"When Facism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross." - Unknown
Literally the day after Trump praised Erdogan at the TNC, his own State Department condemns Erdogan for meeting with Hamas.
"What's the big deal?" Trump probably asked, "people negotatiate with terrorists all the time."
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So Melania's spokesperson was asked about QAnon, even though Melania and her anchor babies should have as much effect on politics as a tennis racket to a nuclear strike, and the spokesperson said...this.
It's a good thing Melania has nothing important to contribute, because this answer was fucking useless. "I don't know what that is but I oppose it if it hurts children" is a lame-ass limp-dick IMPOTUS wasy to say "I don't want to say anything that makes me look bad, but I have no idea what you're talking about".I haven’t talked to her about that specifically but I think there’s constantly this misperception that it’s about online bullying, which of course gets tied to the president.
It’s about online safety, and it’s about teaching children that there are predators out there online and that they need to really watch out who they’re talking to online and what they’re doing.
I would never say what I think she should or shouldn’t do. But I think it would be safe to say if there’s anything that would be harmful to children online, she’s going to be against that.
If you don't know, and it's not your business to know, just say you don't know. Hell, throw in "I'll have to look into that" that's pretty standard. This answer is an attempt to play it too safe, trapped between "her only role is her image" and "and she's married to Trump and must espouse all his positions".
At least she didn't embrace QAnon, as Trump and his supporters have.
Again, this is basically meaningless. Melania doesn't really have anything to do politically, so her --
"She's speaking live, right now, at the TNC."
...what?
"Yeah, she's one of the headline speakers at one of the two biggest political events this year."
So...she's put up in front of the TNC to talk about Trump and I would assume online bullying, but has no idea what QAnon is or what they stand for?
"Yep. You'll also note she refused to condemn them, using the shield of ignorance."
Huh. Well there you have it, another TNC key speaker who doesn't know QAnon and refused to condemn them, despite given the opportunity.
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HAHAHAHAHA It's time HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA for HAHAHAHAHAH Guess the Tweeter HAHAHAHAHAHA
"The fuck?"Can’t believe I have to watch the convention on CNN. Unbelievable. FoxNews
HAHAHAHA...hee hee...ahem. So, apparently, FOX News cut away from the TNC last night. Basically, take when NBC/CNN did the same thing for a Trump speech, except this if FOX News, and this is the TNC, so there's at least an order of magnitude in there.
I missed that, but that tweeter sure didn't.
"Okay, ouch, but who is he?"
Oh, some guy, Brad Parscale. That's not the imp--
"Trump's former campaign manager?"
...what?
"Yeah, Trump fired him July 15. Something about 'not getting me enough visibility' I think."
Oh man...that's even funnier! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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"Hey Breccia, why are you calling it the TNC?"
Oh, I'm not. FOX News is.
There are an increasing of Republicans, yes Republicans they don't want to be in the Party of Trump, stepping carefully away from the edge. Don't expect W to flat-out endorse Biden, but it's clear from context he's not helping Trump, either. Others are taking stronger steps, such as the Lincoln Project. And of course Kasich. In fact, I'm ready to offer another 24-hour challenge, but it's less out of "demonstrate all Trump supporters admit they're hypocrites and cowards" and more "I'm busy but I really want the information".I’ve watched most of the last hour and a half and what really strikes me is that while we’re calling this a Republican convention, it’s really the Trump convention.
The most recent Republican president, George W. Bush, won’t be making an appearance this week. Over the weekend, the Republican National Committee announced that because COVID is limiting the attendance of delegates they’re not even going to pass a platform but they pledge support for the president’s America First agenda.
He [Trump] seems to have made the calculation that the best spokesman, the best salesman for Donald Trump is Donald Trump and for the Trump base, the millions of voters out there that voted for him in 2016, who plan to vote for him again, he’s probably absolutely right
1) What percent of DNC speakers hold/held elected office?
1a) Of another party?
2) What percent of TNC speakers hold/held elected office?
2a) Of another party?
3) What can we infer from 1 and 2 above?
Now as per usual, if Trump supporters fail to answer this question in 24 hours, I get to flat-out assign answers for them, they have to accept those answers, and they admit their cowardice by refusing to answer (even a wrong answer is proof you tried). But I will say, when there are 12 keynote speakers and 6 have the same last name, that's less United States and more North Korea.
Evacuations have begun in the Gulf.
