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James Clapper, US Director of National Intelligence, Has Resigned (thehill.com)
Reader cold fjord writes: James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, resigned last night. Clapper spent 30 years in military intelligence at the National Imagery and Mapping Agency. He was selected to be the Director of National Intelligence in 2010 with responsibility for 17 US intelligence agencies. Clapper was DNI during the monumental Snowden leaks of documents from NSA and various allied intelligence agencies as well as the release by WikiLeaks of the documents provided by (at the time) Private Bradley Manning. Besides the Snowden and Manning leaks, Clapper was engulfed in controversy over testimony to Congress in which he is alleged to have lied about NSA data collection in responding to a question from Senator Wyden. Clapper had previously stated he would leave at the end of the Obama administration. Clapper's resignation clears the way for incoming president-elect Trump to appoint his own Director of National Intelligence.
Trump as a private business owner is going to put up with a lot less nonsense like NSA data collection than any power-hungry politician would reaching the Whitehouse... this is just one of many examples to come showing true change, not just changing the mask over the current leader between red and blue as we have done in recent elections over the last sixteen years or so...
Not saying the NSA collecting is going to halt, but it is going to be reigned in.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Presidential appointees routinely submit their resignations when another party's candidate is moving into the Oval Office.
Nothing to see here, move along.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
Please post the discussion about whether somebody's legal name or their Jesus name is more valid here.
I've got my Rathalos armor on, so flame away!
On the contrary, I fully believe whoever trump installs will not only keep it, but expand it
Lock him up!
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
This nation doesn't have any intelligence anyway
Or maybe it's the first rat off the ship.
/s
Here, I think you dropped this...
+5 Funny!
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Yes he resigned. But as explained in Top US intelligence official: I submitted my resignation (and probably elsewhere)
All members of an outgoing administration must submit a resignation at some point.
But every news outlet and internet troll seems to be falling over themselves to shout to the world that he resigned, as if this event actually means something.
Sure you could probably make a case for all sorts of things happening to him after he is out. But for fucks sake, his resignation is expected and required.
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
Where is -1 delusional?
You believe it so fully you post AC. Not a very impressive prediction.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
for Director of National Intelligence.
I say put Edward Snowden in the position.
I do not belong to the church of the lowercase 'i'
Wow, I want to have whatever you are smoking, that must be some powerful stuff.
Why do you believe this? Trump's platform is partly built on smaller government and less regulation
James Clapper, US Director of National Intelligence, Has Resigned
And nothing of value was lost.
[Rent This Space]
Love watching the rats scurry as Trump the exterminator is brought in to drain the swamp.
Um, that's exactly *why* he's posting as AC.
And mexican-paid wall building.
Why would he lie about everything, but keep his promise on smaller government?
Besides, how would a smaller government satisfy his huge ego?
Yeah, small enough to fit into your bedroom, while remaining too big to be allowed into the boardroom.
No you're not allowed. Gary Johnson didn't win.
At least we know he won't leave the lights on.
Love watching the rats scurry as Trump the exterminator is brought in to drain the swamp.
For someone claiming to drain the swamp he sure is bringing on board a lot of established Washington players....
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
That remains to be seen. Trump, aside from being economy-oriented, is also very security conscious (possibly because he understands that the sense of security affects markets); I see no real indication that he'd reign in the NSA in that.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
I prefer posts that act as a Rorschach test rather than explicitly stating direction... :-)
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Keeping this guy around and failing to reign in data collection excesses is a stain on Obama's legacy.
What does posting as AC have to do with what he said? You can't refute the statement so you attack the person making it?
Oh and I'm sure that "SuperKendall" is your true and legal name, right?
For someone claiming to drain the swamp he sure is bringing on board a lot of established Washington players....
Trump transition team announces 5-year lobbying ban for appointees
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
If the thing that impresses you about predictions is the name of the person who made them, I predict you make a lot of bad decisions.
