I feel pretty good about this March 25 tweet.

And where are we supposed to be finding the time and energy to also be outraged about the unbelievable racist gall to schedule a Tulsa rally for Trump on Juneteenth? I mean, the strategy of overwhelming reasonable people with a tsunami of horseshit like this... it has its own brilliance. Assuming you're, like, down with evil and racism and the rest of the Trump menu.

Seems to me like he's purposely trying to incite protesters/rioters so he can rain some LAW AND ORDER! down on their asses. Chum for his base.

Yep, one headline reads:

"Seattle 'autonomous zone' has armed guards, local businesses being threatened with extortion, police say"

The actual quote in the story: "We’ve heard, anecdotally, reports of citizens and businesses being asked to pay a fee to operate within this area. This is the crime of extortion. If anyone has been subjected to this, we need them to call 911."

So basically the officer defined what extortion is vs. saying they are certain this is ongoing.

I'm sure using S.S. in a tweet today was also accidental.

I figure the next few months Trump will energize his base with rallies. Barr and Mitch will whip the sycophants to look the other way while they dismantle all remaining safeguards.

Trump will steal the election and stay in power. Some time in 2024 he'll hand the keys over to Ivanka or Don Jr. The judges up to the Supreme Court will be supportive henchmen.

I'm sure Trump will simply go to rallies keeping the faithfully ignorant in thrall while his corrupt children will continue to follow in his guidance and steal whatever they can.

It'll end when he dies, but by then most of our government will be nothing. China and Russia will have made inroads to secure all global influence.

It's the end.

I can't see a path for Trump to win now (thank god.) The way he handled COVID-19 and the protests pretty much sealed the deal IMO. I don't care how energized his base is. People are fed up and there are plenty of Republicans that are distancing themselves from him.

My biggest concern is that he will not cede power which is a very real possibility. That or he'll incite violence from his base.

Trump won, in part, because lots of people who are not outwardly racist or far-right didn't like the cultural direction of the country. That dynamic could easily be a factor again.

I could see whatever movement is happening going too far for some peoples' comfort. It's one thing for someone who is dropping racial slurs on social media to be fired. If the definition of what's not acceptable broadens (and includes stuff like Drew Brees comments' and beyond), and if we see more cultural backtracking beyond just taking confederate statutes down (removing more movies and TV shows from circulation if they don't pass the litmus test, etc.), I could see it being too much, and people seeing Trump as a continuing defense against that kind of thing. How big is the growing pool of bad guys here, and how will that impact how those people vote?

Though on the other hand, Joe Biden is probably a great nominee to have in that situation because he's not a "scary" progressive to anyone. You can fear rapid societal change still comfortably vote for Biden.

How the GOP manages to make its base actually fear the Dems is perhaps its greatest feat of propaganda.

The Trump campaign has bought time on Fox, CNN, and MSNBC in the D.C. market.

Daddy needs to see happy messages.

Won't somebody please think of HER EMAILS!!!!

They are so incompetent.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/u...-platform.html

My political circle is pretty far left, so a lot of them were really bummed (and still are) by "uninspiring" moderate Joe Biden.

But I agree with you that the Dems may be very fortunate to have picked him.

The most logical attack on the Dems right now is probably some variation on "they want to replace the police with Antifa." And I think that it will be hard to make that stick with Biden.

Love the disclaimer on the registration for this rally:

"By attending the Rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. ... liable for any illness or injury."

Anyone who believes Antifa is a thing wasn't voting for a Democrat anyway.

Old head here, who used to get into arguments regarding Bush's incompetence (under a different username). Surprised to see that the Trump thread here is mostly critical. Back in the aughts this place had a much more Fox-Newsish vibe.

I think most of the conservative voices are still here, but very few folks want to back up Trump's words or actions on the daily. I bet the balance of discussion would look a lot different around here if there were simply a competent conservative in charge.