I hadn't expresssed this earlier, but I do hope these storms, plural, end up being nothing more than tropical storm force at impact. Simply put, we've had enough hurricane damage for a while. But if I were Trump, I'd be mobilizing every single man, woman, and troll under my command to help -- the optics could not be worse than Texas being eviscerated during the TNC.
Well, Tropical Storms aren't markedly better when it comes to Texas. Unfortunately, it doesn't particularly matter to Texas if it is a Cat 3 or a Tropical Storm, the problem is usually the rain, which is about the same in either case, since the clouds retain their volume even as the wind drops off. The Texas coast is quite resistant to high winds and storm surge (Because it has gotten clobbered so many times), but REALLY sucks at drainage inland particularly around Houston. My family lives in Houston, and they are quite concerned about this because it has been very dry (Texas clay, it sheds water when dry) and the two storms are on top of each other, so the drains will still be full when the second hits. Fortunately Marco hasn't been that bad, so it should be ok.
Louisiana has the opposite problem though, with generally good natural drainage, but very vulnerable to storm surge due to the low coast. Wind is about the same for both, but wind tends to drive storm surge, which hits Louisiana much harder. Ideally Louisiana would soak the tropical storms, and Texas takes the hurricanes, because the other way around is messy.
edit: Tropical storms might actually be worse for Texas, because they tend to stall more often. Harvey and Allison where the worst two recentish storms, both because they stalled over Houston. Rita was actually stronger then Harvey, but it just kept moving, and wasn't that bad.
Last edited by Thekri; 2020-08-25 at 05:08 PM.
I mean, yes, but if the rain's going to be the same either way, at least weaker winds won't cause extra damage.
But yeah, to misquote @Benggaul stay safe out there. Hopefully it's not that bad.
Yeah, the underlying response is the same in either case. Get help to the region early. Fortunately, that isn't something Trump needs to actually order, it starts happening automatically. I guarantee that a lot of resources got spun up over the weekend, and are moving toward East Texas and Louisiana now. We have done this a lot of times, a lot of parts move in response to those storms. I used to be part of that process a long time ago, I can assure you it is a lot of stuff (Never enough for a big one though, if it hits a big city like Houston, New Orleans, Charleston or Miami you are never going to be able to keep up)
https://apnews.com/83c58a5a2b9539cee61b909d9767485a
UN says no on snapping back the Iran sanctions because...well...the US is no longer a part of the JCPOA.All the council members, except the Dominican Republic, had informed the council president that the U.S. administration’s action was illegal because Trump withdrew in 2018 from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
Council president Djani told members at the end of a virtual meeting on the Mideast on Tuesday: “Having contacted the members and received letters from many member countries it is clear to me that there is one member which has a particular position on the issues, while there are significant numbers of members who have contesting views.”
“In my view there is no consensus in the council,” Djani said. “Thus, the president is not in the position to take further action.“
US is still saying "NUH UH, YOU'RE WRONG BECAUSE WE SAY SO!"The U.S. mission to the U.N. later issued a statement saying the U.S. “is on firm legal ground to initiate the restoration of sanctions” under the Security Council resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal.
“The fact that some council members expressed disagreement with our legal position in an informal VTC (virtual meeting) does not have any legal effect,” the mission said.
There's the obvious hilarity at the incompetence of this.
I'm honestly surprised Trump decided to take it this far. I expected him to pull a Bush and say "well since it won't pass, we won't bring it up" and just, you know, put on sanctions or use a nuclear strike. Maybe Trump is planning on using this as a reason to leave, and hand effective control of the world stage even further over to Russia and China. I wonder how the Party of Trump feels about this? I mean I can see from their recently voted party platform that...oh...right.
Unrelated, I'm a little concerned about this article saying "Trump payroll plan would deplete Social Security by 2023" as quoted by the SS administrator from this dot-gov statement. So I'll throw this open to the crowd.
When Trump said
I was under the impression he was doing what Obama did, deferring the payroll taxes for now, but not ending payroll taxes forever. Which he can't do alone anyhow. Maybe I'm the one missing the point, but, did anyone here really think Trump meant he would end SS taxes? Like, down to zero, forever? Don't get me wrong, Trump says and does enough illegal, immoral, fattening, stupid and ill-advised actions to fill a three-thousand-page thread. But I didn't think he was actually declaring the end of Social Security. Did you? Let's hear from everyone. I especially want to get @lockedout @DocSavageFan @HealingRain and @Thwart in here, just to confirm we're all on the same page. Because if even I am saying "you guys are overreacting" then either I've misread something, or this is more fuss than an off-the-cuff typically Trumpian unbacked planless campaign promise, worth as little as all the others he didn't follow through on, and not worth starting a panic.If I’m victorious on Nov. 3, I plan to forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax
Yes, he's talked about getting rid of payroll taxes even before the pandemic because he's stupid and doesn't know what they're for.
