Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Thekri]

I mean, as long as less than half of the population isn't infected, then most of the country is fine!

Only they are not fine, because the half that isn't sick is dealing with a plague of demons raping them in their sleep.

[Milchshake]

It will never stop being hilarious to me how his supporters see him as some big tough, , elk eating, alpha male type (see any Garrison cartoon).

Meanwhile,all he ever does is whine and cry about how unfair he is treated and how he is unloved.


Yamiche Alcindor reports:

President Trump on Dr. Fauci: "He's got this high approval rating...Why don't I have a high approval rating?...Nobody likes me. It could only be my personality. I don't know."

[Breccia]

So at the White House press conference just now, Trump whined about how Dr. Fauci has a high approval rating while he doesn't

No, no, no! That's Fake News!

That was Brad Pitt who was nominated for an Emmy for playing Fauci. The real Dr. Fauci doesn't get ratings.

On topic: the FEC received a complaint that the Trump campaign concealed $170 million in payments to Trump and Trump's friends.

A nonpartisan watchdog filed a complaint with the Federal Election Committee (FEC) on Tuesday alleging President Trump’s reelection campaign broke the law by “laundering” $170 million in spending in an effort to conceal payments to people close to the Trump family and campaign.

The 81-page complaint, filed by the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), alleges that former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale used a “pass-through” company to pay downstream vendors, including Trump campaign members, associates and family members.

“This illegal conduit scheme leaves voters in the dark about the entities working for the Trump campaign, the nature of their services, and the full amount they are paid,” said Brendan Fischer, the CLC’s director of federal reform. “We don’t know all of what is being hidden by this scheme, but we do know that it violates the law.”

The CLC has asked the FEC to investigate and take action against the campaign for funneling payments through the American Made Media Consultants (AMMC), which is the parent company the Trump campaign allegedly used to conceal the payments.

That's one-sixth of the money raised this year, allegedly going to Trump and his family/friends.

[Deja Thoris]

False. Lieu asked if peaceful protesters being thrown into vans and taken for questioning without probable cause qualified as an "arrest", which is an important question since it violates the 4th Amendment. Barr initially denied it, but then later admitted it. It's an important point to be made and needs to be talked about since that is what's happening. Barr kept trying to go off on tangents but Lieu and the others would stop him, reclaim their time and press forward with the meat of it. This is what needs to happen every single time, both in these hearings and in the press conferences. Stop allowing them to just lie unchecked.

Stop with the "stop allowing them to lie unchecked" bullshit please. We're on the same side in this, I just happen to see it differently from you, he spent 4 minutes ranting and after his time was up and he yielded he was given a chance to respond the the chairperson.

Heres a tip, the second someone doesn't agree with you its not automatically "you and us" and "us and them"

[Masark]

Only they are not fine, because the half that isn't sick is dealing with a plague of demons raping them in their sleep.

Nah, it's consensual.

[Edge-]

Stop with the "stop allowing them to lie unchecked" bullshit please. We're on the same side in this, I just happen to see it differently from you, he spent 4 minutes ranting and after his time was up and he yielded he was given a chance to respond the the chairperson.

Heres a tip, the second someone doesn't agree with you its not automatically "you and us" and "us and them"

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c48957...ieu-nails-barr

Not really? He asked specific questions, got bullshit answers and rebutted with legal rulings, provided an anecdote to show that federal officials were engaged in the behavior that Bill Barr had said would have violated their rights, providing comments from DoJ officials supporting his argument, and calls Barr out on his bullshit.

Because Barr had answered his questions and provided the basis to show that most of these arrests are indeed in violation of the Fourth Amendment. That's how prosecutors work, and Lieu is a former prosecutor. He got Barr to establish baseline facts, and then presented his argument. We can quibble over whether or not that's the point of this hearing, but given that Barr's response to a question on guilt by association being, "Well if you're in the getaway car when the robber gets in!" which is nonsense, there wasn't much more to get out of him after Lieu had got him to confirm the baseline facts of wrongful arrest.

