Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Edge-]

https://www.businessinsider.com/fede...-pushed-2021-9

And DeSantis and Republicans "anti-rioting" law in Florida has been blocked. No, not for being specifically racially targeted but...well...it's kinda worse -

Though plaintiffs claim that they and their members fear that it will be used against them based on the color of their skin or the messages that they express, its vagueness permits those in power to weaponize its enforcement against any group who wishes to express any message that the government disapproves of

Man, Republicans are just getting slapped around when courts actually issue rulings. Weird how such a transparently authoritarian law was written, passed, and signed by Republicans who claim they totally aren't authoritarian at all.

[Zan15]

Medical bills will take care of plenty of them probably.

If you actually want to make a difference you don't go after those taking this but against the people who are telling them to take it.

bah most of it will be absorbed by group plans where every employee and their familiy have to help pay for the stupid

and the other parts will be born by every other patient as of a result of bad uncollectible debt causing medical services to be paid for by everyone else.

The irony of how afraid of universal healthcare they are when universally we are end up in the end paying for each others medical care in one way or another

[Edge-]

The irony of how afraid of universal healthcare they are when universally we are end up in the end paying for each others medical care in one way or another

And that all the doom and gloom predictions of care under a single payer system - death panels, rationed health care, rural hospital closures, being unable to get important surgeries without waiting - are all literally happening under the current "good" system.

Weird how all the ways in which conservatives describe socialism end up being better descriptors of capitalism.

[masterhorus8]

If nothing else, I'm "looking forward" (sarcasm) to the reports of farmers watching their livestock die because they couldn't get medicine for them.

Completely anecdotal, but I have heard someone say that there is a shortage in some places of the dewormer.

[Breccia]

Completely anecdotal, but I have heard someone say that there is a shortage in some places of the dewormer.

I don't think it's anecdotal when multiple news feeds from multiple states keep showing stories like this one from Florida big surprise I know and this one from Vegas and especially this one from Mississippi.

I haven't seen anything yet saying "and it's killing animals left and right" but when humans are taking all the ivermectin for themselves, either vets will run out, or the price will put it out of their reach. Doesn't matter.

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Rand Paul says Fauci deserves five years in prison for lying under oath. Near as I can tell, because Paul is insane, Paul basically said Fauci funded human research trials in Wuhan to develop COVID.

Didn't vote to impeach either time of course...apparently faithless accusations are worth putting a lifetime public health servant in prison, but blackmailing a country and starting a murderous insurrection are okay.

[Edge-]

Completely anecdotal, but I have heard someone say that there is a shortage in some places of the dewormer.

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/na...d-19-treatment

It's happened in a few spots here and there, but largely a lot of stores seem like they're just not willing to sell horse dewormer to humans anymore. Because they're worried the humans will take the horse medication and they like their customers to stay alive.

[Breccia]

they like their customers to stay alive.

I mean, even if that wasn't a good enough motivator, someone Trumpy enough to take horse dewormer is also Trumpy enough to sue when it injures them or kills a family member.

[Edge-]

I mean, even if that wasn't a good enough motivator, someone Trumpy enough to take horse dewormer is also Trumpy enough to sue when it injures them or kills a family member.

Somehow I doubt the store would even need to hire a lawyer. They can just get their cousin Vinny to send a note to the judge saying, "Your honor, I don't think any reasonable person can hold a company accountable for individuals misusing clearly labeled products, especially products that are marketed and sold as being designed for livestock."

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https://twitter.com/toddstarnes/stat...75172797288456

In which Todd Starnes, having an absolute temper tantrum on Twitter today, and also an idiot, is stupid enough to publicly blast out that he's a very useful idiot.

Because he's been a guest on Fox fairly frequently and apparently never never read about the reports in July that Fox implemented a vaccine passport in June - https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-...carlson-2021-7

Or the broader reporting on that again in August - https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/18/media...tus/index.html

And for some reason thinks that folks like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, known liars who lie a lot, might be vaxxed and have lied to him and their viewers.

I hope his whole world is falling down around him, because sweet summer child, it's fuckin true.

[Breccia]

In a "you know what, fine, whatever" moment, Kentucky legislature overrules state school board and makes statewide mask mandates illegal. The D/R ratio is also in "we can override veto" territory.

