Continuation The Trump Presidency: Part 19

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump Tweets

The Democrat establishment came together and crushed Bernie Sanders, AGAIN! Even the fact that Elizabeth Warren stayed in the race was devastating to Bernie and allowed Sleepy Joe to unthinkably win Massachusetts. It was a perfect storm, with many good states remaining for Joe!

So selfish for Elizabeth Warren to stay in the race. She has Zero chance of even coming close to winning, but hurts Bernie badly. So much for their wonderful liberal friendship. Will he ever speak to her again? She cost him Massachusetts (and came in third), he shouldn’t!

[Armitage72]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump tweets

I am calling on Congress to send me a Bill that fully and permanently funds the LWCF and restores our National Parks.

I'm guessing he means "send me a Bill that fully and permanently funds the LWCF and restores (the ability for companies to mine and drill in) our National Parks.

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump Tweets

This is what happens to someone who loyally gets appointed Attorney General of the United States & then doesn’t have the wisdom or courage to stare down & end the phony Russia Witch Hunt. Recuses himself on FIRST DAY in office, and the Mueller Scam begins!
Quote Tweet

POLITICO
@politico
Trump's former attorney general Jeff Sessions finished well short of a majority in his Alabama Senate primary.

He now faces a runoff against former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville https://politico.com/2020-election/results/alabama/

[thaiboxerken]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump tweets

I am calling on Congress to send me a Bill that fully and permanently funds the LWCF and restores our National Parks. When I sign it into law, it will be HISTORIC for our beautiful public lands. ALL thanks to @SenCoryGardner and @SteveDaines, two GREAT Conservative Leaders!

I commend the hard work of Senator @SteveDaines and @SenCoryGardner in protecting funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund for years to come. The citizens of Montana and Colorado thank you both!

I'm not sure if he's actually doing this, but if true, it's just fixing something that he already did permanent damage to.

[thaiboxerken]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump Tweets

The Democrat establishment came together and crushed Bernie Sanders, AGAIN! Even the fact that Elizabeth Warren stayed in the race was devastating to Bernie and allowed Sleepy Joe to unthinkably win Massachusetts. It was a perfect storm, with many good states remaining for Joe!

So selfish for Elizabeth Warren to stay in the race. She has Zero chance of even coming close to winning, but hurts Bernie badly. So much for their wonderful liberal friendship. Will he ever speak to her again? She cost him Massachusetts (and came in third), he shouldn’t!

Trump is trolling hard, it's one of his biggest skills. He really loves to divide people. It's a strategy, although it's so much on the nose that I don't think it will work.

[TofuFighter]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump Tweets

The Democrat establishment came together and crushed Bernie Sanders, AGAIN! Even the fact that Elizabeth Warren stayed in the race was devastating to Bernie and allowed Sleepy Joe to unthinkably win Massachusetts. It was a perfect storm, with many good states remaining for Joe!

Reminder to Bernie Bros: This will be trump's sustained attack on your psyche to discourage you from voting in the general election if Sanders doesn't win the nomination.

A page straight out of Cambridge Analytica's book.

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump Tweets

I will be going to the Great State of Tennessee on Friday. The USA stands with the people of Tennessee 100%, whatever they need! The tornadoes were of record size & velocity. God bless your loved ones & all of the families affected! Thanks to @GovBillLe & @MarshaBlackburn

The Mayor of Los Angeles, @ericgarcetti, is dealing with us trying to get the Federal Government to fix the terrible problem he and the Dems have caused with the homeless, and the horrendous effects it is having on the City, which is a mess. I then watch him talk “trash” on me!

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump tweets

Wow! If Elizabeth Warren wasn’t in the race, Bernie Sanders would have EASILY won Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas, not to mention various other states. Our modern day Pocahontas won’t go down in history as a winner, but she may very well go down as the all time great SPOILER!

