Just on an objective basis, you would think Trump is indefensible ( and has been for years). Yet they still do it. I would like to hear from some of them what is so special about Trump that he makes them forsake all their previous ethical standards. Maybe there is something there the rest of us are missing.
I think one thing, if one wants to get phycological, I honestly think some people admire his bombastic, I don't give a fuck, say whatever brain fart is on his mind, being unapologetically nasty, etc.
Likely because Trump supporters are slack jawed sub 80 IQ morons.
More than likely they share a specific personal opinion the same as Trump, they can never admit to be wrong. To not support him would mean they'd have to look at him with unfettered eyes and realize that they should have never supported him at all, and if that was the case, they would have been WRONG to do so.
Trump has never admitted to being wrong about anything, and they also cannot admit to that.
Read the Bell Curve and get back to me about the IQ of the Democratic base., since you are such a believer in it.
Was invited to join Mensa but I'm just not a joiner
Same here. Its not that impressive.
g how the vast majority of scientists identify as liberals.
Not really. Liberals like control and think in black and white, much like many scientists. The Nazi party sure didn't lack for support among scientists and engineers.
I never read the book, but the title does seem to ring a bell with me, or against me, don’t matter to things so fecal, but damn, better not be no Trump sequel, cause that traitorous trailer Peter suckin Parker of autos on a mountain, thus know his valet, the Diet Pepsi poser that fetches the refreshment for one stale, tried to steal, paper machete knife that cuts hard, like Jon Luke Picard guzzling Captain Morgan & more Morgan than Stanley ever took like a Tool, 23 till 46, cause it ain’t in his jeans, it’s making bitches sick, cause he is, in the head he gives US, that’s empty, all while the weak minded, DONT, cause he will, yet WONT, asz he created a cult, absent culture, asz his yoga pants are heavier than Chris Christie’s buffet bark, found in the dark bark of a Dawg that wood, lift more that weigh, like a tree in season, cause their is a reason he’s been charged with a crime that reminds me of Treason, inn n e season Trump Assaults, cause he’s at Faultz, that make San Andreas envious, as he quakes like a state, stated in denial , as he should certainly be concerned about his upcoming trial balloon , with Bubba . hopefully he gets some reservoir
Tips, while bending over backwards attempting explanation, asz his base was stolen, buy a swollen cranium, without a brain in him, to take him on a date to meat sum knew too good 4 Mensa meeting in the Vegan market to find some beef with someone, other than his usual suspects, guilty of inn No Sense, less he brings spare change to the strip joint, cuz can’t relate to him, at any point….
Web In The Bell Curve , a notorious bestseller, US political scientist Charles Murray and psychologist Richard Herrnstein suggested that black Americans were less intelligent …
While the book is thirty years old, and I haven't read it in almost that long, I don't believe it argues that "blacks dumb down the base of the Democratic Party" like Perrie claimed. If she has evidence demonstrating that it does, I'd be interested to see it.
Perrie can speak for herself but I think she was just extrapolating from A to B. If reading the Bell Curve would help one understand why the Democratic base is so dumb, the conclusion has to be because the democratic base is black.
b In The Bell Curve , a notorious bestseller, US political scientist Charles Murray and psychologist Richard Herrnstein suggested that black Americans were less intelligent …
Let's recall how we got here.
(1) CJ Cold, based on it appears nothing but his own stereotypes, claims Trump Supporters s "are slack jawed sub 80 IQ morons." and that Republicans in general score 88 or below. Those made up claims received no push back from progressives and thumbs up from the usual progressive hallelujah chorus.
(2) There was no push back from progressives on the implied argument that IQ tests are accurate measures of intelligence.
So given that progressives on this site believe IQ tests do measure intelligence, than it's only fair to look at the IQ scores of their voters. And black Americans, are the most loyal demographic of any group, with about 90% voting Democratic. OF course, as Murray demonstrated, blacks IQ scores are the lowest scoring ethnic group. Per Murray, the average black American IQ score is 15 points lower the average white American.
So if you are going to insult and mock groups of people based on IQ scores.....
Aren't the IQ scores normalized to make the average be 100?
If so, wouldn't the IQ scores of any one group (assuming a large sample size and a test that was not biased) have the same distribution? Or is someone seriously making the suggestion that one political group is smarter than the other? No wonder the country is is tearing apart.
ouldn't the IQ scores of any one group (assuming a large sample size and a test that was not biased) have the same distribution?
That's not how normalization works. It's not normalized per sub group, but for the whole So yes, it's very possible any particular sub group would have any average above or below 100.
you remain remarkably cognizant of the conclusions of the book.
Nothing I've written is really particular to the book. The book itself is about mainly about policy responses rather much original research, possibly excepting the heritability aspect. And those proposed responses are not something I remember. I only referenced the title because another poster brought up the bell curve as the foundation of his argument.
That's not how normalization works. It's not normalized persub group, but for the whole
That's what I intended to say. It is normalized for the whole. An arbitrary scale placed upon a distribution to make "sense" of it.
But in your response to JR ,you told him to read "The Bell Curve " You obviously know the content of the book and the conclusions of the many. Hence, you told JR to read The Bell Curve . Along with your recommendation, you left the certain probability that the book would tell him about the distribution of Democratic IQs as compared to "normal". The astute reader needs no more proof.
Proof of what, exactly? I have no idea what point you are trying to make. Knowing that the Bell Curve summarizes research into group differences in IQ is like knowing War and Peace is about Russia during the Napoleonic Wars . Nothing I've discussed is unique to that book, and why you think there's some gotcha there is truly a mystery to me.
Need I say more?
Sure, if that makes you happy. t might be helpful if you address the point. OR can you can continue on this irrelevant deflection that has no point if you prefer
Proof of what I cannot say, the rules of jargon lend not their sway.
You told JR To read the specific book in response to a comment on the IQ of the Republican party in general. To claim that you were just generalizing is not very believable.
You have no argument so you go personal. Naively so!
Non-partisanship means making decisions and taking positions regardless of the position of a political party. Sometimes a position will align with the GOP (e.g. immigration, smaller government, ...) and other times it will align with the D party (e.g. renewable energy, climate change, abortion, ...). And then there are times when positions do not work with either party (e.g. federal spending madness, term limits, electoral college changes, ...).
You seem to think partisanship is determined by who one criticizes. That is beyond naive. Currently the GOP has, in my opinion, lost its mind. It is far more dysfunctional than the D party. Members who contribute to / support this nonsense will find me criticizing their positions. And it should not surprise you that those who are supporting / defending MAGA/Trump, promising to vote for him if nominated, and constantly deflecting all criticism tend to be tied to the GOP.
I have also noticed that pure partisans find it impossible to believe that someone could actually be independent of any political party. That inability to comprehend political independence is a fine litmus test for a blind partisan.
I know my positions far better than you do so, yes, it is if I say so.
So if you find a 'D partisan' who seeks limited government, fiscal responsibility, sensible immigration, and who does not support Biden/Harris then you do not comprehend the notion of 'political independent'.
Yes and No. I would explain but previous attempts of rational discussion have proved impossible with anyone so entrenched in their own position. As my father would say when I was 16 "I am not going to bother to talk if you are incapable of listening " . I outgrew it by 21.
The astute reader would recognize I didn't tell JR to read any book and that the first person referencing bell curve was not me.
claim that you were just generalizing is not very believable
I don't you understand what generalizing means, if you don't think that's what I was doing. I don't know how much more of a surface level summary I could possible give. Maybe just calling it a medium sized book? Would that be too in-depth of an analysis to be generalizing ?
is telling someone to read a specific book generalizing?
This might be the most dumbest, least relevant discussion in this site's history. He's talking about the contents of the book and claims my posts are just too damn informed to be "generalizing" about its contents. Its really that dumb.
I understand the purpose behind the deflection and I guess shame on me for falling for it. If you want to believe its superhuman to be able to recall basic themes of books I read, I guess you got me. Guilty as charged. I haven't read the Scarlett Letter since high school and I can provide a two sentence summary. I guess I should start touring and profiting off my uncanny recall.
Because whatever they believe Trump did, it is no worse than what his opponents have done. They see a rotten system run by hypocrites and that let's them excuse the faults of someone who points out the rottenness they themselves see. They believe Trump is persecuted unfairly simply for not playing ball with the system and the more he's attacked, the more they believe he's on the right track.
His voters tend to be older. They've seen the establishment defend a President perjure himself, be accused of raping a women while ignoring Biden's lies/ accusations of sexual impropriety. They've watched the same people claim elections have been stolen for decades with no consequence or that President's are "illegitimate " for decades with no pushback. They watched their riot after deadly riot take place and saw the perpetrators lionized by the establishment, treated as victims and subsequently walk away pretty much scot free. They see a media/Democratic Party propping up and defending a cantankerous, senile old man who can only "work" a few hours a day and belongs in a nursing home and see a country that's divorced itself from any objective standard.
The examples are endless. It's impossible for those who've bought into the left's bubble to understand how corrupt and dishonest they appear to those outside of it.
They see his enemies liars and hypocrites of the worst kind, and since he's willing to attack the establishment they despise, they defend and support him.
Donald Trump's presidency: A shocking list of things he's done - Macleans.ca
By Shannon Gormley October 6, 2020 30-39 minutes 10/6/2020
Here is a comprehensive rundown of what the most unpresidential president in history has said and done during his time in office
Departing from the behaviour of every previous president, during his first term the current president of the United States:
Greeted predecessor at White House; left wife in car. Made up to wife by allowing wife to add references to jewellery line to official White House first lady bio. Did not convince wife to move into White House; eventually convinced wife to move into White House; did not convince wife to move into White House bedroom. Maintained ownership of companies; doubled membership fees for Mar-a-Lago beach resort. Warned inauguration crowd of foreign attempts to “ravage” United States. Told first lie in office, described modestly sized inauguration crowd as largest in history; saw photographs of predecessor’s larger crowd; deployed press secretary to repeat crowd description as history’s largest; deployed senior adviser to describe inaccurate crowd description as “alternative fact.” Did not release tax returns.
Was subject of historic event on day after inauguration, with largest protests in nation’s history organized against him by members of sex about which he had previously advised grabbing “by the pussy.” Asked, “Why didn’t these people vote?” Learned he did not win majority of votes; requested investigation into voter fraud.
Signed order to build wall between Mexico and United States that he claimed Mexico would pay for; learned Mexican president cancelled meeting with him, would not pay for wall. Had phone call with president of U.S. ally Mexico, threatened to invade U.S. ally Mexico. Had phone call with prime minister of U.S. ally Australia, hung up on prime minister of U.S. ally Australia. Had phone call with president of U.S. adversary Russia, promised to have “fantastic relationship” with president of U.S. adversary Russia. Signed order banning refugees on security grounds. Signed order banning travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries on security grounds; said it was not a Muslim ban. Saw Muslim ban cause confusion, panic and chaotic protests worldwide. Saw judge block refugee ban, saw judge block Muslim ban. Learned acting attorney general defied him; fired acting attorney general.
Heard Black reporter ask if he would meet with Congressional Black Caucus, asked her, “You want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours?” Declared free press “the enemy of the American people.”
Invited his “If I weren’t happily married and, ya know, her father” daughter to sit in Oval Office chair. Learned Nordstrom dropped fashion line by daughter; tweeted attack on Nordstrom. Tweeted would not attack court; attacked court as “political.” Learned top aide was promoting fashion line by daughter. Greeted U.S. ally/Japanese prime minister, shook hand for 19 seconds. Tweeted would bring border-wall price “WAY DOWN.” Did not get Mexico to pay any price for wall.
Told FBI director “I hope you can let this go” about investigation into national security adviser lying about communication with Russian ambassador. Had national security adviser resign; saw leak that national security adviser had resigned; called leak “criminal.” Held rally; attacked “dishonest media.” Gave speech; threatened to “do something” about media. Blocked press members from press briefings; skipped press dinner.
Heard reports attorney general communicated with Russians during Trump campaign; also, that vice-president used private emails as governor; also, that vice-president said his private emails were nothing like election rival’s private emails. Tweeted that predecessor tapped his phone. Attacked judge for “unprecedented overreach” for blocking travel ban. Heard GOP congressman call on him to release tax returns. Did not release tax returns.
Used State Department website to advertise Mar-a-Lago resort. Allowed [pats her lower hips with both hands] daughter to meet with president of China, heard her company had won trademarks from government of China; heard public outrage, allowed “perhaps I’d be dating her” daughter to sit in on meeting with German Chancellor. Learned FBI was investigating campaign links with Russia and election interference. Gave “You know who’s one of the great beauties of the world, according to everybody?” daughter official White House role. Saw former adviser offer to testify about Trump campaign dealings with Russia in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Tweeted media should not investigate his campaign’s links with Russia, should investigate predecessor tapping his phone. Planned shift to centre. Tweeted North Korea was “looking for trouble”; tweeted Russia relationship “will work out fine.”
Heard tens of thousands of protesters demand he release tax returns. Tweeted protests were small. Tweeted media should investigate who paid protesters. Did not release tax returns. Had wife prompt him to put hand over heart during national anthem at Easter event. Tweeted if wall was not built “the drug situation” would “NEVER be fixed.” Saw disapproval numbers rise; saw “what a beauty” daughter booed at W20 summit; heard German minister say “the mix of politics with family and business reminds us of nepotism.” Called president of Philippines, congratulated him for policy of shooting drug suspects on sight in streets, praised “unbelievable job.” Held rally, accused media of “failing,” being “fake,” working from “very ugly” office building, praised crowd for being large.
Did not get money from Congress for border wall. Did make plans with Russian leader for meeting. Tweeted predecessor’s health-care act was a “lie” and “dead.” Fired FBI director. Saw report he asked independent FBI director to pledge him loyalty. Tweeted fired FBI director “better hope there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations!”
Passed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister. Heard national security adviser say releasing classified information to Russia was not “inappropriate.” Heard reports he asked fired FBI director to drop investigation. Called fired FBI director “a real nut job.” Heard Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates pledged $100 million to fund backed by “she’s hot, right?” daughter. Said Saudi Arabia is fighting “barbaric criminals.” Recalled loss of popular vote; created commission to investigate voter fraud; never found evidence of voter fraud. Announced via Twitter new security policy of compromising intelligence sources by sharing “facts pertaining to terrorism and airline safety” with American adversaries such as Russia.
Had hand swatted by wife on tarmac. Shoved Prime Minister of Montenegro out of way during photo op, obtained better position. Learned FBI was scrutinizing son-in-law for proposing secret communications channel with Russia. Called leaks “troubling.”
Tweeted about “constant negative press covfefe.” Tweeted people should not be “politically correct.” Did not release tax returns. Said he would speak under oath about conversations with fired FBI director. Did not speak under oath about conversations with FBI director. Said other people leaking about fired FBI director are “cowardly.”
Learned appeals court ruled against travel ban. Tweeted “the real story” was predecessor allowing Russian election meddling. Tweeted about rejecting “poorly rated” and “psycho” journalist; also journalist “bleeding badly from a facelift” and “low IQ crazy.”
Met Russian president at G20, wife tried to break it up, failed, met Russian president secretly, daughter took empty chair. Tweeted daughter holding seat is “very standard.” Heard reports son set up meeting with suspected Kremlin lawyer, stated son is “high-quality person.” Heard son-in-law deny he colluded with Russia. Tweeted attorney general is “beleaguered,” should investigate election rival’s relationship with Russia.
Instructed police officers to refrain from being “too nice” when making arrests. Again, fired senior staff, communications director. Held rally; again, yelled about former election campaign rival. Threatened North Korea with “fire and fury,” something, something.