There's a lot of overlap between traditional conservatives and Trumpers, but also a not-small number of conservatives who don't like Trump, and Trump supporters who aren't conservative. Even if I held fast to my past conservative beliefs, Trump would be incompatible with them on many, probably most issues.

Ugh, unfortunately I think you are 100% correct. I think there may also be some fear that the whole cancel culture could develop into political censorship. There really does not seem to be a lot of room for thought, discussion and differing views from these current movements and the agendas they are pushing.

Like legit I have a lot of far lefty friends and I have no clue why I never hear them post about being antifa. Literally the Masons have more of a presence among my acquaintances.

The first rule of Fight Club?

Yeah but we all know that the only way to grow Fight Club was to ignore the first two rules.

Trump is giving the commencement speech Saturday at West Point. This is hands down his best opportunity to win back some support. I suspect he will blow it in spectacular fashion.

I really hope somebody just posts the entire Bolton book online and it gets distributed across social media so he doesn't earn a cent.

I believe antifa is a thing, inasmuch as I've had multiple conversations with people generally on the left endorsing them and their tactics, and people actually identifying as antifa have done things and showed up at various counterprotests and so on.

And yet I plan on voting Democrat in the next election. Huh.

My personal take on antifa, for what little it's worth: In my memory, young, masked anarchists in black have been in Portland since the 90s, and they would show up protests for any cause & throw bricks through business windows purely to cause chaos and generally rail against capitalism. I'm sure they've been around a lot longer and in other places.

Somewhere along the way they picked up the label of Antifa, and I'm not sure they collectively adopted it, so much as it was given/placed on them, since I've never seen any true organization, and their MO has never really changed. I imagine that the internet has made it possible for the 10-20% of the vocal minority that have actual principals beyond 'break shit' to better organize themselves, and mobilize the masses.

The label has served as kind of a double edged sword, in that it makes it hard for folks on the left to criticize, and gives them an air of political legitimacy and a vague cause to rally around, but it also allows critics to paint the group as a much more coordinated and politically motivated entity, and their lack of any actual leadership or organization lets their critics paint them as whatever enemy is most effective and/or convenient.

I hope MS-13 doesn't run wild in the streets while folks are distracted by Antifa.

Me too

Because it's ok to steal from people we don't like apparently.

More like choosing profit over the oath you swore to your country. But sure.

Yeah, much like with Lindsey Graham, I think it's rather easy to restrict the case of John Bolton to John Bolton. There doesn't have to be some slippery slope of forever applying that same standard to the lowest common denominator of people that align with those folks, so much as: fuck John Bolton (and Lindsey Graham).

Dear God, don't post the whole thing, just the newsworthy parts. I have no interest in hundreds of pages of self-aggrandizement.

It's not a slippery slope argument, my point is if it's wrong to do something, it's wrong to do it to a 'bad' person just as it is to do it to a 'good' one. The 'bad' people have the same rights as the rest of us.

In terms of money, McGrath has $19.3M cash on hand, Booker has $285K and Broihier has $251K. If Booker makes it close, that could signal that McGrath is almost fully being propped up at the national level.

McConnell has $15.4M cash on hand and was outraised by McGrath by $4M since April. If they can't beat him, it won't be for lack of trying.

That's a load of horseshit, considering this current administration.

I would say it's just desserts for the type of people Trump places in his orbit.

Two problems with that. First, it's not about them; it's about what kind of people we should be and whether it's right to sink lower in response to them (no). Secondly, it's worth considering what happens when the shoe's on the other foot. Are we happy with those who have similar opinions of you/us acting that way? Just as it's been pointed out that issues such as Trump declaring an emergency vis a vis the wall on the southern border sets a precedent that other presidents could do so for health care or whatever cause du jour, the same logic applies in that if it's ok to mistreat those we don't like, it's ok for those who don't like us to mistreat us in the future.

That's why if something's wrong, it's just wrong. It's not right or wrong based on the target of the action. It's right or wrong on it's own merits, period.

It is morally obscene for that guy to make money off of a book when he could have spoken up to save the country. I'm perfectly comfortable with that.

