edit time ran out by the time i caught myself up.

for pompeo, i won't say you are wrong. he kept responding with "i was asked to be here".

i am not sure why him being there in-place was an issue though. it appears he took responsibility of looking at all current info, and saying there's no direct correlation with the prince.
so you can pin him later if found out he was lying about that. and we weren't getting any more info from anyone else.
the senate isn't happy though, so i think we'll find out.

I think it's possible to maintain our strategic political and financial alliance with Saudi Arabia but also be more tough on them if we employed a little leadership and courage. We are the most powerful country in the world, not them. We hold the leverage.

How Donald Trump appeals to men secretly insecure about their manhood

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/11/29/how-donald-trump-appeals-to-men-secretly-insecure-about-their-manhood/?noredirect=on&utm_source=reddit.com&utm_term=.937abb7b05fb

1 What is ‘fragile masculinity’?
2 How we measured fragile masculinity
3 How fragile masculinity was related to voting behavior

Reported for assuming gender

we lost all the leverage after Iraq/Afghanistan. neither side wants to nationbuild, and against the Saudis that was our only real threat. we could, i suppose, ally with Russia/Venezuela to fill the oil needs. but neither is an option currently. Gas is simply that important, and we're not willing to take the hit on barrel price to screw the Saudis. the only way i see is to subsidize Venezuala, which would be my preference, but that's sticky as well and would likely require a nationbuild which could be a real problem.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/graham-vows-block-gop-agenda-185350076.html

overall i'm not a yuge Graham fan but kudos for this one. the guy has consistently stood up for transparent governance.

which leverage is it that the U.S. holds against Saudi-Arabia? the chinese and the europeans would happily buy the saudi oil in case of an american boycott. the saudis would happily buy russian weapons if the US decide to enact an embargo. the US cant invade saudi-arabia without triggering a war of epic proportions, and potentially also a religious war between christianity and islam.

yes, we could and should be more tough on the saudis, but only in babysteps/on minor issues. I really dont see the big leverage that could be used to force a radical course correction onto the saudis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_M._Burke

Burke is the lead partner in a law firm that specializes in property tax appeals; the firm has served clients who do business with the city as well as US President Donald Trump.[5] On November 29, 2018, Burke's office at Chicago City Hall and his Aldermanic ward office were seized by federal agents, who ejected staff and papered over the doors and windows.

Dunno, weird...

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/418978-cnn-fires-marc-lamont-hill-following-israel-comments

CNN fires Marc Lamont Hill after he uses the PLO's anti-Israeli call to arms of '"free Palestine from the river to the sea.", which is basically their version of the 14 words except a little more explicit about killing jews