Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Endus]

Man, I know I'm guilty of this and all but...I wish media would stop rewarding the bad behavior of Republicans.

Seriously, retards like Cawthorn, Boebert, Greene, and Gosar all largely have careers thanks to the continued media coverage of their every insane, offensive, and retarded utterance. Calculated and crafted and uttered with the intent to "trigger" media and get a wave of articles written about them to enjoy the free press.

Because it's good press for them.

The real issue here isn't really the press.

It's that there are no checks and balances. You can be a goose-stepping Hitler-Heiling armband-wearing Nazi, authoring bills about a "Final Solution" to the "Jewish Question", and pretend-shooting everyone in Congress you disagree with with a wooden toy gun you brought and telling them "you'll get yours, my people are gonna gitcha", and you can do that all day long, and nothing bad will happen to you.

There are no consequences. No standards. No ethics.

In any decent country, Boebert would've been removed from office months ago. In Canada, parties have pretty broad privileges to boot people from their caucus completely. The Liberals don't like what you're doing, as a Liberal MP? You're an Independent now, no longer a Liberal. If you pull stupid shit, you can be barred from the House of Commons, which means no capability to vote, until you make amends. And if you're charged with a crime, charged not convicted, bam, you're out. A snap election will be run in your riding to replace your seat. If you're exonerated, you can try again next election.

Checks and balances. Of which there are none in the USA. Just sternly-wagged fingers, and that's it.

Well, this is what happens. It's actually surprising it hadn't happened before this.

Boebert's a white supremacist fascist moron. But in the USA, those are electable qualities. That's not gonna change until/unless you folks establish some basic minimum ethical standards for conduct among Representatives.

[Kaleredar]

I know you are banned but maybe you'll still read this....but I want to help you learn something.

A joke is just a joke. But when you add racist to the joke you find that a joke is just racism.

Is it still a joke? Sure. Is it still racism? Sure.

But by exclusively focusing on the joke part you are defending racism. Are you sure you want to be the guy who is defending racism?

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You don't honestly expect a conservative to understand context do you?

I'll be even more "charitable" than that, and say that ultimately context is indeed quite defining here.

Allow me to needlessly overexplain jokes:

In Mel Brook's scifi parody film Spaceballs there's a joke wherein, upon being told to "comb the desert," Dark Helmet has his men literally take out giant combs and "comb the desert." Three sets of troops are seen all dragging giant combs through the sand: two sets of troops are white guys, the last set is two black guys. The last set, instead of dragging a standard men's hair comb, drag a giant afro pick through the sand instead. When inquired upon whether they've found anything or not, the first two sets of troops respond with "nothing yet sir," while the last set responds with an annoyed "we ain't found shit."

The joke was predicated upon them being black, using a comb one would "stereotype" black people to use, and responding in a way in which one might stereotypically assume a black person to respond. It is thoroughly a race-based joke.

Similarly, in the movie Airplane! the main character Ted reminisces briefly to another passenger about his time serving in the peace corps in Africa, teaching "American culture" to the native people. Upon attempting to teach them basketball, the native people immediately take to it and are shown sinking three-pointers and dunking the ball. Ted ascribes it to his superior training techniques, but the joke, obviously, is that the native Africans are black and that black people are stereotyped as being good at Basketball.

Now you can argue if those jokes were funny, or in poor taste, but in my mind those jokes aren't necessarily "racist" and doesn't mean those movies are racist or that Mel Brooks or the Zucker brothers are racist directors.


But don't get it twisted. I'm not defending flat-earth man and what he's saying, nor do I agree with his defense that "well that clearly racist dogwhistle thing was just a joke bro."

Because ultimately it is context that matters. Silly parody films, and the actions of a congressperson making a charged statement to dogwhistle to their constituents who are known to act violently on the faintest direction to do so are not the same things. Conservatives have not had the benefit to claim "context" for a very, very long time, and I don't want him trying to claim it's being "ignored."