Mini Mike Bloomberg just “quit” the race for President. I could have told him long ago that he didn’t have what it takes, and he would have saved himself a billion dollars, the real cost. Now he will pour money into Sleepy Joe’s campaign, hoping to save face. It won’t work!

Mini Mike Bloomberg will now FIRE Tim O’Brien, and all of the fools and truly dumb people who got him into this MESS. This has been the worst, and most embarrassing, experience of his life...and now on to Sleepy Joe!

Mini Mike, “Three months ago I entered the race for President to defeat Donald Trump, (and I failed miserably!).

[The Great Zaganza]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Defense Secretary Warns Commanders Not to Surprise Trump on Coronavirus

Under normal circumstances, this would be the scandal of the century.
Risking the combat readiness because it might hurt the messaging of the White House?

Why aren't Republicans, always so fond of the Troops, not demanding a resignation this instant?

[Belz...]

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

Under normal circumstances, this would be the scandal of the century.
Risking the combat readiness because it might hurt the messaging of the White House?

The Trump administration is exactly the kind of pseudo-despotic ego-wankers who make the entire system unable to function. When reality makes you look bad, and you don't want to look bad, forbid the mentioning of reality, and therefore any solution to it.

[bruto]

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

Under normal circumstances, this would be the scandal of the century.
Risking the combat readiness because it might hurt the messaging of the White House?

Why aren't Republicans, always so fond of the Troops, not demanding a resignation this instant?

I think they're more often fond of the idea of troops than of the actual people that they are troops of.

[Ladewig]

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

Under normal circumstances, this would be the scandal of the century.
Risking the combat readiness because it might hurt the messaging of the White House?

Why aren't Republicans, always so fond of the Troops, not demanding a resignation this instant?

I always saw it as they were fond of the military. Or more precisely, fond of the military and its contractors.

If the a Republicans really were fond of the troops, the would have chewed the president out when he went to Iraq and lied to the troops about raises.

[dudalb]

Originally Posted by Belz...

The Trump administration is exactly the kind of pseudo-despotic ego-wankers who make the entire system unable to function. When reality makes you look bad, and you don't want to look bad, forbid the mentioning of reality, and therefore any solution to it.

That philosophy was a major reason why Hitler lost World War 2.

[JoeMorgue]

"I will not forget our brave men and women in uniform who fought and died to protect my freedom to use them as political capital" is the default for all politicians.

[Belz...]

Originally Posted by dudalb

That philosophy was a major reason why Hitler lost World War 2.

Yeah I was thiking of Nazi Germany specifically, but it applies to a lot of despotic states.

[JoeMorgue]

Yeah the problem is while that kind of despotic state is not long term sustainable, they tend to end in... dramatic fashion I would rather avoid.

[Aridas]

Originally Posted by thaiboxerken

I'm not sure if he's actually doing this, but if true, it's just fixing something that he already did permanent damage to.

Not even fixing it. His actions are more like stabbing someone in the gut and then asking for praise when he allows them to put a bandage. Pretty much the same as so many other things that that applies to when it comes to the actions of this administration.

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

Under normal circumstances, this would be the scandal of the century.
Risking the combat readiness because it might hurt the messaging of the White House?

Why aren't Republicans, always so fond of the Troops, not demanding a resignation this instant?

You already know the answer to that, right?

It's not that they're fond of the troops. Most of them, at least. The troops are just a means to an end, especially when it comes to the messaging surrounding them. My people (US) great because X. Democrats bad because X.

In other news, looks like Republican judges delivered another "win" to Trump and loss to the US on nonsensical grounds, backed up with false claims that are pretty much a reversal from what was being said just a few years ago (with the weight of tradition) when Obama was President. These judges are clearly not "conservative" in any meaningful sense.

