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Post by revirdsuba99 on Jul 15, 2018 13:24:06 GMT
They are making no apparent effort to return the remains of our missing service members.
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Post by gar on Jul 15, 2018 13:26:22 GMT
how that guard didn’t whack him with the side of that sword when he kept wandering back n fourth in front of her I don’t know ( and yes that probably not just a sword ) the whole way down I kind of expected the guard to do something to protect her from the oaf Not to mention how Trump walks IN THE MIDDLE forcing The Queen off to the side. What an embarrassment. And at the end where he points to her to tell her where to go - Dude, she's done this more times than you can count, she does NOT need your help to know where to walk next.
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Deleted
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Sept 16, 2024 10:10:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 13:51:35 GMT
David Axelrod....
“With a @potus elected while losing the popular vote, and congressional majorities that represent less a majority of Americans, we face have a “tyranny of the minority.”
Was in response to this article in the Economist...
“American democracy’s built-in bias towards rural Republicans”
“Its elections no longer convert the popular will into control of government”
“EVERY system for converting votes into power has its flaws. Britain suffers from an over-mighty executive; Italy from chronically weak government; Israel from small, domineering factions. America, however, is plagued by the only democratic vice more troubling than the tyranny of the majority: tyranny of the minority.
This has come about because of a growing division between rural and urban voters. The electoral system the Founders devised, and which their successors elaborated, gives rural voters more clout than urban ones. When the parties stood for both city and country that bias affected them both. But the Republican Party has become disproportionately rural and the Democratic Party disproportionately urban. That means a red vote is worth more than a blue one.
The consequences are dramatic. Republicans hold both the houses of Congress and the White House. But in the three elections in 2012-16 their candidates got just 46% of the two-party vote for the Senate, and they won the presidential vote in 2016 with 49%. Our voting model predicts that, for Democrats to have a better than 50% chance of winning control of the House in November’s mid-term elections, they will need to win the popular vote by around seven percentage points. To put that another way, we think the Republicans have a 0.01% chance of winning the popular vote for the House. But we estimate their chance of securing a majority of congressmen is about a third. In no other two-party system does the party that receives the most votes routinely find itself out of power (see Briefing).
This imbalance is partly by design. The greatest and the smallest states each have two senators, in order that Congress should represent territory as well as people. Yet the over-representation of rural America was not supposed to affect the House and the presidency. For most of the past 200 years, when rural, urban and suburban interests were scattered between the parties, it did not. Today, however, the 13 states where people live closest together have 121 Democratic House members and 73 Republican ones, whereas the rest have 163 Republicans and just 72 Democrats. America has one party built on territory and another built on people.
The bias is deepening. Every president who took office in the 20th century did so having won the popular vote. In two of the five elections for 21st-century presidents, the minority won the electoral college. By having elected politicians appoint federal judges, the American system embeds this rural bias in the courts as well. If Brett Kavanaugh, whom President Donald Trump nominated this week, joins the Supreme Court, a conservative court established by a president and Senate who were elected with less than half the two-party vote may end up litigating the fairness of the voting system.
This bias is a dangerous new twist in the tribalism and political dysfunction that is poisoning politics in Washington. Americans often say such partisanship is bad for their country (and that the other lot should mend their ways). The Founding Fathers would have agreed. George Washington warned that “the alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge…is itself a frightful despotism”.
As a component of partisanship, the built-in bias is obviously bad for Democrats. But in the long run it is bad for America as a whole, including Republicans. When lawmaking is paralysed, important work, such as immigration and entitlement reform, is too hard. The few big laws that are approved, like Barack Obama’s health-care reform or Mr Trump’s corporate-tax cuts, pass on party-line votes. That emboldens the opposition to reverse or neuter them when they take power. Meanwhile, the task of resolving the most divisive political issues often falls to the courts. The battle over Mr Kavanaugh’s confirmation will be a proxy war over issues, like abortion and health insurance, better suited to the legislature.
Some may ask why Democrats do not return to positions that appeal to rural voters (see our special report). Recall how Mr Obama won the presidency opposing gay marriage and Bill Clinton built a coalition in the centre-ground. But rancorous political disputes—over guns, abortion and climate change—split so neatly along urban-rural lines that parties and voters increasingly sort themselves into urban-rural tribes. Gerrymandering and party primaries reward extremists, and ensure that, once elected, they seldom need fear for their jobs. The incentives to take extreme positions are very powerful.
