Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Captain N]

Isn't that one of those topics, that neither party really talks much about? I don't remember them at least doing any major spin on it, under Obama.

Right wing news outlets kept banging on that it was unconstitutional that the NSA was intercepting American communications. I don't expect them to have the same distaste for McConnell doing the same thing, if not worse.

[Milchshake]

Really disappointed in the non-votes.

[Howel]

Right wing news outlets kept banging on that it was unconstitutional that the NSA was intercepting American communications. I don't expect them to have the same distaste for McConnell doing the same thing, if not worse.

Oh the media for sure ran it, I was thinking more about the actual politicians.

[Captain N]

Oh the media for sure ran it, I was thinking more about the actual politicians.

Just from this it seems like Rand Paul at the very least but he's always been a bit of a twat.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...0OE2K620150530

[Tinfoy Lat]

So, Florida's method, then? Because we all know, things done by Florida Man have a 100% common sense success rate.

Never fear, the republican governor of my state apparently felt bad that Florida was catching so much grief for not reporting cases so he decided to take some of the pressure off of them.

nebraska health officials stop reporting meat plant coronavirus cases

[Breccia]

Never fear, the republican governor of my state apparently felt bad that Florida was catching so much grief for not reporting cases so he decided to take some of the pressure off of them.

That's probably excused with not wanting to cause panic that your food is contaminated. It's still drafting Americans and putting them in harm's way.

[DarkTZeratul]

Really disappointed in the non-votes.

Especially Sanders. You'd think he'd be all over this.

[Edge-]

Especially Sanders. You'd think he'd be all over this.

As disappointed as I am in his non-vote (I'm almost curious to see what the Sanders subs are saying about it), I'm more angry at some of the Democrats that voted for it like Feinstein. Shame on them.

[DarkTZeratul]

As disappointed as I am in his non-vote (I'm almost curious to see what the Sanders subs are saying about it), I'm more angry at some of the Democrats that voted for it like Feinstein. Shame on them.

I didn't vote for her in 2018, and if she's running for reelection in 2024 I definitely won't be voting for her then, either.

I'm glad this didn't pass, though I suspect that if it did it would have immediately been hit with legal challenges for violating the Fourth Amendment.

[Breccia]

Presented without further comment.

[Edge-]

https://apnews.com/0cd4f7bdfc577e234a2c84fbc0b5e7ee

So, that CDC report issuing guidelines for safely re-opening that was shelved? Yeah, that was apparently the work of a political appointee, Nancy Beck, working in the OMB. No, she's neither a doctor nor does she have a background in virology.

She's now nominated to be the chairwoman and commissioner of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is pretty rich. Why? Well...

Despite her doctorate in environmental health and working as a toxicologist specializing in the risks of chemicals on the human body, she was also a former chemical industry executive. She did work in previous administrations, but her most recent efforts seem focused on deregulating PFAS, which as a reminder are man-made chemicals that do not break down and can accumulate within the human body and environment with very adverse effects.

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/13/c...?smid=tw-share

The United States is on track to produce more electricity this year from renewable power than from coal for the first time on record, new government projections show, a transformation partly driven by the coronavirus pandemic, with profound implications in the fight against climate change.

It is a milestone that seemed all but unthinkable a decade ago, when coal was so dominant that it provided nearly half the nation’s electricity. And it comes despite the Trump administration’s three-year push to try to revive the ailing industry by weakening pollution rules on coal-burning power plants.

Guess Trump couldn't save coal from...well...economic reality.

[Captain N]

Putting this in here because it's an effect of Trump's Open the Country stupidity --

Let's throw open the doors to Wisconsin because their Supreme Court just struck down their Governor's Stay-At-Home Order

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/13/polit...der/index.html

[Edge-]

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile...lia-precedent/

Flynn's lawyers are enjoying a good ribbing. Why?

Well, a bunch of former Watergate prosecutors wanted to file "friend of the court" briefs with the judge, and asked to do so on their own schedule. Judge said no about their timing, but didn't forbid them from submitting them under the current schedule.

Flynn's lawyers didn't like that and filed a motion to keep those briefs out entirely, citing an opinion by Scalia in a 1988 SCOTUS case, arguing that it shows that third party briefs like this shouldn't be allowed.

And well...the problem was immediate, because the Scalia opinion and the SCOTUS ruling make no mention of these types of "friend of the court" briefs.

- - - Updated - - -

The. Cruelty. Is. The. Point.

https://time.com/5836504/usda-snap-appeal-rule-change/

Amid a global pandemic that has rattled the United States economy and led to record-breaking job losses, the Trump Administration is continuing to push to restrict access to the nation’s largest food assistance program.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture quietly issued a notice that it was appealing a judge’s injunction that blocked the cabinet agency from proceeding with cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), colloquially known as food stamps.

