Biden Transition Thread

[NATI BENGALS]

(12-15-2020, 05:45 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: This really comes off as racist.  I don't think that was your intent, but wow.

Maybe the wuhan flu infected my brain.

But since Chinese spies sleeping with politicians is in the news now days. I figured I would take a moment to reflect on the fact the most powerful man in US politics the last decade punched well above his weight class when he married his wife. I won’t get into the money flowing from China from her family that helped him get re-elected and maintain his power though. Don’t want to get blamed for being a racist for pointing out the obvious.

[Vas Deferens]

(12-15-2020, 05:45 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: This really comes off as racist.  I don't think that was your intent, but wow.

What’s racist about that? Honest question...

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(12-15-2020, 07:34 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: Maybe the wuhan flu infected my brain.

But since Chinese spies sleeping with politicians is in the news now days. I figured I would take a moment to reflect on the fact the most powerful man in US politics the last decade punched well above his weight class when he married his wife. I won’t get into the money flowing from China from her family  that helped him get re-elected and maintain his power though. Don’t want to get blamed for being a racist for pointing out the obvious.

Just because his wife is of Chinese ancestry does not mean she has loyalty to China in any way, shape or form.  It's that type of thinking, and note I am not accusing you of this level of extremism, that lead to the internment camps during WW2.

(12-15-2020, 07:39 PM)Vas Deferens Wrote: What’s racist about that?   Honest question...

Because McConnell's wife if of Chinese ancestry, which is the only reason he said she could be (is even) a Chinese spy.  If he was married to white, black or Hispanic woman he wouldn't have made the statement.

[NATI BENGALS]

(12-15-2020, 08:14 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Just because his wife is of Chinese ancestry does not mean she has loyalty to China in any way, shape or form.  It's that type of thinking, and note I am not accusing you of this level of extremism, that lead to the internment camps during WW2.


Because McConnell's wife if of Chinese ancestry, which is the only reason he said she could be (is even) a Chinese spy.  If he was married to white, black or Hispanic woman he wouldn't have made the statement.

No you are right. I have just always been skeptical of any woman that would marry turtle man. Throw in her ancestry. Throw in the money flowing in from her family...

Recipe to make me racist. 

[GMDino]

Weird to see someone so adamant about other poster's behavior calling someone's statement "coming off" as racist.

Well it *would* be weird if the poster ever did any research and didn't just attack people they disagree with based only their opinions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/02/us/politics/elaine-chao-china.html

Quote:A ‘Bridge’ to China, and Her Family’s Business, in the Trump Cabinet
Elaine Chao has boosted the profile of her family’s shipping company, which benefits from industrial policies in China that are roiling the Trump administration.

Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary, oversees the American maritime industry. Her family’s shipping company, Foremost Group, has deep ties to the Chinese elite.Credit...Tom Brenner for The New York Times

• 
  [/url]
  

The email arrived in Washington before dawn. An official at the American Embassy in Beijing was urgently seeking advice from the State Department about an “ethics question.”

“I am writing you because Mission China is in the midst of preparing for a visit from Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao,” [url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6111369-2017-State-Department-Emails-Related-to-Planned.html#document/p4/a504464]the official wrote in October 2017.

Ms. Chao’s office had made a series of unorthodox requests related to her first scheduled visit to China as a Trump cabinet member, according to people with knowledge of the email. Among them: asking federal officials to help coordinate travel arrangements for at least one family member and include relatives in meetings with government officials.





Image
A redacted email about a trip Ms. Chao was planning to take to China. A request to include family members at events raised ethical concerns.


In China, the Chaos are no ordinary family. They run an American shipping company with deep ties to the economic and political elite in China, where most of the company’s business is centered. The trip was abruptly canceled by Ms. Chao after the ethics question was referred to officials in the State and Transportation Departments and, separately, after The New York Times and others made inquiries about her itinerary and companions.

“She had these relatives who were fairly wealthy and connected to the shipping industry,” said a State Department official who was involved in deliberations over the visit. “Their business interests were potentially affected by meetings.”


The move to notify Washington was unusual and a sign of how concerned members of the State Department were, said the official, who was not authorized to speak on behalf of the agency.

[The Chao family has deep ties to the world’s two largest economies. Here are five takeaways.]

David H. Rank, another State Department official, learned of the matter after he stepped down as deputy chief of mission in Beijing earlier in 2017. “This was alarmingly inappropriate,” he said of the requests.