I still think that if you want to make those 'merits' necessarily extend to some sort of lowest common denominator, legalese definition, covering all past & future, then that's on you.

I feel like I am capable of enough nuance that relishing in Graham or Bolton's misfortune doesn't somehow nullify whatever principals I've displayed in the 48+ previous years, and/or forever thereafter.

Narrator: He had not displayed any principals in the 48 years up to that point.

There's a difference between relishing in someone's misfortune and overtly wronging them.

Well, I can't argue too far down that road....I would be happy to infringe on his copyrights in theory, but I don't actually want to read the book.

I'm not sure I agree with last paragraph. It's too black-and-white for me. Not making a judgement on Bolton specifically.

There are degrees of "wrong" and you need the "context" e.g. why someone did what they did. There are different levels/gradients.

It is wrong to steal.

Is it wrong to steal food if your family is starving? Yes in the legalese sense but in the big scheme of things ... it really isn't that bad just as long as you don't hurt someone or do any other major damage somehow.

Yes, thinking this way can lead to a slippery slope but IMO better than straight up black-and-white.

You live in a fantasy land if you think this.

People are inherently evil. They are selfish creatures that always look out for their own self-interest.

I don't think Obama was the best president, but I think he had a decency to him. I've found Trump and his supporters so devoid of humanity that I think it proves there is no god.

If you think that if someone were to leak Bolton's book as slipping down the same slope as Trump and his administration, then I'd like to see what your standards of decency are. Right now, his subversion and perversion of the truth are beyond evil. Biden would have to ride a coal cart to hell and take over to get even close.

I mean the litany of what Trump and his ilk has done morally, ethically and constant barrage on the tenants of the constitution.

Let's not forget: birtherism, putting kids in cages, killing a foreign national in a drone strike, supporting/enamored with authoritarianism, aspersion to science, perversion of religion and sanctity of marriage, constant lying, bullying, nepotism, greed, placing himself above office, zero empathy for fellow man, using racism to blame for shortcoming, rolling back environmentalism, cronyism, intimidating witnesses, promoting conspiracies, blatant racism, blatant sexism, misogyny, abuse of power, ethnic intimidation, lack of leadership or responsibility, narcissism, voter fraud, voter discrimination...etc...

But yeah, someone leaking Bolton's book, and whoah, them libs are really turning into monsters. And mind, some poster said this jokingly. All the above is actually happening.

Sure, I don't disagree with this. I think murder and stealing are both wrong. That doesn't mean that both are equally bad or that the punishment for each should be the same. There's no reason you can't recognize that and still say that both actions are still wrong.


I actually didn't say that at all and I've already stated I'm not making a slippery slope argument, nor does what you quoted make one. Whatever you're arguing with here, it isn't what I said.


It's pretty obvious it wasn't a joke, esp. considering the number of people who have agreed with the sentiment and the fact that the person who posted it not only didn't ask me if my sarcasm detector was broken but in fact was among those doubling down. Not to mention that I didn't make any attack on libs in general, hold a number of liberal views myself, have a long track record of being anti-Trump, etc.

None of that impacts on the hypocrisy of being all for breaking the law vis a vis Bolton while decrying Trump's constant barrage on the constitution. Seriously, pick a worldview. Either these things matter ... or they don't. If they only matter when we agree with the cause involved, they don't matter and it's all just politics and bloodsport with no underlying standards involved. If that's the case, let's be honest about what we're really saying here and not pretend we really are about all the standards Trump et al. violate.

Bolton is one of the first, but there will be a fair number of people who could have prevented a lot of the pain that Trump has caused who instead helped him do it and who will then profit handsomely from it by writing Anti-Trump tell-all books that people will fall all over themselves to buy ("Look at page 93--sometimes Eric Trump forgets to wipe his butt after he poops!!! LOL LOL LOL").

Because everything is a con.

Personally, I hate that these people are going to make one red cent off of handing Trump gasoline while the country burned and then selling us all pictures of the fire.