[Benggaul]

Stop with the "stop allowing them to lie unchecked" bullshit please. We're on the same side in this, I just happen to see it differently from you, he spent 4 minutes ranting and after his time was up and he yielded he was given a chance to respond the the chairperson.

Heres a tip, the second someone doesn't agree with you its not automatically "you and us" and "us and them"

I didn't say it was "you and us; us and them". I said "stop allowing them to lie unchecked", which, no, I will not stop. What a stupid request.

Lieu pressed Barr to answer a simple question and Barr hemmed and hawed because he was backed into a corner and knew that if he answered honestly he was fucked, so Lieu hit him with the facts on the record which Barr had to sit and accept. Maybe you didn't watch the whole thing, because Barr was given several opportunities to speak and screwed the pooch every single time.

"Here's a tip": Just because YOU don't find something important that doesn't mean it isn't important.

EDIT: Edge beat me to it.

- - - Updated - - -

64,729 new cases; about 3k fewer than last Tuesday.

Texas: 10,698 new cases; 121 deaths
Florida: 9,230 new cases; 186 deaths (new record)
California: 7,994 new cases; 169 deaths (new record)
Georgia: 4,209 new cases; 54 deaths
Tennessee: 2,555 new cases; 11 deaths
Arizona: 2,107 new cases; 104 deaths
North Carolina: 1,761 new cases; 24 deaths
South Carolina: 1,692 new cases; 59 deaths
Missouri: 1,676 new cases (new record); 15 deaths
Mississippi: 1,342 new cases; 42 deaths
Ohio: 1,325 new cases; 37 deaths
Alabama: 1,251 new cases; no deaths reported*
Pennsylvania: 1,134 new cases; 24 deaths
Louisiana: 1,121 new cases; 26 deaths
Nevada: 1,105 new cases; 20 deaths
Oklahoma: 1,089 new cases; 13 deaths
Illinois: 1,076 new cases; 30 deaths

I didn't notice too many things of note from the data today. Cases seem to be leveling off in many places, so maybe there's hope that by the end of August the US will get it down to manageable levels--just before sending the students back to school and kicking off ANOTHER wave of this bullshit. I expect the number of cases to go back up again tomorrow given the pattern it usually takes.

1,256 deaths today is the most reported since the end of May. As was noted earlier in the thread there was also a large correction from Texas adding nearly 700 deaths. This brings the total US death count to 152,320. Alabama did not report any deaths today but I find that an anomaly considering they've been averaging in the 20's for the past couple weeks at least. I'm not adding that to the total since it's not official yet, but I expect a small correction from them tomorrow. I haven't read anything about why they haven't reported any today but I'll assume it's either backlog related or a technical error. I'm expecting the daily toll to go up this week, so buckle up, I guess.

Stay safe, folks.

[Dontrike]

The guy across yge street from me was prescribed it and he made a full recovery.

He also would have made a full recovery taking a placebo.

[cubby]

The guy across yge street from me was prescribed it and he made a full recovery.

No, he didn't. You were just told to think that. Sadly, in your world, there is no difference.

[Benggaul]

If this plays out in real life and the 2A retards don't act in the spirit of 2A, then they don't deserve 2A. If this happens I hope to god that if Trump and Trumplicans are ever removed, whom ever gains power next will get rid of 2A and drone strike all the fucks who refuse to give up their guns.

You know, I've been thinking about this recently and I have to wonder if the reason we don't hear anything from the 2A people is because they're the ones who were hired as a private military with no identification to kidnap protesters.

I can think of no good reason for them to be COMPLETELY silent on the issue other than they're complicit.

[cubby]

I ask myself that question constantly. After he ordered peaceful protesters to be beaten, gassed, and driven out of Lafayette Square for no reason other than to stage a cringeworthy photo op, and seeing the relative lack of outrage in reaction to that, I am convinced there is nothing.

Consider this scenario:
1. Biden beats Trump in November by a decent, but not overwhelming margin.
2. Trump claims the vote was rigged and refuses to give up the Presidency.
3. Most Republicans in Congress agree that the vote was rigged and support Trump remaining as President.
4. The military refuses to remove him.
5. There is a ton of outrage at first, but eventually the situation is accepted as people realize they can't do anything about it.

