in bad English. He never said ANYTHING in Romanian or Russian. The bad English could mean he's in Honduras for all we actually know.

    51. Re:Serious question by turp182 · · Score: 1

      Quote: Sometimes it's hard to be sure, and besides, it's rarely true anarchy anyway since there are existing power structures that can step in. For example, it's no accident that Egypt ended up with an Islamic government, the religious groups were the only ones that had been allowed to meet and organise because political assemblies had been banned for years. All other groups had to start from tiny secret cells or from zero while the people in the religious political groups had been meeting for years.

      This is also very similar to the reason we are stuck in the two party system in the United States. While third parties aren't banned and don't have to operate in secret, they have to play a game heavily rigged by the two major parties (a great example, who gets to participate in Presidential Debates?). The major parties are entrenched and have massive momentum.

      But this election cycle will help to weaken both parties, the situation has basically reached insanity at this point.

      --
      BlameBillCosby.com
    52. Re:Serious question by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Instead we had Rumsfeld and similar wastes of space calling the shots.

      He was worse than a waste of space. IF you could have replaced the space he was taking with a potato, the world would have been better. Yes, I think, in all seriousness, a potato would have made a better secretary of defense than Donald Rumsfeld.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    53. Re: Serious question by shilly · · Score: 1

      Thank fuck for voices of sanity on Slashdot. It's extraordinary to see how many numpties there are here now. And fascist apologists.

    54. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your argument for dictators makes sense in the short and even medium term.

      The problem is the long term. All dictators die eventually. Most dictators cannot stand presumptive successors hanging around because they are afraid that the heir apparent will lose patience and attempt a coup. Thus, most dictators stand completely alone, with no obvious successor available. They purge all possible replacements for the dictator.

      This is the key weakness to dictatorial governments. Power transitions are messy and violent, and sometimes are never completely resolved. And dictators breed resentment and unresolved conflicts that stay at the same level of intensity, or grow worse, over time.

    55. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There may be, but it may be stuff the NSA can't publicly release.

    56. Re:Serious question by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      I suspect they'd reveal state secrets by giving us details.

    57. Re:Serious question by dbIII · · Score: 1

      The problem is, people (like you) see things through

      You got all that from a simple comment giving a very rough summary of the situation? Didn't the words I started with "Not quite so simple" give you a bit of a clue?
      How about discussing the issue instead of trying to put words in others mouths?

    58. Re: Serious question by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Re " and still keep you guessing about my origin."
      Given the past use of new people or new friends historically in:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
      Been smart with an accent and origins is always wise when talking.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    59. Re:Serious question by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      but why would the hackers leave anything behind?

      When you are too dumb to understand something, you should probably refrain from commenting on it in public. Most hacks leave behind "code". When you hack a system, you generally install additional backdoors, so that you can get back in if someone notices and blocks the first. You make directories, and run scripts to scrape data to send off the system. Lots of "code" gets left behind from a professional hack. If they have unlimited time and are worried about getting caught, they can clean up after themselves, but if they aren't worried about getting caught (behind multiple VPNs and such) and are short on time, they'll leave being something. And that will be found later.

      Apparently, only ignorant idiots are voting for Trump. Learn what hacking is before you make stupid comments about it.

    60. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds much more like a red-flag operation running through a VPN from American soil.
      But you know, whatever floats your boat, Jimmy.

    61. Re:Serious question by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Of course cyrillic code compiles into cyrillic opcodes.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    62. Re:Serious question by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Sunnis have been fighting Shia for over 1000 years. Sorry if that pops your world view.

      We need to maintain the stalemate between Sunni and Shia. It is not to our benefit for this war to end. See also the 'Iran/Iraq' war. That was a _good_ war.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    63. Re:Serious question by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Statement two doesn't follow from statement one.

      The current executive branch is campaigning for her. Nothing they say can be trusted

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    64. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This. Damn near every problem in the middle east is the result of post-Ottoman colonialism and Zionism. I don't have anything against the Jews but stealing a chunk of land and giving it to somebody else doesn't typically endear you to the people that still live there.

      So you're saying we should give the Syria, Israel, and Egypt back to the Greeks, as the inheritors of the Byzantine state? After all, Islam stole that land from the Greeks - they clearly have a prior claim.

  8. Who wants either of them in power by supertrooper · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Clinton - lies, kills, schemes, physically sick and potentially sociopath (she does pretend that she cares about people) Trumps - lies, assaults women, cheats, psychologically not stable Who do you want more?

    1. Re:Who wants either of them in power by ClickOnThis · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Clinton - lies, kills, schemes, physically sick and potentially sociopath (she does pretend that she cares about people)
      Trumps - lies, assaults women, cheats, psychologically not stable

      Who do you want more?

      Let me just leave this right here.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    2. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bernie Sanders.. Hind site is 20/20 plz put him back on the vote ballot.. hell put peewee herman on the ballot.

    3. Re:Who wants either of them in power by ArylAkamov · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Interesting post. I'll assume the knave is clinton and the fool is trump for this post.

      One of the reasons I would prefer trump is accountability. Hear me out.

      I know damn well that if trump made a mistake as president, the media would not hesitate to nail his ass to the wall, and impeach him if possible. Clinton, not so much.

    4. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's not just the media. His own party hates him - just witness all the establishment Republicans that refuse to back him. (Yes, they're using the Access Hollywood tape as an excuse, but let's be honest: they never supported him and they're using that as a "safe" way to back out from having to support him.)

      With Trump, anything he wants to do will be an uphill battle with Congress. He won't get a rubber stamp in Congress. Roadblocks will be placed everywhere. He'll have to work with Congress to get anything done.

      With Hillary? Not so much.

      Combined with the fact that the next President is going to appoint at least one Supreme Court judge, and the decision is simple: the nation can't afford a third Obama term. Trump may not have been who I'd like to see in the Oval Office, but he is - by far - the lesser of two evils.

      (Of course I don't live in a swing state so I can safely vote third party. Which I'll be doing. But if you live in a place where your vote might matter, you owe it to America to save our country from the disaster that would be a Hillary presidency.)

    5. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lie, sure, he is a politician. Assault women? Citation needed dumb fuck.

    6. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Hilliary had a dick the media pundits would line up to suck it dry and then gargle the cum. I think that's what I hate the most about her. If all those lying fuckers love her she must be worse than I think.

      And then there's Trump. The good thing about a Trump presidency is he'd be forced to shut the fuck up. If he wants to do anything at all that is because the only people that hate him more than the Democratic establishment is the Republican establishment. Imagine Trump trying to get all those politicians to work with him on anything. Alas we wont get to see that because Hilliary will win no matter how many dead people have to vote for her.

    7. Re:Who wants either of them in power by ClickOnThis · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I know damn well that if trump made a mistake as president, the media would not hesitate to nail his ass to the wall, and impeach him if possible. Clinton, not so much.

      Three things.

      First, I think Trump thrives on attacks from the media. He loves having an excuse to vilify them and energize his base.

      Second, it is congress, not the media, that impeaches a president.

      And third, congress didn't hesitate to impeach Bill Clinton, rightly or wrongly. So, I don't think being a Clinton is a shield against impeachment.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    8. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At this point, it's pretty easy to see if someone's lost in an ideological fog. If someone finds this election year anything but depressing than they're detached from reality.

    9. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I've spent the last year arguing with idiots online who (ostensibly) genuinely thought electing Trump would result in nuclear war, Mad Max dystopia and Holocaust-level mass murder of muslims/mexicans/whoever. Calling him a rapist is nothing. Hell, they probably consider it 'compromise'.

    10. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So glad you got modded troll. I guess they couldn't find "-1, Republican", and just modded you that instead.

      Nothing in your post is trollish. Trump really will have a hard time getting anything done in Congress, unless he builds open support with whatever party is there. It's not QUITE certain that the next president will get to appoint a supreme court justice- Obama's don't even get a hearing, so we may need to have a matching color president and senate to actually populate the court- but but it's a good guess, and certainly not a troll to point out that the president will get to choose one (and probably more than one). Saying "we can't afford a third Obama term" is not objective truth, but neither is it a troll- it just means you are a Republican.

    11. Re:Who wants either of them in power by melted · · Score: 1

      There's no evidence Trump "assaults women". Running mouth between friends is not "assault" (yet). He also seems pretty darn stable to me. Sure as heck more stable than Clinton, who is known to have a bad temper and suggested an assassination of Assange.

    12. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I heard you out. Please do the same.

      I was an "anyone but Hillary" guy from before Bill left office but Trump is the only thing I've seen that can put me alongside her (with McCain, Schwartzenegger, ...) That's in part because I don't believe that Trump thinks that his ass can be nailed to the wall. Now think on everything he has said as a candidate, things that would have crushed the campaign of anyone else. What makes you think that electing him president would moderate him in the least?

    13. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      There's already a highly qualified candidate being put forward. I'd rather have that person than any one Trump likes. And a better candidate than anything the Bush administration put forward. People only say that this is vital and crucial because they're stuck on a tiny handful of issues that are fading away - anti-gay, anti-abortion, and they feel deep in their hearts that this is the last stand. The fiscal conservatives aren't this emotional, it's the social conservatives that are desperate here and siding with Trump despite having nothing in common with him (sure he gropes women but they're hoping he'll side with them when the time comes).

    14. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2

      Kills?

      You forget your audience. Sure, Slashdot has become an Official Hillary Shitpost Site, but it's still not part of the far right circle jerk.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    15. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even if you don't believe the conspiracy theories, the most Hillary-sympathetic explanation of Vince Foster's death was that she drove a close personal friend to suicide with her overwhelming bitchiness and forcing him to cover for her corruption.

    16. Re:Who wants either of them in power by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Exactly, and I think Trump is going to do one thing for the Republicans and finally force it into the 21st century. I think the days when anti-gay, anti-feminist rhetoric play a significant role in Republican politics are going to fade away. It may mean abandoning Nixon's Southern strategy at long last, but the fact is that the culture war is now a battle being waged by a shrinking demographic, meanwhile the Democrats are continually hoovering up the growing demographics.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    17. Re:Who wants either of them in power by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Insightful

      At every turn Trump's supporters keep saying "After this point, he'll start behaving properly," and every time that point is reached, he continues behaving erratically, obnoxiously, and ultimately in a self-defeating way. Even his commitment to throw Clinton in jail tonight is absurd, almost as if he doesn't actually understand how the justice system works. He clearly seems to think the Oval Office is some sort of throne from which an Emperor shall reign.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    18. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The nation can't afford a third Obama term.

      The nation can't afford another obstructionist congress?

      Just lie back and let it happen.

    19. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's easier to control the fool.

    20. Re:Who wants either of them in power by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      I know damn well that if trump made a mistake as president, the media would not hesitate to nail his ass to the wall, and impeach him if possible. Clinton, not so much.

      It's a well known fact that Clintons are immune from impeachment.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    21. Re:Who wants either of them in power by shanen · · Score: 1

      Certainly understand why you are too much of a coward to put your name on that piece.

      What I can't understand is why it is visible. Did several pieces waste mod points on it, or do you own a herd of sock puppets with mod points?

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    22. Re:Who wants either of them in power by shanen · · Score: 1

      My own theory about posts like this is that the Russian hackers have taken over some dormant Slashdot accounts with low user numbers and have some of their best BS artists working them.

      No equivalency between Hillary and Trump. She is not a witch, but she might burn you.

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    23. Re:Who wants either of them in power by quantaman · · Score: 2

      At every turn Trump's supporters keep saying "After this point, he'll start behaving properly," and every time that point is reached, he continues behaving erratically, obnoxiously, and ultimately in a self-defeating way. Even his commitment to throw Clinton in jail tonight is absurd, almost as if he doesn't actually understand how the justice system works. He clearly seems to think the Oval Office is some sort of throne from which an Emperor shall reign.

      I think they're assuming he won't be allowed to President without adult supervision.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    24. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One wants to consensually fuck models
      The other wants to fuck the world

    25. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      The media has been attacking Bill Clinton for 20+ years now. They aren't going to suddenly stop if he can't be re-elected.

      Fixed that for you. His past hangs around her neck, mainly because she's been involved in them in some degree. But she has 20+ years of her own scandals and fuckups. Some much worse than her husbands.

      But the media doesn't cover most of her stuff, in many cases they turn a blind eye. If her name wasn't as well known as it was, you can bet that every time that an article was written they'd leave that fancy (D) off her name, like they do with nearly all democrats unless they get some massive shit. Like Lee(D-CA) did, they left that off right up until he was arraigned on criminal conspiracy and gun-trafficking.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    26. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Citation needed for those cases where Trump physically/sexually assaulted those Miss Universe pageants.

    27. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Lisandro · · Score: 1

      Between an idiot and and a son of a bitch, always choose the former. Sons of bitches, at the very least, have a plan.

    28. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      When the alternative is these two goofballs...

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    29. Re:Who wants either of them in power by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      At most, she has more political baggage than Trump simply because he has never held political office.

      It's kinda funny that he is threatening to try to jail Clinton if he wins. She could easily make the same threat about his dodgy business dealings, like the Trump University scam or his tax affairs. A prosecutor could certainly get hold of his tax records.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    30. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Speculations and gossip.

    31. Re:Who wants either of them in power by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 1

      I'm really just talking about the kissing. I mean, what percentage of kisses from DT were welcomed? That's got to be low single digits, even excluding Miss Universe. A lot of cringing involved in DT affection in other words. Downvoters, can you truly disagree with that premise? Here's a guy, just factually, is on his second trophy wife, runs beauty pageants for the gropes, has seemingly no delusion that the girls are maybe into it, but just goes for it anyway. It's gross, and we're supposed to vote for this guy and tell our daughters that this is acceptable behaviour for a world leader let alone a human being? Yuck.

    32. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      almost as if he doesn't actually understand how the justice system works

      Considering the news headlines pertaining to the workings of the FBI and Justice Department over the last couple of years, and the fact that Clinton is still in the running for the presidency, I'd say he has developed quite a good understanding of how the justice system works. -PCP

    33. Re:Who wants either of them in power by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Let me just leave this right here.

      If you vote for the competent bastard, they just do a better job of fucking you over. Remember that old saw about how the government which can do anything for you can do anything to you? Well, it's true. It doesn't mean it will, but it does mean it can. If it happens to be trying to, well...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    34. Re:Who wants either of them in power by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      No equivalency between Hillary and Trump. She is not a witch, but she might burn you.

      There is a shitload of equivalency there. They are both candidates of big business who don't give a shit about you, who use bullshit distraction tactics to get attention and drive the narrative. They have far more in common than they have opposed.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    35. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      His own party? LOL. You've been asleep. Up until he actually took up the idea of running for office he was a solid Democrat who contributed to Democrats and buddied around with Democrats.

      The Republicans aren't his party. He's a disruptive element to ensure a Democrat victory. His bank account will grow by leaps and bounds after the elections and you buffoons will act like it never happened.

      Thanks for being a victim to the two party scam.

    36. Re:Who wants either of them in power by tburkhol · · Score: 1

      With Trump, anything he wants to do will be an uphill battle with Congress. He won't get a rubber stamp in Congress. Roadblocks will be placed everywhere. He'll have to work with Congress to get anything done.

      Trump has never had to work with committees: his management is all decree and delegate. Throw in a good bit of "what can I get away with, without violating the letter of these loan covenants." The executive branch sets a lot of regulation and policy that have the force of law without actually being law or subject to congressional approval. Likewise, recent administrations seem to have substantially increased the scope of executive order. Don't underestimate what a President can do without congress.

      Especially a charismatic President well versed in media manipulation.

    37. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Tesen · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Interesting post. I'll assume the knave is clinton and the fool is trump for this post.

      One of the reasons I would prefer trump is accountability. Hear me out.

      I know damn well that if trump made a mistake as president, the media would not hesitate to nail his ass to the wall, and impeach him if possible. Clinton, not so much.

      I heard you out and I disagree; Trump has ZERO personal accountability, he airs some weak apologies and his body language demonstrates he does not believe what he is apologizing for. His opinions are based on his ego and very loose connection to reality (47% of the time, 53% some made up reality). Trump dragged out Bill's sexual encounters and wanted to put them in his family box until he was told no and they will be escorted out. He has been married _three_ times and has a worst history of being a sexual predator than Bill Clinton (who quite frankly, has been accused of rape, but not proven and has proven to cheat on his wife and use his position to influence women to sleep with him and Trump steps in to an even worse category...). He has a history of Miss. Universe contestants complaining he would show up unannounced in their dressing rooms while they were changing and often naked. He calls women fat pigs, he calls entire religions untrustworthy, he makes blanket claims he is the best at everything even when his own prior hired employees contradict him on these claims.

      Trump to paraphrase when talking about our system wants to "Rip it out" and start again; he told Clinton he would have gotten more done last night if he were a senator than her and will make all these broad sweeping changes as president, which in itself seems like he thinks he is going to turn our country in to the Trump dynasty and make former President Bushes, "I am the decider" seem modest in comparison. He has ZERO idea of the cost of his proposals, ripping it out _is_expensive and he has yet to even provide a shred of supportable academic evidence that he is a) a great businessman, b) his proposals would actually help the country. He has ZERO idea the cost of his tax proposals and the lower-end of the spectrum families will actually see an increase in their tax burden and we will increase the deficit. He thinks when he is president that he is going to somehow make Clinton end up in jail (your papers please?) which is a pretty bold statement which has basically no basis in reality. He talks about Aleppo as if he is an expert and quite frankly I would this debate full of fluff, none of the moderators questioned Trump or Clinton on even basis demographics about Aleppo to gauge whether they even prepared for this debate. Trump still hangs on the claim that the Obama Administration created ISIS or allowed it to grow, when in fact ISIS has an organization grew out of the ashes of Iraq and the prior administrations invasion, which also made claims of, "All you gotta do, is introduce democracy to these countries and watch them flourish." Trump has taken that simply down to, "All you gotta do is elect me President and I will destroy ISIS."

      You also may know damn well that the Media would nail his ass if he made a mistake? Sure okay, like President Bush? He got a free pass _alot_ from both congress and the media. Look at what Obama has had to endure? Hell, look at what Clinton has had to endure for some mistakes that were repeats of the previous administration basically, she got dragged _over_ the coals by the media and the congress. No, Trump will use his executive privilege if he were elected to hide his mistakes, it would make the Bush/Cheney and Obama administrations look like a glass house, everything apparent and open to the public.

      Trump is a disgusting individual -- Hillary is cold and an unapologetic liar but she also has a history of getting things done and actually helping "the little people" whereas Trump has a history of screwing over the little people and with an unapologetic response, "It's business, I am a good businessman." which is a very good indicatio

    38. Re:Who wants either of them in power by sabbede · · Score: 1
      Nobody does, but they become focused on voting for the "lesser of two evils" instead of finding someone not-evil to vote for.

      Johnson 2016.

    39. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're fools. He's clearly being allowed to campaign without adult supervision. He'll be the first 4 year old president without a curfew.

    40. Re:Who wants either of them in power by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      Funny?! I find the whole thing sad; sad that we as a nation have an asshole wanting to prosecute a criminal where congress won't fucking do a damn thing because of how corrupt they are.

      I recommend lube, it makes the ass-fucking we're all about to receive go a lot smoother.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    41. Re:Who wants either of them in power by aron1231 · · Score: 1

      "he continues behaving erratically, obnoxiously, and ultimately in a self-defeating"

      If those are his worst offenses, sign me up! I've known many good leaders who were rather erratic and obnoxious.

    42. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. And Hillary will continue the Obama approach of being politically divisive. Notice that Trump almost NEVER blames Democrats for our problems. He attacks individuals, but he doesn't generally put down the Democratic party because he knows that won't help anybody. Clinton, on the other hand, is a regular member of the Republicans bashers club. She will maintain that as president, and the Republicans will naturally coalesce against her as a reaction.

    43. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Well, he's explicitly stated that he assaults women, and that he gets away with it. Maybe it was mere braggadocio. Maybe.

    44. Re: Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the clintons did everything you say trump will do

    45. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And yet, all of the contestants compete willingly, knowing full well what happens to the winners.

    46. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The one who will not start World War III and end up nuking a foreign country because he couldn't touch someone's pussy yesterday would be a nice start. I'd prefer to vote third party - I usually do. And I'm hoping that my state is solidly blue enough that I won't have to hold my nose but instead can cast a conscience vote for neither. But I'd rather have a spoiled brat than a petulant child in office.

    47. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He stated that they let him do it. That is exactly the opposite of rape. He literally anti-rape these women. Trump is a champion of #consent. A feminist priest in a manner of speaking.

      Or are you from that feminist "school" that believe that any male interaction with a womyn is rape? (Yes, these cunts do exist)

    48. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He didn't got a signed contract of sexual interaction (or CSI as the feminists call them) a priory, therefore when the whores let him do these things is not real consent, therefore RAPE! RAPE! RAPE!

      The only reason you presume any of this is sexual assault is because 1) You don't find Donald Trump attractive, and B) Realizing that women are whore more attracted to wealth than human character make you uncomfortable.

      Face it. When you are rich, pussy jump on you. And a asshole barging in private is not evidence of sexual assault.

    49. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ironically it is Hillary Clinton who want to escalate military conflict with Russia, a nuclear power. Over the presumed "hack" of her personal email and democrat party security failure (e.g: private / non state related). Which there is no evidence of Russia involvement.

      She stated clearly that "cyber attack" will be meet with military action. And that Russia/Vladimir Putin/Nagel Faral/Whatever are behind the hacks.

    50. Re:Who wants either of them in power by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      I was an "anyone but Hillary" guy from before Bill left office but Trump is the only thing I've seen that can put me alongside her (with McCain, Schwartzenegger, ...),

      Hillary over McCain? I don't think you're an "anyone but Hillary" guy, you're just a Hillary guy.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    51. Re:Who wants either of them in power by MightyMartian · · Score: 0

      Really, like who?

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    52. Re:Who wants either of them in power by fbobraga · · Score: 1
      Second, it is congress, not the media, that impeaches a president.

      Nope... ops, you ar talking about US! In Brazil, media are far more powerful than most political parties: we just passed trough a Impeachment process (where crimes that may cause it was barely mentioned...) backed by the media here. Remembers me about Citizen Kane movie...

    53. Re: Who wants either of them in power by Tesen · · Score: 1

      Proof? Citations?

    54. Re:Who wants either of them in power by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      It's easier for someone you're really scared of to control the fool.

      FTFY

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    55. Re: Who wants either of them in power by shilly · · Score: 1

      Who said those were his worst offences? Oh, right. You did. But they're not.

    56. Re: Who wants either of them in power by shilly · · Score: 1

      What the fuck are you talking about? Why would a competitor know in advance that part of the deal is that an old man will kiss her on the mouth whether she likes it or not?

