1. #31241
    Quote Originally Posted by Martymark View Post
    The implied promise of Trump was that he would be an entertaining president.
    I don't think anyone thought he would be a competent president.

    He's truly delivered on that campaign promise.
    Anyone who elects someone to be president just because they are entertaining are well...I won't say because of getting infracted, but wow. Just wow.
    Looking for <Good Quotes for Signature>.

  2. #31242
    McConnell Approves Kemp’s Senate Pick That Goes Against Trump’s Wishes

    President Trump won’t be pleased with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s response to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp appointing businesswoman Kelly Loeffler to replace retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA).

    According to a Politico report Tuesday afternoon, McConnell said that Loeffler will have the full support of the Republican establishment, despite Trump’s preference for Kemp to choose staunch presidential ally Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA). Kemp’s formal announcement of Loeffler’s appointment is expected at a press conference scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday.

    McConnell added that Loeffler would be treated as an incumbent and that the National Republican Senatorial Committee and sitting senators will “all be behind her.”

    “It seems to me like the governor of Georgia made a terrific appointment,” McConnell said, according to Politico. “She will be an incumbent Republican senator. We will all be behind her. Sen. [Todd] Young has already made it clear the NRSC is going to be behind her. I’m going to be behind her, and I’m confident that someone we’re working with every day will enjoy total support from the Republican conference.”


    -----------

    I have to wonder if that this was in response to Matt Gaetz as well as to Trump, when Gaetz said Kemp's career was over for defying Trump.

  3. #31243

  4. #31244
    The Undying Breccia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thekri View Post
    Trump's policy of saving nobody but himself is really going to hurt him here
    See, that's the thing.

    In a lot of games, a lot of players save their best stuff -- those Resident Evil magnum rounds, Super Stimpaks from Fallout, Ultimate Healing potions from Skyrim, the best possible food for WoW raids -- for when it really matters. Trump, for all useful intents and purposes, has burned all his green herbs, grilled radroach, 10mm rounds and the like because he was struggling on trash, because he has neither skills, nor working eyesight, nor hands capable of holding a controller. Now all he has left is the good stuff and facepulled the boss.

    He has three choices:
    A) Burn everything, firing people like Giuliani and Mulvaney, in the desperate attempt to save himself by throwing what few faithful are left to the wolves.
    B) Save his best buds and try to take Pelosi, Schiff, and whatever 2020 throws at him without any resources left, likely to be the most painful experience since his unscheduled hospital visit or any of the 2016 debates.
    C) Wipe, I mean resign, and go on the forums to complain that Mythic Raids are overtuned because he can't do them at ilvl 370 and no Azerite, therefore the game is bigly rigged.

  5. #31245
    "best possible food...?"
    "Use: Restores no health, and reduces Stamina by 5% for 30 sec."

    That pineapple can fuck your shit up...
    But I think your posts are getting crosseyed.

  6. #31246
    The Undying Breccia's Avatar
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    Remember how Trump said he would invite Russia to G7?

    The House disapproves.

    The House on Tuesday passed a resolution disapproving of Russia being included in future Group of Seven (G-7) summits in a 339-71 vote on Tuesday.

    The resolution was introduced by Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) in August after President Trump said in August he believed Russia should be readmitted into the G-7. Russia was expelled from the G-8 in 2014 due to its occupation of territory in Ukraine.

    The resolution includes language reiterating the United States’ support for Ukraine while denouncing the country’s occupation of Crimea and destabilization in the region.

    The measure also condemns the “Kremlin’s assaults on democratic societies worldwide, including in the United States and other Group of Seven countries,” and calls of the leaders of the G-7 to oppose Russia rejoining the group unless it ends its occupation of “ Ukraine’s sovereign territory, including Crimea” and attacks on democracies around the world.
    For some reason, the resolution did not mention Ukraine. Hmm.

  7. #31247
    The Lightbringer bladeXcrasher's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Breccia View Post
    Remember how Trump said he would invite Russia to G7?

    The House disapproves.



    For some reason, the resolution did not mention Ukraine. Hmm.
    Not surprisingly, all 71 Nays were Republicans.

  8. #31248
    The Undying Breccia's Avatar
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    "So, you have a China trade war update for me?"

    Yes, sir, I do. The House put sanctions on China and also restricted tech to China and Chinese companies, yes this is different than the Hong Kong bill, this is mostly about China's minority Muslims.

    "The House, huh? Surely it was passed along purely partisan lines."

    Actually, the vote was 407 to 1.

    "Who was the 1?"

    Unclear.

    "Well, okay then."

    China already knows and is not happy, and suggests they are going to take action.

    "Well, it's going to be difficult for China to damage the US economy during holiday shopping season."

    Actually it'll be super easy. Barely an inconvenience.

    "Oh really?"