Quote:

Late on Friday, a three judge panel from the DC Circuit Appeals Court effectively ended congressional oversight of the executive branch by refusing to enforce a valid legal subpoena from Congress for Don McGahn’s testimony. As the dissenting justice so eloquently put it, “Today the court reaches the extraordinary conclusion that the House of Representatives, in the exercise of its ‘sole Power of Impeachment,’…lacks standing under Article III of the Constitution to seek judicial enforcement of a subpoena in connection with an investigation into whether to impeach the President…The court removes any incentive for the Executive Branch to engage in the negotiation process seeking accommodation, all but assures future Presidential stonewalling of Congress, and further impairs the House’s ability to perform its constitutional duties”.

The decision was by a 2–1 vote, with Bush I and II having appointed the justices in the majority. The majority ruled that the House had no standing to get the courts to enforce its subpoena of McGahn, writing that “Article III of the Constitution forbids federal courts from resolving this kind of interbranch information dispute…The branches are thus locked in a bitter political showdown that raises a contentious constitutional issue: The Committee claims an absolute right to McGahn’s testimony, and the President claims an absolute right to refuse it. We cannot decide this case without declaring the actions of one or the other unconstitutional, and ‘occasions for constitutional confrontation. . . should be avoided whenever possible’”. In fact, the Court declined to uphold the President’s claim of testimonial immunity for McGahn, effectively negating the President’s claims, but refused to act upon that conclusion.

The absurdity of saying that the Court can not decide a case because that would mean determining that one side or the other was violating the Constitution is self-evident. That has been the function of the judicial branch since John Marshall declared that “It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is” in the seminal case of Marbury v. Madison in 1803. That interpretation of the role of the judicial branch was reiterated as recently as 2012 by Chief Justice John Roberts who declared that resolving disputes about the separation of powers is exactly what courts do. Of course, the Court also simply ignored the more recent precedent in which courts have interjected themselves into disputes between the legislative and executive branches, simply dismissing those decisions out of hand. The majority writes, “To be sure, as the Committee notes, courts in this circuit have agreed to resolve a handful of interbranch information disputes beginning in the 1970s”…but “the innovations of the 1970s shouldn’t displace the established practice of the 1790s”.

The majority’s absurdities continue as they expressed a fear that, if they decided this case, then, God forbid, they may have to decide other cases like it. They write, “Judicial entanglement in the branches’ political affairs would not end here. If the Committee can enforce this subpoena in the courts, chambers of Congress (and their duly authorized committees) can enforce any subpoena…We would be forced to supervise the branches, scrutinize their asserted constitutional interests, and elaborate a common law of congressional investigations…simply consider this case. If we order McGahn to testify, what happens next? McGahn, compelled to appear, asserts executive privilege in response to the Committee’s questions. The Committee finds those assertions baseless. In that case, the Committee assures us, it would come right back to court to make McGahn talk…The walk from the Capitol to our courthouse is a short one, and if we resolve this case today, we can expect Congress’s lawyers to make the trip often”.

In another remarkable statement, the majority restricts the breadth of its opinion, writing, “We conclude by noting a few limitations on the scope of this decision: First, we do not address whether a chamber of Congress may bring a civil suit against private citizens to enforce a subpoena”. Of course, McGahn is now a private citizen so it would seem remarkable that this case would not address the issue. The way the Court gets around this is by framing the case as the battle between the executive and legislative branches, rather than Congress simply subpoenaing a private citizen.

ETA: Oh. Coronavirus news update. Looks like the Trump Administration is forcing the people it forces into quarantine to pay for the costs involved. That's a recipe for disaster there.

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump Tweets

Pandering Mini Mike Bloomberg, along with his wacky friend, Tom Steyer, have found out the hard way that you can’t buy the election! They both wish they had it to do over again!

Today, it was my great honor to address the @LatinoCoalition Legislative Summit. With the hard work, love & devotion of millions of incredible Hispanic-Americans, our Country is thriving, our people are prospering, and our future has never looked brighter!

[a_unique_person]

Originally Posted by Armitage72

I'm guessing he means "send me a Bill that fully and permanently funds the LWCF and restores (the ability for companies to mine and drill in) our National Parks.