    57. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think his history indicates he is moderate and stable, anyone one who has been in any kind of business has to be able to get along,
      Trump is an entrepreneur, most of the ones I have known are unconventional thinkers, unusual, but not dangerous. They are generally very stable people.

    58. Re:Who wants either of them in power by PrimaryConsult · · Score: 1

      Seriously we have someone who placed classified information in a precarious position *and* has gotten people killed, versus someone who speaks every stray thought at the top of his mind and can't keep from running his mouth for more than two seconds.

      Is anyone sane voting for either of those clowns? Johnson 2016!! (or hell even Stein, at least she's not evil!).

    59. Re:Who wants either of them in power by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Bill Clinton was impeached. Being impeached was hardly "immune" from it.

    60. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whoosh. GP missed an irony tag, but surely it was implied.

      captcha: controls

    61. Re:Who wants either of them in power by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      He stated he grabs them. That's assault. He has multiple allegations of rape against him at the moment. Some likely politically motivated. He has past allegations of rape that he effectively admitted to, and settled with a payoff to avoid a criminal trial.

    62. Re:Who wants either of them in power by melted · · Score: 1

      No, _stating_ you do something is not "assault", it's one dude running his mouth to another dude in private. Same as saying "I'm gonna kill you" is not murder.

    63. Re:Who wants either of them in power by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Many mean it literally, as he wasn't convicted. Most don't know the difference.

    64. Re:Who wants either of them in power by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      But saying you have done it is.

      Or are you defending Drumpf by saying that everything he says is a lie, so any confessions made must be lies too?

    65. Re:Who wants either of them in power by melted · · Score: 1

      No. Saying anything is not a crime. I can say I raped your mom in the ass. That doesn't make it so, since not only have I never seen your mom, I don't even know who you are. I hope that's convincing enough an example for you. You have major issues with critical thinking. Must be one a part of that "unaware and compliant citizenry" that Clinton has been cultivating (according to Wikileaks: https://wikileaks.org/podesta-...).

    66. Re:Who wants either of them in power by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      He confessed to a crime. I'll take it as he gave it. That you protect him doesn't change facts, no matter how much you'd like it to.

    67. Re:Who wants either of them in power by melted · · Score: 1

      Where did he confess to any crime whatsoever? If he did, Hillary would be riding it day and night already. Instead we get "dude talk" brown out of proportion. That stinks of desperation to me.

    68. Re:Who wants either of them in power by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      I was being sarcastic. I'd say "whoosh", except that's probably unfair given there seem to be people on the thread who genuinely believe what I was being sarcastic about. Poe's law FTW!

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    69. Re:Who wants either of them in power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      she also has a history of getting things done and actually helping "the little people"

      Citation needed.

    70. Re:Who wants either of them in power by richieb · · Score: 1

      You can start here

      --
      ...richie - It is a good day to code.
    71. Re:Who wants either of them in power by eaglesrule · · Score: 1

      I think everyone is a little confused about how the justice system works. As it stands, a secret committee can sign a secret death warrant to be executed by the president against American citizens abroad, and the US attorney general Eric Holder wouldn't rule out the possibility of said extra-judiciary process being used on Americans on US soil. So I don't blame Trump for thinking that maybe the POTUS can rule like an emperor from time to time.

      Trump may understand however that the justice system is compromised, as demonstrated by Email-gate where Clinton has already promised to keep Lynch as the attorney general. This is why Trump is choosing senator Trey Gowdy to be attorney general, and if you've actually watched the house judiciary meetings you'd see that if anyone is capable of cutting through the bullshit to get to answers when in an actual position of power, it would be Gowdy. It could be the one good thing that comes from a Trump presidency.

    72. Re:Who wants either of them in power by sabbede · · Score: 1
      Hey, don't forget the lying, cheating, dirty dealing, and the very suspicious charity.

      To which major candidate am I referring? That's right Both.

  9. What movie should I watch to learn about hacking? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lincoln? Saving Private Ryan? E.T.?

    Right now I'm studying French by watching the Terminator.

  10. So basically you're saying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Trump is more honest because he admits to being unable to actually tell anything like a consistent truth?

    That's like saying magma is less hot than fire because it's more self aware.

  11. *eyeroll* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    First the Clinton camp gave us "I refuse to admit that those documents are mine because they were stolen from me."
    Now we get "I never said that, but here's what I meant when I said it."

    Can we have Bernie back, now?

    1. Re: *eyeroll* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, Bernie got his homes paid for by the DNC, he's plenty content being a sellout.

  12. A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Most of the time Hillary's emotions look totally fake to me - especially the smiles and laughs.

    But, when Trump seemed to be suggesting that everyone remaining in Aleppo was a rebel - and therefore ISIS - and that the Assad dictatorship and Russia should therefore be allowed to annihilate them, for a brief moment she looked genuinely angry.

    Maybe her attention was just wondering back to the personal insults at the beginning of the date. But, for just a moment, I was able to imagine that she genuinely cared about something other than her own personal glory, and I had this fleeting thought that she was almost someone I could vote for.

    1. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They didn't remember to donate to the Clinton fund...er....foundation? Fuck 'em!

    2. Re: A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She was angry that Donald wanted to kill her future Democratic voters when she imports them here to shoot up our malls and steal jobs.

    3. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by sittingnut · · Score: 0, Troll

      so she got angry that terrorists she funded and still supports, are going to get defeated and annihilated (btw same terrorists' other supporters are funding her campaign) along unfortunately with their human shields (since assad has offered evacuation routes repeatedly for civilian and even armed people, nobody needs to die, just leave).

      chew this too; total casualties at aleppo is nothing compared to various bombings and invasions and coups by conducted by usa in many many places in past year alone. (all of which had mass murderer clinton's full support.)

      anyone electing clinton is supporting direct mass murder, torture, and resource looting.

      vote for hillary. stains your hand with innocents' blood!

      so don't cry if victims attack you, your family , and fellow supporters .

    4. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I think she was upset that he broke the rules, by blowing up the idea she and others are trying to peddle. That idea being that Aleppo is essentially a city populated by "that injured boy people saw on facebook," rather than a force our country helped arm to fight another proxy war with Russia. The public doesn't want to be involved in that kind of war, and he just planted the idea that we don't have to be, and shouldn't. That is dangerous for her and the MI Complex, because even if she gets elected she will have a harder time pushing that agenda, that may be a desire of those funding her bid.

    5. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I guarantee that behind closed doors at Clinton HQ, that horrible smile she does is the office-wide signal that someone's about to be on the receiving end of an hour-long bitchout and will probably be unemployed soon.

    6. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Tablizer · · Score: 2

      Most of the time Hillary's emotions look totally fake to me...for a brief moment she looked genuinely angry...I was able to imagine that she genuinely cared about something other than her own personal glory...

      I don't mind politicians chasing personal glory IF it leads to good things. Did the inventor of the Internet do it for the good of humanity, or for personal glory?

      Who knows. Either way, they achieved something. Altruism is only one of many forces of good and progress. Gordon Gekko was partially right, but too much greed is dangerous. Balance, yin/yang, etc.

      You have to have a bit of asshole in you to deal with asshole dictators anyhow.

      George W. Bush may have genuinely thought invading Iraq was the "right thing". I'll take "correct" over "genuine" in that situation.

    7. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      There's 4 forces there:

      Assad, Russian backed dictator known for gassing his own people to stay in power. Biggest driver of extremism in Syria.
      ISIS: Invading adhoc force led by ex Sadam Intelligence officers leveraging religion to attract an army.
      Syrian Rebels: Oppose Assad, the nearest thing to a Western view available in the region.
      Kurds: Tribal force, militarized and extreme due to attacks from Turkey.

      We (West) unofficially back Kurds and Rebels. But due to Nato member Turkey have to be delicate about it. Russia backs Assad. Nobody backs ISIS.

      Alleppo is a city full of civilians and some Syrian rebels. It's been gassed with chlorine by Assad, bombed by Russia and Assad, and really Russia has given up any pretense of going after ISIS at this point, they are securing their own interests in the region, trying to secure Assad in power, which gives them a puppet in the region.

      So you try to conflate the Syrian rebels with ISIS and turn it into a political point for people who are uninformed of the detail. But what if you get your vane perfume vendor, Trump, into power, what then? Do you think somehow Trump's vanity and self deception can keep USA safe? He doesn't even know Russia invaded and annexed Ukraine. His plan for everything is to lock his people into a room till they come up with a solution. He's a bit of a joke, and its kinda sad.

    8. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      I read Pravda, too. But I read other things as well.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    9. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then again, she's not. Oh well.
      Vote for the outsider, Trump.
      Or the Greens or Libertarian.
      At least some combination of the latter two are
      a) Not criminal Liars.
      b) Not bumbling idiots.

    10. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I read Pravda, too. But I read other things as well.

      Obviously not given the limitation of your knowledge.

    11. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      Your level of ignorance is astonishing.

      Syrian Rebels: Oppose Assad, the nearest thing to a Western view available in the region.

      If you mean by Western view violent armed group intent on killing and torturing people to loot resources then you are right. Do you mean that? Do confirm!

      In reality, so called "rebels" are nothing more than various shades of Islamists ranging from ISIS to splinters from Al Queda(Al nusra, or whatever they call themselves now, being the most prominent). There were secular groups but they do not exist now in Syria,except in name. Most of them,including ISIS help each other if there is no dispute about the loot. And all are funded ultimately by USA, Arab states, and Israel. What they and rebels want is to get Assad out, and hit Iran.

      Russian backed dictator known for gassing his own people to stay in power. Biggest driver of extremism in Syria....
      gassed with chlorine by Assad

      1/ Biggest drivers of Islamist extremism are its active promoters in Saudi Arabia, and justified opposition to barbaric actions of USA and Isreal. Assad do not come near in barbarity and is secular.
      2/ No proof whatever that Assad used chemical weapons, and chlorine is very bad as a weapon.

      Alleppo is a city full of civilians and some Syrian rebels.

      Alleppo had lots of civilians, until ISIS and so called "Rebels" drove most away. Few that remain are used by "Rebels" as human shields. There are safe routes open on Assad's side, if not forced to stay civilians can leave. Civilian deaths due only to use of them as human shields.

      Trump ... doesn't even know Russia invaded and annexed Ukraine.

      Well Russia did no such thing. So instead of Trump, it is only you who is ignorant. Russia incorporated Crimea (not Ukraine) after a referendum.

      Now , instead of spouting ignorance, go back to sucking on your Saudi master's dick, sissy boy. Or is is Jewish dick? Not much difference among the Semites.

    12. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

      In the first debate, Hillary wore a fake Sheldon Cooper smile most of the time. In this debate, she only wore it while she was being accused of a felony. Maybe her technicians told her to take it down a notch.

    13. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which might be a valid point IF just about any of Trump's positions were dickish but correct, however they're just dickish. There's no reason at all to think that Trump's narcissism leads to good things for anyone but Trump. You mention Gordon Gekko, what exactly about Trumps defence of his tax dodging makes you think he is even a fraction less greedy...

      Trump will throw anyone to the Wolves (be it tacitly endorsing harassment of minorities or outright supporting the bombing of innocent civilians). There's always been a bit of the American psyche that sees this kind of arrogance and self-entitlement as attractive, which envisions that if a President just throws around all the nations power they'll get everything they want, but it's mistaken. It's dubious it'll work in the short term, and virtually inconceivable that it'll help longer term.

    14. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      They should readjust and oil the hinges in her mouth.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    15. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The other odd thing about that moment was Trump's inconsistency with Pence. Apparently they hadn't even gotten together enough to be on the same page on the issue, which is bizarre.

    16. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hillary has had a long time in politics to train her facial expressions and body language responses.
      She uses these like a comic or comedian uses a water bottle, glass of whisky, etc. They train themselves to have a physical response different from the emotional response they're feeling.

      Feel angry? Smile!
      Feel confused? Smile!
      Don't have the right word for the moment? Smile!

      That's Hillary's training, and she's _good_ at it.

      I've spent years trying to reduce my facial expressions, as I had people start telling me I was offending people in meetings when shit-brained ideas were being advocated.

      Guess what I do now?

      I smile. :-)

    17. Re:A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Well Russia did no such thing. So instead of Trump, it is only you who is ignorant. Russia incorporated Crimea (not Ukraine) after a referendum.

      Russia did invade the Ukraine, did invade Crimea, did annex Crimea and held a comedy referendum that was fixed from the moment it was announced.

      Anyway, what's wrong with trans-racial sissy dick sucking?

    18. Re: A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're spot on, despite what our Russian chum says below (they find it hard to control their anti-Semitism) but you're too easy on Trump. His performance in the debate was an absolute shambles and his profound ignorance on almost everything except taxes and markets was laid bare. There were junior school debating teams sobbing uncontrollably at his performance. How is it that still anyone thinks he could be a competent president?

  13. Whatever it takes to avoid FOIA requests. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Whatever it takes to avoid FOIA requests.

  14. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    It's just not fair to expect her to remember what she said to other people or what she's been up to with all that brain damage she's suffered. So I think she means it literally and she simply can't remember her own words. That's how she can tell us with a straight face that she hasn't been lying to us. I mean, why can't we believe that she honestly doesn't know what's going on any more or who she used to be?

  15. KGB / Trump / Assange by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Grab her by the pussy, comrade!

  16. Trump can smell success! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Success By Trump captures the spirit of the driven man. The scent is an inspiring blend of fresh juniper and iced red currant, brushed with hints of coriander. As it evolves, the mix of frozen ginger, fresh bamboo leaves and geranium emerge taking center stage, while a masculine combination of rich vetiver, tonka bean, birchwood and musk create a powerful presence throughout wear. For more information, please call 212-836-3248 or visit www.trumpsuccess.com"

    Soon to be released: "My new fragrance Commander In Chief. Not everyone can be a leader like me, but you can smell like a leader with my new perfume. $3.99 from Macy's"

  17. Influence the election by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    hacking on American accounts to influence our election. And WikiLeaks is part of that

    What about publishing Trump's open mike (as in not intended for the public) verbal pants shitting? That's okay because it can't be traced to some nefarious foreign power?

    1. Re:Influence the election by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 2

      Only if The Donald is a foreign power. There's an old saying about making one's bed...?

      In any case, I'm thinking about writing in Stoya--why not have a *sophisticated, good-looking, and competent* cocksucker in the White House, for a change?

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    2. Re:Influence the election by unixisc · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Not just that, they have to fish out something he said 11 years ago, and establishment Republicans have a collective hemorrhage - barring a few honorable exceptions, like Rudy, Newt, Hannity, Pirro...

      Ironically, by doing this, Clinton just made Kathy Sheldon fair game, as well as the other ex Clinton women that she helped trash as first 'lady' of both AR and the US

    3. Re:Influence the election by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Informative

      You know Clinton didn't release the tape, right?

      His current attitude toward women is quite poor, and this tape just demonstrates that he thinks his money makes sexual assault okay. Even his supporters, I think it was Giuliani on the radio this morning, didn't try to defend what he said. Instead the angle was that he has changed, gone from billionaire playboy to presidential candidate and he wouldn't do that stuff now, even though he describes his own daughter as a "piece of ass".

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    4. Re:Influence the election by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Should call out cnn for trying to influence it too:
      Open mic's are like karma
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqCIub3SmCI

    5. Re: Influence the election by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Trump did and said nothing wrong.

      Feel free to kiss Ivanka and grab her by the pussy if you think the first statement is true.

    6. Re:Influence the election by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and yet... when you watch the recording... he's bullshitting away in private with Billy Bush like two teenage boys in a locker room.

      As soon as he gets out of the bus, he's respectful and polite to the actress involved.

      How odd.

    7. Re:Influence the election by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      when you watch the recording... he's bullshitting away in private with Billy Bush like two teenage boys in a locker room.
      As soon as he gets out of the bus, he's respectful and polite to the actress involved.

      You mean, as soon as he is on camera with her, he pretends to be respectful?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    8. Re:Influence the election by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > You know Clinton didn't release the tape, right?

      Yeah, right. You seriously want us to believe that 11th hour mud wasn't saved up by both campaigns? You seriously don't think they have reporters on both sides who will run whatever they put out? It's not like this happens in EVERY SINGLE election ever....

    9. Re:Influence the election by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean how SHE says he was respectful too... even when the cameras were off. You don't get it both ways, zealot. Either he's an out of control horndog, or it was, as he says, locker room bullshit.

      P.S. Ever been to a hen party?

    10. Re:Influence the election by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

      You know Clinton didn't release the tape, right?

      His current attitude toward women is quite poor, and this tape just demonstrates that he thinks his money makes sexual assault okay. Even his supporters, I think it was Giuliani on the radio this morning, didn't try to defend what he said. Instead the angle was that he has changed, gone from billionaire playboy to presidential candidate and he wouldn't do that stuff now, even though he describes his own daughter as a "piece of ass".

      Okay. So, at worst, he's still better than Bill Clinton against whom there is a credible claim of rape. Hillary and her supporters don't seem to have a problem with that, so why would they care about Donald Trump's lifestyle?

    11. Re:Influence the election by aron1231 · · Score: 1

      The obvious appeal to women, feminists and the faint-of-heart is rather laughable. If an 11-year-old snippet of a guy bragging about conquests with women is her best attack, she has a LOOONG road ahead of her. It did absolutely nothing to phase me or the peeps I know. (Don't get me wrong, I think he said and did some dumb things, but so have I in my lifetime. In context to Hillary's mistakes, what is worse?)

    12. Re:Influence the election by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Bill Clinton isn't standing for election. Trump is, hence the interest in his attitude and suitability.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    13. Re:Influence the election by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "You know Clinton didn't release the tape, right?"

      How naive and stupid are you?

    14. Re:Influence the election by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But Clinton doesn't think Bill's rape is OK, right? You're a real piece of work you know that. Disingenuous and liberal scum, the worst combination.

    15. Re:Influence the election by Xest · · Score: 1

      "Not just that, they have to fish out something he said 11 years ago, and establishment Republicans have a collective hemorrhage - barring a few honorable exceptions, like Rudy, Newt, Hannity, Pirro... "

      No, they didn't, for any of us decent human beings pulling out things he's said in recent months is sufficient, you know, stuff like saying he'd carry out nuclear war, calling for political opposition to be assassinated, being hateful to women in general, calling for the return of concentration camps, asking for mass deportations. You know, for many of us you barely have to go back 11 minutes, 11 days is usually fine, and 11 weeks is ample to realise that he's probably one of the most despicable human beings up for election in any Western country since the fall of fascism post World War II.

      But if something he said 11 years ago is finally the turning point for you and other freaks who think the above is all okay, then that's fine, but don't blame "them" for having to go back 11 years.

      Not everyone is like you or the other basement dwelling redneck creeps on Slashdot who think things like concentration camps are an acceptable policy, ever. Some of us are actually educated enough to understand why stuff Trump has been coming out with on a regular basis for the last year are pretty fucking disturbing, and completely fucking wrong to anyone with even the slightest amount of human decency.

    16. Re:Influence the election by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      this tape just demonstrates that he thinks his money makes sexual assault okay.

      I think he very correctly but crudely stated that an awful lot of women are gold digging whores, and so they don't mind when rich famous guys go digging in their pussies because that's how they get their gold. The only people to whom this is surprising are beta males and dykes, and they weren't voting for Trump anyway.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    17. Re:Influence the election by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      You know Clinton didn't release the tape, right?

      Who did? I've been trying to figure that out.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    18. Re:Influence the election by unixisc · · Score: 1

      But the claim - particularly by Bill Clinton's wife - that Trump is unfit to be president takes the cake. After all, her husband actually did a lot more than Trump boasted about, and far worse. At the time, there was an endless parade of people - particularly Clinton apologists - lecturing us that this was his private life, and none of our business. Never mind that it involved several cases of sexual harassment, not to mention adultery.

      Now, suddenly, the hordes of Dems and others who were bitterly opposed to Clinton being impeached or removed and who celebrated the erosion in GOP fortunes that year are now busy lecturing us about the type of person Trump is, and whether he's fit to be president. The White House has already had an occupant far worse than Trump, and someone who stands to return there as the 2nd citizen should Trump lose. There is nothing that Trump can do that will denigrate the office more than what his opponent's spouse has already done.

    19. Re:Influence the election by unixisc · · Score: 1

      You know Clinton didn't release the tape, right?

      His current attitude toward women is quite poor, and this tape just demonstrates that he thinks his money makes sexual assault okay. Even his supporters, I think it was Giuliani on the radio this morning, didn't try to defend what he said. Instead the angle was that he has changed, gone from billionaire playboy to presidential candidate and he wouldn't do that stuff now, even though he describes his own daughter as a "piece of ass".

      Yeah, I'm sure that Clinton had nothing to do w/ the release of the tapes, just like she had nothing to do w/ deleting the emails, or getting State Department material on her private server, or any of those shenanigans

    20. Re:Influence the election by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I have nothing against people who oppose Trump based on everything he's said during this election campaign. But I do have everything against people who were willing to support him to some extent or the other despite or because of that, but suddenly got turned off by the 11 year old material. Like I mentioned, Bill Clinton DID far worse than what Trump SAID, and nobody ever thought he should be removed. So to get on a high horse, or camel, regarding one's fitness for the White House is really rich!

    21. Re:Influence the election by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Men want to fuck women. News at 11.

    22. Re:Influence the election by Xest · · Score: 1

      "Like I mentioned, Bill Clinton DID far worse than what Trump SAID"

      Did he? this seems to be the problem with this debate, Trump can say things without any actual evidence whatsoever, and it gets taken as gospel. In contrast Trump outright admitted to sexual assault (as opposed to merely an accusation against Bill) and it gets written off as not as bad as the mere accusation against Bill. Unless you're referring to Lewinsky which wasn't sexual assault, but consensual sex, but IMO having an affair isn't as bad as sexually assaulting someone.

      But more to the point, last I checked, it's not Bill Clinton that's being elected here anymore than it is Melania Trump, who also has a history of sexual promiscuity as a prostitute. I mean, what, it's okay for Trump's spouse to sleep around because she's female?, but not Hillary's because he's male?

      There's an awful lot of double standards going on here, and an awful lot of speculation taken as fact, and fact ignored as speculation.

