Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Machismo]

Washington governor tells Idaho:



"Har har. What did he really say?"



If your state's hospitals are filled because your state's policies led to that big of a problem, then you have already admitted your state's policies didn't work. I know doctors aren't allowed to shove dying people back into the street, but at some point, Washington hospitals have to decide when a suicide cult is more important than their well-behaved neighbors.

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Taking campaign donations and keeping them for yourself is illegal. That's why he hosted rallies at his properties and jacked up the rent, which is sleazeball but okay. He can't just take money because he wants it. The FEC is damaged, but they can't possibly be that damaged.

EDIT: Oh, did you mean "campaign" donations? Like "send your money to TrumpIsBroke.rus and it will totes be campaign donations I promise lolz"? Yeah he could try that.

It is illegal, but Trump is a famous scam artist, so he will have no problem skirting the law in order to get money from suckers and losers.

[Breccia]

It is illegal, but Trump is a famous scam artist, so he will have no problem skirting the law in order to get money from suckers and losers.

We'll find out. Trump is under a giant microscope right now, and NYState has no issues arresting him if his actions warrant (hardee har har). If he breaks any NYState laws, not even Biden can save him. And NYState hates scam artists -- there are payday loan commerials on TV that have to say "except in New York", for example. Trump is in no position to antagonize the people deciding if they're going to take his whole company and possibly jail him.

[PhaelixWW]

The 7-day average is starting to dip a little, though who knows how accurate that is with Florida's shenanigans still ongoing.

Well, if we check in with the 7-day average of newly-reported deaths, it's still going up:

DATE	TOTAL	DAILY+	7-D+	AVG
----------	----------	----------	----------	----------
9/21	696867	2248	14526	2075
9/20	694619	2739	14345	2049
9/19	691880	318	13892	1985
9/18	691562	848	13825	1975
9/17	690714	2228	13697	1957
9/16	688486	3463	13939	1991
9/15	685023	2682	13840	1977
9/14	682341	2067	13319	1903
9/13	680274	2286	13715	1959
9/12	677988	251	11769	1681
9/11	677737	720	11879	1697
9/10	677017	2470	12082	1726
9/09	674547	3364	11694	1671
9/08	671183	2161	11256	1608
9/07	669022	2463	11112	1587
9/06	666559	340	10166	1452
9/05	666219	361	11530	1647
9/04	665858	923	11477	1640
9/03	664935	2082	11530	1647
9/02	662853	2926	10897	1557
9/01	659927	2017	10247	1464
8/31	657910	1517	9749	1393
8/30	656393	1704	9726	1389
8/29	654689	308	9631	1376
8/28	654381	976	9541	1363
8/27	653405	1449	9124	1303
8/26	651956	2276	8844	1263
8/25	649680	1519	8334	1191
8/24	648161	1494	8068	1153
8/23	646667	1609	7869	1124
8/22	645058	218	7497	1071
8/21	644840	559	7401	1057

We'll have to see how much of that is just large backlog fills to "catch up", but most days are still coming in at a higher number of newly-reported deaths than the same day the previous week, so I'm not sure that's all it is.

[Benggaul]

Texas Gov. Abbott sends miles of cars along border to deter migrants

**facepalm**

"We'll throw everything including the kitchen sink to stop people trying to escape hardships but how DARE you insist we wear a piece of cloth over our mouth and nose to prevent the spread of a deadly virus!"

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We'll have to see how much of that is just large backlog fills to "catch up", but most days are still coming in at a higher number of newly-reported deaths than the same day the previous week, so I'm not sure that's all it is.

I'm pretty confident this week will show a decrease, but it will mostly depend on how many deaths Florida adds as one of the top states in terms of deaths. I believe their cases started decreasing a couple weeks ago (along with California and possibly Texas), so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[Edge-]

Texas Gov. Abbott sends miles of cars along border to deter migrants

**facepalm**

"We'll throw everything including the kitchen sink to stop people trying to escape hardships but how DARE you insist we wear a piece of cloth over our mouth and nose to prevent the spread of a deadly virus!"

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I'm pretty confident this week will show a decrease, but it will mostly depend on how many deaths Florida adds as one of the top states in terms of deaths. I believe their cases started decreasing a couple weeks ago (along with California and possibly Texas), so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

...does he think that you can't climb over a fuckin car? Jesus christ, I'm used to the performative stupidity to a point but like...literally what the fuckin fuck.

[Ayirasi]

Turning the border into a car park is slightly less dumb than playing Planet of the Apes with immigrants.

It's not racist, because the monkeys were on the horses.

[PhaelixWW]

I'm pretty confident this week will show a decrease, but it will mostly depend on how many deaths Florida adds as one of the top states in terms of deaths. I believe their cases started decreasing a couple weeks ago (along with California and possibly Texas), so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Yeah, this week or at the very least next week. Obviously deaths lag behind infections by a few weeks, and the report of those deaths as COVID deaths lags behind that a bit more.

My big worry is still the timing. Last year, the summer wave hit its high mark in late July and cases started rising again for the winter wave by early September. Deaths were behind that a bit, but started declining at the beginning of August and rising again in mid-October.

Here we are in late September and we maybe have just reached the top of the death curve for summer. It doesn't really bode well for winter if we go into it with positivity rates still sky-high. Let's hope that enough kids get the hopefully-soon-to-be-authorized vaccine to blunt that inevitable winter spike.

[Benggaul]

My big worry is still the timing. Last year, the summer wave hit its high mark in late July and cases started rising again for the winter wave by early September. Deaths were behind that a bit, but started declining at the beginning of August and rising again in mid-October.

