Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[kaelleria]

And here comes the troop drawdown...

Down to 2500 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq by January 15th...

This won't bite us in the ass at all.

[Benggaul]

One of the few GOP Governors who seems to be taking COVID-19 seriously, Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland holds a press conference in which he announces new measures to combat the virus. Most of it looks good, except I don't understand this "bars and restaurants close at 10pm" bullshit that all of the governors seem to want to try. This isn't the time for half-assing it.

“Regardless of all the disinformation that’s being spread all over social media, this is not the flu. It’s not fake news. It’s not going to magically disappear just because we’re all tired of it and we want our normal lives back,” Hogan said during a press conference Tuesday. “We are in a war right now and the virus is winning.”

If a lot of that sounds mildly familiar it may be because Hogan's had a history of thumbing his nose at Trump. He will, apparently, be joining other governors in a video meeting with President-elect Biden on Thursday.

[Bodakane]

Because he's been talked off the ledge repeatedly by the "more sane" members of his Administration.

Assuming they do and knowing all the shit he's done.....can you imagine how bad the other stuff was that they stopped?

[Gorsameth]

One of the few GOP Governors who seems to be taking COVID-19 seriously, Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland holds a press conference in which he announces new measures to combat the virus. Most of it looks good, except I don't understand this "bars and restaurants close at 10pm" bullshit that all of the governors seem to want to try. This isn't the time for half-assing it.



If a lot of that sounds mildly familiar it may be because Hogan's had a history of thumbing his nose at Trump. He will, apparently, be joining other governors in a video meeting with President-elect Biden on Thursday.

Lots of countries have tried limited opening times for bars. Has it actually worked anyway or have they all had to move to full closed because numbers just kept going?

[PhaelixWW]

Assuming they do and knowing all the shit he's done.....can you imagine how bad the other stuff was that they stopped?

I mean, they haven't been very shy about leaking his insane shit to the press before. I suppose it's possible that there's even worse we don't know about, but...

[Benggaul]

Lots of countries have tried limited opening times for bars. Has it actually worked anyway or have they all had to move to full closed because numbers just kept going?

I'm currently in the Netherlands and they've had to shut bars/restaurants down completely after trying the "curfew" route. It's just pointless. COVID-19 doesn't spread only during the night.

[solinari6]

I'm currently in the Netherlands and they've had to shut bars/restaurants down completely after trying the "curfew" route. It's just pointless. COVID-19 doesn't spread only during the night.

I THINK the point of shutting down bars/restaurants at 10, is to prevent people from finishing their meal, and just "hang out" drinking for a couple hours. You go in, eat your food, and leave. The longer you stay, the bigger chance of catching something.

[Beazy]

Why do you think that it would take balls for Trump to strike Iran? He's too stupid to understand the consequences for the country, let alone for his own person. This is why kids do stupid things, like kicking wasps' nests.

Because hes been talking shit about Iran since before you were born, then he was handed the keys to the White House. . . and still no bombs dropped on Iran.


Trumps a loud mouth pussy. Never thrown a punch in his life. Like I said, when he gets mad, he picks his ball up and goes home. . . he doesn't fight.

[Felya]

And here comes the troop drawdown...

Down to 2500 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq by January 15th...

This won't bite us in the ass at all.

It won’t... it’s just going to reinforce the argument blaming those wars on democrats.

[Hadriker]

Lots of countries have tried limited opening times for bars. Has it actually worked anyway or have they all had to move to full closed because numbers just kept going?

I am assuming its to hamper the late night bar scenes. Lots of people crowded into clubs and bars etc. it may be a half measure, but it probably does help.

I would also imagine they have to weigh closing these businesses down completely with economic considerations. I know it shouldn't have to be a consideration, but how many of these places, who are already struggling, would survive another 2- 4 week shutdown without any stimulus? What about the employees who would be out of work for an unknown length of time without extra unemployment or stimulus money to pay the bills while they stay home?

I imagine if we had real covid related stimulus, the limitations could be stricter, but in an already depressed economy with no help from the Govt, it could be catastrophic for those local areas.

[Benggaul]

I THINK the point of shutting down bars/restaurants at 10, is to prevent people from finishing their meal, and just "hang out" drinking for a couple hours. You go in, eat your food, and leave. The longer you stay, the bigger chance of catching something.

Which, again, does nothing considering COVID-19 doesn't stop magically infecting people at certain times of the day. Hell, the whole point of bars is hanging out to drink. Just shut them down from the outset if you need to. Half-measures like bar/restaurant curfews don't help and there's plenty of evidence now with both waves to prove that.

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I am assuming its to hamper the late night bar scenes. Lots of people crowded into clubs and bars etc. it may be a half measure, but it probably does help.

I would also imagine they have to weigh closing these businesses down completely with economic considerations. I know it shouldn't have to be a consideration, but how many of these places, who are already struggling, would survive another 2- 4 week shutdown without any stimulus? What about the employees who would be out of work for an unknown length of time without extra unemployment or stimulus money to pay the bills while they stay home?

I imagine if we had real covid related stimulus, the limitations could be stricter, but in an already depressed economy with no help from the Govt, it could be catastrophic for those local areas.

The restaurants here--for the most part--have all pivoted towards delivery or take-away pretty easily. Bars suffer more, naturally, because they exist mainly for atmosphere and companionship, but closing them early doesn't keep people from crowding them in the hours before closing (I live above one and across the street from two more--I know what I'm talking about), and keeping them open out of "economic concerns" inevitably leads to more COVID-19 cases.