They will let each county/school district decide on their own.

Kentucky's not in the best shape, in that their COVID cases now are at their highest, so are their hospitalizations, but unlike Florida their deaths are not. In fact according to the CDC Kentucky's death rate is about the national average and there's no evidence they've been lying as Florida has.

So again, they're not prohibiting local govts from having their own mask mandates. They are, however, fully aware that these local districts are likely more red than blue and will not make such a mandate, allowing children, teachers and parents to get sick and die. Oh, and pretend it's not their fault because they only handed them a loaded gun with the safety off, but didn't pull the trigger.

[PhaelixWW]

According to the CDC tracker, around July 10, the US deaths per 100k bottomed out about 0.40. It then rose to its peak on Aug 30 of 2.61. It then started declining.

Just want to point out that since the CDC data is based on the same format as Florida, the data for the last 7-14 days is incomplete, so the US might not actually be declining. You likely already understood this, but it bears mentioning.

By Aug 30th they'd really started lying, but as someone...wasn't it you?...pointed out with a moving graphic, they were shoving their deaths back in time so their current path was downwards but from a steadily growing mountain of corpses behind them.

Yarp. Here's an updated one:

According to the CDC again, July 10th Florida's cumulative deaths were 38,615 and Aug 30th it was 47,683, meaning in the span in question about 9,000 Floridians died of COVID. If Florida had the same death rate as the rest of the USA, it would have been 3,000 instead.

COVID was going to kill a lot of people. Even if, for example, the low rate at July 10th had stayed put or even dropped, the deaths in Florida would still have been hundreds of people. Even if the death rate had climbed but matched the rest of the country, it would have been thousands. But their intentional mishandling of COVID has killed 6,000 people....just in the span of July 10th to Aug 30th. And that's a lowball, it was probably more.

Hrm, using the worldometers numbers, and excluding Florida from the US average, the comparison is actually worse. The US without Florida between 7/10 and 8/30 had a death rate of 9.05 per 100k. Florida by itself was 41.5. That puts the difference at right around 7000 instead of 6000, if you don't let Florida's sadly literal dead weight drag the US average down in that comparison.

If there's one silver lining for Florida, it's that their summer peak last year was higher than their winter peak. That may be just an insignificant anomaly, or it could reflect the travel patterns specific to Florida. I suspect that the massive amounts of summer tourists that visit Florida are a more enabling breeding ground for virus transmission than perhaps a more sedate winter season. I'm sure one of our Florida residents could speak to that.

[Benggaul]

If there's one silver lining for Florida, it's that their summer peak last year was higher than their winter peak.

Just to clarify, this is true for their death totals, but not for their new case numbers. Of course they've blown past their worst for both with this recent wave.

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And now for "Intentionally saying the quiet part out loud"....

Senior Republican demonised by Trump reveals what’s behind GOP election suppression laws: ‘They got scared’

A senior Georgia Republican and former target of Donald Trump has delivered a damning analysis of the party’s attempts at restricting voting access, which he says was because GOP leaders “got scared” by defeat in 2020.

Geoff Duncan, the Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, claimed in a book published on Tuesday that Republicans were restricting turnout — and particularly in big swing states such as Florida, Georgia and Texas — because they feared losing in future.

Not sure in what world Texas is a swing state and I'm not inclined to count either Florida or Georgia as swing states either, but whatever. It continues:

The remarks, which were reported by The Washington Post on Wednesday, were published on the same day that Texas’s Republican governor Gregg Abbott signed a bill into law that restricts voting access, and according to campaigners, will disproportionately target Democratic voters.

Mr Duncan wrote in his book, called GOP 2.0: “Unfortunately, many held to the theory that if more people vote, Republicans will lose, because they got scared, GOP leaders became too focused on making voting more difficult.”

“We had a clear motive and selfish aims,” the Republican, who announced in May that he will not seek re-election, wrote of the voting restrictions introduced in Florida, Georgia, Texas and around the country. “Nobody thought GOP efforts were anything more than attempts to ensure more Republicans won next time.”

[PhaelixWW]

Just to clarify, this is true for their death totals, but not for their new case numbers.