But we shouldn't steal from them. The fact that the rule of law is important is the whole reason we are against the GOP in the first place.

So, yeah, I agree that we shouldn't let the abyss stare back. As much as we would like to.

We had previously scheduled our #MAGA Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for June 19th – a big deal. Unfortunately, however, this would fall on the Juneteenth Holiday. Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2020

That's . . . a thoughtful and reasonable response to valid criticism.

Who are you, and what have you done with the President?

Just another con so he can come back later and point to it as another example of how much he has done for the black community.

He almost sounds human until he throws in how many ticket requests he has received.

It's like standard politician craven "hey, I fixed this problem of my own making" as opposed to Trump craven "I'm going to make a racist 'unifying' speech on Juneteenth"

And, yeah, the ticket requests. That's how you know Donnie got his Twitter account back.

SI

Fox is trying sooo hard with CHAZ.

Fox News fell for a Monty Python joke on Reddit lmao pic.twitter.com/Yo34yuQvlD

— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) June 13, 2020

My mom called yesterday to make sure we're ok and the wife's family is convinced we're living in a war zone.

My dad texted me and said "bet you're glad you don't live in Seattle anymore"

Of course, Fox News is using Photoshop for their coverage of Seattle (i.e. making shit up):

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/13/media...est/index.html

lmao Fox News is photoshopping an armed guard into pictures about the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone to make it look more dangerous than it is
(h/t @sumromanus!) pic.twitter.com/WtxE8k18KB
— Michael Hobbes (@RottenInDenmark) June 12, 2020

They also used a fiery photo from Minnesota as the centerpiece on a package of stories about Seattle. https://t.co/RBF0ttg2ku pic.twitter.com/bElH94RgYW
— Gina Cole (@Gina_Cole_) June 12, 2020

SI

The Trump Administration‘s decision to eliminate protections for transgender patients is simply wrong. I’ll work to overturn this discriminatory policy.

— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) June 13, 2020

She's not the worst thing going on right now by far. But is anyone in D.C. more of a self-parody than Susan Collins? It's life as performance art.

Is there anyone that ruined their reputation during the Trump years more than Collins?

I wonder how many GOP Senators are going to find their spine if Trump continues to poll poorly and his campaign is the disaster reports make it out to be.

Likely too late to change much. The last time a party bailed on their lost cause nominee and saved their House and Senate positions was 1996 with Dole. They tried that again with McCain in 2008 and it blew up in their face. And now, people are even more tied in either for or against the President. They couldn't detach themselves in time after the last four years, nor should they be able to.

Trembling Trump has trouble lifting glass of water during speech - New York Daily News

Something wrong with him.

Well we know the stairs are because he can't see, and refuses to wear glasses, because it's a sign of WEAKNESS! It's also why he squints A LOT.

Jeff Sessions out here spending his weekend fighting for the Confederacy.

FFS GOP...

The number of candidates in this debate dwarfs the early Democratic debates.

It almost looks like maybe he is too fat for his jacket? I have no idea.

That primary is the most fascinating one in the country imo.

I'm surprised they haven't suggested putting a fence around it and calling it ALCACHAZ.

As far as backtracking on the Juneteenth rally, it could be that his campaign successfully argued to him that directly causing another riot is going to cost him the election. Surely SOMEONE in that organization believes the polls and sees some real danger that he won't be able to count but a few votes outside of his rabid 35-40%.

The GOP running as the defenders of the Confederacy won't help their suburban women problem.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/13/media...wer/index.html

Is it bad when, as a President, you're less popular than Comcast?

SI

Tim Scott said this morning that qualified immunity reform or abolition is a red line for Republicans. So expect lots of talk and Mitch stopping anything from happening at the national level.

Ted Cruz trying to instigate a fight and have somebody else fill in for him is very on brand. Go GOP.