      FWIW I'm not American, but what's fascinating to us outsiders is the two realities that seem to exist, it's like the whole Bush Jr election all over again where the rest of the world could see he wasn't good for the country but internally people saw him as a legend. I get it - it's your election, so it doesn't matter what we think, but we do get affected by this just as we did by Bush's war on terror, and sure maybe you don't care about that either, but that's not really my point. My point is it's absolutely fascinating how the media and candidates in the US spin the reality you see, vs. what we see. It seems in the US that Trump is viewed as bad as Clinton, but from here we see a guy who has declared all the things I mentioned in my previous post (i.e. mass deportations, concentration camps, and so on) vs. a woman who has had a lot thrown at her, but where there seems to be not enough evidence for any of it to be deemed anything more than mere speculation or the issues being completely overblown - Hillary's e-mails might piss you off, but she was found to have no charges to answer, people will argue it's because the FBI are in her pocket, and yet 1 in 3 Americans are hardcore Trump supporters - if that's true why has not one of the many Trump supporters that are guaranteed to be in the FBI whistleblown evidence of that? There's talk of corruption about her foundation, the horror of the talks she does but I don't see anything even remotely as damning in her speeches as Trump says publicly and again, the evidence of corruption is still entirely speculative. All this despite the fact that Hillary's dirty laundry has been hacked and released left and right whilst Trumps is still a closely guarded secret. Personally I'd take the candidate where we know what the worst case is because everything has been release or leaked, than the guy who wont even release his tax return, yet alone match a release of his business associations, private speeches, and who pathologically lies about the most simple things, such as how and where he met his wife.

      You have to also understand that Trump has had more than his fair share of dealings over here in the UK - we've seen his corruption and what it can do, we've seen people in Scotland lose their homes for his lies so when we hear "Corrupt Hillary" coming out of Trump's mouth, you'll have to excuse us if we scoff a little and wonder what the fuck your country is collectively smoking right now to allow your reality to be so brilliantly distorted by him and your media.

      I just can't fathom the logic of taking the words of a pathological liar as fact when they're on the attack but dismissing them when they're embarassing to him, whilst calling the candidate whose dirty washing is there for all to see "corrupt", or a "liar". Yes Hillary has lied, but it's not in every fucking sentence that comes out of her mouth like Trump.

      And don't get me wrong, I wasn't comparing Bush to Trump, right now I'd rather have Bush than Trump (just as I'd rather have Blair than our current leader or oppositio

    23. Re:Influence the election by unixisc · · Score: 1

      The stuff about Bill Clinton wasn't infidelity alone, but rather, his assaulting women - something that they had alleged, way back in the 90s when he was president and Trump was nowhere in the political picture (and actually a Clinton supporting Democrat). Juanita Broderick had accused him of raping her, Paula Jones accused him of unwantedly groping her (different from the video where the girls there were prostitutes), Kathleen Willey accused him of forcibly fondling her, and there were more - Dolly Kyle Browning, for one.

      But what's at issue here about Hilary is that she hired private investigators to dig up dirt on these women which could then be used to blackmail them into remaining silent. Which is why the entire theme of her campaign - she being the first woman, and a champion of women's causes - is a total fraud. Of course, there are other far more serious reasons why she shouldn't be elected - like leaking classified information to people unauthorized to view it - a crime for which other people had not just lost their jobs but also gone to jail. But this one is just to illustrate that a Clinton being outraged at video of Trump from 11 years ago (when he was their supporter) is a case of pot, kettle and black!

    24. Re:Influence the election by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Another point - electing Hilary and then trying to make her a one term president is the stupidest thing I've read from anyone to date. As it is, not only did she have the power to corrupt when her husband was president - she even has enough influence over Obama despite being an ex secretary of state to see that the FBI didn't come up w/ anything against her. And in the Democrat primaries, she had the deck stacked in her favor w/ SuperDelegates. If she is elected, she'll get to nominate enough Supreme Court justices to rule in her favor every corrupt thing she wants - from citizenship to illegals to removal of all obstacles to her being elected president again. In fact, Putin would look like someone shackled by political institutions in his country, in sharp contrast to her. The only people who should vote for Hilary are those who support her not just getting elected, but making the Clinton Foundation another branch of government. All the Republican cretins who say 'I'm w/ her' are too blinded by their Trump hatred to recognize that while he'd have checks and balances in terms of Congress, she'd have a completely subservient Congress if she wins. B'cos chances are that who ever wins the White House will not only take the Senate, but likely the House of Representatives w/ him/her.

    25. Re:Influence the election by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Trump outright admitted to sexual assault" ...did he? How do you know he isn't just just lying and exaggerating at how great he is?

    26. Re:Influence the election by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're a guy then you have heard that kind of talk on MANY occasions. No, I would never do it in front of my mom, but in a guy situation, I've heard that kind of stuff my whole life (Im 65). I also need to add, I've known a few people from New York and other very large, eastern, cities. And, there is such a thing as New York values as that kind of crude talk was very much the way they tended to talk.
      The politics of it are very tough to deal with as women are both disgusted and WANTING to make his comments match what the smear machine has been spewing about his supposed racism, machismo, etc. Before he ran for pres all the dems loved the guy and more than one woman who worked for him talked at length about what a kind considerate guy he was.

      That said, all you have to do is look at the 2012 election with, perhaps, the finest man to run for that office in post 1910, and the left relentlessly did everything to smear Romney as some rich guy who hated women and people of color. The reality was quite the opposite but youd never hear the progressives say a kind work - EVER.

    27. Re:Influence the election by Xest · · Score: 1

      "Another point - electing Hilary and then trying to make her a one term president is the stupidest thing I've read from anyone to date."

      You'd be right if the alternative wasn't a neo-Nazi funded by Vladmir Putin.

      Unfortunately it is, so you're not. Everything you say regarding corruption and Hillary applies to Trump too, because he's one of the single most corrupt businessmen in existence today bar perhaps Murdoch and the Koch brothers.

      This is really the problem, you're arguing that you don't want Hillary to become president because she's incredibly corrupt and you hate corruption, then voting for someone even more corrupt. It doesn't make any kind of rational sense to those of us not blinkered by the partisanship of the US election debate.

    28. Re:Influence the election by unixisc · · Score: 1, Troll

      The neo-Nazi label is just a strawman argument used by people who don't take seriously the Islamic threat to the rest of civilization. Like when there was that massacre at San Bernardino, everybody was appalled when your 'neo-Nazi' called for a moratorium on allowing Muslims into this country, noting that all the terrorist attacks that have happened since 2001 have been done by Muslims in the name of Islam. That's the reason Trump has the support he has - he's the only one who confronts head-on the fact that the atrocities are done by Muslims. Everybody else refuses to for fear of being called bigots.

      As far as corruption goes, Trump is not corrupt. He owes his company i.e. his employees, responsibility to get deals done, and if that required greasing various local governments, that's what he did. Same like the argument w/ the tax code - he legally did everything he was allowed to do to pay the minimum tax allowed by existing tax laws and loopholes. People can blame him for paying bribes or buying politicians, but whose fault is it that politicians need to be bought to get things done?

      The point you made about Hilary and checks and balances - making her a one term president - is more possible w/ Trump. If Hilary wins, she'll get to nominate 2 or more Supreme Court justices, and that will cause major tectonic societal shifts that would make it impossible to remove her from power. This is b'cos she has an iron grip on the party - something Bernie Sanders found out and the WikiLeaks documents emphatically proved. When even a populist socialist w/ 90% millennial support couldn't defeat her, what hope would a Republican, once she gets to re-write the constitution? In contrast to that, Trump does not have widespread support in the Congressional GOP, so if he proposes something that's unpopular, he'll run into problems w/ his own party itself, much less the overall Congress. In fact, he may get lucky on the trade deals, since that's the most popular in the GOP that won him the nomination, and the only proposal of his that would smoothly move would probably be the wall w/ Mexico, and the ICE deportations of illegal immigrants. He'll probably need the support of Democrats to pass Ivanka's pet project of paid maternity leave, and some of his other proposals, like an alliance w/ Russia, might be tough to pass in Congress. In short, there will be no shortage of checks and balances to Trump, particularly from sections in the GOP itself that oppose him. There is no such opposition to Clinton within Democrat ranks

    29. Re:Influence the election by Xest · · Score: 1

      "The Nazi label is just a strawman argument used by people who don't take seriously the Jewish threat to the rest of civilization. Like when there was that war we lost, everybody was appalled when your 'Nazi' called for a moratorium on allowing Jews into this country, noting that all the wars we've lost since 1901 have been because of Jews in the name of Judaism."

      Yeah, you see how your argument sounds when a few simple words are replaced to higlight the exact same way it was used in 1930s Germany?

      I'm kind of glad that Hillary is probably going to win regardless of people like you, but it disturbs me that after everything that happened last century that there are still folks like you that far-right populists like Trump can manipulate to do their bidding in the exact same way Hitler did in the 30s. Can you really honestly not see how far gone people like you are? You really can't see the correlation? Even the slogans are pretty much identical - make America great again was exactly like Hitler's cries to make Germany great again after it's failure in World War I.

      Let's be clear here, far-right politics has been tried on so many occasions (not just in World War II), and every single time it's resulted in the most horrendous outcomes for humanity. Why are you so willing to try and put humanity through all this yet again when it's so clear that it never has worked, and never will work?

      Are you unemployed? poor? have you lost everything? is it desperation and a feeling that anything is better than your current situation or what? Or are you simply just angry at everything and full of hate? I'm genuinely intrigued to know what could drive someone to support that kind of ideology. I don't expect you to be capable of the introspection necessary to answer, but I figure it's worth a try. Your justifications in themselves are fascinating if nothing else, you've created yourself this great un-reality in your head that requires complete ignorance of the facts, it's like watching someone who has suffered an utterly traumatic event like the violent death of their family receding into some imaginary safe space in their head because they can't cope with the truth of actual reality.

    30. Re:Influence the election by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Short answer to your diatribe: I've read enough of the Quran and accompanying Tafseers to know what Islam is all about, and I know enough of Muslim history - from the time of Mohammed to today - to know what Muslims are all about. I also have followed the shenanigans of the Clintons since the 1990s, and am happy that we went 16 years w/o them, and depressed should that come to an end. Obama stopped Clinton in 2008: I'm hoping that Trump does the same now

    31. Re:Influence the election by Xest · · Score: 1

      But have you also read the original Bible? I'll give you a hint, books from over a thousand years ago tend to be a little bit backwards.

      That doesn't however mean their adherents follow them to the letter. There are 1.3billion Christians and 1.2billion muslims. By and large, the vast majority of all of them are perfectly peaceful, sensible, rational human beings. You'll have walked past many without a thought that they might be a "muslim" because they're just like everyone else.

      You may hate the Clintons, but you still haven't explained why that justifies lurching all the way to the far-right to someone whose policies and rhetoric genuinely does match that of Hitlers in the early 30s. You've not explained why you think that extreme is ever justifiable, do you really believe that the German people did the right thing in the 1930s because they were in the same quandary you are now?

  18. yayo by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think they should postpone the election until they can figure out why Donald Trump sniff's constantly when he's talking. It's a serious problem. A news outlet counted ninety-two times tonight, which is 30% up from the last debate.

    He also chewed his lips several times (play the tape). Now I'm not saying the dude is doing rails in the limo on the way to the debates but if he's didn't have a snoot full of flake, he's got to see an ear, nose and throat doctor, stat. Maybe they can adapt Hillary's anti-coughing machine to stop Donald's incessant sniveling, because I find it very distracting, and I'm keen to hear every red pill truth bomb Trump drops.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re: yayo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice try HUMA ABEDIN

    2. Re:yayo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trump realized he was eating from the trash can of ideology.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUvB1ygPbw

    3. Re:yayo by bestweasel · · Score: 1

      I cannot tell a lie, I love the sig,

    4. Re:yayo by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      It's just the dust from my old copy of Trump: The Game that I got out over the weekend. Sorry!

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    5. Re:yayo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "He's a confused opportunist"

      "The only true election would have been .. Trump versus Bernie Sanders. That would have been a real choice."

    6. Re:yayo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think they should postpone the election until they can figure out why Donald Trump sniff's constantly when he's talking .... Now I'm not saying the dude is doing rails in the limo on the way to the debates but if he's didn't have a snoot full of flake ...

      Figure it out? WTF? Obviously he's pulling lines. The only real question is is it coke or is it speed. And the smart money is on speed.

    7. Re:yayo by quax · · Score: 1

      If you think somebody with his life-style could have gone through the eighties and nineties without doing coke, then I want to know what you are smoking.

    8. Re:yayo by dargaud · · Score: 1

      You have to take a drug test for most jobs in the US. Do they have to take drug tests for the presidency ?!?

      --
      Non-Linux Penguins ?
    9. Re:yayo by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Have you tried just not having a president for four years? Seriously.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    10. Re:yayo by nine-times · · Score: 1

      until they can figure out why Donald Trump sniff's constantly when he's talking.

      I can think of a few possibilities:

      a) As you suggested, he's doing cocaine.
      b) It's not cocaine, but Trump actually gets off on snorting the ashes of your dead grandmother.
      c) He has Parkinson's, but is going to claim it's pneumonia.
      d) He's trying to hold back the tears because mean old Hillary hurt his feelings.

    11. Re:yayo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd rather have an attentive president on coke than a half-dead bitch with a brain tumor and Parkinson's being kept alive with blood transfusions and attentive with methamphetamine.

    12. Re:yayo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He can smell Hillary's pussy

    13. Re:yayo by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      I'm guessing it has to be the mics at the debates because it doesn't happen during any of his other speeches or interviews.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    14. Re:yayo by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      I'm guessing it has to be the mics at the debates because it doesn't happen during any of his other speeches or interviews.

      That certainly must be it. He's allergic to microphones that pick up the words he says when he's debating an old woman.

      Seriously, I think it's more likely stress-related, since he's now way behind in polling and still falling. When he was debating the Republican cucks, he felt his oats. But he's not used to getting spanked.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    15. Re:yayo by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      I dunno. First ten minutes last night were rough but then he really grabbed her by the pussy and didn't let go. I was tempted to report him for sexual assault because Trump raped Hildawg pretty brutally.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    16. Re:yayo by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      First ten minutes last night were rough but then he really grabbed her by the pussy and didn't let go. I was tempted to report him for sexual assault because Trump raped Hildawg pretty brutally.

      Donald Jr, is that you?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  19. Maybe the TLAs are lending her a hand by mveloso · · Score: 2, Interesting

    For all we know her friends at the CIA and NSA may be the ones behind the hacks. She's definitely pissed off enough people there with her security "lapses".

    Plus, a lot of the "evidence" is pretty dumb. "Oh, there was Russian metadata in some of the changed files." "They used a server located in Russia." Well duh, don't you think that shit would be sterilized if a real agency was in charge?

    It would be the height of comedy if the other investigating agencies were so incompetent that they actually believe that Russia was behind it but it was done by our TLAs.

    1. Re:Maybe the TLAs are lending her a hand by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      If you look at the leaked NSA hacking tools, they are terrible. Full of bugs and hacks, poorly written crap that makes little attempt to mask where it came from. Those are tools that the NSA uses in the wild, in fact stolen from a staging server that they failed to properly secure.

      So it seems quite credible that Russian state sponsored hackers would be only a bit more competent.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:Maybe the TLAs are lending her a hand by RandomSurfer314 · · Score: 1

      With my wild imagination I prefer to think that those tools were part of a deliberate but failed NSA attempt to lure someone out, set up a false-flag hacker group or disinform about their capabilities, some scripts they quickly smashed together, took from internal classes, contractors or old ad hoc testing code, and that these tools have not much to do with their real systems. Or, someone put these out to discredit the NSA. But maybe I think a bit too highly of the NSA's skills and have read too many spy novels.

    3. Re:Maybe the TLAs are lending her a hand by aron1231 · · Score: 1

      Indeed... Russia pulls off the hack of the century by USING THEIR OWN SERVERS (INFINITE LOL). Yeah, they didn't have the foresight to spoof it or use VPNs, LOL.

    4. Re:Maybe the TLAs are lending her a hand by Alomex · · Score: 1

      For all we know her friends at the CIA and NSA may be the ones behind the hacks. She's definitely pissed off enough people there with her security "lapses".

      Actually most of the security establishment, including many well know republicans have come out and endorsed her.

      Trump on the other hand, who likes to brag about his 200 generals and admirals behind him forgets to point out that this is only 2/5ths the number of generals who supported Mitt Romney.

  20. Its Russia's Fault Translation by hackus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    We want that pipeline from the middle east through Syria to Eastern Europe so we can destroy GAZPROM, and any Russian influence in EU energy planning.

    I am not kidding. We are on the verge of going to war with Russia in Syria over a stupid oil pipeline.

    This has nothing to do with Assad other than the fact he said NO to the pipeline.

    We are comfortable with other Dictators we call friends but somehow Assad is a really bad man.

    What crap.

    --
    Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.
    1. Re:Its Russia's Fault Translation by unixisc · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The funny thing here is that if they just approved and opened up the Keystone Pipeline, they'd have achieved the same goal of bankrupting GAZPROM, w/o going to war in the Mid East.

      One thing I liked in the debate was Trump bluntly disagreeing w/ Mike Pence on Russia. First of all, there are no good parties there. Hilary mentioned the Kurdish Peshmerga, but they are in Iraq, not Syria, and the Syrian Kurdish group that regained Kobani, Turkey supports ISIS b'cos they oppose this Kurdish group. Turkey hates the idea of any Kurdish nation, be it in Iraq, Syria or Iran, b'cos then, the eastern half of their country is ripe for secession. Ergo, the US can't support the Kurds directly, and in the meantime, they let Saudi Arabia and Qatar do whatever they like in Syria, w/ the end result being the entire eastern half of that country going to ISIS.

      So regardless of whether it's ISIS that Russia is fighting or not, the US has no business making Moscow its adversary in Syria. Instead, it's a better idea to join hands w/ Russia instead of some motley Islamic group that no one has ever heard of. Yeah, yeah, we've seen those award winning photos from Aleppo (who the heck cares that Gary Johnson doesn't know what that is?), but open up your hearts and you'll have a situation like in Germany where they go on a rape rampage. So spare me the John Doone quote, and just team up w/ Russia and help destroy anything in Syria. Just make some of US enemies a part of the target - like Hizbullah and Iranian Quds militias, and it'll be complete.

    2. Re:Its Russia's Fault Translation by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      A *smart* dictator in Assad's position would have already jetted off to an early but well-padded retirement in Côte D'Ivoire or Costa Rica.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    3. Re: Its Russia's Fault Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You will do as our President Hillary Clinton orders and that will be it. Dissent == treason.

    4. Re:Its Russia's Fault Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A *smart* dictator in Assad's position would have already jetted off to an early but well-padded retirement in Côte D'Ivoire or Costa Rica.

      This isn't a regional bush war in Africa. The civil war in Syria has dragged in the great powers of this world. Saddam was hung and Gaddafi was shot. If Assad doesn't remain in charge of Syria with Russian backing, he's dead and he knows it. Costa Rica has no military to speak of and Côte D'Ivoire is one of the poorest countries in Africa. Neither one them is in any position to resist the demands of the United States or any other great power. There's no safe haven for Assad.

    5. Re: Its Russia's Fault Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hell, not even the EU was in any position to resist the demands of the US when they grounded a diplomatic flight hoping to get Snowden.

    6. Re: Its Russia's Fault Translation by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Well, technically, the EU could have resisted, but why ruffle US feathers over something you don't give a shit about?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    7. Re:Its Russia's Fault Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The funny thing here is that if they just approved and opened up the Keystone Pipeline, they'd have achieved the same goal of bankrupting GAZPROM, w/o going to war in the Mid East.

      What have you been smoking? Canadian oil is far too expensive to bankrupt GAZPROM.

      and just team up w/ Russia and help destroy anything in Syria.

      Wouldn't Russia love that. Social experiment to see what happens to a "democratically elected government" in Russia after economic collapse seams much more interesting . You know, cut the pipeline, get some real sanctions going, watch cirques for a decade or so. One can only dream.

    8. Re:Its Russia's Fault Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At this point, Assad wouldn't last thirty days outside Syria, unless he opted for retirement in Russia. This isn't to say I'm passing any judgement on the question of whether he's a fundamentally "bad" or "good" man. It's simply the stark reality of his circumstances. -PCP

    9. Re:Its Russia's Fault Translation by NoImNotNineVolt · · Score: 1

      The funny thing here is that if they just approved and opened up the Keystone Pipeline, they'd have achieved the same goal of bankrupting GAZPROM, w/o going to war in the Mid East.

      Keystone XL was never intended to terminate in Europe.

      But I'll definitely take whatever it is that you're smoking.

      --
      Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
    10. Re:Its Russia's Fault Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      b'cos

      srsly?

    11. Re:Its Russia's Fault Translation by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Oil is oil. It's market prices, as well as supply/demand, that determines how expensive oil is. If Canadian oil becomes available to the US market, it will create as much downward pressure to Russia's oil prices as any imaginary pipeline through Syria to Eastern Europe. Speaking of which, why would the US need to do that, when they can get an oil pipeline from Northern Iraq through Turkey to Eastern Europe (but they'd have to clear out ISIS from Northern Iraq first).

    12. Re:Its Russia's Fault Translation by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I never said Keystone ends in Europe. I implied that if Canadian oil becomes available to the US, then it puts more pressure on Russian oil prices and forces them to sell it at fair market value to Eastern Europe.

    13. Re:Its Russia's Fault Translation by NoImNotNineVolt · · Score: 1

      I never said Keystone ends in Europe. I implied that if Canadian oil becomes available to the US, then it puts more pressure on Russian oil prices and forces them to sell it at fair market value to Eastern Europe.

      First, Canadian oil is already available to the US. The first two phases of the Keystone pipeline system are already online and fully operational. The third phase is partly online, and expected to be fully operational in 2017. The fourth phase, Keystone XL, is what was nixed.

      Second, the Keystone pipeline system is far from the only oil pipeline from Canada to the US. Here's a map that I found linked from here, easily found by a cursory web search. So, again, Canadian oil is already available to the US.

      Third, Canadian oil has been available to the US for longer than we've had pipelines, as oil is commonly distributed via tankers. I'll stop beating that horse now, as I'm assuming you misspoke on that point and are aware that over 1/3 of US oil imports already come from Canada.

      Fouth, you seem to be making a number of mutually-exclusive assumptions about oil. Specifically, you seem to be assuming that the cost of transporting Canadian oil to Europe by tanker is less than the cost of transporting Russian oil to Europe by pipeline. You seem to [correctly] imply that transport by pipeline is cheaper than transport by tanker in the context of Canada/US oil transport, but for some reason [falsely] imply the opposite in the context of supplying Europe with oil. If pipeline transport is cheaper than tanker transport, then tanker-transported Canadian oil wouldn't be able to undercut pipeline-transported Russian oil on price. If pipeline transport is not cheaper than tanker transport, then Keystone XL wouldn't lower the cost of Canadian oil.

      Finally, you're overlooking many other aspects of this situation. Say, the fact that not all oils are born equal (though that's not really that much of an issue in this comparison, as both Canadian and Russian crude oils are shit). Maybe the fact that geographic location of refining and storage capacity dictate in large part the route that petrochemicals travel between production and consumption. Et cetera.

