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America can't get any worse than what it got since Joe Biden took office.Quote:
Originally Posted by TitoFan
And I'm still waiting for somebody to tell me who is going to come anywhere NEAR Donald Trump in the polls.
Edit: the following photo in the next post gives you all the choices pretty much.
Hmmm...I don't see Kamala there.Attachment 6200
不不不不不不不不不
Attachment 6201
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoSavingByTheBellAmerica can't get any worse than what it got since Joe Biden took office.Quote:
Originally Posted by TitoFan
And I'm still waiting for somebody to tell me who is going to come anywhere NEAR Donald Trump in the polls.
Edit: the following photo in the next post gives you all the choices pretty much.
You think poll results make Trump a good candidate? :rolleyes:
All it tells me is that people have lost the plot in general.
I'll stick by my previous post. The U.S. is going to get what it deserves.
Like I also said... none of Biden's shortcomings make Trump a good candidate.
IMHO, a 2nd Trump presidency will sink the U.S. to levels people haven't even imagined yet.
I predict full rioting in the streets, and something pretty close to anarchy.
In response, Trump will rig all future elections to where only HE can be elected, if elections are held at all.
The only thing that will save the nation is Trump getting too old and having to step aside.
But the damage has already been done. All future GOP candidates are going to be Trump clones, because spineless politicians know that's what this clueless generation of voters wants.
Sad.
[QUOTE=TitoFan;1643655][QUOTE=NoSavingByTheBell;1643642][QUOTE=TitoFan;1643606]
You get outlier polls and this is one of them. But in just about every poll Trump and Biden are dead level which is bad enough. Decades of bullshit propaganda from talk radio then Fox then the internet have radicalised half the country to the point that they can believe that the FBI, the DOJ and the entire system of government are crooked and an obvious crook is going to save them from the system.
I like the post apart from the bit about Trump getting old and stepping aside and that will save America. Once a president and his appointees step outside the rule of law, and it'll take them about five minutes to do it if he gets reelected, there's no way back. America does not get saved. The people in power can't ever step aside or risk losing an election because they'd end up in prison so they keep on getting more repressive and tyrannical to remain in power. That's how it happens in every single autocratic regime in history. America is not going to be any different. There's no other way it can play out.
Some stuff that stood out for me recently:
Imagine, just imagine, if Joe Biden or Kamala Harris said even 1% of this about Fox News. Imagine the coverage not just from Fox and the right but from our liberal mainstream media, too.
https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/stat...23435384988046
This is the GOP now. You've got to be on board with all the crazy shit if you want to be elected:
https://twitter.com/ResoluteSquare/s...59556579287550
Remarkable quote :
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/sta...02311329944043
Once again, Republicans arent serious about border security
This is a couple of days old, but it's still worth a brief mention. When the House Freedom Caucus put out its demands for a budget bill, one of them was passage of border legislation:The stopgap bill includes a House-passed border security proposal that orders construction of the border wall to resume, boosts the ranks of Border Patrol agents and tightens asylum rules. The plan included in the continuing resolution, though, leaves out a provision of the immigration bill related to E-Verify, which allows employers to confirm the eligibility of employees to work in the U.S.Of course it does. Republican border plans routinely include lots of crowd-pleasing provisions that have little prospect of working (walls, more agents, etc.) while leaving out the one thing that probably would: E-Verify. Granted, E-Verify isn't the answer to our newfangled problem of asylum seekers, but it's sure the answer to our old-fashioned problem of illegal immigrants: if you can't prove you're legally allowed to work, you can't get hired. If you get hired anyway, the company that did it is liable to big fines. That would work.
And that's precisely the problem. The money wing of the party, which tolerates social conservatives only as long as they don't interfere with business, opposes any border proposal that requires action on their part and might actually be effective. They want to be left alone to hire all the cheap immigrant labor they want.
Business Republicans know that walls are just hot air, so they don't object to Donald Trump and his acolytes using them to feed the base some red meat. But E-Verify? That would actually constrain their ability to hire undocumented workersand that's why Republicans generally stay quiet about it.
https://jabberwocking.com/once-again...rder-security/
Both sides:
https://twitter.com/JamesFallows/sta...60394917810609
A Patriot and His Duty
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest-ranking military position in the United States, designated by law as the principal military adviser to the president, the secretary of defense, and the National Security Council. It is a post of vital national importance, but most Americans probably have no idea who serves in it at any given time.
And yet, for almost two years, the safety of the United States and the sanctity of its Constitution may well have depended more than any American could have known on Mark Milley, a career Army officer who became the 20th chairman in late 2019. Milleys experiences in the waning days of the Trump administration should appall and alarm every sensible American.
Milley served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs during the most fraught period of civil-military dysfunction in U.S. history. As The Atlanticseditor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, writes in our next cover story, Milley faced an unprecedented situation in which the presidenta man, Jeff notes, horrendously addled by cognitive unfitness and moral derangementwas himself the greatest threat to the Constitution.
If that sounds dramatic, consider what Milleys senior colleaguescareer military men who served in the Trump White Housetold Jeff about the nightmare facing the chairman. Mark Milley had to contain the impulses of people who wanted to use the United States military in very dangerous ways, according to retired Marine General John Kelly, who served as Trumps second chief of staff. (Milley, for his part, was worried that Trump would try to overcome his electoral loss by creating a Reichstag moment, perhaps by sparking a foreign war or by using the military against civilians.)
Army Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster, who served as one of Trumps many hired-and-fired national security advisers, commented on the immensity of the challenge facing Milley by posing a terrifying hypothetical to Jeff: As chairman, you swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, but what if the commander in chief is undermining the Constitution? (We might add to this an even more unsettling question: What if millions of Americans dont seem to care?)
Even those who may think theyve fully grasped Trumps depravity will be shocked by some of the events that Jeff reports.
For example, at the ceremony welcoming him as the new chairman, Milley invited Captain Luis Avila to sing God Bless America. Avila had completed five combat tours, lost a leg in an IED attack in Afghanistan, and suffered two heart attacks, two strokes, and brain damage as a result of his injuries. Jeff writes:After Avilas performance, Trump walked over to congratulate him, but then said to Milley, within earshot of several witnesses, Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, the wounded.Milleys family, Jeff continues,venerated the military, and Trumps attitude toward the uniformed services seemed superficial, callous, and, at the deepest human level, repugnant.
Never let Avila appear in public again, Trump told Milley.
But Trump did respect some military personnel, especially Eddie Gallagher, the Navy SEAL who was court-martialed on multiple charges and whose own comrades testified to his bloodthirsty and reckless behavior. (Gallagher was acquitted of all charges except for posing with a slain enemys corpse.) Trump intervened in the question of whether Gallagher, despite his acquittals, should keep his SEAL pina decision traditionally made by fellow SEALs.
Milley tried to stop Trump from interfering with this important tradition. Trump, according to Jeff, called Gallagher a hero and said he didnt understand why he was being punished.
Because he slit the throat of a wounded prisoner, Milley said.
The guy was going to die anyway, Trump said.
