Yes, it was actually only 4 yrs that we we "sole", but it was three-quarters of a century before NK joined the club, and NK is really the sole topic of this discussion, is it not??

Re your 1) I'd say that after three-quarters of a century of total nuclear forbearance, much of which we were the SOLE nuclear power, we can claim that nobody, least of all tin-pot dictators of zero, shithouse countries, have any reasonable justification for needing "deterrance".

For shits and giggles, what is the year range that we were the "SOLE" nuclear power? Me thinks you are over selling "much" of "three-quarters of a century". Heh.

1) "I'd say that after three-quarters of a century of total nuclear forbearance, much of which we were the SOLE nuclear power, we can claim that nobody, least of all tin-pot dictators of zero, shithouse countries, have any reasonable justification for needing "deterrance"."

We were the sole nuclear power for only a very short 4 years, from 1945 - 1949, when the Soviets exploded their first weapon.

Given that the USA is the only nation to have ever used nuclear weapons against another country, and used them only against a non nuclear country, that gives them all the reasonable justification that they need regarding deterrence.

2) "Why the hell would we ever, under current circumstances, "invade" NK? Assuming they nuked us, or SK, I guarantee you, the response would not be send troops (as in 'boots on the ground') to "invade" the place."

Ground troops would be the only way to verify that all nuclear weapon capabilities were destroyed permanently.

3) "He's NOT "going to be destroyed anyway"! Only way he gets destroyed is IF he "takes out a single American city"."

You better make sure then that National Security Adviser John Bolton gets that memo, as his stated rationale is that he wants negotiations to quickly fail so that we can get on to the business of regime change thru force.

OK, if the "legal term is conspiracy", (instead of collusion) why did we have to be subjected to a solid year of hearing that the reason Hillary lost was "collusion"???

Anyway, are not the two terms damn near synonymous?

Re your 1) I'd say that after three-quarters of a century of total nuclear forbearance, much of which we were the SOLE nuclear power, we can claim that nobody, least of all tin-pot dictators of zero, shithouse countries, have any reasonable justification for needing "deterrance".

Re your 2) Why the hell would we ever, under current circumstances, "invade" NK? Assuming they nuked us, or SK, I guarantee you, the response would not be send troops (as in 'boots on the ground') to "invade" the place.

Re your 3) He's NOT "going to be destroyed anyway"! Only way he gets destroyed is IF he "takes out a single American city".

(Of course, I've gotta admit, it's comforting to know that that "single American city" likely ain't gonna be in Idaho, heh heh).

"Actually, I personally NEVER thought there was "a nuclear threat from North Korea"."

Then you're, pardon the expression, an idiot.

"The guy (Kim whoever) might be crazy, but there's no reason to think he's stupid. What could he gain from attacking the U.S.?? Why would he think taking out a single U.S. city would be a good trade if in exchange he and his entire shithouse country promptly ceased to exist?"

1) The name of the game is "deterrence." And it works both ways. As long as you think Kim might actually use or launch a nuclear weapon, and that makes you act cautiously on your part, that's all that really matters.

2) What would he gain? Besides from the mere extortion value? Use of a tactical nuke against either American troops or a South Korean target could stop any invasion of North Korea cold in its tracks. It has long been American policy to do something similar against Russian troops in Europe. Why wouldn't North Korea adopt the same strategy?

3) If you are going to be destroyed ANYWAY, why NOT take out a single American city with you??? Dictators who are going down anyway, often adopt a scorched earth policy at the very end. Think of Hitler in his bunker in Berlin as Soviet troops closed in. It does afford and give them a kind of grim satisfaction regarding their feeling of betrayal.

I still haven't seen any evidence that Trump is even a halfway decent negotiator. Remember when he agreed with 'Chuck and Nancy' about the budget, and with Diane Feinstein about DACA? Oh, that's right, that's because they were sitting right in front of him. He backpedals later. Kim is no idiot. He's watching Trump's people backstroking on the 'no wargames' promise already, and that was a handshake deal.

I thought that Obama began as a poor negotiator - particularly when putting together the ACA - but got better at it as soon as he hired Hillary, after which he won every showdown.

But Trump was supposed to be the old pro at this. But the folks who claim now that Trump is somehow playing 3D Chess can't point to any instance where that's evident - a surprise win, or a particularly brilliant result. All I see are agreements being trashed with very little left behind besides bellicose threats. Exactly how are these tariff's supposed to help, again?