What about the wall that the Mexicans want to erect on the southern border of Mexico to keep the rest of the filthy central americans out? Hypocrite much?
Another step for Trump's "Draining the Swamp" philosophy. Wonder what jaded business man or lobbyist will go in his place? Draining the swamp should be referred to as "Replacing the swamp with new swamp monsters"
Sent from my TARDIS
and flushed the tables and the rotating backups
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Or Dan Blocker if Lorne begs off.
If Trump wants to take a pro-citizen stance on the NSA, he should pardon Snowden on his first day in office. It would make me a believer.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
I think Trump was being honest about that. I figure he's going to run the economy so badly into the ground that American workers will illegally immigrate to Mexico looking for jobs, and eventually Mexico will get so fed up that they'll build a wall and pay for it....
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
How do you refute a prediction about a future event without any evidence to confirm or deny?
And remember, Trump is pretty much unpredictable at this point.
Come, other countries! Enter into foreign relations with us. No more Clapp. Promise.
That doesn't make any sense. The administration is not a ship, nor is it interesting when he leaves (now or in 60 days). Slow news day.
Often wrong but never in doubt.
I am Jack9.
Everyone knows me.
Trump as a private business owner is going to put up with a lot less nonsense like NSA data collection than any power-hungry politician would reaching the Whitehouse... this is just one of many examples to come showing true change, not just changing the mask over the current leader between red and blue as we have done in recent elections over the last sixteen years or so...
Not saying the NSA collecting is going to halt, but it is going to be reigned in.
This has got to be one of the most naive and incredibly stupid things I've ever read on Slashdot.
Treason has a very specific definition in the US constitution. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, for example, were tried for espionage, not treason.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Perhaps Trump will follow the logic of the current candidate selections for the chief advisor and Secretary of State and reign in the surveillance programs by selecting a real life cowboy from Kentucky to the role of DNI.
His term would have ended anyway on Jan 20th, so how is it news? I know it's been a slow news week since the elections last week, but still
NSA is an effective tool for the American economy and policy making. I don't see any reason why a businessman like Trump would reign it.
I suppose it'll be rather left to its own devices, also because of its apparent complexity to the administration. If something the intelligence efforts will be strengthened, as the administration composition so far suggests.
Trump's tactic of pre-emptively revealing pretty much everything has left the security apparatus somewhat toothless, too.
"...it is going to be redirected." FTFY
Not get the point and make a completely irrelevant rebuttal much?
DRAIN.....THE......SWAMP
Do we have anyone in the intelligence community that doesn't represent the special interests of the military industrial complex? I don't think so. We need to make war profiteering illegal again... or at least enforce the war profiteering laws we have. The entire intelligence and military culture needs a massive revamp and scale-down. They've become so large and out of control that they turned that apparatus on it's own people. Keep them minimally funded so that they can only concentrate on what is actually important to this nation.
We pay Mexico several hundred million per year to patrol their side of the border. They are doing a poor job of it. Trump is a business man and talks in accounting terms. If you turn a liability (foreign aid) into an asset (a wall), in business terms you are making the beneficiary of the liability pay for the asset.
Even if it fails miserably the wall will be a jobs project and will prevent billions of dollars over the years being funneled into corrupt border politicians in Mexico.
Get BLANK ATM Programmed Card and cash money directly in any ATM Machine around you. There is no risk of being caught, because the card has been programmed in such a way that it's not traceable, it also has a technique that makes it impossible for the CCTV not to detect you, and you can only withdraw a total amount of $7,500.00 USD in a day. Now email us today at our E-mail address at: garymckhackermachine@gmail.com and get your card today..
For someone claiming to drain the swamp he sure is bringing on board a lot of established Washington players....
Trump transition team announces 5-year lobbying ban for appointees
The ban is for appointees becoming lobbyists not the other way around (first sentence of article you included). At present the Obama administration has a 2-year wait for lobbyists to join the administration - don't know what Trump will do.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
He's self-deporting from the swamp.