Bitter partisanship, ineffective federal government and electoral bias poison politics and are hard to fix. Changing the constitution is hard—and rightly so. Yet the voting system for Congress is easier to reform than most people realise, because the constitution does not stipulate what it should be. Congress last voted to change the rules in 1967.
Second thoughts about first-past-the-post The aim should be to give office-seekers a reason to build bridges with opponents rather than torch them. If partisanship declined as a result, so would pressure on voters to stick to their tribe. That could make both parties competitive in rural and urban areas again, helping to restore majority rule.
One option, adopted in Maine this year and already proposed in a bill in Congress for use nationwide, is “ranked-choice voting” (RCV), in which voters list candidates in order of preference. After a first count, the candidate with the least support is eliminated, and his or her ballots are reallocated to those voters’ second choice. This continues until someone has a majority. Candidates need second- and third-choice votes from their rivals’ supporters, so they look for common ground with their opponents. Another option is multi-member districts, which were once commonplace and still exist in the Senate. Because they aggregate groups of voters, they make gerrymandering ineffective.
Voting reform is not the whole answer to partisanship and built-in bias, but it would help. It is hard, but not outlandish. To maintain the trust of all Americans, the world’s oldest constitutional democracy needs to reform itself.“
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 16, 2024 10:10:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 13:53:49 GMT
This from the article I posted above should be repeated..
“Its elections no longer convert the popular will into control of government”
This applies to both the presidential and Congressional House races.
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imsirius
Prolific Pea
Call it as I see it.
Posts: 7,661
Location: Floating in the black veil.
Jul 12, 2014 19:59:28 GMT
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Post by imsirius on Jul 15, 2018 14:26:08 GMT
Pete is right, you really can't make this shit up..
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imsirius
Prolific Pea
Call it as I see it.
Posts: 7,661
Location: Floating in the black veil.
Jul 12, 2014 19:59:28 GMT
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Post by imsirius on Jul 15, 2018 14:38:53 GMT
He is shitting his pants. He has tweeted and retweeted this statement 4 times in the last 18hrs.
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imsirius
Prolific Pea
Call it as I see it.
Posts: 7,661
Location: Floating in the black veil.
Jul 12, 2014 19:59:28 GMT
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Post by imsirius on Jul 15, 2018 14:44:26 GMT
The skeletons are coming!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 16, 2024 10:10:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 14:44:50 GMT
Kyle Griffin...
“Asked to identify his "biggest foe globally right now," Trump says: "I think the European Union is a foe."
Music to Putin’s ears.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 16, 2024 10:10:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 15:03:13 GMT
Kyle Griffin..
“In this same clip, Trump, instead of blaming the Russians for the DNC hack, blames the DNC: "I think the DNC should be ashamed of themselves for allowing themselves to be hacked."
He really is dumber than dirt.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 16, 2024 10:10:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 15:33:21 GMT
Kyle Griffin...
“Prince Charles and Prince William were unwilling to meet Trump, according to The Times, leaving the Queen to greet Trump alone.”
A. I don’t blame them.
B. But they should have displayed some “stiff upper lip” and met trump rather than sending the Queen out to meet dimwit on her own.
