Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Benggaul]

Imagine... going to your plastic surgeon and asking for "The Melania".




Feels like a reenactment of the final act of the movie "Brazil".

Are you sure they didn't ask for "The Gaetz"?

[PhaelixWW]

Imagine... going to your plastic surgeon and asking for "The Melania".




Feels like a reenactment of the final act of the movie "Brazil".

Sadly, that photoshop is only slightly worse than the original photo...

[pathora44]

Sadly, that photoshop is only slightly worse than the original photo...

They remind me of the witches from the movie Witches, no not the new remake the original with Angelica Huston, but after they removed all of their wigs and prosthetics to look human.

[Breccia]

We've already discussed in this thread that O'Rielly threatened to sue for accurate reporting that the O'Rielly/Trump tour wasn't selling. We had Ticketmaster maps and everything.

So most of this article is old news.

Additional info in it, however, is that when O'Rielly threatened to sue, he did not remember how many tickets were sold.

I was going to say "I'm surprised Trump hasn't bought them with his campaign or PAC" but revisiting the map, he may have. They've gone from "thousands unsold" to "hundreds unsold" which means
(a) Trump bought them out and money laundered, or
(b) nobody knew Trump had a tour until the poor sales were used to embarrass Trump.

Heading back to Ticketmaster I see only one date. I thought there were two? Did one actually sell out, or was one yanked, or was I just mistaken?

- - - Updated - - -

Once again, it's time for Guess the Speaker!

I have spent some time watching The Open Championship (formerly known as The British Open), and it is terrific! But as almost all of the great players, sportscasters, and golf aficionados know, the greatest site and course of all for The Open is Turnberry, in Scotland.

It is truly a magical place, the players want to be there, and at some point in time the players will be there. But this course was not chosen for The Open because they consider a wonderful person, and many-time Club Champion, named Donald J. Trump, to be too controversial — this is, of course, a false reputation caused mainly by the Fake News Media

"Isn't it a sign of insanity to talk about yourself in the third person?"

That, but it can also be a conscious choice to separate yourself from what yourself is doing. Yes, the speaker is Donald Trump.

"So The Open flat-out said Trump was too controversial?"

Actually yes, Trump was telling the truth for once.

We will not return until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself,” Slumbers said, “and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances.

"Wow, they said that this week?"

No, they said that Jan 11th, in the height of the murderous insurrection and election fraud Trump personally led. Trump is complaining now because the game has already started, which is a lot like complaining about the service at Chili's halfway through your dinner at Applebee's. The Open has its sites chosen until 2024, Trump's course isn't any of them.

"Well that's a tough move, to suddenly cancel The Open like that."

Um...actually, Turnberry hasn't hosted since 2009. Trump bought it in 2014, when it hadn't hosted in 5 years and still hasn't.

"Which players did Trump personally and specifically cite, that wanted to play there?"

None. I also have had trouble finding any. Perhaps Trump's resident defenders will find such? I know we have a few. 24 hours seems about right. Turnberry is ranked 11th by Golf Digest which, yeah that's pretty good, but when you're #11 and The Open only picks 4 at a time, you can't reasonably claim this was unfair.

Oh, and before anyone says anything, it's 4th in Scotland so unless the next four years were all in Scotland, he still wouldn't have a valid claim.

I did find players complaining about the currently listed venue but that's not the same thing at all. Just because I say "I despise Taco Bell" doesn't mean I want to eat at McDonalds.

"Well at least he didn't use his power and influence to force the issue."

He asked the US ambassador to get the tour there in 2020. The ambassador said so in public.

"Well at least his golf course is still making a profit."

It isn't. Last year it lost $3 million and that's better than 2019.

Business has been even worse at Turnberry, which Trump bought in 2014 for $65 million. Despite investing an additional $75 million or so to fix up the property from 2014 to 2018, the place piled up losses of $58 million, according to an analysis of financial reports. The 2019 figures, first reported by the Scotsman, bring Turnberry’s total losses to $61 million since 2014.

Trump owns other EU golf courses, but seems to be losing money at all of them.