Its a war crime, Milley protested, to no avail. Trump refused to see what the big deal was all about. You guysand here he meant combat soldiersare all just killers. Whats the difference?
Gallagher got to keep his pin.
If Trumps ideal military is one in which Eddie Gallagher is celebrated as a hero and Luis Avila is warehoused out of sight, what does that suggest about who might lead the military if Trump returns to office? Who would have the fortitude to turn back the unlawful orders of a vicious and cowardly commander in chief to kill prisoners, to act as a praetorian guard around the White House, or even to use nuclear arms?
When Trump lost the election, and especially after the January 6 insurrection, Milley was apparently growing concerned about Trumps emotional stability. The chairman called all of Americas top nuclear officers to a meeting, in which he said, If anything weird or crazy happens, just make sure we all know. He then asked each officer to affirm that he understood the proper procedures for the release of nuclear weapons. He also called his Chinese counterpart to assure him that America was not in the kind of chaos that could lead to war.
Milleys critics raged that the chairman was undermining the presidents authority, and, as Jeff notes, they wanted to see the general in leg-ironsor worse. These charges were partisan nonsense. What should be more concerning to every citizen of the United States is that Mark Milley, and many others around him, felt it was important to reassure the Chinese, and to keep the lines of communication around Americas nuclear command structure clear and open. In normal times, no one would think to do such things, but, as Jeff notes, Milleys months serving under Trump were not normal, because Trump was exceptionally unfit to serve.
Reading Jeffs article, I kept thinking of the 1965 novel Night of Camp David,by Fletcher Knebel (who also co-wrote Seven Days in May, about a military coup in the United States). Its not a great book, but the premise is scary enough: A young American senator, after a long evening alone with the president at his famous retreat, realizes that the commander in chief has descended into madness and is brewing grandiose plans for conquest that will ignite World War III. In the light of day, the president seems like a reasonable man, so no one but the senator knows that hes gone completely bonkers.
Milley faced the opposite and more difficult problem: Everyone knew Trump was unhinged. It wasnt even remotely a secret. General James Mattis even told friends and colleagues that Trump was more dangerous than anyone could imagine. But again, nobody had to imagine it; anyone who was ever in the same room as Trump knew it. And yet, few acted to stop him. (Mike Pences one day of courage on January 6 is an honorable and important exception.) Many others did not do their dutyincluding the Republican members of the United States Congress, whose lives Trump endangered.
Milley, unlike so many in Washington, continued to honor his oath to the Constitution. The next time, we will not be so lucky. The next time, Trump will not make the same mistake twice: He will ensure that no one like Mark Milley will be in the National Security Council, or at the Pentagon or guarding Americas nuclear forces at Strategic Command. The next time, when Trumps narcissism and cruelty tell him that he must exact revenge on the country, perhaps even on the world, no one will be there to stop him.
https://www.theatlantic.com/newslett...campaign=share
So Trump rigging future elections is feasible and normal but saying that Biden rigged an election is a wild conspiracy theory? Please tell me you do see the double standard there and the self contradiction.Quote:
Originally Posted by TitoFanQuote:
Originally Posted by NoSavingByTheBellAmerica can't get any worse than what it got since Joe Biden took office.Quote:
Originally Posted by TitoFan
And I'm still waiting for somebody to tell me who is going to come anywhere NEAR Donald Trump in the polls.
Edit: the following photo in the next post gives you all the choices pretty much.
You think poll results make Trump a good candidate? :rolleyes:
All it tells me is that people have lost the plot in general.
I'll stick by my previous post. The U.S. is going to get what it deserves.
Like I also said... none of Biden's shortcomings make Trump a good candidate.
IMHO, a 2nd Trump presidency will sink the U.S. to levels people haven't even imagined yet.
I predict full rioting in the streets, and something pretty close to anarchy.
In response, Trump will rig all future elections to where only HE can be elected, if elections are held at all.
The only thing that will save the nation is Trump getting too old and having to step aside.
But the damage has already been done. All future GOP candidates are going to be Trump clones, because spineless politicians know that's what this clueless generation of voters wants.
Sad.
The only rioting in the streets will be after he wins -- if he does win and it looks like he will win -- by democrats and others who refused to accept that he actually won. They will give the wild conspiracy theory that Vladimir Putin got Trump to win. And that will be fine to say that and when they challenged the results of the election that will not be considered undemocratic, right? And when they burn down buildings that will not be considered violence and when they burn down police stations or government buildings that will not be considered an -- wait for it --- "insurrection". Right? LMFAO
The opposite is actually true on the other point --- because if we don't put Trump back in there and Biden continues or Harris for example then America will be in much worse shape.
Nobody said poll numbers make somebody a "good" or "bad" candidate but I see what you did there. It's called a red herring and you are enough of an engineer to understand how that works.
Unless the kangaroo courts prosecute Trump on bogus felonious charges, to get back to the point and to remove all the red herrings which come like a tsunami, then I'm still waiting for somebody to tell me who is going to come anywhere near Trump.
I don't think I will ever get an answer to that and it's perfectly understandable heh heh, but a lot of fish, SCHOOLS of fish, mostly herrings with a Scarlet hue or ironically with an orange hue like orange man, will surely be swimming by.
No double standard. No self-contradiction. They're two entirely different men. The fact that Biden is too old to be President and has made some ill-advised decisions as President DOES NOT MEAN he's as egocentric... (scratch that)... egomaniacal, divisive, "yes-men" seeking, and just plain capable of claiming a stolen election and inciting the Capitol riot... as Trump.Quote:
Originally Posted by NoSavingByTheBell
Do I need to go into the number of Trump/GOP lawsuits that were laughed out of court regarding the bogus stolen election claims?? Do you really put it past Trump to make sure the system is REALLY rigged once he gets back in the White House??
Let's be up front here, shall we? I've always been consistent about my "meh" feelings about Biden, but... which are totally overshadowed by my hatred of Trump. You, on the other hand, have always claimed to prefer others (Jo "cough" Jorgensen) to Trump... yet consistently carry the torch for Trump in a way that would make even "Hair Dye Rudy" envious.
Tell me, Brock. Are you ok with Trump's efforts to coerce different state election officials into "find me more votes"?? An area where IMHO a presidential candidate shouldn't even THINK about entering? WTF am I asking... of course you are. Just like you're ok with the fact that Trump and his cohorts worked his MAGA base into a lather over the election results, and practically egged them on to invade the Capitol. Just like you're ok with the fact that Trump became the ONLY SITTING PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE NATION to refuse to go through the handshake/ transition period that ALL losing Presidents go through.Quote:
Originally Posted by NoSavingByTheBell
If there's rioting, it's because Trump finished off what probably had already started in the U.S. (I never say America, because that's technically not correct). The dumbing down of the general population, to where it's now a permanent "Us Against Them." It's name-calling and insult-hurling instead of policy arguments. It's more about personalities ("You're fired!!") than about low-key, behind-the-scenes working for the people of the United States. If there's rioting, it's because the low-life masses of people that had been in hiding since before the Trump administration have been liberated and empowered by the biggest low-life of them all... Donald Joker Trump.
