Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[ati87]

Unless Joe Biden reinstates the mandate, which would render the issue moot. But my expectation is that the Supreme Court will simply rule that this just makes it unconstitutional to set the penalty at $0 and restores the mandate themselves.

Actually a 0 dollars penalty is technically still a penalty except without monetary consequences.
I'm not that familiar with the technicalities of US law however in this kind of cases it's more about the line of thinking, making a penalty zero is an easy band-aid solution but technically not a fix. I can imagine that you still have systems in place that check the insurance status of a person just like before, except now you're fine is zero dollars instead of X dollars.

[DarkTZeratul]

Actually a 0 dollars penalty is technically still a penalty except without monetary consequences.
I'm not that familiar with the technicalities of US law however in this kind of cases it's more about the line of thinking, making a penalty zero is an easy band-aid solution but technically not a fix. I can imagine that you still have systems in place that check the insurance status of a person just like before, except now you're fine is zero dollars instead of X dollars.

I mean, sure, they may just rule against the lawsuit entirely. But if they do agree with the plaintiff's premise (tortured though it may be), the usual result is striking down only the part of the law that is unconstitutional rather than the entire thing. Which, in this case, would most likely mean ruling that it was unconstitutional to reduce the penalty to zero and requiring that it be restored to its previous value.

[Benggaul]

American medicine has an unhealthy obsession with wizzbang new opioids. When my mother had her hips replaced, she was given morphine in the hospital and hydromorphone to go home.

And now's the part where the music gets sinister and I remind folks I'm not currently living in America...

Dundundunnnnnnnn.

[Sorshen]

Trump administration calls for Supreme Court to strike down ObamaCare

What the fuck

[zorkuus]

What the fuck

That sums up this whole circus regime nicely.

[Benggaul]

40k in one day, though.... yikes. And deaths lag a fair bit, so that could be another bump you've got coming soon.

Yeah, I'm expecting next week to be...depressing. More so than usual.

[Ripster42]

40k in one day, though.... yikes. And deaths lag a fair bit, so that could be another bump you've got coming soon.

While true, treatments for severely ill people have gotten better. Mortality rate is going down (as long as the hospitals aren't overwhelmed). It might take a deal more than 40k/day to have new highs for deaths if that's all you're worried about. Frankly, the # of infections should already have you at the point of despair. A good portion of those people are going to have lifelong disabilities even if they don't die.

Imagine you're a sociopath and don't care about people. You should still care about the costs those people will inflict on our society. The US is going to be paying disability (or, if you're against disability, care about the lost productivity/taxes) to those people instead of putting money towards anything else, which, of course, has knock-on effects. It's amazing this seemingly isn't considered a massive national security concern.

[zorkuus]

Asked what his top priorities for a second term are, Trump can't name a single thing

Holy moly... this is both a good thing and a bad thing. It might hurt his chances for re-election but on the other hand there's still tens of millions of morons who would vote for him despite this.

[Thekri]

Instead of embracing police reform Trump makes a case for Giuliani's stop-and-frisk policies

"He's gonna be your president because some people don't love me, maybe" -- Trump sure sounds resigned to losing to Joe Biden

...

Asked what his top priorities for a second term are, Trump can't name a single thing

Just some highlights.

I don't know if Trump was just off his meds and sad or what, but I am increasingly wondering if Trump is just really tired of being President. He seems to be having a massive mental breakdown this year, as it finally dawns on him that everyone is holding him responsible.

Trump is a sad desperate man that wants to be loved, and he isn't feeling the love at all right now. He is getting non-stop bombarded by people that hate him, but in the past he was fueled by his rallies and supporters that did love him. I am not sure if Trump wanted his first term or not, but it is increasingly looking like he doesn't want a second.

As I said on here, the Mattis letter filled me with a huge burst of confidence we would have a peaceful (but so very petty) transfer of power. This makes me even more confident of it. I did not expect Trump to openly discuss losing, but I kind of think he wants it. He will spin in at cheated and not his fault of course, but I am not sure he is actually aware of the consequences of not being President. I had been assuming that Trump knew he couldn't leave office without getting hounded by legal action the rest of his life, but there is also the possibility that he is so self deluded he really believes he has done nothing wrong, and that he can go back to the way it was before, only with more fame and money.

[Felya]

Nearly half a million people flocked to Obamacare after losing coverage this year
Meanwhile in the Hall of Doom.

Trump administration calls for Supreme Court to strike down ObamaCare

This should cost him... it’s Teflon Don... but, it should... cutting healthcare, without a replacement, I would say is the worst thing you can do about a pandemic. But, since this is the same man still claiming it’s a hoax, by calling it manufactured on Hannity just yesterday. Spending millions on an unproven drug, that risked lives of those with Lupus. As well as the whole injecting disinfectant issue... I would say it’s the worst, but I know Trump can top that next week.

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I don't know if Trump was just off his meds and sad or what, but I am increasingly wondering if Trump is just really tired of being President. He seems to be having a massive mental breakdown this year, as it finally dawns on him that everyone is holding him responsible.

Trump is a sad desperate man that wants to be loved, and he isn't feeling the love at all right now. He is getting non-stop bombarded by people that hate him, but in the past he was fueled by his rallies and supporters that did love him. I am not sure if Trump wanted his first term or not, but it is increasingly looking like he doesn't want a second.

