Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

Wonder how many of those convicted would be willing to testify that Trump is what encouraged them to attack.

Hundreds.

We know that over 200 people have already testified. Only a few dozen have gone to jail. I suspect that there are 200 or so rioters who have said "I thought Trump said to do this".

Sadly, their testimony alone only proves they're volunteers to lead the stupid army in the war against their own dignity. Their opinion on the matter is not proof of Trump's intent. Hence the Executive Time documents being so important. Hence the WH testimony being ordered at figurative gunpoint.

- - - Updated - - -

Trump continues to make the same false claims about a stolen election with which he has misled millions of Americans. These are the same claims he knows provoked violence in the past. He has recently suggested that he wants to debate members of this committee.

This committee's investigation into the violent assault on our Capitol on Jan. 6 is not a game. When this committee convenes hearings, witnesses will be called to testify under oath. Any communications Mr. Trump has with this committee will be under oath. And if he persists in lying, then he will be accountable under the laws of this great nation and subject to criminal penalties for every false word he speaks.

-- Cheney, on the Jan 6th committee

The vote to hold Clark in contempt was unanimous. Cheney does not speak for herself alone.

[Benggaul]

Numbers are still a bit goofy, but I'll give it a go for Wednesday's report:

120,441 new cases; about 13k more than two weeks ago.

Top 10:

Michigan: 9,950 new cases; 200 deaths
Ohio: 8,944 new cases; deaths not reported
Pennsylvania: 7,606 new cases; 100 deaths
Illinois: 6,119 new cases; 56 deaths
Indiana: 6,004 new cases; 64 deaths
Wisconsin: 5,454 new cases; 43 deaths
Massachusetts: 5,303 new cases; 26 deaths
California: 5,137 new cases; 104 deaths
Texas: 4,654 new cases; 98 deaths
Minnesota: 3,483 new cases; 100 deaths

Some of that is still catchup, but a lot of it isn't. The Great Lakes and New England regions are still heading up (harder to see with the fudged numbers of the past week) but not at the breakneck speed I was fearing earlier on. Omicron could change that in a few weeks, of course, but as I've said before it's still unknown how bad that variant is, so, positive thoughts, get your jabs and wear your fucking mask. Hospitalizations have been heading up in New York and Illinois but slightly down in California. Texas, too, has had a small bump in hospitalizations the past week. South Dakota has them all beat in terms of hospitalizations per 100k, though, and has for weeks. Kristi Noem may want to continue to ignore COVID, but it's ravaging the population there. The good news is they're no longer tops on positivity as that now goes to New Mexico with over 20%, followed by Michigan and Nebraska.

1,633 deaths is around 100 more than two weeks ago and brings the total to 805,004. Again, some of that is a correction (and there will likely be more added to it as backfill comes into play), but the 7-day will probably still be above 1k once everything shakes out (currently 800-ish but that's including about 4 woefully underreported days). Today's total includes 200 from Michigan which is bad but due to their reporting method is also jank. Tennessee was second-highest with around 150 and California still reached third-highest with just over 100. Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Texas were not far behind.

Related news:

Facebook, Instagram remove accounts linked to Chinese COVID-19 disinformation efforts--So our resident forum trolls will have to rely more on other alt-right news sources for their conspiracy theories and pseudo-science bullshit. Sadly, thanks to years of various sects sucking Trump's mushroom they have plenty to choose from.

COVID-19 kills South Florida cops eight times more often than gunfire the past two years--In lieu of the totally inappropriate things I'd like to say, particularly in light of the stories we read in the Police thread on a daily basis, I'll just stick with my customary Fuck Florida.

COVID-19 omicron variant confirmed in Minnesota resident--A Minnesota resident who just recently attended a convention in New York City with around 53k in attendance. Let's hope Omicron proves less worrisome than it seems.

Stay safe, folks.

[Breccia]

Numbers are still a bit goofy

Has Florida reported yet?

(checks NYTimes)

"Note: Florida did not report new county cases or deaths for the week of Thanksgiving."

Nope. That's some Homer Simpson "If I don't see it, it's not illegal" level shit there. I don't care whose fault it is, it's irresponsible and deceitful.

[Benggaul]

Has Florida reported yet?

(checks NYTimes)

"Note: Florida did not report new county cases or deaths for the week of Thanksgiving."

Nope. That's some Homer Simpson "If I don't see it, it's not illegal" level shit there. I don't care whose fault it is, it's irresponsible and deceitful.

Nah, I've given up on ever getting any semblance of truth out of Florida regarding COVID. At this point we can all pretty much just say "it's bad" there and probably won't be wrong in some sense. I keep my eye on things a bit to see if they make it into my top 10, but apart from that my stance remains: Fuck Florida.

[Poopymonster]

Has Florida reported yet?

(checks NYTimes)

"Note: Florida did not report new county cases or deaths for the week of Thanksgiving."

Nope. That's some Homer Simpson "If I don't see it, it's not illegal" level shit there. I don't care whose fault it is, it's irresponsible and deceitful.

Can't take the risk of scaring off the snowbirds.

[Breccia]

Fuck Florida.