Learned woman murdered in Charlottesville, Va., amid marches by racists masquerading as golf caddies with tiki torches yelling about blood and soil; condemned violence “on many sides, on many sides,” praised “very fine people on both sides.” Retweeted cartoon of train killing journalist. Received thanks from former leader of Ku Klux Klan. Received accolades from chief strategist, former executive chairman of racist news site. Fired chief strategist. Complimented former chief strategist. Pardoned racist sheriff.
Watched eclipse, looked directly at sun.
Heard media report Trump Organization contacted Kremlin about Moscow deal during election; heard campaign manager’s lawyer was subpoenaed by the special counsel investigation. Rescinded DACA. Tweeted attack on people “writing books and major articles about me.” Heard “is it wrong to be more sexually attracted to your own daughter than your wife?” daughter complain of liberal critics’ “unrealistic expectations.” Instructed ESPN via Twitter to “Apologize for untruth!” Tweeted travel ban should be “far larger” but political correctness prohibited it. Shook wife’s hand, told her to “go sit down,” pushed her off stage. Called North Korean dictator “rocket man.” Called kneeling NFL player “son of a bitch,” requested team owners remove from field. Heard journalists report secretary of state nearly resigned over president’s stupidity after calling president a “moron”; instructed journalists via Twitter to “issue an apology to AMERICA!”; declared members of free press should have broadcast licenses “challenge[d].”
Heard Puerto Rico mayor beg for hurricane assistance; attacked mayor. Said hurricane not “real catastrophe.” Threw paper towels at hurricane victims. Informed hurricane victims, “You’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack.” Heard his “every guy in the country wants to go out with” daughter and eldest son almost indicted for fraud. Asked CIA director to meet with conspiracy theorist who could explain how Democrats, not Russia, hacked Democrats. Defended throwing paper towels at hurricane victims.
Tweeted instructions at unknown persons to “change tax law!” in retaliation for NFL players kneeling. Did not release tax returns. Appointed gold-level Trump Hotel member ambassador to Canada. Requested secretary of state compare IQ scores with him. Stated, incorrectly and disapprovingly, predecessor never made calls to military families.
Told widow that dead soldier husband “knew what he signed up for.” Tweeted Republican chairman of Senate foreign relations committee “didn’t have the guts” to run for re-election, wouldn’t have endorsed him anyway. Learned campaign manager charged with conspiracy against United States.
Requested judge give someone death penalty. Told Japan’s prime minister he would allow Japan’s economy to come second after America’s. Told North Korea, “Do not try us.” Cancelled visit to DMZ due to fog, not guns. Shook hands with Russian president at dinner, not for 19 seconds.
Spoke favourably of poll showing majority disapproval. Called major media outlet “Loser!” Struggled to locate, open and drink from water bottle. Claimed to turn down offer to be “person of the year.”
Heard media reports chief of staff discussed “great, great beauty” daughter and son-in-law leaving West Wing. Heard media reports wife did not wish to be first lady. Referred to senator as “Pocahontas,” NFL as “weak and out of control!” Retweeted anti-Muslim videos. Suggested journalist be investigated for murder.
Said female senator “would do anything for” campaign contributions. Learned women who accused him of groping requested congressional probe into more than one dozen sexual harassment and assault allegations. Saw photos of himself with new accuser he claimed to have never met. Dispatched lawyer to claim presidents “cannot obstruct justice.”
Wished Happy New Year to even the very dishonest fake news media.” Announced Justice Department is part of “deep state” conspiracy against him. Announced he, too, has big button, bigger than button of North Korean dictator. Assured public he is “very stable genius.” Compressed workday to prioritize TV, Twitter. Mouthed wrong words to national anthem.
Posed query regarding American policy of accepting immigration from “s–thole countries.” Clarified, “I am not a racist.” Heard reports his lawyer bribed porn star with hush money after he slept with her, compared her to “she’s actually always been very voluptuous” daughter, after wife gave birth. Tweeted, “Trump wins again.” Heard wife would not attend Davos. Clarified, “No, I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist.”
Gave speech, noted lack of clapping, accused non-clappers of being “treasonous.” Attacked FBI, DOJ, NFL. Advocated for shutdown of government he leads; had lawyer claim he, not president, paid president’s porn star girlfriend with own money, just because; sent “Did she look a little more stacked?” daughter to winter Olympics. Required memo to appear empathetic toward shooting victims; proposed giving school teachers guns; advocated for importance of strong mental health.
Congratulated Chinese president for eliminating term limits, announced “maybe we’ll give that a shot someday.” Reiterated claim he “never met” sexual assault accuser. Reiterated call for investigation into predecessor. Said deputy who did not shoot gunman “certainly did a poor job.” Learned communications director was resigning. Learned ex-chief of staff called him “an idiot.” Fired personal assistant. Fired secretary of state. Learned special counsel subpoenaed company. Learned porn star passed lie detector test. Fired national security adviser. Issued zero-tolerance policy of parents caring for children at border. Tweeted attack on “cheatin’ ” predecessor. Tweeted attack on “untruthful slimeball” former FBI director. Said he did not get wife a birthday gift, praised supportive Black rap artist.
Learned porn star’s lawyer said Russian oligarch put $500,000 in president’s lawyer’s account. Called undocumented immigrants “animals.” Called FBI investigation “witch hunt.” Planned to pardon criminal who pled guilty for breaking campaign finance laws. Issued unprejudiced legal opinion, “I have the absolute right to pardon myself.” Opted not to prepare for his meeting with North Korean dictator. Noted when North Korean dictator speaks, “his people sit up at attention.” Said, “I want my people to do the same.”
Saw photographic evidence his policies separated families at border; denied policies separated families at border; stated, “You have to take the children away.”
Nominated accused sexual assailant to Supreme Court. Defended accused sexual assault assailant as Supreme Court nominee, criticized Democrats’ “meanness.” Heard reports he tore up memos and documents, aides had to tape back together. Met U.S. allies, called prime minister of neighbour and ally Canada “meek,” also “very dishonest and weak.” Kept Queen of England waiting, did not bow, said they had great “chemistry.”
Welcomed national security threat, telecommunications firm from U.S. adversary China, to do business with U.S. Met privately with president of U.S. adversary Russia, held joint news conference with president of U.S. adversary Russia, declared if leader of U.S. adversary Russia said they didn’t do what American intelligence agencies said they did, he had to believe leader of U.S. adversary Russia. Tweeted, “no president has been tougher on Russia than me.” Tweeted, media “hate the fact that I’ll probably have a good relationship with Putin.” Tweeted DOJ and FBI investigations are “witch hunt rigged, a scam!”
Tweeted request attorney general stop investigating his campaign, called investigation a “TOTAL HOAX.” Said son’s campaign behaviour was “totally legal.” Told critics to “be cool.”
Tweeted attack on kneeling Black NFL players. Called critical Black congresswoman “extraordinarily low IQ person,” critical former Black staff woman “dog,” critical Black interviewer stupid. Dispatched white spokesman to clarify he isn’t racist. Tweeted thanks to supportive Black rap artist. Welcomed supportive white biker gang to golf club, complimented “beautiful bikes,” mocked journalists for getting wet in rain. Supported firing FBI agent who had criticized him. Revoked security clearance of former CIA director who had criticized him. Complained of “ridiculously” high cost of military parades. Complained of social media companies “closing down the opinions of many people on the right.” Complained media outlets did not recognize “I have nothing to hide.” Praised Latino border guard for speaking “perfect English.”
Informed former campaign chairman was convicted on eight counts. Informed former lawyer pleaded guilty to paying hush money to porn star on his behalf. Launched petition against ESPN’s national anthem policy, gave himself “A-plus” compared to all predecessors. Signalled desire to pardon former campaign chairman. Announced White House lawyer leaving after accused sexual assault assailant sworn in as Supreme Court justice. Said he would “get involved” with independent agencies DOJ and FBI. Said Google was rigged to shut out conservatives. Said TV cameras were faking technical difficulties to shut out his speeches. Said he had successfully made America great again. Tweeted attack on Canada. Did not get Mexico to pay for wall.
Skipped Republican senator’s funeral; golfed. Learned anonymous administration official penned op-ed claiming they and others were resisting the president’s worst impulses; called op-ed treason; instructed media outlet to hand traitor “over to government at once!” Claimed to fall asleep during predecessor’s speech. Requested attorney general investigate author of op-ed criticizing him. Tweeted attack on NFL. Complained Puerto Rico storm response was underappreciated. Called storm death toll a Democratic hoax. Described banker as unintelligent, poor public speaker, nervous mess, but “otherwise he is wonderful.” Announced, “No collusion!” Announced, “I don’t have an attorney general.” Announced, FBI is “cancer in our country.” Tweeted query, “I want to know, where is the money for border security and the WALL in this ridiculous spending bill?” Did not get Mexico to pay for wall.
Asked sexual assault accuser to bring forward unspecified “filings” against Supreme Court nominee. Declared sexual assault accusation to possibly be greatest injustice suffered by any candidate of any kind in all of history. Declared wealthy Jewish man paid for protesters against accused sexual assailant. Was laughed at during UN speech, claimed was in on joke. Held rally, laughed at sexual assault accuser. Apologized to Supreme Court nominee “on behalf of our nation.” Saw U.S. ambassador to UN leave. Told by wife to put his phone down. Said #MeToo prevents him from saying what he really wants.
Threatened “severe punishment” against Saudi Arabia for disappearance of journalist. Defended Saudi Arabia for disappearance of journalist. Accused Saudi Arabia of staging “worst cover up ever” in killing of journalist, attributed to their “very bad original concept.” Stated Republican Speaker of the House knew nothing of birthright citizenship. Praised barbed wire along border. Praised man who body-slammed journalist. Did not get Mexico to pay for wall. Lost midterms, boasted of “big victory.” Saw White House reporter have mic wrestled away by staffer, had White House revoke reporter’s credentials, had White House release altered video of mic wrestling. Pretended not to know appointee he had met more than one dozen times. Accused French president of insulting him, criticized general who led Osama bin Laden raid, expressed anger with California foresters, suggested raking to prevent fires. Defended Saudi prince for murder of journalist.
Tweeted attack on judges, who “must not legislate security and safety at the border” or “there will be only bedlam, chaos, injury and death.” Gave thanks for himself on Thanksgiving. Learned House would investigate “she does have a very nice figure” daughter’s emails, defended daughter’s “very innocent” use of private emails. Interviewed administrative candidates at Mar-a-Lago. Appreciated senator’s lynching remarks as joke. Threatened to shut down United States government if Congress did not pay for wall. Did not get Mexico to pay for wall. Tweeted attack on General Motors. Tweeted attack on former lawyer. Announced business dealings during campaign were “very legal,” “very cool.” Did not release tax returns. Nominated former host of favourite Fox News TV show as U.S. ambassador to UN. Fired chief of staff. Learned child died in custody of U.S. border agents. Threatened to shut down U.S. government if Congress did not pay for wall. Did not get Congress to pay for wall. Heard former lawyer say he directed him to pay hush money to porn star, calls former lawyer “a rat.” Tweeted that “real scandal” is negative media coverage of him, query as to whether media outlets are guilty of “collusion?” Lost defence secretary. Tweeted that wall is “like the wheel, there is nothing better.” Did not get Mexico to pay for wall. Triggered partial government shutdown for longest time in nation’s history. Learned second child died in same month in custody of U.S. border agents, celebrated Christmas. Became unhappy with new chief of staff. Hinted at firing Federal Reserve chairman. Claimed Democrats secretly love border walls. Claimed only Olympic champion could scale new border wall. Lodged complaint against congressional Democrats via Twitter for “presidential harassment,” asked Congress to pay for wall, did not get Mexico to pay for wall. Blamed Democrats for dead migrant children. Heard chief of staff say of wall, “To be honest, it’s not a wall.” Wished Happy New Year to “the haters.”
Confided he could win office in Europe if he wanted to, protested “but I don’t want to.” Explained war in Syria is “about sand and death. That’s what we’re talking about.” Assessed his generals as “better looking than Tom Cruise and stronger.”
Submitted question to universe, “How do you impeach a president who has won perhaps the greatest election of all time, done nothing wrong (no collusion with Russia, it was the Dems that colluded), had the most successful first two years of any president, and is the most popular Republican in party history 93 per cent?” Said he never said Mexico would pay for wall. Asked Democrats to pay for wall. Walked out of meeting, did not get Democrats to pay for wall. Served visiting athletes fast food burgers. Asked Democrats for just a “down payment” on wall, did not get Mexico/Democrats to pay for wall. Saw ex-adviser arrested for obstruction, false statements and witness tampering; learned ex-lawyer admitted to creating fake online election poll. Tweeted media was “rude” to press secretary, taunted media as “fake news.” Called future political rival “dangerous.” Admitted temporary defeat on wall, reopened government, threatened shutdown if Democrats didn’t pay for wall. Criticized U.S. intelligence; endorsed U.S. intelligence. Complained he does not make enough money as president. Complained he is “victim” of journalism. Complained he did not get Democrats to pay for wall. Proposed “human wall.” Said he dumped defence secretary first.
Heard “she’s got the best body” daughter announce he did not get her or husband security clearances. Held rally, praised German shepherds’ crime-fighting abilities, said he would feel “phony” with dog, mocked predecessor for having dog. Advised Academy Awards ratings would improve if Hollywood ceased criticizing him, claimed predecessor confided he nearly started a war with North Korea, revealed he is inventor of the word “caravan.”
Was subject of 25th Amendment discussions at DOJ to remove him from office. Threatened veto if Congress voted against national emergency along U.S.-Mexico border. Was sued by more than a dozen states over border wall funding. Was nominated by Japan’s leader for Nobel Peace Prize. Called highly regarded newspaper “true enemy of the people.” Posed query to Black actor, “What about MAGA?” Accused Black actor of racism. Appointed gold-level Trump Hotel member ambassador to UN. Did not release tax returns. Was accused of sexual assault by former campaign staffer. Was called “racist,” “con man,” “cheat” by ex-lawyer. Reiterated claims of former election rival’s crookedness. Heard claim U.S. adversary North Korea did not kill U.S. citizen, pronounced dictator innocent. Gave speech, hugged U.S. flag, called special investigation “bulls–t.” Expressed sympathy for former campaign chairman found guilty. Thanked Republicans for supporting wall (physical, not human, not paid for by Mexico); attacked beloved dead Republican senator (“never a fan,” allowed, “some people like him”); expounded upon fundamental weakness of wind power science (“it only blows sometimes”); declared own benevolence historic (“The best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico is President Donald J. Trump”).
Was subject of House committee request for tax returns, did not release tax returns. Declared America “full.” Saw report on campaign links with Russia released. Saw Homeland Security secretary resign. Saw deputy attorney general resign. Declared United States to be “losing,” not yet great again. Declared London mayor a “stone cold loser.” Told Iran he would “end” it in fight. Lost press secretary. Hosted anti-immigrant Hungarian authoritarian, praised barbed wire fence. Met North Korean dictator, shook hands. Held rally, suggested conditions under which migrants could be shot. Said foreign interference isn’t interference if foreign actor offers information and says, “I think I’d take it.” Promised “when you will see my financial statement, at some point I assume it’s going to be released, you’ll be very impressed by the job I’ve done. Much, much bigger, much, much better than anybody.” Was accused of sexual assault again, said this one “not my type.”