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Post by pjaye on Jul 15, 2018 16:00:55 GMT
But they should have displayed some “stiff upper lip” and met trump rather than sending the Queen out to meet dimwit on her own Why? She's the Sovereign of the country so she pretty much has no choice, unless she wants to fake an illness or something...but she's too professional for that. She will do what her role requires her to do, if she likes it or not. However the others probably still have some element of choice, and who knows the Queen herself may have been a part of that decision to not have other members of the family to meet with him. Even when they were inspecting the troops there looked to be very little interaction between them. I'm sure the Queen is extremely good at small talk...if she didn't do it then it's because she didn't want to, not because she simply had nothing to say. Contrast that to photos of the Obamas in William's home and meeting little George in his dressing gown before he went to bed. They also had dinner at Kensington Palace. Trump only got a cup of tea. I suspect that no-one being there except the Queen herself was a strategic decision. They know how to send messages loud and clear without saying a word.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 16, 2024 10:10:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 16:28:46 GMT
But they should have displayed some “stiff upper lip” and met trump rather than sending the Queen out to meet dimwit on her own Why? She's the Sovereign of the country so she pretty much has no choice, unless she wants to fake an illness or something...but she's too professional for that. She will do what her role requires her to do, if she likes it or not. However the others probably still have some element of choice, and who knows the Queen herself may have been a part of that decision to not have other members of the family to meet with him. Even when they were inspecting the troops there looked to be very little interaction between them. I'm sure the Queen is extremely good at small talk...if she didn't do it then it's because she didn't want to, not because she simply had nothing to say. Contrast that to photos of the Obamas in William's home and meeting little George in his dressing gown before he went to bed. They also had dinner at Kensington Palace. Trump only got a cup of tea. I suspect that no-one being there except the Queen herself was a strategic decision. They know how to send messages loud and clear without saying a word. . Because sometimes you have to grin and bear it. Yes it is her duty to meet tiny hands because unfortunately he is the President of the the United States. But it is also the duty of a son and grandson to support their mother/grandmother. Even dimwit trump got the messsge alright. And IMO, he would have gotten the message even if one or both of the men had joined the Queen. So we are going to disagree on this.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 16, 2024 10:10:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 16:33:31 GMT
Kyle Griffin.,,,
“Rand Paul sought to justify Russia's interference, claiming all countries meddle in foreign elections. "I think really we mistake our response if we think it's about accountability from the Russians. They're another country, they're going to spy on us."
It’s clear he doesn’t understand the difference between “spying” and “meddling”.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 16, 2024 10:10:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 16:39:53 GMT
trump...
“Heading to Helsinki, Finland – looking forward to meeting with President Putin tomorrow. Unfortunately, no matter how well I do at the Summit, if I was given the great city of Moscow as retribution for all of the sins and evils committed by Russia...
...over the years, I would return to criticism that it wasn’t good enough – that I should have gotten Saint Petersburg in addition! Much of our news media is indeed the enemy of the people and all the Dems...
know how to do is resist and obstruct! This is why there is such hatred and dissension in our country – but at some point, it will heal!“
The only “hatred” is what you generate by what you are doing to this country.
And you are not good enough and you prove that every single day.
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jrlggrits
Shy Member
Posts: 13
Jul 15, 2018 16:43:16 GMT
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Post by jrlggrits on Jul 15, 2018 16:44:57 GMT
is there a thread for non-bashing of this administration?
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Post by pjaye on Jul 15, 2018 16:47:11 GMT
is there a thread for non-bashing of this administration? There might be some Russian message boards that you could find. I'm sure there's plenty of those sorts of threads there.
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jrlggrits
Shy Member
Posts: 13
Jul 15, 2018 16:43:16 GMT
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Post by jrlggrits on Jul 15, 2018 16:54:27 GMT
is there a thread for non-bashing of this administration? There might be some Russian message boards that you could find. I'm sure there's plenty of those sorts of threads there. ahhh. really? jeez I didn't think of THAT ONE. SO OBVI. thanks good on ya!
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Post by pjaye on Jul 15, 2018 16:57:54 GMT
Are you 12? another troll to add to the ever growing listed of blocked posters.
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jrlggrits
Shy Member
Posts: 13
Jul 15, 2018 16:43:16 GMT
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Post by jrlggrits on Jul 15, 2018 17:00:49 GMT
Are you 12? another troll to add to the ever growing listed of blocked posters. I asked a basic question. you came in with the rude reply. so I guess I am the troll? really? please do mute me, as your responses are not helpful in any way. cheers
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Post by pjaye on Jul 15, 2018 17:05:21 GMT
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rodeomom
Pearl Clutcher
Refupee # 380 "I don't have to run fast, I just have to run faster than you."