I was wondering what that meant in English.

[Solitaire]

Time to split the thread:

The Trump Presidency: Part 20 - Trump's Roaring Twenties

No, doesn't work.

[dudalb]

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

Yeah the problem is while that kind of despotic state is not long term sustainable, they tend to end in... dramatic fashion I would rather avoid.

"Where are Wenck?Where are Steiner"?

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump speaking at the Whitehouse today blaming Obama for his response to the virus

Quote:

The Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what we're doing & we undid that decision a few days ago so that testing can take place in a much more accurate & rapid fashion

This is in reference to Lab developed tests being under the oversight of the FDA.

Also don't forget Obama created a response command team for pandemics in response to the Ebola outbreak. This was a to develop preventive plans. Trump fired all of them in 2018 and closed it down.

[Segnosaur]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump speaking at the Whitehouse today blaming Obama for his response to the virus

The Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what we're doing & we undid that decision a few days ago so that testing can take place in a much more accurate & rapid fashion

This is in reference to Lab developed tests being under the oversight of the FDA.

Also don't forget Obama created a response command team for pandemics in response to the Ebola outbreak. This was a to develop preventive plans. Trump fired all of them in 2018 and closed it down.

Not only is Trump ignoring the mistakes that he made as a president, the republicans are also being massive hypocrites... It was only a few days ago that Pence made a statement about how its "not a time for partisanship". Yet here is is Stubby McBonespurs trying to lay the blame on Obama.

[Stacyhs]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump speaking at the Whitehouse today blaming Obama for his response to the virus



This is in reference to Lab developed tests being under the oversight of the FDA.

Also don't forget Obama created a response command team for pandemics in response to the Ebola outbreak. This was a to develop preventive plans. Trump fired all of them in 2018 and closed it down.

Quote:

Trump referred questions about his comments to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield who said that private labs were previously allowed to conduct clinical tests, but noted that “in the previous administration that became regulated. For someone to do that they had to file with the FDA.” The Trump administration, which has been heavily criticized for its unprepared approach to fighting a domestic outbreak, claimed that it lifted the Obama-era regulation by permitting local labs over the weekend to create their own tests.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-...t-kit-shortage

We wouldn't want to have tests that have to be approved by the FDA now, would we?

[Safe-Keeper]

Originally Posted by newyorkguy

Yet here is is Stubby McBonespurs trying to lay the blame on Obama.

Why wouldn't he? His disciples believe everything he says. He never has to take responsibilities for his actions, so why should he, when he lives in a post-fact world and can just make up his own reality?

[Safe-Keeper]

Originally Posted by dudalb

That philosophy was a major reason why Hitler lost World War 2.

Also the same "nobody knows x better than me" attitude. Generals? What do they know?

[Stacyhs]

Originally Posted by Safe-Keeper

Also the same "nobody knows x better than me" attitude. Generals? What do they know?

Hitler should have listened to Rommel. If he had, instead of believing he knew better, D-Day could have had a completely different ending.

It's too bad that Trump was kept out of the military with those darn bone spurs. People are saying he surely would have been promoted in the shortest time ever in military history to become the greatest general of all time. Most people don't know that.

[dudalb]

Originally Posted by Safe-Keeper

Also the same "nobody knows x better than me" attitude. Generals? What do they know?

The whole "Instinct and gut feelings are better then experience and knowledge" crap is pretty common (and ,btw, I have seen quite a bit of it on the political left) but for a POTUS to have it that bad is a disaster waiting to happen.
Wait, with the corona virus it might already have.

[dudalb]

Originally Posted by Stacyhs

Hitler should have listened to Rommel. If he had, instead of believing he knew better, D-Day could have had a completely different ending.

It's too bad that Trump was kept out of the military with those darn bone spurs. People are saying he surely would have been promoted in the shortest time ever in military history to become the greatest general of all time. Most people don't know that.

