Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Biglog]

Trump supporters flailing so hard at trying to grasp for anything positive from 2016-2020 by pointing at the relationship with NK dictator Kim Jong Un is about as desperate as it gets. Fervent hardcore Karl Marx Communist Kim Jong Un was Trump's best foreign relationship is a bragging point? And these are just some examples of how rosy that relationship was (lol):

- North Korea insulted U.S. President Donald Trump again on Monday, calling him a “heedless and erratic old man”

- "Whatever Trump might have expected, he will face results beyond his expectation.
I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire.”

- Said Trump tweets “weird articles of his ego-driven thoughts” and “spouts rubbish”

That's his best relationship. It will take 20 years for the US to recover from the diplomatic damage done by Trump. That's not a positive for Trump that our diplomacy is in shambles after his 4 years.

[Dontrike]

You don't get it, that piece of paper that was signed was super important and stopped North Korea from doing anything ever.....as long as you ignore how they kept doing everything without stopping.

[DarkTZeratul]

As much as I'd give Birx the hairy eyeball for putting her position before her career, it is the capitalist way to do such a thing. And she's now profiting from it.

At the very least, she IS competent in her field, even if she failed to speak out when she really REALLY should have. That's something we can't say about a lot of the people under Trump.

[cubby]

Yeah, welcome to the modern age of politics. You have to pick and choose your battles and who you fight them with. I've given up on any sort of attempts to correct my parents when it comes to political misinformation. They are too old and too ingrained in their views for it to be worth it or to even have any impact. I can, however, focus on the science stuff as my folks (thankfully) recognize my expertise in that area. So I was able to move them from "we'll never get vaccinated ever" to them getting their first shot a couple weeks ago.

That fight was worth it. The rest? Nope. No reason to tear my family apart for no benefit to anyone.

That's a solid move on your part, and definitely a battle worth fighting - nice job getting them vaccinated.

I hear you loud and clear regarding the fights not worth fighting.

[Edge-]

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021...d-vaccinations

Surprising nobody, the Trump administration was packed with a bunch of assholes trying to queue jump essential workers and cabinet members to get vaccines. And it was, unsurprisingly as well, a shitshow of incompetence and stupidity and infighting.

People were dying, and people in the administration were fighting over who would get the vaccine first.

[Breccia]

Surprising nobody, the Trump administration was packed with a bunch of assholes trying to queue jump essential workers and cabinet members to get vaccines. And it was, unsurprisingly as well, a shitshow of incompetence and stupidity and infighting.

I loathe myself even as I type this, but, I honestly do believe people working in the White House count as essential. It's a function of the job/role, not the person.

[Edge-]

I loathe myself even as I type this, but, I honestly do believe people working in the White House count as essential. It's a function of the job/role, not the person.

Staffers like janitorial folks are essential. Some paper pusher in the middle of the political appointee centipede who can do most of their job from home, isn't.

I'll let you guess who was hounding and harassing Mark Meadows to try to get on the VIP list with all the cool cabinet secretaries.

[AntiFascistVoter]

I loathe myself even as I type this, but, I honestly do believe people working in the White House count as essential. It's a function of the job/role, not the person.

Well this is were that one phrase comes in ...

"It's not so much about the crime, it's about the coverup." Watergate -et al.


That the Trump admin was so secretive about giving their own people the vaccine, is the damning part.


Bob Woodward is pissed, he was probably holding this back until his next book comes out.

[Fugus]

I remember mentioning this as a course to fix some of Mitch the Bitch's fuckery and it looks like it might be gaining traction some

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/...kavanaugh-fake
"Democratic senator suggests FBI background investigation of Brett Kavanaugh fake"

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D- R.I.) is alleging that the FBI’s background investigation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was fake.

Whitehouse, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland last Thursday asking him to conduct “proper oversight” into the bureau’s 2018 probe into sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh.

Whitehouse said the investigation “appears to have been a politically-constrained [one] and perhaps fake.”


In his letter, Whitehouse said “in this matter the shutters were closed, the bridge drawn up, and there was no point of entry by which members of the public or Congress could provide information to the FBI.”

He alleged that the agency refused to hear testimony from witnesses and ignored members who inquired on behalf of witnesses, and he criticized the agency’s use of a “tip line” that was meant to accept allegations and evidence.

