Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Zaydin]

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status...890417158?s=19

The lone black Republican in the House. The frikin House of Representatives. The branch that is supposed to represent the people, yet one African American.

Hurd is former CIA and possibly had enough of not preventing Russian interference.

Also to add that right now, Hurd is one of only two African-American Republicans in Congress. The other is Tim Scott in the Senate.

Really going to be hard for the GOP to argue they aren't a racist party for white people if they only have literally one African American in Congress period.

[Breccia]

Always love hearing the fallout of the NRA lately.

Then you should read this Daily Kos article which has links to each of the following:

Its finances are a mess. The group is losing both members and revenue. At the end of 2018, the NRA reported losing $55 million in revenue.

Gun sales are continuing their downward trend.

The NRA cut ties with its longtime advertising and public relations firm, Ackerman McQueen. Now the two are suing each other.

NRA president Oliver North was forced to resign in April during a power struggle with executive vice president Wayne LaPierre. The NRA is now suing North over the attempted coup.

Speaking of LaPierre, the organization still hasn’t recovered from the bad publicity about LaPierre’s ultra-expensive clothing purchases, including $300,000 on designer suits.

Speaking of both LaPierre and North, the NRA’s top lobbyist and second in command, Chris Cox, was suspended after text messages showed he was one of the leaders behind the move to oust LaPierre—a move Cox strongly denied, but his aim was way off. He was forced to resign.

The NRA shut down production of its online media arm, NRATV.

Just hit the article, which is dated June 30th, and follow a link. You might find something like this:

Gun sales weren’t the only measure showing a loss. According to the most recent NRA financial figures reported by the Daily Beast, the NRA received only $98 million in contributions in 2017, down from nearly $125 million in 2016. Even that amount wasn’t good news, as $19 million came from a single anonymous donor. Membership dues also were down 21 percent: $128 million in 2017 membership dues compared with $163 million in 2016.

Oh, and, um...



Yes. The NRA made that graphic of Thomas the TanKKK Engine. Then showed it. On their own TV station. On purpose. No, they weren't quoting someone else.

[Skroe]

Quick read the article and 23 of the "No" votes were Republicans. Again, the Dems are doing the heavy lifting for Republicans so in 2021 the Republicans are going to do the typical and hold the budget or likely the debt ceiling hostage and claim the Dems are out of control with their spending. From the article all the Republican "No's" are claiming out of control spending when they contributed to it, but of course tax cuts don't count.

Nah, that won't happen. Not any more. With the passage of this two year deal, the third, they've now been passed in the following combinations:
Democratic President + Republican House + Republican Senate
Republican President + Republican House + Republican Senate
Republican President + Democratic House + Republican Senate

As I've laid out before, the deal is so good for everyone, and the 23 no republicans were voting like that because they knew it would pass. They get to have their cake and eat it too. Almost all of them played a role in structuring spending to their states, and still voted no.

Democrats and most Republicans will never vote against these deals because they fill every pot. And yes, Republicans like the non-defense boost, and Democrats like the defense boost too.

With a Democratic President in 2021, Mitch McConnell will play hard ball for Two Year Deal #4... but so did Nancy Pelsoi just now. And he'll come around, like she did, because most everybody in their caucus, including them, want to make sure the spigot of dollars flowing from Federal to State to Local stays open

There are times Congress is hugely ideological (new laws). But when it comes to spending money, the dividing lines are more often state-based than ideological. If you want an excellent example of this, look at the House Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Subcommittee. There are no Democrats and Republicans there. There are just a lot of Congressmen from Navy-supporting districts (either bases or military industrial complex) whose first priority is to make sure ships keep getting built. I mean one thing with the whole 350 ship Navy is that a lot of the ships reaching 20-25 years (retirement age) could easily go for 30-40 with upgrades (which need to be scheduled 4-5 years in advance) but there's less money in maintaining ships than building new ones.

And how makes that determination? Those guys. Who do not wear their D and R hats. They wear their pork sausage butchers apron.