The Transportation Department did not provide a reason for the trip’s cancellation, though a spokesman later cited a cabinet meeting President Trump had called at the time. The spokesman said that there was no link between Ms. Chao’s actions as secretary and her family’s business interests in China.



Ms. Chao has no formal affiliation or stake in her family’s shipping business, Foremost Group. But she and her husband, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, have received millions of dollars in gifts from her father, James, who ran the company until last year. And Mr. McConnell’s re-election campaigns have received more than $1 million in contributions from Ms. Chao’s extended family, including from her father and her sister Angela, now Foremost’s chief executive, who were both subjects of the State Department’s ethics question.

Much more at the link.

And I am SURE there will be an apology.  Totally sure.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(12-15-2020, 08:59 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: No you are right. I have just always been skeptical of any woman that would marry turtle man. Throw in her ancestry. Throw in the money flowing in from her family...

Recipe to make me racist. 

I don't think you're racist, but that statement was questionable at best.

[Benton]

(12-15-2020, 08:14 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Just because his wife is of Chinese ancestry does not mean she has loyalty to China in any way, shape or form.  It's that type of thinking, and note I am not accusing you of this level of extremism, that lead to the internment camps during WW2.


Because McConnell's wife if of Chinese ancestry, which is the only reason he said she could be (is even) a Chinese spy.  If he was married to white, black or Hispanic woman he wouldn't have made the statement.

Kinda of jumping in the middle here, so I may have missed something. But Chao and b extension Mitch, have a lot of interest in China's well being. Her family isn't just some mom and pop shipping company. McConnell owes a good chunk of his donations and personal wealth to China through connections made by his wife's family.

[GMDino]

(12-15-2020, 11:37 PM)Benton Wrote: Kinda of jumping in the middle here, so I may have missed something. But Chao and b extension Mitch, have a lot of interest in China's well being. Her family isn't just some mom and pop shipping company. McConnell owes a good chunk of his donations and personal wealth to China through connections made by his wife's family.

Aye.  I shared a link to a story about that very thing.

But even though it not "as" extreme...internments.  Or something.

That used to "hyperbole".  Now it's "not accusing you but..."

[Belsnickel]

(12-15-2020, 11:37 PM)Benton Wrote: Kinda of jumping in the middle here, so I may have missed something. But Chao and b extension Mitch, have a lot of interest in China's well being. Her family isn't just some mom and pop shipping company. McConnell owes a good chunk of his donations and personal wealth to China through connections made by his wife's family.

And, to be clear on this, if you have connections like that in China the probability is very high that there are connections to the ruling Communist party.

Now, I would be remiss if I failed to say that donations to a campaign war chest do not policy outcomes guarantee. If it was just money, I truly wouldn't care. But, connections to upper level government officials like this are, according to the research, have an 80% favorable policy outcomes result. Is it because they already court someone they agree with, or are they influencing the policymaker? Hard to say. We know people are more likely to give money to those they agree with already, though, so there is a reason money from China goes into McConnell's pocket.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(12-15-2020, 11:37 PM)Benton Wrote: Kinda of jumping in the middle here, so I may have missed something. But Chao and b extension Mitch, have a lot of interest in China's well being. Her family isn't just some mom and pop shipping company. McConnell owes a good chunk of his donations and personal wealth to China through connections made by his wife's family.

No, I appreciate you doing so.  Of all the complaints about McConnell I've heard this is new information.  Much appreciated, and I retract my earlier statement to Natey.

[*Nately120*]

(12-18-2020, 05:15 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: No, I appreciate you doing so.  Of all the complaints about McConnell I've heard this is new information.  Much appreciated, and I retract my earlier statement to Natey.

Who the hell is Natey?

[BmorePat87]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/21/politics/miguel-cardona-education-secretary/index.html

Dr. Cardona has 20 years of education experience including classroom teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, state commissioner, professor of education, and co-chair of two state education committees.

This is a refreshing change of pace from 0 years of experience and one of the most embarrassing confirmation hearings ever in which the candidate had to be taught basic education concepts by Senators.

[GMDino]

(12-22-2020, 12:41 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/21/politics/miguel-cardona-education-secretary/index.html

Dr. Cardona has 20 years of education experience including classroom teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, state commissioner, professor of education, and co-chair of two state education committees.