Giving Hillary a cabinet position oughta put her on ice for a while.
Well at least your credibility exceeds Trump's.
You whine about Trump wanting a wall on the Mexican border while completely ignoring the fact that the Mexicans want the same thing on their southern border. That makes you a hypocrite and a tool.
Why isn't he being prosecuted for perjury - lying to Congress - that's what I want to know
.
== WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??
There are many people who don't want to work for the next admin getting out.
Good luck replacing everyone with competent people.
It say in the article that he has been talking about retirement every day for the last year or so. So no news, if you RTFA.
love is just extroverted narcissism
We pay Mexico several hundred million per year to patrol their side of the border.
Nope. You must have gotten that statistic from fake news. The 200 million figure seems to match the figure for all security/military (non-economic) aid, only a small portion of which is earmarked for their northern border, and which was probably a lot less this year..
Total foreign aid, some of which boosts our own economy in indirect ways, is in the $400-$500 million range.
Even if we take Trump's own underestimation of $8 billion and canceled all foreign aid to Mexico, which would cost us dearly in the economy, it would take 20 years to make up that much money.
Someone had to do it.
Because I don't believe anything stated in his platform as he's a compulsive liar and he's playing one long confidence-man con game.
Because I honestly hope he DOESN'T adhere to the bulk of those statements he's made on the campaign trail because holy shit!
Because while part of his "platform" likes the idea of smaller government, he's made no specific remarks about the warrant-less wiretaps, the dragnet, or Clapper's perjury against congress (that I know of). You're hoping that the president-elect will adhere to a general theme. One which you think means he'll stop his government from spying on people.
Because while the "smaller government" part might conceptually align with reducing FBI's spying program, the "less regulation" part would remove the safeguards that keep them from further abusing citizen's rights. If he does both, well now we've got a bunch of unshackled spooks with a shrinking budget who have a ton of access to very valuable information.
James Clapper
August 9, 2010 - Jan 20, 2017
ClapOn - ClapOff
A ban on lobbyists doesn't have any practical value when Trump wants to appoint the very people who would pay for lobbying services, such as Jamie Dimon.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
What will we do without 'The Clapper'?
love is just extroverted narcissism
Or just use the NSA surveillance to go after the people he disagrees with and regards as his enemies. Seems a lot more likely to me.
As commander in chief, he won't have to 'put up' with it at all, he'll enjoy all the benefits of it.
Do you really imagine that his appointees will refuse a request for deep intel on the next person that irks him on Twitter?
Wait.. wut?!? Why am I hearing this for the first time after the election? Who knows, I might have voted for him, had this secret gotten out earlier.
Prior to the election, he was saying he wanted to EXPAND the role of the federal government. He was talking left of Clinton (though not left of Stein). A few examples:
1) He was going to enact some kind of 1930s-style construction work program to build a new wonder of the world: The US-Mexico Wall. FDR was going to be finally humiliated and out-done. This is probably going to be one of the most expensive construction projects in US history, and near as I can tell, it's all for the purpose of employeeing the workers and contractors (getting money flowing from the federal coffers) with virtually no utility value.
2) He was going to MASSIVELY interfere with the free market's use of foreign labor. This was a HUGE part of his platform and anyone who says otherwise is a complete liar. He hammered this over and over again, from many directions. He was going to use government power to prevent importing of both products and workers. The guy is hugely anti-free-market, maybe not an actual communist but was promising to be the the most communist president that we have seen in nearly half a century.
3) This is cheesy and superficial, but his make-America-great slogan sounded a lot like an echo of LBJ's Great Society. And as it happened, his voting supporters really did seem to come from the poorer states. I am pretty sure there was some kind of implied government handout involved (see the stuff above).
Is he now back-pedalling on all the big-government stuff? When the fuck did this happen?