Neil will have his specific take on this, but in my opinion, Trump seems to be brewing the perfect storm, adding one part overheated economy (the tax cuts), one part international trade war (creating uncertainty and market disruption) and one part misguided policy (removing Dodd-Frank protections and SEC oversight); I'll frankly be amazed (and relieved) if it doesn't blow up in his face.

Actually, I personally NEVER thought there was "a nuclear threat from North Korea".

The guy (Kim whoever) might be crazy, but there's no reason to think he's stupid. What could he gain from attacking the U.S.?? Why would he think taking out a single U.S. city would be a good trade if in exchange he and his entire shithouse country promptly ceased to exist?

"There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea."?

Your idiot leader wants you to, as you sit at attention of course :)

Kim Jong-un Pulls the Wool over President Trump’s Eyes

You'll have to search for the article yourself as CW.com blocks links to the National Review.

Kim Jong-un Pulls the Wool over President Trump’s Eyes

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/06/north-korea-summit-failure-for-united-states/#slide-1

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MS1mTsl403Y/WyQkoHRfljI/AAAAAAAAe_o/0EDfDKHUbkI1zk4hAdrpPaEAVwSxFx_3gCLcBGAs/s1600/trump-G7.jpg

They are either dumb and really don't understand or think everybody else is as stupid as most trumpkins.

Sums it very nicely. :)

When Trump and his inner circle are inevitably charged in this affair, the charge will likely include Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, not "collusion".

* Conspiracy
* RICO
* Aiding and abetting __________ FIBs, multiple counts

KEY

- RICO - Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, 18 U.S. Code Chapter 96

- FIBs - Fill in the blanks

* The FBI obtained 731 pages of WhatsApp and Signal messages.

* Technicians were able to reconstruct the bits of paper found in Cohen's shredder and produced approximately 16 pages. :) *grin*

That's because the legal term is 'conspiracy', a term that Republicans ought to be real familiar with, and which, by the way, is all over this case.

For instance, Paul Manafort has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to launder money, and conspiracy to obstruct justice as well as conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Manafort's business partner (and these days, State's witness) Rick Gates pled guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States in his plea deal. Manafort's GRU contact and former partner Konstantin Kilimnik has also been charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice stemming from his own efforts to convince witnesses to testify that 'the Hapsburg Group' didn't operate outside of Europe, which Manafort was just jailed for doing.

In addition, all of the 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies indicted by Mueller were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, and at least one charge of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

When Trump and his inner circle are inevitably charged in this affair, the charge will likely include Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, not "collusion".

Was that perhaps always a red herring Dems/Libs were grasping at to delegitimize his election victory? OMYGAWD, whoda ever thunk that???

Somebody who don't follow that stuff closely. :)

… I seem to be noticing that you damn near never hear the term "collusion with the Russians" anymore!

If it's not happening in Podunk, Idaho... Stucki starts using words like "damn near never."

I don't follow that stuff closely, but...

Who knew!? :)

Was that perhaps always a red herring Dems/Libs were grasping at to delegitimize his election victory? OMYGAWD, whoda ever thunk that???

Ha!

Y'all are on fire today. :)

Doh! *LOL*

"I'm sorry children, but Daddy can't come for a long tme....he bought a cheap shredder."

Don't let this happen to your family! Nuclear, extended or criminal!

Had to mention, spotted a good tweet on that feed that went:

Dear America

In the provice of Quebec, where the G7 summit was held, we have universal day care with a user fee of $7 per day.

Your child was poorly behaved, petulant, and displayed signs of bullying.

Thank you for picking him up early. You owe us $14.00.

Canada

See below - just filed in the search warrant case. The second and third bullets could pose a huge problem for Mr. Cohen and ultimately Mr. Trump (especially the third bullet)!!BTW, so much for encryption protection! #Basta

https://twitter.com/MichaelAvenatti/status/1007693742873202689

Those bullet points? The second says they were able to reconstruct some 16 pages of shredded documents which they are submitting.

The third says the FBI has been able to get, and today submitted to the court, 731 pages of encrypted "messages" - including "call logs" - from phones. These messages had been deleted via apps meant to keep calls from being retained/capture-able.

HA.HA.HA.