Aside from #4, every point in that scenario is extremely plausible (and I really wouldn't be surprised to see #4 happen either). These past four years have been a nightmarish descent into fascism.

Maybe I am wrong about this scenario, but for this to even be a question in the back of people's minds speaks volumes about how far this country has fallen.

I agree with in general about the overall and truly frightening issues surrounding Trump's build up to claiming the election illegitimate. And as a country, we have fallen greatly. The fact that a sitting Resident is openly saying he won't accept the election results is truly mind boggling. Gilead here we come if he steals a second term.

However, in your particular scenario, I would have to respectfully disagree: #2 won't matter, #3 won't matter (only comes into play if neither candidate gets 270 EC votes), and #4 won't happen because the military can't act in a law enforcement role on U.S soil. Just to cut/paste/replace, imo your scenario would work out like this:

1. Biden beats Trump in November by a decent, but not overwhelming margin.
2. Trump claims the vote was rigged and refuses to give up the Presidency.
3. Biden sworn in on Jan 20 (might have that day wrong).
4. Trump is no longer President, regardless of what he says - he is evicted if he refuses to leave by Secret Service.
5. There is a ton of outrage at first, but eventually the situation is accepted as people realize they can't do anything about it.
6. Trump launches his media outlet cable channel, and continues to stir unrest.

Here is how I see it playing out, with the darkest of results.

1. Neither Trump nor Biden have 270 EC votes by the morning of Nov 4 - mail in ballots are making several battle ground states too close to call.
(this could happen if several battleground states, with GOP SecTres, refuse to validate their EC numbers - making the election contested, with no winner declared)
2. The vote goes to the House.
3. Trump wins that vote (in this vote, each state gets one vote, rather than each Representative - and there are more GOP controlled states than Dem).
4. Trump stays in office, and we are truly lost as a country.

Did you see that article from last week where they played out Election Day in a Pentagon style, with four scenrios and about 80 people (Dems and Repubs alike) playing it out?

[Elegiac]

It will never stop being hilarious to me how his supporters see him as some big tough, , elk eating, alpha male type (see any Garrison cartoon).

Meanwhile,all he ever does is whine and cry about how unfair he is treated and how he is unloved.

Yamiche Alcindor reports:

I'm really starting to think Mary had the right of it; imagine actually verbalising this and still seeing nothing wrong with your behavior, lol.

But yeah I have absolutely no doubt it's also a function of personality; Fauci is practically a boy scout in terms of diligence and professionalism, while Trump is...Trump.

[ati87]

No, no, no! That's Fake News!

That was Brad Pitt who was nominated for an Emmy for playing Fauci. The real Dr. Fauci doesn't get ratings.

On topic: the FEC received a complaint that the Trump campaign concealed $170 million in payments to Trump and Trump's friends.



That's one-sixth of the money raised this year, allegedly going to Trump and his family/friends.

And yet we should applaud this behaviour if you want Trump to go down because Im pretty this isn't a unique case and it does undermine his money advantage. On top of having to campaign in states he should be winning the money advantage might be gone at this point if you account the reduced fundraising and his spending.

[PrimiOne]

He approves of her literally just because she was on TV, in addition to pushing his bullshit.

We are in the middle of the event that will define the economics,politics and social dynamics of the next decade (at best case scenario) and this fucking retard is voicing someone who saw on TV having absolutely no context of her merits instead of following the advice from CDC,FDA,WHO,EMA(European Medicines Agency)...and many others while at the same time claiming that he always acted following science recommendations.

I could understand (not really but kind of ) the "He is a retard but I prefer a retard rowing in the direction I like instead of a capable person rowing in another direction" argument but pretending he is not the most incompetent person that ever sat his obese ass in the oval office is....surreal.

And the most disturbing issue about all this shit is that ...it does not matter. His followers don't care about demon sperm and alien DNA. The narrative that stick in his followers mind is that Facebook is part of the global conspiracy because they censored a group of expert doctors telling the truth about covid-19 so in the end even the most absolute retarded Trump's behavior gets validated as a champion of truth.

