Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[formerShandalay]

<snip>


My desire for this election has always been two things... Trump is ousted as president, and he and his entire campaign, cabinet, and presidential staff is subsequently brought to face relevant criminal charges.

I don't need Trump to actually go to prison. House arrest would be just fine (though his other staff would hardly be able to claim such extenuating health conditions) as far as I'm concerned. What we need is for law and order to descend on these goons and stamp in the history books the laws they broke and the powers they attempted to abuse to make an example to the American people, to Trump's broken followers, to the world, and to any that would dare try and repeat what he did, that this shit isn't going to fly.

Because Trump doesn't just need to go down, the idea of Trump and what he represents needs to go down.

I agree. It has to be done right, for the reasons you gave and also for people to trust the system again. Everything has to be made transparent in this case and has to be explained in detail to all people by the press. By all of the press. So that even if things turn out in a way that maybe doesn't satisfy one side or the other, no one can claim this is because of lack of effort or transparency and it's no cover-up or something. (Apart from people who would claim that no matter what, of course, those always exist.)

[PhaelixWW]

While that would be fantastic, I very much doubt that enough republican congressmen will be affected to actually stop the confirmation.

There already are. @cubby pointed out that the Senate needs a quorum of Senators (at least 51) to show up in order to be able to do anything. With three GoP Senators out right now, if all the non-GoP Senators refuse to even show up, then the Senate won't be able to conduct any business.

Obviously, those three aren't out forever (unless their health seriously deteriorates), but even now, McConnell is planning to force the GoP Senators back into session after they're supposed to be recessed until after the election. Recess is supposed to start 10/18, and he just sent out an email directing them to be in session on 10/19.

This also might have the knock-on effect of hurting those GoP candidates up for reelection who still wanted to do some last-minute campaigning in their home states.

[cubby]

Trump's personal doctor now under scrutiny for mixed messages regarding Trump's health. Saying that they are "72 hours into a diagnosis" means that Trump might have tested positive on Wednesday, before he flew to rallies and meetings.

Whoops.

[Gelannerai]

This entire 4 years has been a cross between a Stephen King and Lovecraft novel.

I mean this current situation reads an awful lot like Poe to me.

[Ursus]

There already are. @cubby pointed out that the Senate needs a quorum of Senators (at least 51) to show up in order to be able to do anything. With three GoP Senators out right now, if all the non-GoP Senators refuse to even show up, then the Senate won't be able to conduct any business.

Obviously, those three aren't out forever (unless their health seriously deteriorates), but even now, McConnell is planning to force the GoP Senators back into session after they're supposed to be recessed until after the election. Recess is supposed to start 10/18, and he just sent out an email directing them to be in session on 10/19.

This also might have the knock-on effect of hurting those GoP candidates up for reelection who still wanted to do some last-minute campaigning in their home states.

Even if this only results in the confirmation happening after the election (assuming Biden wins and the Dems take the Senate), that would still be huge. The GOP appointing a Supreme Court justice in a lame-duck session after losing both the Presidency and Senate would make the Dems court-packing all the more palatable.

[Belize]

Bitch looks low energy AF on his video

[cubby]

There already are. @cubby pointed out that the Senate needs a quorum of Senators (at least 51) to show up in order to be able to do anything. With three GoP Senators out right now, if all the non-GoP Senators refuse to even show up, then the Senate won't be able to conduct any business.

Obviously, those three aren't out forever (unless their health seriously deteriorates), but even now, McConnell is planning to force the GoP Senators back into session after they're supposed to be recessed until after the election. Recess is supposed to start 10/18, and he just sent out an email directing them to be in session on 10/19.

This also might have the knock-on effect of hurting those GoP candidates up for reelection who still wanted to do some last-minute campaigning in their home states.

Exactly. And the Democrats could stage a pretty legitimate walk-out. COVID spreading throughout the Chamber, states needing their "help" right now, even if they aren't up for reelection. Not having a quorum could be a legit issue. Not sure if GOP Senators can Zoom in though.

[Logwyn]

Cynicism helps no one.

The point is for the candidates to present their views to the public in a setting where the can be challenged by the opponent in a coherent way.

