U.S. Allies Annoyed by Trump's Attention to Putin at G20 Dinner: ‘The Body Language, the Chemistry’

Maybe I have got a weird sense of humor but I found the report below to be hilarious. Trump's ability to upset conventional applecarts is superb. People niggle at the smallest things he does.  I personally think it is fabulous that the Presidents of two of the world's greatest countries get on well.  Surely peace with Russia is what we all want.

And it is an example of a promise kept.  Trump promised better relations with Russia on the campaign trail.  I suspect that Trump sensed from the beginning that Putin was just a patriot doing his best for his country who shared a disrespect for political correctness


The man who broke the news of President Trump's unofficial, one-on-one conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a July 7 dinner in Germany said he found out about it from apparently disgruntled U.S. allies who watched the whole thing unfold.

Ian Bremer, a foreign policy analyst, author, and head of Eurasia Group, appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Wednesday to discuss the implications of the hour-long conversation between Putin and Trump where only the Russian translator knows for sure what the two men were saying to each other.

“Well, it's not surprising for leaders to have informal pull-asides when they have business to discuss in the context of these summits, but what is unusual is the length, the warmth in the context of what is already an unprecedented relationship between Trump and Putin,” Bremer said:

Many of the leaders that were in that room, including, you know, America’s most important allies were quite surprised. They found it unusual and noteworthy -- the body language, the chemistry, the fact that it went on for so long, and the fact that, of course, it reflected a much warmer relationship between Trump and Putin than he has with any of the other leaders in the room.

And I think in the context of a president who already has unnerved a lot of world leaders, making them wonder to what extent is the Trump administration committed to them, whether it’s on security or trade or climate or what have you – that’s really where the true uniqueness of this comes along.
Was any rule broken? “Morning Joe” anchor Mika Brzezinski asked Bremer.

“No, I don't think so,” Bremer replied. But not having two translators in such a situation is “extremely unusual,” he added.

"Putin didn't come to him. He got up. He went around the table, he sits down next to Putin. They're yucking it up. It’s very engaged, it’s very animated, it’s very connected. After a day and a half of summit, where he didn't do that with anyone else, any of his allies, and I think lot of people find that very disturbing.”

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Hypocrisy is routine for Democrats

And it doesn't bother them at all

If Elizabeth Warren didn’t have double standards, she’d have none at all. She claims to fight for minorities, but this rich white elitist lied about her ethnicity to steal a job from a minority.

She claims banks exploited the poor by giving them bad mortgages, but she raked in mountains of cash snatching up homes from foreclosed families and selling them for personal profit.

And how she’s been caught partying at an exclusive getaway with a Wall Street executive she claims to oppose.

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), one of the Senate’s fiercest Wall Street critics, attended a Democratic donor retreat over the weekend hosted by former UBS bank executive Robert Wolf, who last year lashed out against politicians that target Wall Street for political gain…

…Warren’s office did not respond to a request for comment on her decision to attend Wolf’s event.

Warren didn’t make any public announcement over the weekend regarding her participation in the donor event.

She did, however, post pictures on Twitter of a town hall she held in Martha’s Vineyard prior to the dinner, noting that the event was “what Democracy looks like.”

Warren couldn’t seem to find the time to criticize him at the private retreat the way she does in her campaign events.

I didn’t think it was possible, but Elizabeth Warren makes Hillary Clinton looks honest and trustworthy.

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Obsessive-Compulsive Democrats and Impeachment

The obstruction of Trump's agenda is the primary goal, but Democrats are hurting themselves just as much.

Who dares to deny that the circus-like atmosphere surrounding Donald Trump’s presidency is the most unusual political phenomenon in recent memory?

There is a lot of true craziness among the anti-Trump crowd. They criticize him for virtually everything, or nothing. Like the non-story involving Poland’s first lady, who set the anti-Trump world ablaze when, after her husband and Trump shook hands, she had the audacity to shake the hand of Melania Trump before greeting the president. Oh, the horror! And daughter Ivanka sat in for him briefly at the G-20 meeting wearing a pink dress with — gasp — bows on it!

Perhaps the best evidence of compulsive obsession (or is it obsessive compulsion?) and leftists losing their grip on reality was Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who wanted to impeach Trump before he was even sworn in.

Other evidence of the high degree of obsession — or at least amusing overstatement — comes from a survey by the drug and alcohol rehabilitation group Detox, which found, “Over 73 percent of Democrats would give up drinking for the rest of their lives if it led to the impeachment of President Donald Trump…” The survey did not provide a mechanism for assuring allegiance to the pledge.