Tweeted skepticism regarding whether four Black congresswomen “are capable of loving our country,” requested they “go back” to countries they came from, ignored fact three born in United States. Warned, “The perils of the internet and social media cannot be ignored.” Tweeted conspiracy theory about death of friend, who was a child predator and sex trafficker. Saw negative polls on favourite media outlet, became unhappy with favourite media outlet, began attacking formerly favourite media outlet. Declared major American city “disgusting, rat- and rodent-infested mess.” Considered buying Greenland, heard Denmark declare it not for sale, cancelled trip to Denmark. Held rally, announced imminent end of child cancer, didn’t follow up. Went to G7, skipped climate meeting, left chair empty, daughter didn’t take it. Skipped comforting storm victims, played golf. Took initiative to issue weather warning of storm for Alabama, disputed National Weather Service correction, produced hurricane map altered with Sharpie.
Cut pandemic early warning program.
Learned impeachment inquiry launched against him for secretly coercing U.S. ally Ukraine to investigate son of future election rival, tweeted “Witch hunt garbage.” Publicly asked U.S. adversary China to investigate son of future election rival. Congratulated U.S. adversary China for 70 years of communist repression. Was booed by baseball fans chanting “Lock him up!” Offered golf resort as next G7 summit venue, for price. Became third president in American history to be impeached. Tweeted in all caps.
Celebrated New Year, killed senior Iranian commander in Iraq. Tweeted in all caps against Iran. Was acquitted by Senate, fired people who testified against him. Commuted sentence of old reality-show guest found guilty of corruption charges.
Tweeted deadly global pandemic was “very much under control,” like flu. Privately told journalist deadly global pandemic was not under control, not like flu. Publicly said pandemic was Democrats’ “new hoax.” Publicly said always knew pandemic was a pandemic, “I’ve felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.” Announced, “I’ll be shaking hands with people.” Blamed predecessor’s rule for lack of tests, blamed Mexico border for spread of virus, praised drugs for saving lives; ignored that predecessor’s rule did not exist, Mexico had few cases, drugs could be dangerous. Said country would be “raring to go by Easter,” learned of half-million cases by Easter. Said he would not assist states with pandemic efforts if governors did not appreciate him. Boasted of ratings for pandemic update broadcasts. Described deadly global pandemic as very mild, and 99 per cent of cases “totally harmless.” Mused whether injecting or ingesting cleaning products could cure virus; denied responsibility for subsequent abuses of cleaning products.
Tweeted attack on news agency favourable to him, not favourable enough for him. Corrected widespread misapprehension among legal community of democratic checks on power, explained, “When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total.” Heard son-in-law looking forward to U.S. overcoming pandemic, “really rocking again” in a few months; heard son-in-law warning U.S. could not overcome pandemic, might have to postpone election in several months. Said of high pandemic case numbers, “I view it as a badge of honour.” Said of self, not even assassinated presidents treated worse. Learned prison inmates disproportionately infected with virus, former campaign manager released from prison to avoid virus, former lawyer released from prison to avoid virus. Did not wear mask, did take drug. Suggested Speaker of the House a boozer. Called former election rival a “skank.” Accused journalist of murder. Had tweets flagged, signed executive order “to defend free speech from one of the gravest dangers it has faced in American history,” Twitter.
Saw Black protesters in streets not kneeling, hid in bunker. Called Black protesters “thugs,” threatened with “vicious dogs,” “ominous weapons.” Had protesters attacked with tear gas for being in street he wanted to cross for Bible photo op. Said he had Black friends, thanked them for reaching out. Tweeted video of man chanting “white power.” Walked down ramp, struggled; drank water, also struggled. Boasted of passing mental acuity test, said doctors “were very surprised.”
Commuted prison sentence of friend and adviser convicted of obstructing Russia investigation, threatened “automatic 10-year” prison sentences for protestors harming statues. Saw bean company boss shilling for him, saw “she’s really something” daughter shilling for bean company. Expressed well wishes to accused accomplice of dead pedophile friend. Boasted again of passing mental acuity test. Said of reading habits, “You know, I read a lot. I read a lot. They like to say I don’t read. I read a lot. I comprehend extraordinarily well. Probably better than anybody that you’ve interviewed in a long time. I read a lot.” Heard medical experts urge against large gatherings during pandemic; held large rallies during pandemic; made fun of medical experts. Suggested might delay election until satisfied Democrat-preferred method of secure voting secure. Sued Nevada for allowing Democratic-preferred method of secure voting. Had aide explore adding face to Mount Rushmore. Lost aide who had excelled at explaining small crowds were big. Learned New York attorney general subpoenaed son to testify in investigation into overstating assets for economic benefits.
Learned “Sloppy Steve”/former chief strategist charged with defrauding donors to supposedly pay for wall, allegedly paid for others’ cosmetic surgery and golf carts; said didn’t like Sloppy Steve’s “showboating.” Said his supporters’ attacking major American city with pepper spray, paintballs, “cannot be unexpected.” Said police shooting journalist with a rubber bullet is “actually a beautiful sight.” Advised supporters to disregard term limits, drive large and small-d democrats crazy, “say 12 more years.” Learned 200,000 Americans died from deadly global pandemic, explained “it affects virtually nobody,” gave himself additional “A-plus.” Did not resign, ran for second term, suggested would run for more, suggested if voted out would not respect vote, would not leave, would be violence, told white supremacists to “stand by” for it. Didn’t release tax returns, learned “failing,” “fake” media revealed tax returns, owes hundreds of millions of dollars in loans, gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees to ““Yeah [you can call her ‘a piece of ass’]” daughter, didn’t pay taxes, basically at all. Caught deadly virus. Didn’t get Mexico to pay for wall.
Part of the mad genius of Donald J. Trump is that he never runs from scandals. He just creates more of them. So many more that anyone attempting to track them all risks becoming numb as a survival mechanism.
A collective amnesia sets in. We ask ourselves, “Do you remember that time when Trump got impeached, said that super-racist thing, cozied up to dictators, threatened our elections, or oh, whatever that was?”
Well, we at The Bulwark do. Yes, it can be hard to keep up. We all need reminders. So, lest anyone forget or require convincing, here’s a non-exhaustive list of 100 reasons Donald Trump is unfit to be president.
1
1985-1994
Reported $1.17 billion in business losses over the decade. Trump “appears to have lost more money than nearly any other individual American taxpayer,” according to the New York Times .
4
1991-2009
Declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy for his various businesses six times .
5
2005
Bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy” in a conversation with Access Hollywood ’s Billy Bush picked up on a hot mic .
6
2011-2016
Promoted birtherism against President Barack Obama—the false claim that Obama was not born in the United States, that his birth certificate was fraudulent, and that therefore he was constitutionally ineligible for the presidency.
10
July 18, 2015
Said Vietnam POW John McCain is “ not a war hero ” and “I like people who weren’t captured.”
11
November 22, 2015
Claimed that “thousands and thousands” of people in New Jersey’s Arab communities cheered on 9/11.
15
July 27, 2016
Called on Russia to hack and release Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails.
16
July 30, 2016
Denigrated the family of U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in 2004 while serving in Iraq, after Khan’s father delivered remarks at the Democratic National Convention.
17
July 30, 2016
Broke with U.S. policy of supporting Ukraine over Russia’s invasion of Crimea, saying : “The people of Crimea, from what I’ve heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were.”
January 20, 2017
Trump inaugurated, becomes the 45th president of the United States.
21
January 27, 2017
Enacted the “Muslim ban” that, through executive order , prevented foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States for 90 days; the order was quickly contested in the courts, and its enforcement was blocked.
22
April 29, 2017
Told Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who had sanctioned the extrajudicial killing of drug suspects, that he was doing an “ unbelievable job ” of cracking down on his country’s drug problem.
25
May 16, 2017
Remained silent when security forces working for Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, attacked protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C.
26
July 9, 2017
Considered creating a joint cyber security task force with Russia, despite the fact that Russia has been responsible for a host of cyber attacks against the United States. He tweeted , “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded.” Putin confirmed in a 2018 event that he had discussed the idea with Trump.
29
October 11, 2017
Tweeted a suggestion that “fake news” networks, such as NBC, should have their broadcast licenses “challenge[d].”
30
October 24, 2017
Asked then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo to meet with a conspiracy theorist who believes that Russia didn’t hack emails from the Democratic National Committee computers during the 2016 campaign, but that the DNC itself leaked them.
32
January 2, 2018
Escalated nuclear tensions with North Korea by tweeting , “I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
35
February 21, 2018
Required a handwritten reminder to appear empathetic when he met with students and parents affected by school shootings.
36
March 3, 2018
Congratulated Chinese President Xi Jinping on eliminating term limits. “I think it’s great,” Trump said . “Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday.”
37
April 5, 2018
Denied any knowledge of the $130,000 hush-money payment his lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her silent during the 2016 election. A book by Daniels laying out the details of her alleged 2006 affair with the married Trump was published later in 2018.
40
May 2018
Accepted a memo from President Erdoğan of Turkey that claimed innocence for a Turkish firm under investigation by the Southern District of New York. According to John Bolton’s 2020 memoir of his time as Trump’s national security advisor, Trump “told Erdogan he would take care of things, explaining that the Southern District prosecutors were not his people, but were Obama people, a problem that would be fixed when they were replaced by his people.” (On June 20, 2020, he did fire the U.S. Attorney for the SDNY , Geoffrey Berman, who not only had indicted the Turkish-owned firm but had reportedly opened an inquiry into Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.)
42
July 12, 2018
Threatened that the United States might “go our own way”—interpreted as a signal that he wanted to pull out of NATO —throwing a summit with world leaders into turmoil. He had repeatedly called NATO “obsolete” during the 2016 campaign, then “ not so obsolete ” once he was in office.
44
July 16, 2018
Sided with Russian president Vladimir Putin in rejecting the findings of the U.S. intelligence community about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election during a joint news conference with Putin in Helsinki, Finland.
46
August 15, 2018
Revoked former CIA director John Brennan’s security clearance in retaliation for his criticism of the president.
49
September 29, 2018
Talked affectionately of his relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un: “ We fell in love, okay? ”
50
October 29, 2018
Just days after Trump fanatic Cesar Sayoc was arrested for sending pipe bombs to CNN offices and to prominent Trump critics, Trump tweeted , “The Fake News Media the true Enemy of the People.”
57
February 25, 2019
Falsely credited his daughter Ivanka with creating “millions of jobs.” (In 2016, he had said that his children would have no role in the White House; instead, Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner were given large advisory portfolios.)
59
March 24, 2019
Attorney General William Barr released a misleading four-page summary of the long-anticipated Mueller Report. Three days later, Mueller wrote that Barr’s summary “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this Office’s work and conclusions.”
61
May 20, 2019
Blocked former White House counsel and Mueller Report key witness Don McGahn from testifying before Congress—one of numerous witnesses the White House refused to let testify.
62
May 24, 2019
Circumvented Congress by declaring an “emergency” over Iran so he could sell arms to Saudia Arabia, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates.
64
June 28-29, 2019
Lauded Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and declined questions about the brutal killing of Washington Post writer and legal U.S resident Jamal Khashoggi, whom the CIA concluded the prince had ordered dead.
65
June 28-29, 2019
Asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him get re-elected, according to then-National Security Advisor John Bolton’s later account : During the G-20 meeting, Trump “stunningly . . . turned the conversation to the coming U.S. presidential election, alluding to China’s economic capability to affect the ongoing campaigns, pleading with Xi to ensure he’d win. . . . He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome.” Bolton also reports that Trump told Xi he supports his building of concentration camps that hold an estimated one million Uighurs.
68
July 25, 2019
Asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden—the action that led to President Trump’s impeachment by the House of Representatives in December 2019 and trial in the Senate in January and February 2020.
71
September 2019
Canceled GOP presidential caucuses and primaries in four states.
72
September 4, 2019
Displayed an official National Weather Service map in the Oval Office that was falsified with a Sharpie to make it seem as if government forecasters had during the previous week projected that Hurricane Dorian might strike Alabama, as he had erroneously claimed.
73
October 1, 2019
Reports surfaced that Trump had suggested soldiers shoot migrants illegally crossing into the United States. He reportedly also inquired about putting a “water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators” at the border, “prompting aides to seek a cost estimate.”
74
October 23, 2019
Described NeverTrump Republicans as “ human scum .”
77
November 7, 2019
Ordered to pay $2 million in damages to settle claims brought by the New York state government that the Trump Foundation had misused funds. (The foundation was already being dissolved because of what New York officials called a “shocking pattern of illegality . . . including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more.” Much of this story was first unearthed by Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold .)
78
November 19, 2019
Smeared Alexander Vindman , a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel detailed to the National Security Council, after Vindman testified in the House impeachment investigation.
79
February 7, 2020
Fired impeachment witnesses Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. (Also fired Alex Vindman’s brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, also a National Security Council staffer.)
80
February 20, 2020
Longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone was sentenced to more than three years in prison after his conviction on seven felony charges, including lying under oath to Congress and obstructing the investigation into the 2016 election.
Repeatedly touted the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as treatments for COVID-19, despite the lack of high-quality evidence regarding either their effectiveness or their potential harmful side effects. On April 20, the administration demoted a top government virologist who questioned the scientific merits of these drugs for treating COVID-19. On May 18, Trump claimed that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine pills himself, although a note released that evening by the White House physician did not confirm the claim. By June, with the president’s attention elsewhere, both the NIH and the FDA cautioned against the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for treating COVID-19.
86
April 4, 2020
Blasted Navy Capt. Brett Crozier for writing a letter informing Navy leaders about the outbreak of coronavirus among sailors aboard the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt .
88
April 23, 2020
Suggested that light or disinfectants could be applied to the human body to treat coronavirus : “Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous—whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light. . . . supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that too. It sounds interesting. . . . And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs.”
95
May 29, 2020
Called Minneapolis protesters “THUGS” and said “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Twitter flagged the tweet as violating the platform’s rules against glorifying violence.
96
June 1, 2020
Ordered the dispersal of peaceful protesters —by law-enforcement officers who attacked them with flash grenades, smoke grenades, rubber-ball grenades, pepper spray (a kind of tear gas), and pepper balls—so that he could walk from the White House across Lafayette Square for a photo op in front of St. John’s Church. In the days that followed, representatives from the White House , the Trump campaign , and various law-enforcement agencies denied that tear gas was used during the incident, although they later walked back their denials . The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff later apologized for his presence at the scene. The incident also led former secretary of defense James Mattis to condemn the president : “We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square.”
97
June 9, 2020
Speculated that a 75-year-old Black Lives Matter protester who was hospitalized after being shoved on June 4 by Buffalo police is an “ANTIFA provocateur.”
98
June 20, 2020
Held an indoor campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma—without requiring the masks and social distancing recommended by government health authorities. Told the crowd that he believed too many cases of coronavirus were being logged and that he had instructed “my people” to “slow the testing down.” (After initial speculation that this was a joke, he later said that it was not , and that he really had ordered a slowdown in testing.) Two Secret Service agents present at the Tulsa rally later tested positive for COVID-19, a fact that then resulted in dozens of Secret Service personnel having to quarantine themselves . Eight staffers from Trump’s campaign staff also tested positive, so all campaign staffers who attended the rally reportedly had to quarantine themselves .
100
June 26, 2020
As of this date:
The national debt stands at more than $26 trillion , having increased by at least $5.2 trillion since President Trump assumed office.
The most recent estimate for the monthly unemployment rate was 13.3 percent .
Donald Trump said he was most thankful for himself on Thanksgiving as he spent the holiday weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The president was on a phone call with members of the media and the military early Thursday morning when one reporter asked him what he was "most thankful for" this year.