Here's one article I found quickly from last year: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/19/trum...l-tax-cut.html
Here's a story from 2017: https://www.chicagotribune.com/busin...411-story.html
Last edited by Nellise; 2020-08-25 at 09:15 PM.
Sigh.
How many?
How many times am I going to remind myself "Hit Control-R before posting"?
Trump’s Payroll Tax Deferral on Hold Without IRS Guidance
Yep, the developments on that topic I was just talking about are...there are no developments.
So far, so Trump. No plan, nobody knows what's going on, Trump's big announcement doesn't do anything, etc etc. Here's the part I'm kicking myself for (not literally, but I did bang my knee on a solid oak Amish desk, that's close enough, ow)The U.S. Treasury Department still has yet to tell companies how to handle President Donald Trump’s order delaying the due date for employee payroll taxes, leaving major employers like Walmart Inc. in the lurch.
It’s been two weeks since Trump issued his directive deferring the deadline to pay worker’s portions of Social Security taxes from Sept. 1 through the end of the year. But employers, who are responsible for submitting those payments to the Internal Revenue Service, are waiting to hear from the agency on how any tax bill would be handled when it comes due later.
“I don’t think there is a bloody chance that, at this point, anybody is implementing anything before Labor Day,” said Adam Markowitz, an enrolled agent and vice president at Howard L Markowitz PA CPA.
The Treasury and IRS didn’t respond to requests for comment on when the guidance would be published.
Yep, as we've said before, Trump can't handwave taxes -- he was caught doing that before. But now, we have the added "fun" of companies just assuming it won't happen.Some companies have already shied away from the payroll tax deferral, which Trump touted as a boost for workers as the economy reels from the coronavirus pandemic, because the taxes would ultimately have to be paid unless Congress acts to forgive the liability.
Look, I know time was of the essence...but that's also on Trump. He let the Democrats' bill just sit there, and refused to negotiate even a little. Then he created an E.O. that, well, didn't work and had no backup from the very people necessary. Now, just like I'm sorry for those aforementioned businesses that took PPP loans when it turns out there was a better option, I feel sorry for businesses that say "Look, this is a gamble we literally can't afford" to their employees shrilling "BUT TRUMP SAID YOU'D PAY US MORE" and then, I dunno, assaulting teenagers at Wal-Mart or something. Ignorance is not an excuse, but even though it will not be those employers' fault, it will be their problem.Large employers including Walmart, Macy’s Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co. have said they need more details from the IRS. They didn’t immediately respond to a request to comment on whether they would implement the deferral if the IRS didn’t issue any rules by the Sept. 1 start date. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management didn’t respond to a question about whether it plans to defer taxes for federal employees.
“Companies cannot do anything until there is guidance,” Veena Murthy, a principal at accounting firm Crowe LLP, said. The order “requires Treasury and IRS to provide some way it can be done. In this case particularly, there really are no answers.”
Payroll software providers need time to update their systems, and they can’t do that without guidance from the IRS and Treasury, Markowitz said. And companies have learned the hard way about claiming benefits before having sufficient guidance, he said.
Following enactment of the last coronavirus stimulus legislation in March, some businesses quickly took advantage of loans under the Paycheck Protection Program but later found, after guidance was issued, that it might have been in their best interest to ditch the loans in favor other tax credits or grants, he said.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has said that many companies are unlikely to implement the deferral, even with the IRS guidance, because it forces a large tax bill on employees in the future and would be very difficult for employers to administer.
“Further, the lack of concrete guidance on the most basic of implementation issues presents an untenable situation, making it basically impossible for employers to implement this EO and leaving little choice but for those employers to continue remitting payroll taxes to the Treasury,” Caroline Harris, the Chamber’s chief tax policy counsel, said in a statement.