How do you refute a prediction about a future event without any evidence to confirm or deny?
Protip: One sure-fire way that I have found to effectively refute a prediction is to wait and observe it not coming to pass.
sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
Nope no handout implied. Simply, the Trump will no longer allow the US Government to actively work against the best interests of the middle class in the flyover states as has been done now for 30 years to benefit the east and west coast states.
Yeah, he didn't "allegedly lie", he lied.
A lie requires intent to deceive, and proving intent is difficult it's true. However this isn't criminal law here. We don't actually have to "prove" anything.
Clapper made a false statement under oath to Congress. The statement was about something he is actually in charge of, and it's not some obscure issue that might get lost in a large organization. This was perhaps the burning question about the mandate and activities of his agency, at the time he was giving testimony. In other words, it was his job to know. The question was straightforward and so was his answer. And his answer was false.
All that Congress and the executive had to say was, "we no longer have confidence in the ability and judgement of James Clapper to fulfill his duties. He was not forthcoming under testimony before Congress." And that would the end of Clapper's career as a spook. No proof about intent is necessary.
If you actually want to pursue charges of perjury, of course you need more. But Clapper never lost his job, never got a written reprimand, never even got so much as a disappointed look, so the system once again protected their own.
I don't think you've got that right. Let's imagine for a minute that what you write has some truth to it, that Jamie Dimon would have engaged lobbyist while at Goldman Sachs. Do you think he would have done that out of personal interest and out of his own pocket? Or would he have been pursuing the goals and interests of his employer? It seems pretty likely that it is the goals and interests of his employer, doesn't it? Suppose he went to work for American Express... do you think he would continue to work towards the goals and interests of Goldman Sachs, or that of his new employer? If he was picked for the job of Secretary of the Treasury he would be responsible to President Trump, not Goldman Sachs. He would have a broader portfolio of responsibilities. His actions would also have to withstand scrutiny by Congress, President Trump, the Courts, the public, and the financial community. I doubt he would last long in that job if he started making decisions to specifically benefit Goldman Sachs, the many other companies in the market would complain and file lawsuits. He would be out for ethical problems before too long, and then be radioactive to most employers.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
ROFL. Drain the swamp, then rehire the alligators and give them stock options in SwampCo Inc.
You people were played like cheap fiddles.
Wyden: Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?
Clapper: No sir.
Wyden: It does not?
Clapper: Not wittingly. There are cases where they could, inadvertently perhaps, collect—but not wittingly.
-- Senate Intelligence Committee, March 12, 2013
Thank you, Senator Wyden.
Thank you, Edward Snowden.
What a huge lie that turned out to be. Clapper's resignation may be expected at this point, but still, it is a reminder of how unaccountable those agencies are.
Pardon Snowden and give him the job of NSA Director.
I think we've seen it's premature to predict how Trump might react to nearly anything. Until long after his reaction is complete, there's no telling what he did.
And I wish I were being sarcastic.
Clap on, clap off... for Clapper!
(Gold clap)
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
No; the concern isn't that he would make decisions specifically to benefit Goldman Sachs, but that his decisions would primarily benefit the industry that Goldman is a part of rather than benefiting the people of the US.
dom
naive fool. dream on.
It's a positive sign when a guy who went before congress and, while under oath, lied to congress and the American people about spying on them contrary to the plain text of the US Constitution's Bill of Rights.
Now if Trump can get rid of the corruptocrats in the DOJ who did not do anything about Clapper's perjury (or Clinton's perjury for that matter) perhaps the level of muck in the swamp will truly begin to lower.
People need to remember that one reason why the NSA was spying on EVERYBODY (mostly American citizens with very clear Constitutional rights and NO reason to be suspects), is because the government was in total political correctness mode. Trump just does not roll that way. He rejects PC and is willing to take the heat over it as evidenced by the savage "news" coverage he got during the campaign. He's a business guy whose likely to ask some very tough questions about the cost-effectiveness of spying on EVERYBODY instead of narrowly focusing on actual suspicious persons. As somebody always getting audited by the IRS, he's probably also rather unimpressed by government agencies going after citizens without serious cause.