[Lenonis]

But don't get it twisted. I'm not defending flat-earth man and what he's saying, nor do I agree with his defense that "well that clearly racist dogwhistle thing was just a joke bro."

Part of what matters here is those movies are not targeted at any specific individual. That doesn't really change that the jokes are race based but they also aren't negative.

Boebert's "joke" was targeted at an individual who happened to also be a political rival with a "joke" that was definitely extremely negative in its racial characterization (or religious characterization I guess...)

That's what makes it so bad. If Boebert joked to one of her colleagues she gets long with about "Hey man, you must be really good at basketball since you are black" it wouldn't be nearly as bad.

[PrimiOne]

Isn't it a bit demeaning for the public conversation comparing the actions of comedians with the actions of elected members of the congress? Is this where years of Trumpism have left us? Is this the level now that a congresswoman behavior is accepted if it's accepted in comedians?

I mean, if we don't hold the highest ethical standars to the political representatives....we can't hold to anyone.Not doctors not policemen not judges...

This is the contract: we give a policeman a gun and the authority to use violence ( in fact : the monopoly of violence) and in exchange for that we require a behavior that should be aproved by the fucking Saint Peter in the gates of Heaven.

There's no such "contract" but the mere implied contract of being part of the society that holds a comedian...there's no authority invested in them...there's no power beyond the strength of his voices.

This is apples and oranges , comparing the "jokes" of this Gun Barbie with the jokes of Dave Chappelle ( as offensive as they may be) make no sense at all : we don't let Chappelle enact laws. Chappelle has never stood in the front of an audience and claimed:" Vote for me because I know how to fix this and if you give me the power I will" ,Chappelle represent his ass and just his ass not the american people.

[Breccia]

Isn't it a bit demeaning for the public conversation comparing the actions of comedians with the actions of elected members of the congress?

Yes.

Is this where years of Trumpism have left us?

Yes.

Almost half the country voted for a reality TV game show host/WWE announcer instead of someone with morals, ethics, or dignity. This is what they wanted, this is what they expect.

...until a Democrat does it, of course. Suddenly the snowflakes come out of the closet when someone points out a KKK member is racist.

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So remember on Oct 2 when Trump announced he was positive for COVID and went to the hospital and nearly died? And people were like "oh thank goodness he didn't bring a contagious, lethal disease to the Sept 29th debate that just happened"?

So it turns out, he tested positive Sept 26th. And, because Trump would literally rather be hospitalized than miss the debate -- yes, literally, we saw it -- he just took a second test, hoping it would be negative.

According to Meadows, Trump’s initial positive test on Sept. 26, 2020, shocked the White House. He recalled the White House doctor calling as Trump was scheduled to take off on Marine One, according to The Guardian.

“Stop the president from leaving,” Meadows says Sean Conley told him. “He just tested positive for Covid.”

Meadows later reportedly added that the former president's reply to the news “rhyme[d] with ‘Oh spit, you’ve gotta be trucking lidding me.’ ”

Yes, it could have been a false positive. But
a) the second test could have been a false negative, so fuck that excuse, and
b) again he was carried by forklift to the hospital for COVID Oct 2, the day he announced he was positive, so, if I had to guess whether he had it or not, I'll just point to that.

Incidentally the book also says Meadows, even after getting the second result, told everyone around him to act as if he was actually sick. Just to not raise a panic.

Trump has denied having COVID before the Sept 29 debate, but he lies all the time about everything, plus again positive test -> hospital and nearly dead was about 12 hours. Everyone in this thread knows full well you don't instantly fall over and nearly die from COVID the same day you're infected. Trump is lying.

