I heard the argument that Russia was necessary to help deal with Iran which could have some weight I suppose. Problem is it plays right into the conspiracy theory democrats have that Putin controls Trump.

How was the annexation of Crimea not a legitimate justification for expelling Russia from the G8 though?

If you want to twist Putin's arm on his dealings in the Ukraine or Syria, cutting ties is not the way to do it.  You keep him in the "club" and levy sanctions on Russia.  You negotiate deals that aren't favorable for Russia, with the enticement that the deals would have been better if not for the international problems he's causing.

When someone in the club is misbehaving, kicking them out leaves you LESS leverage.  Keeping them a member means you can do as much as is appropriate by way of punishment or withholding of rewards.  If he leaves, it has to be on his own.  He'd be foolish to give up a seat at such a powerful table, though, no matter how painful it became.

There are no membership rules for the Group of 7/8.  So, any "justification" would be arbitrary and decided upon by the other members.  I suppose it's a matter of opinion as to the validity of the justification given.  Trump believes it was more personal between Putin and Obama.  On top of the Crimea annexing, Putin also made BOTH Obama and Sec of State John Kerry look like asses with their red line in Syria, and Putin's ability to remove the threat of chemical weapons even as Obama and Kerry were planning to send US Troops to Syria.

I think Trump's right, and this gives Trump one more item from Obama's legacy to dismantle ... as he should.

No matter what Trump does with Russia and the G7 or 8, the fake news will find a reason to make headlines.  He keeps them out of the club and news headlines will be "Trump wants war" or something like that.

He wants them back in and headlines will read "Trump colludes with Russia".

Funny how now the story that the fake news ran for 2.5 years is gone (Like WMDs).  They tried to save face for a month, but slowly tapered down because their watchers are stupid and forget quickly.  Now they were saying RECESSION and Trump dropped the ball with China.  Guess what, a few days ago, China came back to the table.  What Trump did hurt China way more than the US and he knows that.  But little to no news coverage on China coming back to deal.  Just like almost no coverage of him walking across the line between N. and S. Korea.

Like him or hate him, he is doing more for our nation from his first 6 months of office then Barry did in 8 years.  If only the fake news treated him fairly, imagine how much more would be done.  Oh and the wall is being built.  But almost zero coverage, because this shows Trump won again.

*Edit
This is why I'm in a hard place with supporting him.  Overall, he has done good stuff for our country.  But I'm let me down on the bump stock and that he didn't push more for reciprocity (main reason why I voted for him).  Or any other pro 2a XO/laws/push.

If you want to twist Putin's arm on his dealings in the Ukraine or Syria, cutting ties is not the way to do it.  You keep him in the "club" and levy sanctions on Russia.  You negotiate deals that aren't favorable for Russia, with the enticement that the deals would have been better if not for the international problems he's causing.

When someone in the club is misbehaving, kicking them out leaves you LESS leverage.  Keeping them a member means you can do as much as is appropriate by way of punishment or withholding of rewards.  If he leaves, it has to be on his own.  He'd be foolish to give up a seat at such a powerful table, though, no matter how painful it became.

There are no membership rules for the Group of 7/8.  So, any "justification" would be arbitrary and decided upon by the other members.  I suppose it's a matter of opinion as to the validity of the justification given.  Trump believes it was more personal between Putin and Obama.  On top of the Crimea annexing, Putin also made BOTH Obama and Sec of State John Kerry look like asses with their red line in Syria, and Putin's ability to remove the threat of chemical weapons even as Obama and Kerry were planning to send US Troops to Syria.

I think Trump's right, and this gives Trump one more item from Obama's legacy to dismantle ... as he should.

Everybody is fixated on Putin.
I have more in common with most Russians
than I do with big city American Democrats.
Russia should be #8.

Everybody is fixated on Putin.
I have more in common with most Russians
than I do with big city American Democrats.
Russia should be #8.

The divisiveness Obama exacerbated in office, and which the Liberal-Socialist-Lefitist-MSM carried to further extremes between every identity they can imagine includes this Russia boogeyman narrative.

Russia might be a bad actor in some areas, but then so is the US at times.  But, I remember when Obama scoffed at Romney saying Russia was our nation's number one threat.

Suddenly, when they decided to push a fake narrative re: Russia Collusion, the Russians are NOW our number one adversary.

Russia became a capitalism investment opportunity after 1992.  That's part of why Trump was considering building there before the election.  It's a wide-open market that had seen decades of shortages and high prices on anything with good quality.