      In a nutshell, I find your view overly simplistic and likely inaccurate. While it's true that increased production in North America (and indeed, the current bottleneck is in the distribution network, not on the production side) would put some negative price pressure on oil markets, there's no reason to suspect that this would be sufficient to bankrupt Gazprom.

      Also, I'd like to point out that the "stupid oil pipeline" in Syria isn't actually an oil pipeline. It's a natural gas pipeline. And Russia extorts Eastern Europe via turning the screws on gas prices during winter. We should've been talking about gas, not oil. An oversight like that really makes me wonder why I spend so much time on my response, but feel free to reply if you're interested in how natural gas distribution works.

      --
      Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
    14. Re:Its Russia's Fault Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This has nothing to do with Assad other than the fact he said NO to the pipeline.

      We are comfortable with other Dictators we call friends but somehow Assad is a really bad man.

      What crap.

      You want to know what this is REALLY about? The U.S. tried to use it's LEET hacking skillz to perv-shame Assad via stolen emails, and it didn't work, and to top it off, God made a good joke of it with Hitlery's home email server and 422224.

      What crap.

    15. Re:Its Russia's Fault Translation by unixisc · · Score: 1

      On the issue of Canadian oil to US, what I was advocating was more than 1/3 of the US supply should be from Canada, and 0 from the Middle East or Russia (in the latter case, if they are the intended target of sanctions).

      On the issue of oil supplies to Ukraine and other Eastern European countries that Russia is extorting, there is an upper cap on how much Russia can charge. Let's say that the cost of Russian supplies to Ukraine is X, and that it costs X+Y for an equivalent US shipment of oil/gas (I'm using the 2 interchangeably for this discussion, even though gas can't be used for a lot of transportation). So Y is the only extent to which Russia can extort Ukraine. Beyond that, the US can supply Ukraine over the sea (for this discussion, I'm ignoring that Turkey could blockade the Sea of Marmara and prevent US ships from getting to Odessa). So there is a ceiling on what Russia can extort from Ukraine. At any rate, there can't be a pipeline from the Middle East to Ukraine w/o going through Russian territory: theoretically, one could run something from Iraq through Anatolia, then across the Bosporus thru Istanbul through Bulgaria, Romania and finally Ukraine.

      Regarding sweet crude vs sour crude vs gas, although we know that the 3 may not be exactly interchangeable, there is some level of interchangeability b/w them as far as commercial energy production goes. I was speaking very generically about that, rather than drilling into where Ukraine might be short on one type of fuel, while having a surplus of another

    16. Re:Its Russia's Fault Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We're not "on the verge" of going to war in Syria, we're already there and financing, training and arming the "moderate rebels" for a decade.
      In other circumstances, these moderate rebels would be known by the more common-day "terrorist", since what they want is to terrorise the population into no longer supporting their secular government.
      And yes, it is all ONLY abut the pipeline. Two days after Assad refused the west's offer in favor of his traditional ally, Russia, the USA launched their offensive.
      http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/15/assads-death-warrant/

      "...make sure that those reserves continue to be denominated in US Dollars that are recycled into US Treasuries and US financial assets. This is the basic recipe for maintaining US dominance in the Middle East and for extending America’s imperial grip on global power into the future."

      Just like Gaddafi and Hussein, it does not impress the empire when you attempt to undermine our currency. We will resort to anything to maintain our undeserved privileges, that's what the armed forces are primarily used for these days. We are all complicit.
      It's all about someone else's money, and we pretend it's about "defending freedom" and "defeating them over there so we don't have to fight them over here."
      It's bullshit, and always has been.

  21. My thoughts by rholtzjr · · Score: 4, Insightful
    After hearing all the things that both sides are saying (i.e. Republican v. Democrat), I am now even more convinced that this battle is between the Establishment versus the the constituents. Realize that Hillary is now more an Establishment player than she is Democrat.

    This became more evident that once Trump showed the slightest decline in his campaign, even his own party (Republicans) are trying to abandon him (at least the Establishment on the Republican side). So who is the real problem in this election year?

    I believe it is not the Democrat or the Republican parties as a whole, it is the Establishment member that are causing the problems. After this election is over, I will be taking note on the upcoming House and Senate elections that will be coming and decide which side of the line the candidates are on. Establishment or the constituents.

    If any of them had any pro Establishment support, then they will be disqualified from my vote.

    Just my opinion, if I lived in Wisconsin that scumbag Ryan would be the first to be removed from office.

    1. Re:My thoughts by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      I see it more as a struggle between old money and new money. Or, rather, political power vs. financial power. "Constituents" doesn't really enter the equation, Trump is more the capitalist ideal of cutting out the middle man, i.e. no longer ruling the country by proxy and buying laws but simply creating the laws yourself if you have the money for it.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:My thoughts by swb · · Score: 1

      I think the Republicans got scared 15 or so years ago when the original "tea party" began to appear during Bush's first term. They co-opted the movement in order to capitalize on the populist energy and divert anti-bank and anti-immigrant sentiments, but between its momentum and the traditionalist country club Republicans being subsumed by greed, populism took over the party.

      All that's left of the Republican party seems to be either rabid populists or the paid shills of big business and banking who have the kind of car dealer new money greed about them, rather than the blue blood, family dynasty about them that seemed to be reflected in the older, Nelson Rockefeller version of the Republicans.

      The academic base of economists, lawyers and academics who used to provide intellectual legitimacy to the Republican party seem to have disappeared. This group, as a broader diaspora featuring other well-educated professionals (literally country club personalities) has been captured by the Democratic party.

      This new establishment is what provides the intellectual legitimacy for globalist economics and the broader top-down management of world affairs, providing the data, studies and "fact"-based rationales for a dominant policy that pays lip service to left wing social agendas while actually implementing a transnational capitalist agenda. Hillary is a perfect example of this.

      Without an intellectual base to counter the weight of the Democrats' armies of degreed professionals, academics and professionals, the populism of the Republicans merely sounds like shrill paranoia. The solid control of the academy by the left largely assures that the Republicans will remain intellectually rudderless, unable to develop a coherent ideological stance that isn't warped by its single issue fanatics, be they anti-abortion evangelicals, greedy businessmen or others.

    3. Re:My thoughts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      this battle is between the Establishment versus the the constituents. Realize that Hillary is now more an Establishment player than she is Democrat.

      So, the establishment (i.e. Hillary) vs the constituents (i.e. a racist bigot who degrades and molests women, defrauds thousands of people with a fake university and is currently on trial for the rape of a 13 year old girl)?

      I'll go with the establishment, please, because the constituents are apparently some horrible fucking people.

    4. Re:My thoughts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know why trading political establishment for billionaire business establishment would accomplish much of anything. It's like spinning the roulette wheel and taking it as a given that "different is better". Different can also be worse. Much worse.

    5. Re:My thoughts by aron1231 · · Score: 1

      You're absolutely right. The Establishment isn't working and hasn't worked for a while (except for themselves). Time to move away from it in any way possible.

  22. @Russians aren't out to get us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Putin agreed a ceasefire, then bombed Alleppo (not an ISIS base, rather a rebel city opposing Assad that Assad has recently gassed with Chlorine). Putin used phrases like "Jihadist" leveraging the US military rhetoric to try to make it politically unacceptable to defend Alleppo from Russian backed Assad forces.

    It seems to be language designed to leverage Trump too: Oppose Assad's attacking that city with chemical weapons, and Trump's astroturf and propaganda can claim you're defending Jihadists. Giving Trump a boost.

    Then there's the invasion of Ukraine, the annexing of Crimea, the invasion of Georgia, the constant invasions of Nato airspace, and now even flying fighters into Finland airspace. It's clear Putin wants a reaction which can boost Trump.

    Putin obviously wants Trump in power. Trump's pride won't let him back down on anything. Having backed Putin, Putin would have free reign to attack his neighbors. Trump wouldn't then be able to turn on Putin without admitting Trump was wrong, something Trump's pride prevents.

    1. Re:@Russians aren't out to get us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I say this as someone that thinks Putin is a megalomaniac dick BUT. The ceasefire had expired/ended, The US undermined and created the Ukraine situation and then acted all "how dare they" when they responded in a fashion to protect their own interests. Even the Georgia situation is hardly as clearcut as you try to make it sound. Don't get me wrong I think the world would be a better place without people like Putin, Trump, Clinton et al, but you really have twisted history in favour of the Western version of events.

    2. Re:@Russians aren't out to get us by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Whatever Putin is, he is Machiavellian. Russia's actual military and economic position in incredibly weak. It has a GDP less than the UK's, and the long period of low energy prices has wreaked havoc with its economy. So he's playing the West against itself. Whether it's inciting disunity within the EU (like Brexit), or encouraging a dangerous and delusional figure like Trump, it doesn't even have to be any kind of direct relationship, but simply using timed releases of information, Internet astroturfing and the like to create at least some level of chaos among his enemies.

      It's almost certain to fail in the United States, where other than Trump's most dedicated supporters, there's little doubt Clinton will win, and it might even see enough downticket Republican Senate races get screwed by Trump's collapsing campaign. But the EU is in trouble, with Britain leaving and countries like Hungary and Poland becoming increasingly right-wing authoritarian.

      The real object is, of course, NATO, and with Turkey becoming an increasingly erratic and and unreliable member, he may at the very least cost NATO one member before he's done. I don't think Putin will succeed in the long run, and I think Russia's long-term decline is inevitable, but he's done a pretty admirable job with the limited tools at his disposal.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:@Russians aren't out to get us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think you are vastly underestimating Russia, especially their military, no it isn't equal to the US but it is huge and relatively well equipped and in some areas like fighter jets even superior to the US. The economic position has also strengthened considerably since oil prices made a come back, something the press doesn't talk about much now as at around $50 a barrel we are at now they have a healthy income again (not as good as $100 a barrel, but not the disastrous $30 a barrel either). Personally I would back a long term rise of Russia (unless we see another oil price collapse which I doubt will happen given the low prices already had the desired effect of bankrupting American shale oil investments), They also actually have very strong Allies and economic ties in the likes of china which strengthens both their economic and military position.

    4. Re:@Russians aren't out to get us by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

      Their military position is weak because they can't project it very far. That they have some hardware superior to ours matters more to arms sales to third parties than it does in terms of a scrum, because the US and Russia aren't going to come to blows. I did think it was weird that Trump is against nuclear disarmament, unless I'm mistaken Russia and the US each have enough to ruin the entire world, perhaps just not as many times over as they did during the cold war.

    5. Re:@Russians aren't out to get us by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      Jets are the last war's weapons. The current war's weapons are Cyber and advanced intelligent missiles. It's why I don't think airplanes are all that effective except for maintaining air control over occupied territory.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    6. Re:@Russians aren't out to get us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately, I think we're going to find out how "weak" Russia is militarily when they shoot some of our old Vietnam-era planes out of the sky in Syria, then a couple of our new boondoggle planes.

      We are a country that can barely defeat a bunch of goat herders with no air force or navy. We don't have even the appearance of military strength anymore. One skirmish where this weakness becomes painfully apparent, and watch the economy collapse. There will be nothing to prop up the dollar's imaginary value.

      It's gonna suck.

    7. Re:@Russians aren't out to get us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The endgame is absolutely political instability in the west and so far they've done a bang-up job. The EU is clearly having trouble.

      In the US the GOP, as we knew it, is pretty much dead - I can't emphasis how huge this is. Most people can't see it right now as we're in the middle of an election cycle and we're too close to the chaos. Once we step back we'll see that fiscal conservatism has been replaced by far-right populism. Stable, business-focused, pro-trade policy is being upstaged by nihilistic xenophobia.

    8. Re:@Russians aren't out to get us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      there's little doubt Clinton will win

      You're either shilling or haven't been paying attention.

    9. Re:@Russians aren't out to get us by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Current score in Syria (for those keeping track). 1 Ancient obsolete Russian plane shot down by a NATO member over their own territory.

      Don't know how to rank that again the Ruskies shooting down a 777 full of civilians, but of course that wasn't Syria.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  23. Johnson/Weld 2016 by jcr · · Score: 2

    Keep in mind, as you ponder which of the Ruling Party narcissists is the least odious, that they are not your only options. You can always vote for a decent human being.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    1. Re:Johnson/Weld 2016 by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      If nothing else, at least you can say that you didn't vote for him/her when (not if, when) the shit hits the fan.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Johnson/Weld 2016 by bongey · · Score: 1

      Please just vote for Trump , you pissing into the wind with a vote for Johnson. You will end up piss all over you and Clinton with shit sandwich. A fly knows shit when he sees it , but was found dead after the debate.

  24. how does he end up talking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    on his tax returns when he is supposed to attack her on her being two-faced?

    amazed

  25. Russia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I know nothing about Russia. I know -- I know about Russia, but I know nothing about the inner workings of Russia.

    Are those the words of a Presidential contender, or a fuckwit?

    1. Re:Russia by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      As if being a fuckwit has ever been a reason to not become president.

      Ah, the comedians will like Trump. Finally someone again who doesn't have a stupidity filter between speech center and mouth. 8 years of Obama and "spontaneous" teleprompting is really a long time.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Russia by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Well, we have 3 geniuses - Obama, Clinton and Kerry - who supposedly know the inner workings of Russia, and great good that has got us!

    3. Re:Russia by penguinoid · · Score: 1

      I know nothing about Russia. I know -- I know about Russia, but I know nothing about the inner workings of Russia.

      Are those the words of a Presidential contender, or a fuckwit?

      Sounds to me like the words of an American.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
  26. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Mitreya · · Score: 5, Insightful

    clarifying what she meant in that transcript

    Can anyone explain what the controversy is about?

    First, every politician does have a public and private position on issues. That's a given, unless you think everyone just honestly shares their actual private beliefs during campaigns?

    Second, it is perfectly acceptable -- e.g., "I am going to help pass the law legalizing X as promised to voters, but personally I think X should remain banned"

  27. Get 10000 Visitors Daily by Siam24 · · Score: 0

    Visitor Building Tips To Improve Your Blog-Quick SEO- http://wikitrick.net/visitor-b...

  28. The establishment vs us by unixisc · · Score: 2, Insightful

    After seeing all the Republicans willing to drop Trump, or even in some cases, endorse Hitlery, I'm more convinced than ever that you're right. I mean, we had Bill Clinton as a president - the entire saga w/ Monica and the stories about Kathleen Willey, Dolly Kyle Browning and Juanita Broderick, and we're now questioning Trump's qualifications for that office for something he said, not did 11 years ago? Had Trump been a Democrat and this all came out, the Dems would be busy closing ranks around him. Just like they're standing steadfast behind her despite the emails.

    As for Paul Ryan, I was disappointed that the other Paul didn't win.

    1. Re:The establishment vs us by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So your argument as to why we shouldn't pay any attention to things Trump literally said himself is because someone other than Hilary did something therefore Hilary is bad?

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    2. Re:The establishment vs us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "As for Paul Ryan, I was disappointed that the other Paul didn't win."

      Ah, isn't he too busy singing to run? Plus he wasn't born in America, right? /wipes brow

    3. Re:The establishment vs us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's just funny to see the Democrats all worked up about sex now after spending years mocking that. She supported and enabled the behavior and harassed the women who truthfully accused her husband of shabby behavior. Go look for, say, her "bimbo explosion" comments and whatnot.

      Why anyone would defend either of these I don't know. What scares me is that people still think Hillary is someone you could vote for. We already know that Trump isn't.

    4. Re:The establishment vs us by rholtzjr · · Score: 1

      After seeing all the Republicans willing to drop Trump, or even in some cases, endorse Hitlery, I'm more convinced than ever that you're right. I mean, we had Bill Clinton as a president - the entire saga w/ Monica and the stories about Kathleen Willey, Dolly Kyle Browning and Juanita Broderick, and we're now questioning Trump's qualifications for that office for something he said, not did 11 years ago? Had Trump been a Democrat and this all came out, the Dems would be busy closing ranks around him. Just like they're standing steadfast behind her despite the emails.

      As for Paul Ryan, I was disappointed that the other Paul didn't win.

      Agreed, not only did stalwart Republican (i.e. Bush family) denounce him, but are endorsing Clinton proves there is now a Third Party that has infused both sides of the Traditional two party system.

      Unlike Paul Ryan, Trump stuck to his oath to the Republican party and supported Ryan for the Republican re-election. He is nothing but an Establishment shill masking himself inside the Republican party.

    5. Re:The establishment vs us by rholtzjr · · Score: 1
      Where the heck is your logic in this. She is part of the Establishment. She just happens to play both sides as her leaked emails have shown. Her public and private views are diametrically opposed to each other. She is saying one thing to the masses and doing the opposite when implementing her plan. In other words she is exhibiting the classical "How can you tell if a politician is lying.... Answer: Their lips are moving" characteristic. The whole Trump "harassment" is a tactic of "LOOK OVER HERE, LOOK OVER HERE... NO!!! PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE PERSON BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!".

      This may seem offensive to some (but I honestly do not care if it does), but I have seen with my own eyes that the opposite sex of a ANY celebrity will allow a celebrity to do anything to them just because they are a celebrity. This even happens in everyday life with ordinary folks as well. This is an example of control through sexuality. It is human nature.

    6. Re:The establishment vs us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [...] and we're now questioning Trump's qualifications for that office for something he said, not did 11 years ago?

      Not quite: he was describing the things that he supposedly did. It was an admission of actions (kissing, groping) that he was able to get away with because he was "a star".

      You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful - I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.

      And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.

      * http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/read-donald-trumps-lewd-remarks-about-women-on-days-of-our-lives-set-2005-groping-star-a7351381.html

    7. Re:The establishment vs us by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      Is that some twisted way of trying to ignore the things that Hillary DID actually do to attack and smear the women her husband pursued and abused? The point isn't that Bill did those things (as opposed to talking about them). The point is that he did them - serially, for decades, while using his government power from Arkansas to DC to help him do so - and his wife, that champion of women and protector of all who accuse others of rape, lied for him, covered for him, and used your tax dollars to have her staff and operatives try to wreck those women's lives. Not because she was mad at them for being raped by her husband, but because their existence was indirectly damaging to her own political prospects, as they continue to be.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    8. Re:The establishment vs us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it's relative reporting. A Democrat can get away with drunken womanslaughter (in the party that "loves" to talk about how they're pro-woman) and spend much of his time in congress sexually assaulting waitresses and still be a beloved politician. Someone self-identifying as Republican talks about (correct me if I'm wrong, I ignored all kinds of news over the weekend) failing to pick up a chick in crass terms and it means they are unfit to exist.

      Another Democrat has a long history of using his elected status and a few clumsy bluffs to draw women with political aspirations (whether they seek to be elected or simply have a support role) into his hotel rooms for various acts that the women later regretted (whether they resisted at the time is unprovable) and his wife took on the responsibility of publicly shaming the women to prevent any electorate from taking their stories seriously. But I'm sure that's completely irrelevant in this election.

    9. Re:The establishment vs us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm glad we all agree that Bill Clinton should not be elected president in 2016. Fortunately, he's not even on the ballot.

    10. Re:The establishment vs us by unixisc · · Score: 1

      So your argument as to why we shouldn't pay any attention to things Trump literally said himself is because someone other than Hilary did something therefore Hilary is bad?

      My argument is that we should not pay attention to this thing that Trump said b'cos

      1. It was 11 years ago, and not only that, he was bullshitting to the Access Hollywood reporter who just lapped it all up

      2. Hilary worked to cover up what her husband (that's who your 'someone else' is) had done, to the point of intimidating the women who brought the allegations

      3. Last but not least, Hilary's disastrous record is too serious to gloss over in making the call on who to pick for president. If we were still in the GOP primaries, I might be okay w/ a desire to replace Trump, but only if that's what GOP voters wanted. But at this stage, I absolutely am opposed to electing Hilary just b'cos of something Trump said 11 years ago

    11. Re:The establishment vs us by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Not just that, when Trump said that he was 'not there yet' on the question of supporting Paul Ryan, Priebus and Newt came out against him. But there was an asymmetry b/w Ryan's support of Trump vs Trump's support of Ryan.

      When Ryan stated that he was 'not there yet', that was the day when Cruz and Kasich had bowed out of the race: Trump was the de facto winner, and any refusal to endorse or support him was a tacic support of Hilary. That is what Ryan was in fact seeming to signal. Whereas when Trump hesitated about supporting Ryan, McCain and Ayotte, that was in their primary races against other Republicans. If one or more of them lost, the alternative would still have been a Republican - someone more supportive of the nominee, and someone likely to vote the way he wanted in Congress. But if Trump lost, the result would be Hilary as president.

      And you are right - that whole 'oath' drama came about after the first FNC debate of the GOP when Bret Baer asked anybody who would not support the eventual nominee to raise his hand, and Trump obliged. That's what got Reince to circulate the pledge, and Trump signed it w/ all the drama that accompanies everything he does, much to the amusement of a lot of us. After he won the race fair and square, you have guys like Kasich, Bush renege on the pledge, and a whole bunch of party bigwigs turn on him after a tape of something he said 11 years ago.

    12. Re:The establishment vs us by unixisc · · Score: 1

      He would end up in the White House, though, if Trump loses. And this time, nothing will stop him from having sex at 3 different places simultaneously at any given time w/ White House interns

    13. Re:The establishment vs us by unixisc · · Score: 1

      He denied actually doing that in the debate last night. Of course, anyone can conclude which of his 2 statements were untrue

  29. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am going to help pass the law legalizing X as promised to voters

    that implies future action fulfilling a promise to the voters.
    If she's promising one thing in secret to the people funding her campaign, and other thing to the voters which group is more likely to get what they want once she's in office?

  30. Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Here is what the above poster meant to type:

    I am a democrat.

    I have always voted democrat

    I always will vote democrat, no matter how dishonest, terrible, and disgusting the candidate is

    I fail to understand that Trump is actually a democrat and has many policies consistent with democrats. But, since he is not labeled a democrat, I can not vote for him

    1. Re:Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I fail to understand that Trump is actually a democrat and has many policies consistent with democrats. But, since he is not labeled a democrat, I can not vote for him

      Well if he does elect the justices he's claimed to back, it'd do a lot more to undermine things like Marriage equality than Hillary would, so for those of us that care about that issue.. it's a big deal.

      I totally get the other side of it with 2nd amendment rights too though. This is why having a balanced supreme court is important.. but I think that's no longer even possible.

    2. Re:Translation by vel-ex-tech · · Score: 1

      This comment is not insightful. I'm not sure it's deserving of flamebait or troll, either. But look! 3 reasons to vote for Clinton right there in the comment score! Seriously, who the fuck is modding this up? Are you all really so delusional that you cannot comprehend why somebody who is not a Democrat would vote for Clinton?

      And that right there is probably the best, most consistent reason I have found in these comment threads to vote for Clinton. You people are beyond irrational. You cannot even imagine somebody would vote for Clinton without being a double secret Democrat.