"So, the course hadn't hosted for years before and years after he bought it, he used his power and influence to try to force the issue anyhow, the course is losing money, nobody is going on record to ask for it, and on top of everything else the cause was 'tried to overthrow the government' and he somehow thinks this is unjust?"

Trump is a narcissist, possibly to the point of insantiy. Anything he doesn't like is therefore unjust. Or, again, perhaps one of Trump's defenders will speak out and explain why The Open is making a bad decision?

"Well at least he still has American tournaments."

PGA moved from Bedminster Jan 10th for exactly the same cited reasons as The Open did.

"This seems like an awfully long post for a single line from a rally."

First of all, he wrote out an entire email.

But more importantly, it's worth reminding everyone that Trump lies all the time about everything. Trump can't even say "I have a nice golf course" correctly. This is a pretty minor point, considering Trump is facing his organization being ripped apart and what few friends he has left are being disbarred, indicted and/or fired. Yet, Trump made a big deal about it, and had to resort to gaslighting and lies to do so. And this wasn't a one-off slip of the tongue. He sat down and wrote an email to his followers that was an entire page. Fighting misinformation is the duty of all reasonable people, educators like myself are expected to be part of it but it's everyone's responsibility.

Trump's lies are clearly visible and easily dismantled. Only the willfully ignorant would choose to accept them. Which is why I will quote Trump's resident supporters as saying "Trump lied and he should not have" to give them the benefit of the doubt, unless they intentionally say "No wait, I did believe Trump and here's why". Within 24 hours.

- - - Updated - - -

Once again, it's time for Guess the Speaker!

The idea of Trump staging a coup does give him too much credit. That requires advance thinking, planning, strategizing, building up support, and I just don’t think he’s capable of that.

What he was capable of was on a daily basis doing something more and more outrageous than he had done the day before, all to the same end of staying in power. But the notion that Trump could have orchestrated a coup does give him too much credit.

That is, of course, Michael Bolton. John! John Bolton! Shit.

[Breccia]

. The tickets that HAVE sold do appear to have been purchased by Trump or w/e. They're as much as $3000/ea or some shit.

That's a pretty standard sales pitch, claiming that other items have sold for far higher than the price you see.

[jonnysensible]

lol a bar job i used to work at when i was 18 was a front. owner used to launder cash by 'selling' bottles of champagne for 10k a pop. Would put through at least 2 a week in cash.

This PAC stuff seems basically the same, moving PAC money into personal bank accounts (or LLCs) by cleaning it through tickets. Naughty stuff really.

[Edge-]

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/0...package-499988

And because Republicans are literally retarded, they've taken increased funding for the IRS out of negotiations for the infrastructure spending. Increased funding that would have generated more revenue than it cost by catching tax cheats, specifically wealthier folks.

Because Republicans don't want to actually pay for anything.

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.newsweek.com/conservativ...cklash-1610824

"Can't make this sh** up lol!! I just watched [Turning Point USA founder] Charlie Kirk, [political commentator] Dan Bongino, [GOP Senator] Rick Scott and [libertarian columnist] Kat Timpf speak about freedom, censorship, how inclusive the 'movement' is ...etc...," Love tweeted with the image of the email.

"And then they had me thrown out of the Turning Point USA conference," she wrote. "The Republican Party is broken."

Conservative porn star gets invited to conservative college group event. Predictable backlash from religious conservatives and, apparently, white supremacists (surprising). College group CANCELS her by disinviting her.

Will conservatives take a stand against cancel culture? Apparently, not.

[Lanrefni]

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/0...package-499988

And because Republicans are literally retarded, they've taken increased funding for the IRS out of negotiations for the infrastructure spending. Increased funding that would have generated more revenue than it cost by catching tax cheats, specifically wealthier folks.

Because Republicans don't want to actually pay for anything.

It's not because they're retarded,it's because the more funding the IRS gets the more likely they and their donors will get nailed for tax fraud.

[uuuhname]

I love how nowhere in there does it say "how" they are going to pull this off.