"For having a great family and for having made a tremendous difference in this country," Trump responded. "I made a tremendous difference in the country. This country is so much stronger now than it was when I took office that you won't believe it."
So did you really want to hear what they had to say or just use this as another opportunity to tell them why they are wrong? Or maybe give others a chance to make dispatching comments about a whole group, something I thought was frowned upon in NT.
Except with Trump it doesn't matter. He could commit murder and his base would believe it justified. Not to mention he 'slid' on the Stormy who and love letters from Kim along with saving bin Suliman's ass. And those are only three out of hundreds more.
It is a problem of perception. As much as it makes no sense to some, the "Trump the persecuted" shtick is highly resonant with a great deal of his supporters. It is "religious" in that scope. Optics refracted through those lenses put all Trump actions into the perspective of "must be right" by definition. He did it, therefore he was justified in doing it.
This is how peoples minds work on the subjective level. It is also how smart and sane people rationalize their support for DJT.
You have now made about 8 non responsive comments on this seed. I guess you cant articulate why you support and defend Trump.
Just because I give my opinion of him does not mean I am not seeking the opinions of his supporters. Your entire premise here is nonsense, and stalling.
Some here think I am [a Trump supporter] because I don't support he is the devil narrative?
You are leaping to the extreme (Trump is the devil) and pretending that is the normal criticism of Trump.
The criticism of Trump is not the extreme: Trump ≅ the Devil but rather that Trump is an abysmal human being who has engaged in wrongdoing that has harmed the nation and thus should never be considered for public office much less the presidency.
Deal with the actual criticism instead of pretending the criticism is only an absurd extreme.
Issue is you have decided all about what I think about trump. It seems if you want to know what people think you wouldn't spend so much time telling them what they think.
America has let itself down. All this pro Trump crap should have been nipped in the bud and rejected 8 years ago. He has never , for one second, been fit to hold office.
Now we have millions and millions of people whose own self worth and identity is wrapped up in defending him. I am not sure there is a way out of this anymore.
There are plenty of dimwits who believe whatever Trump says and view him as their hero. There will always be low-wattage lemmings who do not (or cannot) think for themselves and need someone to lead them. I am, however, surprised by how many there are and the level of bullshit that they will accept without triggering red flags.
Then there are those who know better but defend Trump because of party loyalty. They will not acknowledge the failure of their party in its support for such an abysmal human being as PotUS thus they must defend Trump to defend their party. And this dynamic is so strong that we see them even attack / blackball other members of their party who have the moral integrity to call Trump out for what he did.
I suspect the second paragraph is where you fit in. Weigh in.
And don't forget to also insult those that are pointing out the hypocrisy of the left.
I wish people on both sides would stop using hypocrisy as an argument for or against something. It's not, it's simply an attribute of human beings. If I tell you eating french fries all the time is bad for you while eating french fries all the time myself, I'm not wrong. Debate would improve dramatically if people presented valid arguments. Babbling about 'hypocrisy' is just noise.
Not even close. Let me know when you get to the people that have no party allegiance. People who have almost never voted for just one party. People that don't feel a need to make proclamations as to who is fit or not fit for an office at this time. Someone that is ok with the parties nominating the person they feel is best for their interests and the country. Someone who will weigh all the factors of these people and will then decide who to vote for.
Like many many other words and phrases they have tried to change the meaning of defending trump is just one of the latest. Then you can almost sense their panties getting more and more into a twist if you don't buy into their fantasy or follow them down their rabbit hole of delusion.
you have been accused of defending Trump and the truth no longer matters to partisan hacks
And you will be asked incessantly over and over why you are defending Trump until you provide the correct ore approved response. Until then, most of us call it harassment.
There will be no originality until they are told to change their shtick. Then, they will usually go back to an old shtick, like P. D and D as an example.
1. Can't recall any other American political entity receiving love letters from Kim Jong Un the N. Korean dictator.
2. Can't recall any other political entity ever publicly revealing that he 'saved the ass' of an Arabic monarch autocrat, bin Suliman.
Sean, you said they believe, "The more he's attacked the more they believe he's on the right track." Fair enough, you are probably correct----But I honestly wish I knew what 'that right track' is. Do you have any thoughts?
Trump is being prosecuted because of two reasons...
1. He beat queen Hillary. Most leftists still have not gotten over that.
3. They are deathly afraid of him in the 2024 election. They know in their dark hearts that the fuck up in the White House now has no chance against him.
Mich to the chagrin of some leftists on here, no one is defending Trump. We are simply pointing out the similarities and differences in DOJ/FBI reactions to similar circumstances between those with and without the almighty "D" after their name.
Denying that there is an actual legal, rather than political, reason for his prosecution is a defense of Trump. You're defending him and simultaneously denying defending him.
Alright...let me help you JR, since you fail to recognize others have already answered you. You just didn't like what they posted.
As a human, I think Trump sucks, however, his administration hit places where no other administration has ever been, D or R,.
He brought the unemployment rate down to record levels.
He permanently ensured HBCUs would receive federal funds.
The stock market hit all time highs in his administration, making everyday working people a little more secure with their retirement funds.
Had the largest tax reform in history passed. I'm sure leftists will claim it was only for the rich and corporations, blah, blah. That is just what they have been told to say.
Unemployment rates for minorities and women hit all time lows.
Wages outpaced interest his whole term, unlike now where the opposite is true.
Great economic recovery after the pandemic, where Joe rode his coat tails and is claiming to be the sole reason why the economy recovered from it's low during the pandemic.
Gas prices dropped to just under 2.00 in my city. Brandon ensured it rose 80 cents within a few short weeks from going in office, and it has been nowhere near that since.
Now, this is just a few and I'm sure you and other leftists will spin the points into something negative, because leftists will never admit Trump did very well as president.
In short, you hold that people defend / support Trump because they like his policies and are willing to overlook his outrageously bad behavior.
I know plenty of people who held that view prior to the Big Lie. After seeing Trump's narcissism and willingness to throw even the government of the USA under the bus, those numbers lessened considerably (in my little statistical circle).
Seems to me, there should be a point where rational, responsible, patriotic citizens prioritize Trump's outrageously bad behavior over the good they perceive. How that point has not already been crossed for many people is fascinating (and sad).
What you list are policy steps that some people in America agree with, even a majority of people in some instances.
But none of that goes to his fitness for office.
One can easily list DOZENS of reasons he is not fit for office, dozens.
And you want that over ridden by the fact that the stock market went up during his tenure? The stock market has gone up to a record level under almost every president in history since they started tracking it.
Great economic recovery after the pandemic,
Trump was not in office after the pandemic.
Had the largest tax reform in history passed.
Totally ballooned the national debt that Republicans are whining about so much now.
Gas prices dropped to just under 2.00 in my city.
The president does not determine gasoline prices.
Wages outpaced interest his whole term, unlike now where the opposite is true.
Meaningless, since interest rates were almost zero, and had been since before Trump took office.
There are some who will (mechanically) argue against whatever position is held by those they consider 'the opposition'.
What is amazing to me is that some (many, nowadays) will even at times make brain-dead-stupid arguments replete with made-up 'facts' and apparently do not care about being right or honest. As long as they are 'fighting the good fight' against 'the opposition', the quality of their arguments is of no concern.
He was at the beginning of the recovery. Biden only rode the coat tails of that recovery, then gave himself credit.
"Totally ballooned the national debt that Republicans are whining about so much now."
Who was in charge of Congress, both houses, during most of Trump's admin? Who held the purse strings during that time?
Hint...it wasn't Republicans.
"The president does not determine gasoline prices. "
But you leftists had no problem blaming Trump when it went to 4 dollars during his admin, and went it went from 5 dollars, an all time high, during the current admin, then started falling, you leftists had no problem giving Biden credit for that, even though he essentially wiped out the reserve...twice.
"Meaningless, since interest rates were almost zero, and had been since before Trump took office. "
I did not claim that you literally wrote my words. But logically if someone supports / defends Trump they are willing to overlook his outrageously bad behavior. If they are unwilling to overlook his behavior then they would not support / defend against criticism of same.
Nowhere did I say that because of these policies, people would once again vote for him.
Your equivocation is pathetic; don't run away from what you write and/or move the goalposts. You cited 'accomplishments' (which by definition reflect policies) as the reasons why people support / defend Trump
You can enjoy a good administration, opposite of the current one, and want someone else that embraces the same policies.
Yeah, bugsy, that is a point I have made many times. Those who like Trump's policies can easily rally about another GOP candidate who would easily hold true to the same policies. Trump's policies were core GOP. Failure to do this is a clear sign of dysfunction.
If Trump is nominated, would you vote for him? That is, do you prioritize his 'accomplishments' over the fact that he should never be allowed to hold a public office?
Spin, spin, bugsy. You expect everyone to accept your (extremely tenuous) speculation that the indictments are only political, in face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. But the endless parade of Trump lawyers who become former Trump lawyers is just - what, them deciding to spend more time with their families? Excluding, of course, the ones who ended up in prison, themselves.
It's really just laughable at this point, the twisting some folks do to avoid the truth, and to defend Trump, while denying defending Trump.
You expect everyone to accept your (extremely tenuous) speculation that the indictments are only political, in face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
And he expects everyone to not recognize that he is defending Trump with his 'arguments'.
You have a very loose definition of "fact". Trump's defenders in the court of public opinion are abandoning him. Bill Barr, who once championed his right to do pretty much anything he wanted, thinks he's guilty.
You might want to stop defending him (while saying you're not defending him, which nobody believes). Defending him is an exercise in futility.
Some sure do seem to get off by telling you what you think and believe and then trying to have you convince them that they are wrong about what they think you believe. They are actually arrogant enough to believe they know you better than you know yourself. Would actually be funny if it wasn't so pathetic.
Some sure do seem to get off by telling you what you think and believe and then trying to have you convince them that they are wrong about what they think you believe.
It seems that is the far left's strategy to try and overwhelm the person they are posting to with their own version of spin and "facts", then claim victory.
I agree but I don't hold out hope they will change their definition of defending trump to be anything other than ah hourly proclamation that he and anything he has ever done is pure evil. You need to ask them for a copy of their I hate trump book and swear upon it as you beg for their forgiveness for not seeing the light earlier.
Really? You need someone to explain this to you? There are myriad articles which discuss why Trump is unfit for office. Google.
It means that he should not be trusted with the power of the office. There are many ways to be unfit for office but in Trump's case it is his narcissistic abuse of power and authority to, as priority 1, feed his ego at the expense of anyone or anything (including the USA).
in Trump's case it is his narcissistic abuse of power and authority to, as priority 1, feed his ego at the expense of anyone or anything (including the USA).,
Ah, opinion stuff. You forgot mean tweets but thanks for your clarification.
You do not hold that Trump is a narcissist who DID abuse the power and authority of his office to feed his ego at the expense of other human beings and the nation itself?
Were you out of the country during his Big Lie schemes?
Exaggeration and opinion (bordering on hysteria) that it is so bad as to mean he is not fit. People that think he is not fit can always rationalize why he is not fit. People that think he is fit can always rationalize why he is fit. Then there are millions that will wait until each party nominates and makes a decision at that point avoiding getting an ulcer worrying about it now. It may never happen.
So, cutting through your wishy washy nonsense, you think Trump is fit to be PotUS. You think it would be responsible, rational and patriotic to put this abysmal character in the most powerful office on the planet.
What is strange is that many of these posters know that Trump should never be given political power yet they will contort into pretzels rather than state what they know is a sensible position.
Also, the wait and see notion does not work. Those who need more info before they decide if they would vote for Trump are either delusional or lying IMO.
My hypothesis is that they defend him because they do not want to have his true reputation attached to the GOP. They are trying to forge an alternate reality through denials and lies so that the truth of this abysmal human being who was an R PotUS (and the GOP is stuck with that) is softened.
There are plenty of MAGAites who actually believe Trump's crap and stupidly worship him. But then, IMO, there are plenty of other GOP members who entirely understand (and privately agree with) the criticism of Trump's behavior but are more concerned about party reputation in the short term then they are truth (and responsible patriotism).
Then there are those who do not want Trump for obvious reasons but will vote for him if nominated because they simply cannot even consider allowing a D be elected.
Finally there are those like Liz Cheney who will not play this dishonest and stupidly counterproductive game of supporting / defending Trump and instead tries to do the right thing ... holding Trump accountable and detaching him from the GOP.
Finally there are those like Liz Cheney who will not play this dishonest and stupidly counterproductive game of supporting / defending Trump and instead tries to do the right thing ... holding Trump accountable and detaching him from the GOP.
And she gets lambasted by her own party and loses her seat. I'm no Liz Cheney fan but that woman has a lot of guts
I say because they listen and do whatever right wing talk tells them to.
Some people like to be told what to be upset about, what to complain about, what to support.
Example, tax cuts for corporations that in actuality do nothing to help the average person yet they will defend these tax cuts tooth and nail using all the rightwing talking points, with no benefit at all to themselves.
I don't think the MAGA movement is monolithic. There are quite a few very different components that mesh together, more or less smoothly.
First, there is the great mass of dissatisfied losers in the Great American Game. These are the millions who aren't getting what America promised them. They do not imagine that they are responsible, so they must find out who is. They are ignorant, so they are incapable of doing the necessary research. They are very pleased with a person who tells them what to think, especially when that person assures them that they themselves are not responsible. It's immigrants (anyone who speaks Spanish), Blacks, Jews, ... all the "woke", whatever that means.
Second, there's the grifters. The people who profit from exploiting the MAGA mass. Fox and the other fake news outlets. Evangelical "preachers". Gun sellers. These are the money machine that keeps the MAGA wagon rolling.
Finally, there's the egotistical assholes who just stir the pot for the pleasure of fucking with people. They don't believe in Trump or anything else. This bunch have an outsized importance in social media.
Well, they finally did it. The powers that be actually indicted Donald Trump.
After the regime weaponized a bogus dossier, spied on his campaign, hamstrung his policy, impeached him, impeached him again, defamed him as a racist Nazi, made his supporters fear isolation and employment retribution, lied about him in every way imaginable on every news station and in every paper every day, and rigged elections again him, they’re finally taking him down with some paperwork.
These papers are criminal, you see, because they have classification markings, were in Trump’s possession, and were part of a documents dispute. Pay no attention to the fact that the DOJ won’t even tell the court specifically what’s in the documents, meaning they can claim this is a Very Serious Matter™ — Scout’s honor! — with no evidence available to the contrary. Or that as president, Trump possessed declassification authority that wouldn’t have belonged to, say, a secretary of state or vice president.
Speak of the devil, ignore that Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Mike Pence, and Barack Obama all had their own “ documents disputes ” — some more serious than Trump’s — without facing any criminal charges. And that the whole Mar-a-Lago fiasco, which involved the FBI sending dozens of plainclothes agents to raid the former’s president’s estate and dig through his wife’s closet, started when a disgruntled, backbench National Archives bureaucrat tattled because he didn’t like the look of Trump’s banker box .
As a result, Trump is being charged with 37 counts . But he isn’t the only target here. So are you.
Biden’s DOJ and FBI and their pals in the media wouldn’t have to go no-holds-barred against Trump if you would just stop supporting him. Just like Trump didn’t go away when the deep state staged its coup, you didn’t repent of your patriotism when the current president stood in front of scary red lights and delivered his diatribe against “ultra-MAGA” Republicanism. Now the ruling class has no choice but to indict, because understand: Waging lawfare, lawlessness, and intimidation brutally and relentlessly against opponents until they crumple is the regime’s whole offensive .