Believe me... I'm not exactly jumping up and down for joy at the prospect of another 4 years of Biden. I hate his LGBTQXYZ stance... and I think he has totally messed up on the subject of border control. Not that Trump did much better, with his damn medieval wall... but Biden has lost the plot with border control.Quote:
Originally Posted by NoSavingByTheBell
Harris we need not discuss. I'd probably move to another country if she became President.
I know you were dying to use one of those favorite forum buzzwords (red herring)... but technically you're right. You didn't say that. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by NoSavingByTheBell
Convincing braindead morons that the election was stolen, and they had to forcefully get it back... thus inciting the worse and ONLY rioting in the U.S. Capitol... is HARDLY a bogus charge. For that alone he should be immediately thrown in jail... and it has taken WAY TOO LONG for the clumsy U.S. Justice System to get that done.Quote:
Originally Posted by NoSavingByTheBell
Former Trump Defense Secretary Insists Its a Legitimate Fear Trump Will Throw Enemies in Jail if Reelected
If youll recall from my memoir that you mentioned at the top, I cite a circumstance where the president, egged on by his close advisers, wanted to call back to active duty Admiral McRaven and General McChrystal to court martial them for some things that they allegedly said in the public domain, and Milley and I had to talk the president out of doing that for many number of reasons. So is it possible that a new loyalist sitting around Trump in the Oval Office will say, Lets call up Milley? Yeah, its quite likely.
Now the good news is that theres a silver lining in all this, is Trumps kind of poisoned the well. I dont know that a jury or anybody would find that he could be, given what we would call command influence, that such a thing could happen. But nonetheless, I think its a legitimate fear. The president has also said that a second term would be about retribution, right? So, I think these are all legitimate concerns.
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/former-t...-if-reelected/
Retribution.
I think everyone should let that word sink in for just a minute.
Anybody with half a brain knows that Trump and his vindictive nature (and "yes-men" loving nature) will go after his detractors with blood in his eye. I would not be surprised to see the nation turn into a police state under a 2nd Trump term. Enemies... real and imagined... will be persecuted, censored, smeared, cancelled, and just about any other vindictive action to satisfy Trump's damaged ego.
Funny that Trump refers to some countries as "shithole countries" and "banana republics." A 2nd Trump term will be like the pot calling the kettle black. Trump will use his powers to:
- Remain in power as long as he likes.
- Persecute the living shit out of his real (or imagined) enemies.
- Shoot down any previous Democratic initiative, whether it's good for the nation or not.
- Force election system "reforms" that will tilt the balance to his interests.
- Continue to surround himself with useless "yes-men", who will be scared shitless to have any individual thoughts that might contradict Herr Trump's.
- Force through his policies (including the fucked up ones) with a ramrod... steamrollering anyone who gets in the way.
- Censor all media that doesn't kiss his ass.
- Continue to serve his own personal interests and those of his family no matter how inappropriate it looks to the public.
- Continue stoking the fires of HATRED among the American people, a condition he revels in like a pig in a mudhole.
- Personally push the USA below the level of at least half a dozen countries in the global scale.
- Throw decent people in jail (those who don't agree with him or pose a threat to his dictator-like leadership.
- Pardon kiss-ass criminals, who have groveled at Trump's feet and done his bidding, even at the cost of breaking the law or not serving the American people.
USA's enemies abroad are licking their chops at the prospect of Donald Jackass Trump getting elected once again. Xi Jinping is going to have his way with Trump, while making it seem like he's not... all to soothe Trump's fragile and gigantic ego, while behind the scenes he'll be continuing his quest to make China the most powerful nation in the world by far.
Using boxing parlance... Trump and his childlike ego is tailormade for a savvy political veteran like Xi Jinping.
Donald Trump is no longer in business.
Worse, the self-proclaimed multibillionaire may soon be personally bankrupt as a result, stripped of just about everything because for years he engaged in calculated bank fraud and insurance fraud by inflating the value of his properties, a judge ruled Tuesday.
His gaudy Trump Tower apartment, his golf courses, his Boeing 757 jet and even Mar-a-Lago could all be disposed of by a court-appointed monitor, leaving Trump with not much more than his pensions as a one term president and a television performer.
A New York State judge on Tuesday cancelled all of the business licenses for the Trump Organization and its 500 or so subsidiary companies and partnerships after finding that Trump used them to, along with his older two sons, commit fraud.
Under the New York General Business Law you can only do business in your own name as a sole proprietor or with a business license, which the state calls a business certificate. All of Trumps businesses were corporations or partnerships that require business certificates.
[,,,]
A non-jury trial before Judge Engoron next week will determine how much Trump will be fined for his years of bank fraud and insurance fraud.
Barring a highly unlikely reversal by an appeals court, Trumps business assets eventually will be liquidated since he cannot operate them without a business license. Retired Judge Barbara Jones was appointed to monitor the assets, an arrangement not unlike the court-supervised liquidation of a bankrupt company or the assets of a drug lord.
Creditors, any fines due the state because of the fraud, and taxes will be paid first from sales of Trump properties.
The various properties are likely to be sold at fire sale prices and certainly not for top dollar when liquidation begins, probably after all appeals are exhausted.
Among these properties is the portion of Trump Tower that Trump still owns and leases to businesses as office and retail space; his own triplex apartment there; his golf courses; and Mar-a-Lago, the Florida mansion he bought in a corrupt mortgage deal decades ago. He also has deals to license his name on buildings and businesses, which similarly he can no longer operate and whose profits he must give up.
The fact that Trump assigned values two, four, ten times and more above their actual values indicates that once all of the priority bills are paid there will be little to nothing left for Trump.
Trump, for example, has claimed that his Westchester County mansion north of Manhattan was worth close to $300 million, ten times the highest valuation by appraisers and bankers. Even those valuations may be inflated because of restrictions on developing the 30-acre property with more mansions.
https://www.dcreport.org/2023/09/26/...ble-for-fraud/
The author is a Pulitzer prize winning journalist who worked for the New York Times and wrote a bunch of famous articles about various issues to do with tax and fraud so he knows what he's talking about. Lots of similar coverage elsewhere but this is the most cogent thing I saaw.
New York courts have now determined that Trump and/or his companies have committed: -bank fraud-insurance fraud-tax fraud-charities fraudAnd Trump personally -sexual assault
https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status...79361943453867
In 2018, Donald Trump thought he was having a private phone call with Sen. Bob Menendez.It was actually a prank call by comedian @stutteringjohnm
.During the call, Trump congratulated Menendez on beating his then-corruption charges.Trump told him, "We're proud of you. Congratulations. Great job. You went through a tough, tough situation. I don't think a very fair situation."
https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/stat...87650568872420
Looks like Mexico is the top candidate for Trump's first war:
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1706401516456751418
Trump has said similar stuff along with Ron. One thing I can guarantee is that all these antiwar MAGA supporters complaining about the uniparty always fighting unnecessary wars will be instantly frothing at the mouth for war the minute their leader decides to bomb somebody and will be demanding he nukes whoever it is straight away. Another easy prediction. Going to war with your biggest trading partner has the chance to backfire somewhat. Twenty or thirty percent inflation would be one of the minor consequences.