Don't look at the RNC debates in 2016, or the general election debates. Look at the DNC primary debates for both.

Until:

Joe Biden (D) / Kamala Harris (D)
Howie Hawkins (G) / Angela Nicole Walker (G)
Jo Jorgensen (L) / Spike Cohen (L)
Donald Trump (R) / Mike Pence (R)

Are all on the stage the debates are nothing but shows for the media outlet to get advertising dollars. There should be a law that every candidate that is on enough ballots to win the election by getting enough electoral votes has to be at every debate.
Other wise the debate is a farce.

(Yes all four of the candidates have enough ballots to get 270 electoral votes.)

[PhaelixWW]

This was pointed out on Twitter but this series of events reads like a Stephen King novel.

A dying woman's final wish is not to be replaced by the incumbent, but the incumbent and his wicked cronies ignore it and plan a party to celebrate ignoring it, then one by one they mysteriously start falling sick afterwards.

Also the fact the first reported case was a woman named Hope? Like, come on.

Not enough tentacles...

[rayvio]

The French, Belgians and Polish have similar feelings about Germany.

I'm sure that every nation has some idiots who blame an entire country for things that were done before most of the people living there were even born. rational people though tend to blame the actual people and not the innocents who just happen to be born on the same piece of land as them or be unfortunate enough to have some DNA in common

[cubby]

Not enough tentacles...

More tentacles. Definitely.

But yeah, this certainly is in the realm of King.

[Kaleredar]

There already are. @cubby pointed out that the Senate needs a quorum of Senators (at least 51) to show up in order to be able to do anything. With three GoP Senators out right now, if all the non-GoP Senators refuse to even show up, then the Senate won't be able to conduct any business.

Obviously, those three aren't out forever (unless their health seriously deteriorates), but even now, McConnell is planning to force the GoP Senators back into session after they're supposed to be recessed until after the election. Recess is supposed to start 10/18, and he just sent out an email directing them to be in session on 10/19.

This also might have the knock-on effect of hurting those GoP candidates up for reelection who still wanted to do some last-minute campaigning in their home states.

But even if they are technically sick and infectious, they could still haul themselves to the capitol building so long as they aren't actually so enfeebled they can't move or speak. I'm sure McConnell would push for absolutely no less.

Is that wildly irresponsible and hazardous to the health of everyone involved? Yes. But the GOP has proven time and time again that when it comes to the coronavirus that isn't a concern of theirs.

Hell, I wouldn't put it past McConnell for him to be okay with infecting half the senate, so long as they got to ram the nomination through beforehand.

[DSRilk]

While that would be fantastic, I very much doubt that enough republican congressmen will be affected to actually stop the confirmation.

They actually have a very small majority, and a couple have already said they don't support bringing the vote forward. If 2 or 3 can't make the vote due to COVID, they lose the seat pre-election results. Not saying they couldn't try to push it through after, but the point is it doesn't take too many of them getting ill for them to bust their timeline.

[PhaelixWW]

But even if they are technically sick and infectious, they could still haul themselves to the capitol building so long as they aren't actually so enfeebled they can't move or speak. I'm sure McConnell would push for absolutely no less.

Is that wildly irresponsible and hazardous to the health of everyone involved? Yes. But the GOP has proven time and time again that when it comes to the coronavirus that isn't a concern of theirs.

Hell, I wouldn't put it past McConnell for him to be okay with infecting half the senate, so long as they got to ram the nomination through beforehand.

I mean, there is no alternative here. And putting McConnell and the GoP Senators on record, publicly, pulling those kinds of shenanigans would be an unexpected silver lining.

[Breccia]

Bitch looks low energy AF on his video

He sounds a little hoarse, but that's about it.

Again, odds are he'll be okay. But keep an eye on further videos -- make sure they're from different days. Change of clothes, hair, that kind of thing.

[kaelleria]

https://twitter.com/gabrielsherman/s...28536377282561

Sources: Trump had heart palpitations on Friday, a possible negative side effect of Regeneron antibody treatment. His fever reached 103. And a G7 ally wonders if he’ll appoint Ivanka president instead of Pence. My latest: https://t.co/ND8zVtyodU

As Donald Trump spends his second night at Walter Reed Military Medical Center, the White House is scrambling to contain the biggest crisis of Trump’s presidency, 31 days until the election.