  31. YES by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  32. He *did*..."Trump scores" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "and we're now questioning Trump's qualifications for that office for something he said, not did 11 years ago? "

    Did not do? Even in the video he spots a girl in purple, and feels her up. 40 seconds in "Trump: Jeez your girl is hot as shit. (Others)Whoa! (Other man) Yes! the Donald has scored". If you mean he didn't manage to have sex with a woman, despite buying her furniture, well, he is a weak vane man led by his cock. His self image and the reality are miles apart. But he certainly feels up woman on buses and gets away with it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlWR5SsH0hk

    1. Re: He *did*..."Trump scores" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      bill rapes them and gets away, thanks to hillary

  33. Yeah, there was that ... by quax · · Score: 0

    ... and the fact that a candidate for the US presidency had to justify, on the debate stage, his bragging about sexual assault.

    Also he threatened to jail his opponent like a two bit banana republic dictator. /. editors have interesting priorities.

    1. Re:Yeah, there was that ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Judging by the crowd's response, it sounds like most people would be interested in laws applying even to her highness.

  34. Our President! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hillary Clinton is *already* our President. Accept it. We'll go to war with Russia, defeat them, take their resources and bring back the traitor Snowden. We will force Ecuador to surrender Assange. Nothing will stand in the way of our President, and as a loyal Liberal I'm ready, willing and able to kill anyone our glorious President will decide to call an enemy.

    1. Re:Our President! by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      You might want to read up what Liberal means, I think you ... what? Oh, "liberal" as defined by the US. Ok. Carry on.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Our President! by unixisc · · Score: 1

      In the US, 'Liberal' is a euphemism for a Leftist - someone who in Europe would be a Social Democrat or Socialist, and who in UK would be someone from Labour

    3. Re:Our President! by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      When you're talking about a "liberal" party in Europe, people usually think of what the GOP was before the religious nutjobs took over: Small government, laissez faire capitalism. That, in turn, is usually associated with the moderate right of the political spectrum. Probably because we DO have a "left of the middle" over here.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:Our President! by unixisc · · Score: 1

      In UK, the Liberal Party - before they merged w/ the Social Democrats to become 'Liberal Democrats' - were and are a Centrist Party - nothing like the GOP of either past nor present. Rest of Europe, I see Christian Democrats for what are in US Conservatives, and Social Democrats for what are in US known as Liberals.

  35. Re: "we don't even know if it's accurate informati by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It didn't seem unreasonable for her to, as an example, tout the money making opportunities of her proposed legislation/policy positions to Wall Street, while touting the job creation aspects of the legislation/position to the general public - this is a very broad example, but just because a position matters in one dimension to a certain group, and then in a different way to another, doesn't mean she's being dishonest, disingenuous or 'playing both ends against the middle'. A policy can create wealth for Wall Street and jobs for Main Street, there's nothing that inherently makes them mutually exclusive (remember, I'm talking generally, and as an example, and not about any particular policy position or purposed legislation)

    Anyone that's ever been in a leadership position with subordinates that aren't obligated to follow you (ie, non-job situations) knows that sometimes you have to be persuasive to get things done, and different people are persuaded by different arguments and logic. Some feel an obligation to the greater good, so they need goals set in that context; others need a more local focus, and need persuasion to focus on how actions directly affects them or those close to them. Good leaders know how to adjust their message and presentation to fit the context of the receiving party, and the inability to do this will simply deepen the issues in the government. Liberals want policies that help the masses, conservatives want fiscal responsibility, and they're not necessarily mutually exclusive. But if your messaging and tactics for both are the same, it is unlikely to get both groups on board and get actual laws and legislation passed.

  36. What exactly did they reveal? by jopsen · · Score: 2

    So it's Russia's fault you did bad things? What are you going to tell us next, that you can see Russia from your back yard?

    What exactly did they reveal? from where I'm sitting nothing, except maybe that she mentioned that "politicians sometimes needs to have a public and a private opinion", which taken out of context sounds sketchy -- in reality no doubt necessary and perfectly fine -- politicians should negotiate compromises on behalf of the people they represent, that sometimes means putting your private positions aside.

    It could also be contrived as two-faced, which is bad. The argument Hillary made, namely that politicians presents different arguments to different groups isn't bad either...

    Anyways, seems like another non-issue, certainly not a scandal comparable to any of the ones Trump has got going.

    1. Re:What exactly did they reveal? by ScentCone · · Score: 2

      The problem is that it confirms the Sanders-types' understanding of her: she's a disingenuous person who patronizes and condescends to the general public with her phony grandma act while pandering to Wall Street and taking huge amounts of their money while being a completely different person and offering favors that are odds with her "It's OK, I'm just like Bernie" shtick.

      She's been trying to play down the way that she and her husband have become very, very wealthy while not ever actually producing anything (they are in the business of selling influence, even while on the public payroll), and the leaked info surrounding her relationship with Wall Street just sheds some more light on that. It's not like her phoniness in that regard is a mystery to anyone that's been paying attention, but a lot of the Bernie types have NOT been paying suitable attention, and all they're hearing from her now is, "Hey! I'll ALSO give you free stuff!" and that's as far as they get in assessing her.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    2. Re:What exactly did they reveal? by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      I don't think either scandal changed anyone's opinion of either candidate. Before this weekend we knew Trump was a sleazy womanizer and Hillary was a corrupt politician in the pockets of Wall Street. After this weekend we know Trump is a sleazy womanizer and Hillary is a corrupt politician in the pockets of Wall Street. I'm still voting Trump because the election isn't about who gets to date my daughter.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
  37. Bullshit by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Trump has lived his life in public for a very long time now, thanks to being the star of a hit reality TV show.

    As a result Trump has MANY years of rich source material to draw from (as we have just recently seen).

    Trump is less vulnerable not because he's not been in the limelight as long as Clinton; Trump is less vulnerable simply because he's not as repugnant of a person as is Hillary, not even close.

    Incidentally Trump being heavily in the public eye for decades now is also why he is so invincible against any verbal gaffes or supposed leaks. People already fundamentally "know" what trump is like from many years of watching him, so anything new they learn is very transitory compared to somebody that no-one knew much of before the race.

    That also is true of Clinton; it's just that over decades Trump has earned a lot of favorable press from the before-times, while nothing Clinton ever did was of note unless it was a disaster or rather unethical.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Bullshit by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

      Trump has lived his life in public for a very long time now, thanks to being the star of a hit reality TV show.

      Regardless of your political opinions, surely you cannot believe that appearing as a judge on a reality TV show makes his life public.
      There's plenty of other media out there that displays a far less edited and far more honest view of him.

      --
      Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    2. Re:Bullshit by tburkhol · · Score: 1

      Trump is less vulnerable simply because he's not as repugnant of a person as is Hillary, not even close.

      Trump is less vulnerable because, as a billionaire, he can ensure that any disagreements are settled in civil court. As a private citizen, he can ensure that non-disclosure agreements are part of any legal settlements. Clinton has been under the political microscope, which is only just now focusing on Trump, for 30 years.

      He can parade a group of women (that he, himself has called unattractive gold-diggers) to accuse Bill Clinton of sexual assault, while holding his own set of allegations paid to go away hidden. Her on-camera statements are all authentic, deeply held beliefs. BS he says during interviews is all just a public character played for ratings.

      He can hold up any government misjudgement in the last 30 years and put it on a Clinton. Government is big, some of the decisions are life-or-death, the consequences are very public, and hindsight will show those mistakes. Trump's own misjudgements, whether they're failed businesses, unpaid contractors, or just plain fraud, are basically private and mostly hidden behind layers of incorporation and settlement-without-guilt. A billion-dollar casino fails - that's just business; really only affects a few hundred employees, and they all just go get new jobs. Maybe they sue him for $0.10 on the $1. Failure was probably more due to the incompetent managers he hired than to his own decisions, anyway.

    3. Re:Bullshit by tomhath · · Score: 1

      Of course it doesn't make his life public. But millions of people think they know him. Same as they think they know Oprah.

    4. Re:Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trump is currently imploding in a way no candidate in history has, his party has abandoned him 30 days before an election in an unprecedented way all over one of these 'gaffs' he's supposedly not vulnerable to? I daresay you've been drinking too much of the kool-aid, he's being destroyed by this leak and now theres blood in the water and everyone who can get more of them is hunting like mad to gather them up. He's already roasted to a crisp, everything yet to come out against him in these last 30 days should almost be outlawed as cruel and unusual punishment to this sad sad campaign.

    5. Re:Bullshit by DigiShaman · · Score: 2

      By that token, Oprah, without question, would end up being our next POTUS over Trump. And I say that as someone whom will be voting Trump; not because I like the guy, but because Clinton is that fucking *EVIL*!!!

      The next four years can't come soon enough. I do hope, and pray to God, that Trump can at least deliver on his Make America Great Again and improve socioeconomic for all as promised. No doubt though, his presidency will always been mired in controversy.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    6. Re: Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      His party abandoned him right from the start. And it hasn't affected him in the slightest. What are you on about?

    7. Re:Bullshit by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

      "Trump is less vulnerable simply because he's not as repugnant of a person as is Hillary, not even close." I would have had trouble understanding how one would have thought this after his comments about Judge Curiel, his comments about the Khans, and his comments about McCain. After what leaked on Friday, which you are obviously aware, how can you possibly say this?

    8. Re:Bullshit by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

      I sincerely hope this entire shitstorm will lead to political reforms. Abolishing the two-party system which inevitably leads to lesser-of-two-evils choices such as this. Imagine how the current US political climate would be if voting for the "losing" primary candidates would still be a viable option. You could vote for a third party candidate or second-tier first-party candidate and your vote wouldn't just be a protest vote but would actually matter.

      FWIW, My personal opinion is that neither choice will last for over a year, if only because the opposing party will block the winning party all the way. This goes for both parties.

      Disclaimer; I'm not a US citizen, but a concerned European who's watching US democracy crumble under it's own weight.

      --
      Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    9. Re:Bullshit by swillden · · Score: 1

      Trump is less vulnerable simply because he's not as repugnant of a person as is Hillary

      No, Trump is less vulnerable because everyone knows he's utterly repugnant. Indeed, his personal repugnance is what many of his supporters most like about him. It's his core brand, which means it's difficult to make political hay of it. Those who support him because of it or in spite of it aren't going to change their opinions just because more of it comes to light. Those who oppose him obviously aren't going to change their opinions, either. And there's basically no one who is undecided about Trump. The only question that undecideds are trying to answer is whether Clinton is worse. You have answered that question for yourself. So have I (and we have reached opposite conclusions).

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    10. Re:Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Her on-camera statements are all authentic, deeply held beliefs.

      If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you, fool.

    11. Re: Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hasn't affected him? He's cratering in the polls, and has been since the first debate. Rasmussen, who always lean republican in their polls (not a slight against them, they're fine just have a slight lean), just released the first poll after pussygate hit, and it jumped from Clinton +1 to +7. That's insane by itself and expect to see every poll to follow that trend. He's over and done, its more than affected him.

      His party may have been against him from the start, but even people he directly insulted bent the knee to him, now 1/3 of the republican senators have denounced him and won't vote for the party candidate. That is unprecedented in American history, so yes, he is beyond affected by this.

    12. Re:Bullshit by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      Regardless of your political opinions, surely you cannot believe that appearing as a judge on a reality TV show makes his life public.

      Surely you cannot believe the same is true of Clinton either?

      In both cases, what "life in public" means is that there is a LOS of press about the person, a lot of the tabloids digging into their lives... both have something of a private life (or as much as they can) but both have had many people paying attention to what they do for a very long time.

      The other main difference ia that Clinton has a whole team of people devoted to burying what others find, Trump not so much...

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    13. Re:Bullshit by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      How can you defined the monster?

      Trumps comments were crude but not even necessarily about real things.

      Meanwhile Hillary laughed about a very real rapist of a 12 year old she got off scott free. Meanwhile Hillary destroyed the lives of MANY women that Bill Clinton raped, and enabled his behavior to sleep with a lot of other under-aged women.

      How can you defend someone who acts so horribly against REAL women and be so adamantly against someone using just words? As a male feminist I am aghast that you can even consider it.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    14. Re: Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Make America Great again for all?? What, apart from first and second generation immigrants, Muslims, women, etc. Apart from them, of course.

    15. Re:Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Incidentally Trump being heavily in the public eye for decades now is also why he is so invincible against any verbal gaffes or supposed leaks

      Is that why he's losing the election so badly?

    16. Re:Bullshit by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      I think they're repugnant in different ways. I wouldn't let Trump around my wife or daughter, and I wouldn't let Clinton around my wallet, or anything that will let her arm terrorists and destabilize secular governments. Thankfully the election isn't about who gets to date my daughter.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    17. Re:Bullshit by David_Hart · · Score: 1

      By that token, Oprah, without question, would end up being our next POTUS over Trump. And I say that as someone whom will be voting Trump; not because I like the guy, but because Clinton is that fucking *EVIL*!!!

      Been drinking the cool-aid much....

      Personally, anyone who threatens to personally see to the prosecution and jailing their opponent if they win actually falls under the heading of evil dictator... Whatever else Trump has said, that is the most scary one because it hints at undermining the separation of powers that the founding fathers wisely adopted in an attempt to prevent dictatorships and Kings.

    18. Re:Bullshit by swillden · · Score: 1

      I think they're repugnant in different ways. I wouldn't let Trump around my wife or daughter, and I wouldn't let Clinton around my wallet, or anything that will let her arm terrorists and destabilize secular governments. Thankfully the election isn't about who gets to date my daughter.

      I wouldn't let Trump around control of military forces or weapons of mass destruction. Unfortunately, the election is about that.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    19. Re:Bullshit by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      But you will let Hillary around military forces? Has she ever met a war she didn't like?

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    20. Re:Bullshit by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      What's the problem? Trump publicly, on a national forum, made a promise to bring her to justice. Meanwhile, behind closed doors, history is rife with the Clintons personally threatening and publicly destroying the reputation of their victims. At least the American public sees all the dirty laundry laid out for all to see. I walked away from that debate satisfied that what needed to be said was said, and topics of that needed closure got it. Now it's up to the American voter to decide; and I say that knowing full well Clinton has a greater chance at winning. But there can be no doubt, if she wins, it's only because America and condoned this behavior on all counts, including the lawless corruption at hand.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    21. Re:Bullshit by Atryn · · Score: 1

      How can you defined the monster?

      Trumps comments were crude but not even necessarily about real things.

      Meanwhile Hillary laughed about a very real rapist of a 12 year old she got off scott free. Meanwhile Hillary destroyed the lives of MANY women that Bill Clinton raped, and enabled his behavior to sleep with a lot of other under-aged women.

      How can you defend someone who acts so horribly against REAL women and be so adamantly against someone using just words? As a male feminist I am aghast that you can even consider it.

      I'm not sure how you feel about Snopes and their research ability these days (or when they disagree with you)... But: http://www.snopes.com/hillary-... As for Bill's transgressions, he isn't running is he? I believe you are saying she should have either 1) divorced him or 2) been sympathetic to the women he had affairs with?

      --
      Come play Moral Decay!
    22. Re:Bullshit by David_Hart · · Score: 1

      What's the problem? Trump publicly, on a national forum, made a promise to bring her to justice. Meanwhile, behind closed doors, history is rife with the Clintons personally threatening and publicly destroying the reputation of their victims. At least the American public sees all the dirty laundry laid out for all to see. I walked away from that debate satisfied that what needed to be said was said, and topics of that needed closure got it. Now it's up to the American voter to decide; and I say that knowing full well Clinton has a greater chance at winning. But there can be no doubt, if she wins, it's only because America and condoned this behavior on all counts, including the lawless corruption at hand.

      What is the problem? Really.... Wow, just.... wow....

      I would suggest reading the Wiki article below, the US Constitution, and perhaps a few civics books.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      Lets start with the fact that the US constitutions outlines an independent judiciary which is separate from the executive branch. It's up to the Judicial Branch to decide on prosecutions outside of any political influence. It prevents the abuse of power where the President could order the jailing of dissidents or anyone else that disagrees with his policies. The Executive branch does not have this power and never should, even if it sounds like "Justice".

    23. Re:Bullshit by swillden · · Score: 1

      But you will let Hillary around military forces? Has she ever met a war she didn't like?

      She's hawkish, but stable, will listen to advisers and understands why nukes are better in theory than in practice.

      Don't mistake my position as any sort of support for the woman. I'd have been a rabid #neverhillary type, if she weren't running against Trump.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    24. Re:Bullshit by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      I think if Hillary gets in, chance of war with Russia is 100%. She's antagonizing them non-stop and her donors want that oil pipeline through Syria. She's already said she will take a hard "Assad must go" position. With Trump the chance of some kind of interventionist war is basically zero. The worst he might do is help the Russians bomb ISIS.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    25. Re: Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seems like trump doesn't even understand this.

    26. Re: Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are stupid. War with Russia. It will never happen. Look to history. Realize if war with Russia or China happens, it is the end of life as we know it. And no one wants that. You must be a child naive.

    27. Re:Bullshit by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      No, but being a braggart rich guy who never seems to know when to shut the hell up has made his life public for as long as the Clintons have been in national politics.

      I'd never heard of Donald Trump before I saw SNL skits in the 90s making fun of him based on the very public adulterous divorce from his first wife.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    28. Re:Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just...like wow

    29. Re:Bullshit by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Meanwhile Hillary laughed about a very real rapist of a 12 year old she got off scott free.

      Never happened. I guess the litmus test for voting for trump is mental illness. Anyone with severe brain damage might vote Trump. But that's all.

    30. Re:Bullshit by Comrade+Ogilvy · · Score: 1

      Most elected American politicians are pro-war. Hillary is not special in that regard. Nor is Trump, only he lies through his teeth otherwise, and generally seems confused about the topic in all ways.

    31. Re:Bullshit by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      What? The judicial branch are the judges.

      The executive branch controls law enforcement and prosecution. Obama's federal cops/prosecutors didn't prosecute Hillary, despite piles of evidence and many other convictions with much less. She hasn't yet faced legal jeopardy for her many crimes.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    32. Re:Bullshit by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Get your talking points straight. It undisputably happened, but even alleged rapists are entitled to a legal defense. Laughing about it was just 'locker room talk'.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    33. Re:Bullshit by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      The rapist was convicted. And Clinton never laughed about it. She laughed at an unrelated thing in a long interview that also included questions about her previous legal career.

      The accusation as written was wrong about every fact in it except the age of the victim. The only time Republicans have ever cared about a victim.

  38. soon enough. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Christ, I can't wait until this is all finally over. Trump is so far beyond toast that this is like dragging out some medieval execution. Whatever though, at least nothing will be sweeter than reading slashdot, reddit, facebook after he gets blasted out of the water on election night and whiny entitled white dudes see their golden god do worse than any candidate in over 20 years. As they see another nail in the coffin of the world where they controlled everything pounded in. Its over, white men don't win you elections anymore.

    1. Re: soon enough. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't wait for Hillary to be elected. The next wars will be *awesome*! We're going to see the Erasmus Generation thrown into the battlefields.

    2. Re: soon enough. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup, the election hasn't even happened yet and you guys are bringing me so much joy with your sulky bitter desperation. :) Trump will be a national joke for decades, and the crow, oh goodness the crow so many are going to have to eat after backing him is amazing. Trump is a mess. Trump is a waste. SAD!

    3. Re: soon enough. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All the more reason to rejoice! Under Hillary Clinton the US will rule the whole world! visit Can you imagine that?

    4. Re:soon enough. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A lot of african americans, latinos, women and koreans will vote for Trump.
      He will be president notwithstanding the cries of horror coming from the liberal camp.
      And as he wins watch the republican establishment kneel down and suck Trump's dick.

    5. Re:soon enough. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haha, yeah, so many of them are voting for trump, just wait for all those silent majority folks right? Thank you though, this is a delicious preview of how lovely its going to be come November. :) Please keep telling yourself he can win, it keeps hope alive and just makes the deplorable tears that much sweeter to taste.

    6. Re:soon enough. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wouldn't celebrate just yet there. No doubt Clinton is the better candidate (by far) but she's still one of the least popular candidates in generations, with multiple controversies surrounding her and an obviously cozy relationship with elites (rich, corporations, connected, etc). Most people would vote for her over Trump, but only if they happen to be in the poll both anyways. Trump meanwhile has a rabid support base who would probably still stand hours in line solely to vote for him a day after he was caught on camera plotting to turn the Lincoln bedroom into a harem chamber and planning to make dog/cat ownership illegal so he could grind them up into cheap hamburger and sell them at the Sharper image as "Premium Trump Burgers".

  39. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    > First, every politician does have a public and private position on issues.

    It seems to me that *all* politicians tend to vote their private positions, even if promising something publicly, then spin the decision ... "this wasn't the right time", "this wasn't about X it was about Y", etc. That seems to happen so often, I no longer care about public statements unless they are in a vacuum. Even then, you often see the hypocrisy in action and can discount their public statements. It's hard for me to believe you care AND have conveniently forgotten *any* political history?

  40. Your snark is showing by pdavisgenoa · · Score: 0

    Yeah, she blamed them because EVERY security firm and agency has verified - and shown publicly how they verified - that it WAS Russian hackers. And since you seem to be behind on fact based news: the reason most of the press is leaving this alone is that ALL the networks have determined the files are full of forgeries and fakes and none of it can be trusted. But hey, maybe you have an agenda causing you to imply with your headline that she was being deceitful. Because that is what you did.

    1. Re:Your snark is showing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Never heard of false flag operations? Russian IPs, Russian version of Microsoft Word, Russian time zones. When I heard those 'verified' evidence, the first thing I confirm is that Putin definitely does not do it.

    2. Re:Your snark is showing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "EVERY security firm and agency has verified"

      No, a few high profile security firms and government agencies have CLAIMED that Russia is on some cyber espionage campaign. Proof is a little less forthcoming, as it was about a year ago when every hiccup in the digital networks of the country was blamed on China. This of course has little bearing on Clinton as she (along with many members of the public) is simply regurgitating what the current popular perception is.

  41. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The Clinton campaign's non-answers, their releasing a distraction "pussy" recording immediately after the WikiLeaks e-mail leak broke, and Hillary's feeble attempts at evasion confirm beyond any reasonable doubt that WikiLeaks' record of 100% reliability in releasing genuine documents remains intact. I wonder how many more "pussy" recordings they have to distract from WikiLeaks' plans to release a new batch of incriminating evidence against Hillary ever week from now until election day.

  42. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by AmiMoJo · · Score: 0, Troll

    Researchers found fake data in the athlete's drug testing data that was released. There is therefore some concern that the DNC leaks, from the same source, may also have been doctored.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  43. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

    First, every politician does have a public and private position on issues.

    I guess that means Ron Paul wasn't a politician.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  44. Political Science Nobel Pize for WikiLeaks by Max_W · · Score: 2

    Thanks to WikiLeaks we understand now better how the US political system really works. We know more about DNC, about funding, candidate selections, political figures' backgrounds, etc.

