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Trump fires 4th Inspector General.

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  • #61
    Originally posted by Ronson View Post
    I was being sarcastic. I assume you were too.

    I just can't imagine any major issue along these lines.
    You don't need to imagine, there is a pattern of misuse of taxpayer funds for Pompeo and his wifes's personal use. This is only the latest accusation of aleged misuse.

    Comment


    • #62
      As it turns out, the State Dept. IG was allegiedly just about to complete an investigation into Pompeo's emergency declaration to sell billions in arms to Saudi Arabia against bipartisan congressional legislation blocking the sale.

      Comment


      • #63
        Originally posted by JimL View Post
        Banana republic here we come! Do you think you Trumpsters will ever wake up!
        No, because the proper running of this country isn't something they value.

        Trump was elected to give half of the country the middle finger. To date, he's been remarkably effective in that capacity, and as long as he keeps annoying the people who make right-wing conservatives feel stupid, they'll continue to support/defend him.

        Comment


        • #64
          Originally posted by Whateverman View Post
          No, because the proper running of this country isn't something they value.

          Trump was elected to give half of the country the middle finger. To date, he's been remarkably effective in that capacity, and as long as he keeps annoying the people who make right-wing conservatives feel stupid, they'll continue to support/defend him.

          Whatever, man.



          What? Someone had to say it. Best to get it out of the way early on....
          ...>>> Witty remark or snarky quote of another poster goes here <<<...

          Comment


          • #65
            Originally posted by MaxVel View Post
            Originally posted by Whateverman View Post
            No, because the proper running of this country isn't something they value.

            Trump was elected to give half of the country the middle finger. To date, he's been remarkably effective in that capacity, and as long as he keeps annoying the people who make right-wing conservatives feel stupid, they'll continue to support/defend him.
            Whatever, man.



            What? Someone had to say it. Best to get it out of the way early on....
            Absolutely. I have no doubt that you wont be the last, too

            The text you responded to was admittedly hyperbolic. In an effort to put a slightly less-insulting face on what I'm referring to, I'll point to this last Sunday's broadcast of Fareed Zakaria's show GPS. He usually begins every show with a brief "editorial" about what the show's going to contain, and on Sunday, he addressed the way politics has blended in with our national response to the pandemic.

            To be sure, Zakaria can be stereotyped as a liberal elite, but he's pretty good at sticking to the facts. One of these is that the public response to the pandemic is split along the line of "trusting authority". Liberals tend to, and conservatives tend not to (in a very loose sense). This aligns with the way red states generally have more people who downplay the seriousness of (and advice for) the pandemic, whereas blue states see more people wearing masks and social distancing, etc. Assuming Trump was telling the truth about taking Hydroxychloroquinone, this is consistent with the aforementioned rule.

            ps. sorry for the soapbox. I'm a rabid Anyone But Trump fan, but I thought it was bad form to start posting here again by insulting half the country. The above soapbox was an attempt to explain the president's behavior without doing that.

            pps. sorry for the pandemic tangent
            Last edited by Whateverman; 05-19-2020, 10:19 AM.

            Comment


            • #66
              Originally posted by JimL View Post
              Each of these IG's were, in the eyes of the president, disloyal to him in their investigatory activities and so they were fired. It is not only their firing that the president is interested in but it is the message he is sending to anyone else who should dare speak truth to his power. Same with Dr. Bright who spoke against the presidents HYdroxycloroquine use. Comey who investigated Russia connections, Sessions, who refused to fire Mueller. McCabe, and on and on and on. It's systematic retaliation for disloyalty to the wannabe dictator. Open your eyes.
              What brand of mind reading pills are you taking? By chance, do they have ‘pez’ written on them?
              "The man from the yacht thought he was the first to find England; I thought I was the first to find Europe. I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy."
              GK Chesterton; Orthodoxy

              Comment


              • #67
                Originally posted by Whateverman View Post
                No, because the proper running of this country isn't something they value.

                Trump was elected to give half of the country the middle finger. To date, he's been remarkably effective in that capacity, and as long as he keeps annoying the people who make right-wing conservatives feel stupid, they'll continue to support/defend him.
                This has been my point for quite a while. Whatever Trump does is ok, as longs as while he's doing it he's trumbing his nose (or giving the finger to) someone with a liberal label.

                He can violate the emoluments clause

                He can throw the children of immigrants in jail

                He can invite china to interfere in our elections

                He can abuse his power and fire anyone and everyone that would hold him accountable

                He can undermine free speech and convince half the country to ignore the press almost in its entirety

                He can have multiple women who he has molested or committed adultury with

                He can ignore a pandemic until we have 10's of thousands of deaths and encourage insane conspiracy theories or rhetoric designed to make half the country think 'it's just like the flu'.

                He can lie about anything and nearly everything each and every day

                He can do almost anything that under normal circumstances would have him impeached or people marching in the streets of washington - but as long as while he is doing it he's giving a Democrat the finger, it is ok.
                My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. James 2:1

                If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not  bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless James 1:26

                This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; James 1:19

                Comment


                • #68
                  Originally posted by DivineOb View Post
                  Again, IsG can be removed for any reason but not for a corrupt reason. No one is claiming Trump does not have the legal authority to fire an IG.
                  But it sure looks like some are jumping to the conclusion that since it is Trump then it just must (MUST I say!) have been illegal or at the very least unethical.

                  I'm always still in trouble again

                  "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                  "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                  "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                  Comment


                  • #69
                    Trump: I don’t know the guy, never heard of him. Mike Pompeo told me to do it.

