The only positive from the convention is that the vaguely normal might not want to be tarred with the same brush. In the same way that plane/train spotting is not more popular than it is because because looking like one of them is too off putting.
I'm going to say this quietly because it disturbs me to type this....I don't mind Vance. To clarify, I loathe his beliefs. His isolationist opinions and their impact on Ukraine and who knows where else. And his super staunch pro life opinions are the polar opposite of what I'd want. But his is coherent; he comes across as intelligent, if misguided. If American voted for him I'd despair that the country had confirmed its world view is dreadful and I was right to dislike them as a people, but I could sort of understand. Trump is a living, breathing manifestation of an incompetent fool and I'd think that about him if he had left or right wing views. Vance is not that. It probably makes him a whole load more dangerous mind.
And I've change my views from last week having seen Vance in action. If Trump had died last week and they'd managed to shoehorn Vance in as his replacement, I think he'd have won by a landslide. You have removed the ****wit factor. This opinion probably has as much to do with my very low opinion of the collective American moral compass as it does on the competence of Vance.
The best description I’ve read of Vance is an adult Chucky with a beard. Describes him perfectly. Seems unhinged to me and has some disturbing beliefs.
wonder what it was that drew...
Is that the distant sound of cash registers I can hear?
Vance is not that. It probably makes him a whole load more dangerous mind.
It's likely the same fate will befall him as everyone else who thinks they are smart enough to work with Trump. Everything he touches turns to shit. He is, ultimately, impossible to work with. But dumb people think they're the only ones smart enough to be able to manage him and manage working with him. It seems remarkable that nothing is being made of the fact that in running again Trump is pretty much on his own - non of his Whitehouse administration are alongside him. I mean - why is he even waiting til now to announce a running mate? What could have happened to his last VP?
Out of 44 cabinet members who worked with Trump in the Whitehouse 2016-2020 - only 4 are prepared to even endorse his current run for Presidency let alone work with him again. Amongst those 90% who won't endorse is of course are a vice president who Trump sent a mob to lynch.
In the case of Vance - Trump only remembers the last thing you said about him - if you said something nice, he forgets everything else and decides you're a great guy. At some point in the future, if he's not getting his way, if Trump decides he hardly even met Vance, then Vance's history as a never-trumper will come back to bite him hard when the MAGA crowd come to view him as a traitor.
Vance is going to be Vice-President. About the only role in the job description is; hang about, just in case of emergencies. As far as press coverage goes, this is the high water mark. This is the last we'll hear about him for the next 4 years unless Trump pops his clogs.
Scaramucci, in his TRIP Leading interview talked a lot about how the people that he's going to be surrounded by this time round are a far different type of person to the 16-20. Obviously 'the Mooch' an absolute **** who I have nothing but contempt for, but he does know what he's on about in this area. According to him, Trump's cabinet are far more likely to be singing from the same hymn sheet this time around, which doesn't bode well.
Yeah agreed, I think any-one who thinks that the next Trump administration will be anything like the previous one is deluding themselves.
Vance is going to be Vice-President. About the only role in the job description is; hang about, just in case of emergencies
...like the President being incapacitated by illness or death. I accept that Trump has bucked every other trend but it's not outlandish to think that he might get sick or die in the next 4.5 years and Vance will take over automatically.
VP can also spend 4 years building a platform for their own election (although don't ask Kamala Harris for tips on this).
although don’t ask Kamala Harris for tips on this
Ha this! I mean good god, what has she been playing at? Probably suggests that she'd not be a particularly good president if she hasn't even managed to convince her own party that she's a better choice than Biden!
VP can also spend 4 years building a platform for their own election (although don’t ask Kamala Harris for tips on this).
Yep, this.
The role of the VP is very much the president's gift. Plenty of VPs have gone on to the top job without death involved. Trump's view of the world is almost feudal. If it can't be Don Jr in the job after him, his VP pick might be the next best. He'll want to believe he appointed whoever is next after him.
And let's not be fooled here - Trump's choice shows much more confidence than Pence in 2015. Pence was to placate the rest of the party - Vance is very different.
Vance would also probably be much more relaxed about interfering with the electoral process than Pence.