If the USDA wins its appeal, the new requirements would strip 688,000 Americans of their food benefits, according to Department’s own estimates. In March, Congress passed legislation that temporarily paused limits on how long most SNAP recipients could receive benefits without working for the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Thus, if the USDA is victorious in its court challenge, the stricter work requirements would be temporarily delayed until the public health emergency was over—but that may be long before the economy rebounds.

During a global pandemic, with unemployment skyrocketing and people already lining up at food banks to get help, the Trump administration is still trying to kick more people off of SNAP benefits.

I guess they can multitask, at least if it's to try to hurt poor people even more.

[Zaydin]

Putting this in here because it's an effect of Trump's Open the Country stupidity --

Let's throw open the doors to Wisconsin because their Supreme Court just struck down their Governor's Stay-At-Home Order

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/13/polit...der/index.html

If I were Governor Evers, I'd hold a press conference and tell the anti-American Wisconsin GOP: "Congratulations, you won. You now own every death to COVID-19 in the state from here on out".

[Stormspark]

If I were Governor Evers, I'd hold a press conference and tell the anti-American Wisconsin GOP: "Congratulations, you won. You now own every death to COVID-19 in the state from here on out".

The problem is, they won't own it, and noone will hold them responsible for it. Until/unless these people are removed from the government and put in prison, nothing will happen to them no matter what they do.

[Edge-]

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...bsentee-voters

According to Trump fan and Texas AG Ken Paxton, worrying that you'll catch the coronavirus when going out to vote in November is not a valid reason to request an absentee ballot.

If he prevails, he will be responsible for literally every case of coronavirus that is confirmed to come from election day. Sure, many of those people would have gone out and voted in-person anyways, but without any way of knowing he gets to own all of the illnesses and deaths.

[Benggaul]

We're now at 85,197 deaths. 1,772 on the 13th (GMT), which seems to be following the pattern established by past weeks by being one of the highest totals, possibly due to corrections (additions) left over from the weekend. Still under 2k, which is encouraging, though I keep reading more and more news items of various cities/states not reporting COVID-19 deaths (plus Fauci himself stating that he thinks it's being underreported), so I'm willing to bet the actual total is probably 86k+.

New cases has gone up above 20k again and total ACTIVE cases is also up, but still under where it was a couple days ago. New cases in Texas has hit a new all-time high of 1,636, so I guess some state leaders who are pushing Trump's "HERP DERP OPEN DER COUNTRY!" message might not find things going their way. That said, new cases (and sometimes daily death totals) is a mixed bag nationwide, with some places in a definite decline (such as New York, finally, and New Jersey) whereas others seem to be increasing (Illinois, Texas).

Obviously certain parts of the country are experiencing flare-ups right now (or are just now getting their first cases due to being rural/isolated), but it SEEMS like the first wave has crested and we're coming down off the back end of it. The end still isn't in sight, because this is still going to drag on and the possibility of a second wave is very strong (if it isn't already happening--some of those flare-ups concern me), but we might get out of this without seeing those "3k dead per day" predictions from a week or two ago.

Of course, anything's possible in this TRUMP SHITSHOW...
Stay safe, folks.

[Zaydin]

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...bsentee-voters

According to Trump fan and Texas AG Ken Paxton, worrying that you'll catch the coronavirus when going out to vote in November is not a valid reason to request an absentee ballot.

If he prevails, he will be responsible for literally every case of coronavirus that is confirmed to come from election day. Sure, many of those people would have gone out and voted in-person anyways, but without any way of knowing he gets to own all of the illnesses and deaths.

Why are Republicans so terrified of people voting?

[Kaleredar]

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...bsentee-voters

According to Trump fan and Texas AG Ken Paxton, worrying that you'll catch the coronavirus when going out to vote in November is not a valid reason to request an absentee ballot.

If he prevails, he will be responsible for literally every case of coronavirus that is confirmed to come from election day. Sure, many of those people would have gone out and voted in-person anyways, but without any way of knowing he gets to own all of the illnesses and deaths.

I don't think the human cost of these things really weighs on the minds of republican politicians very much. If at all. He doesn't want people mail-in voting because he knows, like all republicans, that more people voting means the democrats are more likely to win.

What surprises me is that he, in Texas, is scared of too many people voting democrat in November.

[omerome]

Putting this in here because it's an effect of Trump's Open the Country stupidity --

Let's throw open the doors to Wisconsin because their Supreme Court just struck down their Governor's Stay-At-Home Order

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/13/polit...der/index.html

The irony of it all is, those judges struck down the stay-at-home order, while they were working remote. They couldn't even practice what they preached and I am sure they will do whatever they can to stay as far away from this mess as possible - physically and mentally. Cowards.