Weapons of War
So the assaults keep coming, fast and hard, and America bleeds out from the wounds that have become all too familiar but no less painful: the lies, the retribution, the gaslighting.
Blue cities can openly flout pro-life laws restricting abortion, and pro-abortion nutjobs can launch molotov cocktails into life-saving pregnancy centers. But when the faithful Christians who do the most to care for single moms and pregnant women pray outside deadly abortion mills, they are arrested. Just to ensure onlooking pro-lifers are sufficiently intimidated, the feds also send agents to raid their homes and arrest them in front of their terrified children.
For those Christians who don’t appear outside Planned Parenthood, just faithfully commune for weekly prayer and worship services, the same ruling regime simply shuts down their gatherings, citing public safety and love of neighbor. Oh, you think you’re going to celebrate your Savior’s resurrection? We’ve got your license plate number and know where you live.
Meanwhile, leftists celebrating their favorite racist doctrines get a free pass to chant together in the streets and burn down buildings. Then “experts” explain why protesting in the faces of police officers is less dangerous than the deadly droplets of congregational singing, and media overlords define “loving your neighbor” as supporting BLM anarchists but streaming Sunday services.
When you demand that the government perform its most basic constitutional duty of protecting America’s borders, its partisans not only insult your intelligence by insisting the border is secure, but they ship busloads of migrants to your community. When any of the illegal invaders go on murderous rampages, the feds claim they were motivated by white supremacy. And while the Biden administration empowers corrupt cartels that traffic children, rape women, and profit off the most vulnerable, the media claim those advocating for a stronger national defense are the heartless ones.
It’s not that the ruling class doesn’t care about borders at all. Ukraine’s border dispute is of utmost importance to them. So they start or fund pointless wars that kill millions while accusing you of being a Putin stooge for opposing. Then they gift weapons to corrupt foreign oligarchs and terrorists while they try to ban you from defending yourself and your family here at home.
With Trump, it comes full circle, but it’s the same old play. Their hoaxes fail, so the feds interfere in elections and then censor you for noticing. When a presidential election with historic turnout, last-minute changes to the law, and countless irregularities shatters confidence in our whole self-governing enterprise, the federal government convicts fed-up grannies for waving flags in the Capitol and calls concerned voters a threat to democracy. To hide their own crimes, they charge and convict the people you elected for daring to challenge them.
The America you once loved and fought for, whose ideals many were willing to give their lives for, is dead. The people in the halls of power today are responsible for killing it — and have faced zero accountability.
Boots on the Ground
Few things can revive a lifeless country, especially when elections border on meaningless and shared values are a relic of the past. But any rebirth that’s going to happen will start in your own heart and household.
First and more important than anything else: Repent and believe the Gospel. There is simply no enduring hope outside the good news that Jesus died and rose again to redeem the wretched souls of this sinful world who abandon their base desires in exchange for His righteousness and eternal life.
Then catechize yourself and your children . Teach them lasting truths about life and death, sin and salvation, worth and unworthiness. Instill in them the importance of hard work, the beauty of marriage and the sexes, the value of all human life, the pitfalls of pride, and their need for humility and forgiveness.
Join a church. Gather with believers who share your values and care about your spiritual state. Sing praise, pray, and read your Bible.
Care for the needy. Engage with your neighbors. Go outside and appreciate nature. Take good care of your body. Minimize screen time for yourself and your children. Keep an eye on their homework and library books. Run for school board and other local offices. Keep a garden. Buy a gun and learn how to use it responsibly. And don’t cower from a worthwhile fight.
Nobody — not Donald Trump, not Ron DeSantis, and not new FBI leadership — can save America. It’s up to you to save your corner of it.
Kylee Griswold is the editorial director of The Federalist. She previously worked as the copy editor for the Washington Examiner magazine and as an editor and producer at National Geographic. She holds a B.S. in Communication Arts/Speech and an A.S. in Criminal Justice and writes on topics including feminism and gender issues, religion, and the media. Follow her on Twitter @kyleezempel .
After the regime weaponized a bogus dossier, spied on his campaign, hamstrung his policy, impeached him, impeached him again, defamed him as a racist Nazi, made his supporters fear isolation and employment retribution, lied about him in every way imaginable on every news station and in every paper every day, and rigged elections again him, they’re finally taking him down with some paperwork.
To believe this "argument", Trump was just a fine example of American manhood and a wonderful leader for our country until the evil left started lying about him.
PRIOR to the "Steele Dossier" Donald Trump was a KNOWN serial liar, a cheat, a malignant narcissist, and a bigot. So to say he was "ruined" by an unfair dossier is to say none of the previous mattered. In 2011 , Trump cynically tried to destroy Americans respect for the then current president by suggesting Barack Obama was an unAmerican fraud. I say cynically because Trump knew Obama was born in Hawaii, but because Trump wanted to run for president in 2012 but didnt have a political base, he tried to create one by appealing to white racism. It didnt quite work out for him in 2011, but he would be back.
Prior to the Steele Dossier Trump was embroiled in a lawsuit stemming from his fraudulent representations of "Trump University" a real estate course held in hotel ballrooms in which people paid thousands of dollars to be taught real estate by Donald Trump. Only problem, Trump had virtually nothing to do with the course. That didnt stop him from making video advertisements for the course where he claimed to have hand picked the instructors when in fact he didnt know any of them.
Prior to the Steele Dossier Trump had been sued by hundreds of vendors for non payment. If you painted a string of hotel rooms for Trump, if you were lucky you might get paid half of what was agreed to, and he would withhold the rest, claiming that the job was "poorly" done. And then you would have to sue him.
And on and on. Should such a person ever have been considered for the presidency of the United States? There was a time when our traditions and our morals and our common sense would have said "hell no".
But something had changed in America by 2016. America was becoming "diverse", more and more multicultural, and to fight that scary prospect, millions of Americans embraced a truly horrible human being, because he was willing to be their cultural warrior.
There’s no shortage of social media posts along the lines of “I don’t care if he is guilty, I’m voting for him anyways.” Some people just want this country to be torn apart limb by limb and they see Trump as the best vehicle for that to happen.
Some people just want this country to be torn apart limb by limb and they see Trump as the best vehicle for that to happen.
They see a country that is moving away from what their personal ideal of the country is. Unfortunately, this idealistic view and the constitution are in opposition so they need someone to rough it up a bit to allow for a "reformation". Unfortunately also is the fact that people outside the mainstream would receive the short end of Orwell's "All Animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
They see a country that is moving away from what their personal ideal of the country is.
These are the ones pissed off that they have to choose English when they dial an automated phone number, then wail about the price of produce. The fact that they don’t understand transgender mentality means to them that they are right and anyone who disagrees with them on gender issues is wrong. They fight back against pro-environmental policies by rolling coal in their giant pickup trucks. They are damaging democracy whether they understand it or not.
Unfortunately also is the fact that people outside the mainstream would receive the short end of Orwell's "All Animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others." 10.1
Animal farm was published several months after Hitler killed himself. I always thought it was a metaphor for the Soviet Union than Nazi Germany.
It was an allogorical tale, based on the Soviet experience. However, the duplicitous experience is the same for any group that falls into a "less than" status.
The "two tiered "justice system is not divided by party, but by class.
Unfortunately also is the fact that people outside the mainstream would receive the short end of Orwell's "All Animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
But either they don't know that or understand it...because they never read George Orwell
There are plenty of dimwits who believe whatever Trump says and view him as their hero. There will always be low-wattage lemmings who do not (or cannot) think for themselves and need someone to lead them. I am, however, surprised by how many there are and the level of bullshit that they will accept without triggering red flags.
Then there are those who know better but defend Trump because of party loyalty. They will not acknowledge the failure of their party in its support for such an abysmal human being as PotUS thus they must defend Trump to defend their party. And this dynamic is so strong that we see them even attack / blackball other members of their party who have the moral integrity to call Trump out for what he did.
Trump could have avoided all of this by simply returning the documents, nothing stopped him from returning them except whatever is rattling around in his head. He not only didn't return the document he went out of his way to be sure that he held on to them up and including moving documents and his lawyer wasn't even aware of that.
All the rest of the excuses being used to justify/excuse his behavior is whataboutism and what if's, nothing more.
During the campaign, he promised to name a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton, remember ''lock her up''. When he won the election he did not name a special prosecutor, it was his choice.
Currently, there is an active investigation into Biden's part in the documents found in his position. So Trump's whining about Biden is the old Roy Cohn fast shuffle.
The charges listed in the indictment are very serious charges and perhaps he'll let us all know why he kept the documents in his position and what he intended to do with them.
Because Republican voters adopt whatever "R" candidate is put before them no matter what and they exalt that person to become a personal "daddy" authoritarian figure. It boils down to the way these voters feel that Republicans are their "family" and will hear nothing against any of them.
Truth isn't applicable. If you question, or criticize in any way, they take it as an "attack" on their family.
Trump just milked that for all it was worth and his supporters don't even listen to his flip flops, because if "daddy" says it then it must be true. They will perpetually forever vote for any candidate with an "R" and right now they just won't let go of "daddy".
Why is this such a big mystery? Donald Trump is not Joe Biden. Trump ain't Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Gavin Newsom, and Kathy Hochul. Equally important is that Donald Trump ain't Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Phil Graham, and Tom Delay.
Donald Trump ain't woke, politically correct, or intimidated by a belligerent and partisan liberal press. Trump doesn't try to tear down the United States at every opportunity. The fact that Trump doesn't defend the Reagan legacy is just as important as opposing the looney left.
Donald Trump does not play by the rules of politics-as-usual. The political deadwood in both politics and the press have had to react to Trump and not the other way around. Trump is an existential threat to the status quo.
Why would people who have been handed the dirty end of the stick over the last 40 years not support Trump?
Because supporting Trump is a losing proposition for GOP members. It is truly shooting themselves in the foot. It is extraordinarily foolish.
There are a few more elections than just the Presidential election. And if the Republican Party tries to backslide just to win elections then maybe winning just ain't worth it.
Of course, but my comment was regarding the presidency.
And the facts are that for the 2024 election the White House is the booby prize. Political power has begun shifting back to statehouses.
Trump was elected to throw a wrench into the status quo and weaken Federal government. What's been happening indicates that it worked.
WTF Nerm, do you not see that the GOP has been doing just that ever since Trump became popular??
Really? In today's politics, Democrats are more likely to quote Ronnie Raygun than are Republicans. The MAGA crowd has even prevented the TEA Party from holding the Republican Party hostage.
From the earliest days of his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump’s support has been most heavily concentrated among white Americans who think they face significant racial discrimination. In fact, perceived anti-white discrimination powerfully predicted voter preferences in the 2016 general election.
You say almost nothing on this forum other than this sort of non responsive crap. People have to spend a lot of time "proving" things to you when you never ever ever prove anything.
And, who exactly has gotten the "dirty end of the stick" for the last forty years? Since the dawn of the "Reagan Era"? Who has fared way worse since the gop's total adoption of Ronald Reagan's lousy "Supply Side Trickle Down Voodoo Economic Theory"? Huh? Do Tell...
And, who exactly has gotten the "dirty end of the stick" for the last forty years? Since the dawn of the "Reagan Era"? Who has fared way worse since the gop's total adoption of Ronald Reagan's lousy "Supply Side Trickle Down Voodoo Economic Theory"? Huh? Do Tell...
Factory workers, blue collar workers, farm workers, union workers.
Yes, Reagan (and Republicans) can be blamed. But for the last forty years Democrats haven't done a thing to fix it.
Trump turned the page on Reagan. Democrats are still trying to keep the Reagan legacy alive. Why wouldn't people who work for a living support Trump, even if Trump is unelectable?
Pick me. Pick me!!!! evil republicans prevented them from changing it.
Why would anyone ever vote for a democrat? for some reason when they are in charge nothing gets done or fixed but the evil republicans manage to get all these evil bills passed. Can't democrats govern without super majorities?
I'm talking about '21, '22, and '23, not 2015.
[✘]
Just on an objective basis, you would think Trump is indefensible ( and has been for years). Yet they still do it. I would like to hear from some of them what is so special about Trump that he makes them forsake all their previous ethical standards. Maybe there is something there the rest of us are missing.
It's called a Bell curve.
If I could understand folk believing in Trump I could understand folk believing in a mythological god.
Seems to be many of the same foolish folk.
I think one thing, if one wants to get phycological, I honestly think some people admire his bombastic, I don't give a fuck, say whatever brain fart is on his mind, being unapologetically nasty, etc.
They secretly wish they could be that way too.
More than likely they share a specific personal opinion the same as Trump, they can never admit to be wrong. To not support him would mean they'd have to look at him with unfettered eyes and realize that they should have never supported him at all, and if that was the case, they would have been WRONG to do so.
Trump has never admitted to being wrong about anything, and they also cannot admit to that.
Damn shame that Fox gave ignorant fools a voice back in the day.
And CNN just recently did it again.
Have always enjoyed taking IQ tests.
I tend to score around 155.
Republicans tend to score around 88 or far below.
Was invited to join Mensa but I'm just not a joiner.
Interesting how the vast majority of scientists identify as liberals.
publicans tend to score around 88 or far belo
Really? Have proof?
Read the Bell Curve and get back to me about the IQ of the Democratic base., since you are such a believer in it.
Was invited to join Mensa but I'm just not a joiner
Same here. Its not that impressive.
g how the vast majority of scientists identify as liberals.
Not really. Liberals like control and think in black and white, much like many scientists. The Nazi party sure didn't lack for support among scientists and engineers.
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Question Sean. Did you read the book The Bell Curve? Is that what you are referencing here?
I never read the book, but the title does seem to ring a bell with me, or against me, don’t matter to things so fecal, but damn, better not be no Trump sequel, cause that traitorous trailer Peter suckin Parker of autos on a mountain, thus know his valet, the Diet Pepsi poser that fetches the refreshment for one stale, tried to steal, paper machete knife that cuts hard, like Jon Luke Picard guzzling Captain Morgan & more Morgan than Stanley ever took like a Tool, 23 till 46, cause it ain’t in his jeans, it’s making bitches sick, cause he is, in the head he gives US, that’s empty, all while the weak minded, DONT, cause he will, yet WONT, asz he created a cult, absent culture, asz his yoga pants are heavier than Chris Christie’s buffet bark, found in the dark bark of a Dawg that wood, lift more that weigh, like a tree in season, cause their is a reason he’s been charged with a crime that reminds me of Treason, inn n e season Trump Assaults, cause he’s at Faultz, that make San Andreas envious, as he quakes like a state, stated in denial , as he should certainly be concerned about his upcoming trial balloon , with Bubba .
hopefully he gets some reservoir
Tips, while bending over backwards attempting explanation, asz his base was stolen, buy a swollen cranium, without a brain in him, to take him on a date to meat sum knew too good 4 Mensa meeting in the Vegan market to find some beef with someone, other than his usual suspects, guilty of inn No Sense, less he brings spare change to the strip joint, cuz can’t relate to him, at any point….
You have proof of this or are you afraid to know that most conservatives are far more intelligent than your made up 155?
Seems like?
You just claimed that most conservatives have IQs > 155. Why make such ridiculous claims?
Yes
You do realize that the book claims that blacks, dumb down the average of the democratic party. Is that what you are eluding to?
It does? Or is that inference you are making because of the data it contains?
Why did you bring up the Bell Curve in relation to the Democratic base if the implication isnt racial?