I'm not a Trump fanboy, but I suspect the next year is going to be highly interesting/entertaining and I'd bet we're going to see all sorts of meltdowns by establishment people (in both parties), lobbyists, pundits, campaign "experts", pollsters, mainstream media personalities.... Most people in DC hate change, do not want accountability, do not want to have to demonstrate performance/productivity, hate being turned-down for positions they believe they are entitled to, etc. I'm gonna be popping a LOT of popcorn, I think [smile].
Rudy Giuliani.
I cant think of a more fitting cast member than that. The guy just oozes slime and is well antiquated with "law" and "order". Physically, he is exactly who i picture is listening to my phone calls and recording my packets.
Sleaze incarnate.
-
This is the only sensible thing I've seen here all week. Which means it will never happen.
You keep using that word. I'm not sure it means what you think it means.
Nobody said anything about supporting Mexico's wall either.
The whole Snowden thing happened because of that lie. Unless you are claiming that the Snowden leaks are the lies, he DID lie to congress. Just because he was not prosecuted for that doesn't mean it didn't happen. WTF???
BTW, in other news, contradicting the other post on the front page, he also claimed that:
"After the issuance of the statement and the communication that I know took place between our government and Russian government, it seemed to have curtailed the cyberactivity that the Russians were previously engaged in," Clapper said.
He said he was specifically referring to the "cyber-reconnaissance" that had been observed prior to the statement. "That sort of activity seemed to have curtailed," he said.
He said intelligence agencies don't have good insight on when or how Wikileaks obtained the hacked emails.
Why would anyone put someone they believe to be a felon in a position as an advisor and administrator? Trump said that Clinton would be investigated and potentially put in prison for her crimes. That does not sound like an endorsement for a position in his administration.
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
If you follow the logic used to choose heads of regulatory bodies from a pool of those in the industry being regulated, then Clinton could be the Attorney General.
When you drain the swamp you often find that you expose the alligators... at that point it would be unwise to ignore them.
"pardon Snowden on his first day in office" You can't really pardon someone who has not been convicted of crime. Had Snowden only released the domestic information he would be walking around free today. But releasing the information on foreign intelligence operations cannot be swept aside. He freely admitted that his entire purpose in getting the NSA job was to steal classified information. He was evidently too stupid to take refuge in another country before he released the information. Nobody was after him until he went public. And if he was as knowledgeable about NSA activities as he claims to be why did he think he would not be pursued and prosecuted for his admitted crimes? And he might want to start worrying about Putin handing him over to Trump as a gesture of good will. Russia is trying to get out from underneath the economic sanctions which combined with the low oil prices is draining their economy.
Yes, surveillance under fascist regimes always expands, never contracts.
If I was Mexican maybe I would give a shit. I actually don't care that much about how Trump's proposed wall effects them, it's how it affects us. It's about our attitude towards immigration, how much it will cost, enforcement and legal issues (e.g. splitting up families where the children are US citizens and thus entitled to stay), and the actual practicality and feasibility of such an endeavor. Comprende?
Only crack the nuts that crack. You don't put the ones that don't crack in the sack.
What the crap is a 'Jesus name'?
Only crack the nuts that crack. You don't put the ones that don't crack in the sack.
Grab george soros. Trade him for snowden. Pardon him.
Everyone wins.
Russia knows the score. They have a warrant out for soros 'dead or alive'.
Pro tip: Don't do shady-ass shit, and you won't have to worry about your employees selling your sorry-ass agency down the Volga.
Pardonne-moi si je t'aime
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
This is also the Trump who spoke of making corporations bring operations back to the US. The sane Trump who was supportive of forcing Apple to break encryption at a fundamental level.