“This ‘tip line’ appears to have operated more like a garbage chute, with everything that came down the chute consigned without review to the figurative dumpster,” Whitehouse wrote.

Whitehouse also said that FBI Director Christopher Wray never answered congressional inquiries about whether the background check was consistent with its procedures for such.

“If standard procedures were violated, and the Bureau conducted a fake investigation rather than a sincere, thorough and professional one, that in my view merits congressional oversight to understand how, why, and at whose behest and with whose knowledge or connivance, this was done,” Whitehouse wrote.

“It cannot and should not be the policy of the FBI to not follow up on serious allegations of misconduct during background check investigations,” he added.

The Hill has reached out to the FBI and Department of Justice for comment.

The FBI began investigating after Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of pinning her to a bed and trying to remove her clothes when they were in high school in the early 1980s. Other women came forward with similar allegations after Ford spoke out.

Kavanaugh has denied the allegations, and he was confirmed by a 50-48 vote in October 2018.

[Edge-]

Well, Whitehouse doesn't have to lecture about the climate all the time so I guess he's finding other ways to keep busy.

[Breccia]

Staffers like janitorial folks are essential. Some paper pusher in the middle of the political appointee centipede who can do most of their job from home, isn't.

Touche. In my defense, I didn't read the article. Wait, that's not a defense.

"It's not so much about the crime, it's about the coverup."

Yeah, this is a really good point. It's one of those D&D alignment questions: "Would you still do it, if you knew people would find out?" If they hid what they were doing, and it's not top national security etc, then they believed what they were doing was wrong.

I stand behind my original answer, but with a couple of big caveats added.

[Edge-]

https://www.facebook.com/Congressman...6647236424486/

I won't pretend I knew Michael F.Q. San Nicolas, Guam's delegate to the House, because this is the first I'm learning of him.

However it's a good first impression, apparently he showed up with a gift basket of cookies for Greene as a reminder that Guam is in fact a part of the United States. And he brought members of the Guam National Guard with him.

This wasn't the only visit, he also had some goodies for Rep. Clyburn, who actually does know that Guam is a part of the US - https://www.facebook.com/Congressman...type=3&theater

I'll give Greene's staff credit, they're good at obvious bullshit. I guess Greene might still be busy as a Rep. from GA...what with all her visits to orthodox Jewish locations in NYC and whatnot.

Is NYC in Georgia, anyone?

[Ivanstone]

I remember mentioning this as a course to fix some of Mitch the Bitch's fuckery and it looks like it might be gaining traction some

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/...kavanaugh-fake
"Democratic senator suggests FBI background investigation of Brett Kavanaugh fake"

Reminder:
The supposedly frugal Justice Kegstand was up to his bloodshot eyeballs in debt. And someone paid it off.
https://www.gq.com/story/scotus-kava...edit-card-debt

I thought the purpose of the Federalist Society was to produce capable conservative justices and the best they could come up with was this?

[Edge-]

I thought the purpose of the Federalist Society was to produce capable conservative justices and the best they could come up with was this?

That hasn't been its purpose in decades. Both it and the Heritage Foundation literally just exist to groom young, activist, conservative justices nowadays.

[Ivanstone]

That hasn't been its purpose in decades. Both it and the Heritage Foundation literally just exist to groom young, activist, conservative justices nowadays.

I look at Gorsuch and see why he works. I don’t care for his opinions but he seems capable, experienced and professional.

Justice Bedwetter on the other hand? Seriously if all you want is an activist justice at least get one without any skeletons on their closet and can keep his composure during his confirmation.

[Zan15]

Man if this pans out, Trump supporters got cucked real hard.....since its not exactly a representation of the pearly white guy they think Q is.




https://news.yahoo.com/hbo-qanon-doc...090017080.html

So apparently this docuseries on Q claims that either the son or dad is Q.