Why race science is on the rise again | Books | The Guardian
Web In The Bell Curve , a notorious bestseller, US political scientist Charles Murray and psychologist Richard Herrnstein suggested that black Americans were less intelligent …
While the book is thirty years old, and I haven't read it in almost that long, I don't believe it argues that "blacks dumb down the base of the Democratic Party" like Perrie claimed. If she has evidence demonstrating that it does, I'd be interested to see it.
Perrie can speak for herself but I think she was just extrapolating from A to B. If reading the Bell Curve would help one understand why the Democratic base is so dumb, the conclusion has to be because the democratic base is black.
ask Sean,he's the one who implied it.
Let's recall how we got here.
(1) CJ Cold, based on it appears nothing but his own stereotypes, claims Trump Supporters s "are slack jawed sub 80 IQ morons." and that Republicans in general score 88 or below. Those made up claims received no push back from progressives and thumbs up from the usual progressive hallelujah chorus.
(2) There was no push back from progressives on the implied argument that IQ tests are accurate measures of intelligence.
So given that progressives on this site believe IQ tests do measure intelligence, than it's only fair to look at the IQ scores of their voters. And black Americans, are the most loyal demographic of any group, with about 90% voting Democratic. OF course, as Murray demonstrated, blacks IQ scores are the lowest scoring ethnic group. Per Murray, the average black American IQ score is 15 points lower the average white American.
So if you are going to insult and mock groups of people based on IQ scores.....
So you are going to compare an offhand comment by someone on this forum with the conclusions drawn in a notorious book?
Aren't the IQ scores normalized to make the average be 100?
If so, wouldn't the IQ scores of any one group (assuming a large sample size and a test that was not biased) have the same distribution? Or is someone seriously making the suggestion that one political group is smarter than the other? No wonder the country is is tearing apart.
Seems to me that if there was a group below the statistical mean they would remain below the statistical mean regardless of normalization.
Yeah, partisans make biased claims like that all the time.
That's not how normalization works. It's not normalized per sub group, but for the whole So yes, it's very possible any particular sub group would have any average above or below 100.
Flippant remarks often lead us astray.
For one who claims to have read it 30 years ago, you remain remarkably cognizant of the conclusions of the book. Good memory!
Nothing I've written is really particular to the book. The book itself is about mainly about policy responses rather much original research, possibly excepting the heritability aspect. And those proposed responses are not something I remember. I only referenced the title because another poster brought up the bell curve as the foundation of his argument.
Why didn't you call out the 88 comment?
I do not call out every comment on NT that I think is wrong.
You can call it out ... I gave you the data.
A better use of your time than low-grade trolling.
Or only calls out one side
Self proclaimed non partisan! With a heaping side of bullshit.
That's what I intended to say. It is normalized for the whole. An arbitrary scale placed upon a distribution to make "sense" of it.
But in your response to JR ,you told him to read "The Bell Curve " You obviously know the content of the book and the conclusions of the many. Hence, you told JR to read The Bell Curve . Along with your recommendation, you left the certain probability that the book would tell him about the distribution of Democratic IQs as compared to "normal". The astute reader needs no more proof.
Need I say more?
Proof of what, exactly? I have no idea what point you are trying to make. Knowing that the Bell Curve summarizes research into group differences in IQ is like knowing War and Peace is about Russia during the Napoleonic Wars . Nothing I've discussed is unique to that book, and why you think there's some gotcha there is truly a mystery to me.
Need I say more?
Sure, if that makes you happy. t might be helpful if you address the point. OR can you can continue on this irrelevant deflection that has no point if you prefer
Proof of what I cannot say, the rules of jargon lend not their sway.
You told JR To read the specific book in response to a comment on the IQ of the Republican party in general. To claim that you were just generalizing is not very believable.
You have no argument so you go personal. Naively so!
Non-partisanship means making decisions and taking positions regardless of the position of a political party. Sometimes a position will align with the GOP (e.g. immigration, smaller government, ...) and other times it will align with the D party (e.g. renewable energy, climate change, abortion, ...). And then there are times when positions do not work with either party (e.g. federal spending madness, term limits, electoral college changes, ...).
You seem to think partisanship is determined by who one criticizes. That is beyond naive. Currently the GOP has, in my opinion, lost its mind. It is far more dysfunctional than the D party. Members who contribute to / support this nonsense will find me criticizing their positions. And it should not surprise you that those who are supporting / defending MAGA/Trump, promising to vote for him if nominated, and constantly deflecting all criticism tend to be tied to the GOP.
I have also noticed that pure partisans find it impossible to believe that someone could actually be independent of any political party. That inability to comprehend political independence is a fine litmus test for a blind partisan.
If you say so
I know my positions far better than you do so, yes, it is if I say so.
So if you find a 'D partisan' who seeks limited government, fiscal responsibility, sensible immigration, and who does not support Biden/Harris then you do not comprehend the notion of 'political independent'.
Again, if you say so. Except if you do not support biden, by default it means you support trump!
Reality is more complex than mere binary decisions. For starters, even with this 'apparent' binary choice, consider the four options available:
It does not surprise me that a partisan cannot conceive of an option other than supporting a single party.
That is a really dumb statement.
When the Super Bowl is played...I don't support either side if the Steelers aren't playing
I was being sarcastic since so many here are very loose with defining who supports trump and how they make the accusations.
And I haven't supported anyone since 2016. I have found I don't miss it.
well goody for you
Oh ... you were being sarcastic .
So you really do understand that one can NOT support both Biden and Trump.
If you defend Trump, you are ipso facto supporting him. Nothing loose about that. And I am NOT being sarcastic.
Yes and No. I would explain but previous attempts of rational discussion have proved impossible with anyone so entrenched in their own position. As my father would say when I was 16 "I am not going to bother to talk if you are incapable of listening " . I outgrew it by 21.
Yes, I agree. Goody for me.
Brilliant.
Indubitably. It says it all.
u told JR To read the specific book in respo
The astute reader would recognize I didn't tell JR to read any book and that the first person referencing bell curve was not me.
claim that you were just generalizing is not very believable
I don't you understand what generalizing means, if you don't think that's what I was doing. I don't know how much more of a surface level summary I could possible give. Maybe just calling it a medium sized book? Would that be too in-depth of an analysis to be generalizing ?
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That is what you said, not to me but to someone else.
How is telling someone to read a specific book generalizing?
That was the first mention of the words "bell curve". But he wasnt referring to the book .
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You brought up the book. Period.
This might be the most dumbest, least relevant discussion in this site's history. He's talking about the contents of the book and claims my posts are just too damn informed to be "generalizing" about its contents. Its really that dumb.
I understand the purpose behind the deflection and I guess shame on me for falling for it. If you want to believe its superhuman to be able to recall basic themes of books I read, I guess you got me. Guilty as charged. I haven't read the Scarlett Letter since high school and I can provide a two sentence summary. I guess I should start touring and profiting off my uncanny recall.
You are entitled to your opinion but I dont believe he was referencing the book
That's cheating, John. Using direct citations of actual words!
Because whatever they believe Trump did, it is no worse than what his opponents have done. They see a rotten system run by hypocrites and that let's them excuse the faults of someone who points out the rottenness they themselves see. They believe Trump is persecuted unfairly simply for not playing ball with the system and the more he's attacked, the more they believe he's on the right track.
That is delusion.
Whatever.
His voters tend to be older. They've seen the establishment defend a President perjure himself, be accused of raping a women while ignoring Biden's lies/ accusations of sexual impropriety. They've watched the same people claim elections have been stolen for decades with no consequence or that President's are "illegitimate " for decades with no pushback. They watched their riot after deadly riot take place and saw the perpetrators lionized by the establishment, treated as victims and subsequently walk away pretty much scot free. They see a media/Democratic Party propping up and defending a cantankerous, senile old man who can only "work" a few hours a day and belongs in a nursing home and see a country that's divorced itself from any objective standard.
The examples are endless. It's impossible for those who've bought into the left's bubble to understand how corrupt and dishonest they appear to those outside of it.
They see his enemies liars and hypocrites of the worst kind, and since he's willing to attack the establishment they despise, they defend and support him.
Yeah all sorts of bad / wrong / dishonest things have happened in the political arena.
That is no excuse for holding delusional beliefs such as 'Trump is being persecuted unfairly simply for not playing ball with the system ...'.
There are a LOT of articles similar to this one
Donald Trump's presidency: A shocking list of things he's done - Macleans.ca
By Shannon Gormley October 6, 2020 30-39 minutes 10/6/2020
Here is a comprehensive rundown of what the most unpresidential president in history has said and done during his time in office
Departing from the behaviour of every previous president, during his first term the current president of the United States:
Greeted predecessor at White House; left wife in car. Made up to wife by allowing wife to add references to jewellery line to official White House first lady bio. Did not convince wife to move into White House; eventually convinced wife to move into White House; did not convince wife to move into White House bedroom. Maintained ownership of companies; doubled membership fees for Mar-a-Lago beach resort. Warned inauguration crowd of foreign attempts to “ravage” United States. Told first lie in office, described modestly sized inauguration crowd as largest in history; saw photographs of predecessor’s larger crowd; deployed press secretary to repeat crowd description as history’s largest; deployed senior adviser to describe inaccurate crowd description as “alternative fact.” Did not release tax returns.
Was subject of historic event on day after inauguration, with largest protests in nation’s history organized against him by members of sex about which he had previously advised grabbing “by the pussy.” Asked, “Why didn’t these people vote?” Learned he did not win majority of votes; requested investigation into voter fraud.
Signed order to build wall between Mexico and United States that he claimed Mexico would pay for; learned Mexican president cancelled meeting with him, would not pay for wall. Had phone call with president of U.S. ally Mexico, threatened to invade U.S. ally Mexico. Had phone call with prime minister of U.S. ally Australia, hung up on prime minister of U.S. ally Australia. Had phone call with president of U.S. adversary Russia, promised to have “fantastic relationship” with president of U.S. adversary Russia. Signed order banning refugees on security grounds. Signed order banning travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries on security grounds; said it was not a Muslim ban. Saw Muslim ban cause confusion, panic and chaotic protests worldwide. Saw judge block refugee ban, saw judge block Muslim ban. Learned acting attorney general defied him; fired acting attorney general.
Heard Black reporter ask if he would meet with Congressional Black Caucus, asked her, “You want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours?” Declared free press “the enemy of the American people.”
Invited his “If I weren’t happily married and, ya know, her father” daughter to sit in Oval Office chair. Learned Nordstrom dropped fashion line by daughter; tweeted attack on Nordstrom. Tweeted would not attack court; attacked court as “political.” Learned top aide was promoting fashion line by daughter. Greeted U.S. ally/Japanese prime minister, shook hand for 19 seconds. Tweeted would bring border-wall price “WAY DOWN.” Did not get Mexico to pay any price for wall.
Told FBI director “I hope you can let this go” about investigation into national security adviser lying about communication with Russian ambassador. Had national security adviser resign; saw leak that national security adviser had resigned; called leak “criminal.” Held rally; attacked “dishonest media.” Gave speech; threatened to “do something” about media. Blocked press members from press briefings; skipped press dinner.
Heard reports attorney general communicated with Russians during Trump campaign; also, that vice-president used private emails as governor; also, that vice-president said his private emails were nothing like election rival’s private emails. Tweeted that predecessor tapped his phone. Attacked judge for “unprecedented overreach” for blocking travel ban. Heard GOP congressman call on him to release tax returns. Did not release tax returns.
Used State Department website to advertise Mar-a-Lago resort. Allowed [pats her lower hips with both hands] daughter to meet with president of China, heard her company had won trademarks from government of China; heard public outrage, allowed “perhaps I’d be dating her” daughter to sit in on meeting with German Chancellor. Learned FBI was investigating campaign links with Russia and election interference. Gave “You know who’s one of the great beauties of the world, according to everybody?” daughter official White House role. Saw former adviser offer to testify about Trump campaign dealings with Russia in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Tweeted media should not investigate his campaign’s links with Russia, should investigate predecessor tapping his phone. Planned shift to centre. Tweeted North Korea was “looking for trouble”; tweeted Russia relationship “will work out fine.”
Heard tens of thousands of protesters demand he release tax returns. Tweeted protests were small. Tweeted media should investigate who paid protesters. Did not release tax returns. Had wife prompt him to put hand over heart during national anthem at Easter event. Tweeted if wall was not built “the drug situation” would “NEVER be fixed.” Saw disapproval numbers rise; saw “what a beauty” daughter booed at W20 summit; heard German minister say “the mix of politics with family and business reminds us of nepotism.” Called president of Philippines, congratulated him for policy of shooting drug suspects on sight in streets, praised “unbelievable job.” Held rally, accused media of “failing,” being “fake,” working from “very ugly” office building, praised crowd for being large.
Did not get money from Congress for border wall. Did make plans with Russian leader for meeting. Tweeted predecessor’s health-care act was a “lie” and “dead.” Fired FBI director. Saw report he asked independent FBI director to pledge him loyalty. Tweeted fired FBI director “better hope there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations!”
Passed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister. Heard national security adviser say releasing classified information to Russia was not “inappropriate.” Heard reports he asked fired FBI director to drop investigation. Called fired FBI director “a real nut job.” Heard Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates pledged $100 million to fund backed by “she’s hot, right?” daughter. Said Saudi Arabia is fighting “barbaric criminals.” Recalled loss of popular vote; created commission to investigate voter fraud; never found evidence of voter fraud. Announced via Twitter new security policy of compromising intelligence sources by sharing “facts pertaining to terrorism and airline safety” with American adversaries such as Russia.
Had hand swatted by wife on tarmac. Shoved Prime Minister of Montenegro out of way during photo op, obtained better position. Learned FBI was scrutinizing son-in-law for proposing secret communications channel with Russia. Called leaks “troubling.”
Tweeted about “constant negative press covfefe.” Tweeted people should not be “politically correct.” Did not release tax returns. Said he would speak under oath about conversations with fired FBI director. Did not speak under oath about conversations with FBI director. Said other people leaking about fired FBI director are “cowardly.”
Learned appeals court ruled against travel ban. Tweeted “the real story” was predecessor allowing Russian election meddling. Tweeted about rejecting “poorly rated” and “psycho” journalist; also journalist “bleeding badly from a facelift” and “low IQ crazy.”
Met Russian president at G20, wife tried to break it up, failed, met Russian president secretly, daughter took empty chair. Tweeted daughter holding seat is “very standard.” Heard reports son set up meeting with suspected Kremlin lawyer, stated son is “high-quality person.” Heard son-in-law deny he colluded with Russia. Tweeted attorney general is “beleaguered,” should investigate election rival’s relationship with Russia.
Instructed police officers to refrain from being “too nice” when making arrests. Again, fired senior staff, communications director. Held rally; again, yelled about former election campaign rival. Threatened North Korea with “fire and fury,” something, something.
Learned woman murdered in Charlottesville, Va., amid marches by racists masquerading as golf caddies with tiki torches yelling about blood and soil; condemned violence “on many sides, on many sides,” praised “very fine people on both sides.” Retweeted cartoon of train killing journalist. Received thanks from former leader of Ku Klux Klan. Received accolades from chief strategist, former executive chairman of racist news site. Fired chief strategist. Complimented former chief strategist. Pardoned racist sheriff.
Watched eclipse, looked directly at sun.
