Very strong steroids give you a massive energy rush - it's no surprise they're abused.And 1 guest wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 11:25 pm Is it just me or does he seem even more deranged over the last few days? The tweets from hospital, the pantomime of getting out of the helicopter and unmasking and now drawing this line under months of negotiations that was the hope of some relief for his suffering citizens.
I really fucking hate the fat orange cunt
President Biden and US politics catchall
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mat the expat
- Posts: 1456
- Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 11:12 pm
The partisans got in his ear?
Are you saying that it wasn't his fault?
He would have walked it? Honestly? Do Americans admire stupidity that much?
I saw that you and Ryan felt that his handling of the pandemic was "better than most Western governments" (IIRC), but it still seems unbelievable that his approval rating is in double figures and I'm honestly at a loss to work out why Trump inspires such devotion. Or is it sympathy?
In all seriousness. I'm not trying to score points or denigrate Americans. I genuinely find it difficult to understand.
the guy has now done a complete 360 stating he's ready to put pen to paper on any deal Congress passes. S.h.a.m.e.l.e.s.s. 
We are quite literally seeing what "Trump on steroids" would be like.And 1 guest wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 11:25 pm Is it just me or does he seem even more deranged over the last few days? The tweets from hospital, the pantomime of getting out of the helicopter and unmasking and now drawing this line under months of negotiations that was the hope of some relief for his suffering citizens.
I really fucking hate the fat orange cunt
Give a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
?
What sort of person do you think Trump is? Because I'm pretty sure he's a bitter spiteful narcissist who needs no encouragement to deliberately fuck over millions of people because he doesn't feel like they respect him enough / it'll piss off the people he hates / he's a psychopath. There is literally no evidence he wanted to do shit for the American people: he does not give a single fuck about the country.
He got into office by pissing down the spineless GOP's throats and he'll leave office because he's an uncontrollable lunatic who, at best, can be guided in various directions by judicious leaking of preferred positions to fox fucking news or suggestions that align nicely with his own "fuck you, got mine" 1950s beliefs.
If he wants anything it's more attention and more fame and more time in the big chair, and he could have had it if he'd simply done what our neighbors are doing, not even that. My GF's family in Canada got $2000 a month for four months and her dad basically had a wad of cash thrown at him to save his business. I'm sure Canada's not alone.
All Trump had to do was write a few more checks; as soon as the last one came out, I got a letter in the mail reminding me who sent it with his signature in bolded size 200 font. No prizes for guessing whose idea that was. He understood how this was received and I'm sure he wouldn't have minded more of that. But all of a sudden he cares about fiscal prudence when everybody starts making noise about a second check? I doubt it.
He needed the GOP to get in as wouldn't have won running as an independent. To be fair, there wasn't much the GOP could do about it -- he had the coverage because he's been A-list for 30 years, he had the voters, they had the vanity to break up the opposition vote 17 ways, it was over. But as we've talked about before, he doesn't know anything about politics so the Republicans realized he could basically be their Trojan Horse back into the White House, and he either would be powerless to do anything about it or, perhaps just as likely, wouldn't know any better.
And, feeble efforts at trade reform and lack of oil wars aside, it's basically been the standard GOP playbook.
All Trump had to do was write a few more checks; as soon as the last one came out, I got a letter in the mail reminding me who sent it with his signature in bolded size 200 font. No prizes for guessing whose idea that was. He understood how this was received and I'm sure he wouldn't have minded more of that. But all of a sudden he cares about fiscal prudence when everybody starts making noise about a second check? I doubt it.
He needed the GOP to get in as wouldn't have won running as an independent. To be fair, there wasn't much the GOP could do about it -- he had the coverage because he's been A-list for 30 years, he had the voters, they had the vanity to break up the opposition vote 17 ways, it was over. But as we've talked about before, he doesn't know anything about politics so the Republicans realized he could basically be their Trojan Horse back into the White House, and he either would be powerless to do anything about it or, perhaps just as likely, wouldn't know any better.
And, feeble efforts at trade reform and lack of oil wars aside, it's basically been the standard GOP playbook.
He was furious that the country didn't rush to fawn over him for the money he did hand out. It's not about fiscal prudence, it's about him being almost pathologically incapable of doing things for the benefit of others particularly when the positive feedback loop is absent.Fonz wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:51 am If he wants anything it's more attention and more fame and more time in the big chair, and he could have had it if he'd simply done what our neighbors are doing, not even that. My GF's family in Canada got $2000 a month for four months and her dad basically had a wad of cash thrown at him to save his business. I'm sure Canada's not alone.