    Trump already said the trade war would drag on, maybe even after the 2020 election, and that brought the DOW to its third daily drop in a row. Plus the tariffs due to rise in a couple weeks literally will affect pretty much everything left, such as cell phones, laptops, video game consoles, computer monitors, footwear and camping goods.

    "Aww, camping goods are tight!"

    Well, they're...ok, sure. So, what do you think?

    "Well this looks like pretty bad news for Trump."

    I mean, sure, but as long as nobody running against him for President makes a big deal about it, it'll be fine.

    "Yeah, it's not like there are any billionaires that both have media companies with a full staff of qualified experts, and also a vested reason to shove Trump's record in his face, out there, right?"


  9. #31249
    Over 9000! Santti's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Breccia View Post
    Snip
    Wow wow wow.

    Pitch Meetings are tight! <3
    Quote Originally Posted by SpaghettiMonk View Post
    And again, let’s presume equity in schools is achievable. Then why should a parent read to a child?

  10. #31250
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    Quote Originally Posted by Beefhammer View Post
    That still falls into helping out a friend. Because you know darned well, he would give no bid contracts to his coal buddies first.
    It seems like literally every day, bad news for Trump's "clean, beautiful coal" just shows he's tilting at wind farms.

    During Trump's tenure, dozens of coal plants have shut down, including two of the largest in the US, including this one that ran in AZ for 50 years. In North Carolina, for example, Duke Energy had nine of its 13 coal plants running at 50% or lower capacity in 2018, leaving only the Final Four, because Duke.

    Worldwide, there is still some demand, but the best predictions say it'll be flat. India's taking a chop along with China and it would take a pretty hefty increase by smaller, poorer countries to make up the difference -- and even that is temporary until the smaller countries eventually get better tech. So even if Trump's government is trying to say global demand won't decrease, and even if they're right, since the US doesn't want it, that adds the cost of exporting it to people who do -- automatically making it more expensive and therefore less desirable.

    And even for those places that want coal, the decline in demand is causing supply-side competition to escalate. For example, Russia and Columbia are taking strong steps to get their coal to market, and considering how Russia is closer to a lot of the countries that still want the stuff, they have the better hand.

    And even moving coal in the US is becoming difficult. Some California cities are banning coal trains going through them, because of all the "clean, beautiful coal dust" they have to clear out because it's a fucking health risk. That means Midwest mines are having a harder time getting their coal to ex-port, and considering the US doesn't want it either, gluts the market and tanks the price.

    Coal is on target to have the worst year since Jimmy Carter as production is slated to drop another 15% over the previous year drops and that number was just revised down a couple weeks ago. And want to know what's funny? Even climate change itself is part of the problem.

    The US was the third-largest coal producer in the world after China and India, with 685.4Mt in 2018, down by 2.5% over 2017, owing to lower production at Cloud Peak Energy's Antelope and Cordero Rojo mines - a combined 20.4% decline in 2018 over 2017, due to weather disruptions caused from heavy rains. The key coal-producing states were Wyoming, West Virginia, and Illinois.
    That is why Ukraine. That is why Trump and Perry are tied in with these two guys, moving in on Ukrainian energy. They know American coal is polling badly and losing money, but they're too, well, conservative to move away from it. Giuliani's friends were absolutely critical to Team Trump by their own choosing, because it's easier for them to fall for the Sunk Cost Fallacy than maybe think about solar panels like the rest of the 21st goddam steam century.

    - - - Updated - - -

    So remember when Trump got laughed out of the UN?

    Well, good news. Now they're laughing him out of NATO as well. Wanna see the video?

    So Macron showed up late to meet Trudeau and Johnson, and Johnson asked Macron why Macron was late. Trudeau jumps in:

    He was late because he takes a 40 minute — 40 minute press conference off the top
    It's unclear what Trudeau meant. After all, when Trump and Macron were speaking, Trump's press conference was only 38 minutes.

    Naturally, Trump has already responded by calling Trudeau two-faced and how's that NAFTA 1.0.0.2 going, again?

    - - - Updated - - -

    Oh sorry forgot to mention: Trump was 15 minutes late to the photo op making everyone else wait and has already threatened to leave early.

    Actually, if Trump is going to push the "Do-Nothing Democrats are stopping me from MAGA bigly" then...wouldn't leaving early completely destroy that narrative? Like, if he's supposed to be at NATO, and he chooses to leave, how, exactly, is it the Democrats' fault?

    - - - Updated - - -

    In the ongoing effort to prove...ah fuck it. Barr tells a room full of people that communities that protest law enforcement will get cut police protection.

    Today, the American people have to focus on something else, which is the sacrifice and the service that is given by our law enforcement officers. And they have to start showing, more than they do, the respect and support that law enforcement deserves.

    If communities don’t give that support and respect, they might find themselves without the police protection they need.
    That's dictatorship talk.