These people are just utter scum. This is a United States Senator in 2023. Fucking shameful:
https://twitter.com/davidgura/status...38403092717617
And last but not least how about this? A journalist practicing journalism!
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1707101700132130868
The current story is Biden is being impeached, Republicans say this and Democrats say this. The actual story that the media should be telling is that Biden is being impeached on claims which were debunked during Trump's first impeachment trial, exhaustively investigated by Trump's DOJ for eight months afterwards in an effort to placate Trump and found to be bullshit. Now the GOP is recycling all this shit again and impeaching Biden on no evidence at all. The GOP should be being asked every day what are you playing at you clowns. Look what bothsidesing it does:
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1707061205150367788
Related:
https://twitter.com/MattGertz/status...90566998225314
..
I'm sorry... but this is just fucking funny!!
https://politicalpunchline.com/wp-co...e-sentence.jpg
:rofmaoal:
Opinion
This is how fascism comes to America
https://wapo.st/3Q0TBVI
From seven years ago. It stands up pretty well.
I was aying last week about how the Democrats and the GOP used to have exactly the same position on southern border immigration and it was the post 2012 Democratic move to the left that allowed Trump a big issue to campaign on:
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/sta...68989655728434
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1707243590139732176
He's a grandstanding tit, not in the DeSantis league however still annoying, but he's effective. Maybe he could swap jobs with Kamala.
Exclusive: John Kelly goes on the record to confirm several disturbing stories about Trump
John Kelly, the longest-serving White House chief of staff for Donald Trump, offered his harshest criticism yet of the former president in an exclusive statement to CNN.
Kelly set the record straight with on-the-record confirmation of a number of damning stories about statements Trump made behind closed doors attacking US service members and veterans, listing a number of objectionable comments Kelly witnessed Trump make firsthand.
What can I add that has not already been said? Kelly said, when asked if he wanted to weigh in on his former boss in light of recent comments made by other former Trump officials. A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all suckers because there is nothing in it for them. A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because it doesnt look good for me. A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family for all Gold Star families on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in Americas defense are losers and wouldnt visit their graves in France.
A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women, Kelly continued. A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who cavalierly suggests that a selfless warrior who has served his country for 40 years in peacetime and war should lose his life for treason in expectation that someone will take action. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.
There is nothing more that can be said, Kelly concluded. God help us.
In the statement, Kelly is confirming, on the record, a number of details in a 2020 story in The Atlantic by editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, including Trump turning to Kelly on Memorial Day 2017, as they stood among those killed in Afghanistan and Iraq in Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery, and saying, I dont get it. What was in it for them? ......
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/02/polit...ans/index.html
This is the biggest possible gift wrapped opportunity for the red tie wearing competition to hammer Trump with. I think Christie will bring it up but that's about it.
Lovely seeing the Orange one in court again crying about being persecuted. Inflating his wealth to secure loans, hope he gets nailed.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/66989373
There's a sobering thought in all of this.
As hard as the courts and the system are coming down on Trump (and deservedly so)... I cringe at what will happen if Trump somehow gets elected again.
Vengeance and vindictiveness just don't cover the unmitigated WRATH that Trump will rain down on his enemies, both real and imagined.
The United States of America will be ripped to shreds.
Trump EASILY wins in November 24. Not a soul in sight who can come anywhere NEAR the guy.
Republican party and actual principled conservative policy being ripped to pieces right now on the floor. By a handful of unhinged mental midgets with zero viable policy proposals, avenues and backing to achieve shat, strictly grounded in erratic chaos and dramatic tirades and getting the most airtime. Congrats maga fukwits you're ensuring future state and National losses. Just toss them on the pile with the ones already handed over the last number of years.
https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/sta...03547387408595Quote:
Originally Posted by Spicoli
This from a former GOP political consultant* covers the situation very well and gives a look at inside the top of the House GOP and how it functions. Worth two minutes of your time:
https://therickwilson.substack.com/p...utm_medium=web
I would take issue with the idea of McCarthy being principled though. He came out against the coup but then when it became clear that the GOP base were still behind Trump when scuttling down to his Florida restaurant to kiss his ring. He gave up all his authority and credibility just to get himself elected speaker and when he was speaker reneged on the only single deal of any size that he actually managed to make:
First: Lets not forget how we got here.
McCarthy made a deal with Biden back in May to pass appropriations bills under a series of agreed spending limits. If Congress couldnt finish all the bills by the end of September a continuing resolution would add more time. McCarthy then broke the agreement by giving the Freedom Caucus ultras the go-ahead to pass appropriations bills at spending limits dramatically lower than the May agreement required. That would set up a shutdown fight. The GOP House would point to its stack of appropriations bills and tell the Senate and White House: agree to these or we shut down the government.
That was the plan. But the House couldnt actually pass its bills. The process broke down in the House rather than in a confrontation with the White House and Senate. The real gripe against McCarthy is that he couldnt compel the GOP conference to pass the Freedom Caucus wishlist and then shut the government down over it.
Its the same old story: the Speaker couldnt deliver the Freedom Caucus its pet pony.
Is some other McCarthy clone going to be able to do that? Of course not. The central conceit of the House hardliners is that their views should hold sway over the whole government even though they only make up a small minority of a narrow majority of one House of Congress. What they cant win with votes they propose to win with threats to damage the Republic. Same as its ever been with these guys.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/let-it-burn-2
Finally:
Republicans calling Republicans terrorists
Sen. Cornyn calls effort to oust McCarthy disgracefulWe saw a similar thing happen to Boehner, Ryan, and now McCarthy. Im sure the next speaker is going to be subjected to the same terrorist attacks.
https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/sta...09980816375989
* Remember Max Cleland and the campaign against him calling him soft on terrorists and anti-American even though he'd lost both legs in Vietnam? Rick Wilson was the guy who ran that campaign. Used to be a real evil GOP operative. Now on the side of the angels.
The judge already found him guilty. It's basically now just a question of how much of a fine he has to pay.Quote:
Originally Posted by Master
There's no jury in this trial because Trump's crack slip and fall lawyer forgot to check the box to request one when they filled in the paperwork for the trial. I'm not kidding.
https://www.salon.com/2023/10/03/the...tack-of-cards/
Trump's ally and influence has caused the speaker Kevin McCarthy: US House of Representatives votes to oust Republican leader.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66990984
The judge presiding over Donald Trump's civil fraud case issued a limited gag order after the ex-president made "disparaging" remarks about a court clerk.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirkland LaingThe judge already found him guilty. It's basically now just a question of how much of a fine he has to pay.Quote:
Originally Posted by Master
There's no jury in this trial because Trump's crack slip and fall lawyer forgot to check the box to request one when they filled in the paperwork for the trial. I'm not kidding.
https://www.salon.com/2023/10/03/the...tack-of-cards/
Mr Trump had attacked Judge Arthur Engoron's clerk in a post on his social media site, Truth Social.
The judge warned of "serious sanctions" if the order was disobeyed.