Heard media report Trump Organization contacted Kremlin about Moscow deal during election; heard campaign manager’s lawyer was subpoenaed by the special counsel investigation. Rescinded DACA. Tweeted attack on people “writing books and major articles about me.” Heard “is it wrong to be more sexually attracted to your own daughter than your wife?” daughter complain of liberal critics’ “unrealistic expectations.” Instructed ESPN via Twitter to “Apologize for untruth!” Tweeted travel ban should be “far larger” but political correctness prohibited it. Shook wife’s hand, told her to “go sit down,” pushed her off stage. Called North Korean dictator “rocket man.” Called kneeling NFL player “son of a bitch,” requested team owners remove from field. Heard journalists report secretary of state nearly resigned over president’s stupidity after calling president a “moron”; instructed journalists via Twitter to “issue an apology to AMERICA!”; declared members of free press should have broadcast licenses “challenge[d].”
Heard Puerto Rico mayor beg for hurricane assistance; attacked mayor. Said hurricane not “real catastrophe.” Threw paper towels at hurricane victims. Informed hurricane victims, “You’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack.” Heard his “every guy in the country wants to go out with” daughter and eldest son almost indicted for fraud. Asked CIA director to meet with conspiracy theorist who could explain how Democrats, not Russia, hacked Democrats. Defended throwing paper towels at hurricane victims.
Tweeted instructions at unknown persons to “change tax law!” in retaliation for NFL players kneeling. Did not release tax returns. Appointed gold-level Trump Hotel member ambassador to Canada. Requested secretary of state compare IQ scores with him. Stated, incorrectly and disapprovingly, predecessor never made calls to military families.
Told widow that dead soldier husband “knew what he signed up for.” Tweeted Republican chairman of Senate foreign relations committee “didn’t have the guts” to run for re-election, wouldn’t have endorsed him anyway. Learned campaign manager charged with conspiracy against United States.
Requested judge give someone death penalty. Told Japan’s prime minister he would allow Japan’s economy to come second after America’s. Told North Korea, “Do not try us.” Cancelled visit to DMZ due to fog, not guns. Shook hands with Russian president at dinner, not for 19 seconds.
Spoke favourably of poll showing majority disapproval. Called major media outlet “Loser!” Struggled to locate, open and drink from water bottle. Claimed to turn down offer to be “person of the year.”
Heard media reports chief of staff discussed “great, great beauty” daughter and son-in-law leaving West Wing. Heard media reports wife did not wish to be first lady. Referred to senator as “Pocahontas,” NFL as “weak and out of control!” Retweeted anti-Muslim videos. Suggested journalist be investigated for murder.
Said female senator “would do anything for” campaign contributions. Learned women who accused him of groping requested congressional probe into more than one dozen sexual harassment and assault allegations. Saw photos of himself with new accuser he claimed to have never met. Dispatched lawyer to claim presidents “cannot obstruct justice.”
Wished Happy New Year to even the very dishonest fake news media.” Announced Justice Department is part of “deep state” conspiracy against him. Announced he, too, has big button, bigger than button of North Korean dictator. Assured public he is “very stable genius.” Compressed workday to prioritize TV, Twitter. Mouthed wrong words to national anthem.
Posed query regarding American policy of accepting immigration from “s–thole countries.” Clarified, “I am not a racist.” Heard reports his lawyer bribed porn star with hush money after he slept with her, compared her to “she’s actually always been very voluptuous” daughter, after wife gave birth. Tweeted, “Trump wins again.” Heard wife would not attend Davos. Clarified, “No, I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist.”
Gave speech, noted lack of clapping, accused non-clappers of being “treasonous.” Attacked FBI, DOJ, NFL. Advocated for shutdown of government he leads; had lawyer claim he, not president, paid president’s porn star girlfriend with own money, just because; sent “Did she look a little more stacked?” daughter to winter Olympics. Required memo to appear empathetic toward shooting victims; proposed giving school teachers guns; advocated for importance of strong mental health.
Congratulated Chinese president for eliminating term limits, announced “maybe we’ll give that a shot someday.” Reiterated claim he “never met” sexual assault accuser. Reiterated call for investigation into predecessor. Said deputy who did not shoot gunman “certainly did a poor job.” Learned communications director was resigning. Learned ex-chief of staff called him “an idiot.” Fired personal assistant. Fired secretary of state. Learned special counsel subpoenaed company. Learned porn star passed lie detector test. Fired national security adviser. Issued zero-tolerance policy of parents caring for children at border. Tweeted attack on “cheatin’ ” predecessor. Tweeted attack on “untruthful slimeball” former FBI director. Said he did not get wife a birthday gift, praised supportive Black rap artist.
Learned porn star’s lawyer said Russian oligarch put $500,000 in president’s lawyer’s account. Called undocumented immigrants “animals.” Called FBI investigation “witch hunt.” Planned to pardon criminal who pled guilty for breaking campaign finance laws. Issued unprejudiced legal opinion, “I have the absolute right to pardon myself.” Opted not to prepare for his meeting with North Korean dictator. Noted when North Korean dictator speaks, “his people sit up at attention.” Said, “I want my people to do the same.”
Saw photographic evidence his policies separated families at border; denied policies separated families at border; stated, “You have to take the children away.”
Nominated accused sexual assailant to Supreme Court. Defended accused sexual assault assailant as Supreme Court nominee, criticized Democrats’ “meanness.” Heard reports he tore up memos and documents, aides had to tape back together. Met U.S. allies, called prime minister of neighbour and ally Canada “meek,” also “very dishonest and weak.” Kept Queen of England waiting, did not bow, said they had great “chemistry.”
Welcomed national security threat, telecommunications firm from U.S. adversary China, to do business with U.S. Met privately with president of U.S. adversary Russia, held joint news conference with president of U.S. adversary Russia, declared if leader of U.S. adversary Russia said they didn’t do what American intelligence agencies said they did, he had to believe leader of U.S. adversary Russia. Tweeted, “no president has been tougher on Russia than me.” Tweeted, media “hate the fact that I’ll probably have a good relationship with Putin.” Tweeted DOJ and FBI investigations are “witch hunt rigged, a scam!”
Tweeted request attorney general stop investigating his campaign, called investigation a “TOTAL HOAX.” Said son’s campaign behaviour was “totally legal.” Told critics to “be cool.”
Tweeted attack on kneeling Black NFL players. Called critical Black congresswoman “extraordinarily low IQ person,” critical former Black staff woman “dog,” critical Black interviewer stupid. Dispatched white spokesman to clarify he isn’t racist. Tweeted thanks to supportive Black rap artist. Welcomed supportive white biker gang to golf club, complimented “beautiful bikes,” mocked journalists for getting wet in rain. Supported firing FBI agent who had criticized him. Revoked security clearance of former CIA director who had criticized him. Complained of “ridiculously” high cost of military parades. Complained of social media companies “closing down the opinions of many people on the right.” Complained media outlets did not recognize “I have nothing to hide.” Praised Latino border guard for speaking “perfect English.”
Informed former campaign chairman was convicted on eight counts. Informed former lawyer pleaded guilty to paying hush money to porn star on his behalf. Launched petition against ESPN’s national anthem policy, gave himself “A-plus” compared to all predecessors. Signalled desire to pardon former campaign chairman. Announced White House lawyer leaving after accused sexual assault assailant sworn in as Supreme Court justice. Said he would “get involved” with independent agencies DOJ and FBI. Said Google was rigged to shut out conservatives. Said TV cameras were faking technical difficulties to shut out his speeches. Said he had successfully made America great again. Tweeted attack on Canada. Did not get Mexico to pay for wall.
Skipped Republican senator’s funeral; golfed. Learned anonymous administration official penned op-ed claiming they and others were resisting the president’s worst impulses; called op-ed treason; instructed media outlet to hand traitor “over to government at once!” Claimed to fall asleep during predecessor’s speech. Requested attorney general investigate author of op-ed criticizing him. Tweeted attack on NFL. Complained Puerto Rico storm response was underappreciated. Called storm death toll a Democratic hoax. Described banker as unintelligent, poor public speaker, nervous mess, but “otherwise he is wonderful.” Announced, “No collusion!” Announced, “I don’t have an attorney general.” Announced, FBI is “cancer in our country.” Tweeted query, “I want to know, where is the money for border security and the WALL in this ridiculous spending bill?” Did not get Mexico to pay for wall.
Asked sexual assault accuser to bring forward unspecified “filings” against Supreme Court nominee. Declared sexual assault accusation to possibly be greatest injustice suffered by any candidate of any kind in all of history. Declared wealthy Jewish man paid for protesters against accused sexual assailant. Was laughed at during UN speech, claimed was in on joke. Held rally, laughed at sexual assault accuser. Apologized to Supreme Court nominee “on behalf of our nation.” Saw U.S. ambassador to UN leave. Told by wife to put his phone down. Said #MeToo prevents him from saying what he really wants.
Threatened “severe punishment” against Saudi Arabia for disappearance of journalist. Defended Saudi Arabia for disappearance of journalist. Accused Saudi Arabia of staging “worst cover up ever” in killing of journalist, attributed to their “very bad original concept.” Stated Republican Speaker of the House knew nothing of birthright citizenship. Praised barbed wire along border. Praised man who body-slammed journalist. Did not get Mexico to pay for wall. Lost midterms, boasted of “big victory.” Saw White House reporter have mic wrestled away by staffer, had White House revoke reporter’s credentials, had White House release altered video of mic wrestling. Pretended not to know appointee he had met more than one dozen times. Accused French president of insulting him, criticized general who led Osama bin Laden raid, expressed anger with California foresters, suggested raking to prevent fires. Defended Saudi prince for murder of journalist.
Tweeted attack on judges, who “must not legislate security and safety at the border” or “there will be only bedlam, chaos, injury and death.” Gave thanks for himself on Thanksgiving. Learned House would investigate “she does have a very nice figure” daughter’s emails, defended daughter’s “very innocent” use of private emails. Interviewed administrative candidates at Mar-a-Lago. Appreciated senator’s lynching remarks as joke. Threatened to shut down United States government if Congress did not pay for wall. Did not get Mexico to pay for wall. Tweeted attack on General Motors. Tweeted attack on former lawyer. Announced business dealings during campaign were “very legal,” “very cool.” Did not release tax returns. Nominated former host of favourite Fox News TV show as U.S. ambassador to UN. Fired chief of staff. Learned child died in custody of U.S. border agents. Threatened to shut down U.S. government if Congress did not pay for wall. Did not get Congress to pay for wall. Heard former lawyer say he directed him to pay hush money to porn star, calls former lawyer “a rat.” Tweeted that “real scandal” is negative media coverage of him, query as to whether media outlets are guilty of “collusion?” Lost defence secretary. Tweeted that wall is “like the wheel, there is nothing better.” Did not get Mexico to pay for wall. Triggered partial government shutdown for longest time in nation’s history. Learned second child died in same month in custody of U.S. border agents, celebrated Christmas. Became unhappy with new chief of staff. Hinted at firing Federal Reserve chairman. Claimed Democrats secretly love border walls. Claimed only Olympic champion could scale new border wall. Lodged complaint against congressional Democrats via Twitter for “presidential harassment,” asked Congress to pay for wall, did not get Mexico to pay for wall. Blamed Democrats for dead migrant children. Heard chief of staff say of wall, “To be honest, it’s not a wall.” Wished Happy New Year to “the haters.”
Confided he could win office in Europe if he wanted to, protested “but I don’t want to.” Explained war in Syria is “about sand and death. That’s what we’re talking about.” Assessed his generals as “better looking than Tom Cruise and stronger.”
Submitted question to universe, “How do you impeach a president who has won perhaps the greatest election of all time, done nothing wrong (no collusion with Russia, it was the Dems that colluded), had the most successful first two years of any president, and is the most popular Republican in party history 93 per cent?” Said he never said Mexico would pay for wall. Asked Democrats to pay for wall. Walked out of meeting, did not get Democrats to pay for wall. Served visiting athletes fast food burgers. Asked Democrats for just a “down payment” on wall, did not get Mexico/Democrats to pay for wall. Saw ex-adviser arrested for obstruction, false statements and witness tampering; learned ex-lawyer admitted to creating fake online election poll. Tweeted media was “rude” to press secretary, taunted media as “fake news.” Called future political rival “dangerous.” Admitted temporary defeat on wall, reopened government, threatened shutdown if Democrats didn’t pay for wall. Criticized U.S. intelligence; endorsed U.S. intelligence. Complained he does not make enough money as president. Complained he is “victim” of journalism. Complained he did not get Democrats to pay for wall. Proposed “human wall.” Said he dumped defence secretary first.
Heard “she’s got the best body” daughter announce he did not get her or husband security clearances. Held rally, praised German shepherds’ crime-fighting abilities, said he would feel “phony” with dog, mocked predecessor for having dog. Advised Academy Awards ratings would improve if Hollywood ceased criticizing him, claimed predecessor confided he nearly started a war with North Korea, revealed he is inventor of the word “caravan.”
Was subject of 25th Amendment discussions at DOJ to remove him from office. Threatened veto if Congress voted against national emergency along U.S.-Mexico border. Was sued by more than a dozen states over border wall funding. Was nominated by Japan’s leader for Nobel Peace Prize. Called highly regarded newspaper “true enemy of the people.” Posed query to Black actor, “What about MAGA?” Accused Black actor of racism. Appointed gold-level Trump Hotel member ambassador to UN. Did not release tax returns. Was accused of sexual assault by former campaign staffer. Was called “racist,” “con man,” “cheat” by ex-lawyer. Reiterated claims of former election rival’s crookedness. Heard claim U.S. adversary North Korea did not kill U.S. citizen, pronounced dictator innocent. Gave speech, hugged U.S. flag, called special investigation “bulls–t.” Expressed sympathy for former campaign chairman found guilty. Thanked Republicans for supporting wall (physical, not human, not paid for by Mexico); attacked beloved dead Republican senator (“never a fan,” allowed, “some people like him”); expounded upon fundamental weakness of wind power science (“it only blows sometimes”); declared own benevolence historic (“The best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico is President Donald J. Trump”).
Was subject of House committee request for tax returns, did not release tax returns. Declared America “full.” Saw report on campaign links with Russia released. Saw Homeland Security secretary resign. Saw deputy attorney general resign. Declared United States to be “losing,” not yet great again. Declared London mayor a “stone cold loser.” Told Iran he would “end” it in fight. Lost press secretary. Hosted anti-immigrant Hungarian authoritarian, praised barbed wire fence. Met North Korean dictator, shook hands. Held rally, suggested conditions under which migrants could be shot. Said foreign interference isn’t interference if foreign actor offers information and says, “I think I’d take it.” Promised “when you will see my financial statement, at some point I assume it’s going to be released, you’ll be very impressed by the job I’ve done. Much, much bigger, much, much better than anybody.” Was accused of sexual assault again, said this one “not my type.”
Tweeted skepticism regarding whether four Black congresswomen “are capable of loving our country,” requested they “go back” to countries they came from, ignored fact three born in United States. Warned, “The perils of the internet and social media cannot be ignored.” Tweeted conspiracy theory about death of friend, who was a child predator and sex trafficker. Saw negative polls on favourite media outlet, became unhappy with favourite media outlet, began attacking formerly favourite media outlet. Declared major American city “disgusting, rat- and rodent-infested mess.” Considered buying Greenland, heard Denmark declare it not for sale, cancelled trip to Denmark. Held rally, announced imminent end of child cancer, didn’t follow up. Went to G7, skipped climate meeting, left chair empty, daughter didn’t take it. Skipped comforting storm victims, played golf. Took initiative to issue weather warning of storm for Alabama, disputed National Weather Service correction, produced hurricane map altered with Sharpie.
Cut pandemic early warning program.