    - - - Updated - - -

    And speaking of election interference, does the name Nader, as in Lebanese American businessman George Nader, sound familiar?

    "Yeah, as in, Mueller witness with ties to Trump transition charged with child pornography."

    Yes, that's the guy. Well, he just got indicted --

    "That article's from June, dude."

    -- for campaign finance violation. Specifically, before Trump won, Nader and his allies were actually trying to steer illegal funds to Clinton's campaign, viewing harshly anti-Muslim Trump as a threat to their UAE and Saudi interests. Of course, when Trump won, they changed their minds in a hurry because they were out of sane options. So, they instead bought a meeting with Trump by donating $1 million to his inauguration. With foreign funds.

    Nader and six of his friends get to share 53 federal indictments. Trump and the rabid fanbase will probably try to deflect this on Clinton, except that
    a) there doesn't appear to be any record of success
    b) they are charged with lying about the source of the funds, so, that's not really the fault of the Clinton campaign until actual evidence surfaces saying they invited the money, and
    c) again, Nader worked with Trump afterwards, so painting this guy as a criminal looks even worse for Trump because Trump took a million dollars of their money to meet them.

    The above link shows Nader's actions as stated in the Mueller report, specifically, helping build a back-channel between Trump and Putin with the help of Prince. The new indictments are in this link.

    - - - Updated - - -

    The numbers are in.

    "Vague and unhelpful."

    The US added 67,000 jobs in November. That's really low. It will probably get revised upwards, but the predicted value was 150,000 and there's zero chance it hits that even with revision.

    To give this more context, excepting 2009 and 2010, Obama had a total of three months that job growth was under 67,000. And one of them was Jan 2011.

    This is Trump's third such month this year alone. The others were February and May.

    "Okay, but as long as the GDP gets back above two percent it's not the worst thing ever."

    *cough*

    "Oh, shit."

    The U.S. economy will barely grow at all in the fourth quarter, if two Federal Reserve gauges that track gross domestic product are correct.

    With some recent data coming in below expectations, both the Atlanta and New York Fed’s trackers have lowered their expectations for the last three months of 2019.

    According to the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow, growth is likely to come in at just 0.3%. The New York Fed’s GDP Nowcast is showing a gain of 0.4%.

    Both projections have come on the heels of recent news that took down previously meager expectations to just above negative territory. Friday releases indicating lackluster retail sales and production growth took the Atlanta tracker down from 1% a week ago and the New York measure from 0.7% earlier this week and as high as 2% back in September.

    Economic data has largely remained a bit better than expectations but has dipped lately compared with Wall Street estimates. The Citi Economic Surprise Index, which compares actual readings to consensus estimates, is still positive but at its lowest level since early September.
    "Um...that's from two weeks ago. Surely those numbers have changed?"

    To be fair, they have.

    "Yeah! MAGA!"

    One point three percent.

    "...I'll just be in the corner."



    To put that into context --

    "Please, no."

    Trump has been circling the bowl of 2% for a while but he's never been flushed down. This will be his first time. Team Trump claims Obama never passed 2%, that was a lie of course, but they would not even say that (falsely or otherwise) unless the implication was that it was bad.

    "Okay, so job numbers are bad and the GDP looks worse. But as long as --"

    US trade gap continues to widen, on track to widen 1.5% in 2019, making three straight years of increase.

    "But as --"

    Real average hourly earnings for all employees decreased 0.2 percent from September to October, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This result stems from an increase of 0.2 percent in average hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.4 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers

    "B--"

    Trump’s Tariffs Were Supposed to Ding China, But the U.S. Economy Is Getting Hit 2.5x Harder

    The damage to China from loss of exports to the U.S. is .4, and zip for deadweight costs, for a total of .4%. For the U.S., the tally is .1% from lost exports to China, and .9 points from overpaying for third-country imports, for a total of 1.0%. China wins in a two-and-a-half-to-one walk away. It's like winning the Super Bowl 40 to 16. Losing .4% of your growth when you're expanding at over 6% is a lot easier to bear than losing 1.0% when you're growing at 2.0%
    Are we tired of winning yet?

  11. #31251
    On a more-humorous note, Trump is upset that other leaders were openly mocking him, so he's throwing a tantrum, and leaving the NATO summit early. Man, what a triggered little snowflake.

  12. #31252
    The Undying Breccia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Machismo View Post
    On a more-humorous note, Trump is upset that other leaders were openly mocking him, so he's throwing a tantrum, and leaving the NATO summit early. Man, what a triggered little snowflake.
    You want humorous and ironic? It's time for Guess the Speaker!

    that was funny when I said that guy was two-faced
    That was Trump, also caught on a hot mic.

  13. #31253
    Quote Originally Posted by Breccia View Post
    You want humorous and ironic? It's time for Guess the Speaker!