Well, yes, that particular discussion was all about deaths rather than just cases. But to be fair, Florida's summer peak for new cases was 75% of the winter peak. For the entire US, the summer peak for new cases was only 25% of the winter peak. So Florida still showed an extreme shift towards summer over winter when compared with the rest of the US.

Keep in mind that deaths are usually the better barometer for virus transmission, anyway, as testing levels can be inconsistent...

I said to my people, 'Slow the testing down please.'

So, yeah, testing wasn't at its best yet last summer.

Of course they've blown past their worst for both with this recent wave.

I wish we could blame delta for this, but... no.

Fuck DeSantis' death cult.

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Not sure in what world Texas is a swing state and I'm not inclined to count either Florida or Georgia as swing states either, but whatever.

Uh, without voter suppression, all three states are legitimately swing states, or soon will be. In Texas, something like 80-90% of all population growth is non-white, and the state's population is also definitely urbanizing.

[Benggaul]

Keep in mind that deaths are usually the better barometer for virus transmission, anyway, as testing levels can be inconsistent...

So, yeah, testing wasn't at its best yet last summer.

Florida's testing has been pretty universally shit year-round. Also, given the way Florida has been playing with deaths lately the new case numbers coupled with positivity percentage (and hospitalization info if and when you can get it) are a good backup indicator for a more accurate picture. When Florida's deaths started dropping but their new case numbers were still going up and positivity was 20%+ we all knew that was bullshit.

Uh, without voter suppression, all three states are legitimately swing states, or soon will be. In Texas, something like 80-90% of all population growth is non-white, and the state's population is also definitely urbanizing.

Texas may become a swing state at some point in the future, but that's not on the table right now even without the voter suppression laws. Time moves everything left, but as some Texas residents have said on these forums, even "Purple" might be a bit of a stretch for now. The last time they voted blue was when Carter ran in '76.

Georgia turned blue for this election (and the Senate election off the back of that), but that took a Herculean effort to wring out as many votes as they could from those who otherwise might have been too discouraged, disinterested or disillusioned to do so. I think it's far too early to qualify Georgia as a legitimate "swing state" off the back of that when it's been solidly red for ages. The last time they voted blue was in the early 90's, I think, and that one also wasn't by some large margin. Again, even without the new voter suppression laws I was not counting on them staying blue in 2024.

Florida used to be a huge swing state but the GOP has gotten more and more of the Presidential vote since 2008. It's become more of a "conservative" bastion the past decade or so than it used to be. Fuck Florida.

There are several states I would list as legitimate "Hmm, could go either way" possibilities, like Pennsylvania and Nevada, but Texas has about as much chance going blue in the near future as California does going red.

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I wish we could blame delta for this, but... no.

Fuck DeSantis' death cult.

Yep. Agreed.

[PhaelixWW]

Texas has about as much chance going blue in the near future as California does going red.

Hell, no.

First of all, I think you're exaggerating the nature of a swing state. Swing states don't necessarily have to be right on the border. They can be within a few percentage points of flipping, even if they're going to typically go one direction most of the time.

Second, Texas and California are two very different situations. For the last 6 elections:

Year	TX	CA
2020	R+5.5	D+29
2016	R+9	D+30
2012	R+16	D+23
2008	R+12	D+24
2004	R+23	D+10
2000	R+21	D+12

I think we can see a definite bluing trend in both states, but while California is nowhere near flipping, but Texas is getting closer. I guess it all depends on what you consider the "near" future. It's not going to happen in 2022. Were it not for the voter suppression bullshit, I'd say it would have an outside chance in 2024.

[Breccia]

Hrm, using the worldometers numbers, and excluding Florida from the US average, the comparison is actually worse.

Yeah, and there's still the red state/blue state comparison out there I haven't done yet.

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Over the years, we've talked about the words "pro-life" mean, and what the political movement "pro-life" means. They are not always agreed.

Let's add to that tire fire.

The CDC reported a while back that 3 out of 4 women who were pregnant weren't vaccinated yet. Perhaps some of that was due to fear of what a vaccine does to the child, when given to the pregnant mother. The answer appears to be "keeps the pregnant mother alive".

