Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Kryctos]

That's kinda the point of criminal probes.

Weve known he is a criminal for years now, his university and charity were frauds.

[Breccia]

said demand doesn’t amount to a whole hill of beans.

Hmm. Where's Cheney?

Related: where's Pence?

The GOP is purging non-Trumpians and the majority of their voters think Trump won the election. Trump still runs the party.

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We've seen this before, but it's happening again.

FOX News files to dismiss defamation lawsuit with an excuse we've heard before: "We didn't create the lie that Dominion committed mass election fraud, Trump did, we just covered it with a fanatical zealousness and zero context. We can't be faulted for presenting an objective lie over and over as if it was the truth."

As I (and others) have said before and will keep saying it, because this is a new filing, I actually kind of hope this works. The reasoning? Giuliani and the Kraken's defense so far appears to be "nobody should take us seriously when we filed all those court cases". FOX News is saying "we took them seriously". I want FOX News' court filings to be used in evidence against Trump and his lawyers. If a major news organization, or FOX I guess, says under oath that what Trump and his lawyers say should be taken seriously, what little defense they have is crushed.

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Surprising nobody, the House GOP digs further into their objection to a Jan 6th investigation within a few hours after Trump said they should do it. No really @Kaleredar Trump is still in charge.

To be fair, when House Minority Whip Scalise said that every Republican should vote against it, there were two factors this time.

1) The baseball shooting, now classified as a terror attack probably solely for this excuse to work, and
2) The sheer number of other investigations currently underway by the FBI and others.

That new second excuse would be fine in a lot of circumstances, but for the House to say "We'll defer to the FBI" is a dumb idea. Because the FBI is likely to say "This was a massive organized effort solely by the Republican Party and Trump" and they'll have accepted that preemptively. They only way they can deflect from the results of an investigation is if they're in charge of it. They have a better shot starting their own, then objecting to everything to turn it into a circus. That way, they can get the public to handwave the FBI's investigation before it concludes, since their voters are easily distracted by shiny objects.

[cubby]

Hey, if Republican Reps. want to spend their entire salary on metal detector and mask fines, they're more than welcome to.

You can bet they aren't paying those fines - they will find a way for either campaign donations or tax payer provided funds to be used.

[Benggaul]

Tuesday's report:

27,506 new cases, about 8k fewer than last Tuesday.

Top 7:

Fuck Florida.
Texas: 2,679 new cases; 42 deaths
Pennsylvania: 1,629 new cases; 36 deaths
Michigan: 1,535 new cases; 87 deaths
Illinois: 1,495 new cases; 29 deaths
California: 1,232 new cases; 25 deaths
New York: 1,159 new cases; 43 deaths

Firstly, yes, Florida remains on top. Second, the reason I listed 7 is because only 7 states reported more than 1k cases on Tuesday. I'm sure that number will go up during the rest of the week because that's how it tends to go, but it's a good start. The whole reason I switched to the "Top 5/10" format in the first place was because there were too many states with more than 1k cases to list without going through nearly all 50. The vast majority of states are now listed as "medium" risk with about a dozen remaining in the "high" risk category. None are in the "very high" or "severe" categories. 20 states have at least 50% vaccinated (1 or more dose).

733 deaths is about the same as last Tuesday and brings the total to 601,330. Florida topped the chart here as well with just under 100 deaths. Michigan wasn't far behind.

Related news:

The South could still become a summertime Covid-19 hot spot

The concern isn’t about another nationwide surge, but potential state or local spikes. That’s because southern states, including much of the Sun Belt and especially the Deep South, face three distinct disadvantages this summer that other parts of the country don’t.
1) Lower vaccination rates
2) Higher temperatures
3) Lower adherence to precautions

Is anyone surprised?

Stay safe, folks.

[Breccia]

2) Higher temperatures

But Benggaul! Didn't Trump say that higher tempah fuck it.

[Benggaul]

But Benggaul! Didn't Trump say that higher tempah fuck it.

Well, the problem being that in this case the temperatures usually get so high that people retreat indoors to where it's air-conditioned--and perfect for spreading diseases among people who refuse to get the vaccine or observe any safety precautions.

[solinari6]

Fuck Florida.

