[The Weeping Angel]

[davidjay]

It would appear that the Septics have voted by 427 to 1 to release the "Epstein Files".

I suspect nothing will come of this.

No way would it have passed if there was anything incriminating in there.

[Boiler]

It would appear that the Septics have voted by 427 to 1 to release the "Epstein Files".

I suspect nothing will come of this.

No way would it have passed if there was anything incriminating in there.

Indeed - I smell a "nothing burger" on the grill.

[Killer Whale]

Nothing that can't be brushed off, anyway.

[kreuzberger]

This isn't lunacy, this is something even more deeply troubling. His soul is now an open latrine being wantonly defecated in to from Moscow to Riyadh and back, via all the worst places in the known universe.

Khashoggi, MBS, ABC News.

There is no point in elaborating. He is evil and racing himself to unimaginable depths of depravity.

Unless he is restrained, he will nuke without a second thought, and it is unlikely that we will all be here to pick over the bones of that.

[satnav]

I think that fact that Trump continues to keep stalling on taking action in Ukraine every time Putin talks to him on the phone would suggest that Putin has some pretty incriminating stuff on Trump that Trump is desperate to keep out of public view. Whether this is linked to Epstein or something completely different I think it will come out eventually especially when Trump is no longer of any use to Putin.

[Boiler]

No, I think it's just how Trump thinks. I very much doubt the so-called "kompromat tape" exists and even if it did, it'd be denounced as an AI fake, such is the state of the art now.

No, another fever dream to be filed away with the Epstein stuff. Trump will run to the end of his term unhindered and untroubled, health permitting.

[Youngian]

US policy is to give Ukraine just enough to keep them in the game but not enough to win. It keeps the Europeans in line to kiss Trump's arse. America no longer has allies, it's a transactional power.

[Watchman]

Re the Epstein Files, I'm guessing Trump's only allowing their release following some serious editing

[Boiler]

America no longer has allies, it's a transactional power.

"America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests" - Kissinger.

Mind you, Lord Palmerston said something similar of Britain:

We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.

[Boiler]

Re the Epstein Files, I'm guessing Trump's only allowing their release following some serious editing

There'll be a lot of black ink.

[Killer Whale]

Re the Epstein Files, I'm guessing Trump's only allowing their release following some serious editing

There'll be a lot of black ink.

I think we're now past the stage where that will be acceptable to anyone.

[Andy McDandy]

I suspect he doesn't care any more. He has always seemed uncomfortable with the idea of being accountable to the public, and acts more like a CEO than a president. And his shareholders are definitely not the American people - at best, they're his customers. As far as he's concerned, he's the boss and that's the way it is. As for re-election, he's either guessing he'll be dead by 2028, or that he can just cancel or rig the election. So what if Vance and his kids have to pick up the pieces? He couldn't give a toss.

[Boiler]

Remember what he said, Andy: "vote for me... you won't have to do it again".

Now, that could simply mean that he'll have had his second term so you can't vote for him again; but I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. Whilst the fabled US Constitution doesn't allow a president to serve more than two terms, it didn't always: it could be amended. Similarly, does the two term rule apply to a total, or consecutive terms?

[mattomac]

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/fdr ... -amendment

Roosevelt will be his argument.

[Andy McDandy]

Meanwhile, he's been "doing a Bubba" on Mohammed bin Salman, claiming he's done a lot for human rights in Saudi, and that Jamal Khashoggi was a controversial guy with a lot of enemies, and sometimes bad things just happen. And that asking MBS questions is being rude to a guest.

American media seems to be getting more and more angry, and prepared to ask tougher questions.

[Boiler]

But it was okay to ambush and be rude to Zelensky... gotcha.

[RedSparrows]

But it was okay to ambush and be rude to Zelensky... gotcha.

Bottom line:

- lead a country that's smaller and under threat by a larger aggressor: nah fuck em, should be tougher!
- lead a country that's rich and useful: how dare you treat our ally badly!

It's realpolitik with an entirely unrequired extra vat of shit all over it.

[Andy McDandy]

Not just that. For him to really like you, you need to be rich, useful, and an arsehole about it.

[davidjay]

Re the Epstein Files, I'm guessing Trump's only allowing their release following some serious editing

See, nothing here. Liberal media, fake news, Commie judiciary. Now let's see what they say about the Clintons.