Was that perhaps always a red herring Dems/Libs were grasping at to delegitimize his election victory? OMYGAWD, whoda ever thunk that???

Yes, I think Cohen might overshoot his sell-by date - he may already have. Coz they have his records.

Blotus, knowing himself to be a criminal through and through, has always avoided keeping records as much as possible. He's definitely canny that way.

Cohen, OTOH, appears to be the opposite, which is good for justice, but bad for him and Blotus.

Giuliani goes on FOX Propaganda to scream that Mueller needs to be stopped and Peter Strzok should be jailed and Blotus wanders around the WH this morning babbling. I hope both are hearing the footsteps of Nemesis getting louder and louder and louder.

The criminal-in-chief and his various hench-criminals are going to continue to try to damage everyone/everything investigating them because that's all they have now. Blotus and Giuliani have YEARS of crimes to be reviewed and prosecuted and their constant denigration of investigators isn't winning them any friends.

Blotus' well-established pattern of throwing people under the bus as soon as they become inconvenient won't help him as things continue to heat up - nor will his history of stiffing people. Apparently one of Cohen's lawyers claims he's not being paid - Blotus is reportedly footing Cohen's legal bills, at least indirectly. Few things would be stupider than screwing over Cohen at this stage of the game - it literally PUSHES Cohen into Mueller's welcoming arms.

Separately the good people in America are rightfully appalled about Blotus' prison camps for asylum-seeking-children. Religious leaders who actually give a damn about their professed faiths are getting very vocal and the lying-sacks-of-fake-Christian-Trumpers are trying to claim the Bible says to "obey authorities" and that's justification. Trumpers apparently share with their master a desire to be seen as the worst-excuses-for-human-beings-possible by everyone-not-them.

They are succeeding.

Manafort is probably belting out a lusty rhapsody in blue right now, so Cohen had better heed the lesson and flip while he still can. I think Cohen's greatest contribution to prosecutors is as unwitting and unpaid gumshoe/archivist for the past decade or so. A flip might just be declined, or be deeply devalued from the bargain he might have gotten a few weeks or months ago. ACT NOW MIKEY! Or "Pulling a Cohen" may be a new addition to American slang. That would really hurt the ego of an aspiring wise guy.

https://www.apnews.com/4d0e9994c6e445c689025e40a8a4308b

Shoulda,woulda, coulda copped a plea deal. Now he has to hope for a pardon. Does Trump want a civil war?

I think that the report yesterday — maybe more importantly than anything — it totally exonerates me. There was no collusion. There was no obstruction, and if you read the report, you’ll see that. ~ Donald Trump

Yes, please read the "report yesterday," and you will discover that it doesn't even discuss the focus of the Mueller investigation. Also consider the fact that BLOTUS believes you're morons

When does the tipping point arrive? At what point do they clue in to the con?

Money laundering leads to a particularly wicked chain of events whereby income is underreported on any number of tax forms on one's New York State return... which in turn indubitably leads to "errors" on one's federal return. ;)

We need him grilled about the funding he got for his properties over the last two decades - that is where the dirt is.

Every time money is involved, Trump has something to hide. This is why the misdemeanor charge about his charity is so much more important - it is opening the door to the release of financial records from the Trump organization. It might not be this lawsuit, but there will be another and another - do you really think Benghazi!!! was the first or the last of these fishing trips?

When people think the game is nearly over, it'll just be getting started... and in the end, some of the Red team is going to jail.

These little town blues are melting away
I'm gonna make a brand new start of it in old New York
A-a-a-nd if I can make it there, I'm gonna make it anywhere
It's up to you, New York, New York.

So the paper trail don't lie, and the Trump campaign made in kind contributions of $2.8 million dollars in violation of federal law along with various other assorted violations of federal law under penalty of perjury.

The Trump Foundation was a slush fund. Who knew!? …. *grins* :)

However, I don't know that keeping the names of the court organizational structure from colony days qualifies as backwards. Just one of those little (but many) harmless quirks in this country.

Not sure how this applies to segregated school systems (mostly the product of segregated neighborhoods). That being just one example of NY being messed up.

just one of many ways new york is a backward little state. it's also home to one of the most segregated systems of public schools in the union - more than mississippi or alabama. who'd have thunk it?

JL

You missed a great opportunity for a Rocky and Bullwinklesque subtitle:

Or, Lame Defense Doesn't Add Up