He's unpredictable. Whatever he has said, it's difficult to paint him as being supportive of small government.
Clinton's is great at draining money from odious middle eastern regimes in to her own pockets. Trump should find a use for this ability.
> Not saying the NSA collecting is going to halt, but it is going to be reigned in.
No. It's just going to be monetized. Remember the love story between Germany's National Socialist Party and the Industry (Krupp, IG Farben et al)? Need I say more?
Not saying the NSA collecting is going to halt, but it is going to be reigned in.
Hi, friendly Grammar Nazi here! No offense intended to anyone, so to my liberal friends I am a "grammarian." To my Breitbart-reading friends, I am a "grammar-conscious Nationalist Socialist German Workers' Party member."
The recent election has brought up the use of the phrase "reigning in" or "reining in" on Slashdot like seemingly never before. I figured I'd provide a bit of helpful guidance to reduce ambiguity.
To "reign" is to rule in the sense of "regnal/royal" or kingly/queenly control over a kingdom, state or prom court. It is generally used with the preposition "over," as in "to reign over the prom and orchestrate choruses of "NEEEERRRRDDDDSSSSSS!" at the people who couldn't get dates tonight but will later shame us all at the 20 year reunion."
To "rein" is to control an animal (e.g. a horse) tethered to a rider. When used in the phrase describing someone wanting to pull something back from its current pace, "rein in" (e.g. government growth, spending, post-prom unwanted pregnancies) this form is normally used.
Happy reining and/or reigning, depending on your intended expression and/or high school prom experience.
"95% of all Slashdot
Maybe the rest of the world should wall-in you then!
Trump as a private business owner is going to put up with a lot less nonsense like NSA data collection than any power-hungry politician would reaching the Whitehouse... this is just one of many examples to come showing true change, not just changing the mask over the current leader between red and blue as we have done in recent elections over the last sixteen years or so...
Not saying the NSA collecting is going to halt, but it is going to be reigned in.
You actually believe what you just wrote, don't you?
You are astoundingly delusional. Good grief...
I ain't giving you a job! You're a not a goddam crook!
--
Al Capone
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Not saying the NSA collecting is going to halt, but it is going to be reigned in.
Yes, Trump will surely reign over more NSA data collection.
What is it with you buffoons not knowing what reins are? Spent all your time in a basement, never seen a horse? Or are you just trolling? Find out who will believe you're an idiot? Hint: with your posting history, it is everyone
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
The president *can* in fact pardon people that haven't been convicted of any crime, it's called a blanket pardon: http://www.factcheck.org/2008/06/blanket-pardons/
Why do you feel the need to refute any prediction? Just gotta show the world how smart you are, eh?
Stop mass surveillance on your own citizens without a warrant (and definitely no spreading of malware on your own country's machines - only do that if you have concrete reasons to worry about an attack by a foreign country), and no lying under oath like Clapper did.
And remember, Trump is pretty much unpredictable at this point...also
There, fixed that for you.
-- Make America hate again!
Hopefully, Crapper will not get off Scots-free. Regardless of the valuable work he has, or has not, accomplished for the USA Federal Government, he failed everyone when he lied. He showed himself NOT to a good employee of the USA Federal Government, a patriot or a loyal citizen of the USA. IMHO, he has shown himself to be a dishonorable person. The lying should come with a consequence. Will Obama pardon him also?
Presidents can pardon people from future prosecution. Why do you think there is such a discussion in the Media about Obama pardoning Hill.
"You can't really pardon someone who hasn't been convicted of a crime"
What crime was President Nixon convicted of? He was pardoned by President Ford for any crimes he might have committed.
Ford pardoned Nixon, who was not convicted of a crime. (but would have been.)
I'm amused at all the good people think Trump will do. I hope they are correct, but doubt it, based on his past acts.
Competent people are super hard to find. Notice how there aren't any in the current administration? That's not for lack of searching.
