Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

Does his pardon cover crimes he may commit in the future?

Pre-emptive pardons are a thing. I don't think Stone got one.

[Fugus]

Pre-emptive pardons are a thing. I don't think Stone got one.

Pre-emptive pardons I think are for stuff before they are charged but the act was already done. They can't pardon for acts No yet committed to my knowledge.

[Orange Joe]

Gosh, this is really weird. Roger Stone said he never left his hotel on Jan 6 but somehow he's here in this video with a bunch of "Oath Keepers" just a couple hours before the riot broke out. I guess the Penguin has a doppelganger, eh guys?

Congressional investigators probe videos of Trump associates' actions ahead of Capitol riot

Oh yah, and Trump's pardon doesn't cover any charges that might result from this.

I mean... I realllllllllllllly hate to defend the guy. And for sure I'm open to more investigation, but......, he does appear to be in front of a hotel. Was that were he was staying?

[Edge-]

https://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...-dobbs-tonight

Pour one out for Lou Dobbs, Fox is canceling his show after it airs on Friday. I imagine this is due to him being one of the biggest promoters of the voter fraud myth they're currently being sued over, and that he's very non-plussed about the Fox News package running before his show on Friday debunking it.

He's still on staff, just not hosting a show.

Man am I not going to be sad to see this decaying sack of sentient flesh not on the air every week.

[Breccia]

They can't pardon for acts No yet committed to my knowledge.

Good thing we'll never know if that would have worked.

I imagine this is due to him being one of the biggest promoters of the voter fraud myth they're currently being sued over,

Just so everyone's clear: FOX News has just proven that they value money more than their journalistic integrity. Dobbs' comments didn't happen today, they didn't fire him on the spot. They waited, until they were sued, and then cut him loose.

Which won't even stop the lawsuit.

Should have named it FARCE.

[For_The_Horde]

https://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...-dobbs-tonight

Pour one out for Lou Dobbs, Fox is canceling his show after it airs on Friday. I imagine this is due to him being one of the biggest promoters of the voter fraud myth they're currently being sued over, and that he's very non-plussed about the Fox News package running before his show on Friday debunking it.

He's still on staff, just not hosting a show.

Man am I not going to be sad to see this decaying sack of sentient flesh not on the air every week.

Just watching the Trumpers react to this is hilarious. They're turning on (or rather off) Fox faster than you can say "fake news". I wonder if they'll kick out Jeanine Pirro next...

[Edge-]

Just watching the Trumpers react to this is hilarious. They're turning on (or rather off) Fox faster than you can say "fake news". I wonder if they'll kick out Jeanine Pirro next...

They've been doing that since November, and it's gonna get worse. Fox can't cater to that brand of crazy anymore, not without losing WAY more advertisers or facing more lawsuits like the latest two.

OAN and Newsmax are now duking it out for that crowd, and IIRC OAN is winning by virtue of not putting the warning up in front of Pillow Guys home movie.

I ain't gonna be sad to see Carlson, Pirro, or Hannity suddenly retiring sooner rather than later. And The Five. And Fox and Friends. And the rest of that garbage.

It seems like Sheperd Smith and Megan Kelly got our before the worst of the insanity. Smith seems to still be doing very well for himself while Kelly, the heir apparent to the most valuable hour of television at one point, is uh...doing a podcast?

[Benggaul]

126,125 new cases, about 46k fewer than last Friday. Missouri has not yet reported so that will tighten by another 2k or so.

Top 5:

Texas: 14,502 new cases; 439 deaths
California: 13,102 new cases; 494 deaths
Fuck Florida.
New York: 8,956 new cases; 161 deaths
North Carolina: 5,547 new cases; 113 deaths

The drops have remained consistent pretty much all week and continue to be more pronounced than I had expected them to be given how things went after the previous waves. We might very well drop below 100k within the next few days and could possibly stay there if this trend holds going into next week. This is STILL above the high we were at during the Summer wave (which topped out at around 75-80k), but I think at this point we'd all be "happy" to get back even to that level--which seemed ridiculously high at the time, if you'll recall. I know you're probably sick of me saying all of this at this point, but we're still not out of the woods and could very easily see another wave if people begin ignoring the safety precautions again, especially given the newer, more contagious variants being found throughout the country.

3,572 deaths is around 100 fewer than last Friday and brings the total to 470,705. Deaths in Texas have not declined much at all the past week or so and in some cases it's gone up. This isn't too surprising given that they had a bit of a spike more recently in new cases, but they should be coming down as well whenever the last stupid fuckweasel Trump holdouts decide living is slightly more desirable than "owning the libz".