Fast forward to today. In the last month, Mississippi has lost eight pregnant mothers to COVID. None were vaccinated. Maybe you're thinking "eight doesn't sound that bad, the state has lost plenty" but total US total pandemic the number of pregnant mothers who died of COVID is 147. Mississippi losing 8 of those in the last month is WAY over what a random distribution would be.

This is not bad luck, this is not their fair share. Mississippi's anti-vaxx stance is killing pregnant mothers. And I assume with them their child but I honestly don't even want to look that part up.

If you think "pro-life" means "protecting those people who are alive" you're already on the side of vaccines, so good on you.

If you think "pro-life" means "making sure the mother brings the child to term no matter what" then you must also be in favor of the vaccine. The CDC has been very clear about the additional risks the pregnant face with COVID, which is already a strain on your body. And Delta is fucking contagious.

Do the right thing.

[gondrin]

Well, I guess with the talk of Trump doing fight commentary on a boxing match, he decided that he wants to box Biden.

Didn't the last time Trump was to go to combat, he claimed he had bone spurs?

Article is a video from CNN.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...edgdhp&pc=U531

EDIT: Forgot to add, he wants to do it on Sept 11.

[Dontrike]

Well, I guess with the talk of Trump doing fight commentary on a boxing match, he decided that he wants to box Biden.

Didn't the last time Trump was to go to combat, he claimed he had bone spurs?

Article is a video from CNN.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...edgdhp&pc=U531

Trump thinks he's Uwe Boll

[Benggaul]

Thursday's report:

160,748 new cases. Data's still spotty so no comparisons to last week.

Top 10:

Fuck Florida.
Texas: 27,953 new cases; 402 deaths
California: 9,120 new cases; 186 deaths
Ohio: 7,897 new cases; deaths not reported
Georgia: 7,586 new cases; 193 deaths
North Carolina: 6,290 new cases; 110 deaths
Kentucky: 5,244 new cases; 36 deaths
Indiana: 5,154 new cases; 50 deaths
New York: 4,968 new cases; 43 deaths
Louisiana: 4,903 new cases; 77 deaths

A lot of these numbers are corrections, though they can still appear a bit panic-inducing. Alabama and South Dakota still have positivity rates over 20%, while Texas and Florida are still both around 15% and California and New York are 5% and under. It's hard to get a good sense of the national picture and we'll probably have to wait until next week for things to settle from the holiday, but cases were leveling off last week so it wouldn't be surprising to see them declining now. Schools are practically back in full swing however and with several states still ignoring good sense and trying to outlaw rational actions against the spread of COVID I'm anticipating cases heading back up through the Fall. I'm hoping they don't, but with vaccinations for 12 and unders still not approved and governors like DeathSantis and Abbott sabotaging their own states I don't see how they can't.

1,929 deaths brings the total to 674,547. Texas added over 400 to the total. Florida, who knows? Georgia edged out California with nearly 200. Again, most of these are likely corrections but that still adds up to nearly 2k more people gone to a virus which is at this point very preventable. Just another day in the overtime of the TRUMP SHITSHOW. Sad.

Related news:

‘I’m nervous’: US colleges wrestle with Covid safety as fall semester begins--And well they should be. Even though upwards of 700 colleges and universities have vaccine mandates they're still allowing bullshit "religious" exemptions.

As Covid-19 hospitalizations spike, some overwhelmed hospitals are rationing care--As @Edge has said, many of the bogeymen the GOP have made of proposed healthcare they've brought into existence through their own willful ignorance.

Biden to require COVID-19 vaccines, tests for millions of private workers--I expect a load of pushback on this from faux-outraged GOP/Trumpers, because gods forbid public safety be a consideration.

Stay safe, folks.

[gondrin]

Trump thinks he's Uwe Boll

Well, they do have a lot in common. Anything they make tends to be a failure.

[Breccia]

he decided that he wants to box Biden.

Because being stronger or a better fighter somehow proves you're a better leader? This isn't the fucking Dark Ages and it's not an RPG.

Also, even if Biden stooped so low as to accept this laughable challenge, it'd be trivial. It's common knowledge that the recipient of a duel challenge gets to pick the location. Biden can simply choose the match at the top of a small hill. Trump would not be able to reach him, and would have to concede.