When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
Oh crap. I just spent my last mod point. +5 insightful. Inciteful?
Well said sir.
"Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen
Which one of his sons will he appoint?
It took the Snowden leaks to reveal the scope of the NSA activities. This seems like the sort of prediction that can never be refuted without a completely open government.
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
As for #2, immigration, whether for work or not, has been the domain of the federal government since the 1700s. It is one of the very very few things that the federal government does that is actually under its purview.
This is cheesy and superficial, but his make-America-great slogan sounded a lot like an echo of LBJ's Great Society
He's been specific that removing regulations will help businesses which will Make America Great again somehow. He didn't specify how, but apparently it will be a beautiful thing. He hasn't addressed how wealth only trickles up, how Trickle-Down Theory was a scam, and how money flows into the stock market instead making new jobs, but I'm sure he'll have some magnificent plan for that too.
Why would anyone put someone they believe to be a felon in a position as an advisor and administrator?
I'm not sure, but it would be consistent. There are a lot of weird questions you could ask about Trump's transition team and possible cabinet appointments.
Trump railed against the economic elites, so why would he appoint David Malpass as his lead for Economic Issues? He was Chief Economist at Bear Stearns in the six years leading to its collapse. One of the men guiding the financial system into the worst disaster since the 1930s.
Why appoint a climate change denier to the EPA? It makes as much sense as appointing felon hillary to, say, Attorney General.
If Trump doesn't like the lobbyist/Washington cycle, then why choose the chairman of a major Washington lobbying firm to head up the Labor team?
Why put Ken Klukowski, of all people, in charge of "protecting constitutional rights?" The virulently anti-gay religiously-conservative Breitbart columnist? Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse.
Mike Flynn, the man who fosters a religious war between Christianity and Islam, is the National Security Adviser. I'm sure that won't turn into a disaster.
Mike Pompeo, who says that Edward Snowden should be given the death sentence and publicly supported the US Government's illegal domestic spying programs and said they should have been much further in scope, will be CIA chief. We learned nothing.
Jeff Sessions says that Trump's "grabbing women by the pussy" is not sexual assault, just "very improper." Someone with that level of misunderstanding of assault laws is going to be Attorney General? Or who voted to allow "cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment" of individuals in custody by the US Government? The man who opposes "any reform" of civil forfeiture laws which allow the government to seize any property from someone whether or not they are guilty of a crime? The man who worked to remove Alabama university funding for gay-straight alliances because they promote "illegal, sexually deviate activities," which was struck down by the courts as an illegal infringement on free speech? People who don't like Big Government's meddling in a state's rights to control substances like cannabis will find an enemy in here! He also voted to deny President Obama's constitutional right to appoint any Supreme Court justice to replace Scalia. At this point I'm having a hard time thinking of someone more inappropriate to be Attorney General than Jeff Sessions is.
So sure, why not give Hillary a cabinet position? She can join the other disasters nominated.
Nothing Trump will do will be in the best interest of anybody but Trump.
You can't really pardon someone who has not been convicted of crime.
There is no such limitation on pardons granted by the president.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GERALD R. FORD, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki...
Trump as a private business owner is going to put up with a lot less nonsense like NSA data collection than any power-hungry politician would reaching the Whitehouse... this is just one of many examples to come showing true change, not just changing the mask over the current leader between red and blue as we have done in recent elections over the last sixteen years or so...
Not saying the NSA collecting is going to halt, but it is going to be reigned in.
Could you explain reined in? Is it Trump not going to just monitor adversaries and look for dirty linen?
Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
Presidents can pardon people from future prosecution. Why do you think there is such a discussion in the Media about Obama pardoning Hill.
Essentially, Trump did this to himself. He got his crime for Trump University converted to a 1/3rd payout and a fine.
Students lost with Trump, only got 1/3rd of their investment returned. Trump made a profit from a defunct university. SHAME SHAME SHAME.
Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada