Donald John Trump: 2016 President-Elect

[NewDigs]

1 hour ago, Duke Silver said:

Hopefully this doesn't turn into a tl;dr post...

Anyway, just had a really nice convo w/ a couple of my more conservative friends.  Like me, they are #neverTrump 'ers.  Unlike me, they are way more on the right; I'm a "convictionless moderate" (their term for me).  Their evolving views on Trump is clearly, to me, a microcosm of what is happening right now in the GOP.

"Trumpism" is not a thing...at least from a policy standpoint.  Does anyone doubt that Ryan & McConnell will control the legislative agenda?  They control the purse strings...  Trump's populism only serves to enable a conservative agenda.  Look at his cabinet-to-be.  It will be the most conservative cabinet in history.  The GOP loves this.

Trump is just a distraction as far as the serious members of the GOP are concerned.  His tweets & theatrics will entertain & occupy the minds of the pleb Trump supporters.  The conservative agenda marches on.  That's why we are seeing so many conservatives jump on board.  It has sunk in that Trump is far, far from being some kind of revolutionary force (again, from a policy standpoint).  Now, things like Russia/Putin???  Well, other than for a select few (McCain, specifically....Graham will get on board), the massive swing to a pro-Russia/Putin policy is doable.  It just might be smart business, and it can certainly fit with the anti-Muslim foreign policy/world view.

In short, Trump is the one who caved-in.

The forgoing is their take on things, and, even though they despise Trump, I can tell the siren song of a GOP-controlled federal government is overcoming their hate of Trump.  Seems like as far as they are concerned, if Trump can be a "useful idiot" for Putin, he can likewise be the same for the GOP.

-----------

I realize this is hardly new thinking around these parts, but I wanted to type-out the entire thought, just to see how it reads.  Figured I might as well post it here.

"Useful idiot" works for me. But I would love to see a "Trump Caves!" headline. I don't think he gets it.

He has managed to get 30% of these useful idiots :

'A new poll found that many Americans—including 30% of Republican primary voters—say they would bomb the fictional country from Disney’s Aladdin, but the poll should be trusted about as much as the movie’s villainous vizier Jafar. 

(It was fun while it lasted)

to also support Putin. 

'While the Russian president still has a net un-favorability rating among Republicans, his standing has improved dramatically – from a net negative of 66 points to a mere 10 points. 
By comparison, only 17 percent of Republicans have a favorable view of President Barack Obama, the December poll found. Obama’s net negative among Republicans is 64 points – significantly worse than the party’s take on Putin.

 

 

I find it difficult to not sometimes use what others might call disparaging terms aimed at Trump et aI and understand the minefield but I also know that one of the reasons I like this board is that I feel free to vent. We have myriad Trumpisms.

Also, I would appreciate, if when quoted, my posts remain mine. I have seen namechange edits w/o attribution and I would prefer that not happening.

Edited December 17, 2016 by NewDigs

[candall]

4 hours ago, NewDigs said:

 

 

Yikes.  I'm sure these are all professionally posed, but can you imagine a series of photos of Obama--or Clinton or Bush or any other President, for that matter--with his hand inches away from his adolescent daughter's crotch?

It's just not possible this guy is our PRESIDENT!!  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Edited December 17, 2016 by candall

[AntiBeeSpray]

1 hour ago, Duke Silver said:

Hopefully this doesn't turn into a tl;dr post...

Anyway, just had a really nice convo w/ a couple of my more conservative friends.  Like me, they are #neverTrump 'ers.  Unlike me, they are way more on the right; I'm a "convictionless moderate" (their term for me).  Their evolving views on Drumpf is clearly, to me, a microcosm of what is happening right now in the GOP.

"Trumpism" is not a thing...at least from a policy standpoint.  Does anyone doubt that Ryan & McConnell will control the legislative agenda?  They control the purse strings...  Drumpf's populism only serves to enable a conservative agenda.  Look at his cabinet-to-be.  It will be the most conservative cabinet in history.  The GOP loves this.

Drumpf is just a distraction as far as the serious members of the GOP are concerned.  His tweets & theatrics will entertain & occupy the minds of the pleb Drumpf supporters.  The conservative agenda marches on.  That's why we are seeing so many conservatives jump on board.  It has sunk in that Drumpf is far, far from being some kind of revolutionary force (again, from a policy standpoint).  Now, things like Russia/Putin???  Well, other than for a select few (McCain, specifically....Graham will get on board), the massive swing to a pro-Russia/Putin policy is doable.  It just might be smart business, and it can certainly fit with the anti-Muslim foreign policy/world view.

In short, Drumpf is the one who caved-in.

