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An interesting article in the Grauniad today re populism and its impact on right wing politicians who embrace it. Splits and schisms apply to Trump too and would impact on him as a candidate..
Also remember that if you fundraise for a campaign for election
I believe the rules change once a campaign is officially declared. Before then you have a lot more freedom what to spend it on.
Anyone catch Four Hours at the Capitol on TV tonight? The footage is chilling.
Essential viewing : www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0010tff
Absolutely shocking. I'm surprised only one 'protester' was shot dead.
The protesters where white. thats why only one was shot
Still amazed now restrained the police were.
Only 5mins in and seeing that corn syrup raised proud boy film maker at the start of the documentary can only bode well for my initial preconceptions regarding the capital hill coup.
In other news, anyone going to be signing up for a 'Truth Social' account when it comes along?
Still amazed now restrained the police were.
IIRC the police that were defending the actual building are a small separate force that only guards the building so my guess is they are not as cynical and ready to open fire as the police who routinely police the streets?
In other news, anyone going to be signing up for a ‘Truth Social’ account when it comes along?
Having recommended them to my daughter, I've just re-read 1984 and Animal Farm for the first time since I was her age. I guess the fascist MO hasn't changed much through the years.
anyone going to be signing up for a ‘Truth Social’ account when it comes along?
Like most right wing grifts at "free speech media" it's failed already. Hackers have gained access to the Beta test site, got control of Trumps personal acct and posted a picture of a pig shitting on it's own giant testicles. You literally couldn't make it up.
I wonder how the folks over at QAnon central square this away with their view that he's running a nine-dimensional game of chess with his opponents?
In other news, anyone going to be signing up for a ‘Truth Social’ account when it comes along?
Absolutely yes. As abhorrent and unhinged as he is, he still impacts on world politics and its important to see what he is up to. I also get a twisted kick out of seeing him unravel.
Anyone catch Four Hours at the Capitol on TV tonight? The footage is chilling.
Will watch this later, thanks for the head ups, some goods doc on BBC2 recently, really enjoying Brown and Blair, the 9/11 docs were well made and good viewing.
the 9/11 docs were well made and good viewing.
9/11: Inside the President's War Room was superb and well worth watching.
There was a bit when they were talking about concerns that Air Force One would be a target. It is commonly accepted that it is one of the most secure places in the world. Yet the Captain placed armed guards at bottom of the stairs up to the cockpit. This was a layer of security beyond Secret Service. Unreal.
Anyone catch Four Hours at the Capitol on TV tonight? The footage is chilling.
I just watched it, wow. I had no idea that was so violent. The police were outstanding dealing with a terrifying situation with real restraint.
Jimmy and Mike the coppers was seriously badass. I got the impression they would have stood their ground even if it was just the two of them against the mob. If I ever get a fight, I'd want them on my side.
Bannon has been found in contempt so he is going to jail or is going to have to shop Trump
LOL federal Jail time is hard jail time, will Bannon go for the supermax cell next door to "El Chapo" or shop the guy who sacked him ?
tjagain
Full Member
Bannon has been found in contempt so he is going to jail or is going to have to shop Trump
I hope so!
That said a CNN article I read said it's notoriously difficult for the House to pursue a conviction. Words to that effect anyway.
Sadly, there's many legal hurdles or steps before the verminous get sees the inside of a jail cell.
In other news, anyone going to be signing up for a ‘Truth Social’ account when it comes along?
I'm in. That site is going to be troll-central. If you see anyone posting as BabyFaceEatingNelson, that'll be me.
What are the chances people get cancelled by truth social for not being on board with the “correct truth” …
What are the chances people get cancelled by truth social for not being on board with the “correct truth” …
Pretty high I'd imagine!
Whatever happened to the pillow pillocks social media enterprise? I know technically it sucked early doors, but did it ever launch properly? I imagine Trumps effort will be similarly shonky.
Looking at it another way, Trump may actually need to run because of, rather in spite of, his legal problems. Both for using the impending election as a way of deflecting/delaying any legal proceedings, civil and criminal, and so he can grift millions in fundraising to help pay for his defence.
Yep he’s got to keep spinning the plates or he’s screwed but tbh that’s alway been his game professional plate spinner, as soon as the plates stop spinning the con is exposed.
How much is his latest venture valued…
The planned merger values Trump Media & Technology Group “at an initial enterprise value of $875 Million, with a potential additional earnout of $825 Million in additional shares (at the valuation they are granted) for a cumulative valuation of up to $1.7 Billion depending on the performance of the stock price post-business combination
He’s a dangerous man with a fair few people covering his back if you see how well the insurrection has been attempted to be downplayed/denied.