    That was Trump, also caught on a hot mic.
    I love that he can dish it out, but cannot take it. The utter irony of Trumpsters backing such a complete snowflake... delicious morsels of irony.

  14. #31254
    HAHAHA! Trump got mad they were talking about him and went home. He left NATO early.
    Democrats are the best! I will never ever question a Democrat again. I LOVE the Democrats!

  15. #31255
    Legendary! Thekri's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bladeXcrasher View Post
    Not surprisingly, all 71 Nays were Republicans.
    Looks like my Rep voted for it. Time to add that to the list of things to put on signs to post around towns. Supporting Russian interests over that of the United States is fun stuff that is going to go over great in South Carolina.

    If you want to see who voted to include Russia in the G7, here is the Talley from the House Clerk.

  16. #31256
    Quote Originally Posted by Paranoid Android View Post
    HAHAHA! Trump got mad they were talking about him and went home. He left NATO early.
    Now he has time to go to the impeachment hearings! Also, there's a Trump tweet for that -

    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...08486551506945

    We need a President who isn't a laughing stock to the entire World. We need a truly great leader, a genius at strategy and winning. Respect!
    Emphasis mine.

  17. #31257
    The Undying Breccia's Avatar
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    It's time for Guess the Speaker Boss Rush!

    I saw no evidence from our intelligence community nor from our representatives today from the Department of State that there is any evidence of any kind that suggests Ukraine interfered in our elections. We have ample evidence that Russia interfered in our elections.

    We have to adhere to the facts that’s presented to us by our intelligence community. And I know some people will look at newspaper accounts and say, ‘Gee, this is what I read in the newspaper.’ But not every article is exactly accurate, and sometimes your articles are being promoted by an intelligence source that is trying to push a narrative that is not in our interest.
    I have no knowledge that the Ukraine did anything to interfere with our elections other than the press reports, and to suggest that we know that, I think, would be a stretch because I don't think anybody does
    Q: Are you aware of any evidence that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 U.S. election?

    A: I am not
    "The first one is Mitt Romney, you quoted him yesterday, but I don't know the other two."

    Well, the second is Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump defender, so at this point I think we can say the problem is basically resolved.

    The third is Hale, State Dept undersecretary for political affairs, under oath.

    So, that means there are two options:
    A) The US Intelligence agencies (all of them) and the House Intelligence Committee (all of them) have already gone on record saying Russia was the one attacking the election, but somehow they, the GOP House and Senate, and Trump's own State Department all somehow missed a matching attack by Ukraine, while Team Trump continues to hire Ukrainians and Ukrainian agents, Giuliani literally being in Ukraine at time of writing, and Trump never bringing this up except that one document he claims is a transcript which he now says was about "corruption" and not about election interference.

    or

    B) The Republican Party is making shit up about Ukraine attacking the election and passing it along as fact, despite having no evidence and no investigations to find evidence.

    I mean, I know which of the two I think is more likely.

    - - - Updated - - -

    In what I'm increasingly convinced is Trump's latest effort to see how big of a lie his followers will believe, Trump claims he doesn't know Prince Andrew.

    "Um...isn't saying you don't know the Royal Family a pretty stupid idea?"

    Well, it's worse.



    That's a picture from Andrew's visit in 2000 to the Mar-a-Lago. I'm not going to 100% vouch for its authenticity, but it's being passed around on believable sites so I'm going to assume it's real for the time being.

    "Okay sure. That guy in the background, he looks kind of familiar."

    Oh, him? That's Epstein.

    "Oh, bugger."

    Well, according to the accusations, maybe. Anyhow accusations aside, yes, Trump claiming he didn't know a member of the royal family, when there are decades of pictures of them meeting, is something even his own followers should reject. What happened to "we're not very close" or "I don't know him very well" or "yeah, I heard about that, that's a royal shame."

  18. #31258
    Over 9000! Santti's Avatar
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    "BREAKING: Donald Trump announces huge growth in laughing stock market."

    Fucking lol.
    Quote Originally Posted by SpaghettiMonk View Post
    And again, let’s presume equity in schools is achievable. Then why should a parent read to a child?

  19. #31259
    Quote Originally Posted by Edge- View Post
    Now he has time to go to the impeachment hearings! Also, there's a Trump tweet for that -

    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...08486551506945



    Emphasis mine.
    Trump is so horrible at projection. What was his tweet a few days ago about Shiff, calling him a liar, when this guy might be breaking records for the most lies a day/week/month and year.
    Democrats are the best! I will never ever question a Democrat again. I LOVE the Democrats!

  20. #31260
    Quote Originally Posted by Machismo View Post
    On a more-humorous note, Trump is upset that other leaders were openly mocking him, so he's throwing a tantrum, and leaving the NATO summit early. Man, what a triggered little snowflake.
    cadet bone spurs will find his courage once he's surrounded by his army of yes boys and can twit away

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