The forgoing is their take on things, and, even though they despise Drumpf, I can tell the siren song of a GOP-controlled federal government is overcoming their hate of Drumpf.  Seems like as far as they are concerned, if Drumpf can be a "useful idiot" for Putin, he can likewise be the same for the GOP.

-----------

I realize this is hardly new thinking around these parts, but I wanted to type-out the entire thought, just to see how it reads.  Figured I might as well post it here.

Well they hit the nail on the head. They figure that they can push what ever they want through without much push back.

[Menrva]

There is nothing Trump supporters can say that will ever make me be okay with their vote. Nothing. And I do not want to take the high road here. I want blood. I will call that repulsive liar every insulting name I feel like using. This is for every birther claim, every false report that Obama was a secret homosexual Muslim working to overthrow the US government, every disgusting comment about Michelle Obama. I don't need to convince those people by taking the high road because nothing I do will ever convince them to change their minds or realize that our country is in real serious danger. I get upset when I hear about people paying for bigots' coffees or meals, to show how noble and nonjudgmental they are; you know what those bigots are thinking? Those bigots are thinking "Suckers! I just got a free meal from those stupid libtards!" No one is going to suddenly realize that they were so wrong about everything. Tang the Conqueror's slavering sycophants are beyond truth, beyond facts and beyond compassion.

I don't feel like cutting them slack or trying to meet them halfway. I'm tired of the Democrats rolling over and showing their bellies, hoping that by cooperating, they might get a bone. Drumpf's supporters voted for a sexual predator who lies as much as he breathes. A tax cheat and a philanderer and a racist and a misogynist who lusts after his own daughter. I can't explain why these things don't seem to matter to his supporters but it turns my stomach and I will not apologize for my feelings. I am not going to tone it down to make his voters feel better about themselves. This is not being a sore loser - my children's future is at stake. My family members' health and safety is in real jeopardy. Our civil liberties are in actual danger. The only ones who need a "safe space" and live in a bubble are the Republicans who support Twitler. They scream about intolerance whenever his lies are fact checked, whenever anyone pushes back against his racism and bigotry. Why do we have to accommodate this outrage? He and his followers offend me to my very core and I cannot stand back and just watch my country being stolen from me. So no, I'm not okay with this and I'm not going to stop pointing out every insult, every speck of corruption, every lie. The Republicans lied and obstructed and cheated for the past 8 years. Time for them to see what it feels like.

[Padma]

Re: Marla. She and Trump have both agreed it was a poor match and that she was much less materialistic and more "spiritual" than he was. The only critical thing I've read from her (mild) of him was that "I saw a potential in him to be a deeper, more spiritual person but we just didn't work out" (meaning, to quote someone, "WRONG!")

The pres. of Trump Plaza met Marla while she and DT were having an affair and was surprised that she was quite sweet and sincere, not a sophisticate or a gold-digger-type and he believed she really loved him. (He also describes Trump often treating her like shit so..no surprises there. ) He probably thinks she tricked him into marriage which happened two months after Tiffany's birth.

The pre-nup had an unusual clause that if they stayed married for longer than five years, she'd be entitled to a LOT of money. But if they divorced sooner, she'd only get $1 million (even then he claimed to be a billionaire).  His lawyer marked the date on his calendar--and Donald referred to it to his biographer, too, clearly planning a divorce in time to save himself money. 

Always a douchebag.

[NewDigs]

1 hour ago, candall said:

Yikes.  I'm sure these are all professionally posed, but can you imagine a series of photos of Obama--or Clinton or Bush or any other President, for that matter--with his hand inches away from his adolescent daughter's crotch?

It's just not possible this guy is our PRESIDENT!!  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I don't think even TLC would consider picking up this mess. And they're the royalty of trashtacky teevee. 

And I'm not sure that pro-posed makes it all any less squicky. Who thought it was a good idea in the first place?

I bet a fly on the wall would have caught some good Donald-sexisms.

[Lunata]

6 hours ago, NewDigs said:

I guess she needs to learn from Ivanka.

This concludes the creepy part of the program. Though there's a horrifying number of additional creep-pics.

I've seen this a few times on YouTube and each video claims that Tiffany 'ducked a kiss' from Donald. Judging from this video alone, it might be seen that way by some but when I saw it I thought just the opposite, that Trump avoided kissing Tiffany. I have seen her with the other children and she always seems like the 'odd man out'. I think it's pretty obvious that he just doesn't have the same affection for Tiffany as he does the other silver-spoon babies. It's sad but she's rich and hangs with other rich kids. I think she has a good mother in Marla and hopefully that keeps her stable. Having Trump for a father that obviously prefers his other children to her just can't be easy for a girl growing up.