It’s quite likely that many people who desire impeachment don’t understand what it is or how it works. Impeachment is a political remedy; it deals with breaches of public trust, or injuries done immediately to the society itself, by certain government officials, but not necessarily criminal activity in the traditional sense.

The grounds for impeachment require the significant likelihood that “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors” (crimes by public officials against the government) have been committed, according to Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution. It’s not the appropriate solution for those dissatisfied with the results of an election, or the most fervent wish to be rid of a president some don’t like.

Impeachment doesn’t remove a president from office. It’s the first step in a rigorous two-step process; bringing formal charges against him or her, much like a grand jury indictment. Remember, Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998, but went on to serve out his term as president because he was not convicted in step two, the trial by the U.S. Senate, requiring the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of its members.

The only other successful impeachment of a president was Andrew Johnson, who was acquitted by the Senate in 1868. Richard Nixon likely would have been impeached and convicted over the Watergate affair, but he avoided impeachment by resigning from office.

The record for presidential impeachment shows it to be a difficult process without much success, as deliberately designed by the Founders.

Failures don’t impede Democrats in their efforts at futile goals, however. Obsession and compulsion are tough masters to defeat. It’s almost as if their real goal is just stirring up negative opinion among their faithful followers to interfere with the president’s agenda…

“If they had a good case based on real information, I think they would mention it by now and put their cards on the table,” said Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative government watchdog group. He is also a former Pennsylvania state prosecutor and former counsel for the board of directors at the Legal Services Corporation. He added, “They don’t have high crimes and misdemeanors. They don’t have low crimes and misdemeanors.”

Despite any compelling evidence, or even evidence that isn’t compelling, leftist cohorts who have rallied to the idea include MoveOn.org, Democracy for America and other “resistance” groups, and a group of Congressional Democrats who either don’t understand the issues or the process or just seek recognition.

This list includes the aforementioned Rep. Waters, along with Texas Rep. Al Green, California Rep. Jackie Speier, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, Maine Sen. Angus King, Texas Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee, Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, and Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal. And let’s not forget Virginia’s own Sen. Tim Kaine, who actually mentioned “treason” regarding Donald Trump Jr.‘s fruitless meeting with a Russian attorney in June 2016.

After admitting nothing has yet been proved, Kaine said, “We’re now beyond obstruction of justice, in terms of what’s being investigated. This is moving into perjury, false statements, and even potentially treason.”

California Rep. Brad Sherman actually has introduced articles of impeachment, although the House Democrat leadership hasn’t fallen in line with that move. The effort is almost certain to fail because only one Democrat, Al Green, has signed on to it, and, oh by the way, it won’t go anywhere in a Republican-controlled Congress.

At some point, however, Democrats must chill down the rhetoric. Emotion and desire, however fervent and crushing they may be, must be put aside, an objective look at the actual case must be undertaken, and then they need to get back to performing the national service for which they were elected. Then again, since they’re utterly untrustworthy on handling any issue of importance, the nation would be better served if Democrats continued their obsessive spiral and failed to advance in the 2018 election.

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Full Repeal of Obamacare Has Always Been the Only Answer

Sen. Mike Lee (R.-Utah) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R.-Kan.) dealt a blow to Obamacare “repeal and replace” efforts last night when they announced they would not vote for the latest version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act.

Now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to schedule a vote to repeal major sections of the Affordable Care Act using the reconciliation process, but it still won’t be a full repeal.

Republicans made a commitment to the American people. They committed to repealing Obamacare, and Americans put them in office to do it. Now, Republicans have a chance to finally do the right thing for the American people. They must simply repeal every word of the ACA. A vote on a two-page repeal bill will end the needless quibbling and ongoing drama about the details of a bill that was never full repeal in the first place.

The Better Care Reconciliation Act only further embedded federal controls, federal infrastructure, federal subsidies and federal dollars of Obamacare into federal law. The Senate bill is not repeal. The House bill is not repeal. Both bills were designed for big insurers and big government. They aren’t bills to benefit patients, and they don’t restore health freedom or affordability. Any “replacement” bill that exchanges one federal program for another is not the right direction. Full repeal has always been the only answer. We call on the Senate to put a real repeal bill up for a vote.

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A trip down memory lane



And they say Trump's foreign policy is naive! Trump has to pick up the pieces left by Democrat stupidity.

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For more blog postings from me, see  TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH,  POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, and Paralipomena (Occasionally updated),  a Coral reef compendium and an IQ compendium. (Both updated as news items come in).  GUN WATCH is now mainly put together by Dean Weingarten. I also put up occasional updates on my Personal blog and each day I gather together my most substantial current writings on THE PSYCHOLOGIST.

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