All Trump had to do was write a few more checks; as soon as the last one came out, I got a letter in the mail reminding me who sent it with his signature in bolded size 200 font. No prizes for guessing whose idea that was. He understood how this was received and I'm sure he wouldn't have minded more of that. But all of a sudden he cares about fiscal prudence when everybody starts making noise about a second check? I doubt it.
He needed the GOP to get in as wouldn't have won running as an independent. To be fair, there wasn't much the GOP could do about it -- he had the coverage because he's been A-list for 30 years, he had the voters, they had the vanity to break up the opposition vote 17 ways, it was over. But as we've talked about before, he doesn't know anything about politics so the Republicans realized he could basically be their Trojan Horse back into the White House, and he either would be powerless to do anything about it or, perhaps just as likely, know any better.
And, feeble efforts at trade reform and lack of oil wars aside, it's basically been the standard GOP playbook.
The GOP didn't get him elected, he used them as the vehicle while trashing the place. The Republicans in general did not want him, they had their own anodyne, mediocre, borderline psychopath choices that Trump streamrollered on his way to being the ultimate end-game of the Tea Party lunatics that the GOP fatally flirted with.
Anyone heard what this might be about?A press conference will be held tomorrow at 11am for a matter of National Security.
FBI Director Wray, Assistant AG John Demers of the NatSec Division, EDVA U.S. Attorney Zachary Terwilliger, and Acting Assistant Director of FBI WFO James Dawson will all be involved.
Have to agree. The GOP had set up 2016 to be us vs. her in ways the smart a-holes knew to leverage, see Ted Cruz, only they didn't expect Trump to pull the rug from out underneath them with a wider voter base appeal and knowledge how to leverage social media to pull together the base. Which for the likes of Moscow Mitch it didn't make any difference as long as there was a conservative President that would support what the superpacs were paying for from the GOP.Fonz wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:51 am If he wants anything it's more attention and more fame and more time in the big chair, and he could have had it if he'd simply done what our neighbors are doing, not even that. My GF's family in Canada got $2000 a month for four months and her dad basically had a wad of cash thrown at him to save his business. I'm sure Canada's not alone.
All Trump had to do was write a few more checks; as soon as the last one came out, I got a letter in the mail reminding me who sent it with his signature in bolded size 200 font. No prizes for guessing whose idea that was. He understood how this was received and I'm sure he wouldn't have minded more of that. But all of a sudden he cares about fiscal prudence when everybody starts making noise about a second check? I doubt it.
He needed the GOP to get in as wouldn't have won running as an independent. To be fair, there wasn't much the GOP could do about it -- he had the coverage because he's been A-list for 30 years, he had the voters, they had the vanity to break up the opposition vote 17 ways, it was over. But as we've talked about before, he doesn't know anything about politics so the Republicans realized he could basically be their Trojan Horse back into the White House, and he either would be powerless to do anything about it or, perhaps just as likely, wouldn't know any better.
And, feeble efforts at trade reform and lack of oil wars aside, it's basically been the standard GOP playbook.
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fishfoodie
- Posts: 8221
- Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:25 pm
Killing your own donors.
From The Slate
From The Slate
This is the, Billionaire, who said he could just, "use my own money", choosing to risk killing donors, for a mere five millionAccording to Bloomberg News, the president was told, before departing for the fundraiser, that Hicks had tested positive. His behavior was consistent with that report. He “steered clear of reporters assembled for the helicopter takeoff, eschewing his normal back-and-forth and cutting an unusually wide path,” said the article, and he “avoided journalists waiting under the wing of Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews and on the flight to New Jersey.” Maybe Trump was trying to protect reporters from catching whatever he had. Or maybe he was just hiding symptoms.
What’s certain is that Trump, facing an expected haul of $5 million, flew to Bedminster. There, he posed for pictures with high-dollar contributors and spoke to an audience of 100 to 200 people, many of them elderly. He also sat and talked indoors, for more than 45 minutes, at a rectangular table with about 20 people who had ponied up $35,000 to $250,000 apiece. At no point did he wear a mask. According to CBS News, “all participants were required to sign a legal waiver, agreeing not to sue if they contract COVID-19.”
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Hal Jordan
- Posts: 4154
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- Location: Sector 2814
Trump was going on about releasing declassified Russia stuff, possibly it's this election's Hilary emails to spike Biden. The October Surprise that loathsome creature Barr was crowing about.penguin wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 9:10 amAnyone heard what this might be about?A press conference will be held tomorrow at 11am for a matter of National Security.