Oh, and before any Trump cultist even raises a finger to defend the situation, let me remind you: this disease is really good at killing old people who aren't in good shape. Trump was morbidly obese and you saw how bad he looked during the debate, plus all that other stuff about being unable to walk up a short hill and slurred speech. And Trump cultists like to pretend Biden is, somehow, even worse off. Trump's COVID could potentially have killed them both, leaving the battle between Harris and Pence. That's right, Trump could have handed you President Kamala Harris. You should not be defending his behavior.

[Edge-]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...ebate-n1285158

Trump, of course, denies this. Now neither is very trustworthy, but I trust Trump less than I trust Meadows.

He caught it at the Rose Garden party celebrating ACB's appointment and, if we're honest, the death of RBG.

[Benggaul]

Quickie Tuesday report:

106,876 new cases; 1,438 deaths, bringing the total to 803,045. Reporting's still too screwed to bother with a full recap and I expect that'll remain the case for the next couple days. Indiana reported the most deaths at 119 for example, but that's an obvious correction from the past few days. Minnesota reported over 12k cases, a new record, but at least part of that is also a correction. So, hospitalizations are showing pretty much the same as yesterday with numbers getting critical in Minnesota, Michigan, etc.. Texas has had a small jump. California's had a dip. Of course we'll likely see a larger bump nationally thanks to Thanksgiving gatherings and considering we were already heading up before the holiday I'm expecting it won't be pretty.

Related news:

Marcus Lamb, founder of Christian network Daystar and vaccine opponent, dies after contracting COVID-19--Na na na na, na na na na....
@Breccia already posted the news about Trump that, well, we all probably already figured. He lied about everything, so why wouldn't he lie about that?

Stay safe, folks.

[Edge-]

106,876 new cases; 1,438 deaths, bringing the total to 803,045.

Has FL reported numbers yet? I saw idiots using some Thanksgiving-week data to brag about how covid didn't exist in Florida, not realizing that Florida simply hadn't reported any data to the CDC and that's why it showed as no new cases.

Also, I hate that we're over 800K and are continuing to approach 1,000,000. This didn't need to happen. This was avoidable. It still is avoidable.

[Poopymonster]

I’d send prayers to the Lamb family, but those already got them one dead family member. Get vaccinated and only take dewormer if, you know, you have worms.

Maybe they just offered the wrong thoughts and prayers?

[Breccia]

I saw idiots using some Thanksgiving-week data to brag about how covid didn't exist in Florida, not realizing that Florida simply hadn't reported any data to the CDC and that's why it showed as no new cases.

I'm going to guess that, once those numbers are reported, these same people would not only fail to issue corrections but would yell at anyone who pointed out their objective falsehood.

[solinari6]

He caught it at the Rose Garden party celebrating ACB's appointment and, if we're honest, the death of RBG.

I'm not sure that's quite right. The Rose Garden party was Sept 26, and he tested positive on Sept 26. I don't know what the chances of testing positive a couple hours after exposure are ... but I think a more likely scenario is that Trump WAS the superspreader at the Rose Garden party.

[Poopymonster]

I'm not sure that's quite right. The Rose Garden party was Sept 26, and he tested positive on Sept 26. I don't know what the chances of testing positive a couple hours after exposure are ... but I think a more likely scenario is that Trump WAS the superspreader at the Rose Garden party.

And I thought the patient zero for the Rose Garden was Amy Covid Bearer herself.

[Edge-]

but I think a more likely scenario is that Trump WAS the superspreader at the Rose Garden party.

Yeah, that timeline makes more sense.

Man, and nobody can do shit about it, either. Presidential immunity is wonderful.

[Breccia]

So, if I'm reading this right, there was a FOIA lawsuit (CREW) against the White House looking for documentation Barr had about whether or not Mueller's evidence warranted charges against Trump.

Biden is holding some of this back, which isn't the issue here but probably also demands discussion in Biden's thread. But Biden's team did not write the requested item. This lawsuit is 2 years old.