    WikiLeaks did more in political science than generations of academic researchers. It is a revolution in political science, a new brave world.

    1. Re: Political Science Nobel Pize for WikiLeaks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wikileaks is now square in the sights of the most powerful person in the world, Hillary Clinton - yes, she *will* be President, get over it - and anyone supporting Wikileaks in any way will soon feel the heat. I hope for your sake you have not donated any money to them, it would be a life-changing mistake.

  45. Dougla's Adams said it best by Kiuas · · Score: 4, Insightful

    “It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."
    "You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"
    "No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like so straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
    "Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
    "I did," said Ford. "It is."
    "So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't people get rid of the lizards?"
    "It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."
    "You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"
    "Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
    "But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
    "Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?"
    "What?"
    "I said," said Ford, with an increasing air of urgency creeping into his voice, "have you got any gin?"
    "I'll look. Tell me about the lizards."
    Ford shrugged again.
    "Some people say that the lizards are the best thing that ever happenned to them," he said. "They're completely wrong of course, completely and utterly wrong, but someone's got to say it."
    "But that's terrible," said Arthur.
    "Listen, bud," said Ford, "if I had one Altairian dollar for every time I heard one bit of the Universe look at another bit of the Universe and say 'That's terrible' I wouldn't be sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.”

    -So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

    Watching this election from the outside has been one of the most absurd experiences in my life thus far. The fact that these 2, both of whom are massively hated, are what the american version of 'democracy' (quotes because if this election doesn't showcase the huge issues with the primary-system I don't know what will) produces is just baffling to me.

    And the fact that somehow Trump is seen as an outsider makes this even more twisted: he's not an outsider, he comes from the funding class itself, the same class of people that people hate Hillary for being in bed with. He gets his money from a whole host of different sources than Hillary, but nothing I have seen or read about him makes me believe he's capable of any integrity, or in fact that he has any principles at all. I mean look at his so called 'tax plan', it's cuts to the very richest of the rich, meaning himself, the Kochs, the Waltons, etc. But somehow this is the guy who stands for change and for the little guy moreso than Hillary? On what basis?

    Honestly about the only sensible opinion I've heard him say is his opposition to the trade agreements, but given his tendency to openly lie about what he said 5 minutes ago on tape and deny he ever said such a thing I have not got high hopes that he would stick to that either if elected.

    Facts stopped mattering a long time ago in this race on Trump's side because he's a known liar and on Hillary's side because the same is true for he and on top of that no-one trusts the establishment. So this has become a weird pseudo-election in which it's not about the policies, it's not about the current state of affairs, it's not about factual argumentation, it's mainly about making sure the other side is perceived as the wrong lizard. It's reality tv masquerading as politics, which is why I guess Trump has gotten as far as he has.

    I've said this before and I'll say it again: please change the election system towards something that better allows multiple parties to gain power and redo the laws on political funding. The proper reaction when you see that an establishment talking head and a clown are racing for the presidency is not to elect the clown out of protest, because giving a clown the

    --
    "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
    1. Re:Dougla's Adams said it best by Orgasmatron · · Score: 1

      Which Trump tax plan are you reading? The one on his website is mostly about cutting the rates on low and middle incomes (including small businesses). It does remove the 35% and 39.6% brackets, and the AMT, but it also caps deductions WAY lower than the current limits, which means that a lot of very rich people will suddenly be paying taxes pretty close to their actual tax rates.

      The thing it does most to "favor the rich" is leave the capital gains rates unchanged from today. This should surprise no one that has watched his 1991 testimony to Congress where he made his feelings very clear on using the contrast of a lower capital gains rate to incentivize investment.

      Also, the story of this election was indeed going to be two lizards. Hillary vs. JEB. That had been the plan since 2008, and you can find stories in the press pushing it since at least 2012. But we are sick of lizards, so the people picked two candidates that weren't more of the same, Trump vs. Sanders. The Democrat party managed to suppress the voters and ensure victory for their lizard. But the Republican voters were sick enough of their party to prevent them from replacing the people's choice with the party lizard.

      Note that the Republicans are still trying to get their lizard in. The lockerroom tape was an attack coordinated from three sides. Stories about reactions to the tape from Republican officials, including Paul Ryan and others, were out on the internet before the stories about the tape itself, and they included calls for Trump to step down.

      --
      See that "Preview" button?
    2. Re:Dougla's Adams said it best by Kiuas · · Score: 1

      Which Trump tax plan are you reading?

      I based the remark on analysis of his plans that I've read such as this and a few others which seem to agree that his plan would increase the incomes of the top 1 %, but I admit I do not know if the plan on his page has been altered since these kinds of calculations have been last done.

      Thanks for the interesting points about the tapes. Do you happen to have a source on the point about the reactions being out before the tape itself? Would be interesting to check out.

      --
      "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
    3. Re:Dougla's Adams said it best by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You quote Douglas Adams and don't realize that Trump is Zaphod Beeblebrox, President of the Galaxy, for exactly the reasons described in the Hitchhiker?

    4. Re:Dougla's Adams said it best by sabbede · · Score: 1
      Adams made another great observation about electoral democracy - the qualities that get one elected and the qualities that make a good leader are are mutually exclusive (he said it funnier).

      That said, the reason we're effectively locked into a two party system is Duverger's law. Plurality voting with single member districts leads to two party systems. It would require seriously amending the Constitution to change that.

    5. Re:Dougla's Adams said it best by Kiuas · · Score: 1

      That said, the reason we're effectively locked into a two party system is Duverger's law. Plurality voting with single member districts leads to two party systems. It would require seriously amending the Constitution to change that.

      All of this is very true. However, I'd argue that this is the kind of situation that the amendments made for. I mean, if it's the case as it now looks to be that the electoral system has slipped from the hands of the population to the hands of a tiny minority of wealthy individuals and institutions that control effectively both parties, is this not a case wherein seeking to amend the constitution to alter this state would be precisely the moral thing to do?

      Sure it's no easy task to get done, but it is, in my opinion, the one thing that's currently holding back legitimate change in the US. As long as the red team and the blue team control everything and anything, nobody - not even Trump - is going to rock the boat too hard and the revolving door from Washington to lobbying firms will keep spinning.

      --
      "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
    6. Re:Dougla's Adams said it best by aron1231 · · Score: 1

      Well said.

      "It's reality tv masquerading as politics"

      This has already been happening for years, decades even.

    7. Re:Dougla's Adams said it best by Catiline · · Score: 1

      Plurality voting with single member districts leads to two party systems. It would require seriously amending the Constitution to change that.

      Actually it wouldn't take amending the Constitution [which says nothing about requiring plurality or First-Past-the-Post voting], only changing Federal election laws, in order to completely break the plurality system.

      First, there are two states (Maine and Nebraska) where the Electoral College vote can be split; increasing which states with this system would then magnify the value of 3rd-party efforts [as each such state greatly increases the odds of a minor candidate earning the one or two electoral vote(s) which might deadlock the EC, forcing the election to be determined by the House instead]. As seen by the fact this system already exists, this change could be implemented without requiring changes to the Constitution or federal election laws, only state laws.

      Secondly, change could be instituted within the House of Representatives by revising the laws on how members are elected: Federal law requires the current separate district methodology but we could move towards a state-level proportional representation system. This would grant easier third-party access to Congress and, while not directly contributing to Presidential aspirations, would elevate the visibility of those platforms and policies. Again, this change would not require a Constitutional amendment, but only altering existing Federal election laws.

      Because FPTP/plurality voting sustains the current two-party system even in the face of such hatred the electorate shows for Clinton and Trump, saying these changes do not require amending the Constitution does seem to discount the resistance these changes would face... but I believe the unprecedented hatred for those two candidates and the extreme partisanship on display by their supporters together indicate the importance of making them.

    8. Re:Dougla's Adams said it best by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's mainly about making sure the other side is perceived as the wrong lizard.

      You discount the angle of Psychological Warfare. This is more like the U.S. government psychologically carpet bombing the american public into a state of complete submission.

    9. Re:Dougla's Adams said it best by Orgasmatron · · Score: 1

      I searched for a while looking for those observations, but came up with nothing. Once upon a time, I was pretty good with google and could tease results out, but I've got nothings but common words to work with here.

      They were several posts about them on reddit on Friday and Saturday. I haven't seen anything since. I figured /pol/ would have stepped up with screenshots by now.

      You have two options. #1, take that part of the story as unverified/untrue and put it out of your mind. #2, notice the rest of the circumstances and take them as your confirmation.

      This was a coup attempt, plain and simple. The tape appears to have come from the Bush family archives (host Billy Bush), and the never-trump crowd was ready and waiting for it, complete with calls for him to step down so the GOP slime could install their own puppet in his place.

      Half of the press is still reporting that wikileaks was forced to dump early to distract from the tape, which is the exact opposite of what really happened. I take this alone as confirmation of the pulled-stories reports. Almost certainly the tape, or a summary of it, was winding through the newsrooms, allowing staff writers to get their stories straight so they'd be ready to go right away. Wikileaks dropped their bomb, and the Clinton campaign had to use the only distraction they had ready: this tape.

      The early release caused some chaos, but nothing these professionals couldn't handle. Stories that had been on the spike for the coordinated release date got published "now" instead. If you believe that I saw reports of stories published before the leak, and that the reports were true, they fit in to this era, and were published (for good this time) shortly after.

      The coup failed. In an echo from 1774, patriots gathered outside Trump tower to show their support, and both Trump and his supporters were energized, rather than demoralized, by the weekend. So energized, in fact, that Trump called Clinton "the devil" and said that he'd need to appoint a special prosecutor to deal with her after he is inaugurated. Meanwhile, over the weekend and across the country, the plotters behind the failed coup were heckled and cursed. The crowds roared "We want Trump" and "Shame on you" as these soon to be ex-congressmen and governors slipped quietly off stage.

      And Trump, learning from the many low blows against him, introduced a whole new generation to Bill's rape victims and Hillary's coverups and smears.

      --
      See that "Preview" button?
    10. Re:Dougla's Adams said it best by sabbede · · Score: 1

      It's not something that should be changed lightly or too greatly. And of course, there are the issues of what exactly to do, and whether we should actually do anything at all. Ranked voting may have the effect of weakening the two party system without too much disruption, but is it worth it? The party system changes up every couple of generations (I think we're on the 6th), and it looks like we're on the brink of another major shakeup. Since the early 90's the Democrat party has been moving consistently to the left, while the GOP has swung back and forth and is now pulling itself apart. Hillary was in the center of the Left when her husband took office, but now her party has gone so far to the left that she's verging on being center-right. The GOP leadership is trying to hold one course while Trump is setting another. Both parties selected candidates that will break them, so in 2020 we may see a very different landscape without having to go through the trouble of changing the voting system.

  46. Such things are unprovable. by qaz123 · · Score: 1

    Such things are unprovable. All these "ip ranges" and "Russian working hours"... Why should I believe the US that the ip ranges were from Russia? The US is an interested party in this. What proof can they they show me of the ip ranges and working hours that can't be falsified? Such a proof does not cannot exist. Besides hackers can use proxy servers as well as work at night.

  47. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Public position: I'm against TPP now guys
    Private position: Bring on the TPP

    Public position: I will not take away 2nd ammendment rights
    Private position: plans to use executive order to institute gun control measures

    Public position: need to rebuild the middle class
    Private position: wants open trade and open border hemisphere

    DNC public position: vote for your nominee
    DNC private position: ok, how can we give this to Hillary

  48. *This* is your best? by rastos1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As someone not living in US - excuse me, but ... this is the best your nation has to offer? Pathetic.

    1. Re:*This* is your best? by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

      Oh, heavens no. Why would you think the political system would yield up the best we have to offer as our candidates?

    2. Re:*This* is your best? by misexistentialist · · Score: 1

      Unlike in socialist countries people can actually accomplish something in the private sector, so there is a brain drain from government. But it's much safer to have incompetent people corrupted by power

    3. Re:*This* is your best? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As someone who is living within the US, our government is not really of the people, by the people, or for the people.

    4. Re:*This* is your best? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, not the best. People in power tend to be the worst. From Calligula to PHBs. People that seek power are the least deserving of power.

      This is not the best we have to offer. This is the worst we have to offer.

    5. Re:*This* is your best? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As someone not living in US - excuse me, but ... this is the best your nation has to offer? Pathetic.

      No. This is the best our system has to offer.

  49. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I am going to help pass the law legalizing X as promised to voters, but personally I think X should remain banned"

    There's a slight difference in this case.

    What she's essentially said is to voters "I will fight against X" and to bank representatives "I will do everything to get X adopted". It's not about her personal private beliefs. It's about what she's saying to different interest groups, which are terribly conflicting.

    Another great hypothetical example would be gay rights. She would say to a gay rights advocate group that she's going to do everything she can to give gay couples equal rights, and then go and say to religious groups that she will do everything she can to fight the adoption of gay rights in legislation.

  50. Why kill the messenger? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So does it matter who the messenger is? She never addresses what she did, only blames the Russian's as being the messenger. Yes, let's say its Russia who hacked all this information and released it to WikiLeaks. How does that negate anything you did Mrs. Clinton? You haven't made the evidence against you look any less damaging by claiming the Russians obtained it. Granted this election is like deciding if you want the gas chamber or the firing squad. But Hillary Clinton committed some real missteps as Secretary of State including the botched take over of Libya, which costs the lives of Americans. But beyond her actions she shows little remorse for participating in these things. Rather she blames others, which in my eyes makes for a bad leader.

    1. Re:Why kill the messenger? by sabbede · · Score: 0

      Well, because she's running for office and these leaks hurt her. So she's trying to deflect by casting doubts on their validity while trying to get people to worry about Russia instead of the revelations about her own (and her party's) conduct.

  51. Ah American Politics by DMJC · · Score: 1

    Trump calls people N*ggers on tape (one of the Apprentice staff has revealed over twitter) and sexually abuses women. Hillary endangers national security, and cosies up to the people actually ruining America (banks, international companies, outsourcing to China etc). Both choices this election are awful. Gary Johnson is an idiot who doesn't understand foreign policy (What's Aleppo?). Jill Stein gets no press time (not to mention Congress would actively block her on the angel-hair's chance she got elected). Looks like America is screwed. Odds are that Hillary will win the election and be impeached in her first six months. What a joke.

    1. Re:Ah American Politics by pscottdv · · Score: 1

      Lucky for us, it doesn't seem to much matter who is sitting in the oval office.

      --

      this signature has been removed due to a DMCA takedown notice

    2. Re:Ah American Politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wish I could find it, I believe back when Obama first took office one of the webcomics had a strip where they showed a view of the White House with some text bubbles to the effect of "Now we begin working to repair this great nation", the next panel shows Obama in a glass elevator with a secret service agent descending into a chamber hundreds of feet below the White House as he continues to talk, in the next panel a grotesque, disease riddled white whale comes into view and Obama asks "Whats that?". The secret service agent replies "Oh that, we pretty much do whatever it says". It really is disturbing how few campaign trail promises elected officials even TRY to uphold.

    3. Re:Ah American Politics by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Trump calls people N*ggers on tape (one of the Apprentice staff has revealed over twitter) and sexually abuses women. Hillary endangers national security, and cosies up to the people actually ruining America (banks, international companies, outsourcing to China etc). Both choices this election are awful. Gary Johnson is an idiot who doesn't understand foreign policy (What's Aleppo?). Jill Stein gets no press time (not to mention Congress would actively block her on the angel-hair's chance she got elected). Looks like America is screwed. Odds are that Hillary will win the election and be impeached in her first six months. What a joke.

      Oh, like Blacks never use the N word?

  52. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What she's essentially said is to voters "I will fight against X" and to bank representatives "I will do everything to get X adopted".

    That isn't what happened at all, and I'd be very surprised if you could find any evidence that could even be twisted massively to suggest that's what she did.

  53. Re: "we don't even know if it's accurate informati by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Which is why the DNC denied NONE OF IT.

    Fuck off.

  54. Attention Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Attention Slashdot. The bogeyman du jour is Russian hackers. Henceforth please be sure to attribute all cyber malfeasance to Russian hackers, no evidence or citations are required as the echo chamber has crossed the tipping point from wild speculation to blind acceptance as irrefutable fact.

    Be afraid. Be very afraid.

  55. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Second, it is perfectly acceptable -- e.g., "I am going to help pass the law legalizing X as promised to voters, but personally I think X should remain banned"

    I see that as an example of having differing professional and personal positions, which is distinct from having differing public and private positions.
    A person who *claims to be* pro gay marriage to get votes, but privately funds anti gay marriage groups; would be an example of the latter.

  56. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by tburkhol · · Score: 1

    Public position: I'm against TPP now guys
    Private position: Bring on the TPP

    She can be in favor of free trade and against the TPP. In fact, that's exactly Trump's position: he's in favor of free trade, he's just convinced that the existing agreements (and TPP) were bad deals that need to be renegotiated.

  57. Public-Private by CanEHdian · · Score: 1

    Public vs. Private opinions are nothing new. Lawyers have done this since they were 'invented'; Public: Your Honor, my client is innocent! Private: I hope that rapist SOB rots in hell! Or analysts at the Banking Clan; Public: We see crude easily going to $55 by the end of the month, and well over $60 by years' end! (so now is a good time to buy-buy-buy and get that demand going and create a self-fulfilling prophecy) while Privately at the pump, or getting their home heating bill, complaining about prices going through the roof.

    Politicians are no different. They know exactly what to say, and how to say it, in front of the cameras, and what to say behind closed doors. And the worst of it is, behind those closed doors, there is a perfectly clear understanding that what is said in front of the camera is just for show and effect. It can be the complete opposite of what is discussed behind the closed doors, and the understanding is that what is said behind the closed doors is what really counts.

    The absolute *worst* politicians are those that have either a business or a law background because of those character traits. So I pity those that have to choose between lawyer-turned-politicians and businessman-turned-politician.

    --
    When the copyright term is "forever minus a day", live every day like it's the last.
  58. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Researchers found fake data in the athlete's drug testing data that was released. There is therefore some concern that the DNC leaks, from the same source, may also have been doctored.

    Source please. I haven't heard about any fake data in the drug testing. From what I have seen, the issue is that some people were tested positive for some medicine prescribed by doctors and while they are on the doping list, they can make exceptions if they confirm medical conditions, which requires the drugs in questions. In other words the tests were positive, but they did not reveal cheating.

    I would question that some are allowed to get some stuff from the doping list while others aren't, but that's an issue unrelated to the leaked test results.

  59. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Zak3056 · · Score: 1

    What she's essentially said is to voters "I will fight against X" and to bank representatives "I will do everything to get X adopted".

    That isn't what happened at all, and I'd be very surprised if you could find any evidence that could even be twisted massively to suggest that's what she did.

    You're correct that there is no evidence. Hillary could release the transcripts and end the speculation if she chose, but chooses not to do so, which effectively translates as "no comment." When some information does appear, she does not state it's false, but questions whether or not the information is accurate, as if she's really not in a position to judge its veracity.

    When someone bends over backward to avoid saying something damaging to them is false, it is typically so that they will not later be proven to be lying.

    --
    What part of "shall not be infringed" is so hard to understand?
  60. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, I don't quite get it. There are plenty of politicians that have publicly stated their personal position *is* different from the one that they will abide by in office because they respect the law and public opinion on the matter. It's not an easy juggle, but politicians openly do it all the time, and they aren't alone in that (e.g., lawyers defending potential criminals).

  61. but in a different way from Clinton, who does too by raymorris · · Score: 3, Interesting

    > When he utters words, his primary intent is not to *say* something, to describe a set of facts in the world; his primary intent is to *do* something, i.e., to position himself in a social hierarchy. This essential distinction

    I don't think that in itself is a distinction - everything Clinton says is also carefully crafted PR. Hers is crafted by a team of professionals based on polls; his is more of a natural talent. Both are full of shit. He says whatever crosses his mind that will get attention, she says whatever today's polls indicate the particular audience wants to hear.

    Both are bad in different ways. With Trump, you have a pretty good idea of what he's actually thinking, that's good as a someone who is supposed to represent you, bad as chief diplomat. Clinton is better at lying to Putin, Hassan Rouhani, and us.

  62. Trump and Russia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trump has tried to open businesses in Russia and has gotten nowhere with it. That should tell you all you need to know about ties between Trump and Putin -- there are none. Putin only shares the spoils of Russia with his friends.

    There are a number of connections between Trump and Russia:

    * http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/donald-trump-2016-russian-ties-214116
    * https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/heres-what-we-know-about-donald-trump-and-his-ties-to-russia/2016/07/29/1268b5ec-54e7-11e6-88eb-7dda4e2f2aec_story.html
    * http://time.com/4433880/donald-trump-ties-to-russia/

    Perhaps the Russians don't want American money, which Americans control. Perhaps they'd rather put their money into America / Trump so they can control things.

    Also, if things go pear-shaped in Russia, I think most oligarchs are smart enough to know that you want assets in other legal jurisdictions.

  63. The CYBER ELEPHANT in the room is... by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Russian server operator says, "[October 2] If the FBI asks, we are ready to supply the IP addresses, the logs." However, he says, "Nobody is asking⦠Itâ(TM)s like nobody wants to sort this out." . Now oh best beloved, this is NOT because the NSA has taps on all traffic within Russia. They don't,and as all you IT folk know, there is nothing as useful as logs from the server itself (if it was just used a reflector) or other network devices within the provider.

    But the FBI seems content to let this attack be originating from Russia. The same FBI who is 100% behind Clinton, who wants to start Cold-then-Hot war 2.0. You're being played, folks.

    What is most astonishing is that the FBI could have feigned interest, sent people over there to meet with this fellow and gather all available evidence,and then just pretended not to find any. Corroborating with the operator of a compromised server is chapter-one stuff. So damned obvious it hurts.

    Which illuminates the most disturbing aspect of all. We are not merely dealing with conspiratorial bias, and laziness. There is a big measure of stupidity mixed in.

    Please don't vote for stupid.

    --
    <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
    1. Re:The CYBER ELEPHANT in the room is... by guruevi · · Score: 1

      I don't think there is "not stupid" on the ballot.

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    2. Re:The CYBER ELEPHANT in the room is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your source is the russian propaganda network? Too funny.

  64. Whatever the post-hoc justification. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Whatever the post-hoc justification.

  65. Taxes and presidential powers by fyngyrz · · Score: 2

    if he hasn't paid takes since, that means he hasn't made that money back yet.

    Another possibility is that his tax reporting says he hasn't made the money back yet. But he has. Because that's the mode most wealthy people and corporations use the tax system when making money -- bury and de-emphasize profits, emphasize and exaggerate losses. Make X$? purchase something "for the company" that is $X, viola, "no profit." Nice jet, though. Move the money out of the country. Etc.