This is a refreshing change of pace from 0 years of experience and one of the most embarrassing confirmation hearings ever in which the candidate had to be taught basic education concepts by Senators.

It's only been four years but it's amazing how much of a relief it is to see qualified people put in positions they know about instead of just going to the highest bidder.

Now we'll see if the GOP question him being a "doctor". 

[BmorePat87]

(12-22-2020, 12:48 PM)GMDino Wrote: It's only been four years but it's amazing how much of a relief it is to see qualified people put in positions they know about instead of just going to the highest bidder.

Now we'll see if the GOP question him being a "doctor". 

I remember being told that Devos was qualified because she was a citizen and that was that. We'll see, right? 

[GMDino]

Meanwhile the Trump pardon spree has begun.

BREAKING: Trump has pardoned four former U.S. service members who were convicted of killing Iraqi civilians while working as Blackwater contractors in 2007.

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 23, 2020

 

Yes, I am aware that every outgoing President has issued a varying number of pardons and that for them most came through a DOJ review.  

[GMDino]

Man, who could have imagined that Trump would use the power of the Presidency to help his friends and allies and in the end help himself too.

If only we had some clue to the type of person Trump was before he was elected in 2016.

"A tabulation by the Harvard Law School professor Jack Goldsmith found that of the 45 pardons or commutations Mr. Trump had granted up until Tuesday, 88 percent aided someone with a personal tie to the president or furthered his political aims.” https://t.co/gOAyD1E1Ha

— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) December 23, 2020

 

[Belsnickel]

(12-22-2020, 11:42 PM)GMDino Wrote: Man, who could have imagined that Trump would use the power of the Presidency to help his friends and allies and in the end help himself too.

If only we had some clue to the type of person Trump was before he was elected in 2016.

"A tabulation by the Harvard Law School professor Jack Goldsmith found that of the 45 pardons or commutations Mr. Trump had granted up until Tuesday, 88 percent aided someone with a personal tie to the president or furthered his political aims.” https://t.co/gOAyD1E1Ha

— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) December 23, 2020

 

In all seriousness, though, do we know what that percentage is for other presidents? Maybe I'm too cynical with this stuff, but I wouldn't be surprised. That being said, I think more people around Trump were doing illegal things which could inflate that number. I guess my issue is more with the idea that people around him need pardons rather than him pardoning them.

[GMDino]

(12-23-2020, 07:48 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: In all seriousness, though, do we know what that percentage is for other presidents? Maybe I'm too cynical with this stuff, but I wouldn't be surprised. That being said, I think more people around Trump were doing illegal things which could inflate that number. I guess my issue is more with the idea that people around him need pardons rather than him pardoning them.

No doubt Trump skews everything.

One of the things some complained about was the sheer number of Trump related threads and posts over his term and the short answer was he was causing so many problems and breaking so many norms that he draws that kind of attention.

Like this too.

So many of his cronies are *probably* dirty that the number of pardons he will issue to "friends" will be skewed also.  

*IF* he issues pardons to his children I think that would be a first.

EDIT: I was wrong. From the article linked in my next post:

Quote: Bill Clinton Pardoned his half-brother, Roger Clinton, after his cocaine conviction in 1985.

And sane people would see that as a good reason to NOT elect someone in the future who has lost so many lawsuits and been accused of fraud so often and who places his family in powerful positions.  But all that money flowing into Trump's re-election campaign defense fund the PAC to pay off his bills tells me otherwise.

He's dirty...always was.

Now he's had the opportunity to be dirty with the power of the federal government (well, Republicans) supporting him.  Then he can wipe most of it away with a signature.

Ain't America great?

[GMDino]

Here's some more on Trump's pardons.

It should be noted and I should have mentioned it before....Trump has issued very few pardons or sentence reductions.  I'd personally chalk that up to his lack of empathy for anyone except himself and maybe his daughter but that's still the fact no matter the reason.

You can click on the link to see who he has pardoned and what their crime was.

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2020/12/18/trump-pardons-his-choices-and-their-place-presidential-history/6492080002/

It is interesting to see Obama issues the most clemencies...mostly for low level drug crimes while Trump issued four of his few pardons to a guy convicted of trying to import and/or sell cocaine and more for people convicted of war crimes/killing civilians.

[Big Boss]

"We'll pardon tried and convicted criminals, but protestors exercising their First Amendment rights should be gassed in the streets of Washington DC."

THE LAW AND ORDER PRESIDENT.