[Edge-]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...unique/618267/

The distinct behavior of serial spreaders of misinformation should theoretically make them easy for Facebook or Twitter to identify. Platforms that place warning labels on false or misleading content could penalize accounts that repeatedly create it; after an account earned a certain number of strikes, the platform’s algorithms could suspend it or limit users’ ability to share its posts. But platforms also want to appear politically neutral. Inconveniently for them, our research found that although some election-related misinformation circulated on the left, the pattern of the same accounts repeatedly spreading false or misleading claims about voting, or about the legitimacy of the election itself, occurred almost exclusively among pro-Trump influencers, QAnon boosters, and other outlets on the right. We were not the only ones to observe this; researchers at Harvard described the former president and the right-wing media as driving a “disinformation campaign” around mail-in voter fraud during the 2020 election; the researchers’ prior work had meticulously detailed a “propaganda feedback loop” within the closely linked right-wing media ecosystem.

Larger piece, but the TLDR: The overwhelming majority of election misinformation was pushed by conservative websites, influencers, and pundits online. Which puts tech companies in a "bind", because they want to give the appearance of being neutral and non-partisan, but there's no way for their actions to appear that way when the problem is overwhelmingly coming from one side.

It's a nice little setup for conservatives: Spread misinformation, get flagged/banned for it, claim big-tech censorship, point out the lack of action against folks on the left while ignoring that the problem isn't remotely as serious, get unbanned/have big-tech back down out of fear of regulation, repeat Step 1.

[Fugus]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...unique/618267/



Larger piece, but the TLDR: The overwhelming majority of election misinformation was pushed by conservative websites, influencers, and pundits online. Which puts tech companies in a "bind", because they want to give the appearance of being neutral and non-partisan, but there's no way for their actions to appear that way when the problem is overwhelmingly coming from one side.

It's a nice little setup for conservatives: Spread misinformation, get flagged/banned for it, claim big-tech censorship, point out the lack of action against folks on the left while ignoring that the problem isn't remotely as serious, get unbanned/have big-tech back down out of fear of regulation, repeat Step 1.

That's something that really bugs me with the tech companies treatment of it. If they would just do it and stick to their guns, it wouldn't be near as bad, especially when they actually start citing examples from said person whenever they are pressed.

Its when they start doing that battered housewife thing where they keep refusing to press the charges that things got worse.

Just ban them, when conservative people complain about it, call them out with examples that got them canned, if they try and continue to lie about it, start treating them the same for spreading more misinformation. They might complain about it, but they also know that they earned their ban and whenever they try it on that platform, the platforms own team calls them out publicly on said platform with warnings and actions if they continue.

But considering that Facebook's own leadership seemed with WANT Trump to win and even had meetings with the guy, the limp dick approach was likely intentional just to keep them enabled to do what they were doing.

[Benggaul]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...unique/618267/



Larger piece, but the TLDR: The overwhelming majority of election misinformation was pushed by conservative websites, influencers, and pundits online. Which puts tech companies in a "bind", because they want to give the appearance of being neutral and non-partisan, but there's no way for their actions to appear that way when the problem is overwhelmingly coming from one side.

It's a nice little setup for conservatives: Spread misinformation, get flagged/banned for it, claim big-tech censorship, point out the lack of action against folks on the left while ignoring that the problem isn't remotely as serious, get unbanned/have big-tech back down out of fear of regulation, repeat Step 1.

Welp, I'm willing to testify to the fact that social media bans liberals with at least as much zeal if not more. I'm permanently banned from Twitter for referring to Ann Coulter as a stupid bitch, so I don't want to hear any crying, pissbaby MAGAheads or GOP claiming they're being singled out.

In fact I'm sure I saw an article posted here not long ago that showed liberals were actually "silenced" more than that alt-right crowd on social media.

[postman1782]

Welp, I'm willing to testify to the fact that social media bans liberals with at least as much zeal if not more. I'm permanently banned from Twitter for referring to Ann Coulter as a stupid bitch, so I don't want to hear any crying, pissbaby MAGAheads or GOP claiming they're being singled out.

In fact I'm sure I saw an article posted here not long ago that showed liberals were actually "silenced" more than that alt-right crowd on social media.

Ooooh, same. I called Ann Coulter a Horse Faced Cunt, got banned. Made another account, banned right away. So, they have no idea what they are talking about. I have seen people claim they were silenced on Facebook for their posts being fact checked, even though I am currently on a 30 day ban for saying that a Canadian, who was whining about our elections, has no place in telling us how to run our elections, and he was pushing election conspiracy theories from Saskatchewan. Didn't call him a bad name, didn't say anything bad about Canada, just that he has no right to tell us how to run our elections.