Any Predictions As To How Many Hours It Will Take...

Crackpot · Post by **Crackpot** » Thu May 25, 2017 1:03 am

He met Camilla?! The man is a saint.

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Thu May 25, 2017 1:45 am

The black & veil is not mandatory. Melania is Catholic, and I suspect THAT is the reason they comported with tradition.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Thu May 25, 2017 1:50 am

Every first lady before her has done it (which is why I didn't make it a slam about her), and every first lady who has gone to Saudi Arabia except Laura Bush (sometimes) has gone unveiled. I find the consistency of the choice interesting.

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Thu May 25, 2017 2:41 am

Contrast and compare.

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Thu May 25, 2017 3:30 am

Scooter wrote:Every first lady before her has done it (which is why I didn't make it a slam about her), and every first lady who has gone to Saudi Arabia except Laura Bush (sometimes) has gone unveiled. I find the consistency of the choice interesting.

Well it's no secret that we are a Christian nation and don't take too warmly to those Muslim ragheads.

ex-khobar Andy · Post by **ex-khobar Andy** » Thu May 25, 2017 3:55 am

When I was last in Saudi (ten years ago now) western women were not expected to wear any sort of head covering. Saudi women variously wore a full niqab ( black face covering with an open slot for the eyes); hijab (head and shoulder scarf which completely hides the hair); or just a headscarf which would not look out of place on a western woman wearing it for style reasons only. I never spoke to a Saudi woman in five years living there but I did have women friends in Libya and Kuwait. A Kuwaiti woman (a PhD toxicologist) explained the differences to me; she tended to wear a hijab but usually knocked it down a notch (i.e., went with the less conservative option) when she was in Saudi just to be difficult.

Western women were expected to dress modestly (no short skirts or tank tops) which is why most them had an abaya (black enveloping garment without head covering) because they could just throw it over whatever they were wearing for instant modesty.

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Thu May 25, 2017 9:05 pm

So long as Trump has stuck to his prepared set speeches, to be fair he's done okay

Okay, well now I need to amend that appraisal...

His prepared speech at the NATO meeting was godawful...

Not so much for what he said...

It's perfectly legitimate to point out the fact that many NATO members are not pulling their fair share of the weight in terms of the commitments they've made...

But for what he left unsaid...

Not one word about the unshakeable commitment of the United States to the NATO alliance...

Not one word about the threat posed to the alliance by Russian aggression, and the central role NATO must play in deterring that threat...

In fact, he never even uttered the word "Russia"...

(One has to wonder why that is...fortunately we now have four Congressional investigations, a Special Counsel, and a robust press all working to find the answers to questions like that...)

This was a speech designed to appeal to the Trumpanzee Faithful, (As though he were speaking to a rally of 15,000 of his "I'd Support Him Even If He Shot Somebody" followers in Chattanooga) with absolutely no consideration for the far more important need to demonstrate commitment to the Western Alliance, and reassure our allies that the President Of The United States understands the nature of the threats we face...

Which of course he doesn't, so he couldn't, and he didn't...

Sue U · Post by **Sue U** » Thu May 25, 2017 9:28 pm

RayThom wrote:Contrast and compare.

Morticia and Gomez Addams are role models: a deeply devoted and loving couple, kind and nurturing parents, warm, generous and accepting of all, and always the epitome of grace, style and panache.

Donald and Melania Trump aren't.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Sun May 28, 2017 3:52 am

‘Donny from the Russian block’ Trump sets Internet ablaze after calling Trudeau ‘Justin from Canada’

Donald Trump on Saturday capped off his gaffe-filled international tour by referring to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “Justin from Canada.”

The president made the remark during a speech to military families at the U.S. Naval Air Base in Signoella, Italy having just departed the G7 summit with NATO allies including Canada, France and Germany.

“Great people,” Trump said of his fellow global leaders. “We made a lot of good friends this week, I’ll tell you, a lot of good friends. They’re good people.”

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sun May 28, 2017 5:24 am

“We made a lot of good friends this week, I’ll tell you, a lot of good friends.

I bet Angela from Germany would disagree...

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Sun May 28, 2017 6:22 am

As would the guy from Montenegro.

