Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[PhaelixWW]

Fuck yes. This is huge, because if they are going to do it once, the seal is broken, and they will keep doing it when appropriate. Meadows is next.

It's like instant karma for Meadows missing that deadline, though I do wonder if that no-show actually played a role in the decision to charge Bannon. I'm sure they don't want more people trying to avoid testifying.

[Xyonai]

Two, so the House has been looking into Trump's "response" to COVID and...it's ugly. Fat, orange, and ugly. When a CDC official dared tell the public Feb 25 that things were going to get bad, Trump shut the CDC down from talking to the public till the summer. Trump took over the briefings until he got bored, but the CDC was prevented from doing such on their own. The CDC was then also basically told to stop making @Benggaul -style reports, and also, the rules about testing were changed because as we've seen, Trump wanted positive test results to go down to make it look like things were under control. Because Trump is a lying liar who lies about everything, even if it causes hundreds of thousands to die.


-- Birx

We also know Trump shut down the border because he was racist. There was no public health reason to do so.

I was wondering if anything was going to be done about this, because - even from just the public perspective - the guy seemed adamant to make everything worse on purpose and I wasn't sure if there were even any legal avenues to hold him accountable for it. Guessing we'll still need to wait a tic for any solid confirmation on if Kushner -actually- allowed COVID to deliberately fuck Metropolitan areas out of spite or if that was just another case of conjecture from jilted former Trump goons.

[Poopymonster]

It's like instant karma for Meadows missing that deadline, though I do wonder if that no-show actually played a role in the decision to charge Bannon. I'm sure they don't want more people trying to avoid testifying.

*cough*
LET'S GO BANNON!
*CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP*

[Ripster42]

That’s what they did already.

Na, they referred the case to the DoJ for criminal contempt of congress charges. Using their dormant inherent contempt powers, they'd just arrest bannon themselves, and hold him until they got what they wanted. Hasn't been used in a long time, but SCOTUS ruled they had that power in '27.

[beanman12345]

About damn time.

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Depends how quickly this gets through the courts, but yeah. I still think congress should just bypass the whole thing and use their inherent contempt powers.

Agreed. We all know the stalling tactic with the courts, send the damn Sargent of Arms.

[Ripster42]

Definitely looks like meadows is going to be facing the same.

Edit: More rumors that the GA case is getting a grand jury. Still single source, so might be the same person as referenced in the NYT piece I linked earlier, but this paper isn't saying they're referencing the NYT piece, so if that IS the case, this person is making those representations to multiple papers.

[Breccia]

Well, it has been a big day for Trump in court. I mean, it's always a big day for Trump. He's obese.

1) Cohen's lawsuit for his back pay was dismissed. Apparently, when your boss says "use your own money to commit this felony, I'll pay you back I totes will" you should say "no you won't, you're Trump".

2) The Zevros thing, she dropped the lawsuit, and also is free to speak about it with no contract or NDA.

And of course,

Bannon charged.

Bannon is a slam-dunk. He was not a WH employee. He cannot claim privilege, at all. Trump's claims otherwise are (a) as futile as his dick, and (b) yet more evidence he thinks the WH is a taxpayer-funded campaign headquarters. It is not.

I won't speak for Meadows because this feels like a...not "warning shot" because he hit someone. Um...so have you seen The Wind and the Lion?

"No."

Have you seen Firefly?

"Yes."

The kicked into the engine scene. That's Bannon. He's engine grease.

I hope he's in jail long enough for Garland to toss his house and check his phone.

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they will keep doing it when appropriate.

If Garland says "Sorry, I don't make the rules, I just see to it they're enforced" I will quit my job and work for the DoJ.

[Ripster42]

If Garland says "Sorry, I don't make the rules, I just see to it they're enforced" I will quit my job and work for the DoJ.

This is basically the TL: DR of his statement on the bannon charges.

“Since my first day in office, I have promised Justice Department employees that together we would show the American people by word and deed that the department adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law and pursues equal justice under the law,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Today’s charges reflect the department’s steadfast commitment to these principles.”

[swiftowner]

This is basically the TL: DR of his statement on the bannon charges.

Well @Breccia, when are you putting in your application to the DOJ?

[Breccia]

Well @Breccia, when are you putting in your application to the DOJ?

I had already read that when I used an exact quote, which Garland didn't say. I've used it dozens of times on this site since March 4 2017.

So, not yet. I will cheer him on from the sidelines, of course.

Unrelated, the number of people who quit their job hit a new high in September.

"Ah, vaccine mandates have killed unemployment!"

Actually, first of all jobs seem steady, and second of all it seems like it was mostly in-person low-paying work.

Unrelated: Nikki Haley said older politicians should take a cognative test. "Trust me, this is important," she didn't say but might as well have, "I worked for Trump, and he would have failed across the board."

She also compared it to politicians showing their tax returns, which, dumb fucking idea because Trump was both insane, and also fought tooth and nail to prevent his tax returns from being seen.

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YouTube bans Sen. Johnson for lying about vaccines.

1) He claimed 17k+ people have been injured by COVID vaccines, 225 times the number injured by flu vaccines, 10 months. But the figure came from an unpoliced self-reporting site that has no backup. I'm just going on record right now and saying "those numbers are false".

2) The CDC calls out that very specific site Johnson used as being unreliable. VAERS, for example, lists people who walk out of the doctor's office and are hit by a bus. The CDC also has its own list of people who might qualify as "injured by the vaccine" and, big surprise, Johnson is off by at least one order of magnitude. Johnson is proving why that callout is there. He's either ignorant of his own source's meaning, or he's lying, there is no third option.