FBI Director Wray, Assistant AG John Demers of the NatSec Division, EDVA U.S. Attorney Zachary Terwilliger, and Acting Assistant Director of FBI WFO James Dawson will all be involved.
A bunch of things were declassified yesterday, basically rehashing 2016. The trouble fir Trump is that even.ifvthere is anything genuinely legitimate announced tomorrow, he's cried wolf so many times now that no-one will believe itHal Jordan wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 1:57 pmTrump was going on about releasing declassified Russia stuff, possibly it's this election's Hilary emails to spike Biden. The October Surprise that loathsome creature Barr was crowing about.penguin wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 9:10 amAnyone heard what this might be about?A press conference will be held tomorrow at 11am for a matter of National Security.
FBI Director Wray, Assistant AG John Demers of the NatSec Division, EDVA U.S. Attorney Zachary Terwilliger, and Acting Assistant Director of FBI WFO James Dawson will all be involved.
Seems they've caught the ISIS 'beatles'.Saint wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 2:17 pmA bunch of things were declassified yesterday, basically rehashing 2016. The trouble fir Trump is that even.ifvthere is anything genuinely legitimate announced tomorrow, he's cried wolf so many times now that no-one will believe itHal Jordan wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 1:57 pmTrump was going on about releasing declassified Russia stuff, possibly it's this election's Hilary emails to spike Biden. The October Surprise that loathsome creature Barr was crowing about.
They were caught some time ago. They have finally been charged.penguin wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 3:10 pmSeems they've caught the ISIS 'beatles'.Saint wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 2:17 pmA bunch of things were declassified yesterday, basically rehashing 2016. The trouble fir Trump is that even.ifvthere is anything genuinely legitimate announced tomorrow, he's cried wolf so many times now that no-one will believe itHal Jordan wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 1:57 pm
Trump was going on about releasing declassified Russia stuff, possibly it's this election's Hilary emails to spike Biden. The October Surprise that loathsome creature Barr was crowing about.
Two ex-British alleged Islamic State (IS) suspects have been charged in the US with terrorism offences over the killing of four American hostages.
Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh are accused of belonging to an IS cell dubbed "The Beatles" involved in kidnappings in Iraq and Syria.
The pair are being held in FBI custody and will appear in a US federal court in Virginia later.
The men, previously in US military custody in Iraq, deny the charges.
US Assistant Attorney General John Demers said the charges were "the result of many years of hard work in pursuit of justice" for the four Americans who died - James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.
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Rhubarb & Custard
- Posts: 2097
- Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 4:04 pm
Some adults managed to get him to grasp in some limited fashion just how stupid his bluster is. Or he just freaked when the stock markets didn't respond as he wanted
The expression is ‘to do a 180’ - ie. to reverse direction. If you do a 360, you just turn around on the spot without changing direction.Rhubarb & Custard wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 4:07 pmSome adults managed to get him to grasp in some limited fashion just how stupid his bluster is. Or he just freaked when the stock markets didn't respond as he wanted
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Rhubarb & Custard
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That is the normal expression though here I think Flockwitt didn't note Trump making a 360 turn in error, the point specifically being Trump's made a lot of noise for no particular reason. Apologies to Flockwitt if I've misconstrued that.Ali Cadoo wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 4:39 pmThe expression is ‘to do a 180’ - ie. to reverse direction. If you do a 360, you just turn around on the spot without changing direction.Rhubarb & Custard wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 4:07 pmSome adults managed to get him to grasp in some limited fashion just how stupid his bluster is. Or he just freaked when the stock markets didn't respond as he wanted
Ah, fair enough! Not wanting to make a big deal out of what was only a jocular remark, but I read Flock’s post as pointing out a shameless about-turn: from saying he would not sign off on more payments, to saying he’d sign anything Congress would put in front of him.
Trump’s a wanker, let’s not get sidetracked from that.
Trump’s a wanker, let’s not get sidetracked from that.
It was a poor post. The point being is that I don't think Trump+GOP position has changed, they're trying to paint the Dems as irresponsible freebie providers and haven't intended to negotiate to a deal. It's just that somebody with half a brain and not pumped up on steroids got across to POTUS that actually stating what Trump did is not the way to go about it further to the stock market slump and jocular laughter by the Democrats when by far the better tactic is to say he wants a stimulus package and then blames Congress for a lack of progress.