[PhaelixWW]

Remember that plan I talked about where Trump ends up as President again? Apparently someone was handing out these cards at CPAC.



https://mobile.twitter.com/AndrewSol...12849952395265

There are just soooooooo many really dumb people in this country. /smdh

[Stormspellz]

Remember that plan I talked about where Trump ends up as President again? Apparently someone was handing out these cards at CPAC.



https://mobile.twitter.com/AndrewSol...12849952395265

i'm interested in #1, what exactly is this "horror" and how are they going to expose it? but of course the nice sounding word salad that is also as vague as you can get is the point.

[Breccia]

Remember that plan I talked about where Trump ends up as President again?

I believe we've talked about this. Pretty much every point is wrong.

There is no option in which "melting" Pelosi stops being Speaker of the House in days, not years.

And of course, @PhaelixWW is right, EDIT so is @Stormspellz there is no "how" in the important steps of these. The Black Caucus will flip when they see...um...what, exactly?

[Shkar]

I believe we've talked about this. Pretty much every point is wrong.

There is no option in which "melting" Pelosi stops being Speaker of the House in days, not years.

And of course, @PhaelixWW is right, EDIT so is @Stormspellz there is no "how" in the important steps of these. The Black Caucus will flip when they see...um...what, exactly?

Not to mention that their plan involves electing someone as Speaker of the House, and then electing Trump after them. Rather than just electing Trump in the first place as Speaker.

[DarkTZeratul]

That step could mean Trump himself.

No, step 2 is "Witness a trusted Conservative elected as Speaker of the House" and step 5 is Citizen Donald J. Trump is placed into the line of Presidential succession... by electing him Speaker of the House." This is entirely redundant, unless it's an acknowledgement that Donald Trump would be utterly incapable of doing the actual job of Speaker of the House, including getting the Articles of Impeachment drafted that they need to oust Biden and Harris, and is only being elected to the position because he has to be to become President.

[Breccia]

WaPo reports that the first felony sentencing for the murderous insurrection is due to happen tomorrow.

Prosecutors are asking for 18 months of actual prison time.

Lawyers for the defense are saying "Lincoln forgave the Confederates, you should forgive these murderous insurrectionists". Because in the case of this defendent, there is proof they were caught red-handed breaking into the Capitol, proof they knew what they were doing, and no proof they were too stupid to be charged -- which, yes, apparently Trump supporters are doing successfully. Not the option I would pick, barring a death sentence.

"Your Honor, I thought I was in the White House."
"You were at the rally where Trump said 'let's go to the Capitol' and everyone cheered and went to the building that doesn't look like the White House, and broke through the gate -- and you thought you were at the White House?"
"On pain of perjury, Your Honor, yes."
"Holy shit, very few people would admit under oath in public that they're that stupid. I think that admission hanging over your head for the rest of your life is suitable punishment."

Yeah, no.

Now I'll ask @cubby as always, but the real "danger" here is for the rabid fanbase. This case is about to tip the first domino. Once this case's crime and sentence has been decided -- apparently obstruction of Congress -- it will apply to the dozens already arrested and hundreds more who could be. They could all become federal felons, and lose 18 months of their freedom, which honestly for attacking the Capitol in one of the biggest terrorist acts the US has ever seen (and anyone who even tries to deny that doesn't know what the word "terrorism" objectively means and is therefore trolling) seems pretty light.

The court is about to do what the riot could not: set President. Prescedent. Shit, this pun doesn't work typed out.

[Endus]

Now I'll ask @cubby as always, but the real "danger" here is for the rabid fanbase. This case is about to tip the first domino. Once this case's crime and sentence has been decided -- apparently obstruction of Congress -- it will apply to the dozens already arrested and hundreds more who could be. They could all become federal felons, and lose 18 months of their freedom, which honestly for attacking the Capitol in one of the biggest terrorist acts the US has ever seen (and anyone who even tries to deny that doesn't know what the word "terrorism" objectively means and is therefore trolling) seems pretty light.

The court is about to do what the riot could not: set President. Prescedent. Shit, this pun doesn't work typed out.

Not cubby, but I'd like to point out that they can always add additional charges, like seditious conspiracy, after conviction. Conviction just prevents double indemnity on the particular charges in question; guilty plea deals generally come with some blanket protections as well. But straight convictions? Nope. If they're convicted of, say, B&E at the Capitol, that does not in any way prevent the feds from filing sedition charges at a later date for the same event. They can, in fact, cite the B&E conviction as evidence in that later trial.