Here we are in late September and we maybe have just reached the top of the death curve for summer. It doesn't really bode well for winter if we go into it with positivity rates still sky-high. Let's hope that enough kids get the hopefully-soon-to-be-authorized vaccine to blunt that inevitable winter spike.

This has been my fear as well and why I've been hoping the approval for under-12's to be vaccinated will come through sooner rather than later--at least for emergency use. Last year we didn't have the Delta variant and we're starting the school year with more than double the number of cases.

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...does he think that you can't climb over a fuckin car? Jesus christ, I'm used to the performative stupidity to a point but like...literally what the fuckin fuck.

I would have thought, being from the South, he would have seen Dukes of Hazzard enough times to know you can just butt slide over the hood.

[Ripster42]

EDIT: Oh, did you mean "campaign" donations? Like "send your money to TrumpIsBroke.rus and it will totes be campaign donations I promise lolz"? Yeah he could try that.

It is illegal, but Trump is a famous scam artist, so he will have no problem skirting the law in order to get money from suckers and losers.

I don't know if you remember, but I mentioned this earlier. He hasn't officially declared his candidacy yet. He can take direct contributions as far as I'm aware until he does.

[Machismo]

I don't know if you remember, but I mentioned this earlier. He hasn't officially declared his candidacy yet. He can take direct contributions as far as I'm aware until he does.

I honestly have very little knowledge on election and campaign laws when it comes to donations. I'll take your word for it.

[DarkTZeratul]

This has been my fear as well and why I've been hoping the approval for under-12's to be vaccinated will come through sooner rather than later--at least for emergency use. Last year we didn't have the Delta variant and we're starting the school year with more than double the number of cases.

Pfizer said it cleared their testing for 5-12 and they'll be submitting for emergency approval by the end of the month, so hopefully the FDA moves quickly once they do.

[Azadina]

I don't know if you remember, but I mentioned this earlier. He hasn't officially declared his candidacy yet. He can take direct contributions as far as I'm aware until he does.

Shouldn't those get slapped with gift taxes or something? How is it one can keep grifting without even being candidate for political position?

[solinari6]

Shouldn't those get slapped with gift taxes or something? How is it one can keep grifting without even being candidate for political position?

I think it's because he's running it as a Political Action Committee (PAC) or Super PAC instead of a campaign, and PACs don't have nearly as many limitations on what you can spend the money on as campaigns do.
*edit, yeah he's creating a superPac (possibly done already since this is from Feb:

Former President Donald Trump told political advisers Thursday that he’s chosen longtime ally Corey Lewandowski to run a yet-to-be-formed super PAC as part of his expanding post-presidential political apparatus, according to multiple people familiar with the discussion.

SuperPacs are really loosey goosey with their money:

A new type of PAC was created after the U.S. Court of Appeals decision in Speechnow v. FEC in 2010. These PACs make no contributions to candidates or parties. They do, however make independent expenditures in federal races - running ads or sending mail or communicating in other ways with messages that specifically advocate the election or defeat of a specific candidate. There are no limits or restrictions on the sources of funds that may be used for these expenditures.

So it makes sense for him to put off officially declaring himself as long as he can.

[Edge-]

I think it's because he's running it as a Political Action Committee (PAC) or Super PAC instead of a campaign, and PACs don't have nearly as many limitations on what you can spend the money on as campaigns do.

This. Mixture of PAC's and non-profits are raking in the dollars - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...tiny-criticism

[Endus]

...does he think that you can't climb over a fuckin car? Jesus christ, I'm used to the performative stupidity to a point but like...literally what the fuckin fuck.

Countdown to the migrants realizing exactly how easy it is to bring along a slim jim or the like and some basic hand tools to hotwire a vehicle?

Hell, they could bring a can of gas if they're leaving those vehicles there dry.

[Edge-]

Countdown to the migrants realizing exactly how easy it is to bring along a slim jim or the like and some basic hand tools to hotwire a vehicle?

Hell, they could bring a can of gas if they're leaving those vehicles there dry.

I imagine they've got emergency kits in them as well.

I feel like this is where we insert the Tom Hardy, "This is bait" meme, if memes were allowed. Because those sure seem like pointless bait vehicles.

[solinari6]

I imagine they've got emergency kits in them as well.

I feel like this is where we insert the Tom Hardy, "This is bait" meme, if memes were allowed. Because those sure seem like pointless bait vehicles.

According to the article, it's miles of "Texas Department of Safety" vehicles. I mean, these aren't needed for safety reasons elsewhere? There's really an excess of MILES of safety vehicles in Texas?

[Elegiac]

According to the article, it's miles of "Texas Department of Safety" vehicles. I mean, these aren't needed for safety reasons elsewhere? There's really an excess of MILES of safety vehicles in Texas?

You're talking about a state that went into a deep freeze due to its reliance on fossil fuels and then immediately proceeded to identify renewables as the problem.

Good or sensible administration is not a thing in Texas. Hence why their legislators get paid near to minimum wage.

[Edge-]

Good or sensible administration is not a thing in Texas.

Abbott and Cawthorn are unfortunately making a compelling argument that being a paraplegic somehow also makes you mentally handicapped somehow.

Which is weird, because I haven't seen anyone else with no/limited use of their legs have these kinds of problems.

[Breccia]

"There are no limits or restrictions on the sources of funds that may be used for these expenditures."

But there are limits on what it can be spent on. Trump cannot use the PAC money to, say, pay off his loans on his businesses directly. He needs to arrange a political get-together that happens to be in his hotel that happens to charge bigly.