Mr Trump has repeatedly made personal attacks on the judge and called him "deranged" and a "rogue adjudicator".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67001699
Shout out to Matt Gaetz. Hahahahahaha
BYE BYE KEVIN. HAHAHAHAHAH
wonder who the next SOTH will be hmmmmm
GOP learns the hard way: Turning the base up too high blows out your Speaker
https://twitter.com/leedrutman/statu...17868255363278
There is zero chance that Trump lets his cult followers appoint him as Speaker. He's already claimed that by shutting down the government he'd be able to force Biden to scrap the investigations and legal proceedings against him, make huge (undefined) spending cuts and basically give the GOP everything it wants. This would not happen in real life. What would happen is that Trump would make these grandiose claims, shut the government down and then after the longest government shutdown in history would end up caving and leaving the GOP in a worse position than they were pre shutdown, an actual negative result. You know how I know this? Because he did it when he was president:
Trump caves to Pelosi
President Trump created the longest government shutdown in U.S. history so he could get $5.7 billion for a border wall, and today he caved in exchange for $0.
Driving the news: Trump will sign a short-term dealthat will open the government for three weeks. During that stretch, the House and Senate will go to conference to discuss border funding. If we dont get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on Feb. 15, again, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and Constitution of the United States to address this emergency," Trump said today.
The big picture: The president delivered nothing for his base and created financial instability for millions of others, uniting Democrats around House Speaker Pelosi, who emerged as his foil during the stretch.
- Trump challenged her for wall funding ... and got nothing
- He fought her on the State of the Union ... and got nothing
- And he teased a national emergency ... but didn't do it
https://www.axios.com/2019/01/25/gov...p-caves-pelosi
Would his cult followers even care though if he ended up humiliating himself again? :
WASHINGTON Wimp? Coward? Caveman?
Those insults may have been hurled at President Donald Trump after he agreed last week to reopen the federal government without getting money he requested for a border wall.
But that's not how most of his base sees him, according to a Monmouth University Poll released Monday.
More Republicans surveyed (44 percent) said the action made Trump look stronger than the share of GOP respondents who said he looks weaker (19 percent).
And Trump's job approval rating among Republicans has changed little from his 84 percent support in November.
"Despite what was objectively a climb-down in Trump's position, these poll results provide more evidence that public opinion of the president has been largely baked in since day one," said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
Among all respondents, somewhat more said Trump's decision made him look weaker (32 percent) than stronger (24 percent). But a plurality of 41 percent said it had no effect on how they view him.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ll/2701887002/
Wasn't intended for McCarthy but the overall make up and state of the Republican house. Cause and effect of the random erratic action of the mental midgets seeking the spotlight. I know all about McCarthy and he's never met a boot he could resist tongue polishing. Writing on the wall was there before the 15th vote was even tallied, again with pedo Gaetz acting as the tiny socket dropped in the engine block to bring the chaos. Just a matter of time until a vote to oust McCarthy came. I'm not coming so much from a pro democrat place as much as you just have to have a functional party to get business done and keep the lights on. Regardless of what I feel on two party system and agree disagree with either, I prefer them both semi functional and mostly competent. All this does is amplify the clown show that is now the Repubs and crack the door more for Gaetz, Jordan and the stagnant deranged influence of Trump to ironically once again find its finger on the scale in the Capital. This time not thru smashed windows, tear gas and stormed doors though. Guess it's a good thing grifters indicted for felonies cannot run for the seat :p. In a way though...and this has been said a few...this could finally force the majority in house to sac up and force adults to take over on their side. Because right now it's a literal dysfunctional shit show. It's not the perfect system by far, but it's the one we have at this moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirkland Lainghttps://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/sta...03547387408595Quote:
Originally Posted by Spicoli
This from a former GOP political consultant* covers the situation very well and gives a look at inside the top of the House GOP and how it functions. Worth two minutes of your time:
https://therickwilson.substack.com/p...utm_medium=web
I would take issue with the idea of McCarthy being principled though. He came out against the coup but then when it became clear that the GOP base were still behind Trump when scuttling down to his Florida restaurant to kiss his ring. He gave up all his authority and credibility just to get himself elected speaker and when he was speaker reneged on the only single deal of any size that he actually managed to make:
First: Lets not forget how we got here.
McCarthy made a deal with Biden back in May to pass appropriations bills under a series of agreed spending limits. If Congress couldnt finish all the bills by the end of September a continuing resolution would add more time. McCarthy then broke the agreement by giving the Freedom Caucus ultras the go-ahead to pass appropriations bills at spending limits dramatically lower than the May agreement required. That would set up a shutdown fight. The GOP House would point to its stack of appropriations bills and tell the Senate and White House: agree to these or we shut down the government.
That was the plan. But the House couldnt actually pass its bills. The process broke down in the House rather than in a confrontation with the White House and Senate. The real gripe against McCarthy is that he couldnt compel the GOP conference to pass the Freedom Caucus wishlist and then shut the government down over it.
Its the same old story: the Speaker couldnt deliver the Freedom Caucus its pet pony.
Is some other McCarthy clone going to be able to do that? Of course not. The central conceit of the House hardliners is that their views should hold sway over the whole government even though they only make up a small minority of a narrow majority of one House of Congress. What they cant win with votes they propose to win with threats to damage the Republic. Same as its ever been with these guys.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/let-it-burn-2
Finally:
Republicans calling Republicans terrorists
Sen. Cornyn calls effort to oust McCarthy disgracefulWe saw a similar thing happen to Boehner, Ryan, and now McCarthy. Im sure the next speaker is going to be subjected to the same terrorist attacks.
https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/sta...09980816375989
* Remember Max Cleland and the campaign against him calling him soft on terrorists and anti-American even though he'd lost both legs in Vietnam? Rick Wilson was the guy who ran that campaign. Used to be a real evil GOP operative. Now on the side of the angels.
It's going to be either David Duke without the baggage or straight up fascist Gym Jordan or Elise Whatshername who is welded to Trump as the next Speaker. I can't see how any of these people can compromise and pass anything that will make it to Biden's desk. They're all now prisoners of their own bullshit and manufactured outrage.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpicoliWasn't intended for McCarthy but the overall make up and state of the Republican house. Cause and effect of the random erratic action of the mental midgets seeking the spotlight. I know all about McCarthy and he's never met a boot he could resist tongue polishing. Writing on the wall was there before the 15th vote was even tallied, again with pedo Gaetz acting as the tiny socket dropped in the engine block to bring the chaos. Just a matter of time until a vote to oust McCarthy came. I'm not coming so much from a pro democrat place as much as you just have to have a functional party to get business done and keep the lights on. Regardless of what I feel on two party system and agree disagree with either, I prefer them both semi functional and mostly competent. All this does is amplify the clown show that is now the Repubs and crack the door more for Gaetz, Jordan and the stagnant deranged influence of Trump to ironically once again find its finger on the scale in the Capital. This time not thru smashed windows, tear gas and stormed doors though. Guess it's a good thing grifters indicted for felonies cannot run for the seat :p. In a way though...and this has been said a few...this could finally force the majority in house to sac up and force adults to take over on their side. Because right now it's a literal dysfunctional shit show. It's not the perfect system by far, but it's the one we have at this moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirkland Lainghttps://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/sta...03547387408595Quote:
Originally Posted by Spicoli
This from a former GOP political consultant* covers the situation very well and gives a look at inside the top of the House GOP and how it functions. Worth two minutes of your time:
https://therickwilson.substack.com/p...utm_medium=web
I would take issue with the idea of McCarthy being principled though. He came out against the coup but then when it became clear that the GOP base were still behind Trump when scuttling down to his Florida restaurant to kiss his ring. He gave up all his authority and credibility just to get himself elected speaker and when he was speaker reneged on the only single deal of any size that he actually managed to make:
First: Lets not forget how we got here.
