"The difference between stupidity
and genius is that genius has its limits."
--Alexandre Dumas-fils
I think the worst has come to pass when it comes to scapegoating the pandemic away from the Chinese Communist Party to Trump as China (and Iran by extension) join on social media platforms to shift attention to him in the wake of the fallout.
And it's clearly working since people can only really think and talk about Trump's failures now.
Both trump and China fucked it up. However if chinas numbers are to be believed ( there are legitimate reasons not to) then Trump fucked it up much worse. And once it got here, it was no longer chinas responsibility or in their ability to address.
It’s like you standing next to a fire extinguisher refusing to put out a fire because you didn’t start it.
I thought you loved authoritarians anyway? Why aren’t you moving to China?
Really because it wasn't the Chinese Communist Party in press conferences telling the American people that only a few people will be sick and it will be over in a day. It wasn't the CCP who filled infected people from a cruise ship on a commercial airlines with regular people and brought them to a civilian airport. It wasn't the CCP who told Americans that masks were unnecessary and an attack on your personal freedom. It wasn't the CCP who told people to pile into busy churches, to fill up stadiums with thousands of people for sporting events and concerts, and to refuse to stay home unless completely necessary. It wasn't the CCP who told Americans to fight for their states and to take back control from tyrannical governors because they placed covid lockdowns. Finally it wasn't the CCP who later admitted to a reporter on tape that he knew all of the dangers of and the deaths that will be caused by covid but didn't want to "worry" Americans by telling them so he told them to ignore every safeguard.
So really I don't give a fuck if China fucked up originally with Covid because while China may have ran the first leg of the covid relay Trump took the baton and ran the other legs. He then ran the entire relay all over again to prove his alpha status on Covid.
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Really it is like two kids are int he dining room and the first kid Tommy lights a match and it burns part of the table. Tommy did a bad thing and caused some damage. Well not to be outdone Billy takes the matches and runs around setting everything on fire. Sure Tommy fucked up and caused some damage but Billy is the one who ran around and consciously caused all the damage.
Probably because once the virus inevitably got here, Trump absolutely shat the bed in terms of handling it. Deflecting blame to China and to Xi Jinping's very real failings completely ignores the inconceivably vast scale of failure of leadership that was Trump's response. You do get that, right?
To continue Noxx79's analogy, imagine if your neighbor's house catches fire and rather than call the fire department they try to hide the fact that it's on fire. When it fails and your house catches fire too, you spend an hour insisting that it's only a little scorched; it's no big deal, and there's no reason to call the fire department, you've got it under control and hey, your neighbor also did a great job containing it. And then once your bedroom is engulfed in flames, you start blaming the entire fire on your neighbor - who by now has called the fire department to deal with their own house - while you occasionally splash water on the fire and shout up and down the street that you did the best job anyone possibly could.
Last edited by DarkTZeratul; 2021-01-22 at 06:50 PM.
McConnell privately says he wants Trump gone as Republicans quietly lobby him to convict
Damn right I'm citing CNN. Not like any genuine posters are going to object.
I'll believe the vote count when it happens (I won't, for example, shrill FRAUD! and launch sixty lawsuits) but I do want to see McConnell's public on-the-record vote for impeaching Trump. That will tell us where on the sliding scale we are:As the House prepares to send articles of impeachment to the Senate on Monday, CNN has learned that dozens of influential Republicans around Washington -- including former top Trump administration officials -- have been quietly lobbying GOP members of Congress to impeach and convict Donald Trump. The effort is not coordinated but reflects a wider battle inside the GOP between those loyal to Trump and those who want to sever ties and ensure he can never run for President again.
The lobbying started in the House after the January 6 attack on the Capitol and in the days leading up to impeachment. But it's now more focused on Sen. Mitch McConnell, the powerful minority leader who has signaled he may support convicting Trump.
"Mitch said to me he wants Trump gone," one Republican member of Congress told CNN. "It is in his political interest to have him gone. It is in the GOP interest to have him gone. The question is, do we get there?"
McConnell had proposed delaying the trial until February, but with the articles coming to the Senate on Monday, the process will likely be set in motion sooner.
It would take 17 Republicans to join all 50 Democrats in order to convict. While the bar is high, some GOP sources think there is more of an appetite to punish the former President than is publicly apparent.
"There were 10 House Republicans who voted for impeachment. There were probably over 150 who supported it," said Charlie Dent, a former Republican congressman and CNN contributor.
Trump has no power --------------------------------------------------- Trump rules with tiny iron fist
McConnell doesn't want to hurt what's left of his party. If he thinks Trump is necessary AND ALSO that Trump would actually be willing to help instead of forming his own party and attacking the Republicans AND ALSO he thinks the damage done to his party can be fixed before he dies AND ALSO he thinks he'll run again, then he'll vote not guilty. If any of those aren't true, we might see him vote guilty.
Regardless he, the other Republicans, and the other members of the Party of Trump, are going to go on the record as to whether they think instigating a murderous insurrection is something they're willing to stand behind.
When its all said and done, I think we will be left with 2-3 Republican Senators voting to convict. McConnell wants to convict, just so he can finally wash his hands of the smell of Trump (it wouldn't work).
Sadly, he won't have the votes, which needs to be a total of 70 or more. He cannot have it just be 67, he needs to have a small padding to help those who voted to convict. Since there's no way in hell he gets that, the only other option is to have a couple moderates vote to convict, and nobody else. They won't get primaried, and will still be pretty safe when their elections come up.
Not that it matters a lot yet, but Cruz's support amongst Republicans dropped significantly since he publicly voiced support for the murderous insurrection. There might also be an investigation into whether their opposition to the legal, honest American election is against Senate rules -- something the Senate majority leader Schumer will probably sign off on, if for no other reason than pure vindictiveness.
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Trump also barely nominated anyone. And some of his acting Cabinet overstayed their Constitutional welcome.
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Wow, it's going to get more and more difficult to handwave Trump's role in the murderous insurrection. He paid them.
FEC filings show that Trump's campaign spent $2.7 million to people who organized and/or attended the rally (not, like, the day before, this is a grand total). Trump also directed the National Park Service to give the rally a permit.
Not only did Trump light the fuse, he paid to have the bomb shipped and helped put it in place.
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Hey remember Alex Jones?
...yeah I barely do either. But his attempt to have the lawsuit against him, the one filed by parents of dead children Alex Jones said were actors, has failed.
"He should have filed in a state more likely to be favorable, like Texas."
He did.
"Well Texas SCOTUS will allow the appeal."
That was Texas SCOTUS.
"Surely there was at least one judge who dissented with strongly-worded opinions!"
No comments were added to the rejection.
On the same day, Texas sued Biden over pausing immigration but still rejected alt-right nutjob Alex Jones. That's how deplorable Alex Jones is.
So literally every President since Washington, when leaving the WH, has made a special china collection. The White House Museum has more info, such as images of many of them.
Every President. Except for Trump.
"Why didn't Trump just put Melania on it? Sounds like something she'd do."
He did. Melania picked out colors and materials that were too expensive. Then Trump pulled the plug at some point in the last six weeks, probably throwing a tantrum over losing the election.
I think we have some prototy--
Yep, that'll do. Maybe we dodged a bullet.