Note to the people selling Trump 2020 merchandise that I just saw on my way home. I fully support you selling whatever you want. I fully support you putting out some of the flags to advertise your pop up shop. I don't support making sure that your Trump 2020, Women for Trump and Don't Tread On Me flags are flying in the breeze while the US FLAG IS LYING ON THE FUCKING GROUND! And then when I call you on it, you tell me I need to get out of here cause I am a fucking ni***er.

Oh well at least I did not get shot so progress.

But you sure as hell better not kneel as THAT is disrespectful to the flag which is 100% what the issue is. :rolleyes:

I fully expect the GOP to turn on Trump... only if he loses the election (which I don't think he will personally).

Bad day for Trump in the Supreme Court. I like the 6-3 ruling protecting LGBT people from discrimination in the workplace. Roberts and Gorsuch joined the four liberals in the majority.

Was worried this was going to go the other way. Are there more decisions coming from SCOTUS today?

Can answer this myself:

https://apnews.com/cfc528bd21b256a3c321edfff40d50eb

https://apnews.com/69fb607b8143d0706e9c7f376f10cd6d

https://apnews.com/2af6c9fea55743a5e40cfcf14e28c1e0

Did get one in the "win" column though:

https://apnews.com/0315aa9e057106fe4590ad8c069ebc54

I think those were all fairly sound options from the court. A shocking thing to think looking back 3 years ago.

Trump not having a good day-FDA stops promoting Trump's magical cure for the virus.

Even one of the most right-leaning polls. Rasmussen, has Biden up by +12%

Roberts likes to throw a bone on social issues as long as he can rule for pro business/corporate issues. I'm most curious to see if he'll thread the needle on all the abortion and Obamacare cases being hurled at him.

This. He figured out which way the social wind was blowing and went with Obergefell.

But he's going to be perfectly fine to help dismantle the administrative state, rule wildly pro business, and rig elections (gutting the Civil Rights act, upholding gerrymandering /and/ making it harder to challenge, and, of course, Citizens United)

SI

I think it's mostly their preferred position. If you could guarantee them the Senate in exchange for the Presidency, I think they'd take it in a heartbeat.

They got their irreparable damage to much of the bureaucracy through 4 years of gross incompetence and brain drain. They got so many nutjob judges in place for decades to come.

They get to hand Biden an ineptly managed pandemic, damaged foreign policy, and a destroyed economy. Then they get to kick him around for 4 years, not letting him get anything done or solve any of the problems of Trump's creation or mismanagement.

Then then get to run some button-up conservative ideologue who invokes many Hail Trumps (as opposed to the old Saint Reagans) but can decry the part of Trump where he said the quiet part loud. And then force through a bunch of harsh austerity to further damage what little social safety net we have and keep moving us along that path toward corporate dystopia.

SI

I actually don't see it as a social/corporate issue divide for Roberts. He wrote the dissenting opinion for Obergefell and it didn't pull any punches. In fact, that opinion sounds much like what Kavanaugh wrote today. However, he also voted to uphold Obamacare multiple times.

Roberts seems deeply concerned with the image of the court. I think once Gorsuch voted with the liberals, Roberts went with him to avoid it being a 5-4 decision. It also allowed him to assign Gorsuch to write the opinion rather than one of the liberals.

I like the idea of infrastructure spending but not enough details right now. I know it's unlikely we'll get unemployed laying asphalt and such but have to think it will help unemployment some.

Although this will increase our debt, it provides a tangible return and is needed sooner or later.

Zoom In Icon

Kudlow says the $600/week will end in July. Also the Fed is buying individual corporate bonds to keep the markets up.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

This is nothing new, as Trump has advocated a massive national infrastructure program throughout his presidency. The republicans are lukewarm on the issue, but the biggest obstacle is getting the democrats to get behind the initiative. Obviously if Obama or Clinton was in power, the democrats would be enthusiastically supporting this, but with the current state of affairs, nothing that Trump proposes can be seen as a good idea. Therefore, this initiative will go nowhere.