McCarthy made a deal with Biden back in May to pass appropriations bills under a series of agreed spending limits. If Congress couldnt finish all the bills by the end of September a continuing resolution would add more time. McCarthy then broke the agreement by giving the Freedom Caucus ultras the go-ahead to pass appropriations bills at spending limits dramatically lower than the May agreement required. That would set up a shutdown fight. The GOP House would point to its stack of appropriations bills and tell the Senate and White House: agree to these or we shut down the government.
That was the plan. But the House couldnt actually pass its bills. The process broke down in the House rather than in a confrontation with the White House and Senate. The real gripe against McCarthy is that he couldnt compel the GOP conference to pass the Freedom Caucus wishlist and then shut the government down over it.
Its the same old story: the Speaker couldnt deliver the Freedom Caucus its pet pony.
Is some other McCarthy clone going to be able to do that? Of course not. The central conceit of the House hardliners is that their views should hold sway over the whole government even though they only make up a small minority of a narrow majority of one House of Congress. What they cant win with votes they propose to win with threats to damage the Republic. Same as its ever been with these guys.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/let-it-burn-2
Finally:
Republicans calling Republicans terrorists
Sen. Cornyn calls effort to oust McCarthy disgracefulWe saw a similar thing happen to Boehner, Ryan, and now McCarthy. Im sure the next speaker is going to be subjected to the same terrorist attacks.
https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/sta...09980816375989
* Remember Max Cleland and the campaign against him calling him soft on terrorists and anti-American even though he'd lost both legs in Vietnam? Rick Wilson was the guy who ran that campaign. Used to be a real evil GOP operative. Now on the side of the angels.
Like this guy says:
You can blame the Republican insurgence for bringing down McCarthy, but the bigger problem is that the GOP is now a countercultural movement of sour and resentful people who dont even know what the hell theyre mad about most of the time until Fox tells them why theyre angry
https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/sta...06331227013526
In new Trump news:
Months after leaving the White House, former President Donald Trump allegedly discussed potentially sensitive information about U.S. nuclear submarines with a member of his Mar-a-Lago Club -- an Australian billionaire who then allegedly shared the information with scores of others, including more than a dozen foreign officials, several of his own employees, and a handful of journalists, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The potential disclosure was reported to special counsel Jack Smith's team as they investigated Trump's alleged hoarding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, the sources told ABC News. The information could shed further light on Trump's handling of sensitive government secrets.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/after-whit...y?id=103760456
It's over a year to go until the election. Just imagine how bad things are going to get in 2024 if they're like this now:
https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/s...51631818056179
It's shameful to pick on Ron after his campaign disaster but just look at his new Loubs:
https://twitter.com/maxasteele/statu...90886783082981
The madness has metastasized. And when I hear some members express rage and call for expulsion of Gaetz aka Trump it's clear they realize it. Simply not enough they. Yet another case of Trump putting himself over all things sane too, divulging top secret specs on nuclear subs to a foreign national (ffs :bananna8:) is an act of treason.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirkland LaingIt's going to be either David Duke without the baggage or straight up fascist Gym Jordan or Elise Whatshername who is welded to Trump as the next Speaker. I can't see how any of these people can compromise and pass anything that will make it to Biden's desk. They're all now prisoners of their own bullshit and manufactured outrage.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpicoliWasn't intended for McCarthy but the overall make up and state of the Republican house. Cause and effect of the random erratic action of the mental midgets seeking the spotlight. I know all about McCarthy and he's never met a boot he could resist tongue polishing. Writing on the wall was there before the 15th vote was even tallied, again with pedo Gaetz acting as the tiny socket dropped in the engine block to bring the chaos. Just a matter of time until a vote to oust McCarthy came. I'm not coming so much from a pro democrat place as much as you just have to have a functional party to get business done and keep the lights on. Regardless of what I feel on two party system and agree disagree with either, I prefer them both semi functional and mostly competent. All this does is amplify the clown show that is now the Repubs and crack the door more for Gaetz, Jordan and the stagnant deranged influence of Trump to ironically once again find its finger on the scale in the Capital. This time not thru smashed windows, tear gas and stormed doors though. Guess it's a good thing grifters indicted for felonies cannot run for the seat :p. In a way though...and this has been said a few...this could finally force the majority in house to sac up and force adults to take over on their side. Because right now it's a literal dysfunctional shit show. It's not the perfect system by far, but it's the one we have at this moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirkland Lainghttps://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/sta...03547387408595Quote:
Originally Posted by Spicoli
This from a former GOP political consultant* covers the situation very well and gives a look at inside the top of the House GOP and how it functions. Worth two minutes of your time:
https://therickwilson.substack.com/p...utm_medium=web
I would take issue with the idea of McCarthy being principled though. He came out against the coup but then when it became clear that the GOP base were still behind Trump when scuttling down to his Florida restaurant to kiss his ring. He gave up all his authority and credibility just to get himself elected speaker and when he was speaker reneged on the only single deal of any size that he actually managed to make:
First: Lets not forget how we got here.
McCarthy made a deal with Biden back in May to pass appropriations bills under a series of agreed spending limits. If Congress couldnt finish all the bills by the end of September a continuing resolution would add more time. McCarthy then broke the agreement by giving the Freedom Caucus ultras the go-ahead to pass appropriations bills at spending limits dramatically lower than the May agreement required. That would set up a shutdown fight. The GOP House would point to its stack of appropriations bills and tell the Senate and White House: agree to these or we shut down the government.
That was the plan. But the House couldnt actually pass its bills. The process broke down in the House rather than in a confrontation with the White House and Senate. The real gripe against McCarthy is that he couldnt compel the GOP conference to pass the Freedom Caucus wishlist and then shut the government down over it.
Its the same old story: the Speaker couldnt deliver the Freedom Caucus its pet pony.
Is some other McCarthy clone going to be able to do that? Of course not. The central conceit of the House hardliners is that their views should hold sway over the whole government even though they only make up a small minority of a narrow majority of one House of Congress. What they cant win with votes they propose to win with threats to damage the Republic. Same as its ever been with these guys.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/let-it-burn-2
Finally:
Republicans calling Republicans terrorists
Sen. Cornyn calls effort to oust McCarthy disgracefulWe saw a similar thing happen to Boehner, Ryan, and now McCarthy. Im sure the next speaker is going to be subjected to the same terrorist attacks.
https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/sta...09980816375989
* Remember Max Cleland and the campaign against him calling him soft on terrorists and anti-American even though he'd lost both legs in Vietnam? Rick Wilson was the guy who ran that campaign. Used to be a real evil GOP operative. Now on the side of the angels.