Yeah agreed, I think any-one who thinks that the next Trump administration will be anything like the previous one is deluding themselves.
Very much this. The world is a very different place from the start of the first Trump presidency, America is a very different country and Trump is a very different animal.
We’ll see levels of power-crazed, vindictive, vengeance-filled malice for his perceived enemies, scapegoating of minorities and rank authoritarianism that will make the McCarthy era look like an episode of Sesame Street. He’ll make Nixon look like a picture of innocent honesty in the way he’ll twist the constitution.,
We’ve already had a good preview of what a Trump second term would look like. It happened on January 6th and unless you forgot, he got away with it, which made it the perfect dry run and the model for a potential future.
In the minds of millions of gun-toting, flag-waving ****~wits, he’s equated the American constitution and himself and set himself up as it’s (and therefore their) only defender and champion. He established mob rule with zero consequences.
Just ask any of his former (Never Trump) critics in the Republican Party who’ve been lining up to deliver cringe-inducingly sycophantic eulogies to him from the podium in Milwaukee this week. Vance just being the prime, most high profile example.
They all know which way the wind is blowing, they know what’s coming and they’re making sure they’re on the right side of it And in all honesty, who can blame them?
So Biden has now been struck down by covid. I remember how Trump made a miraculous recovery from covid and when you factor in the near death experience he had a few days ago I think it becomes quite clear who is God's chosen one.
God bless America. And Israel.
I'm wondering, more like hoping, Biden will use this bout of covid to stand down gracefully.
Pelosi has come out against him. That seems pretty significant
I’m wondering, more like hoping, Biden will use this bout of covid to stand down gracefully.
Exactly my reaction. It's a last chance for him to step aside with dignity intact. As if God had preplanned it.
At this late stage any replacement will struggle. Harris has no presence and the fact that she is a) female and b) black will put a lot of people off her.
Trump looks like a shoe-in now. It's awful.
Gavin Newsom might be a decent replacement. Seems well regarded as California governor and he's about as moderate as it gets in US politics so shouldn't be as polarising for the democratic voters as someone like Bernie Sanders.
Also young enough to switch the "he's too old" arguement squarely back on Trump, not that Trump's worshippers bother themselves with such trivialities as consistency in their opinions.
Yeah Newsom just seems like the obvious choice, although I've heard it suggested that they didn't want anither California based candidate?
The big problem remains there’s no mechanism to remove Biden unless he goes of his own accord. It does sound like the wind is starting to blow in that direction though.
I wouldn't be surprised if Musk's announcement about moving x and space x from California to Texas yesterday was to start the campaign against Newsome in case he gets the nod.
Just watching the news and Biden looks absolutely terrible today. He resembles a reactivated cadaver. I can’t comprehend why he’d want to go on with this. It’s madness!
More unhinged nonsense from Trumps supporters…
https://Twitter.com/thenewsagents/status/1813628114775519453?s=46&t=1lK7Dw1b6RqGJyvufO-trQ
I’m sure his speech later will be terrifying! He thinks the election is already in the bag. He’s probably right. He’s definitely right if it’s Biden he faces
It's absolutely horrifying. To say that Trump has the wind in his sails is an enormous understatement, he is running away with it. I don't see how anyone, let alone Biden has a chance given the momentum Trump has built up.
What is the mood in Blue states? Are they not basically panicking?
What did I just watch? Her responses were like those of a mardy teenager.
Texas has no personal income tax...handy when you are a multi-billionaire
Poopscoop
Full MemberHow the hell did Trump manage to find another guy that’s as much of an utter &£#@##£#£&&@#££?++#&&##£##£###£##… as he is?
He didn't find him, he pretty much created him. Vance was a relatively moderate republican of the old school, saying "Im a Never Trump guy", called him an idiot, said he could be America's Hitler, said he was unfit for the office. And "I can’t stomach Trump. I think that he’s noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place. I think there’s a chance, if I feel like Trump has a really good chance of winning, that I might have to hold my nose and vote for Hillary Clinton.”
And then he found himself out in the wilderness as the party went full cultist, and made the tactical decision to fake it and join them. Not quickly, mind you, he just stayed out of sight for a couple of years til he realised that there was no quick way back for the GOP and that if he wanted to be a part of it he had to be as mental as all the other MAGAs. It's almost worse for people like this, he's not crazy, he didn't believe this stuff, he just fakes it.