But you’ve seen how close the Americans were to getting their very own dictator and he’s not gone yet.
What are the chances people get cancelled by truth social for not being on board with the “correct truth” …
It's going to be a shitshow.
https://twitter.com/drewharwell/status/1451014360034390019
https://twitter.com/MikaelThalen/status/1451017501026885632
Pig poop balls (mildly offensive content).
Fools and their money...
On the other hand if Donald Trump launched a company that was like “I am going to start a social media platform for Trump fans,” could he get people to buy the stock? I think that two fundamental lessons of the last few years are:
You can get people to buy any stock; and
Donald Trump can get people to buy anything.So if Donald Trump announced “hey I’m gonna do a social media company, buy some stock,” people would buy some stock. And then he’d get a lot of money. 1 And then if the social media platform did not end up being profitable — as I cannot imagine it would be! — then he would, uh, still have that money? And if the social media platform did not end up being launched — if Trump and his crack team of technologists just couldn’t actually build a well-functioning online social network — then he would, uh, still have that money? And if there was no crack team of technologists at all, if nobody even tried to build the social media platform — then you see where I am going with this right?
TBH the Trumpbook stuff is all very funny but at the same time it seems like a pretty effective way to scam his supporters again, some of the figures floating around for the finances are crazy.
I wonder if the handle " Orange faced shitgibbon" is still available?
I wonder what his next grift is going to be?
His supporters are a cash cow, remember the grift for donations to support the 'stop the steal' challenge through the courts and how donors were hoodwinked into near bankruptcy by the small print,
I wonder what his next grift is going to be?
He's asked if any one can loan him a Mint Sauce keyring 🙂
Trump will not be able to run IMO because of his legal difficulties. He is mired so deep – its 50/50 IMO that he will be in jail by then but he will certainly be so deep inl egal trouble he will not / cannot run
Quite possibly, but its not Trump himself that is the worry, its a potential trump style politician without the "nonsense" running for the presidency that you should be worried about.
To quote the new york times:
Going forward, we can expect bogus claims of voter fraud, and equally bogus challenges to legitimate vote counts, to become a permanent feature of Republican political strategy. Every election Republicans lose will be contested with lies, every Democratic win delegitimized. This is poison in a democracy.As of late September, 19 states had enacted 33 laws that will make it harder for their citizens to vote. The Republican National Committee’s “election integrity director” says the party will file lawsuits earlier and more aggressively than it did in 2020. Trump wannabe candidates like Glenn Youngkin, running for Virginia governor, are currying favor with the Republican base by promoting conspiracy theories suggesting that Virginia’s election may be rigged.
More alarmingly, Republicans in swing states are purging election officials, allowing pro-Trump partisans to sabotage vote counts. In January, an Arizona lawmaker introduced a bill that would permit Republican legislators to overrule the certification of elections that don’t go their way. In Georgia, the legislature has given partisan election boards the power to “slow down or block” election certifications.
When the Democrats won the last presidential election it was a return to the status quo, The dems haven't changed to meet the new threat posed by the trump party, and are currently looking incapable of rising to challenge this new assault on US democracy.
The democrats need to stop playing nicely
pack the supreme court - appoint half a dozen judges to it. Pack it with young liberal leaning folk
End the filibuster
Get the anti voter suppression law in place
Republicans have not played by the rules for decades. Its time the democrats played them at their own game
The Republicans started seeding the Supreme Court in the early 80’s, they have control for at least the next 10 - 15 years.
There is no constitutional reason for it to be nine judges. Just appoint 6 more young liberals to it.
There is no constitutional reason for it to be nine judges. Just appoint 6 more young liberals to it.
But where does that lead to?
Blimey indeed. I want it to be true.
I want it to be true.
Even if it was, there seems to be a huge swathe of 'mericans who would not believe it. I suspect they would use it as evidence to fight back even harder against the "lies at the highest level"...
We all know it's true, we're just hopimg that they all get locked up.
Sure, the traitriots and insurrectionist bastards will see them as martyrs but the sanity boat sailed a long time ago.
With the adage 'justice must be seen to be done' in mind, some heads have to roll, though the obese turtle will probably wind his neck back into his shell as those around him pay the price.
those around him pay the price.
Straight out of the Henry II playbook.