Here's the same scene only from a far away overhead angle and it's clear that he didn't want any part of a kiss from his daughter Tiffany. She comes to him with a big smile and touches his arm, he barely acknowledges her.

Edited December 17, 2016 by Lunata

[candall]

I'm watching Obama's press conference and pulling my damn hair out.  He makes this statement:  "Over a third of Republican voters approve of Vladimir Putin, the former head of the KGB.  Ronald Reagan would roll over in his grave. And how did that happen?  It happened in part because . . . ."

And then he pauses and fumbles and searches for the exact diplomatic words, which come out to some convoluted point about bipartisanship and how both Dems and Repubs insist on seeing everything through the lens of hurts us or helps us or the impact on Obama blah blah blah.

JUST SAY IT!   REPUBLICANS ARE SUDDENLY BIG FANS OF PUTIN BECAUSE THE FUCKING P-E KEEPS TELLING US HE'S A REAL PRINCE OF A GUY!!!!

 

Then you have to wait to get the talking heads pointing out that DT has more faith in Putin than he does the US Intelligence agencies and that Putin has a higher approval rating among Repubs than Hillary Clinton.  But that's all oh-so much too late.

 

Obama has 30-some days left in office.  Can he not step into "no fucks left to give" mode and AT LEAST be plain that Putin is not to be trusted and there must be some serious questions asked about anyone who claims he is????  What's the point of all these years of doing his level best to help the country if the last of his power is spent on making sure the road to a "smooth transistion" doesn't have any extra bumps--like:  "Have you people all gone crazy?  We're Americans and he rigged our election!  We don't dance to Putin's music!  We sanction that guy, not partner up and drill for oil in the Arctic with him!"

[parisprincess]

I can't wait to watch Oprah's interview with Michelle Obama on Monday night. I watched a clip earlier and her remarks about having an adult in the White House and about not having hope were such a great burn on Trump.

On his show tonight, Lawrence O'Donnell showed clips of how presidential Obama sounded in today's press conference as compared to how unpresidential Trump sounded on his self-congratulation tour stop today.  Does this guy think he's still on the campaign trail? Also, O'Donnell, along with Rachel and Chris Hayes, seemed to enjoy playing the clip where President Obama said (about the Republicans' love of Putin) that Ronald Reagan would roll over in his grave - lol!

eta:  candall, I didn't see your post covering the Reagan quote before posting myself.

Edited December 17, 2016 by parisprincess

[Lunata]

At his rally tonight in Orlando, Trump told his crowd, "you people were vicious, violent, screaming, 'Where's the wall?' 'We want the wall!' Screaming, 'Prison!' 'Prison!' 'Lock her up!' I mean, you were going crazy. You were nasty and mean and vicious. And you wanted to win, right?" "It's much different," he said. "Now you're laid back, you're cool, you're mellow, right? You're basking in the glory of victory."

He just told his worshipers that they were vicious, violent, mean and nasty and they all reacted with cheers and applause.

Edited December 17, 2016 by Lunata

[parisprincess]

Lunata, you can't say that Trump isn't an equal opportunity offender! Of course his supporters aren't bright enough to realize that he was insulting them and their behavior.

[KIMBERLYANN11]

13 minutes ago, Lunata said:

At his rally tonight in Orlando, Trump told his crowd, "you people were vicious, violent, screaming, 'Where's the wall?' 'We want the wall!' Screaming, 'Prison!' 'Prison!' 'Lock her up!' I mean, you were going crazy. You were nasty and mean and vicious. And you wanted to win, right?" "It's much different," he said. "Now you're laid back, you're cool, you're mellow, right? You're basking in the glory of victory."

He just told his worshipers that they were vicious, violent, mean and nasty and they all reacted with cheers and applause.

That's how that type of voter is.  They like anything vicious, violent, mean, nasty and I'll throw in cruel and hateful..  They sit at night and think about if an issue helps them or hurts them and then they think about if it hurts someone else.  If it hurts someone else then the answer to question one is irrelevant.  The people who voted for him and will lose their health benefits are a prime example.  They don't care if it hurts them as long as they get to see people locked up, thrown over a wall or put in camps.   They are all excited that they can now say the n word because political correctness is dead - yay.  And soon you'll be able to discriminate against the gays and turn women into baby-making machines  - yee-haw!

6 minutes ago, parisprincess said:

Lunata, you can't say that Trump isn't an equal opportunity offender! Of course his supporters aren't bright enough to realize that he was insulting them and their behavior.

Heaven forbid he call them deplorable.