My point is that if he had just acted in the same self-interest that guides most of his decisions, he would be in a much better place right now. That's why it's funny. The feedback loop wasn't totally absent: there was widespread support for the first one (77% among all adults, 76% among Rs), you'd have to think he would have seen some data like that and arrived at the reasonable conclusion that he had made a popular move that at least some people would attribute to him. And that he'd have seen some data suggesting that another check also had wide support (including 2/3rds of Rs).JM2K6 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 9:08 am
He was furious that the country didn't rush to fawn over him for the money he did hand out. It's not about fiscal prudence, it's about him being almost pathologically incapable of doing things for the benefit of others particularly when the positive feedback loop is absent.
The GOP didn't get him elected, he used them as the vehicle while trashing the place. The Republicans in general did not want him, they had their own anodyne, mediocre, borderline psychopath choices that Trump streamrollered on his way to being the ultimate end-game of the Tea Party lunatics that the GOP fatally flirted with.
People like free money. They like it even more when they're struggling. Basic reads like this are how he leapfrogged his competitors in the primaries.
Re: the bolded, I'd argue that's semantics. There's a mass of donors (vast majority?), not to mention their media, that will fall in line for whoever gets the nom, and he doesn't get that without winning the primary. You need a D or an R by your name to win. He was smart to use them as a vehicle, but dumb to listen to them when he got in office. Not that he really had a choice with regard to meeting the responsibilities of the position.
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fishfoodie
- Posts: 8221
- Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:25 pm
Anyone want to guess what the result of this dipshits next Covid test will be ?
And how do you mean Trump as the end game of the Tea Party? The anti-establishment anger? Quite possibly.
Worth pointing out though that while there's a decent amount of overlap between the Tea Party and MAGA types, there's also some difference: the former are, or were, much more focused on fiscal conservativism -- MAGAs are more into the culture war side of things. The Tea Party adhered much more closely to the GOP party-line, which is why the GOP immediately embraced them. Demographically Tea Partiers were also wealthier and better educated.
In real world terms, Tea Partiers are the sort who fled to the exurbs to get away from the types who eventually went MAGA, i.e. the dirty whites.
Worth pointing out though that while there's a decent amount of overlap between the Tea Party and MAGA types, there's also some difference: the former are, or were, much more focused on fiscal conservativism -- MAGAs are more into the culture war side of things. The Tea Party adhered much more closely to the GOP party-line, which is why the GOP immediately embraced them. Demographically Tea Partiers were also wealthier and better educated.
In real world terms, Tea Partiers are the sort who fled to the exurbs to get away from the types who eventually went MAGA, i.e. the dirty whites.
You can't possibly think he looks at data. The guy responds to Twitter polls, Fox news headlines, and whatever loud angry bullshit gets shoved in front of him. The first stimulus was "popular" but even back then people were saying it would not be enough, there were comparisons being made with corporate bailouts, and it was a one-off. There was not a wave of goodwill towards Trump, just a lot of bitterness. No way he doesn't glom onto that.Fonz wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 6:49 pmMy point is that if he had just acted in the same self-interest that guides most of his decisions, he would be in a much better place right now. That's why it's funny. The feedback loop wasn't totally absent: there was widespread support for the first one (77% among all adults, 76% among Rs), you'd have to think he would have seen some data like that and arrived at the reasonable conclusion that he had made a popular move that at least some people would attribute to him. And that he'd have seen some data suggesting that another check also had wide support (including 2/3rds of Rs).JM2K6 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 9:08 am
He was furious that the country didn't rush to fawn over him for the money he did hand out. It's not about fiscal prudence, it's about him being almost pathologically incapable of doing things for the benefit of others particularly when the positive feedback loop is absent.
The GOP didn't get him elected, he used them as the vehicle while trashing the place. The Republicans in general did not want him, they had their own anodyne, mediocre, borderline psychopath choices that Trump streamrollered on his way to being the ultimate end-game of the Tea Party lunatics that the GOP fatally flirted with.
People like free money. They like it even more when they're struggling. Basic reads like this are how he leapfrogged his competitors in the primaries.
Re: the bolded, I'd argue that's semantics. There's a mass of donors (vast majority?), not to mention their media, that will fall in line for whoever gets the nom, and he doesn't get that without winning the primary. You need a D or an R by your name to win. He was smart to use them as a vehicle, but dumb to listen to them when he got in office. Not that he really had a choice with regard to meeting the responsibilities of the position.