                    What an admission!
                    “I think God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.” ― Oscar Wilde
                    “And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence” ― Bertrand Russell
                    “not all there” - you know who you are

                    Comment


                    • #70
                      Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                      But it sure looks like some are jumping to the conclusion that since it is Trump then it just must (MUST I say!) have been illegal or at the very least unethical.
                      The probability is indeed very, very high. But that does not mean that in a small percentage of the cases he might actually be justified. Which is part of the game he plays - he only needs to be justified 1 in 10 or 1 in 20 actions for him to keep the support of people like you. And those are massively winning odds when your goal is to stop oversight so you can do whatever you want to do.
                      My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. James 2:1

                      If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not  bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless James 1:26

                      This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; James 1:19

                      Comment


                      • #71
                        Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                        But it sure looks like some are jumping to the conclusion that since it is Trump then it just must (MUST I say!) have been illegal or at the very least unethical.
                        There's a reason the standard of behavior is to avoid the "appearance of impropriety" in most cases. It's because doing something proper but which appears improper harms the credibility of the underlying institutions (and is self defeating besides).

                        So, while it is possible that Trump was acting properly, given that the fired IG was very close to finishing up a report which involves Pompeo it certainly gives the outward appearance that the firing might have been improper. It makes everyone's lives a lot easier to act with a higher standard than just what the letter of the law demands.

                        Comment


                        • #72
                          Originally posted by firstfloor View Post
                          Trump: I don’t know the guy, never heard of him. Mike Pompeo told me to do it.

                          What an admission!
                          All-the-more notable in the context of a tweet he posted in 2013:

                          Leadership: Whatever happens, you're responsible. If it doesn't happen, you're responsible.

                          Comment


                          • #73
                            Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                            But it sure looks like some are jumping to the conclusion that since it is Trump then it just must (MUST I say!) have been illegal or at the very least unethical.
                            Originally posted by oxmixmudd View Post
                            The probability is indeed very, very high. But that does not mean that in a small percentage of the cases he might actually be justified. Which is part of the game he plays - he only needs to be justified 1 in 10 or 1 in 20 actions for him to keep the support of people like you. And those are massively winning odds when your goal is to stop oversight so you can do whatever you want to do.
                            Thank you for providing an example that illustrates what I said.

                            I'm always still in trouble again

                            "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                            "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                            "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                            Comment


                            • #74
                              Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                              We don't even know if that's true. Politico's source was a congressional aide, so this could very well just be office gossip.
                              Pompeo has admitted he requested Trump to fire

                              Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/18/politics/pompeo-inspector-general-firing-explanation/index.html



                              Washington (CNN)Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday said that he asked President Donald Trump to remove State Department Inspector General Steve Linick because the independent watchdog was "undermining" the department and wasn't performing in a way that the top US diplomat wanted him to.

                              "I went to the President and made clear to him that Inspector General Linick wasn't performing a function in a way that we had tried to get him to, that was additive for the State Department, very consistent with what the statute says he's supposed to be doing," he told The Washington Post in his first public comments on the matter. "The kinds of activities he's supposed to undertake to make us better, to improve us."

                              He did not go into details about what specifically displeased him about Linick's job performance.

                              Speaking at the White House Monday, Trump repeatedly said he fired Linick -- whom the President claimed not to know -- at Pompeo's request.

                              "I said, 'Who appointed him?' And they say, 'President Obama.' I said, 'Look, I will terminate him.' I don't know what's going on other than that. You would have to ask Mike Pompeo. They did ask me to do it, and I did it," Trump said.

                              Trump informed Congress on Friday of his intent to fire Linick. A senior State Department official told CNN then that Pompeo had made the recommendation.
                              The Office of Inspector General acts as an independent watchdog of the State Department. One of its core values is "integrity." "We maintain our independence and act with courage, honesty, and professionalism. Our work is fact-based, objective, and supported by sufficient evidence that meets professional standards," it states on its website.
                              A former senior State Department official told CNN that "an independent IG's job is to be that: independent. If the IG is doing his job, the IG is going to be at odds with the seventh floor. The IGs job is to uncover waste fraud and abuse," they said.

                              IG investigations into Pompeo

                              On Friday night, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat, revealed that Pompeo had been under investigation by the Inspector General's office. A Democratic aide told CNN this weekend that the IG had been probing whether Pompeo made a staffer perform a variety of personal errands, including walking his dog.
                              Engel said Monday that the ousted IG had almost finished an investigation into Pompeo's decision to fast-track an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Later on Monday a congressional aide confirmed that Pompeo had refused to sit for an interview with the inspector general's office as part of that investigation.

                              Pompeo claimed he was not aware that Linick was investigating him at the time he recommended that the IG be removed. According to the Post, he only knew about one case "involving a national security matter."

                              © Copyright Original Source

                              Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
                              Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
                              But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

                              go with the flow the river knows . . .

                              Frank

                              I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

                              Comment


                              • #75
                                Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                                Thank you for providing an example that illustrates what I said.
                                You are welcome. The problem for you is that you want me to deny the truth just because you want to pretend that is not what Trump is doing and I'm somehow being unfair. To assume Trump is trying to skirt oversight is not being unfair, it is simply predicting current behavior based on past behavior. I can predict that Trump will lie about something today. And he will. I'm not being unfair, it's just what he does.

                                Your mistake is in deceiving yourself into believing that Trump has not earned the reputation and the just expectation that his firing if the IG was for unethical reasons. He fires people when they put ethics or the good of the country ahead of loyalty to him. It's purely random then as to when what he does actually turns out to also be justifiable for ethical reasons.
                                Last edited by oxmixmudd; 05-19-2020, 03:34 PM.
                                My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. James 2:1

                                If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not  bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless James 1:26

                                This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; James 1:19

                                Comment

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