(though maybe he'll end up actually believing it like a lot of the other nutters; plenty of people around Trump started out doing it tactically, but accidentally gaslit themselves and end up forgetting what's real and not)
MSP
Full MemberI wouldn’t be surprised if Musk’s announcement about moving x and space x from California to Texas yesterday was to start the campaign against Newsome in case he gets the nod.
Musk likes Texas, they're pretty desperate to improve their economy on the tech side so they've pretty much waived environmental restrictions for boca chica, he's been free to blow up rockets, set fire to a wilderness reserve, pour water runoff into endangered habitats in the nature reserve he was inexplicably allowed to built a space launch station in, and got permission for it on the basis of being a commercial launch site for Falcons then turned it into an experimental site for exploding Starships.
The irony of course is that Spacex (like other tech companies) have brought loads of highly educated, upper middle class tech professionals into texas, all of whom vote blue and demand better infrastrcuture, schools and lifestyles than republican Texas likes, accelerating Texas's general division and overall march leftwards.
When's Trump going to take that plaster off, he was only shot in the head.
It’s far more likely that every single lunatic in the audience in Milwaukee tonight will be accessorising their red MAGA baseball cap with a big plaster on their ear, than it is for trump to take his off
https://Twitter.com/stevelane100/status/1813840616519811545?s=46&t=1lK7Dw1b6RqGJyvufO-trQ
Looks like it's absolutely untenable for Biden now but the damage has been done. Unless enough Americans vote to actively keep Trump out it seems like a lost cause.
Never thought I'd see America in the state it is now with the MAGA cult. Never thought I'd see the UK dragged down so far either, mind you.
Texas has no personal income tax…handy when you are a multi-billionaire
Damn, so rather than offshoring you can just off-county, or off state?
No Wonder the Texans are getting a bit tetchy!
One thing that’s going to be interesting is the enquiry into the failure by the USSS, (US Secret Service). Their main job, as I understand it, is to protect the President, so how come they screwed the pooch in such a spectacular fashion?
However, they didn't find that the Trump Rally shooter had any particular ideology. He left behind no manifesto, and nobody interviewed said that Crooks ever talked politics. Reportedly, investigators also found a second cellphone. They're in the process of investigating more there.
On the day of the Trump Rally shooting, Crooks' parents were concerned for their son. He didn't return home that afternoon, so his father contacted local authorities. He thought his son was a shooting range. Instead, Crooks was at the rally where he climbed onto a roof and opened fire on the crowd, injuring several and killing one.
The Secret Service has come under scrutiny for not anticipating the threat prior to the attack. "The buck stops with me," said United States Secret Service Director, Kimberly Cheatle
"The shooter was actually identified as a potential person of suspicion," she said. "Unfortunately, with the rapid succession of how things unfolded. By the time that individual was eventually located, they were on the rooftop and were able to fire off at the former president."
No one was posted on the roof. She said, "That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there's a safety factor that would be considered there. That we wouldn't want to put somebody up on a sloped roof. And so, you know, the decision was made to secure the building, from inside."
However, the director is refusing to step down from her position despite criticism from the public.
So, here’s the problem, the pitch of the roof was very shallow, a five year old, but not necessarily dTrumph, could have walked up it. The Sherriff’s Office snipers were on a roof with a much steeper pitch, at least 15-20°, and they were managing without fancy PPE like climbing harnesses, their rifle tripods were ready and set up with one long leg on the side away from the stage, facing roughly in the direction of the roof in question, the other two on the side where the snipers were situated. Members of the public spotted the shooter on the roof, they videoed him, even showed him standing up and moving forward, so if the building was secured, how come nobody heard him, how come nobody reacted to their repeated calls to police and security?
Also: “On the day of the Trump Rally shooting, Crooks' parents were concerned for their son. He didn't return home that afternoon, so his father contacted local authorities. He thought his son was a shooting range.”