Have you been keeping up on the case of Rebekah Jones, the one who claimed that Florida was fudging all these numbers?
https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/...wer-who-wasnt/
Yes, I know, national review ... but a lot of more mainstream press is retweeting this, and if you actually read it, it kind of makes the case that Rebekah pretty much made the whole thing up. here's a few points:

In order to increase the numbers in Florida’s case count, Jones counts positive antibody tests as cases. But that’s unsound, given that (a) those positives include people who have already had COVID-19 or who have had the vaccine, and (b) Jones is unable to avoid double-counting people who have taken both an antibody test and a COVID test that came back positive, because the state correctly refuses to publish the names of the people who have taken those tests. Likewise, Jones claims that Florida is hiding deaths because it does not in*clude nonresidents in its headline numbers. But Florida does report nonresident deaths; it just reports them separately, as every state does, and as the CDC’s guidelines demand. Jones’s most recent claim is that Florida’s “excess death” number is suspicious. But that, too, has been rigorously debunked by pretty much everyone who understands what “excess deaths” means in an epidemiological context—including by the CDC; by Daniel Weinberger, an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health; by Lauren Rossen, a statistician at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics; and, most notably, by Jason Salemi, an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida, who, having gone to the trouble of making a video explaining calmly why the talking point was false, was then bullied off Twitter by Jones and her followers.

[Edge-]

Yes, I know, national review ... but a lot of more mainstream press is retweeting this

The Bannon strategy isn't particularly new, and it doesn't mean there's validity to it.

Even in the bit you quoted...

Trying to say that her numbers were inflated due to antibody tests from folks who had the vaccine...but I haven't seen that, and if anything that would be a MUCH more recent phenomenon. I'm skeptical of this claim. And antibody tests being counted as positive tests are like...what we've been doing?

Potential overlap in double counting covid and covid antibody counts, but absolutely no data or analysis to suggest that this meaningfully changes the numbers.

She may not be a bastion of truth, but neither is Florida. I skimmed the piece yesterday and should give it a full read, but I wasn't particularly impressed with it.

[Benggaul]

Have you been keeping up on the case of Rebekah Jones, the one who claimed that Florida was fudging all these numbers?
https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/...wer-who-wasnt/
Yes, I know, national review ... but a lot of more mainstream press is retweeting this, and if you actually read it, it kind of makes the case that Rebekah pretty much made the whole thing up. here's a few points:

If I based my tagline solely on her input, I'd probably be looking to retract it. Fortunately(?), Florida--and DeathSantis--provide numerous reasons for it to stick. The most recent I came across was back in March of this year from the American Journal of Public Health:

Analysis of Excess Deaths During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the State of Florida

Conclusions. Total deaths are significantly higher than historical trends in Florida even when accounting for COVID-19–related deaths. The impact of COVID-19 on mortality is significantly greater than the official COVID-19 data suggest.

In fairness, New York's Cuomo is also being investigated for underreporting nursing home deaths, so fuck him too.

[DarkTZeratul]

You can bet they aren't paying those fines - they will find a way for either campaign donations or tax payer provided funds to be used.

The fines are deducted directly out of their salary. They can't just pay for it from a different source.

[Drutt]

I wonder if there's a Constitutionally-backed means to end his pension if he's found to have committed multiple felonies.

Doesn't impeachment then conviction take care of that? I'm fairly sure I remember that being one of the things that's lost.

Not that the Republicans would vote to convict him even if he was filmed molesting underage girls on video camera, mind.

[jonnysensible]

you god damn americans and that mother fucker trump.

Because of my job i have to do mandatory training every now and again. This is in the UK. And theres a big part of protection/safeguarding of vulnerable people and children, and of course child trafficking.

The bird doing the training went full fucking QANON, talking about Epstein, andocrome, clintons, child sacrifice. FOR FUCK SAKE.

First time ive experienced in the wild, and its you damn Americans and your ex fucking presidents fault.

[Edge-]

First time ive experienced in the wild, and its you damn Americans and your ex fucking presidents fault.

You're welcome for enjoying these new FREEDOMS.

Seriously though, I wish we'd stop exporting our absolute lunacy from our right wing party to global right wing parties. Apparently we're a lot fucking dumber as a species at this stage in our progress than most of us thought we were.

I have half a mind to see if we can get those Q retards to start worrying about the pervasiveness of government regulated dihydrogen monoxide, and the serious risks it poses to our health.

[cubby]

you god damn americans and that mother fucker trump.

Because of my job i have to do mandatory training every now and again. This is in the UK. And theres a big part of protection/safeguarding of vulnerable people and children, and of course child trafficking.

The bird doing the training went full fucking QANON, talking about Epstein, andocrome, clintons, child sacrifice. FOR FUCK SAKE.

First time ive experienced in the wild, and its you damn Americans and your ex fucking presidents fault.

Holy shit - she did that in a corporate training environment? I hope you put in a strong complaint - that shit does not belong in the work place.