Posts: 3,670
Location: Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma
Jun 25, 2014 23:34:38 GMT
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Post by rodeomom on Jul 15, 2018 17:29:26 GMT
trump... “Heading to Helsinki, Finland – looking forward to meeting with President Putin tomorrow. Unfortunately, no matter how well I do at the Summit, if I was given the great city of Moscow as retribution for all of the sins and evils committed by Russia... ...over the years, I would return to criticism that it wasn’t good enough – that I should have gotten Saint Petersburg in addition! Much of our news media is indeed the enemy of the people and all the Dems...
know how to do is resist and obstruct! This is why there is such hatred and dissension in our country – but at some point, it will heal!“ The only “hatred” is what you generate by what you are doing to this country. And you are not good enough and you prove that every single day. It's hard to understand his bable...... but did he say the all the dems are the enemy of the people? I'm thinking that he just call me and millions of people the enemy.
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Post by Merge on Jul 15, 2018 17:34:43 GMT
trump... “Heading to Helsinki, Finland – looking forward to meeting with President Putin tomorrow. Unfortunately, no matter how well I do at the Summit, if I was given the great city of Moscow as retribution for all of the sins and evils committed by Russia... ...over the years, I would return to criticism that it wasn’t good enough – that I should have gotten Saint Petersburg in addition! Much of our news media is indeed the enemy of the people and all the Dems...
know how to do is resist and obstruct! This is why there is such hatred and dissension in our country – but at some point, it will heal!“ The only “hatred” is what you generate by what you are doing to this country. And you are not good enough and you prove that every single day. It's hard to understand his bable...... but did he say the all the dems are the enemy of the people? I'm thinking that he just call me and millions of people the enemy. No, he’s continuing with saying that the press is the enemy of the people and Democrats are obstructionists. SSDD
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AmeliaBloomer
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,842
Location: USA
Jun 26, 2014 5:01:45 GMT
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Post by AmeliaBloomer on Jul 15, 2018 18:45:54 GMT
trump... “Heading to Helsinki, Finland – looking forward to meeting with President Putin tomorrow. Unfortunately, no matter how well I do at the Summit, if I was given the great city of Moscow as retribution for all of the sins and evils committed by Russia... ...over the years, I would return to criticism that it wasn’t good enough – that I should have gotten Saint Petersburg in addition! Much of our news media is indeed the enemy of the people and all the Dems... know how to do is resist and obstruct! This is why there is such hatred and dissension in our country – but at some point, it will heal!“ Petulance overload the last couple days. On the positive side, it seems everybody, including the president and a few here, have gotten the memo to blame every last ounce of all hatred and unrest in this country on over the top (or maybe just rank and file?) Democrats...so I’m downright impressed by their group email alerting system. Nobody ever seems to read any REPLY ALL email I send...
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 16, 2024 10:10:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 19:38:07 GMT
Brianna Golodryga...
“Well, I might," Mr. Trump said when @jeffglor asked about possibly extraditing the Russians. "I hadn't thought of that. But I certainly, I'll be asking about it. But again, this was during the Obama administration.”
“But again, this happened during the Obama Administration.”!!!!!
I have a great idea, trump resigns and President Obama can come back and take on the problem as president since it happened during his administration. I think the majority of Americans would agree to the switch.
He is such a petty little man.
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Post by gar on Jul 15, 2018 20:43:11 GMT
Why? She's the Sovereign of the country so she pretty much has no choice, unless she wants to fake an illness or something...but she's too professional for that. She will do what her role requires her to do, if she likes it or not. However the others probably still have some element of choice, and who knows the Queen herself may have been a part of that decision to not have other members of the family to meet with him. Even when they were inspecting the troops there looked to be very little interaction between them. I'm sure the Queen is extremely good at small talk...if she didn't do it then it's because she didn't want to, not because she simply had nothing to say. Contrast that to photos of the Obamas in William's home and meeting little George in his dressing gown before he went to bed. They also had dinner at Kensington Palace. Trump only got a cup of tea. I suspect that no-one being there except the Queen herself was a strategic decision. They know how to send messages loud and clear without saying a word. . Because sometimes you have to grin and bear it. Yes it is her duty to meet tiny hands because unfortunately he is the President of the the United States. But it is also the duty of a son and grandson to support their mother/grandmother. Even dimwit trump got the messsge alright. And IMO, he would have gotten the message even if one or both of the men had joined the Queen. So we are going to disagree on this. It isn't like they sit down over a cup of tea in the kitchen and decide who fancies which engagement. It has to work with all the other demands on their time, other commitments, tours abroad...the secretaries have protocol to bear in mind as well as the practicalities and nothing is decided on a whim or a 'Nah...don't wanna do that."