The same way if you get convicted of murdering a girl, you can still be tried and convicted for any other murders you might've done, even if it was a twofer where you killed a second girl at the same time as the first you were convicted for. You just can't be charged with murdering that first girl a second time. That's all double indemnity applies to.

We could see a case where a lot of these people go to prison for 18 months, and then the federal courts get around to prosecuting their big sedition case against a major player, and subsequent to that conviction, all those prisoners get new sedition charges filed, where the prosecution is going to boil down to "You were there on Jan 6, part of the crowd? Yes? Guilty as charged, here's another 10 years."

Seriously, it won't be hard to convict for sedition after they've established that it was seditious, as a matter of precedent. Once that's determined once, it's precedent that can be presumed in every subsequent trial.

[Kaleredar]

WaPo reports that the first felony sentencing for the murderous insurrection is due to happen tomorrow.

Prosecutors are asking for 18 months of actual prison time.

Lawyers for the defense are saying "Lincoln forgave the Confederates, you should forgive these murderous insurrectionists". Because in the case of this defendent, there is proof they were caught red-handed breaking into the Capitol, proof they knew what they were doing, and no proof they were too stupid to be charged -- which, yes, apparently Trump supporters are doing successfully. Not the option I would pick, barring a death sentence.

"Your Honor, I thought I was in the White House."
"You were at the rally where Trump said 'let's go to the Capitol' and everyone cheered and went to the building that doesn't look like the White House, and broke through the gate -- and you thought you were at the White House?"
"On pain of perjury, Your Honor, yes."
"Holy shit, very few people would admit under oath in public that they're that stupid. I think that admission hanging over your head for the rest of your life is suitable punishment."

Yeah, no.

Now I'll ask @cubby as always, but the real "danger" here is for the rabid fanbase. This case is about to tip the first domino. Once this case's crime and sentence has been decided -- apparently obstruction of Congress -- it will apply to the dozens already arrested and hundreds more who could be. They could all become federal felons, and lose 18 months of their freedom, which honestly for attacking the Capitol in one of the biggest terrorist acts the US has ever seen (and anyone who even tries to deny that doesn't know what the word "terrorism" objectively means and is therefore trolling) seems pretty light.

The court is about to do what the riot could not: set President. Prescedent. Shit, this pun doesn't work typed out.

Not going to lie, I'm a bit disappointed about the "18 months" part. This should easily be a 5-10 year stint, if not more.

Unfortunately it speaks to a system where even a crime as heinous as invading the capitol building is passed off as a "well they were white just thinking they were exercising their freedoms, so we're just gonna give em a slap on the wrist. We don't want to make too many waves."

[Breccia]

Not going to lie, I'm a bit disappointed about the "18 months" part. This should easily be a 5-10 year stint, if not more.

I believe @Endus discussed that. I don't know what other charges could be brought, but if more evidence leads to a large organized conspiracy (see also: text messages) then, yes, it could get worse.

[Ursus]

They could all become federal felons, and lose 18 months of their freedom, which honestly for attacking the Capitol in one of the biggest terrorist acts the US has ever seen (and anyone who even tries to deny that doesn't know what the word "terrorism" objectively means and is therefore trolling) seems pretty light.

I don't know, 18 months for terrorism and insurrection sounds about white.

[Azadina]

Prosecutors are asking for 18 months of actual prison time.

Lawyers for the defense are saying "Lincoln forgave the Confederates, you should forgive these murderous insurrectionists". Because in the case of this defendent, there is proof they were caught red-handed breaking into the Capitol, proof they knew what they were doing, and no proof they were too stupid to be charged -- which, yes, apparently Trump supporters are doing successfully. Not the option I would pick, barring a death sentence.

18 months? For something that should have one be put between a wall and a firing squad. Seems like a complete joke, while some get decades over posession of MJ. Also, the lawyers argument sucks. Why should such a major fuck up be repeated? The Confederates learned absolutely nothing from the forgiveness and appeasement.