Each day I find more difficult to believe the things I read than the previous day....it's difficult to top demon sperm but let's wait for today or tomorrow and he will find a way to top it.

[Felya]

Each day I find more difficult to believe the things I read than the previous day....it's difficult to top demon sperm but let's wait for today or tomorrow and he will find a way to top it.

Yeah, you thought it couldn’t get worse than injecting disinfectant...

[Breccia]

Actual doctors do prescribe this to some covid patients.

Publicly announce, right now, that you will stop wearing a mask, right now, because a doctor Trump retweeted said there is a cure, right now.

24 hours. Time starts right now.

Your time has expired. @lockedout you have failed at yet another challenge. By refusing to even address the issue within 24 hours, you have therefore admitted Trump retweeted a doctor who believes in demon rape, pushing a treatment that has failed to be helpful in far more and far larger studies than any in which it worked, and you have admitted you are a coward by refusing to address what Trump did in public, because you cannot defend it (and you were online, you responded to other posts).

It's not the approach I would have used, but you do you. Perhaps next time you won't attempt to defend a far-right political group who claimed the virus wasn't a major threat when even you aren't willing to admit you've stopped wearing a mask -- probably because you haven't stopped wearing a mask.

On topic: this OP ED raises a point I don't believe we've discussed before. When we talk about "October Surprise" most of us have been talking about questionable info Trump would either ask his buddy Putin to invent and spread across Facebook, or extort from Ukraine, that is likely "Biden did something to support his children that was one-tenth as corrupt as actions I've done to support mine by handing them WH jobs when they failed security checks!".

But the author proposes another. And @Benggaul I want your insight on this.

The author suggests the October Surprise would be "the damage is far worse than we thought". Not just that we learn about business closures, unemployment, case numbers or deaths that had been suppressed before -- but that any/all of this happens when the second wave crests.

If the president in May was named Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Bob Dole or John Kerry here is what they would have done:

They would have immediately invited House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders to Camp David to hammer out a bill that would have been enacted by June 1. If Democrats favored a $3 trillion bill and Republicans favored a $1 trillion bill, they would have compromised in the middle — and enacted a strong jobless benefits bill, not the Marie Antoinette GOP version. They would have enacted an extension of the eviction ban to prevent homelessness and deaths that will happen if it is not immediately extended.

Trump, McConnell and Senate Republicans fail to understand the extreme danger, which leading medical authorities have warned about for months, of a powerful deadly COVID-19 wave that will happen during the flu season beginning in September and October.

There are reasons the flu season begins when it does, which happens every year at the same time. There are reasons the danger is extreme this year when the annual danger of the flu is compounded by the multiplied danger of COVID-19 escalating simultaneously in September, October and beyond.

The current wave of COVID-19 infections and deaths occur most often in states with Republican governors who toe the line behind Trump. The staggering disapproval of Trump’s handling of COVID-19 will worsen when this October surprise, which should not be a surprise, arrives.

The author is a Democratic politics insider and even more biased than I am, no question. But he raises a necessary point. Trump is arguably the first person in history to run for re-election against himself, by promising to fix the problems he himself caused. He cannot be allowed to distract from the lethal virus outbreak that killed over 150,000 Americans so far -- more than most predictions we've seen except the 2 million for "literally no actions are taken at all". He cannot be allowed to avoid the literal disaster he is responsible for, even if he claims he is not.

And even if he tried "But Biden told Ukraine Oil Company to give his son a job" the response needs to be "that's bad, but how many Americans did Biden murder to get the DOW up?" Because the answer to that question, for Biden, is zero. The answer for Trump, by the Trump Death Clock, is 89,283 at time of writing -- enough to fill any NFL stadium.

I'm going to link a few more headlines which speak for themselves -- there's really no reason to quote them.

U.S. coal production last year hit lowest level since 1978

Biden campaign calls Trump's failure to raise Russian bounties with Putin "despicable"

Emerging GOP cracks scuttle united front in virus relief negotiations

Trump administration to continue rejecting new DACA applicants and limit existing protections

U.S. small businesses face mass closures without more pandemic aid

Actually that one could use a touch more context.