This isn't what I remember and this matches closer to my memory:

https://www.rollcall.com/2018/12/20/...r-wall-demand/

They've always tried to tie together infrastructure spending with his big, beautiful wall.

Not to mention that Democrats were very supportive of infrastructure spending, but whenever Trump proposed a bill it was mostly big tax cuts (with little oversight) as opposed to direct spending on infrastructure.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

"And, in other news, the 2023 Inspector General report found that over $460B of the $1T infrastructure bill has been unaccounted for. It has been spent out of the fund but there have been few leads as to where it went. The IG's office issued a rare apology for the lack of oversight, citing a lack of resources to do a more thorough job. They have also been unable to compel testimony through legal means. Despite a Tweet from former President Trump inadvertently implicating a Trump-owned firm of accepting $47B and no evidence of any substantive infrastructure work, the IG's office and House have been unable to enforce any subpoenas to track down the money. The Supreme Court has denied two appeals of two lower court rulings where Trump-nominated judges ruled in favor of the former President."

SI

What? The Dems tried to negotiate an infrastructure plan multiple times. Last year there was a deal and then Mitch killed it. This year, before the pandemic, Dems were pitching an almost 1 trillion plan. Obviously the details will matter, but Dems have been willing, too willing IMO, to pass a huge infrastructure deal. The problem is Mitch and the GOP Senate.

The United States Senate under Mitch McConnell is either a walking filibuster (if in a minority) or an avenue to ram unqualified judges through and little else otherwise. If you told me I'd get a re elected Donald Trump but McConnell shipped to Mars forever and a Democratic Senate, I'd seriously consider the tradeoff. Mitch has done more damage to this country than Trump. The parties actually negotiated before he went full asshat

What would Trump do with a completely Democratic congress? Never mind, he would still inflict as much damage as possible.

But I bet there would be a lot more threats to conduct oversight. There might even be a speech or two.

Now the White House is suing Bolton for breach of contract. They are desperate for this book not to come out. How much you want to bet it does make it out and it is a big nothing burger? They are going to make this tremendous deal out of it, and the worst thing says is the President mispronounced a leaders name or something.

Bringing the cancel culture topic over here from the college football thread because I think it was way off topic. Some people say it's not getting ridiculous and I am just old. Stuff like this is pretty absurdly ridiculous in my opinion. This is behavior of the 6th graders I teach...

Domino's responds to backlash over thanking Trump staffer in 2012 - Business Insider

The lede buried in that article is that Kayleigh McEnany thinks "Dominos is wayyyy better than any NYC pizza."

In 2012. Some intern at dominoes who runs their twitter feed is supposed to know she will be in the Trump admin 8 years in the future?

I watched two entire seasons of the Apprentice. I hope nobody finds that out.

Sure, that's ridiculous.

...but I'd also like to address the stock pizza picture they chose for that article:



WTF?

Welcome to my ignore list.

I agree that this was stupid. However, this went nowhere. People saw it as such and Dominos did not, in fact, get cancelled. Instead, people from both the right and the left are rightly dunking on Rick Wilson. And he may have ironically got himself cancelled due to an Instagram post someone found where he has a cooler with a Confederate flag on it.

I agree that cancel culture can go too far. However, I don't think the Gundy situation is as simplistic as you're making it out to be. Similar to the FSU situation where the coach lied about having a meeting with his players, it goes beyond just a t-shirt and touches on the issues of a mostly white coaching culture disconnected from the real concerns of its players.

Ah, "cancel culture" will be the cry if "political correctness" updated for 20 years later

SI

These fucking guys.

Why did Trump have a secretive, midnight run to Walter Reed Medical Center? It’s time we talk about it. #TrumpIsNotWell pic.twitter.com/c8g97n61s5

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) June 16, 2020

What's FDR hiding? Why won't the press admit what we all know is true? He's in a wheelchair. With the world at war, don't we need a strong President?

I could name 100 reasons to vote against Trump without needing to pause. Resorting to his physical weakness is juvenile bullying. Do better Lincoln Project.