[Pixel]

30 minutes ago, Lunata said:

At his rally tonight in Orlando, Trump told his crowd, "you people were vicious, violent, screaming, 'Where's the wall?' 'We want the wall!' Screaming, 'Prison!' 'Prison!' 'Lock her up!' I mean, you were going crazy. You were nasty and mean and vicious. And you wanted to win, right?" "It's much different," he said. "Now you're laid back, you're cool, you're mellow, right? You're basking in the glory of victory."

He just told his worshipers that they were vicious, violent, mean and nasty and they all reacted with cheers and applause.

You forgot the worst part, where he said, "...and that's all right. I love it!" 

[Padma]

I found Obama's press conference very disappointing.  Smart, nice but very concerned imo with how history will judge his presidency and trying to keep everything calm to the end.

I wonder if the so-called "intelligence report" (going back over a decade in tracing the history of Russian hacking) will be more of a whitewash than what I am hoping for. I have no hope it will implicate Trump or even look into the Manafort/Stone connection.

I cannot remember any time that Obama has shown sustained anger and outrage and used it to forcefully lead Americans to change something.  

What I wouldn't give for a JFK, RFK or TK.  Republicans have so many fired-up leaders when needed and Democrats have...none, not even when we're talking about 3 million vote win leading to a loss, egged on by Russian hackers and undermining from the FBI.  And yet, for Dems, inc the President, just seems like business as usual. No big deal. Nothing to see here.

[AntiBeeSpray]

12 minutes ago, Padma said:

I found Obama's press conference very disappointing.  Smart, nice but very concerned imo with how history will judge his presidency and trying to keep everything calm to the end.

I wonder if the so-called "intelligence report" (going back over a decade in tracing the history of Russian hacking) will be more of a whitewash than what I am hoping for. I have no hope it will implicate Drumpf or even look into the Manafort/Stone connection.

I cannot remember any time that Obama has shown sustained anger and outrage and used it to forcefully lead Americans to change something.  

What I wouldn't give for a JFK, RFK or TK.  Republicans have so many fired-up leaders when needed and Democrats have...none, not even when we're talking about 3 million vote win leading to a loss, egged on by Russian hackers and undermining from the FBI.  And yet, for Dems, inc the President, just seems like business as usual. No big deal. Nothing to see here.

Probably. It needs to be fully independent, but it is what it is.

Word. Or even a TR. Theodore Roosevelt would be rolling in his grave right now. He was far from perfect, but at least he was fired up. Republican sure, but probably closer to a Progressive in some ways and more Democratic in others.

But to be fair, I don't envy the position that Pres. Obama is in. He can only tip the hand so far without giving the enemy any information. And he can only say so much in general.

[sistermagpie]

3 hours ago, NewDigs said:

In short, Trump is the one who caved-in.

Or really not even caved, because he never had a real platform. He just says what will make people in the room be impressed with him. The crowds cheered for the wall and lock her up and bringing back jobs so he said them. He clearly never had any plans to actually be president. No vision for the country, just for himself. So no surprise, really, that when he found out he had to staff a government he turned to the standard Republicans. Some of them from the fringes, sure, the more openly racist. But the main party isn't bothered by that stuff if they can get what they want. He just wants to be the king out giving more rallies while the usual crew run things into the ground. TDS showed one of his recent speeches where he's up on a podium getting cheers as he basically brags about the day he came up with "Drain the Swamp" and he just said it and they loved it so he said it again and after a while he sort of believed it. Meanwhile he's been filling up his cabinet with insiders and guys poised to make money for themselves by screwing over the people. And the crowd just keeps cheering. It really does seem like they think they can identify with him to the point where if he screws them over they somehow get to vicariously benefit from it. Meanwhile he's up there talking about how he said some words once and people went crazy for it like he can't believe his own power.

Of course, this is completely the opposite of what his people were allegedly voting for but they seem to be happy as long as they have their king and can tell themselves that there's a New York Times reporter or a Mexican-American or a gay couple who might be unhappy then they got theirs. And surely any second now all those people will have their benefits taken away while somehow their own are magically untouched. Because they've got a rich guy in office just for them!

Trump will also probably get bored and then it'll just be about the Republicans having to keep him somewhat behaved. Maybe they'll be able to get rid of some of his less savory advisors that they don't like anyway.

[suomi]

The insistence on having at least one of The Four present at all times has me believing that they know what Nancy Reagan knew: Their Guy has dementia and must be carefully watched (over) at all times. This one also appears to have ADD or ADHD and appears not to evaluate or retain new information very well unless The Four spit it back up for him, carefully chewed and ready for digestion. I think we will see at least one of The Four (Donald Jr, Eric, Ivanka, Jared) with him during every hour of every day and this will not change for any reason, no matter how loud or fervent the criticism. I think he is scared shitless (even with, and perhaps because of, his various incapacities) and so are they.