Most firms have already run out of the money they secured from the $600 billion Paycheck Protection Program, according to a survey released this week from the National Federation of Independent Business, a leading trade group for small U.S. firms.

The federation also found in early July that 23% of respondents expected to be out of business within six months unless economic conditions change..

Bill Phelan - who tracks small business borrowing for credit reporting firm Equifax Inc. - says defaults are up sharply to about 2.7% of small business debt. By next year, his models are predicting a rise to 5% or 6%.

Defaults peaked at 6.35% in 2009, during the Great Recession, Phelan’s data shows. Then, U.S. government stimulus totaled less than $1 trillion - compared with $3 trillion so far since the pandemic hit.

“The forbearance and the PPP have helped out a ton, but they can’t go on forever,” he said.

[Breccia]

Louie Gohmert, who refused to wear a mask, tests positive for coronavirus

To give the Texas Republican what little credit is due, he refused to wear a mask because he was tested routinely -- which is how he was caught this time.

"What credit is that?"

None. Fucker was an idiot and nearly infected Trump.

[Thee ANCOM]

Louie Gohmert, who refused to wear a mask, tests positive for coronavirus
Imagine that....

oh, oh no, what a shame, thought and prayers!

[Breccia]

So Navarro went on CNN for God knows what reason and was, yes, asked about hydrochlorowhatevazine as well as demon rape.

While Navarro continued to push for the drug that hasn't yet been proven as effective as alien DNA, he did say there were "two gigantic sides" to this, with Dr. Fauci and the WHO on one side and he as a "social scientist" on the other. Oh, and he has millions of doses. I mean, if I had millions of doses of something and there was a lethal outbreak, I'd want it to be effective too, so I could help hundreds of thousands of people. Doesn't mean it would work, but I'd hope it did. But I also wouldn't go on CNN and say "this works, just ask my friend the demon rapist".

[Benggaul]

But the author proposes another. And @Benggaul I want your insight on this.

The author suggests the October Surprise would be "the damage is far worse than we thought". Not just that we learn about business closures, unemployment, case numbers or deaths that had been suppressed before -- but that any/all of this happens when the second wave crests.

I mean there's not really much more I could add to that. I think it's long been expected (feared?) among most of us here that September is likely going to be a nightmare as students are forced to return to schools which will undoubtedly spread the virus around more. Even if Congress manages to get some funding out for COVID-19 preparedness in education--which is doubtful at this point--it will not be enough to do what needs to be done to keep students, their families and school staff safe. There will be a second (third?) wave come September and in October we'll start seeing the death tolls rise again. COVID-19 is not the flu, but it does have many flu-like qualities. I'm not sure loving the colder weather is one of them since it seems to be doing just fine in the summer in most places, but if it does and the spread worsens then obviously October is going to be horrible.

Some schools in areas where the governor doesn't have their head up Trump's ass might do okay. I know several are taking it on themselves to implement online learning where possible and stagger class times/lunches/staff where they can. But I'm sure you and any other educators in our midst know that the schools that have the resources to do that are few and far between. I don't think it's "political theater" that's driving educators to draw up or update their wills.

The fact that Trump is starting to say things like "patriots wear masks" is bullshit fluff that he's saying because someone told him that now his voters are dying, so he has to take an interest, but given that he's trying to shoehorn unnecessary bullshit into the Senate's aid bill is proof that he still does not understand the gravity of the situation. The US cannot expect any help from the federal level.

It's going to be bad, and the cynical part of me thinks that Trump's administration wants it to be bad, because:
1) Fewer people will risk their health going out to vote--except his base which thinks it's all bullshit in the first place. Who cares if they die after they've voted him in again?
2) They can use the pandemic as an excuse to try to call it all off.

I'm absolutely sure none of them had the pandemic in mind when they spoke of an "October surprise" because few in that administration or even the GOP in Congress took it seriously in the first place. It was almost certainly some bullshit narrative about Biden or his son or whatever that nobody is going to give a shit about because upwards of 200k Americans will be dead by the end of October. At least.

EDIT: Yes, I'm aware I use the term "bullshit" often when talking about Trump and his sycophants, but it's the term that best fits.