Related news:

States may need to pester thousands of people about a second Covid-19 vaccine dose--This is one of the challenges we'll be facing in the coming months in keeping the numbers down. People are stupid assholes.

House clears way for massive coronavirus stimulus plan--There's still a long way to go on this but it's a huge step. I don't have much optimism that all of the elements of the initial plan will survive--particularly given that Manchin has said he's not signing on for the 15$ minimum wage hike--but they seem to want to get everything done before the last of the aid from previous measures runs out in March.

Stay safe, folks.

[Breccia]

I wonder if they'll kick out Jeanine Pirro next...

Not Wallace?

[DarkTZeratul]

Not Wallace?

Wallace is the sane one. If they're trying to distance themselves from the crazy, he's the last one they'd boot out.

[D Luniz]

Not Wallace?

Wallace aint likely about to cost them up to 2.7 billion in a defamation lawsuit

Smartmatic files $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox News over election fraud claims

Fox News Media hosts Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro were named, along with lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.

that list of names match up

An election technology company has filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News and several of the network’s most prominent commentators, alleging that they “decimated" the company’s business by falsely accusing it of helping to steal the Nov. 3 election from former president Donald Trump.

Smartmatic filed the nearly 300-page lawsuit against the network and its parent company, Fox Corp., in New York State Supreme Court on Thursday, after weeks of legal threats against the network.

“Fox is responsible for this disinformation campaign, which has damaged democracy worldwide and irreparably harmed Smartmatic and other stakeholders who contribute to modern elections,” Smartmatic chief executive Antonio Mugica said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

The company said it has identified “100 false statements and implications” about Smartmatic and its services made on Fox’s programs. The lawsuit singles out Fox News and Fox Business Network hosts Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs and Jeanine Pirro, as well as two guests who repeatedly appeared on their shows in the weeks around the election: Trump-affiliated lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudolph W. Giuliani.

[pathora44]

Wallace aint likely about to cost them up to 2.7 billion in a defamation lawsuit

Smartmatic files $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox News over election fraud claims



that list of names match up

Do you think Smartmatic's lawyers misspelled words like "district" 3 completely different ways and misspelled other words in their brief? I have a sinking suspicion that they didn't misspell simple words like that.

[beanman12345]

lou dobbs the truest believer crying himself to sleep last night so delicious. pirro and cucker next my guess.

[Breccia]

lou dobbs the truest believer crying himself to sleep last night so delicious. pirro and cucker next my guess.

Pirro was named in the lawsuit, but Tucker Carlson was not.

FOX News literally claimed in court that Carlson's words did not count as fact, and anyone who knew his work knew this.

EDIT: Also, the Legal Eagle suggests the $2.7 billion is not so much bullshit, as designed to get attention. If so, it worked. SmartMatic's reputation was attacked, and a page seven correction won't fix that. A public tar-and-feathering of their false accusers, however, will.

[Yadryonych]

FOX News literally claimed in court that Carlson's words did not count as fact, and anyone who knew his work knew this.

Maybe you should try and present the quote of them claiming that, unless you are roleplaying as Carlson or Maddow right now

[Ursus]

Just watching the Trumpers react to this is hilarious. They're turning on (or rather off) Fox faster than you can say "fake news". I wonder if they'll kick out Jeanine Pirro next...

First they came for Lou Dobbs, and I did not speak out, because I was not an old, angry, racist fat man.

Then they came for Jeanine Pirro, and I did not speak out, because I was not an ugly, hate-filled, mouth-foaming, vile nutjob.

Then they came for Maria Bartiromo, and I did not speak out, because I was not a weak, cowardly, sycophantic opportunist.

[Breccia]

Maybe you should try and present the quote of them claiming that, unless you are roleplaying as Carlson or Maddow right now

Fox persuasively argues, that given Mr. Carlson's reputation, any reasonable viewer 'arrive[s] with an appropriate amount of skepticism' about the statement he makes.

That's what the judge said, in that case, following what FOX News' lawyer said, in that case. Right there in the link.

[Breccia]

Really not the gotcha you think it is..

Indeed. The only reason I didn't quote it the first time is, well, we covered it at great humorous length before. Just kind of assumed we were all on the same page.

[Yadryonych]

That's what the judge said, in that case, following what FOX News' lawyer said, in that case. Right there in the link.

"What the judge said" isn't exactly a "FOX News literally claimed" so good job on Tucker Carlosing me. I arrived with an appropriate amount of scepticism though, so it's fine

[Breccia]

"What the judge said" isn't exactly a "FOX News literally claimed"

It is when they agree with the argument put forward by FOX News' lawyers. Which not only did I say, but so did the source I linked.

I'm starting to suspect your "confusion" on the topic is manufactured.