[Breccia]

And here comes the troop drawdown

Well, we all saw that coming. Except for some reason Mitch McConnell, who pushed for Trump so hard that this is on him, too.

Happy birthday, Taliban Terrorists. Trump is sending you this beautiful Christmas gift, which in retrospect doesn't make any sense.

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I don't understand this "bars and restaurants close at 10pm" bullshit

I do.

People get more drunk and more stupid the later the night goes on. 8PM some people might be legit finishing a meal. 10PM not so much.

[Felya]

Happy birthday, Taliban Terrorists. Trump is sending you this beautiful Christmas gift, which in retrospect doesn't make any sense.

The fun cooker is that this is planned for January 15th... Trump is inching towards planing shit on January 21st... will he pull the trigger and set some sort of presidential bullshit for him self, after the 20th?

[Breccia]

will he pull the trigger and set some sort of presidential bullshit for him self, after the 20th?

The American people have a short memory, but

a) not that short, and

b) it's not just Americans who will remember this

A troop withdrawl is, admittedly, a lot less of a fuckup than launching strikes at Iran. And don't bother saying "why not both?" because yes, that's also an option.

[TigTone]

The fun cooker is that this is planned for January 15th... Trump is inching towards planing shit on January 21st... will he pull the trigger and set some sort of presidential bullshit for him self, after the 20th?

I say chances are high he throws himself a pity rally.

[Breccia]

Whoa, speaking of Mitch...

Tortoise who forgot he backed Trump says 'Precipitous drawdown' in Afghanistan, Iraq 'a mistake'

A tortoise who backed Trump for four years warned Tuesday that it would be a “mistake” to precipitously yank troops from Afghanistan or Iraq and urged the administration to make no major defense or foreign policy changes for the rest of the year.

"I think it's extremely important here in the next couple of months not to have any earthshaking changes with regard to defense and foreign policy. I think a precipitous drawdown in either Afghanistan or Iraq would be a mistake,” the tortoise told reporters.

The tortoise’s comments came as acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller announced that President Trump had ordered the Pentagon to pull 2,500 U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq by mid-January.

The tortoise’s comments also come amid a shakeup at the top of the Pentagon, starting with the ousting of Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Trump is reportedly mulling firing CIA Director Gina Haspel, who top Republicans, including that very same tortoise, offered shows of support for last week.

The tortoise, speaking from the literal Senate floor on Monday, because tortoises are so low tot the ground, warned against pulling troops from Afghanistan.

"The consequences of a premature American exit would likely be even worse than President Obama's withdrawal from Iraq back in 2011. ... It would be reminiscent of the humiliating American departure from Saigon in 1975. We'd be abandoning our partners in Afghanistan," the tortoise said.

[Rasulis]

This is the worst US administration ever.

For the first time in forever, not a single cabinet level representatives showed up for the ASEAN online summit. It is a freaking online summit. No travel required. The US president, vice president, Pompeo, etc. could not be bothered to show up.

[Gorsameth]

The fun cooker is that this is planned for January 15th... Trump is inching towards planing shit on January 21st... will he pull the trigger and set some sort of presidential bullshit for him self, after the 20th?

Again, what bullshit is he going to pull? He would need a full on military backed coup. There is no other way to remain President past Jan 20th 12:01.

[Breccia]

Again, why bullshit is he going to pull? He would need a full on military backed coup

He's talking about fucking up US military presence overseas, either by leaving when they're needed or attacking where they're not. Or both.

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CEO of biotech group says lawsuits are on the table to stop Trump drug proposal

The Trump administration could move forward as soon as this week on a proposal to lower certain Medicare drug prices by tying them to lower prices paid in other wealthy countries, an idea fiercely opposed by drug companies, which are now mobilizing both to try to stop the rule and plan for a fight if it does go forward.

“I would say all tools would be at our disposal because it would just have such a devastating impact on our ability to bring new cures for patients,” Michelle McMurry-Heath, CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, told The Hill on Tuesday.

McMurry-Heath also accused President Trump of moving forward with the proposal out of retribution because the drug companies did not announce efficacy results for coronavirus vaccines before the election.

“We're hearing that he's doing it out of apparent retribution because our researchers didn’t comply with his arbitrary timeline,” McMurry-Heath said.

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Deutsche Bank proposes a work-from-home tax

The rationale from Deutsche Bank, which proposed the tax in a research note, is that remote workers are not contributing as much as they were to the economy because they're not commuting or buying lunch by the office or grabbing that afternoon coffee.

Deutsche Bank proposes a 5% tax on remote workers who choose that way of life after it's safe to go back to work.

If employers aren't able to provide a desk for the worker, they're responsible for the tax. If they are, the workers themselves are responsible.

"Basically, we want people to ignore the fact that it was a colossal failure of WH leadership in the first place," Deutsche Bank didn't say but might as well have. "So we'd like to propose the WH getting that money back from businesses and people whose lives they directly damaged or outright ruined. You'll notice things like investments and real estate aren't being affected by this, so it's purely a regressive tax. It'd be really cool if someone did this right now and forced a bunch of poor people out of their homes we could for...that honest hard-working banks could foreclose on. It'd be much more fun for us if we could get revenue from poor people who can't fight back, otherwise we'd have to, I dunno, demand that the rich pay back all those loans they took out." They then turned towards the WH and glared meaningfully.

[Gorsameth]

CEO of biotech group says lawsuits are on the table to stop Trump drug proposal

Funny enough this would probably be one of the biggest "good" things Trump would have done in his time in office.