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carhoch
Pearl Clutcher
Be yourself everybody else is already taken
Posts: 3,022
Location: We’re RV’s so It change all the time .
Jun 28, 2014 21:46:39 GMT
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Post by carhoch on Jul 15, 2018 21:17:44 GMT
Immigration is “not good for Europe” and “not good for our country” because it’s “changing culture” says the grandson of German immigrants who’s married to a Slovenian immigrant and divorced from a Czechoslovakian immigrant. You can’t make this shit up
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 16, 2024 10:10:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 22:18:11 GMT
Why? She's the Sovereign of the country so she pretty much has no choice, unless she wants to fake an illness or something...but she's too professional for that. She will do what her role requires her to do, if she likes it or not. However the others probably still have some element of choice, and who knows the Queen herself may have been a part of that decision to not have other members of the family to meet with him. Even when they were inspecting the troops there looked to be very little interaction between them. I'm sure the Queen is extremely good at small talk...if she didn't do it then it's because she didn't want to, not because she simply had nothing to say. Contrast that to photos of the Obamas in William's home and meeting little George in his dressing gown before he went to bed. They also had dinner at Kensington Palace. Trump only got a cup of tea. I suspect that no-one being there except the Queen herself was a strategic decision. They know how to send messages loud and clear without saying a word. . Because sometimes you have to grin and bear it. Yes it is her duty to meet tiny hands because unfortunately he is the President of the the United States. But it is also the duty of a son and grandson to support their mother/grandmother. Even dimwit trump got the messsge alright. And IMO, he would have gotten the message even if one or both of the men had joined the Queen. So we are going to disagree on this. I don't think the Times are privy to the inner workings of the Royals commitment diaries. Both of them could very well have had long standing prior commitments before the date was decided on Trump's visit. The Queen doesn't need anyone's support in dealing with people like Trump. She's had 63 years of experience in dealing with everyone and everything imaginable.
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AmeliaBloomer
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,842
Location: USA
Jun 26, 2014 5:01:45 GMT
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Post by AmeliaBloomer on Jul 15, 2018 22:24:43 GMT
Immigration is “not good for Europe” and “not good for our country” because it’s “changing culture” says the grandson of German immigrants who’s married to a Slovenian immigrant and divorced from a Czechoslovakian immigrant. You can’t make this shit up And his mother emigrated from Scotland. The man is a first generation American. Most of his children are first generation Americans. But I think we all know what kind flavor shade of immigration he’s referencing. Not his grandparentsmotherwives. Not those desirable Norwegians. He’s talking about the guys mowing lawns in Chicago or selling doner kebabs in Berlin.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 16, 2024 10:10:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2018 22:42:26 GMT
. Because sometimes you have to grin and bear it. Yes it is her duty to meet tiny hands because unfortunately he is the President of the the United States. But it is also the duty of a son and grandson to support their mother/grandmother. Even dimwit trump got the messsge alright. And IMO, he would have gotten the message even if one or both of the men had joined the Queen. So we are going to disagree on this. I don't think the Times are privy to the inner workings of the Royals commitment diaries. Both of them could very well have had long standing prior commitments before the date was decided on Trump's visit. The Queen doesn't need anyone's support in dealing with people like Trump. She's had 63 years of experience in dealing with everyone and everything imaginable. . I understand all of that, and it was reported that Charles and William chose not to meet trump. And yes the Queeen can hold her her own to just about anyone. But sometimes it’s just nice to have another “team” member along when you have to spend time with an idiot like trump. That’s just what families do for each other.
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Post by gar on Jul 15, 2018 22:45:06 GMT
I don't think the Times are privy to the inner workings of the Royals commitment diaries. Both of them could very well have had long standing prior commitments before the date was decided on Trump's visit. The Queen doesn't need anyone's support in dealing with people like Trump. She's had 63 years of experience in dealing with everyone and everything imaginable. . I understand all of that, and it was reported that Charles and William chose not to meet trump. And yes the Queeen can hold her her own to just about anyone. But sometimes it’s just nice to have another “team” member along when you have to spend time with an idiot like trump. That’s just what families do for each other. If that were the case I’m sure one of them would have stepped up. More likely she said no one else needed to bother, she’d just get the job done.
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