On Saturday, the West Wing plunged into damage-control mode after Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, told reporters that Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday—a day earlier than Trump previously disclosed. The new timeline meant that Trump would have been contagious when he debated Joe Biden on Tuesday and attended a fundraiser on Thursday at his Bedminster golf club.

The White House released follow-up statements saying Conley misspoke, but they did little to quell the chaos. The White House’s shifting chronology and lack of transparency are being driven, in part, by Trump’s desire to conceal the seriousness of his illness from the public. Three sources said Trump argued with his doctors on Friday after they told him he needed to be moved to Walter Reed. “He didn’t want to go to the hospital a month before the election,” a Republican close to Trump told me. Two sources said doctors gave Trump an ultimatum: he could go to the hospital while he could still walk, or doctors would be forced to take him in a wheelchair or on a stretcher at a later point if his health deteriorated. “They told him, ‘You can go now or we’re taking you later and it’s non negotiable,’” a second source close to the White House said. Trump waited to leave for the hospital until the stock market closed on Friday, a source said.

After spending months denying the dangers of COVID-19, Trump is expressing an emotion aides have rarely seen: fear. On Friday, Trump grew visibly anxious as his fever spiked to 103 fahrenheit and he was administered oxygen at the White House, according to three Republicans close to the White House. Two sources told me Trump experienced heart palpitations on Friday night—possible side effects of the experimental antibody treatment he received. Trump has wondered aloud if he could defeat the disease. “Am I going out like Stan Chera?” Trump has asked aides, referring to his friend, New York real-estate developer Stan Chera, who died of COVID in April.

On Saturday, two sources said Trump was feeling better. But it is difficult to assess the information given the White House's history of lying. According to a source, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has told Republicans that the next few days will be critical to determine the virus’s outcome. “Meadows has said if Trump can get out of the hospital by Tuesday, then he’s gone through the worst of it. But if he’s still there after Tuesday, the worst is yet to come,” the source told me.

Inside Trumpworld, the shock of Trump’s hospitalization is giving way to despair about his prospects in the upcoming election. “They all know it’s over,” a Republican close to the campaign said. “This is spiraling out of control,” a former West Wing official said. Some Trump allies are entertaining conspiracy theories that the White House outbreak was caused by someone with political motives. “It’s weird that all these Republicans are getting it,” a prominent Republican told me. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on. But one thing I’ve learned is: when something major happens thirty days before an election, it usually has to do with the election.” (There is no evidence for this wild claim).

Meanwhile, America’s closest allies are entertaining wild scenarios as well. An outside White House adviser told me that a high-level government official from a G-7 country asked him if Trump would try to appoint Ivanka president instead of Mike Pence. “He’s broken every norm so far, so they think anything is possible,” the source said.

The White House declined a request for comment.

[bladeXcrasher]

Exactly. And the Democrats could stage a pretty legitimate walk-out. COVID spreading throughout the Chamber, states needing their "help" right now, even if they aren't up for reelection. Not having a quorum could be a legit issue. Not sure if GOP Senators can Zoom in though.

Senate business must be conducted on the floor, so no they cannot.

[cubby]

Senate business must be conducted on the floor, so no they cannot.

That is VERY interesting. Not making a quorum might have legs. Collins could avoid the whole because she needs to be campaigning. The Democrats could en masse avoid the Senate Floor by either not being in Washington D.C. or claiming that the COVID-19 threat is too high to closely mingle.

[draynay]

Things must be going real well if they're making proof-of-life videos.

[Draco-Onis]

But even if they are technically sick and infectious, they could still haul themselves to the capitol building so long as they aren't actually so enfeebled they can't move or speak. I'm sure McConnell would push for absolutely no less.

Is that wildly irresponsible and hazardous to the health of everyone involved? Yes. But the GOP has proven time and time again that when it comes to the coronavirus that isn't a concern of theirs.

Hell, I wouldn't put it past McConnell for him to be okay with infecting half the senate, so long as they got to ram the nomination through beforehand.

Even if McConnell is that reckless I doubt the number of very old members of the GOP are willing to risk their lives for his wet dream.