Case in point, the Navy is having built for them a 12th and 13th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock. They didn't ask for #11. Nor 12. Nor 13. It was decided for them.

This is why the defense budget will never be cut, and Congress's ability to pass a budget along bipartisan lines is a certainty. Congress doesn't really see 3 more ships the Navy doesn't ask for. It sees $2 billion a piece flowing into their districts.

I'll say it again, Bernie Sanders is all about slashing defense, except the F-35, which Vermont plays a role in (basing in Burlington, Vermont, other infrastructure). That just shows you the depths of this. Even a Senator known for his screeds on defense spending and big business makes an exception for his state.

As stated the 5 Senators are cowards and should be on the record cowardly. Funny how the the Republican "No" voters are somehow not twisted into not loving our military since of the huge military budget. Dems would definitely get raked over the coals if a big chunk voted against this. The Republicans would paint it as not loving our military.

That'd absolutely be the case.

[ringpriest]

https://twitter.com/evanmcmurry/stat...26841170833408

Mother Bleep! Denies that Russia is still trying to interfere with elections. He then talks about these forest fires in Russia as if they are happening in his back yard. As if these fires are the worst disaster every. Trump says "he has never seen anything like this ever. Massive fires".

Trump wasn't talking to Putin about "trade" and forest fires - he was talking to him to explain that he was being forced to enact more sanctions by the US Congress, and beg forgiveness; Putin, in turn, made him squirm - the Trump admin clearly would have preferred to keep the whole call as quiet as possible, when their had was forced by Moscow announcing the call, they tried to bury their acknowledgement of it, and ran with the Kremlim's humiliating cover story: Trump had called to discuss "forest fires", and not anything of significance, and that Putin had turned him down, just like Modi publicly turned down his unwanted offer of mediation. After being called on the carpet twice in one week, by his own allies no less, Trump is doubtless fuming mad.

[Redwyrm]

You know what the NRA wants more than anything right now?
.
.
.
A Democratic President in the White House

[Howel]

-snip
Yes. The NRA made that graphic of Thomas the TanKKK Engine. Then showed it. On their own TV station. On purpose. No, they weren't quoting someone else.

Gender I can understand, that's frankly a bit spooky what they sometimes propose to show to kids, which is way above their understanding. But ethnicity? Shit, if we all were raised on cartoons that showed the other ethnicities and how they are different, yet not so different, we'd maybe fucking not be so split apart and ready to jump on each others necks. But I guess that's the real threat, acceptance and/or tolerance...

[Dome Fossil]

I saw this and it's such a massive reach that it's borderline laughable. Baltimore does have a rat problem:

https://patch.com/maryland/baltimore...ties-u-s-orkin

The idea that Trump talking about rats means he's secretly talking in code about black people is just nonsensical.

You would have a point if Trump didn't constantly talk about "rat infested" cities that didn't actually have rat problems. But all of the cities he talks about as being "infested" with "breeding" problems have a lot of black and brown people in them.

He just coincidentally called a city that did have actual rats "rat infested" this time.

[DKjaigen]

You would have a point if Trump didn't constantly talk about "rat infested" cities that didn't actually have rat problems. But all of the cities he talks about as being "infested" with "breeding" problems have a lot of black and brown people in them.

He just coincidentally called a city that did have actual rats "rat infested" this time.

If you hear rat infested city and you are thinking of blacks YOU are the one with the problem,

[Noxx79]

If you hear rat infested city and you are thinking of blacks YOU are the one with the problem,

YoU’rE tHe ReAl RaCiSt

Try harder

[omerome]

A US official's house gets robbed, the literal President basically says "Too bad, so sad".

Unbelievable. This is where we are today.

Rock Bottom: Hello. You have reached me.
President: Challenge accepted
Rock Bottom: No, please stop.

[Breccia]

A US official's house gets robbed, the literal President basically says "Too bad, so sad".

The timing is suspicious. To hear Trump tell it, Cummings has lived in a rat-infested shithole since at least 1996. Trump makes a comment and he's robbed within the week.