The kid was a remarkably good shot, with a regular AR-15; at around 450ft, he was 1cm from taking the side off of Trump’s skull: if Trump hadn’t turned his head to the right, the bullet would have gone right through the back of his head! The shooter had clearly been practicing shooting at a serious distance, which shows clear commitment.*
Now, I’ve been on this site/forum for a long time, and one thing I’ve spent time doing is debunking ‘fake news stories’ QAnon and the whole conspiracy theory crap! I practically grind my teeth flat at the gullibility of people who fall for such bullshit, but honestly, there’s something not quite right with this picture! I’m really looking forward to the results of this enquiry.
If it gets published.
*I’ve just checked the effective range of an AR-15 with a 16” barrel, the most common civilian (Ha!) version, with a 55grain 5.56 calibre NATO bullet, is about 500 yards/1500 ft, the shooter was 150 yards/450 feet away from the stage, so not beyond the bounds of possibility, with some dedication to practicing.
Also, footage from the ground clearly shows the sniper teams were actually facing towards the building the shooter was on! As a wise man once said, go figure.
I have a feeling that there are more than a few people who are going to be feeling some real heat around their nether regions after this fiasco.
This RNC Convention is like watching America’s Got No Talent, what the actual **** am I watching, that utter dick Dana White, owner of UFC and beloved hero of the “bro science Rogan cult” is on stage bigging up Trump.
I’ve seen enough.
There's clearly members here who are very invested and spen a lot of time studying American politics here. Somafunk watching the convention at 4am in the morning!
Why? And I'm genuinely interested in this fascination, not trolling or looking to start an argument.
The US - about to fall into the abyss.
I can't see how they could recover from another trump presidency.
They even spelt the poor blokes name wrong.
how come nobody heard him, how come nobody reacted to their repeated calls to police and security?
I think context is key here: In the context of hundreds of MAGA loons yelling weird ,inflammatory, sensationalist, nonsense about everything, in every direction, how do you filter all that out and hear or see a credible report for what it actually is. How do you distinguish a real threat with a backpack and range finder in the crowd from all the weirdo cosplay gravy seals. Signal to noise ratio and all that.
how come nobody heard him, how come nobody reacted to their repeated calls to police and security?
At least one version of the story I've heard is that the snipers were aware, indeed were already turned and aiming in that direction (they 'located, engaged, and neutralised' the would-be assassin very quickly after he fired). But the issue was that where the roof he was on was in the second ring of secure, it was the remit of local law enforcement, and so reports of a man on the roof with a rifle were being checked and rechecked. Might it be a local LE bod up there? What's the fall out of shooting someone from the local sheriff's office in response to a sketchy report. Once it became clear he was a bad guy, the situation was resolved in seconds.
Seems very plausible that was the breakdown, not that no-one reacted at all.
There’s clearly members here who are very invested and spen a lot of time studying American politics here. Somafunk watching the convention at 4am in the morning!
Why? And I’m genuinely interested in this fascination, not trolling or looking to start an argument.
A combination of spms and curiosity as to just how ****ing batshit this convention will be, being stuck in my reclining chair as I can't stand up to get to bed/my muscles are so rigid.
Better now, I managed to reach my sativex and took 15 sprays and eventually made it to bed at 5.30am where I passed out, woke up at 10am and now sat munching banana honey wheat loaf and a double/double/double espresso (bowel opener)
🙂
double/double/double espresso
Expecting lots and lots of posts around about now then!
Peak ‘Merica - Hulk Hogan speaking at the RNC in favour of Trump
https://twitter.com/rustyrockets/status/1814113542775415272?
in retaliation, Bidens team are reported to have hired the undertaker.
Sorry, an undertaker
Kimberly Gilfoyle at the "when you can't call a Nazi at a Nazi Convention"
"It's no wonder that the heroes who stormed the beaches at Normandy and faced down Communism say they do not recognise our county any more"
Their main job, as I understand it, is to protect the President
But he’s not the President.
Biden’s only hope now is to have somebody attempt to assassinate him but take out his nose or a couple of fingers or something.
Yep - he could then dress as a mummy, he already walks like one.
When Biden was doing his "calm down, calm down" bit on TV it did look like he was a partially animated ventriloquists dummy. Nothing moved apart from his mouth and even then only just. They've walked right into a trap trump didn't even know he'd set.