Something else that's going around, that I haven't yet found in a format to post here, Lord Dampnut was not wearing a translation device at the G7 while others were speaking in languages he did not understand. Sitting there completely disengaged from the discussion, IOW. Spicer made some bullshit excuse that he had an earpiece in his right ear (that wasn't visible to the camera). Complete horseshit, as the simultaneous translation system would use uniform equipment for everyone, and everyone else was wearing very visible identical headphones.

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Sun May 28, 2017 12:55 pm

Scooter wrote:... Something else that's going around, that I haven't yet found in a format to post here, Lord Dampnut was not wearing a translation device at the G7 while others were speaking in languages he did not understand.

I doubt if he had any problems with this. It's well know that he goes about his daily routine speaking in tongues. It wouldn't surprise me one bit to find out he also listens in tongues.

Drumpf's lack of an earpiece is even more pronounced if you go to "full screen" as the camera pans the group. However, and lest we forget, Lord Dampnut reminds us constantly that he is very smart and went to Wharton. He'll probably now tell us he's multilingual and unencumbered of the devices needed by ordinary heads-of-state. (In actuality, the asshole appears to be sleeping.)

https://twitter.com/BBCJLandale/status/ ... 8502441986
OR:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sean- ... le/2624328

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Sun May 28, 2017 1:08 pm

ex-khobar Andy · Post by **ex-khobar Andy** » Sun May 28, 2017 4:26 pm

Re Ray's post. Spicer said he had a single bud in his right ear, so I don't know the truth. We know that because he speaks bigly Japanese he did not wear one when PM Abe was here. But it is interesting that in the Twitter comments which show him wearing a right ear bud, it is clearly from a different meeting.

I though this was cool from today's NYT. He seems to be back onto Twitter after 9 days of celibacy.

“Whenever you see the words ‘sources say’ in the fake news media, and they don’t mention names,” he wrote on Twitter, “it is very possible that those sources don’t exist but are made up by fake news writers. #FakeNews is the enemy!”

So does this mean that we can discount all those "People tell me" and "Everyone says" type stories? I think we should be told.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Sun May 28, 2017 7:24 pm

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Sun May 28, 2017 8:46 pm

Burning Petard · Post by **Burning Petard** » Sun May 28, 2017 9:53 pm

Well I guess Trump's tour was a success.

He has certainly succeeded in making Frau Merkel the leader of NATO and confirmed her leadership of Europe.

snailgate

Lord Jim · Post by **Lord Jim** » Wed May 31, 2017 12:36 am

Meanwhile, in The Enchanted Kingdom Of Fargone, on a planet many galaxies away from The Planet Earth:

White House press secretary Sean Spicer lauded President Trump's 'extraordinary and successful' nine-day overseas trip

President Trump's first overseas trip was 'extraordinarily successful,' and his relations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel are 'fairly unbelievable,' [well, I kinda have to give him that one...for the first time in the 72 year history of post-WW II relations, we have a German Chancellor openly stating that based on the conduct and statements of a US President that Europe can no longer depend on the United States...that is "fairly unbelievable"] White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday.

Spicer held his first televised press briefing in more than two weeks, after a trip that got mixed reviews as the president met Saudi leaders without incident, visited holy sites in the Middle East and bonded with Israeli leaders, lectured European leaders on their defense spending, didn't personally affirm the nation's Article 5 commitments to defend NATO, and mostly avoided the simmering Russia controversy by failing to hold a press conference.

'This was an extraordinarily successful nine-day trip the president took,' Spicer said, providing his own review of the president's day-by-day accomplishments.

Spicer was equally upbeat in his assessment of Trump's relations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on a day when Trump tweeted Germany was 'very bad' by slacking on defense spending and holding a trade surplus with Washington.

'I think the relationship the president has had with Merkel, he would describe as fairly unbelievable,' Spicer said.

Merkel stoked concerns about a split in the transatlantic alliance when she said in a speech in Munich Monday that ''The times in which we could completely depend on others are, to a certain extent, over.'

Spicer didn't hold back as he recapped an 'the incredible, historic trip,' which he attended along with Trump and several aides and family members – though Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner bailed out after Rome as reports came forward that he was a subject of inquiry of the FBI's Russia investigation.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Wed May 31, 2017 1:29 am

It was also "fairly unbelievable" that he gave the finger to the Italian PM on camera.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Wed May 31, 2017 1:30 am

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