Someone heard the dog whistle.

[Noxx79]

The timing is suspicious. To hear Trump tell it, Cummings has lived in a rat-infested shithole since at least 1996. Trump makes a comment and he's robbed within the week.

Someone heard the dog whistle.

https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2019/...ummings-house/

Especially since they don’t know if anything was taken...

[Kiri]

Unbelievable. This is where we are today.

Rock Bottom: Hello. You have reached me.
President: Challenge accepted
Rock Bottom: No, please stop.

He won't stop. His base wants this and he knows that he can get away with it. It's one more free news cycle devoted to him, which is all that truly matters. The sad part is that this crime isn't even necessary for this - he would have found something anyway.

[omerome]

He won't stop. His base wants this and he knows that he can get away with it. It's one more free news cycle devoted to him, which is all that truly matters. The sad part is that this crime isn't even necessary for this - he would have found something anyway.

It's sickening. So I guess if the resident falls down the steps and breaks an ankle and someone said, "Too bad! So sad!", then I guess he would be okay with it? But no, as much as I can't stand that man, showing that type of response is low.

His base are sad pathetic people who never grew up, but just grew older, if this is what they want. It's like we're in a toxic sport where two teams play each other and it keeps going into overtime. And deep down many would hope for someone to get hurt so they can "win".

[bladeXcrasher]

Listen I love your reasoning. I myself understand the global impact of CO2 and other harmful being released in our atmosphere.

This President is a science denier, a moron. At most Putin informed him that these fires prevent him (Putin) from now exploiting those natural resources.

Oh yes, already answered. Trump jumped at the chance of helping these forrest fires and bitch and moaned about California.

The oh btw part of my post was Trump dismissing Russia wants to interfere in our elections.

- - - Updated - - -



https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status...890417158?s=19

The lone black Republican in the House. The frikin House of Representatives. The branch that is supposed to represent the people, yet one African American.

Hurd is former CIA and possibly had enough of not preventing Russian interference.

That's really unfortunate, Hurd has been an outspoken critic of Trump and his boarder (sic) policies. He's that rare Republican that still realized he represents everyone in his dustrict. He has been a proponent of increasing electronic surveillance at the border for years, while dual purposing that tech for his constituents, like creating a fiber optic based sensor system that also provided high speed internet to the area.

[Breccia]

That's really unfortunate, Hurd has been an outspoken critic of Trump and his boarder (sic) policies.

That's almost certainly why he's fleeing. And it's a bad sign for the GOP.

Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, announced he won’t seek re-election in 2020 – the biggest House GOP retirement since Paul Ryan’s in 2018.

It’s also the sixth House GOP retirement in just the last two weeks, per NBC’s Alex Moe.

Six? I missed three?

Why the Hurd news is significant:
1) It makes it much more likely the GOP will lose the district in 2020 (Hillary Clinton carried it in ’16); the Cook Political Report has already moved it to Lean D.
2) It makes it that much harder for the GOP to win control of Congress – Republicans need to flip 18 seats, and losing Hurd’s TX-23 district raises the number to 19.
3) Like Ryan’s announcement in 2018, it sends the message to GOP donors and potential recruits that flipping the House might be out of reach for Republicans.
4) It eliminates more diversity for the GOP — Hurd was the sole African-American member of the House Republican caucus.
5) And when it comes to the immigration debate, it robs the GOP of their only member representing a district on the U.S.-Mexico border.

But there’s an even more significant story going on here: The non-Trump wing of the Republican Party wants out.

Think about the other GOP retirements we’ve seen — Reps. Susan Brooks, R-Ind., Martha Roby, R-Ala., and now Hurd.

And these Republicans parachuting out of the Republican Party underscore how vulnerable Trump really is, despite the growing economy.

The fewer Will Hurd-like members running in 2020 reduces the number of moderate/non-Trump Republicans who would eagerly go to the polls for those representatives – and then still hold their nose and vote for the president.