Like this guy says:
You can blame the Republican insurgence for bringing down McCarthy, but the bigger problem is that the GOP is now a countercultural movement of sour and resentful people who dont even know what the hell theyre mad about most of the time until Fox tells them why theyre angry
https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/sta...06331227013526
In new Trump news:
Months after leaving the White House, former President Donald Trump allegedly discussed potentially sensitive information about U.S. nuclear submarines with a member of his Mar-a-Lago Club -- an Australian billionaire who then allegedly shared the information with scores of others, including more than a dozen foreign officials, several of his own employees, and a handful of journalists, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The potential disclosure was reported to special counsel Jack Smith's team as they investigated Trump's alleged hoarding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, the sources told ABC News. The information could shed further light on Trump's handling of sensitive government secrets.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/after-whit...y?id=103760456
It's over a year to go until the election. Just imagine how bad things are going to get in 2024 if they're like this now:
https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/s...51631818056179
It's shameful to pick on Ron after his campaign disaster but just look at his new Loubs:
https://twitter.com/maxasteele/statu...90886783082981
Oh so you just concluded without any evidence that he divulge nuclear secrets to a foreign national? That's what happens when people hate Trump so much that they just conclude that it must be true over and over from the Russian collusion hoax all the way now through divulging nuclear secrets to foreign Nationals 不不不不
Do you TDS people ever get tired of being wrong? Just curious. Do you have any self-awareness at all that you have been wrong about every single thing about Trump since the beginning?
No you have no self-awareness you just have TDS
This just got published and it's the best explanation of how we ended up where we are that I've read and it's from an actual political scientist who has the receipts:Quote:
Originally Posted by Spicoli
Skocpol: We have to understand the radicalization of the Republican Party as a process that has been underway since 2000. Act 1 of that radicalization was the rise of the Koch network, which was itself motivated by displeasure with what the Republicans under Bush junior and senior had been doing for example, passing Medicare expenditures. The Koch network outflanked the Republican Party, and they put a lot of pressure on candidates and officeholders to hew the line on cutting taxes, cutting regulations and disabling public sector unions. These Young Guns were initially in tune with that and why wouldnt they be? They thought thats where the money came from and where the business community had gone.
But that wasnt satisfactory to a lot of base voters around the Republican Party, who were much angrier about social changes in the country and much more upset about immigration.
So I think the Republican Party was first hollowed out at the top, and then the tea party crystallized when Barack Obama was elected president and then it ended up being given further expression during the immigration reform battles and the rise of Donald Trump. I call it the bottom-up radicalization of the Republican Party, and I think it caught a lot of these Koch network darlings, including all three of these Young Guns, by surprise although in McCarthys case, I think he has done his best to ride the tiger. Hes tried to have it both ways.
[...]
Skocpol: No it represents the culmination of it. I think most people in the in the media thought the tea party was about cutting the federal budget deficit because thats what a few elite spokesmen on TV said it was about. But our research always showed that at the grassroots, it was about popular anger over a changing country and fury at a Republican Party that was not responding to that desire. All the research that I and other political scientists have done on the movement shows that by the 2010s, just before Donald Trump emerges, the tea party had taken the shape of a just-say-no, blow-it-all-up, dont-cooperate, do-politics-on-Twitter faction and this is the perfect expression of it. This is where it leads. The fact that McCarthy and the other Young Guns were once called tea party people because they dallied with the movement does not mean that the tiger wasnt going to consume them in the end.
[..]
Ward: So if the conflict is essentially about tactics and the real energies behind the far right are cultural, why do people like Gaetz still lean so heavily on the language of fiscal conservatism? After all, this most recent incident was partly set off by McCarthys unwillingness or inability to slash spending levels.
Skocpol: Youre not going to like the answer Im going to give you.
Ward: Try me.
Skocpol: It sells with the Washington press corps. Why anybody believes this is beyond me. Did you see what Donald Trump did when he was office? Did you see what Republicans did when they controlled the entire Congress? They dont cut anything, except taxes. And that keeps a certain number of billionaires and even Charles Koch himself happy.
There are two strands that have played out in the Republican Party during recent years. One of them I call McConnellism. McConnellism is clever. Its about using every lever of power to make sure Republicans get the federal judiciary full of judges who are going to disempower Democratic initiatives, and its about doing everything you can to shape the electorate, both by encouraging your own voters and discouraging the other guys voters. Its at the edge of whats legally and constitutionally legitimate. Then theres Trumpism, which at this point has gone from bullying and threatening to actual calls for violence. One of them is very powerful in the House, and the other is very powerful in the Senate.
But its a tactical difference. Its not as if theres a huge difference of policy. I think there might be some differences in policy over immigration, but those dont really come up because nobodys talking about legislating on immigration.
[..]
But I dont think we know how this is going to come out. If youve got people in power who are backed by a large number of voters who are angry, fearful, limited in the information they get about whats going on and thinking that it would be better to blow America up than to save it I think youre in uncharted territory. We are in uncharted territory.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazi...ocpol-00120009
Related:
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/red...-20231005.html
I wasnt committing financial fraud; I was committing TAX fraud.
https://twitter.com/normative/status...38298178613569
Left: After 330,000 jobs are added under BidenRight: After 178,000 jobs are added under Trump
https://twitter.com/jeremyslevin/sta...61151077236896
Pause for a moment to admire the whole tableau
https://twitter.com/magi_jay/status/1710296013473263749
Liz Cheney's take on Jim Jordan is correct
https://twitter.com/noahmtweets/stat...01079039402309
I remember the good old days when Republicans would oppose Russian aggression and the summary execution of the Chair of the Joint Chiefs. I didnt leave the Republican Party because of Trump, I left because of what he did to the rest of them.
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/s...38387292279090
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoSavingByTheBell
Every single thing? Since the beginning??
Really bro? :rolleyes:
Who's really the one with derangement here? :-X
Trump had to catch on eventually:
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/tr...-hidden-heels/
Won't allow me to read it what does it say?Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirkland Laing
It says experts in the field predict hands down that nobody comes close to beating Donald Trump in 2024Quote:
Originally Posted by MasterWon't allow me to read it what does it say?Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirkland Laing
Afraid all of his apple polishers have lost the carefree convenience of dismissing and branding calls for actual accountability "TDS". Fits his pattern, loud boastful careless and in possession of boxes of classified intel ffs :vd:. But don't let the reality that his billionaire fluffer and witnesses have been interviewed as part of current criminal investigations, felony indictments and a pending trial get in the way of all that laughter ;).Quote:
Originally Posted by NoSavingByTheBell
Quote:
Originally Posted by MasterWon't allow me to read it what does it say?Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirkland Laing
https://i.ibb.co/72BZT0s/Screenshot-...dden-Heels.png
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpicoliAfraid all of his apple polishers have lost the carefree convenience of dismissing and branding calls for actual accountability "TDS". Fits his pattern, loud boastful careless and in possession of boxes of classified intel ffs :vd:. But don't let the reality that his billionaire fluffer and witnesses have been interviewed as part of current criminal investigations, felony indictments and a pending trial get in the way of all that laughter ;).Quote:
Originally Posted by NoSavingByTheBell
This got my attention. Jack Smith says he can prove why Trump kept the top secret documents:
While arguing against the motion by Trumps lawyers to delay the May 20 trial, special counsel Jack Smiths lawyers assured theyre ready to go and that such a delay isnt necessary, unsurprisingly. But they also said they are ready to prove something significant that, to this point, has remained shrouded and the subject of much speculation: why Trump allegedly took and kept the documents.