Nah. The only difference between the Tea Party and the MAGA types is the Tea Party had the ground laid for them by corporate interests. It's still the same abdication of reason in favour of yelling about immigration and religion and race - it's just that MAGA was more organic and a bit younger. The Tea Party was a manufactured thing that its owners lost control of. MAGA and Trump are an inevitable conclusion of that; the Republicans who'd happily stoked the Tea Party fires and aligned themselves that way politically found themselves beaten by "Tea Party but more believably 'one of them' and more insane" Trump. The Tea Party was still pretty racist, pretty anti-immigration, religion-as-culture-war types - but Trump came along and started saying the quiet things out loud, started really crossing the lines the politicians were wary of crossing, and whipped up all the conspiracy theories and bullshit that the Tea Party had quietly based itself on.Fonz wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 7:45 pm And how do you mean Trump as the end game of the Tea Party? The anti-establishment anger? Quite possibly.
Worth pointing out though that while there's a decent amount of overlap between the Tea Party and MAGA types, there's also some difference: the former are, or were, much more focused on fiscal conservativism -- MAGAs are more into the culture war side of things. The Tea Party adhered much more closely to the GOP party-line, which is why the GOP immediately embraced them. Demographically Tea Partiers were also wealthier and better educated.
In real world terms, Tea Partiers are the sort who fled to the exurbs to get away from the types who eventually went MAGA, i.e. the dirty whites.
There's no doubt that the Tea Partiers who are still around form part of the MAGA core. The Venn diagram is a circle within a bigger circle.
Data here simply being, "Hey Donny, check out these numbers, that thing you signed was a hit." I can believe he's able to digest that. Can't say I'm privy to what was being discussed on Fox (I wish Sen was here to tell us what Tucker was saying), but I don't think he cares what the mainstream media says about him unless he can use it for political purposes.JM2K6 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 7:56 pmYou can't possibly think he looks at data. The guy responds to Twitter polls, Fox news headlines, and whatever loud angry bullshit gets shoved in front of him. The first stimulus was "popular" but even back then people were saying it would not be enough, there were comparisons being made with corporate bailouts, and it was a one-off. There was not a wave of goodwill towards Trump, just a lot of bitterness. No way he doesn't glom onto that.
A "wave of goodwill" might be a bit strong, but it is worth noting that his approval rating was higher the day after he signed the CARES Act (which was on 3/27) than at any point in his presidency after about the first month, and he enjoyed about a 6 week period after that where it hung around in a range that it seldom occupied throughout his term. I.e., when the checks were arriving in the mail.
This is from a CBS poll of Tea Partiers when that whole thing was big:JM2K6 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:01 pmNah. The only difference between the Tea Party and the MAGA types is the Tea Party had the ground laid for them by corporate interests. It's still the same abdication of reason in favour of yelling about immigration and religion and race - it's just that MAGA was more organic and a bit younger. The Tea Party was a manufactured thing that its owners lost control of. MAGA and Trump are an inevitable conclusion of that; the Republicans who'd happily stoked the Tea Party fires and aligned themselves that way politically found themselves beaten by "Tea Party but more believably 'one of them' and more insane" Trump. The Tea Party was still pretty racist, pretty anti-immigration, religion-as-culture-war types - but Trump came along and started saying the quiet things out loud, started really crossing the lines the politicians were wary of crossing, and whipped up all the conspiracy theories and bullshit that the Tea Party had quietly based itself on.
There's no doubt that the Tea Partiers who are still around form part of the MAGA core. The Venn diagram is a circle within a bigger circle.
I do doubt that a pie chart of MAGAist goals would look like that.
Remember, this whole thing started when some financial analyst blew a gasket on CNBC, in response to the bailout. That was about anger at alleged government overreach in the economy, creeping socialism, you know the routine. Ayn Rand fellators like Paul Ryan became national figures. It was small government this, individual rights that. The choice of name might not be as salient to an Englishman but these are exactly the sorts of ideas it's supposed to conjure up -- throwing off the yoke of tyrannical oppression and all that.
The Tea Party supporters were more or less split between him and Ted Cruz in 2016, before falling in line like everybody else. Plenty of intersection, but hardly 1:1.
They did, but like any popular or "grassroots" movement in this day and age, there was no central leadership, organization, focus, etc. You had anti-Obamacare protests, anti-immigration rallies, "stop the spending" protests, anti-socialism protests, the list goes on. Probably a good deal of regional variation too. Point being, the movement's aim soon became pretty imprecise, not unlike BLM.
If you believe Pew, most committed Tea Partiers were actually pro-citizenship for illegal immigrants:
I think if there's a line to be drawn from the Tea Party to Trump, it's mostly going to have something to do with anti-establishment sentiment.
VP Debate starting
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