Just like NK, China, Saudi Arabia and other "evil" countries, we'll never have real peace as long as we continue the demonization of other countries.  It seems the Liberals here are more in love with 3rd world shit holes anyway, so they can import more Democrat voters.

Trump has opened diplomatic channels to countries that other presidents failed to do for half a century.

I think he knows what he's doing WRT Russia.

The divisiveness Obama exacerbated in office, and which the Liberal-Socialist-Lefitist-MSM carried to further extremes between every identity they can imagine includes this Russia boogeyman narrative.

Russia might be a bad actor in some areas, but then so is the US at times.  But, I remember when Obama scoffed at Romney saying Russia was our nation's number one threat.

Suddenly, when they decided to push a fake narrative re: Russia Collusion, the Russians are NOW our number one adversary.

Russia became a capitalism investment opportunity after 1992.  That's part of why Trump was considering building there before the election.  It's a wide-open market that had seen decades of shortages and high prices on anything with good quality.

Just like NK, China, Saudi Arabia and other "evil" countries, we'll never have real peace as long as we continue the demonization of other countries.  It seems the Liberals here are more in love with 3rd world shit holes anyway, so they can import more Democrat voters.

Trump has opened diplomatic channels to countries that other presidents failed to do for half a century.

I think he knows what he's doing WRT Russia.

^^^Must be a Russian bot. To much truth in there.

"Trump wants to use nukes to stop hurricanes."

"Trump had loans co-signed by Russian Oligarchs, which is why he's so soft on Russia."

"Trump offered pardons to staffers who break the law to fast-track the border wall."

"Trump has secret server to communicate with Russian government."

and so on, and so on.

With all these fake news stories lately, it's beginning to look like he's intentionally planting these stories inside his administration to identify where the leaks are,

4D chess ....

I actually googled a few years ago why can't we just drop a nuke in a hurricane to dissipate it.  Like when it's far away so fallout won't affect anyone.

Google said there is way to much energy inside a hurricane, a nuke would do nothing.  Not powerful enough.  And radiation would be carried all over inside the hurricane so fallout would be over a far greater area.

Also googled what happens if a nuke detonates in space.  You won't hear anything because sound can't travel in space.  But it will still detonate due to fission.  Doesn't need oxygen to detonate.  But there will be no blast due to no oxygen and radiation won't spread as far due to no oxygen carrying the particles.

I actually googled a few years ago why can't we just drop a nuke in a hurricane to dissipate it.  Like when it's far away so fallout won't affect anyone.

Google said there is way to much energy inside a hurricane, a nuke would do nothing.  Not powerful enough.  And radiation would be carried all over inside the hurricane so fallout would be over a far greater area.

Also googled what happens if a nuke detonates in space.  You won't hear anything because sound can't travel in space.  But it will still detonate due to fission.  Doesn't need oxygen to detonate.  But there will be no blast due to no oxygen and radiation won't spread as far due to no oxygen carrying the particles.

Radioactive particles, which are solid particles and what makes up "fall out", would travel in all directions in a space burst.  Initial energy radiation from fission, and subsequent radioactive particles, is *NOT affected by oxygen or the absence of it. 

*Correction...


Also to add.  In space the radiation levels are so high, without an atmosphere to protect against it, a nuclear detonation's radioactivity would be the least of one's worries.

I actually googled a few years ago why can't we just drop a nuke in a hurricane to dissipate it.  Like when it's far away so fallout won't affect anyone.

Google said there is way to much energy inside a hurricane, a nuke would do nothing.  Not powerful enough.  And radiation would be carried all over inside the hurricane so fallout would be over a far greater area.

Also googled what happens if a nuke detonates in space.  You won't hear anything because sound can't travel in space.  But it will still detonate due to fission.  Doesn't need oxygen to detonate.  But there will be no blast due to no oxygen and radiation won't spread as far due to no oxygen carrying the particles.

The absence of oxygen won't stop fallout dispersal.

Why does a rocket in space propel a ship if there's no atmosphere to push against?

Newton's 3rd law of motion:  For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. 

When a rocket expels gas from ignited fuel, the force inside the combustion chamber is generated in the opposite direction of the exhaust.  That force propels the rocket in the opposite direction.

The same would be true of fallout.  Nuclear particles that are acted upon by the detonations would not only be dispersed with great force, but the lack of atmosphere would eliminate friction, allowing the dispersal to be much greater, not less.

"Trump wants to use nukes to stop hurricanes."


With all these fake news stories lately, it's beginning to look like he's intentionally planting these stories inside his administration to identify where the leaks are,

Why do you assume it's fake? It's not like he hasn't said cooky things like that before so its not implausible that he did say it.