[Padma]

18 minutes ago, suomi said:

The insistence on having at least one of The Four present at all times has me believing that they know what Nancy Reagan knew: Their Guy has dementia and must be carefully watched (over) at all times. This one also appears to have ADD or ADHD and appears not to evaluate or retain new information very well unless The Four spit it back up for him, carefully chewed and ready for digestion. I think we will see at least one of The Four (Donald Jr, Eric, Ivanka, Jared) with him during every hour of every day and this will not change for any reason, no matter how loud or fervent the criticism. I think he is scared shitless (even with, and perhaps because of, his various incapacities) and so are they.

I agree there will probably be one or two people with him always, but I think it will be Priebus and/or Bannon possibly sometimes augmented by one of the (4) kids.  Looking at these appointments, I think one or both of those first two are a lot more important in the big matters with the kids handling the smaller appointments and meetings.

I guess Kushner signed off on the right-wing Israeli ambassador nominee and on the concession to give Israel the capitol in Jerusalem without getting anything in exchange. (So much for Kushner brokering Middle East peace!  Not going to happen now.) 

[navelgazer]

44 minutes ago, Padma said:

What I wouldn't give for a JFK, RFK or TK.  Republicans have so many fired-up leaders when needed and Democrats have...none, not even when we're talking about 3 million vote win leading to a loss, egged on by Russian hackers and undermining from the FBI.  And yet, for Dems, inc the President, just seems like business as usual. No big deal. Nothing to see here.

HRC as the candidate is the de facto party leader, yet if she had spoken out any sooner, she would have been excoriated in the media and by Twitler and by the RWNJs on hate radio with "how dare she try to steal Twitler's win," reminiscent of the sore loserman bullcrap Gore got during the Florida recount period.  

I think HRC would serve, but only if asked.  Either way, I'm getting to the point where I'll watch dispassionately for Monday's EC vote with a tiny spark of hope, yet all the while knowing literally the only way to stop Twitler will soon be gone and let the horror show begin.  

-----

Or in other words...

Quote

 

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028373774

We are leaderless basically and here's why:

The republicans are brazen only because they do everything the corporate powers want them to do. They have corporate controlled squawk machines that spew bs against the left because they need to make us hated because they know we will win if the people ever get to hear and understand our side. 

We can't fight or our so called leaders can't fight because they know they will be destroyed by the corporate squawk machine media. If and when we actually do fight we are ignored or ridiculed. That never happens to the right. The proof that our leaders don't fight because they are treated differently is the fact that a man like Donald Trump made it this far. All things equal a democrat behaving like him would not have lasted a second. 

Corporate media corporate control and money in politics is to blame. 

I heard Chris Hayes and Michael Moore talking about why won't the Democrats fight. It's because they are always ridiculed and destroyed by the republican controlled media. They get their allowed talking points. 

It's like Cinderella pitching a fit over unfair treatment, she gets laughed at and beaten down. That is what we are dealing with. We are Cinderella and we are waiting for a fairy godmother (truth) to rescue us but she can't appear in this maddness.

Money out of politics will be America's fairy godmother!

 

[jhlipton]

On 12/14/2016 at 8:12 AM, candall said:

McCain has declined multiple opportunities to defy DT when that opposition would have seemed automatic and so far, he has surprised and disappointed.

ChikenShit McCain should have been on the news Every Damn Night with some POW -- letting Drumpf know that POWs are heroes and that Drumpf is the "loser".

 

On 12/14/2016 at 5:07 PM, fireice13 said:

[T]he GOP will cause a huge backlash

I had a Facebook post from 2 or 3 years ago saying that we would never have another Republican President.  The GOP voters will never cause a backlash.

[backformore]

Auction Offering Coffee With Ivanka Trump Is Canceled

Quote

WASHINGTON — An auction offering a 45-minute private meeting with Ivanka Trump in exchange for a charitable donation was abruptly canceled Friday after questions were raised about the process by ethics experts, who said it appeared to offer bidders special access to the next first family.........................................................................................

Richard Painter, who served as an ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, said that Ivanka Trump should not have been soliciting charitable donations from the public in exchange for special access, given the prominent role she has played in the transition effort and the prospect that she may serve as an informal adviser to her father’s administration with an office in the White House.

[OrigamiNightmare]

Part of me keeps thinking, the only good Trump and his ilk are ever going to do, is die.

I'm not advocating violence. The statement just reads better without the disclaimer.