    I don't know -- nobody knows, because you'd need both his operating details and his taxes to know -- but he's been clear that taking advantage of the tax code is something he considers a good business practice. He thinks it's smart, just as you said.

    Unfortunately, when the rich utilize these tools to avoid paying taxes, absent a corresponding decrease in government operating costs, either the debt grows, or the amount of taxes the rest of us pay increase -- or both.

    Trump is right in that loopholes in the tax code enable this kind of behavior; Clinton is right in that this kind of behavior is antisocial. Trump is right that congress enables this, but he is wrong in saying that the president, or any one senator, has enough clout to change that. Only we can change that, and we can only do it by changing congress in a very significant way.

    The president has a 90-day carte blanche with use of the military; after that, congress gets involved. The president can toss off executive orders, but those are easily blocked by legal means, and then stalled until the courts percolate them though (and then, they may evaporate entirely.) The president has the veto power, which can stall or block congress -- but not the opposite kind of power, the kind of power that would allow implementing the kinds of domestic changes both candidates are throwing around as "what they will do." The only way those things can happen is with the cooperation of congress; and that's not a given under any circumstances.

    So IMHO, the thing of most concern is who might do what with the military. That's what drives my choice.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    1. Re:Taxes and presidential powers by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      The rich can avoid taxes. Part of my rant against taxes in general fall into this category. Rich Liberals, like Rich conservatives, use the tax code to avoid paying. taxes. Even the Clinton's have been known to deduct their used underwear, and who does that ???

      Taxes, all of them, are regressive. The rich can avoid them, the poor don't pay them, the middle class gets stuck with them.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    2. Re:Taxes and presidential powers by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Trump is right in that loopholes in the tax code enable this kind of behavior; Clinton is right in that this kind of behavior is antisocial. Trump is right that congress enables this, but he is wrong in saying that the president, or any one senator, has enough clout to change that.

      There's been movement building against the Carried Interest Tax loophole for a while now, it wouldn't surprise me if it got closed in the next two terms, no matter who won.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    3. Re:Taxes and presidential powers by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      Taxes, all of them, are regressive. The rich can avoid them, the poor don't pay them, the middle class gets stuck with them.

      The poor aren't completely immune. The burden of taxes is incorporated into the price of every good and service they have to buy. When income taxes go up, those costs filter through to the cost of goods and services.

      The poor just don't pay income taxes directly.

      The middle class and the rich are much less affected by the tax-caused incremental accommodations in prices. But for people who are living on very small incomes, those pennies add up to a significant burden.

      That's another problem with income taxes; they raise the cost of doing everything, and that inevitably reflects back and forth among the general population.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    4. Re:Taxes and presidential powers by DarthVain · · Score: 1

      Movies supposedly "Lose" billions in dollars every year barely breaking even. Just ask Peter Jackson, the Tolkin estate, or any of the actors who were supposed to get 5% of the profits, not only from the movies, but merchandise etc... The films easily made billions (from all revenue sources), yet using "certain accounting practices" was able to claim "horrendous losses" and no profit at all. I expect in addition to cheating people out of contracted money, it is also counted towards a large tax dodge.

      I expect the same is the case with Trumps $916M "loss"... Simply a line on an accounting ledger that argues that he no longer has to pay taxes ever again.

    5. Re:Taxes and presidential powers by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

      The music business is the same. It's heartbreaking, if you are a performance arts person, or even a fan with your head not in a hole in the ground.

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  66. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by hey! · · Score: 1

    Sensible position: TPP is a mixed bag.

    The complete text of the TPP is online, along with executive summaries of each part of the treaty. The executive summaries are sufficiently compact that it's reasonable to read them all, and if you do you'll find there's a lot of good stuff in there. What's harder to see is what bad stuff may be in there, something that will take many, many months of serious attention.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  67. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're confused, I believe she said she had public policy and private policy, not public and private positions. In other words what she says shes going to do and what she's planning on doing may be fundamentally different. She could campaign on saying she's going to legalize pot, all while planning on increasing the penalties of it if she gets elected. Basically, a vote for her is a vote for the unknown because you have no idea what she's planning on doing, you only know what she said she's going to do, which her emails have confirmed aren't what she's planning on doing.

  68. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here's a fact check from politico on the statement:

    http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-presidential-debate-fact-check/2016/10/clinton-invokes-lincoln-to-defend-having-a-public-and-a-private-position-229483

    There is no controversy, it is simply an adult talking about complex and nuanced political issues.

  69. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, she could release the transcript, and if the story didn't match what people were hoping to find out, they'll say it's not the real transcript.

  70. Need an amendment by microsoftisass · · Score: 0

    Congress needs to change the constitution via an amendment to stop anyone who is a direct relative (wife, son, daughter) of a previous president to be unable to become president. I am 40 years old and a Bush or Clinton have been in or close to the whitehouse almost my entire life. 350 million Americans and basically for the last half century two / three families have ran the country. This amendment would have stopped GW Bush and now have stopped Hillary, who can argue that he will have no influence on her hence giving him his 3rd term? There are now rumors that Michelle O is looking at a run for the Senate and I will bet she will follow in her husbands steps and as soon as elected start her run for President and or the Clinton's are getting Chelsea ready for her run. Seems the Bush's are out of family members looking to run but I will bet we will hear of some other Bush soon. We need to stop this trend. Also putting in term limits for Congress AND Supremes would also ensure a health turn over of elected officials but that will never happen. my 2cents

  71. Why is anyone blaming the Russians? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The blame should go to the parties whose files and emails were hacked. They're negligent, not securing their info.
    Oh, wait, squirrel!

  72. Talk about anything but the actual email contents. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Talk about anything but the actual email contents.

  73. Well, with ISIS almost defeated... by guruevi · · Score: 0

    We need a new enemy. Islamic terrorists turned out not to be all that scary (even with all the false flag operations), China hasn't been taking the bait the last 8 years (and the US tried so hard to start a trade war) and North Korea has failed in pretty much everything because Dear Leader is a verifiable idiot. So now Russia is back to be the new American boogeyman, not sure whether Putin will fall for it, he's after all the 'strong man' that has an inane need to show off (much like Trump) but he might be smart enough not to care about the Obama/Clinton grandstanding in the upcoming years.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  74. I About LOLed by BECoole · · Score: 2

    when she blamed Russia for the hacks. I think it makes far more sense that Bernie supporters are trying to burn her down.

  75. What Chutzpah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    It's nice to have someone to blame, but it doesn't change the content of what was leaked. She is just as bad as her opponent (except that he actually formally apologized). Asking people to accept it as 'business as usual' just reveals how broken said business is and perhaps an individual's level of psychopothy. I've never seen a shit storm like this, truly unbelievable.

    1. Re:What Chutzpah by careysub · · Score: 1

      It's nice to have someone to blame, but it doesn't change the content of what was leaked.

      But you are totally ignorant about "the content of what was leaked" since you did not bother to look it up (and the media has been happy to repeat a misleading paraphrase, not a quote of what she actually said). See my post below where I present the actual content.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
  76. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

    It's actually better than that. Not to support Hillary--she takes opposing stances depending on venue (i.e. lying)--but multiple positions based on audience are actually valid.

    As you may well be aware, I am an advocate of a Universal Social Security as a sensible, well-engineered remediation for our welfare system. The Universal Social Security, as I have defined it, has numerous features: It immediately remediates many defects in the current Public Aid model, ensuring aid reaches many more households in need; it carries the capacity to eliminate homelessness and hunger in the United States; it puts a final end to growing Welfare costs; it puts an end to Minimum Wage raises by more-efficiently accomplishing the goals of a Minimum Wage, setting a minimum standard-of-living and supplementing not only the employed, but the underemployed and unemployed; it stabilizes jobs, reducing unemployment spikes and more-quickly recovering from recessions; and it reduces the effective tax burden on Americans by over $1 trillion, allowing us to implement this system without raising taxes on any class--and even with lowered business income and payroll taxes.

    These impacts range from providing for the poor to increasing the spendable money--and actual purchasing power--in the pockets of the upper-middle-class. This system improves worker security; decreases taxes on businesses; and immediately provides the 75% of HUD-qualified families who will remain on a waiting list and *never* receive benefits with a supplemental income. It avoids raising taxes on high-income earners, while tangibly improving the welfare of the lower-income earners.

    You will select a different narrative when pitching this system to a crowd in Baltimore City than to a crowd in New York City. The upper-middle-class don't want to hear about supplementing minimum wage, raising the minimum standard of living, and protecting welfare families; they want to know they're not going to get squeezed for even more taxes, that minimum wage increases aren't going to jack up product prices, and that their jobs are more-secure. The upper-upper-class will be happy to hear their businesses will experience lower employment costs (reduced payroll tax) and income taxes; that consumers will bring more money to spend, increasing revenues and profits; and that their personal income won't be tapped to make all this happen.

    The many different positions you can take, the emphasis on what is and is not important, can change without becoming internally-inconsistent. Granted, that's patently-impossible with a compromise plan or a politically-driven policy; it works well when you've developed a well-engineered plan to cover an issue more-efficiently than current methods, including transitional plans to get from here to there, with a full analysis of risks and robust controls. If you have that, you can make wildly-different arguments about the issue, all of which are in the same direction, and all of which are correct.

  77. Didn't ANYBODY Check Wikileaks?! by careysub · · Score: 5, Informative

    Amazingly, nearly 400 posts on this thus far, and nobody has posted or linked to the actual Wikileaks dump on Clinton's comment. I know this is /. but checking facts before bloviating does have its merits.

    Here is is:

    CLINTON: You just have to sort of figure out how to -- getting back to that word, "balance" -- how to balance the public and the private efforts that are necessary to be successful, politically, and that's not just a comment about today. That, I think, has probably been true for all of our history, and if you saw the Spielberg movie, Lincoln, and how he was maneuvering and working to get the 13th Amendment passed, and he called one of my favorite predecessors, Secretary Seward, who had been the governor and senator from New York, ran against Lincoln for president, and he told Seward, I need your help to get this done. And Seward called some of his lobbyist friends who knew how to make a deal, and they just kept going at it. I mean, politics is like sausage being made. It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be. But if everybody's watching, you know, all of the back room discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous, to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position. And finally, I think -- I believe in evidence-based decision making. I want to know what the facts are. I mean, it's like when you guys go into some kind of a deal, you know, are you going to do that development or not, are you going to do that renovation or not, you know, you look at the numbers. You try to figure out what's going to work and what's not going to work. [Clinton Speech For National Multi-Housing Council, 4/24/13]

    So Clinton's characterization of her remarks in the debate last night are completely accurate, and the out-of-text paraphrase (not an actual quote) that is usually repeated is an intentional misrepresentation about what she really said.

    --
    Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    1. Re:Didn't ANYBODY Check Wikileaks?! by Kryai · · Score: 1

      What in the world is happening in the comments of this thread? Is there some kind of Trump brigade in force? Here's an additional fact check from politico - http://www.politico.com/blogs/... The comments she made are quite smart and thoughtful. This is just an absurd world we live in where reality no longer matters. My main take away from this election is that the human race has immense challenges still left for it to overcome. I am completely shocked at how emotional people are in this election process and unable to perform any critical thinking. It is as if millions of people have just turned off their brains. In WWI and WWII, you can study things like propaganda, historians are going to find a new item here to study. The effect it has had on the populace is remarkable.

    2. Re:Didn't ANYBODY Check Wikileaks?! by dwpro · · Score: 1
      I don't think any realistic reading of that commentary would lead one to believe she's abstractly reviewing an effective method of governance, but rather explicitly explaining her view of how to be politically successful. The quote:

      you need both a public and a private position

      is quite palatable and terse while still accurate. What she's really saying is that she thinks you can't tell the public the truth because it make them nervous, so the 'balance' of saying one thing in public then going in a back room and doing something else entirely is how the unsavory sausage of political success is made. Please explain how you can read that any differently?

      --
      Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. -- Susan Ertz
    3. Re:Didn't ANYBODY Check Wikileaks?! by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      The full context isn't very good, either. "I'll call some lobbyists to get this done." Really? How about, "let's call in some experts who can figure out a good path forward." Or how about, "I'll talk to the other senators, and convince them that this is a good idea." Delegating to lobbyists is about the worst thing you can do.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    4. Re:Didn't ANYBODY Check Wikileaks?! by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 1

      Well, since you're big on actual quotes, let's look at an actual quote of what she said last night:

      As I recall, that was something I said about Abraham Lincoln after having seen the wonderful Steven Spielberg movie "Abraham Lincoln" . . .

      Which could only be considered "completely accurate" if you're engaging in some good old-fashioned Clintonian word parsing. The message she intended to convey, of course, was that she was only talking about Lincoln, not today, and certainly not about herself. But your own quote shows she wasn't only talking about Lincoln -- she simply invoked Lincoln as a historic example of the general principle she was espousing:

      . . . and that's not just a comment about today. That, I think, has probably been true for all of our history, and if you saw the Spielberg movie, Lincoln . . .

      And then, after finishing with Lincoln, she returned to her general principle:

      I mean, politics is like sausage being made. It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be. But if everybody's watching, you know, all of the back room discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous, to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position.

      So no, her representation last night was not even close to "completely accurate" -- it was the best spin she could come up with to try to save face.

    5. Re:Didn't ANYBODY Check Wikileaks?! by Xyrus · · Score: 1

      Fact checking? Haven't you figured out that facts mean nothing in this election?

      Slashdot. News for nerds. Now you'd think with a mantra like that, the site would be full of "smarter than your average bear" type people. But this election has shown that whatever the site used to be back in the day, it is far cry from that now.

      I dislike Clinton. I understand why people dislike Clinton. But I can't figure out how anyone with a logic center in their brain could vote for something like Trump. He's a pathological liar. Post debate fact checks alone are more than enough to illuminate that. None of his policies (what few has put forward) make any sense or, at the very least, won't do anything like he claims they will. His take on foreign relations is equivalent of that of a 2 year old throwing a tantrum. He refuses to release his tax returns. He thinks a blind trust is letting his family run his business and manage his assets (I don't even...). The list goes on.

      There isn't a logical reason to vote for Trump. No, "Hillary is a liar" is not a reason.

      The republicans could have put up anyone else besides Trump, and they would have won. Someone on the more moderate side instead of tea party crazy would have won by a landslide, and with it the house and the senate. But they went with Trump. The RNC truly fucked up with that little piece of strategy. Maybe it was all the crazy they've been fostering and encouraging over the past decade. Maybe they honestly thought that popularity guarantees a win. I honestly don't know what the hell they were thinking, but their strategy team needs to fired because they literally wrapped the presidency in a nice package and delivered it to the democrats. Worse, the damage Trump is doing may actually lose them the house and senate as well.

      --
      ~X~
    6. Re:Didn't ANYBODY Check Wikileaks?! by bongey · · Score: 1

      So she is saying that since these politicians lied but really didn't help the 13 amendment get passed.
      She is basically saying it happened like in movie, which it didn't.
      She was basically saying nothing gets down without lobbyist
      It was Lincoln that pushed to get it passed, fuck we were still in civil war when the 13th passed the 13th.

      Finally you didn't actually read the top, these were damaging experts they wanted to keep track of just in case the full transcripts got leaked.

      Fucking the lobbyist didn't get it pasted it was that North was winning fucking civil war that was killing millions.
      Wall street got the 13th passed my ass.
      Basically Hillary Clinton Lied again and like a good little clinton lemming you followed it.

    7. Re:Didn't ANYBODY Check Wikileaks?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe your calm, fact based, answer is very telling. When you can put facts together in the right way, you use it. When they contradict a position you can simply indicate the facts are out of context or it was a different time, or some other way of excusing the facts.
      I supported Hillary in 2008 and probably would today if not for Benghazi. For, in the words of Lincoln, You can fool some of the people all of the time (you), you can fool all of the people some of the time (me) but you cant fool all of the people all of the time (everyone except the NY Times editorial board)

  78. Informative ++ by number6x · · Score: 5, Informative

    Mod-point sis1j informative!

    You are not throwing your vote away if you vote third party. You are voting for a third party if you vote third party. It is just as legitimate a vote as any other vote.

    It actually seems more like you are throwing your vote away if you vote Republican or Democrat. Neither of the two major parties seem to do what they promise, and neither of them seem to care about their voters, just their donors.

    Vote third party so you don't throw your vote away.

    1. Re:Informative ++ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I modded you up. I totally agree. I think if we could get a large percentage of Americans to vote third party, we could overthrow the 2-party system, and they would actually have to stick to their promises and care about their voters. My friends are like vote Clinton just to stop Trump, and I'm like, that's not really helping America because it's reinforcing the DNC to just have a candidate that's better than the other candidate rather than actually having a candidate that cares about their voters.

    2. Re:Informative ++ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It actually seems more like you are throwing your vote away if you vote Republican or Democrat. Neither of the two major parties seem to do what they promise, and neither of them seem to care about their voters, just their donors.

      In most states, you basically are. Remember, the term "swing-state" exists for a reason. In terms of getting someone elected, if you live in a non-swing state and plan on voting for the smaller of the 2 major parties, you will have exactly as much influence on getting that person into office, as you would if you had voted 3rd party. Because while that person might have a Donkey/Elephant behind them, the color of your state already guaranteed that they won't win. So instead of guaranteeing 2nd place for them, send a message by putting a 3rd party in 2nd place.

    3. Re:Informative ++ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it absolutely is - if you want to make third parties viable, you need to either change the system to a parliamentary system or create publicly funded campaigns - until then a third party on a national scale is absolutely throwing your vote away. It isn't throwing your vote away on a local scale and to improve 3rd party viability THAT is what needs to be done, populate the congress with independents which will force the hand of the 2 party system to act in accordance with nonpartisan decisions.

    4. Re: Informative ++ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you are a progressive liberal minded person, you certainly should vote 3rd party. Maybe consider writing in Bernie Sanders brother, or just about anyone else.

      If you are a conservative traditionalist, you better not throw away your vote on a third party!

      If you are a Libertarian, your opinion doesn't matter yet. Things must get much worse for your ideas to count. Maybe you should start working on a new libertarian party without all that isolationism that nobody else can stomach?

  79. It's the Cold War version of a YouTube video by RogueWarrior65 · · Score: 0

    Blaming the Russians for screwing the pooch is the Cold War boogie man version of blaming a YouTube video for the death of Americans in Benghazi. There is zero evidence to support either claim but plenty of people believe it. Trump may be crude and boorish but Clinton is conniving and has been that way as long as Trump has been crude and boorish. Which one is more dangerous to the American people is the question you should be asking yourself.

  80. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think you are confusing "public vs. private" with "public vs. personal".

    I have no problem with the latter dichotomy. It is the first that is an issue.

  81. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by careysub · · Score: 4, Informative

    If we accept the Wikileaks transcript is taken as being accurate, then Clinton's "weird anecdote" is nothing less than a completely accurate statement of what she actually said. Does no one here bother to check facts?

    CLINTON: You just have to sort of figure out how to -- getting back to that word, "balance" -- how to balance the public and the private efforts that are necessary to be successful, politically, and that's not just a comment about today. That, I think, has probably been true for all of our history, and if you saw the Spielberg movie, Lincoln, and how he was maneuvering and working to get the 13th Amendment passed, and he called one of my favorite predecessors, Secretary Seward, who had been the governor and senator from New York, ran against Lincoln for president, and he told Seward, I need your help to get this done. And Seward called some of his lobbyist friends who knew how to make a deal, and they just kept going at it. I mean, politics is like sausage being made. It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be. But if everybody's watching, you know, all of the back room discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous, to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position. And finally, I think -- I believe in evidence-based decision making. I want to know what the facts are. I mean, it's like when you guys go into some kind of a deal, you know, are you going to do that development or not, are you going to do that renovation or not, you know, you look at the numbers. You try to figure out what's going to work and what's not going to work. [Clinton Speech For National Multi-Housing Council, 4/24/13]

    --
    Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
  82. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by careysub · · Score: 1

    Note above, she remembers her words with impressive accuracy. The out-of-context paraphrase that is circulating is a misrepresentation.

    --
    Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
  83. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you are confusing "public vs personal" with "public vs private"

    The former is not an issue, you can pursue a public position that conflicts with your personal interests. And you don't necessarily need to disclose your personal preference as long as you are not pursuing it. However, I would still suggest that you really *ought* to.

    The latter (public vs. private) implies suggests that you are stating one position to the public, but have an interest in another position in secret from the general public. This could be because you are secretly pursuing your personal preference or it could be because you are working on a special interest group. It is alway wrong unless it is a matter of security.

  84. Only cratering is you by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Trump has been ahead of Clinton in polling very recently so the only "catering" is your mental stability when you find out Trump's numbers have risen is response to a supposed crisis, yet again... he destroyed Hillary in the most recent debate, so many liberals want him to fail but wishing doesn't make it so, friend.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Only cratering is you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haha, oh boy, you really believe this don't you? Goodness, Kendall your tears are going to be some of the sweetest of all when the final results show what a smoking crater his campaign was the whole time. He has no chance, he will not win, its beyond possible for him at this point, but the fact that you and other die hard kool-aid drinkers can't even fathom it as a possibility is what is going to make November so much fun.

      You really really believe he can win and its just so precious. :)

  85. Re: but in a different way from Clinton, who does by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is this *really* the kind of shit that passes for insightful, these days? Can you actually demonstrate, with reference to publicly available facts, that HRC has engaged in the kind of weathervane, poll-driven behaviour that you describe? She does have quite a lengthy record of public service, after all, so it ought to be pretty easy to do. What I'm asking for is not some cheap rhetorical rimshot, but actual substance to back up your claim: a demonstration that, time after time, on issue after issue, her policy position has shifted in line with polling.

    I think you'll find it nigh on impossible to show this. It may accord with what you'd like to believe (some version of "she's a vapid politician", perhaps, or "all politicians are just ridiculous liars"?) but that does not make it accurate. Her policy positions on gay marriage, for example, underwent the same slow process of evolution as most of middle America -- from "that's absurd" to "of course we must" over a period of a couple of decades. But they didn't flip flop back and forth as poll numbers on the issue wobbled around.

    This bizarre and ridiculous caricaturing is going to be the death knell for serious American politics.

  86. Re:Silly. by careysub · · Score: 2

    No, she simply stated with 100% accuracy what she actually said in the speech that has been hyped by a false paraphrase.

    And no, the "uranium scandal" has been thoroughly debunked. Do try to keep up AC.

    --
    Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
  87. This is the scariest thread I've read by erebrus · · Score: 1

    As an European, this thread is the scariest thing I've read about the upcoming presidential elections. One is used to seeing the Trump defenders through the eyes of something like the Daily Show: uneducated, dumb, religious nuts rednecks. Here, in slashdot, where the average person has access to so much information, the fact that people still consider Trump the lesser of two evils...is terrifying and I guess it shows why he might actually win. It's like Brexit, except that with Brexit, UK will take most of the hit. The moment a man child with thin skin and a brain the size of wallnut gets military power...we shall all suffer.