As I said on here, the Mattis letter filled me with a huge burst of confidence we would have a peaceful (but so very petty) transfer of power. This makes me even more confident of it. I did not expect Trump to openly discuss losing, but I kind of think he wants it. He will spin in at cheated and not his fault of course, but I am not sure he is actually aware of the consequences of not being President. I had been assuming that Trump knew he couldn't leave office without getting hounded by legal action the rest of his life, but there is also the possibility that he is so self deluded he really believes he has done nothing wrong, and that he can go back to the way it was before, only with more fame and money.

When Trump is out of office, all of his international calls will become declassified. Judging by the 3 calls we got information about... I think he may be in trouble as a business, since he won’t have the political arm for defense.

[Ripster42]

When Trump is out of office, all of his international calls will become declassified. Judging by the 3 calls we got information about... I think he may be in trouble as a business, since he won’t have the political arm for defense.

There's no chance trump wants to lose. Winning means he delays for 4 years the beginning of the time when he spends the rest of his life in court or jail. Barring some reagan->ford->pardon deal. Even then, he's facing state charges.

[Thekri]

There's no chance trump wants to lose. Winning means he delays for 4 years the beginning of the time when he spends the rest of his life in court or jail. Barring some reagan->ford->pardon deal. Even then, he's facing state charges.

I agree, and that is the assumption I have been going on. However, in light of recent developments, it is entirely possible he is not self aware enough to realize that. This is a man that has lived without consequences his entire life. He legitimately does not grasp the concept of accountability. I am not sure if he even mentally acknowledges he has done anything wrong, he might truely believe he is just being "targeted" because people don't like him, and that if he isn't president anymore people will leave him alone. His advisors will tell him otherwise, but Trump is not good at hearing things he doesn't want to hear.

This is just a theory of course, but Trump is not a strong man, physically, mentally, or emotionally. Tulsa took the winds out of his sails in a big way. He is wallowing in self-pity right now, and Trump has always quit when he stops winning. If he gets an ego boost before November, this could all change, he isn't exactly stable in his "plans"

[Felya]

There's no chance trump wants to lose. Winning means he delays for 4 years the beginning of the time when he spends the rest of his life in court or jail. Barring some reagan->ford->pardon deal. Even then, he's facing state charges.

I don’t think Biden would pardon Trump...

[Ripster42]

I don’t think Biden would pardon Trump...

Trump can always resign to pence on jan. 19. Pence would be ford in this situation.

[kaelleria]

Trump can always resign to pence on jan. 19. Pence would be ford in this situation.

You can't pardon state crimes.

[Felya]

Trump can always resign to pence on jan. 19. Pence would be ford in this situation.

Actually, I take it back... Biden might do the same thing Obama did with Bush. No investigations or charges, in the name of uniting the country and not exposing our dirty laundry to the world.

[Breccia]

Asked what his top priorities for a second term are, Trump can't name a single thing

Thanks for posting that list, but...Hannity must be furious with Trump for this one.

This is a softball question. I just saw this, have no prep time and no coffee, and let's see how many I can come up with.

1) Cure cancer
2) Restore the economy from the COVID-19 virus (Trump would have used other names I'm sure)
3) Disarm Iran
4) That middle class tax cut he's mentioned once or twice
5) Literally anything from his Contract with the American Voter that hasn't happened yet
6) Replace Ginsburg with Barr
7) Put a human being on Mars
8) Something involving sports being too political so he's use the power of the federal government to stop it (said without irony)
9) Constitutional amendment to prevent flag burning (George Herbert Walker who?)
10) JOBS!

Ten. Took me about 2 minutes. And I think that's low, I think a lot of people reading this could have come up with more. We all know Trump's priorities and we all know his long list of failures. Why not just pick one, or two, or three, or four, or five, or six, or ten, or twenty of those and say "Do that, except this time I mean it!"

He was thrown a softball and he let it ease gently over the plate while chewing on an overcooked burger with ketchup.

[Benggaul]

Actually, I take it back... Biden might do the same thing Obama did with Bush. No investigations or charges, in the name of uniting the country and not exposing our dirty laundry to the world.

I...don't think so, honestly. I think there's too much (justified) anger directed at Trump's admin that there will be too much of a demand for investigations to ignore. I'm not actually expecting heads to roll, because by this point I've lost faith in the system to police itself even if back in more "moral" hands, but I don't think it's just going to quietly go away anytime soon should Biden win in November.

[Ripster42]

You can't pardon state crimes.

This is the proceeding comment.

There's no chance trump wants to lose. Winning means he delays for 4 years the beginning of the time when he spends the rest of his life in court or jail. Barring some reagan->ford->pardon deal. Even then, he's facing state charges.

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Actually, I take it back... Biden might do the same thing Obama did with Bush. No investigations or charges, in the name of uniting the country and not exposing our dirty laundry to the world.

I don't think that's going to happen. Trump went after his family. Not charging people with the types of crimes trump is accused of is a massive green light for anyone to do it again, anytime they want.

[Breccia]

Biden might do the same thing Obama did with Bush. No investigations or charges, in the name of uniting the country and not exposing our dirty laundry to the world.

That's the standard.

Trump is not the standard. Trump is someone who pledged, during the debates, to launch an investigation at a political rival and was met with thunderous applause.

We are in "be careful what you wish for" territory, up to the bone spurs. Trump can't complain, his rabid fanbase can't complain, if the rules he tried to create are applied. Does it break tradition? Yes. We're used to that by now. Bolton wrote a road map and says he'd testify if it led to something.

Trump spent his whole life abusing power and suffering no consequences. While the protests going on in this country are about a different aspect of that problem, the message is clear. The US needs a giant message to re-affirm to the world that we won't tolerate corruption, even at the highest level. I'm not saying "line them up and blindfold them" but I am saying "don't shrug and walk away".