But the judge apparently said that, because Barr had long ago decided Trump would not be charged no matter what, the documents the lawsuit were asking for were, therefore, not decision-based and therefore were not protected from FOIA. Basically, Executive Privilege is meant to protect who the President talks to and why, when making policy. It does not protect announcements that Trump is above the law.

DOJ has been disingenuous to this Court with respect to the existence of a decision-making process that should be shielded by the deliberative process privilege. The agency’s redactions and incomplete explanations obfuscate the true purpose of the memorandum, and the excised portions contradict the notion that it fell to the Attorney General to make a prosecution decision or that any such decision was on the table at any time.

The judge in question is not particularly happy with Barr, who apparently lied to her specificially. Also, the document was handed over to Congress, that's probably why CREW know it exists.

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I'm not sure that's quite right. The Rose Garden party was Sept 26, and he tested positive on Sept 26. I don't know what the chances of testing positive a couple hours after exposure are

Nearly zero.

[Edge-]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/01/ghis...user-says.html

A woman who says she was sexually abused by late sex criminal and financier Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell testified Wednesday that Epstein took her to meet Donald Trump at his Florida club when she was 14 years old.

The woman, in testimony at Maxwell’s federal sex crime trial, did not allege any improper conduct by Trump when she met him at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Nor did the woman characterize what happened at that meeting, which she confirmed under cross-examination by Maxwell’s lawyer Laura Menninger in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

So, no impropriety on Trumps part in this meeting. But weird that Trump was hosting Epstein and the children he was sexually exploiting at his club.

[Breccia]

But weird that Trump was hosting Epstein and the children he was sexually exploiting at his club.

Is this where I say "I'm sure there are very fine child rapists on both sides"?

I don't get why Trump would do this. Or, you know, why anyone would do this, who wasn't actually there for the cihld rape.

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Iran is all but confirmed enriching weapon-grade uranium. Why wouldn't they? The Nuclear Deal is broken. They should either do what's good for them, or use it as a hostage bargaining chip.

This is on Trump. He directly encouraged this to happen.

[Benggaul]

Has FL reported numbers yet? I saw idiots using some Thanksgiving-week data to brag about how covid didn't exist in Florida, not realizing that Florida simply hadn't reported any data to the CDC and that's why it showed as no new cases.

Also, I hate that we're over 800K and are continuing to approach 1,000,000. This didn't need to happen. This was avoidable. It still is avoidable.

They've reported an average of about 1.5k for about a month now, and yeah, I've seen those same morons. I expect the numbers there will start heading up about the same time as the rest of the south does...not that we'll know it, because ever since they changed their reporting method I've been smelling some other shenanigans out of there. Fuck Florida.

And yes, the main reason I keep posting COVID stuff here instead of in the Gen-OT thread (apart from the fact that it invariably gets political and I'm tired of reading deniers in that thread justifying themselves with absolute bullshit) is because most of the deaths were avoidable but because we had someone in office who kept downplaying it from the very beginning instead of asking his fucknut base to be responsible somehow this became a "political" issue instead of a "public health and safety" issue.

[Breccia]

House Minority Leader McCarthy spent today yelling at his fellow Republicans, who were busy tweeting mean things at each other instead of doing their job.

Congress is not junior high

McCarthy is half right. As pointed out earlier, almost half the country voted for someone whose only admin experience was mean tweets. It should not surprise him at all that his 2020 colleagues are following exactly this approach.

[TexasRules]

The Michigan office of US Rep. Dingell was broken into and vandalized.

Not doubt the Trump inspired asshats. She and her staff have been the victim of violent threats for awhile now.

I noticed you and everyone else skipped and ignored the probation sentence for Thomas Alexander Starks.

[Benggaul]

It's heeeerreee...

First US omicron case detected in California

It's California, the most populous state in the US, so it's bound to drive their numbers up but mostly in the Trumper counties that have ignored all safety precautions thus far anyway. Just hope nobody has any important hospital appointments coming up soon because the preliminary findings on Omicron suggest those beds will be full.