The U.S. only had about 1000 troops in Syria. From what I can find, none of them have even left yet. They've just been moved around. The area Turkey is trying to clear out as a safe zone is like 3500 square... facebook.com/10000074981779…
2/ ...miles.
Those troops weren't actively preventing Turkey from slaughtering Kurds. The policy and alliances that put the troops there was holding them at bay.
3/ Trump unilaterally decided to abruptly change that policy. Many agencies within government were both alarmed and surprised by the move. It was roundly condemned by both sides of the aisle and much of the international community.
4/ Within a few days of the official announcement - before troops have even left - Turkey began an offensive, even "accidentally" bombing within meters of where they had been notified of U.S. special force presence.
5/ Trump's initial, and only, real response was a bonkers tweet about his unmatched wisdom and destroying Turkey's economy like some kind of deranged wizard.
6/ He then signed an executive order allowing him to impose financial sanctions on individuals associated with the Turkish government.
A line in the sand, and a breach met with the stroke of a pen and more rhetoric.
7/ The only thing that changed between fragile peace and the extermination of our allies was our policy. And that changed, on a whim, because Trump felt like it.
8/ This blood is squarely and solely on Trump's hands.
I just don't understand how anyone can see it differently.
When you use a loaded weapon to intimidate, you are the threat.
Liberty comes with responsibility.
Those who fail to recognize that, who abuse their freedom to frighten and demand to be recognized through force and fear rather than reason and persuasion...
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...are more responsible for advancing the suppression of liberty than any activist or politician.
A responsible gun owner who uses a weapon to protect others and save lives is to be celebrated for their bravery and instinct.
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Lives saved by those who recognize the gravity and responsibility attached to their freedom are the single greatest argument in defense of gun rights.
3/
There has now been a recession in the first term of every single Republican president for the past 111 years.
In the past 73 years, there have been 11 "official" recessions, including 49 recessionary quarters.
41 of those quarters occurred under Republican presidents.
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This year, the cumulative budget deficit since Trump took office is expected to surpass $5 trillion. Greater than any 4 year period in U.S. history.
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Almost half of the benefits of Trump's tax cuts and programs have gone to the wealthiest 5%, while the number of corporations paying $0 in taxes has doubled.
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It's a refrain I hear often & attempt to debunk regularly.
CNN's Kaitlyn Collins was assigned to the front row in yesterday's W. H. Press Briefing. She regularly embarrasses Trump. Usually by just asking him about things he's said.
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Trump did not want CNN in the front row. He tried to have Mrs. Collins moved to the back. She asks tough questions & likely had a few lined up about injecting bleach.
Due to the rules inside the WH Press Room, the WH doesn't control what press is present or where they sit.
2/
Both Collins and the reporter who was told by the WH to switch seats refused to do so.
At this point, based on multiple reports, the Secret Service was invoked to attempt to get Mrs. Collins to move to the back.
3/
The only thing more amazing than how often Larry Kudlow's predictions are dead wrong is that he keeps making them.
March 1993: Clinton's taxes will ruin the economy. (90's economic boom)
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February 2000: Things will pick up again. Not even Greenspan can stop this internet economy. (Internet bubble burst)
June 2002: War will elevate the stock market by 2000 points. (Down 1000 over next year)
December 2007: There's no recession coming. (There was)
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April 2008: Recessions are therapeutic. There's no credit crunch. It's very good. (It wasn't)
July 2008: The housing market is healthier than ever. (Nope. Collapsed within weeks)
3/
368 male Covid-19 patients were included in a nationwide study by the VA.
97 received Hydroxychloroquine.
113 received Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin.
158 received neither.
How many died?
Neither drug: 11.4%
Both drugs: 22%
Hydroxychloroquine only: 27%
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So the mortality rate among those taking the drugs that Trump has repeatedly recommended, and that Fox News and GOP pundits and Twitter idols have touted endlessly, is about double the mortality rate without them.
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At Trump's direction, U.S. government agencies have now purchased at least 30 million doses of a drug that doubles your chance of death. Using your tax dollars.
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I'm seeing a lot of casual jokes about people dying. You've seen them. The morbid one-liners, the R vs. D prediction commentaries and link shares, the strangers' obituaries as a political bullet point.
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It's so easy to share these. I don't doubt I've posted some frustrated comment or stupid joke that meets this exact criteria.
Usually, it's unnamed people in general, on the opposite side of the political spectrum, dying in these snapshots.
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Sometimes it's a real person we've never heard of, with a family, friends, and neighbors, and a sudden afterlife legacy of being the 'proof of concept' the "other side" passes around like a trophy.
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