Satire so brilliant you can't tell if it's real or not?
https://twitter.com/NatlSecCnslrs/status/1458758396732133384
What's really worrying is that there is a fairly large number of his supporters already flying Trump 2024 flags and other pro Trump banners. So they clearly have not given up on him.
I'm not talking about poor uneducated people either. These are flying on million dollar boats and really expensive monster trucks.
So all I'm saying is don't think he has gone yet. He and his ilk are here for a while yet. IANATS!
Well, colour me surprised.
Arrived late for the debate so he wouldn't have to be tested. He knew, and I wouldn't put it past him or some of his staffers to consider it an opportunity to deliberately infect Biden.
^^ There is just no redeeming quality is there? Not one.
I too wonder if they thought infecting Biden would be a nine little bonus too.
Absolute turd of a man, Trump.
Apparently to be interviewed/sucked up to on GB News by Farage soon...
What an ass.
I remember thinking at the time that the timing of his hospitalisation didn't fit with when he announced he was ill, so it absolutely makes sense that he had it earlier than he let on. The man knows no shame.
Also met a load of bereaved military families while he had it, then blamed them for giving it to him despite this earlier positive test. He's an absolute gent, isn't he?
Agent Orange has just posted a tweet that doesn’t say what he thinks it says; he’s either saying he’s dumb and stupid, or he’s admitting that his claims the election was stolen from him are actually a lie. Or both.
Agent Orange has just posted a tweet
Had me worried there.
Ah, that's better.
Yeah, sorry, I get so used to things being posted on Twitter that when I see ‘posted a statement’ I automatically think it’s a tweet! I’d forgotten he’d been banned. Still hasn’t stopped him putting out garbage, I just wish it was the sort taken away in a municipal vehicle.
We're in the States at the moment and there's been a fair bit of Fox News on the TV. To someone who's not used to it, the channel is bordering on unbelievable. The way the presenters talk - emphasising every other word in a sentence.... "Pres Biden has FAILED to deal with the PROBLEMS at the SOUTHERN border where THOUSANDS of illegal aliens are entering the country UNVACCINATED" etc. The channel content is almost exclusively dedicated to slagging off the current President and the various "Dem Run" cities around the country that are seeing "huge rises in crime" etc etc.
I saw an advert the other day during a break on Fox that said "we're a shop dedicated to helping Patriots get a good deal and make the most of what's left of their money after the Dems have taken their taxes...."
On the other hand, looking at some of proposals the Dems are putting forward, you can see why "hard working 'mericans" are upset by them.
Alex Jones has completely lost it with the Orange Shit Gibbon, aired na impromptu Christmas show just because Trump was pro vaccine and has admitted having the booster at a recent "rally".
Alex Jones has completely lost it with the Orange Shit Gibbon
Or more realistically he's discovered another angle to fleece his gullible followers for money
Some real mental gymnastics going on here from a right wing anti vaxer that interviewed Trump.😂
https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/12/27/candace-owens-trump-vaccines-nr-vpx.cnn
Trump has never been anti-vax - if anything he was pro-vaccine before there even was one - much of his rationale he gave for downplaying covid in the early stages of the pandemic was that he presumed that a vaccine would just come along and everything would be fine. He was Commander in Chief of 'Operation Warp Speed' that funded accelerated vaccine development. Even though they didn't draw on that support he was genuinely irked that he wasn't given direct credit by Pfizer for them being first to bring a vaccine to market.
Theres incredible hipocracy going on right in front of Right Wing Americans over vaccines and the scales just won't fall from their eyes - Trump got vaccinated as soon as he could (he just stayed quiet about it), Fox News pedals anti-vax, anti mask rhetoric whilst Murdoch is vaccinated, his other news outlets (such as the Sun) accrtively promote vaccination programs and while Fox itself has extremely strict protocols for its staff over vaccination and testing - the presenters and pundits on their shows that are 'just asking questions' won't have got into the building without complying with those protocols.
The problem now for Donald is events are overtaking him - Trump isn't Trumpy-enough for Trumpists
NY AG has filed charges about fraudulent valuations of his property - inflating valuations to get loans, deflating for tax purposes:
https://www.msnbc.com/11th-hour/watch/ny-ag-takes-action-against-trump-family-131167813522
And the Capitol Riot enquiry goes after Rudy and friends
BBC News - US Capitol riot committee issues subpoena to Rudy Giuliani
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-60048604
Spectacular own goal from the Trump team, even if nobody gets prosecuted it's going to be a huge and costly distraction. The lower-level people caught up in it will probably testify in order to avoid racking up huge legal bills so the whole scheme will become public.
https://twitter.com/harrylitman/status/1484380058546442242
To paraphrase....