    1. Re:This is the scariest thread I've read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trump is an asshole, but I'm not sure where people get the idea that he's the scary one when it comes to military power.
      The current USA government, and Hillary Clinton in particular, destabilized Libya and Syria causing death, destruction and an epic refugee crisis. How's that working out for Europe?
      Now, they, along with their water-bearers in the mainstream USA media are pushing the nation toward a bloody WAR with Russia! The current situation harkens back to the worst days of the cold war. Given that most of Europe is part of NATO, they would get dragged into that war as well. Clinton is advocating that the USA establish a no fly zone over Syria, which would move us closer to the brink of WW3. She's the scary one.

    2. Re:This is the scariest thread I've read by erebrus · · Score: 1

      It's simple. Last time Americans voted for an idiot, we got the Iraq war. And THAT was what made space for ISIS and consequently a big part of the mess in Syria. And that is working pretty badly for us, and that is why we don't want someone like Trump who makes Bush seem like Einstein. Second, why do you think Putin and the NK Kim are the only foreign leaders supporting Trump? I'm much more scared of how dumb and and thin skinned Trump is than Clinton. Not that I love Clinton, she will just push the classic American agenda down everyone's throats, which is pretty sucky, but I rather have someone intelligent and less temperamental with the finger on the trigger than Trump.

    3. Re:This is the scariest thread I've read by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Trump is the one on record against intervening in all these places - Syria, Iraq, Libya, et al. What makes you bunch Trump w/ the likes of Bush & Clinton? Other than throwing insults, do you have any proof that Trump wants to start new wars? He's talked about beating the shit out of ISIS, but only b'cos of the many ISIS terror attacks in the US. He's talked about extreme vetting only b'cos Muslims who come to the US seem to be the only group pulling off terror attacks in Chattanooga, San Bernardino, Orlando, New Jersey and Minneapolis. It's great of European douches to berate an American for wanting to protect Americans, even while European imbeciles like Merkel throw open the doors of their countries to endless refugees, discover that too many of them believe that it's okay for Muslims to rape Infidel women (as sanctioned by the Quran) and then see a resurgence of neo-Nazi parties given the tendency of their Social Democrats to condescend on any opposition to these policies. That's what triggered Brexit, and that's what will continue to trigger an American backlash against the Euro-geniuses such as you

    4. Re:This is the scariest thread I've read by erebrus · · Score: 1

      He went on record saying nukes would be an option. Didn't know it required an "Euro-genius" to see that as a problem. Do you want to keep americans safe? Making sure every one hates you is not the way to go, and that is all that Trump will achieve. You keep trying to solve symptoms and not root causes and you'll never get anywhere, but I guess that is too hard to understand also.

  88. Clinton said it herself, did you forget yesterday? by raymorris · · Score: 2

    If you'd like *watch* Clinton say one thing, then the opposite, then a week later deny she said either, hop on Youtube and type in "Clinton flip-flops", "Hillary lies" or any other relevant search and you can watch her do it for hours, on issue after issue. PR spin and saying what people want to hear is perhaps her biggest strength, prete

  89. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Second, it is perfectly acceptable -- e.g., "I am going to help pass the law legalizing X as promised to voters, but personally I think X should remain banned"

    I had taken "public vs private" to mean "average American vs Wall Street Fat Cat".

  90. Can't wait until the elections are over ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm gonna have to replace my TV again.

  91. That woman will say anything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I lost it at "Russian hackers"

  92. Continued (hit submit too soon) by raymorris · · Score: 1

    I accidentally hit submit to soon.

    Pretending that she's not very good at "staying on message" (the calculated message) is denying her one of her greatest strengths vs Chris Christie, Trump, and to a lesser extent Joe Biden and Bush Jr. You don't WANT the president saying whatever crosses their mind to Putin. That's the problem with a Trump / Chris Christie type communicator - he'd say shit at the UN that he shouldn't say. Clinton will say exactly what State Department staff have calculated should be said.

    There are other sides of the exact same coin. Because Bush Jr and Joe Biden say whatever crosses their minds, sometimes they say dumb shit. Hillary doesn't say dumb shit, because what she says has been proofread by two or three staffers. On the other hand, you know what Chris Christie believes, Bush Jr, because they say it - even if it's dumb.

    Just in the few days we've seen emails released where HRC herself says sometimes she needs to take different positions on an issue depending on the audience. Did you already forget yesterday's headlines? If so, check out a few of the emails from the DNC hack where everything HRC says, does, or wears is carefully polled. That's more professional, in a way, than Trump where he still won't stop spray tanning himself orange, despite the fact that it has clearly not helped his optics. Perhaps Trump figures that people voted for the first black president and "orange is the new black", but he's clearly not paying attention to the polls on that one.

  93. tinfoil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    More likely than doing lines in the limo is that he's allergic to something and then Clinton camp has identified this and using the knowledge. I mean, if you want an insane conspiracy theory, mine is better than yours, but nobody is paying me to publish it, unlike the one you're parotting due to a hundred thousand dollar campaign.

  94. Re: "we don't even know if it's accurate informati by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 2

    while touting the job creation aspects of the legislation/position to the general public

    Name one proposal of Clinton's that has anything to do with Private Sector Job creation, that doesn't have the hand of Big Government (crony capitalism) all over it.

    Everything I've seen is "Government jobs" and Crony Capitalism. If you're a Bernie fan, you ought to pay close attention to Hillary's Wall Street Cred. They are a big fan of hers, and I have no doubt why. They will be rewarded when she is elected.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  95. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

    Most entertaining October ever. I think it'll be funny watching more pussyleaks comes out, the media going apoplectic, and then nothing happening because everyone already knows Trump is a sleazy womanizer. That's not new information.

    Only thing I can think of that will actually sink Trump is if they've got a video/audio of him using the n-word. And in a bad way, like calling someone it or saying "man I really hate n*ggers." But if he's saying something like "I'm a gorilla dick nigga that makes dyke pussies wet" I think his numbers will go up.

    --
    We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
  96. Stop acting illogically by I_have_a_life · · Score: 1

    One thing that is certain is that many Slashdotters seem heavily influenced by emotion rather than reason. This is evidenced by the seemingly nonsensical conclusions that so many are making. Here's just a few:

    1. Donald Trump is somehow for the working class. Nothing in this man's history suggests that he's ever had a connection with the working or middle class. He clearly comes from privilege, his self-worth is deeply tied to how rich he is perceived to be, and he eagerly boasts of his prowess at working the system for his own benefit at every opportunity presented. Any logical person would conclude that Donald Trump represents the point one percent of the American ultra-rich who know nothing of the plight of working class and middle class America. Yet somehow because he's "anti-establishment" he's somehow for the working man. Here's some simple logic: anti-establishment != good for America.

    2. The ridiculously high bar set for Hillary Clinton as compared to any other politician that ever held office. When, in the history of politics, has there ever been a politician whose private and public positions on policies were always the same? And where is the proof that public and private positions on policy have to be the same in order for there to be a net benefit to the public? It's so common it even has it's own word in the dictionary: it's called "realpolitik".

    3. We're living in a time where technology makes it possible to put any person under a microscope and amplify all their mistakes and flaws in a matter of minutes. Ask yourself if we had the same same technology during the time of the founding of this nation what would that do to our opinion of the men who founded this country? Everyone of us knows that humans are flawed and that the longer a career is the more mistakes are made, and yet we're somehow illogically concluding that two individuals with lengthy careers should somehow be of flawless character and with immaculate records to bolster them up. We're not electing robots we're electing people.

    One thing I've learned from experience is that when people use words like "despise" and "hate" it's usually coming from a place of deep-seated emotion rather than clear-headed logical consideration. Unfortunately, I see a great deal of that in these discussion. Whoever you vote for this election season I would urge to dump your emotional baggage. Do some breathing exercises, clear your head, talk yourself down. Consider each candidate in a historical context. Weigh their policies against each other. Force yourself to look for something good in each one. Question all your premises. Don't take things personally. You must find the strength to this for yourself and for your families.

  97. fuck im sorry I thought.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought this was /. not cnn

  98. Movies? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes I am sure we want the Leader of the Free World to be influenced by a movie to tell them how to lead the country.

  99. You hate Hillary Clinton because old white men do. by Brannon · · Score: 0

    That's what this really boils down to. For thirty years old white men have hated Hillary Clinton with a fiery passion specifically because she is a powerful woman. We've had to listen to thirty years of made-up conspiracy theory bullshit blowing every little thing involving the Clintons into some giant scandal.

    1. THE ENTIRE FUCKING BUSH ADMINISTRATION USED PRIVATE EMAIL, YOU DUMB FUCK.
    2. BENGHAZI HAS BEEN THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED AND THERE IS NO EVIDENCE HILLARY DID ANYTHING WRONG (you dumb fuck)
    3. THE CLINTON FOUNDATION IS A FUCKING CHARITY, YOU DUMB FUCK

    Is she perfect? No, of course not. Is she a politician? Yes, and she acts like a politician. But, you're holding her to a standard that you've never held any other politician to.

    I'm wasting my breathe, because you are just not physiologically capable of realizing your own internal double-standard, and you're too fucking stupid to ever change your mind. Thank God that dumb fucking morons like you are still a minority in this country.

  100. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The TTP can't be renegotiated without completely replacing it. There's just way too much of it that is not about free trade at all. It's always been about allowing multi-national corporations to supersede sovereign laws that get in their way of profit.

    It's a glimpse into why these people want the NWO one-world, no nations, no borders, no religion "utopia". So that they never have to worry about buying off politicians in more than one country. Once they get their way, it's world-wide. You can't move to another country to get away from it. You can't avoid their purchased laws that make everyday tasks like format/time-shifting of media illegal. They want to own and control everything, and that's the best way to attain that.

  101. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's a mixed bag, sort of like a garbage bag that's got baloney sandwiches and feces all mixed together. I'm sure you'll have a fine time separating it all out and eating those tasty sandwiches.

  102. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And rightfully so. It's too late for her to come clean. The woman has ZERO credibility in the eyes of all but the most thoroughly brainwashed. That's what happens when you're caught lying constantly.

  103. Re:You hate Hillary Clinton because old white men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The only defense people have for Clinton are either "Yeah well other people did bad things too!" or childish personal attacks like yours. In fact, your tirade here puts you on exactly the same level as Trump supporters. You've vomited a bunch of racist, sexist nonsense. Congrats, you're the other side of the same coin.

  104. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by dr_canak · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately I don't have mod points. Hopefully someone will mod this up. But given you're only at a "3" at the moment, that pretty much answers your questions.

    People aren't fact checking and just won't. In this day and age, it's easy enough to do. And I would certainly expect more from modded up commenters here. But people insist on firing off assertions as if they were fact. If the people here can't even be bothered, I have no hope for the general public.

    It's a shame really.

  105. Call others to say it then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Say Fuck You to the system, vote 3rd party!". I easily could see that getting so much votes that in next election it wouldn't be any more clear that 3rd party can never win..

  106. Hillary is Bill Clinton without any charisma. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We survived Bill 8 years and it wasn't that bad.

    Orange Hitler sounds good but Trump is more like an Orange Mussolini. Trump belongs in a Banana Republic, Africa, or on Wrestlemania!

    A bad doctor vs a crooked used car salesman trying to convince me to hire them for my surgery. It is bad choice but also not horribly difficult.

    I'm being kind. I have enough psychology training to see that Trump is mentally unfit. I see nothing wrong with Hillary's mental health - being a typical politician doesn't yet have a disorder.

    1. Re:Hillary is Bill Clinton without any charisma. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh good, the internet psychologists are coming out of their moms' basements.

  107. Re: You hate Hillary Clinton because old white men by shilly · · Score: 1

    You assert that the only defence he has it whataboutery or personal attacks, yet the *very post you are replying to* specifically defended her on other grounds, to wit, "asked & answered". It makes you look really really stupid when you accuse someone of something that is not only demonstrably not true, but something that has immediately beforehand been demonstrated not to be true.

  108. Re: "we don't even know if it's accurate informati by shilly · · Score: 1

    This is the woman whose husband helped broker the Good Friday agreement, and who as SoS has no doubt been involved in many other negotiations. The Good Friday agreement was, notoriously, brought into being partly at a time when the public position of the UK government was that it would not talk to the IRA at all. And talking to the IRA certainly involved moral compromise -- the sausage making she referred to -- which many found difficult to stomach. But the PONI* have benefited immeasurably from a move away from moral rigour to an acknowledgment of the value of peace, and even Ian bloody Paisley made that journey.

    The triumphant pouncing of Trump's supporters on this statement is so depressing: it's like listening to a particularly dimwitted five year old complain about a physicist's line of reasoning.

    * People of Northern Ireland. I still miss you, Simon Hoggart

  109. Vote for Pedro by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    typing more than that for my comment....but is there any more to say?

    Vote for Pedro! (There, an exclamation, for the sake of exclaiming!)

  110. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are 2 problems with your statement.

    First of all, it assumes that the only possible difference between a public and a private position is to be opposite. Or perhaps you think that only Hillary can have opposite positions?

    The second is that your statement appears to be solely aimed at Clinton. Who's to say that Trump doesn't also have public and a private positions?

    Even if you are a Trump supporter, you'd be a fool to believe he doesn't at least occasionally say one thing and think something different.

  111. Re: A momentary look of genuine anger from Hillar by shilly · · Score: 1

    The authentic voice of a Trump supporter. My, what a pleasure to have people like you around.

  112. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually it was the other way around. The trump video came out before the latest WikiLeaks release. Thanks for playing though.

  113. Hillary is correct by Comrade+Ogilvy · · Score: 1

    Considered in the actual context, her response was on the nose.

    Effective leaders have a wide set of tools in their toolbox for persuading. Making all discussion public all the time does not make better policy.

    Furthermore, while it makes an entertainingly pointed question to call it "two-faced", what exactly would this non-two-faced world we are allegedly hoping for look like? Because I am noticing there is a strong correlation between people who have a reputation in the public sphere for "talking honestly from their gut" and spreading a lot more outright lies than the typical pol. Examples: Trump, Sanders. These supposedly forthright speakers are not notably less two-faced; really they are more two-faced in a more entertaining style.

    Are we trying to make a serious argument about wanting leaders who are most honest? Or are we just playing a pretentious game where style counts over substance?

    1. Re:Hillary is correct by bongey · · Score: 1

      You are a libtard.

      She was trying to say that Lobbyist from wall street got the 13th passed.

      No libtard the 13th was passed because the North was winning the civil war, the war that there was very public opinion to stop slavery.

      Wall street and lobbyist ended slavery you libtards will believe anything the queen will say.

    2. Re:Hillary is correct by Comrade+Ogilvy · · Score: 1

      I am gratified by your attempted insult, coming from someone who clearly understands he is simply too inadequate to make a coherent argument, but can only making a flailing personal attack instead. Thanks!

  114. Trump Trying to Have It Both Ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trump has repeatedly praised up Putin and has some kind of weird bromance going on there. Now he claims to "know nothing" about Putin or Russia. He's just trying to have it both ways, which is standard behavior for Trump.

    If Trump gets in, I expect he will either:

    1). Try to cozy up to Putin, who will either rebuff him or try to take advantage of Trump's starry-eyed bromance;
    2). Quickly decide that Russia can do nothing for him ("Whattaya, a mook? Russia's on the other side of the planet!") and ignore or offend Putin.

    1. Re:Trump Trying to Have It Both Ways by unixisc · · Score: 1

      If Putin can get the US as an ally, that would 'trump' needing the likes of Iran, Syria, even China on his side

  115. Re:Johnson/Weld 2016 = A OR B? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm from a European country with a coalition minority government. I used to expound that same rhetoric to Americans - you have an alternate choice.
    And you do.. in theory. It's just that in practice, you don't. Corporate lobbying is destroying your country. One of the 2 choices you have is to repel special interest groups. Try to guess which one. You might be pleasantly surprised.

    And here's another thing to ponder: Women's rights. Femme bots all over the US will potentially unite behind one of the candidates. But ironically, special interest groups have empowered gender inequality in your country. You may recall the recent slashdot story from Bill Gates' wife on the increasing gender gap in STEM.

  116. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If we accept the Wikileaks transcript is taken as being accurate

    If we accept that the Wikileaks transcript is accurate, which we surely must at this point, why is she saying "we don't even know if these are accurate"? If they're not accurate, you just deny they're accurate and you move on. You don't veer off onto some explanation of how you were just trying to be Lincoln-esque when you said that thing you may or may not have actually said.

    She is clearly trying to have it both ways. On the one hand, she wants to be able to deny their accuracy by muddying the waters and claiming that they're possibly/probably/certainly fakes, and on the other hand she wants to be able to downplay what's in the transcripts by attempting to spin it (or "clarify", if you like) after the fact.

    Pick a position - if it's fake, it doesn't need clarification, and if it needs clarification, it is necessarily an accurate record of what was said. Not that the media is likely to call her out on one of the more brazen displays of doublethink in recent memory. Nor will her supporters be particularly alarmed by this - no bad tactics, just bad targets, after all.

  117. Re:Silly. by bongey · · Score: 1

    You are flat out wrong trying actually reading the leaks and stop watching PMSNBC so much.
    Latest leaks the clinton camp was working with clinton foundation even talking about the deal.

    Also the FBI found info and accounting issues in the clinton foundation but where shut down by the DOJ.
    Also the FBI agents were not allowed investigate anything else in the emails other than classified info.
    The DOJ and FBI gave out immunity deals like candy.

    Clinton had fucking 25 lawyers for her at her FBI interview.
    You have a right to counsel but not a football team of lawyers.

  118. CNN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    CNN didn't want to talk to the Clinton rape victims as that was in the past, a long time ago. Apparently the passage of time doesn't matter for Trump's locker room talk. I am no Trump fan (or Clinton either), but the media bias is disgraceful.

  119. yup, and you're not paying attention by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, in her wikileak (which she is effectively validating) she REFERS to the scene in the Lincoln movie as an example of what she does to mislead the public.

    BUT in the debate, she laughs off the complete scheme about how to mislead the public by saying she was just talking about a movie, as though she was just writing a movie review or recommending a movie to a friend for general entertainment. She was NOT just talking about a movie. She was talking about how to be two-faced and mislead the public and she was using the movie as an example. This would be like somebody discussing a murder plot and instructing a frient to study the Silence of the Lambs - and then later when caught claiming all that stuff was just about an Anthony Hopkins flick. Details and context matter.

    Her debate comment, apparently meant to mislead the stupid and provide a fig leaf talking point to her media shills, completely upends the entire context of the leaked e-mail and only works for people with zero reading comprehension.

  120. Re:but in a different way from Clinton, who does t by Comrade+Ogilvy · · Score: 1

    Both are bad in different ways. With Trump, you have a pretty good idea of what he's actually thinking, that's good as a someone who is supposed to represent you, bad as chief diplomat. Clinton is better at lying to Putin, Hassan Rouhani, and us.

    First of all, do you actually know fuck all about what Trump is actually thinking? Or are you getting the impression that you understand what he is feeling? There is a world difference between the two. Off the cuff thoughts are often forgotten. Feelings much more easily so. Furthermore Trump seems to have a talent for constantly contradicting himself, which strongly indicates he is not thinking about anything carefully enough ever to even care about his own past opinion. Why should you care more about Trump's words than Trump does?

    Second of all, thoughts and feelings do not particularly matter. Until they have really solidified into clear intentions, you cannot name goals. What matters are goals that are sufficiently coherent enough to be useful in building policies.

    And here is where we hit brass tacks. For all that Clinton plays a whole bunch of games with her words, I think I can hear the difference between what are serious intended policies and what are just window dressing.

    With Trump, he cannot even answer a softball question about what he wants to replace Obamacare with. That should have been an easy triple or home run for him, but he kept on whiffing. Yeah, I think I understand what his feelings were. How does that help us?

  121. Re:"we don't even know if it's accurate informatio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's not acceptable is selling the public on one thing when you were never planning on doing that thing to begin with. This is the real problem with $hillary. She panders to "regular folks", but the reality is she's bought and paid for like most other politicians. It's dishonest, deceitful, and should be grounds for impeachment... or worse.

  122. Misdirection by DarthVain · · Score: 1

    Like most of what Clinton says, much of it is simply misdirection and plausibility deniability.

    Its it plausible that Russians are involved on the DNC hack? Sure it is. Why? Well unless you live in a shoe, over the last 10 years Russia has probably spawned more hackers than just about anywhere else, with possibly the exception of China. Do they work for the actual Russian government? Very unlikely. Heck if they accused Chinese hackers, it would probably be at least a little more likely that they are state sponsored. If there is any truth to the claim at all, it is the usual BS of an insufficiently protected server being extorted by private individuals for profit. At any rate this way she can "accuse" Russia for the spectacle against Trump, then later "find" out that these were really just Russia punks working on their own to try and extort cash. Then she might seem "reasonable" for her previous claims about the government of Russia and all is forgiven.

  123. Re:You hate Hillary Clinton because old white men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Calling people "dumb fucks" and "morons" is a great way to convince them. GJ

  124. Excuses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hillary seems to be quite fond of the devil made me do it, defense. In this way she will say, yes, it happened, but YOU ALL KNOW I didn't mean for it to happen. And I accept full responsibility unless that indicates I will have to resign or return any money.

  125. Re:You hate Hillary Clinton because old white men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thanks for the all caps. Nobody ever equates all cap typing with nutjobs. Especially when they say fuck a lot and call everyone a moron. next in line: You'll tell me to "educate myself".

  126. Re: You hate Hillary Clinton because old white men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It worked. I'm signing up for entitlements right now... From now on, I'm just going to sit on the stoop and sling drugs and conduct myself in a manner consistent with criminal behaviors. I can't wait! I'm voting straight Democrat in November.

  127. Many Americans don't want either candidate by rhyous · · Score: 1

    Many Americans don't want either candidate. Actually the best solution is to vote for an independent this year.

    If an independent can win enough of the electoral college votes so that neither Trump or Hilary have 270 electoral college votes, then the House gets to pick from the top 3.

    If the US voters can create this scenario, then we can avoid either of these two terrible candidates.

    I believe the Republican majority House of Reps won't pick Clinton because she is a democrat and, well, evil. They won't pick Trump even though he is democrat. So the independent is in.

    Here are two independent options:
    Evan McMullin - https://www.evanmcmullin.com/ https://www.johnsonweld.com/

    I hope others like me make a statement this election and vote for neither Trump or Hilary.

    1. Re:Many Americans don't want either candidate by rhyous · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I meant "they won't pick Trump even though he is Republican."