[Padma]

2 hours ago, navelgazer said:

HRC as the candidate is the de facto party leader, yet if she had spoken out any sooner, she would have been excoriated in the media and by Twitler and by the RWNJs on hate radio with "how dare she try to steal Twitler's win," reminiscent of the sore loserman bullcrap Gore got during the Florida recount period.  

I don't think people should decide whether they speak out and fight for a cause based on how the Republicans and the media are going to treat them.

Re: Florida. That was Republican spin and they're always going to be good at it--because they are AGGRESSIVE and FIGHT for public opinion to side with them.  Gore had reasons galore to challenge the results and did, but he also accepted things that he shouldn't have.

For example, the Democratic AG, Bob Butterworth (also Gore's campaign finance chair) recused himself completely. So did candidate Bush's brother Jeb, the governor of Florida (although phone calls, etc. showed he remained involved on his brother's behalf).

Worse, Democrats never demanded (or even requested) that the Secretary of State Katherine Harrism recuse herself as well. The SOS was in charge of overseeing the recount.  Harris was ALSO the head of George Bush's campaign in Florida and made many important decisions about the recount, all of them against Gore.  Yet Gore never insisted that she should recuse herself as the Democratic AG had.  (2 SC judges should have recused themselves as well, but Dems didn't say it. Republicans would have.)

Republicans are aggressive and fearless. Democrats have the better ideas and plans for the greatest number of people, but lack conviction and often are like timid little mice. (I don't see Schumer changing this. He exudes weakness so far--not promising.) It might all be fine if they were dealing with moderate Republicans of days gone by. They're not. They have to be willing to fight now--and they're mostly Just. Not.

[navelgazer]

4 minutes ago, Padma said:

I don't think people should decide whether they speak out and fight for a cause based on how the Republicans and the media are going to treat them.

---

Republicans are aggressive and fearless. Democrats have the better ideas and plans for the greatest number of people, but lack conviction and often are like timid little mice. (I don't see Schumer changing this. He exudes weakness so far--not promising.) It might all be fine if they were dealing with moderate Republicans of days gone by. They're not. They have to be willing to fight now--and they're mostly Just. Not.

It is not the Democrats' fault that the Felonious Five conservatives on the high court decided to illegally intervene in the recount, thus awarding the election to Chimpy McCokespoon.  The CONs on  the court were for states' rights until, uh, yeah, they weren't, or the CONs in the congress care about deficits until, uh, they have the power to spend, uh, and then they don't give a shit.  

Quote

 

https://www.thenation.com/article/none-dare-call-it-treason/

None Dare Call It Treason

Five Supreme Court Justices are criminals in the truest sense of the word.

By Vincent Bugliosi

JANUARY 18, 2001

In the December 12 ruling by the US Supreme Court handing the election to George Bush, the Court committed the unpardonable sin of being a knowing surrogate for the Republican Party instead of being an impartial arbiter of the law. If you doubt this, try to imagine Al Gore's and George Bush's roles being reversed and ask yourself if you can conceive of Justice Antonin Scalia and his four conservative brethren issuing an emergency order on December 9 stopping the counting of ballots (at a time when Gore's lead had shrunk to 154 votes) on the grounds that if it continued, Gore could suffer "irreparable harm," and then subsequently, on December 12, bequeathing the election to Gore on equal protection grounds. If you can, then I suppose you can also imagine seeing a man jumping away from his own shadow, Frenchmen no longer drinking wine.

[more at link]

 

[candall]

4 hours ago, backformore said:

Auction Offering Coffee With Ivanka Trump Is Canceled

Quote

WASHINGTON — An auction offering a 45-minute private meeting with Ivanka Trump in exchange for a charitable donation was abruptly canceled Friday after questions were raised about the process by ethics experts, who said it appeared to offer bidders special access to the next first family.........................................................................................

Oh, really?  It finally occurred to someone that the First Family literally pimping themselves out by the hour for cash wasn't a good look?

 

ETA:  And if you hear anyone bemoaning the loss to the sick kids at St. Jude's, be sure and mention that no, the fundraiser money was going straight to "The Eric T Foundation," which was THEN supposedly going to make a donation to St. Jude's.  But there's quite a bit of precedent that charitable donations to a T Foundation for a specific cause have occasionally gone astray.

Edited December 17, 2016 by candall

[Ceindreadh]

2 hours ago, OrigamiNightmare said:

Part of me keeps thinking, the only good Trump and his ilk are ever going to do, is die.

I'm not advocating violence. The statement just reads better without the disclaimer.

Nah, I don't want them dead...just their political careers and their business. 

