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[ursus arctos]

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Etienne, not very likely, as the charge is only a misdemeanor.

Montana does have a recall statute that includes members of Congress, but that has never been tested.

[Snake Plissken]

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Amor de Cosmos wrote: When it comes to the subject I'm reluctant to read too much into a single image. But most the photos I've seen of Melania Trump, both during and since the election, appear to reveal a deeply unhappy, or uncomfortable, person.

There is a fantastic article where someone analyses the photos that Melania takes herself and posts to her Instagram account - I'll try and find it when the work network isn't recording Google searches.

[Incandenza]

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Trump shoves someone (sorry, don't know the leader's name) out of the way so he could be in the front of the pack at the NATO meeting.

[Incandenza]

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Sorry for missing the earlier posts on Gianforte. He has some interesting thoughts on retirement, btw. This is from a 2015 speech he gave at Montana Bible College:

[quote]In a February talk at the Montana Bible College about how to find “godly purpose” in work, Gianforte explained why retirement isn’t consistent with biblical teachings.

“There’s nothing in the Bible that talks about retirement. And yet it’s been an accepted concept in our culture today,” he said. “Nowhere does it say, ‘Well, he was a good and faithful servant, so he went to the beach.’ It doesn’t say that anywhere.”

“The example I think of is Noah,” he continued. “How old was Noah when he built the ark? 600. He wasn’t like, cashing Social Security checks, he wasn’t hanging out, he was working. So, I think we have an obligation to work. The role we have in work may change over time, but the concept of retirement is not biblical.”[.quote[

[ursus arctos]

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Analysing Melania's photos

[Amor de Cosmos]

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ursus arctos wrote: Analysing Melania's photos

Hmmm. An lot more projection than analysis going on there I'd say. Nevertheless I think there's a sense she neither asked for, nor wanted, the role of FLOTUS. And like the rest of us, but for different reasons, wishes it would all go away.

[Incandenza]

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This is the best and most inscrutable Melania photo/tweet

[Tubby Isaacs]

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"You should have seen me in there!" says Paul Ryan.

[Ginger Yellow]

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Eh on the photos, but it's pretty hard to argue with stuff like the hand slap.

[Eggchaser]

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Sean of the Shed wrote: Nice touch of irony by the Pope, exchanging gifts with Trump and presenting him a copy of the speech he gave at World Peace Day on protecting the environment.

All I see...is buuuuuuuurn!

[Etienne]

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ursus, isn't the fact that the guy responsible for the charging decision (as I understand it) being a campaign donor to Gianforte relevant there?

[ursus arctos]

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Not really.

As I understand it, Montana's conflict of interest regime doesn't view that relationship as a problem, and their criminal assault statute sets a very high bar for a felony charge (requiring serious physical injury, among other things).

[Etienne]

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Fair enough. As it goes, from the accounts so far misdemeanour looks a more reasonable charge anyway. Clearly not fit for political office obviously. When will the results be in?

[Incandenza]

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Washington Post confirms that Jared is part of the Russia investigation.

[ursus arctos]

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Don't wait up.

Polls close at 10 pm Easten, and they are traditionally slow counters.

[Gerontophile]

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Unfortunately, the Montana result is not looking good for the Democrat.

[Gangster Octopus]

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Violence gets you elected...

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

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So that went well then.

I wonder what he exactly said, because it's been translated into german, and then back into english. Unless of course he was talking in German, which lets face it would be a bit of a surprise.

[Ginger Yellow]

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Der Spiegel say the original was "bad" not evil. Still dumb, given that he doesn't seem to have any basis for saying so other than that they are successful at exporting cars. He also doesn't seem to realise that GM is (well, was until a few months ago) present in Germany but branded as Opel.

[Tubby Isaacs]

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Gangster Octopus wrote: Violence gets you elected...

Lots of people had already voted.

I can't believe the Republicans are going to let him keep the whip though.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

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Germany and America's trade in goods is quite weird. They basically sell each other different versions of the same thing. It's just that Germany is way fucking better at making these things, so there's a large trade imbalance. The issue isn't that Germany are bad. It's that the Number of Americans who think German cars are better than american cars is massively larger than the number of germans who believe the reverse.

The US imports $1.80 for every $1 of goods it sells to germany, which isn't that much out of line with their overall level of importing $1.50 for every $1 exported generally.

[ursus arctos]

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Most of the Mercedes, BMWs and VWs sold here are made in Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Tubbs, this ain't Westminster. 45 has already celebrated the "big win in Montana", and the usual suspects are welcoming the "body slammer". He may well get primaries in 2018, though.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

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ah, so that will be the import of huge amounts of car parts then. I knew that the Germans had huge car plants in the US, because the other thing that Trump seems to be completely unaware of is that the German economy is a huge investor in the US, and a major employer.

[caja-dglh]

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I doubt he is completely unaware. He simply doesn't care to view the offsets and rants about very specific issues without a care for the offsets.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

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But why does he single out germany? The USA doesn't trade with Germany, it trades with the EU. The EU is by far the US's biggest trade partner. It's by far the US's biggest export market and to a lesser degree the biggest source of imports. It's the biggest destination of US FDI, and it's a much bigger investor in the US.

I'm trying to imagine how that Nato meeting went, Him in a room with a bunch of other leaders who think he's a russian stooge, and completely incapable of acting on his bluster, because he's already a dead man walking. That incident with the montenegrin PM wouldn't suggest that he received the usual deference accorded to the US president at a Nato get together.