I'm fully aware that Trump desperately wants some kind of benefit to people who make his unemployment numbers look less bad. Unfortunately, that ship sailed months ago with the lack of federal leadership leading to @Benggaul posting "Fuck Florida" several dozen times. But his unemployment plan isn't being followed because states can't afford it, he opposes stimulus checks, and now, even the least-effective idea of the lot (payroll tax cuts don't provide up-front money to jump-start the economy, nor do they help people laid off because coronavirus) is failing, and not just because it's a bad idea, but because Trump didn't even implement that bad idea well enough to follow.
You're free to debate which part is worse.
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Earlier today, was it today? Earlier I posted something along the line of "the Republican Party doesn't have a patent on infidelity, but they sure advertise it heavily"
Maybe I should have been less specific.
The Alaskan AG, yes, the one who said the mask order of Anchorage didn't apply to state govt buildings, has resigned from his post.
It might have something to do with the fact that he sent some inappropriate text messages to an employee of his who, and this is just the worst luck guys, happened to be female, happened to be single, and happened to be attractive, over the course of four weeks.
"Well one or two messages could --"
It was five-hundred fifty-eight.
"What the snow fuck?"
He was given a month suspension with no pay to think about what he did, but then the news broke, and he resigned in disgrace. His defense? The employee was in a different department.
-- the governor of AlaskaKevin Clarkson has admitted to conduct in the workplace that did not live up to our high expectations, and this is deeply disappointing. This morning he took responsibility for the unintentional consequences of his actions and tendered his resignation to me. I have accepted it.
"Unintentional?"
I just cut and paste, dude.
I was surprised to learn the AG was not, in fact, married.
I enjoy that it was only AFTER Propublica broke the story about Kevin Clarkson being a creepy old perv that tried to slide into younger employees text messages that his resignation was announced.
The first PolitiFacts from the TNC are trickling in.
Our Ruling
"But Breccia! Trump showed a video of Biden saying he would repeal the Tax Cut for the Rich! And just like the Tax Cut for the Rich was a massive tax cut for working families, repealing it would therefore be a massive tax hike for working families!"Haley said Biden and Harris "want massive tax hikes on working families."
Independent tax analysts agree that the Biden plan would not directly raise taxes on any household earning below $400,000 a year, and it would pose small hits from the indirect impact of raising the corporate tax rate. The vast majority of the income losses from the Biden tax proposal would fall on the top one-fifth of incomes, and especially on the top 1%.
All in all, the indirect tax hikes on "working families," such as they are, are not "massive." We rate the statement False.
Trump did make such a video, shown here. Want to guess the part he left out?
"Not r--"
Biden's actuall plan as Biden propsed and not as Trump misquoted would be to repeal the changes for people making over $400,000.
"But...but...when the rich lose money they'll cut jobs and raise prices and --"
You're worried about cutting jobs now, and you're blaming Biden? While independant analysis did show there would be some trickle-down, it would be well under 1% for anyone in the lower four quintiles. The middle quintile, for example, would lose on average $260 and that's under one-half of one percent. This is not "massive".
"B--"
By the way, are you about to say the Tax Cut for the Rich did not give the average American $260? Because that's a pretty stupid defense of Trump.
"...no..."
Want to read this Univesity of Chicago article, from last month, saying that companies still aren't paying people more because they're saving money? U of C has more Nobel Laureates in Economics than Trump has pounds.
"Not really..."
It should come as no surprise that Trump lied about Biden's plan, because as always, truth and evidence hurts his platform. It's not even a surprise that Team Trump is trying to push that lie in the cold light of day, when even the simplest examination reveals it to be blatantly false. The story here, of course, is that Trump has missed the point. Biden basically said "Hey, we like parts of this, we'll keep the parts we like". Trump could have pointed that out, instead. He might yet, no idea. But that's a minefield too. To do so, Trump would have to admit (a) he lied, and (b) that he'd be fighting to keep the cut for the rich, since Biden wouldn't take away the cut for anyone else.
Oh, and before anyone dares call Biden a hypocrite or anything for doing that, remember Trump kept part of the ACA. The part he liked. So, if you decry Biden for taking actions from his predecessor and removing the parts he didn't like and only keeping what his followers liked, bear in mind, you'll be required to do the same for Trump. Or, failing that, you can attack the ideas themselves, and decry Biden for keeping tax cuts on the lower 80% but not the richest people, while Trump intentionally made it harder for Americans to get health care during a lethal outbreak.
Your move.
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Come now, Edge- you know by now it's not the crime, it's people finding out about the crime.