[jonnysensible]

Holy shit - she did that in a corporate training environment? I hope you put in a strong complaint - that shit does not belong in the work place.

yea its fucking bad. I need her to pass me on friday so ill try and avoid it till then ive got 2 more fucking days of this, if i a make a big fuss it will cause me aggro. The problem is im 6ft 6 and a complete fucking unit telling some 5ft 2 woman to shut the fuck up infront of 15 people (who are all big guys too, this is close protection stuff, this woman is genuinely licensed to provide armed protection ffs) no one else has a clue what qanon is , and think im being unreasonable and intimidating, when i have a go with her about what shes saying. Its fucking diabolical really. Its pissed me right off today. I just didnt expect it, for fuck sake.

[Benggaul]

First time ive experienced in the wild, and its you damn Americans and your ex fucking presidents fault.

Um, hate to tell you, but America doesn't hold a monopoly on ignorant twats. That particular dipshit may have latched on to some of the favorite conspiracy theorist memes coming out of the US currently, but you're fooling yourself if you think she wasn't a fuckwit conspiracy theorist before they came along.

Sorry you have to deal with people like her, but they've been around forever regardless of the continent.

[Gelannerai]

yea its fucking bad. I need her to pass me on friday so ill try and avoid it till then ive got 2 more fucking days of this, if i a make a big fuss it will cause me aggro. The problem is im 6ft 6 and a complete fucking unit telling some 5ft 2 woman to shut the fuck up infront of 15 people (who are all big guys too, this is close protection stuff, this woman is genuinely licensed to provide armed protection ffs) no one else has a clue what qanon is , and think im being unreasonable and intimidating, when i have a go with her about what shes saying. Its fucking diabolical really. Its pissed me right off today. I just didnt expect it, for fuck sake.

Would it cause you a lot of trouble to lodge the complaint? It seems like she’s going out of her way to create a toxic environment by forcing you and your colleagues to be a captive audience for her personal psychosis. Would anonymous complaints be a valid alternative?

[Kryctos]

Ive taken enough gracehill classes to know that form of harassment is called toxic work enviroment if you have an hr dept go file a complaint

[cubby]

yea its fucking bad. I need her to pass me on friday so ill try and avoid it till then ive got 2 more fucking days of this, if i a make a big fuss it will cause me aggro. The problem is im 6ft 6 and a complete fucking unit telling some 5ft 2 woman to shut the fuck up infront of 15 people (who are all big guys too, this is close protection stuff, this woman is genuinely licensed to provide armed protection ffs) no one else has a clue what qanon is , and think im being unreasonable and intimidating, when i have a go with her about what shes saying. Its fucking diabolical really. Its pissed me right off today. I just didnt expect it, for fuck sake.

Holy fuck, yeah, don't do anything in person - both because she has to pass you and because of the size difference. Nice call thinking that all the way through.

But I would definitely put in a written complaint afterwards - which I figure you already thought of. I just wanted to give you kudos on the above. Royally sucks though - obviously you shouldn't have to put up with any of it. On the plus side, maybe you can get her fired. Oh, and as a quick suggestion - that happened to me once, someone I was trapped in a conference with and they were presenting. So to keep my steam from blowing, I started keeping track of how many times they brought up a "not ok in the workplace" topic, and what it was. Made a fun little spreadsheet.

[jonnysensible]

Holy fuck, yeah, don't do anything in person - both because she has to pass you and because of the size difference. Nice call thinking that all the way through.

But I would definitely put in a written complaint afterwards - which I figure you already thought of. I just wanted to give you kudos on the above. Royally sucks though - obviously you shouldn't have to put up with any of it. On the plus side, maybe you can get her fired. Oh, and as a quick suggestion - that happened to me once, someone I was trapped in a conference with and they were presenting. So to keep my steam from blowing, I started keeping track of how many times they brought up a "not ok in the workplace" topic, and what it was. Made a fun little spreadsheet.

no the problem was as soon as she said 'they harvest andocrome from the children' all diplomacy went out the window and i told her to shut the fuck up and get on with the course. In those exact words. One of the geezers came up to me afterwards and said 'i thought you were going to flip the table the vain in your neck was pulsing'. It sort of smoothed over afterwards but its super fucking awkward now. No one could work out why i was so angry i dont think any of these 40 year old guys are on facebook or have the slightest idea what Qanon is. Bunch of fucking brutes.

She teaches this mandatory stuff which im legally obliged to do, but she also teaches police how to use firearms and that kind of thing. I will cause me problems to report her, but im obviously going to.

right im glad ive posted its cathartic, im going to the gym to smash something to finish the cooling off process.

FUCK DONALD TRUMP