Simply put, Florida proved how little they care by all those police officers that weren't vaccinated and died you just mentioned. And of course, last year, the USA saw a spike over the holidays, then a still very bad but lower spike in the summer. Florida's summer spike was actually worse proving that, while the USA in general is getting better at this, Florida would literally rather die than value the lives of their fellow man.

Florida is 61% fully vaccinated. That's actually not that bad, but it's not herd immunity. Also, omicron.

- - - Updated - - -

Schumer lays the groundwork for accurately blaming Party of Trump members if they vote to shut down the government.

"Hey, even McConnell doesn't want a shutdown," he basically said. "If these bad actors decided they hate vaccination so much they'd rather shut down the government than wait for the courts to decide, we're going to point out how much federal workers do for travel and the supply chain. Maybe their voters will finally have second thoughts about cheering for the world burning when its their grocery stores that are empty."

[beanman12345]

Has Florida reported yet?

(checks NYTimes)

"Note: Florida did not report new county cases or deaths for the week of Thanksgiving."

Nope. That's some Homer Simpson "If I don't see it, it's not illegal" level shit there. I don't care whose fault it is, it's irresponsible and deceitful.

What's to report when they likely don't even test anymore at least outside a hospital setting.

[Orange Joe]

Can someone explain the math used in this article?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-cou...164715262.html

Cause I'm not seeing the same sum.

250m+70m=320m

375m-320m= not 100m

[Breccia]

Can someone explain the math used in this article?

It's an interesting statement regardless. Someone seems assured that, once Trump is no longer the owner, the hotel will start making bank.

They could be right, but I'm surprised they're so sure they're right they're forking over record-breaking money.

[Huehuecoyotl]

Can someone explain the math used in this article?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-cou...164715262.html

Cause I'm not seeing the same sum.

250m+70m=320m

350m-320m= not 100m

Well, lets assume that the $217m they spent includes the cost of buying the rights to the building. They've owned the building for 8 years, and lost $70m dollars in the 4 years he was president. Given that he was using that time to push up the income from the building from tax-payer pockets, you've got to assume that the other 4 years it lost just as much, if not more.

So that's £140m lost over 8 years, on top of the $217m outlay. I make that $357m, which means that the $375m sale price represents a profit of $18m dollars. But he owes $170m to Deutche Bank, which I guess means he's in the hole to the tune of $152m, on that basis?

I can't see how this sale could put any actual cash into his pocket. And it presumably crystalises the loan that was leveraged against the property, forcing to him to find money from elsewhere to clear that? All looks very odd to me. Hopefully someone with more financial expertise can explain it better.

[Breccia]

I can't see how this sale could put any actual cash into his pocket.

Not much, not really. Owes $170m, spend $217m which I assume includes the $170m he borrowed, lost $70m in operational expenses, has to pay the govt an unlisted amount.

While $375m could mean he leaves with a net black result, it's not one he should be proud of. The article says he was trying to get $500m and hahahahaha no he's not.

[Orange Joe]

Not much, not really. Owes $170m, spend $217m which I assume includes the $170m he borrowed, lost $70m in operational expenses, has to pay the govt an unlisted amount.

While $375m could mean he leaves with a net black result, it's not one he should be proud of. The article says he was trying to get $500m and hahahahaha no he's not.

It lost every year but doesn't give a number. That 70m was only while he was president.

[Breccia]

It lost every year but doesn't give a number. That 70m was only while he was president.

Oh, snap. Man, Trump really sucks as a businessman.

[Orange Joe]

Oh, snap. Man, Trump really sucks as a businessman.

From what I understand it also doesn't include money he spent renovating from a post office to what it is now.

[Breccia]

From what I understand it also doesn't include money he spent renovating from a post office to what it is now.

The Trump Organization spent $217 million transforming the building from government offices and a shopping center to a five-star hotel, which opened in October 2016.

It does, actually.

[Orange Joe]

It does, actually.

So we don't know how much he paid for it vs how much he spent on renovations? Cause this whole thing is getting confusing lol

[Huehuecoyotl]

So we don't know how much he paid for it vs how much he spent on renovations? Cause this whole thing is getting confusing lol

We don't know if that renovation cost includes the cost of purchase. If it doesn't, the math(s) is even worse for Trump.

[Breccia]

So we don't know how much he paid for it vs how much he spent on renovations? Cause this whole thing is getting confusing lol

Not that this will help but...it was a lease. He doesn't own the building, he bought the leasing rights.

But no, I don't know how much he paid for those.

[Orange Joe]

Not that this will help but...it was a lease. He doesn't own the building, he bought the leasing rights.

But no, I don't know how much he paid for those.

Ah well same thing in the end.

No matter what I'm pretty sure it's safe to say he is NOT getting 100m in profit from this.

[Breccia]

No matter what I'm pretty sure it's safe to say he is NOT getting 100m in profit from this.

I dunno, maybe? But what he needs right now is to get his lenders off his back. He's in a situation where he could end up with massive surprises losses from, oh I don't know, the discovery of all those taxes he didn't pay or insurance companies pointing out those misvalued properties. The post office hotel was something he was really proud of. He's not selling it because he felt like it, he's selling it because he's low on liquid assets and items people will actually pay for.

I'm wondering what Melania was bribed with. Every day that passes, "her half" dwindles.