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So I found this old article about the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
Ah, a Trump rally on wheels, selling itself on fear, anger, sex and Cox. What a typical...wait, there's more.While the group has gained a significant online following for its bravado in providing security at some Trump 2016 rallies, it remains to be seen if it can get bikers — many from the suburbs Trump is targeting — to show up at the ballot box.
To make his appeal, Cox enlisted scantily-clad female bartenders to join his nightly “Trump rallies” atop bars at One Eyed Jack’s Saloon. Most of the rallies consisted of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing the national anthem. As members of the predominantly male audience removed their hats, one bartender who was topless except for a pair of strategically placed American flag stickers performed the Star-Spangled Banner in sign language.
“If you live in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania or Florida the campaign needs you to double-down because those are the states that we need to carry this thing,” Cox bellowed to the crowd.
Cox’s list of battleground states contained a tacit acknowledgment that many places Trump carried in 2016 are now in doubt. But his praise for the president drew cheers from the crowd, a display of Trump’s lasting favor among those who still see him as an outsider in defiance of the political elite.
“Trump tapped into all this fear and anger and frustration,” said Bill Thompson, a sociologist at Texas A&M University at Commerce who studies biker culture. “Man, he’s a master at whipping that up.”
Oh, that's interesting. A Trump rally that says the lethal outbreak was politically created and exploited. Hmm. Well, that story's a few weeks old now, and I guess that's the lastCox also tried to brush aside criticism of Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Cox called it a “plandemic, not a pandemic,” suggesting a misguided notion that the coronavirus crisis is politically motivated and will disappear.
That message may resonate with some bikers, who echoed the sentiment that the coronavirus is not as serious as health experts have warned.
“If you’re going to get it, you’re going to get it,” said Linda Harrison, who came from Ohio. “Deal with it.”
(hits Control-R)
Coronavirus cases linked to Sturgis Motorcycle Rally found in 8 states
Wow, yet another unfortunate coincidence! Man, that's like three of those completely unpredictable unlucky happenstances of fate all in one day. What are the odds?
That was sarcasm, in case you didn't catch it.The North Dakota Depar--
See signature.The North Dakota Department of Health said in a tweet Monday that 17 people "who are connected to" the large rally have tested positive for the virus.
"Those who attended the rally should closely monitor for symptoms & get tested at a free ND testing site," the agency said.
Other cases have been confirmed in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, Washington state and South Dakota, where the 10-day rally was held. There have been about 103 total cases linked to the event.
A spokesperson for the South Dakota Department of Health told NBC News Tuesday that they have found 40 cases of COVID-19 related to the event, including three-out-state cases.
Last week, a health official in neighboring Minnesota said that 15 people who attended the massive gathering and festival had been diagnosed with the coronavirus. One person who tested positive was hospitalized.
The Minnesota Department of Health's infectious disease division director, Kris Ehresmann, said during a conference call with news outlets that 14 of the cases were attendees and one was a volunteer who worked "in a temporary bar situation."
"We're expecting that we're going to see many more cases associated with Sturgis," she said during the call. "Thousands of people attended that event, and so it's very likely that we will see more transmission."
In Nebraska, at least seven new cases have been linked to the rally, the Panhandle Public Health District said without providing further details. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/202...ponse-opinion/
Times must be getting tough, Trump's reaching out to the chairman of a critical newspaper from his home state with a generic "honor roll" form letter to beg for cash.
Sad.
It's like the NPR member station fundraising drives with dollar-for-dollar challenges, but it lasts for months and there is no escape.
Somehow I've ended up on a few textbank lists for Trump groups and I'm not sure how. I'm a registered with no party affiliation (which amusing caused some suspicion that I was a Republican spy when I attended some local Democratic group meetings after the election) and I've never gone to any Republican events nor given my information to them.
Thankfully the messages are still pretty rare, but it's mildly annoying.
Two quick things.
One, Trump grants a pardon during the TNC probably to drive up ratings. The recipient is a convicted bank robber, but Found The Lord in prison, and therefore, Trump made a seven-minute commercial for him.
Two, Fuck Florida's Department of Health released another report.
In the 15 days leading up to Aug 9, there were 8,565 children who caught COVID-19, 462 of whom were hospitalized.
In the 15 days since, there were 8.995 children who caught COVID-19, 602 hospitalized, and one died.
In both cases, roughly 80% of the children were 5-17 years of age, the age most children go to school.
CBS Miami also found over seven hundred cases in Florida had been linked to the K-12 and higher education system.
If you were wondering why the judge halted the in-person school mandate, you're looking at it.