I think if Hitler had listened to some of his generals on the Eastern Front in 1941 and 42 is an even better example.
Speaking of greatest general of all time, you do know about GROFAZ don't you?

[Stacyhs]

Originally Posted by dudalb

I think if Hitler had listened to some of his generals on the Eastern Front in 1941 and 42 is an even better example.
Speaking of greatest general of all time, you do know about GROFAZ don't you?

LOL!! So fitting for another man who thinks he knows more than his generals!

[dudalb]

Donnie is promoting conspiracy theories about how Bernie was cheated by the Democratic Party establishment, in an obvious attempt to embitter the Sanders supporters, and convince them to stay home in November or maybe start a write in campaign for Bernie. (Already being talked about by some of the more exreme Bernie bros). I hope it does not work, but given how some of the Berniebros seem to be just like Trump supporters...

[alfaniner]

Random thought -- (I don't know the filing requirement dates so it may be moot)

Pence runs a successful defense against Covid-19, making Trump super jealous
Trump chooses Haley as VP running mate in a fit of pique
Pence decides to run against Trump for the Republican nomination

It's not as insane as some of the other stuff that's already taken place...

[Cabbage]

Originally Posted by dudalb

Donnie is promoting conspiracy theories about how Bernie was cheated by the Democratic Party establishment, in an obvious attempt to embitter the Sanders supporters, and convince them to stay home in November or maybe start a write in campaign for Bernie. (Already being talked about by some of the more exreme Bernie bros). I hope it does not work, but given how some of the Berniebros seem to be just like Trump supporters...

Your hyperbias is showing again, bro. You really hate you some Bernie, don't you?

[Stacyhs]

Originally Posted by Cabbage

Your hyperbias is showing again, bro. You really hate you some Bernie, don't you?

He may be hyper-biased but is what he posted incorrect?

Is Trump not posting about how Sanders is being cheated again by the DNC?

Quote:

"The Democratic National Committee, sometimes referred to as the DNC, is again working its magic in its quest to destroy Crazy Bernie Sanders....,” the president began, following those remarks with: “....for the more traditional, but not very bright, Sleepy Joe Biden. Here we go again Bernie, but this time please show a little more anger and indignation when you get screwed!“

(Politico)

Did the Bernie Bros threaten not to vote for Hillary if Bernie wasn't the nominee in 2016? Or even to vote for Trump?

Quote:

Axelrod is far from the first to caution Sanders supporters to vote for the nominee, whomever he or she is. It is in response to the “Bernie or Bust” days of yore, when some Sanders supporters in 2016 said they would only vote Democrat if Bernie was the candidate. Indeed, many claimed they would vote for Donald Trump over Hillary, if it came to it. And it seems that a few of them did.

(https://www.independent.co.uk/voices...-a9332761.html)

[Cabbage]

Originally Posted by Stacyhs

He may be hyper-biased but is what he posted incorrect?

Is Trump not posting about how Sanders is being cheated again by the DNC?


(Politico)

Did the Bernie Bros threaten not to vote for Hillary if Bernie wasn't the nominee in 2016? Or even to vote for Trump?

(https://www.independent.co.uk/voices...-a9332761.html)

What I was specifically taking exception to was the comparison of Bernie supporters with Trump supporters.

[dudalb]

Originally Posted by Cabbage

What I was specifically taking exception to was the comparison of Bernie supporters with Trump supporters.

Sorry, but I see some of the same blind devotion,some of the same "Our Leader Is Above Criticism" the same "If you do not agree with us you are stupid or evil" mentality the Trump supporters have applying to some..not all..Berniie Bros.
I have a deep dislike of personality cults, period. And that is what the Bernie movement has become with many people.