I want Trump alive and a failure. Come on 2016, you've taken so much already. Take Trumps political career and we'll call it quits. 

[ClareWalks]

Yet another classic Trump tweet this chilly morning! Anyone else wish HE would be "unpresidented?"

[stormy]

OMG  just go to another one of your stupid rallies then go fuck yourself.

Edited December 17, 2016 by stormy

[Chicken Wing]

How soon before Trump is "unpresidented"?

[candall]

I haven't agreed with the suggestions made here that DT is suffering from a progressive mental deterioration syndrome.  That just seemed too simple, compared to the incredibly long odds of all the tumblers lining up at the same time:  a warped boarding school kid from a dysfunctional family, who's never been exposed to anything beyond the rarified world of the elitist upper 1%, develops into a narcissist with a huge ego, suddenly reinforced with celebrity beyond his wildest dreams, and at the same time, he's cocooned and buffered and cossetted and spoonfed a certain distorted picture of reality by assorted people and groups with their own agendas:  Fox News, the GOP, the diehard fan base, and his personal team of sycophants.  (Not to even mention, ffs, Russia!)

But . . .

L. O'Donnell reports that the latest victory speech, in Orlando, included a 30+ minute performance piece of DT imitating various bewildered newscasters reporting his election night win.  One joke, repeated for half an hour?  (Could there have been anyone with an intact thought process listening to that endless stream who didn't think "Get the hook"?)

 

I hope the weekend news stays focused on Russia, but I'm filing this away as a clue in the "Dementia?" folder.  It definitely smacks of the senile old uncle who rambles on with his toast while everyone's arm gets tired holding up the wineglass and the turkey gets cold.

[numbnut]

"Unpresidented." ROFL. He's such a dope.

[callmebetty]

1 hour ago, ClareWalks said:

Yet another classic Trump tweet this chilly morning! Anyone else wish HE would be "unpresidented?"

Now now come on guys what he meant was that he hadn't given his permission yet to do it, so it was UNPRESIDENTED.  

[Shannon L.]

11 hours ago, Lunata said:

I've seen this a few times on YouTube and each video claims that Tiffany 'ducked a kiss' from Donald. Judging from this video alone, it might be seen that way by some but when I saw it I thought just the opposite, that Trump avoided kissing Tiffany.

And I saw it a third way:  She's moving in to talk to him at the same time he's looking at someone behind her and reaching out to shake that person's hand.  I think his attention was so much on the other person that he didn't realize she was going to move in on him like that and she didn't realize he was going in for a handshake until he lifted his arm, at which point she moved out of the way.  I think that's why she laughed and looked back over her shoulder, then moved back to facing him when the handshake was done.  (Does that make sense?  It's not even 7am yet and I've been up since 4).  Anyway, I don't want to defend him--I've heard the stories about his relationship with Tiffany and Marla and his other kids and find it anywhere from appalling to creepy depending on the family member (the only picture of him and Ivanka that doesn't creep me out is the one on the golf cart.  The other two?  ::shudder::)

*And, of course, I wrote all of this out before looking at the second video you posted because I was in a hurry.  Yeah, from the other angle, it does look like he was avoiding her.  What a jerk.

Edited December 17, 2016 by Shannon L.
Finally decided to go back and read the whole post.

[Chicken Wing]

Just now, Shannon L. said:

And I saw it a third way:  She's moving in to talk to him at the same time he's looking at someone behind her and reaching out to shake that person's hand.  I think his attention was so much on the other person that he didn't realize she was going to move in on him like that and she didn't realize he was going in for a handshake until he lifted his arm, at which point she moved out of the way.  I think that's why she laughed and looked back over her shoulder, then moved back to facing him when the handshake was done.  (Does that make sense?  It's not even 7am yet and I've been up since 4).  Anyway, I don't want to defend him--I've heard the stories about his relationship with Tiffany and Marla and his other kids and find it anywhere from appalling to creepy depending on the family member (the only picture of him and Ivanka that doesn't creep me out is the one on the golf cart.  The other two?  ::shudder::)

No, I saw it that way, too. Tiffany ducking to "avoid" a kiss from her father is a fun jokey way to interpret that moment, but really it just looked like a miscommunication -- she was moving to greet him but he was actually going to someone else. Like when you wave back at someone and try to look "smooth" when you realize they weren't actually waving at you.

[random chance]

Somehow I managed to delete the quote box backspacing to correct a typo so this is in response to the post about how The Four are surrounding him because he has dementia. I don't think he's "scared shitless" because in my experience, people with dementia don't know they have dementia (and they also believe their logic to be perfectly fine even when it's clearly not) - but I do think that's why his family is glued to his side. They know. Not that it matters - it won't be enough to keep this shitshow from rolling on.