My first reaction was that he probably did say it but likely meant it as a joke.

Space force (Space shuttle door gunner)
Nuking hurricanes
600 Chick fil-e sandwiches


Maybe he's high AF?  He did inhale.

Why do you assume it's fake? It's not like he hasn't said cooky things like that before so its not implausible that he did say it.

My first reaction was that he probably did say it but likely meant it as a joke.

that's what I thought. He's probably laughing at the news media grabbing onto that and reporting it.

that's what I thought. He's probably laughing at the news media grabbing onto that and reporting it.

Trolling level: EXPERT

Also he does leak fake intel to see if he has leaks, which he recently had.

Why do you assume it's fake? It's not like he hasn't said cooky things like that before so its not implausible that he did say it.

My first reaction was that he probably did say it but likely meant it as a joke.

How about 2 FACTS:

Trump denied saying it, and

nobody who actually heard it has been named or provided evidence.

Your TDS has a side-effect of confirmation bias.

How about 2 FACTS:

Trump denied saying it, and

nobody who actually heard it has been named or provided evidence.

Trump denies saying things that have been recorded, played back to him and he still denies it. 
He’s the master of double speak. Can’t believe a word out of his mouth.

But master troll and playing 4D chess. Possible.
Do results count more than idiocy? Probably, but arguable.
Could he achieve the results without being an idiot. Possibly but Arguable

How about 2 FACTS:

Trump denied saying it, and

Because Trump never lies !

nobody who actually heard it has been named or provided evidence.
Your TDS has a side-effect of confirmation bias.

That would make it unverified, not fake. Your statement clearly shows you are picking what you want to believe and ignoring what you don't want to believe.

You conflate TDS with objectivity.

So Trump just tweeted out a surveillance photo of an Iranian rocket launch site.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1167493371973255170

Now this is certainly outside the norm but one could make the case that showing Iran that we can see what they are doing serves as a deterrent so I wouldn't say it is necessarily a bad idea, just odd.

But part of his tweet teases the Iranians as if we had something to do with it. Now that is just stupid. If we had nothing to do with it then don't give them the idea that we did. But if we did have something to do with it, don't suggest it to the whole world! It also calls into question the denial that any of our drones enter their airspace.
"I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One."

Trump denies saying things that have been recorded, played back to him and he still denies it.

Just because he's contradicted himself on things he actually said in the past is not proof he's doing it now.

But wait, there's more ....

Trump's personal assistant, Madeleine Westerhout, was fired asked to resign resigned from her position of 28 years today.

Looks like Trump's really serious about finding and stopping the leakers in his midst.

Coincidence that there's a theory going around about these crazy Trump comments being used to out leakers and this person is suddenly caught leaking?

We may never know, but it's making a lot more sense than the comments themselves.   


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/us/politics/madeleine-westerhout-trump-family.html

But wait...

Westerhout sounds more credible than Trump.
And it wasn’t a White House leak. She was his personal assistant.
It was a leak about his family..
And if he’s setting up leaks by disparaging his family, he’s even more of an idiot.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/30/trumps-personal-assistant-fired-ivanka-tiffany-1479226
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-personal-assistant-leaves-madeleine-westerhout-resigns-abruptly-today-2019-08-30/

Coincidence that there's a theory going around about these crazy Trump comments being used to out leakers and this person is suddenly caught leaking?

We may never know, but it's making a lot more sense than the comments themselves. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/us/politics/madeleine-westerhout-trump-family.html

Anything makes more sense than the comments themselves.

Just because he's contradicted himself on things he actually said in the past is not proof he's doing it now

Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.
Except Trump’s hasn’t been uno.

But master troll and playing 4D chess. Possible.
Do results count more than idiocy? Probably, but arguable.
Could he achieve the results without being an idiot. Possibly but Arguable

But wait...

Westerhout sounds more credible than Trump.
And it wasn’t a White House leak. She was his personal assistant.
It was a leak about his family..
And if he’s setting up leaks by disparaging his family, he’s even more of an idiot.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/30/trumps-personal-assistant-fired-ivanka-tiffany-1479226

And you’re buying it hook, line and sinker.
Anything makes more sense than the comments themselves.

Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus

Pay more attention to the details.

Westerhout’s official position was “director of Oval Office operations.”

She was the "go between" if you wanted to see the President.  She ran interference between Trump and all who wanted his time.  Those that didn't get an appointment gave her the info, and she reported it to Trump.

Her desk was just outside the Oval Office.

And, yes, THIS time the leak was family-related info, but she was also gossiping about TV news personalities seeking access to the President.  That falls under the heading of White House Administration.