[TragicMonkey]

Originally Posted by alfaniner

Random thought -- (I don't know the filing requirement dates so it may be moot)

Pence runs a successful defense against Covid-19, making Trump super jealous
Trump chooses Haley as VP running mate in a fit of pique
Pence decides to run against Trump for the Republican nomination

It's not as insane as some of the other stuff that's already taken place...

Too much like television to be real. The furthest I can see Pence going is praying to Jesus to give Trump coronavirus. Pence is no Littlefinger. He's not even Hot Pie.

[Trebuchet]

Originally Posted by dudalb

Donnie is promoting conspiracy theories about how Bernie was cheated by the Democratic Party establishment, in an obvious attempt to embitter the Sanders supporters, and convince them to stay home in November or maybe start a write in campaign for Bernie. (Already being talked about by some of the more exreme Bernie bros). I hope it does not work, but given how some of the Berniebros seem to be just like Trump supporters...

Extremists of any stripe tend to be very much alike.

Originally Posted by alfaniner

Random thought -- (I don't know the filing requirement dates so it may be moot)

Pence runs a successful defense against Covid-19, making Trump super jealous
Trump chooses Haley as VP running mate in a fit of pique
Pence decides to run against Trump for the Republican nomination

It's not as insane as some of the other stuff that's already taken place...

Fat chance. He's an anti-science fundie. Who is coming to my area tomorrow.
Haley, meanwhile, is a) female, b) kind of brown, c) an anchor baby, and d) was married in combined Sikh/Christian ceremony. Sikhs wear turbans, which makes the MOOOSLIMS! Not a chance of any REAL AMERICANS voting for her.

[Ladewig]

Originally Posted by alfaniner

Random thought -- (I don't know the filing requirement dates so it may be moot)

Pence runs a successful defense against Covid-19, making Trump super jealous
Trump chooses Haley as VP running mate in a fit of pique
Pence decides to run against Trump for the Republican nomination

It's not as insane as some of the other stuff that's already taken place...

He has missed the dates.
President Trump has semi-officially taken over the RNC and will shut down any challenges to the nomination.
The majority of registered Republicans prefer President Trump to VP Pence.
There is no evidence that Pence would ever go against Dear Leader.
I have great faith in the USSS but I don’t think I’d ever want to hold the record for being one of the top three elected officials in terms of written death threats - it is possible that VPOTUS holds the same opinion.

[quadraginta]

Originally Posted by Ziggurat

Originally Posted by quadraginta

It's probably just a result of old age reducing my memory to a shambles, since it's been eighteen years, but ...

Didn't we go to war with Afghanistan eighteen years ago because the Taliban was too untrustworthy to negotiate with?

No. We did negotiate with them. We went to war because we had demands we considered necessary that they were not willing to accept. They are not trustworthy, but that didn't stop us from negotiating.

For certain very idiosyncratic definitions of the term "negotiate".

A negotiation which went something like this;

"Bin Laden is a bad guy. Hand him over"

"Show us the evidence and we'll try him here."

*Bomb Afghanistan for eight days*

"Bin Laden is a bad guy. Hand him over."

"Show us the evidence and we'll hand him over to a neutral third government for trial"

*Invade Afghanistan, occupy it and kill Afghans for eighteen years ... also some bombing.*

Not that there was much alternative, I guess, since no evidence was ever going to be forthcoming. (Well, some alternatives, like not bombing the hell out of the country and then invading it, but that would take a rather creative mind, and none of those were forthcoming either. Best to stick with the old tried-and-true methods.)

Yeah, that's some straight-up negotiating right there. Not entirely like an Imperial mentality showing how tough it can be against a nearly third world country, but remarkably close.


If we could bomb anywhere we wanted to in Afghanistan why not just stick with taking out Al Qaeda hideouts, and leave the rest alone? Eighteen years of occupation didn't provide any results superior to that approach ...

And now we're back to negotiating with the Taliban, only this time we're the ones who want out.

Eighteen years wasted. At a pretty steep price tag for us and them. How many Afghans died who weren't Al Qaeda?