The Republican Party is getting smaller and smaller, and that isn’t good news for an incumbent Republican president.

I think we've covered this before: coattails and locality. The standard seems to be "all of Congress is a bunch of do-nothing losers, except for my guy". A new person is not "my guy". If someone's sick of Trump, but liked Hurd (or the other, apparently, five people who just jumped ship) they might not go vote for the replacement. By contrast, if they were sick of Trump, but were ready to vote for Hurd, they might have voted for Trump as long as they were holding a lever anyhow.

Trump can't run on his record. But now, he's losing the ability to coast on momentum. The GOP is tired of winning.

[Breccia]

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

I believe that Chairman Kim has a great and beautiful vision for his country, and only the United States, with me as President, can make that vision come true. He will do the right thing because he is far too smart not to, and he does not want to disappoint his friend, President Trump!

"...guess?"

Okay okay fine, yes, it's a Trump tweet because of course it is.

Well, let's count 'em down.
1) Trump is trying the "only I can fix it" after trying and failing.

2) I think we're waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...(deep breath)aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay past the point of expecting the tyrannical dictator of North Korea to "do the right thing".

3) I see Trump is trying the "You are too smart to do XXX" approach. It's a lesser-known cousin of the No True Scotsman fallacy. Trump is likely trying this because he sees it all the time. Problem is, he sees it all the time because everyone uses it on him and it works. NK's current tyrannical dictator might be relatively new at his job, but the flattery approach really doesn't work that well. See, watch:
@Skroe is too smart to believe Trump won't attack Iran.

(start the clock)

4) Trump flat-out says in public the tyrannical dictator of North Korea has only one friend. That's insulting.

5) Trump is talking in the third person again. That's something you do when you're trying to act like a douche, or insane.

"But you talk to yourself --"

Shh, not now.

North Korea's missile launches are proof that Trump's attempts have failed. I've made the joke analogy sad state of current affairs before that Trump is treating NK like a battered wife treats her husband. And it's not just me.

It's funny "I'm a tough guy" Trump is acting like a battered spouse

I think this tweet is more evidence of such.

So here's the question: this CNBC article suggests no new talks are scheduled, and in fact, that the US was hoping to talk to NK at ASEAN but NK didn't bother showing. NK is intentionally building and displaying its arsenal to create fear as a means of leverage for any talks that might happen.

But it also covers something else:

Trump said that these short-range missile tests were very standard and not part of their deal. This is a blatant lie, Trump forgot what he said in 2018. Funny, when Iran did the same thing, he jumped out of the Nuclear Deal. Why is it okay when one country does it, but not the other?

For more information, this Washington Examiner article from the last launch might help.

- - - Updated - - -

This just in: Trump continues to run against Clinton as recently as yesterday.

Brings up Clinton for no reason, stands and basks in LOCK HER UP! chant.

Just a reminder: Trump promised to appoint a special prosecutor before he was even elected. It got YUGE applause. It's 2019 and he hasn't lifted a tiny finger to do it.

[Edge-]

This just in: Trump continues to run against Clinton as recently as yesterday.

Brings up Clinton for no reason, stands and basks in LOCK HER UP! chant.

Just a reminder: Trump promised to appoint a special prosecutor before he was even elected. It got YUGE applause. It's 2019 and he hasn't lifted a tiny finger to do it.

He tried to stop them just like he tried to stop his followers from chanting "send her back", I see.

[Paranoid Android]

A US official's house gets robbed, the literal President basically says "Too bad, so sad".

I never thought I would call the President a PoS (I have before) but he keeps proving me right.

I saw highlights last night and he attacked Americans again. Remember 'Love America' we heard just a week ago. Instead his attacks on Democrats and specific cities was vitriolic.

He even turned and asked in the mayor on Cincinnati was a Democrat, the city holding the rally, then attacked him.

[Kontinuum]

A$AP Rocky released from prison and on his way home to the United States from Sweden. It was a Rocky Week, get home ASAP A$AP!

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...45692517634049