[Lunata]

25 minutes ago, random chance said:

Somehow I managed to delete the quote box backspacing to correct a typo so this is in response to the post about how The Four are surrounding him because he has dementia. I don't think he's "scared shitless" because in my experience, people with dementia don't know they have dementia (and they also believe their logic to be perfectly fine even when it's clearly not) - but I do think that's why his family is glued to his side. They know. Not that it matters - it won't be enough to keep this shitshow from rolling on.

I just think he's simply bat-shit crazy and one day will do a mic-drop like Kanye West in the middle of a performance only Trump will do it at a press conference during a meltdown.

[Duke Silver]

[PatsyandEddie]

^^^Hook, line and sinker. 

[backformore]

3 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

Yet another classic Trump tweet this chilly morning! Anyone else wish HE would be "unpresidented?"

Rediculous

Busineses

Rediculous

These are all errors he's made that spellcheck would correct, but he makes them anyway!!!

[DollEyes]

On 12/17/2016 at 9:04 AM, Chicken Wing said:

How soon before Trump is "unpresidented"?

Not soon enough. Never soon enough.

Edited December 19, 2016 by DollEyes

[theredhead77]

This is topical because Trump went on a Twrant (Twitter rant) about Vanity Fair: Vanity Fair is offering $5 subscription for digital / print. Not sure if it's only good via their Facebook ad or straight up on their site. 

[SoSueMe]

5 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

Yet another classic Trump tweet this chilly morning! Anyone else wish HE would be "unpresidented?"

He is smart, really smart. Attended Wharton. And... he has the best words. It's just that the polysyllabic ones are a little tricky for him.

[ClareWalks]

2 minutes ago, SoSueMe said:

He is smart, really smart. Attended Wharton. And... he has the best words. It's just that the polysyllabic ones are a little tricky for him.

"I have a very good brain! APOLOGIZE!"

Oh, and he went back and deleted that original tweet and posted a new one with the correct spelling. Slick move, Donnie. No one will ever know.

Edited December 17, 2016 by ClareWalks

[SoSueMe]

15 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

This is topical because Trump went on a Twrant (Twitter rant) about Vanity Fair: Vanity Fair is offering $5 subscription for digital / print. Not sure if it's only good via their Facebook ad or straight up on their site. 

Love the "twrant" :)

Who coined the temper "tantrump" ? Cruz?

[theredhead77]

1 minute ago, SoSueMe said:

Love the "twrant" :)

Thanks! I can't say for sure I am the only one who says that but I haven't heard it before and am feeling pretty clever right now :)

[jhlipton]

5 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

Yet another classic Trump tweet this chilly morning! Anyone else wish HE would be "unpresidented?"

We have always been at war with Eastasia; Eurasia has always been our ally.

[backformore]

18 hours ago, candall said:

Oh, really?  It finally occurred to someone that the First Family literally pimping themselves out by the hour for cash wasn't a good look?

 

ETA:  And if you hear anyone bemoaning the loss to the sick kids at St. Jude's, be sure and mention that no, the fundraiser money was going straight to "The Eric T Foundation," which was THEN supposedly going to make a donation to St. Jude's.  But there's quite a bit of precedent that charitable donations to a T Foundation for a specific cause have occasionally gone astray.

Yes, and I recall people who donated to charities  to help their friends compete on Celeb Apprentice, complaining that though money was raised to be given to a specific charity, the check had to be written to the Trump Foundation, and there was a discrepancy about who could then get the tax deduction for the donation. 

Something like the Eric Trump foundation exists for what reason?  to have people donate it to the foundation instead of directly to the charity?  Why? If I wanted to donate to St Jude's, wouldn't I just do that? 

11 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

Oh, and he went back and deleted that original tweet and posted a new one with the correct spelling. Slick move, Donnie. No one will ever know.

Same thing happened when he tweeted that something (an SNL skit?)  was "REDICULOUS" .  I think he doesn't understand that when spellcheck underlines a word in red, it means that it's wrong.  He probably thinks it means "that's a very smart word, you must have a smart brain."

[Duke Silver]

The Wayback Machine can be an awesome tool.  As they say, once it's on the internet, it's forever....at least until TrumPutin & his ilk figure out a way to co-opt it.

[random chance]

I can't find any confirmation of this, maybe someone else knows -- once he's using the POTUS Twitter he won't be able to delete tweets?

[Lunata]

1 hour ago, SoSueMe said:

Love the "twrant" :)

Who coined the temper "tantrump" ? Cruz?

Temper Tantrum

Truemper Twrantrum  (say it five times fast)