Hannity: Biden has trouble getting program though, banging his head against the wall and expecting different results.....
Trump: So we would have had the wall completed in three weeks!
Is he still the president?
https://secure.winred.com/save-america-joint-fundraising-committee/trump-fl-lunch-free
Presidents are still presidents even when they aren't.
Strictly speaking yes I think - ex presidents retain the title ‘President’ (same as a retired doctor, captain or whatever) although that’s not how you’d address them apparently.
We truly are living in an alternate reality.
We truly are living in an alternate reality.
Yes a soup-based one!
https://twitter.com/BradleyWhitford/status/1491595929367232513?s=20&t=Wj28Qn3OwW23YTt3Zdv_0g
🤣
Gulag? Does she not mean goulash?
Tomayto, Tomahto.
Does this mean she is anti-Phở?
This use of alt facts skinks, a buillion dollar industry based on turtle fabrications. It's a chowder keg
dumb bisque.
Trump's accounting firm has dumped him and said that the accounts cannot be trusted. He's going to struggle to find a new accounting firm, plus banks will probably refuse to extend any more loans. Potentially fatal blow for him financially, he will probably end up bankrupt if his existing loans all get called in.
https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1493340862499246084
Saw it on the Beeb, they seem clear they followed proper accounting practice but the info their client gave them was "unreliable"
Just read an article on this accountancy thing. In a month of weasely quotes from politicians and other professional liars this is possibly the worst…
In a letter dated 9 February, Mazars’ general counsel, William Kelly, told the Trump Organization that the annual financial statements it had prepared for the family business between 2011 and 2020 were no longer reliable.
The accountants said they had based their decision partly on their own investigation into Trump’s finances and on the “totality of the circumstances”, concluding that “we are not able to provide any new work product to the Trump Organization”.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/15/donald-trump-mazars-accountants-legal-woes
This is one of those moments you wish he was still on Twitter.
On the face of it, this all seems to be moving frustratingly slowly. But is a slow crumbling downfall actually the best outcome here for the sake of the dems and / or democracy in the USA?
If he went to jail tomorrow, he'd be considered a martyr by his fans and some other clown (Rubio, Cruz, or *shudder* MTG) would court his followers who would begin to migrate. By 2024, they'd likely all be united around a single R face.
But by continuing to split the Rs and forcing other figures to nail their colours to the mast and publicly offer support to him, a slow drip-drip takedown could cripple the GOP for 2024. Obviously this is supposed to be about law and not politics, but this is 2022 and everything in the US is political, it seems.
If he went to jail tomorrow, he’d be considered a martyr by his fans and some other clown (Rubio, Cruz, or *shudder* MTG) would court his followers who would begin to migrate. By 2024, they’d likely all be united around a single R face.
The thing with guys like Rubio, Cruz, Hawley, etc. is that they are very smart graduates of elite law schools. They know that Trump is utterly full of shit, but they also know that they cannot get elected without his supporters. If Trump does get convicted, it will make him ineligible to run for office, so all the ambitious Republicans will be secretly hoping he does get convicted. From what I remember of Rubio before Trump came along, he was fairly moderate by Republican Party standards, he was in favour of immigration reform and he wasn't into all the crazy right-wing stuff. Ted Cruz was always into the crazy stuff publicly, but it's hard to believe he actually believes it, he's always been a shameless huckster. So, all those guys would be out there trying to out-Trump each other, which is just as likely to doom them as help them because they also need to appeal to more moderate voters. If they do succeed in winning, they then face the same dilemma on policy - do they appeal to the Trump base and risk alienating moderates or vice-versa. This will be from someone who lacks Trumps instinct for showmanship so it will be hard to pull off.
The thing with guys like Rubio, Cruz, Hawley, etc. is that they are very smart graduates of elite law schools.
But I said Rubio Cruz and MTG 😀
On the face of it, this all seems to be moving frustratingly slowly. But is a slow crumbling downfall actually the best outcome here for the sake of the dems and / or democracy in the USA?
I'm not sure - there is an argument that having the spectre of Trump running in 2024, then his campaign collapsing under the weight of criminal allegations, or even him somehow still being on the ballot in 2024, would be very bad for the Republicans.
But the important thing is the mid-terms - if Trump is still in campaigning mode then, the possibility of Republican gains, and then them having a legislative stranglehold, is a nightmare scenario.