3) And of course, Johnson calls out a number that basically comes from thin air -- 17k injured. As @Benggaul probably hates to tell us, that's the number of people who died in two weeks, because they didn't get the vaccine.

And of course

4) Nobody should ever take COVID advice from the person who caught COVID and wandered around his workplace unmasked and untested, including swimming in the company pool.

For all useful intents and purposes, Sen. Johnson is saying "I heard this one guy choked on his seatbelt, we should stop using seat belts". YouTube banned him for intentionally spreading dangerous misinformation, and of course, he's playing the victim. Because Republicans don't have any cards left in their deck.

[Benggaul]

As mentioned yesterday, thanks to the holiday on Thursday the numbers for Friday are largely meaningless. Nevertheless, here's the quickie report:

90,208 new cases; 987 deaths, bringing the total to 782,933. Given that some states still aren't fully reporting after the holiday, other states have already added Thursday's cases to Friday and still other states didn't really do much to change their reporting it's difficult to draw comparisons and pick up on trends especially as we're now in the weekend where everything goes out the window anyway. As always we'll probably not be back on track with reporting until sometime towards the end of next week.

Work remote after COVID? Nearly 50% of US workers would take a pay cut for it, survey says.

Nearly 50% of workers in the U.S. say they would take up to a 5% pay cut to continue to work remotely at least part-time post-pandemic, according to a new survey.

About 25% surveyed also say they would quit their jobs if they couldn't work remotely, and about 70% say they've found attending virtual meetings far less stressful than being in an office alongside their colleagues.

It's almost like the vaccine mandates aren't really to blame for all of the resignations.

Stay safe, folks.

[PhaelixWW]

4) Nobody should ever take COVID advice from the person who caught COVID and wandered around his workplace unmasked and untested, including swimming in the company pool.

Wasn't that Rand Paul and not Ron Johnson?

I mean, don't listen to either of the them, sure.

[Poopymonster]

Wasn't that Rand Paul and not Ron Johnson?

I mean, don't listen to either of the them, sure.

Easy mistake to make. You put a bunch of congressmen in a room, you know old rich people, and they're probably gonna all look the same.

[Breccia]

Wasn't that Rand Paul and not Ron Johnson?

Goddammit, I was thinking of the other Senator kicked off YouTube for COVID misininformation. Man, is my face red.

[Zan15]

I had already read that when I used an exact quote, which Garland didn't say. I've used it dozens of times on this site since March 4 2017.

So, not yet. I will cheer him on from the sidelines, of course.

Unrelated, the number of people who quit their job hit a new high in September.

"Ah, vaccine mandates have killed unemployment!"

Actually, first of all jobs seem steady, and second of all it seems like it was mostly in-person low-paying work.


.

Brought to you by the same party that said ending unemployment early would cause hiring to explode. then when it didn't the party stopped talking about it and won't even comment about it anymore.

They also ignore the fact that the vast majority of people quitting a job are people quitting to go to a better/different job....

[gondrin]

Brought to you by the same party that said ending unemployment early would cause hiring to explode. then when it didn't the party stopped talking about it and won't even comment about it anymore.

They also ignore the fact that the vast majority of people quitting a job are people quitting to go to a better/different job....

You know, that advice that the people quitting took to heart when they heard "Well, if you want to make more money, get a better job." Then proceed to see either the Shocked Pikachu face or the confused Carlson face from those complaining about unemployment.. Either or, doesn't matter which.

[pathora44]

You know, that advice that the people quitting took to heart when they heard "Well, if you want to make more money, get a better job." Then proceed to see either the Shocked Pikachu face or the confused Carlson face from those complaining about unemployment.. Either or, doesn't matter which.

Shouldn't surprised anyone if you know what they actually want. They just want them to shut up and keep their mouths shut. They couldn't care less if every one of the people they say "Well, if you want to make more money, get a better job." died in the streets just as long as they thank god they get to lick the dirt off their boots.

[Breccia]

The cold hard truth is Donald Trump led us into a ditch on January 6. The former president lied to us. He lied to every one of us and in doing so he cost (Republicans) the House, the Senate and the White House.

I see, fundamentally, a person who shouldn't be able to hold office again because of what he did around January 6. But I also see somebody who's an enormous political loser. And I don't know why anybody who wants to win elections going forward would follow that. I simply, like, I don't get it ethically. I certainly don't get it politically. Neither of them makes sense.

-- House Republican Gonzalez (of Ohio)

[Kaleredar]

-- House Republican Gonzalez (of Ohio)

See, it's clear that (at least some of) the GOP know this about Trump, and have known it. They weren't all starry-eyed blinded about how great of a leader Trump supposedly was. They knew he was a petulant man-child unfit to lead.

But of course, they chose to do and say nothing, so I find them little better than the GOP congresspeople who are Trumpkins. One could even say that's worse, because they put their own short term political gains over anything they actually believed and thought.

[Gorsameth]

See, it's clear that (at least some of) the GOP know this about Trump, and have known it. They weren't all starry-eyed blinded about how great of a leader Trump supposedly was. They knew he was a petulant man-child unfit to lead.

But of course, they chose to do and say nothing, so I find them little better than the GOP congresspeople who are Trumpkins. One could even say that's worse, because they put their own short term political gains over anything they actually believed and thought.

I actually spend 5 minutes checking because I was curious. Gonzalas did vote to impeach Trump in his second impeachment trial and this is his first congress so he wasn't there during the Trump administration.