That the classified materials at issue in this case were taken from the White House and retained at Mar-a-Lago is not in dispute, Smiths office said.
It then added that what is in dispute is how that occurred, why it occurred, what Trump knew, and what Trump intended in retaining them all issues that the Government will prove at trial primarily with unclassified evidence.
The government apparently thinks it knows what Trump intended with the documents. And its signaling that it plans to prove that intent.
https://wapo.st/45lTR5W
In case youve been understandably distracted from domestic news and have not followed the presidential race, it is not going very well for the Democrats. The RCP polling average now has Donald Trump leading President Biden by a point. If you recall, Biden beat Trump by four and a half points in 2020, and because Trump fared especially well in the closest states needed about four of those points to carry the Electoral College.
Some initial evidence has suggested that Trumps Electoral College edge might be shrinking and that Bidens popularity decline is occurring disproportionately in deep-blue states. But two new state polls suggest otherwise. A Michigan poll shows Trump leading Biden 42 to 35 percent. One in Pennsylvania has Trump leading 45 to 36 percent.
Yes, the election is a year away, and yes, polling this far out has limited value. But this is looking dire.
One finding both polls reflect is that the problem isnt so much with the Democratic Party as a whole as it is with Biden specifically. In Pennsylvania, Democratic senator Bob Casey leads Republican David McCormick 41 to 33 percent. The Michigan poll shows that Bidens job-approval rating is 31-58, while Governor Gretchen Whitmers is a sterling 53-37. It also tests a Whitmer-Trump presidential race and finds Whitmer leading Trump 46 to 40 percent.
Now, you cant exactly take these numbers at face value. If Whitmer were the Democrats presidential nominee, she would have to run in every state, not just Michigan (though Michigan, and the Midwest in general, is especially important).
Still, these numbers provide at least some evidence that Biden is now running behind, rather than ahead of, other members of his party. In 2020, Biden was a comforting callback to the popular Obama presidency. He had the ability to attract even voters concerned about the Democrats leftward drift. But whatever positive differentiation he had then has been swamped by disapproval of his job performance. At the moment, he is anything but a safe choice.
A month ago, I wrote a column wondering why no Democrats were challenging Biden. Democrats have largely assumed that Biden is not going to receive a serious primary challenge, which gives them the incentive to muffle their doubts. Talking about Bidens unpopularity can easily feed into Trumps attacks on Bidens performance. You can believe, as I do, that Biden is capable of handling his job while doubting he is up to the public-facing duties of a campaign, but when it filters down to the public, the distinction between the two is easily lost.
Jonathan Martin has a column revealing several disturbing aspects of the partys thinking. One is that Democratic officials are privately very concerned about Bidens ability to win. Most House Democrats, he writes, are more anxious about Biden than they are about their colleague from Minnesota.
Second, pollsters and consultants are finding that Bidens age is an overwhelming drawback in the eyes of the voters:
Last month at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, many lawmakers watched livestreams of focus groups with voters in Nevada and Michigan. Nearly all of them responded to questions about Biden the same way voters do in every focus group: by bringing up his age. (Though one attendee was heartened that the voters also cited Trumps age and complained that both are too old.)And third, fear of internal blowback is preventing them from speaking publicly. Nearly every ambitious Democrat [is] falling in line behind Biden for fear of weakening him, and their own future prospects, reports Martin.
Every Democratic consultant Ive talked to in recent weeks said thats the only refrain they pick up on Biden.
Right now, the only Democrat mulling a challenge is Representative Dean Phillips, a House member from Minnesota. Phillips had to give up a leadership position simply because he is talking openly about a primary challenge. Yet Martin reports the Democratic lawmaker group texts are filled with admiration that somebody is at least highlighting the donkey in the room if acknowledging that they could never say so publicly.
What all this suggests is that Democrats believe Biden may be fatally damaged, but everybody is hesitant to run against him for fear that the blowback will end their career. Say, Governor Whitmer who might be the partys best presidential material at the moment is well positioned to win the nomination in 2028, so why would she take a gamble? Other Democrats have to weigh the chance of beating Biden against the risk they lose and are blamed for his eventual defeat, jeopardizing whatever career ambitions they have.
Yet this means Bidens campaign ability is not going to be tested during the primary, and next summer, the party will more or less hand him the nomination and hope somehow the publics opinion of him turns around.
Almost two decades ago, Tom Edsall wrote about his years of experience playing poker with political big shots in Washington. Edsall recounted that, as a whole, Republicans are much less risk-averse than Democrats, and taking risks is crucial to poker.
Now, an observation like this vulnerable to bias and confined to a limited sample size can only go so far. Still, it seems to explain the Democratic Partys passivity in the face of a dire circumstance. Running a primary challenge against Biden is a high-stakes bet. The risks are large: A defeated challenger could possibly hurt Biden and probably damage their own viability. But a defeated challenger could also give Biden the chance to prove his ability to handle a rigorous campaign. And a successful challenger could rescue the party from the worst possible outcome.
Here is the most chilling passage in Martins story:
In their more honest moments, even the most dedicated Biden defenders not on his payroll will nervously wonder if in the future theyll look back at this moment and realize that the electorate had concluded he was too old for another term and he ignored the flashing red lights to barrel ahead anyway.Martins reporting doesnt make it sound like Democrats have calculated that an uncontested primary gives them the best chance to beat Trump. It makes it sound instead like the decision has been made out of a combination of inertia, self-interest, and fear.
I think thats a little high but were probably past the point where we can afford to politely gloss over how far our politics is in thrall to weird 19th century apocalyptic fantasies based on misreading the hallucinations of first century fanatics.
https://twitter.com/normative/status...50311883813138
The House Republican Conference is a mess. Complete and utter mess. They are no closer to picking a speaker. They are a month away from a shutdown. Israel is asking for aid, which needs to pass in the next few weeks.They are completely lost. And have no idea how they will get out
https://twitter.com/JakeSherman/stat...53377916506204
Praising Hezbollah for something horrific, which they didn't even do. It's like the distilled essence of every reason the man is unfit to be president.
https://twitter.com/asymmetricinfo/s...59308560994728
I would also point out that it's not surprising Hezbollah would attack Israel from the north. Where else would they attack from. They could attack from the west I suppose, that would really catch Israel by surprise.