Learned impeachment inquiry launched against him for secretly coercing U.S. ally Ukraine to investigate son of future election rival, tweeted “Witch hunt garbage.” Publicly asked U.S. adversary China to investigate son of future election rival. Congratulated U.S. adversary China for 70 years of communist repression. Was booed by baseball fans chanting “Lock him up!” Offered golf resort as next G7 summit venue, for price. Became third president in American history to be impeached. Tweeted in all caps.
Celebrated New Year, killed senior Iranian commander in Iraq. Tweeted in all caps against Iran. Was acquitted by Senate, fired people who testified against him. Commuted sentence of old reality-show guest found guilty of corruption charges.
Tweeted deadly global pandemic was “very much under control,” like flu. Privately told journalist deadly global pandemic was not under control, not like flu. Publicly said pandemic was Democrats’ “new hoax.” Publicly said always knew pandemic was a pandemic, “I’ve felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.” Announced, “I’ll be shaking hands with people.” Blamed predecessor’s rule for lack of tests, blamed Mexico border for spread of virus, praised drugs for saving lives; ignored that predecessor’s rule did not exist, Mexico had few cases, drugs could be dangerous. Said country would be “raring to go by Easter,” learned of half-million cases by Easter. Said he would not assist states with pandemic efforts if governors did not appreciate him. Boasted of ratings for pandemic update broadcasts. Described deadly global pandemic as very mild, and 99 per cent of cases “totally harmless.” Mused whether injecting or ingesting cleaning products could cure virus; denied responsibility for subsequent abuses of cleaning products.
Tweeted attack on news agency favourable to him, not favourable enough for him. Corrected widespread misapprehension among legal community of democratic checks on power, explained, “When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total.” Heard son-in-law looking forward to U.S. overcoming pandemic, “really rocking again” in a few months; heard son-in-law warning U.S. could not overcome pandemic, might have to postpone election in several months. Said of high pandemic case numbers, “I view it as a badge of honour.” Said of self, not even assassinated presidents treated worse. Learned prison inmates disproportionately infected with virus, former campaign manager released from prison to avoid virus, former lawyer released from prison to avoid virus. Did not wear mask, did take drug. Suggested Speaker of the House a boozer. Called former election rival a “skank.” Accused journalist of murder. Had tweets flagged, signed executive order “to defend free speech from one of the gravest dangers it has faced in American history,” Twitter.
Saw Black protesters in streets not kneeling, hid in bunker. Called Black protesters “thugs,” threatened with “vicious dogs,” “ominous weapons.” Had protesters attacked with tear gas for being in street he wanted to cross for Bible photo op. Said he had Black friends, thanked them for reaching out. Tweeted video of man chanting “white power.” Walked down ramp, struggled; drank water, also struggled. Boasted of passing mental acuity test, said doctors “were very surprised.”
Commuted prison sentence of friend and adviser convicted of obstructing Russia investigation, threatened “automatic 10-year” prison sentences for protestors harming statues. Saw bean company boss shilling for him, saw “she’s really something” daughter shilling for bean company. Expressed well wishes to accused accomplice of dead pedophile friend. Boasted again of passing mental acuity test. Said of reading habits, “You know, I read a lot. I read a lot. They like to say I don’t read. I read a lot. I comprehend extraordinarily well. Probably better than anybody that you’ve interviewed in a long time. I read a lot.” Heard medical experts urge against large gatherings during pandemic; held large rallies during pandemic; made fun of medical experts. Suggested might delay election until satisfied Democrat-preferred method of secure voting secure. Sued Nevada for allowing Democratic-preferred method of secure voting. Had aide explore adding face to Mount Rushmore. Lost aide who had excelled at explaining small crowds were big. Learned New York attorney general subpoenaed son to testify in investigation into overstating assets for economic benefits.
Learned “Sloppy Steve”/former chief strategist charged with defrauding donors to supposedly pay for wall, allegedly paid for others’ cosmetic surgery and golf carts; said didn’t like Sloppy Steve’s “showboating.” Said his supporters’ attacking major American city with pepper spray, paintballs, “cannot be unexpected.” Said police shooting journalist with a rubber bullet is “actually a beautiful sight.” Advised supporters to disregard term limits, drive large and small-d democrats crazy, “say 12 more years.” Learned 200,000 Americans died from deadly global pandemic, explained “it affects virtually nobody,” gave himself additional “A-plus.” Did not resign, ran for second term, suggested would run for more, suggested if voted out would not respect vote, would not leave, would be violence, told white supremacists to “stand by” for it. Didn’t release tax returns, learned “failing,” “fake” media revealed tax returns, owes hundreds of millions of dollars in loans, gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees to ““Yeah [you can call her ‘a piece of ass’]” daughter, didn’t pay taxes, basically at all. Caught deadly virus. Didn’t get Mexico to pay for wall.
www.thebulwark.com /100-reasons-trump-is-unfit-to-be-president/
100 Reasons Trump Is Unfit to Be President
Amanda Carpenter 14-17 minutes 6/26/2020
Part of the mad genius of Donald J. Trump is that he never runs from scandals. He just creates more of them. So many more that anyone attempting to track them all risks becoming numb as a survival mechanism.
A collective amnesia sets in. We ask ourselves, “Do you remember that time when Trump got impeached, said that super-racist thing, cozied up to dictators, threatened our elections, or oh, whatever that was?”
Well, we at The Bulwark do. Yes, it can be hard to keep up. We all need reminders. So, lest anyone forget or require convincing, here’s a non-exhaustive list of 100 reasons Donald Trump is unfit to be president.
1
1985-1994
Reported $1.17 billion in business losses over the decade. Trump “appears to have lost more money than nearly any other individual American taxpayer,” according to the New York Times .
4
1991-2009
Declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy for his various businesses six times .
5
2005
Bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy” in a conversation with Access Hollywood ’s Billy Bush picked up on a hot mic .
6
2011-2016
Promoted birtherism against President Barack Obama—the false claim that Obama was not born in the United States, that his birth certificate was fraudulent, and that therefore he was constitutionally ineligible for the presidency.
10
July 18, 2015
Said Vietnam POW John McCain is “ not a war hero ” and “I like people who weren’t captured.”
11
November 22, 2015
Claimed that “thousands and thousands” of people in New Jersey’s Arab communities cheered on 9/11.
15
July 27, 2016
Called on Russia to hack and release Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails.
16
July 30, 2016
Denigrated the family of U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in 2004 while serving in Iraq, after Khan’s father delivered remarks at the Democratic National Convention.
17
July 30, 2016
Broke with U.S. policy of supporting Ukraine over Russia’s invasion of Crimea, saying : “The people of Crimea, from what I’ve heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were.”
January 20, 2017
Trump inaugurated, becomes the 45th president of the United States.
21
January 27, 2017
Enacted the “Muslim ban” that, through executive order , prevented foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States for 90 days; the order was quickly contested in the courts, and its enforcement was blocked.
22
April 29, 2017
Told Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who had sanctioned the extrajudicial killing of drug suspects, that he was doing an “ unbelievable job ” of cracking down on his country’s drug problem.
25
May 16, 2017
Remained silent when security forces working for Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, attacked protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C.
26
July 9, 2017
Considered creating a joint cyber security task force with Russia, despite the fact that Russia has been responsible for a host of cyber attacks against the United States. He tweeted , “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded.” Putin confirmed in a 2018 event that he had discussed the idea with Trump.
29
October 11, 2017
Tweeted a suggestion that “fake news” networks, such as NBC, should have their broadcast licenses “challenge[d].”
30
October 24, 2017
Asked then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo to meet with a conspiracy theorist who believes that Russia didn’t hack emails from the Democratic National Committee computers during the 2016 campaign, but that the DNC itself leaked them.
32
January 2, 2018
Escalated nuclear tensions with North Korea by tweeting , “I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
35
February 21, 2018
Required a handwritten reminder to appear empathetic when he met with students and parents affected by school shootings.
36
March 3, 2018
Congratulated Chinese President Xi Jinping on eliminating term limits. “I think it’s great,” Trump said . “Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday.”
37
April 5, 2018
Denied any knowledge of the $130,000 hush-money payment his lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her silent during the 2016 election. A book by Daniels laying out the details of her alleged 2006 affair with the married Trump was published later in 2018.
40
May 2018
Accepted a memo from President Erdoğan of Turkey that claimed innocence for a Turkish firm under investigation by the Southern District of New York. According to John Bolton’s 2020 memoir of his time as Trump’s national security advisor, Trump “told Erdogan he would take care of things, explaining that the Southern District prosecutors were not his people, but were Obama people, a problem that would be fixed when they were replaced by his people.” (On June 20, 2020, he did fire the U.S. Attorney for the SDNY , Geoffrey Berman, who not only had indicted the Turkish-owned firm but had reportedly opened an inquiry into Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.)
42
July 12, 2018
Threatened that the United States might “go our own way”—interpreted as a signal that he wanted to pull out of NATO —throwing a summit with world leaders into turmoil. He had repeatedly called NATO “obsolete” during the 2016 campaign, then “ not so obsolete ” once he was in office.
44
July 16, 2018
Sided with Russian president Vladimir Putin in rejecting the findings of the U.S. intelligence community about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election during a joint news conference with Putin in Helsinki, Finland.
46
August 15, 2018
Revoked former CIA director John Brennan’s security clearance in retaliation for his criticism of the president.
49
September 29, 2018
Talked affectionately of his relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un: “ We fell in love, okay? ”
50
October 29, 2018
Just days after Trump fanatic Cesar Sayoc was arrested for sending pipe bombs to CNN offices and to prominent Trump critics, Trump tweeted , “The Fake News Media the true Enemy of the People.”
57
February 25, 2019
Falsely credited his daughter Ivanka with creating “millions of jobs.” (In 2016, he had said that his children would have no role in the White House; instead, Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner were given large advisory portfolios.)
59
March 24, 2019
Attorney General William Barr released a misleading four-page summary of the long-anticipated Mueller Report. Three days later, Mueller wrote that Barr’s summary “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this Office’s work and conclusions.”
61
May 20, 2019
Blocked former White House counsel and Mueller Report key witness Don McGahn from testifying before Congress—one of numerous witnesses the White House refused to let testify.
62
May 24, 2019
Circumvented Congress by declaring an “emergency” over Iran so he could sell arms to Saudia Arabia, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates.
64
June 28-29, 2019
Lauded Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and declined questions about the brutal killing of Washington Post writer and legal U.S resident Jamal Khashoggi, whom the CIA concluded the prince had ordered dead.
65
June 28-29, 2019
Asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him get re-elected, according to then-National Security Advisor John Bolton’s later account : During the G-20 meeting, Trump “stunningly . . . turned the conversation to the coming U.S. presidential election, alluding to China’s economic capability to affect the ongoing campaigns, pleading with Xi to ensure he’d win. . . . He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome.” Bolton also reports that Trump told Xi he supports his building of concentration camps that hold an estimated one million Uighurs.
68
July 25, 2019
Asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden—the action that led to President Trump’s impeachment by the House of Representatives in December 2019 and trial in the Senate in January and February 2020.
71
September 2019
Canceled GOP presidential caucuses and primaries in four states.
72
September 4, 2019
Displayed an official National Weather Service map in the Oval Office that was falsified with a Sharpie to make it seem as if government forecasters had during the previous week projected that Hurricane Dorian might strike Alabama, as he had erroneously claimed.
73
October 1, 2019
Reports surfaced that Trump had suggested soldiers shoot migrants illegally crossing into the United States. He reportedly also inquired about putting a “water-filled trench, stocked with snakes or alligators” at the border, “prompting aides to seek a cost estimate.”
74
October 23, 2019
Described NeverTrump Republicans as “ human scum .”
77
November 7, 2019
Ordered to pay $2 million in damages to settle claims brought by the New York state government that the Trump Foundation had misused funds. (The foundation was already being dissolved because of what New York officials called a “shocking pattern of illegality . . . including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more.” Much of this story was first unearthed by Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold .)
78
November 19, 2019
Smeared Alexander Vindman , a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel detailed to the National Security Council, after Vindman testified in the House impeachment investigation.
79
February 7, 2020
Fired impeachment witnesses Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. (Also fired Alex Vindman’s brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, also a National Security Council staffer.)
80
February 20, 2020
Longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone was sentenced to more than three years in prison after his conviction on seven felony charges, including lying under oath to Congress and obstructing the investigation into the 2016 election.
82
February 28, 2020
Said that Democrats “are politicizing the coronavirus” and that “ this is their new hoax .”
83
March-May 2020
Repeatedly touted the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as treatments for COVID-19, despite the lack of high-quality evidence regarding either their effectiveness or their potential harmful side effects. On April 20, the administration demoted a top government virologist who questioned the scientific merits of these drugs for treating COVID-19. On May 18, Trump claimed that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine pills himself, although a note released that evening by the White House physician did not confirm the claim. By June, with the president’s attention elsewhere, both the NIH and the FDA cautioned against the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for treating COVID-19.
86
April 4, 2020
Blasted Navy Capt. Brett Crozier for writing a letter informing Navy leaders about the outbreak of coronavirus among sailors aboard the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt .
88
April 23, 2020
Suggested that light or disinfectants could be applied to the human body to treat coronavirus : “Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous—whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light. . . . supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that too. It sounds interesting. . . . And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs.”
95
May 29, 2020
Called Minneapolis protesters “THUGS” and said “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Twitter flagged the tweet as violating the platform’s rules against glorifying violence.
96
June 1, 2020
Ordered the dispersal of peaceful protesters —by law-enforcement officers who attacked them with flash grenades, smoke grenades, rubber-ball grenades, pepper spray (a kind of tear gas), and pepper balls—so that he could walk from the White House across Lafayette Square for a photo op in front of St. John’s Church. In the days that followed, representatives from the White House , the Trump campaign , and various law-enforcement agencies denied that tear gas was used during the incident, although they later walked back their denials . The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff later apologized for his presence at the scene. The incident also led former secretary of defense James Mattis to condemn the president : “We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square.”
97
June 9, 2020
Speculated that a 75-year-old Black Lives Matter protester who was hospitalized after being shoved on June 4 by Buffalo police is an “ANTIFA provocateur.”
98
June 20, 2020
Held an indoor campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma—without requiring the masks and social distancing recommended by government health authorities. Told the crowd that he believed too many cases of coronavirus were being logged and that he had instructed “my people” to “slow the testing down.” (After initial speculation that this was a joke, he later said that it was not , and that he really had ordered a slowdown in testing.) Two Secret Service agents present at the Tulsa rally later tested positive for COVID-19, a fact that then resulted in dozens of Secret Service personnel having to quarantine themselves . Eight staffers from Trump’s campaign staff also tested positive, so all campaign staffers who attended the rally reportedly had to quarantine themselves .
100
June 26, 2020
As of this date:
The national debt stands at more than $26 trillion , having increased by at least $5.2 trillion since President Trump assumed office.
The most recent estimate for the monthly unemployment rate was 13.3 percent .
More than 124,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.
You are fooling yourself Sean. Trump is a uniquely awful person , and the worst president in the 247 year history of this country.
One of my favorites.
You wonder why people will still vote for Trump, I told you.
So did you really want to hear what they had to say or just use this as another opportunity to tell them why they are wrong? Or maybe give others a chance to make dispatching comments about a whole group, something I thought was frowned upon in NT.
Give your reason for supporting Trump if you can.
We know the answer to that.
Except with Trump it doesn't matter. He could commit murder and his base would believe it justified. Not to mention he 'slid' on the Stormy who and love letters from Kim along with saving bin Suliman's ass. And those are only three out of hundreds more.
Try answering my question. Or is your deflection pretty much your answer?
Yep. When someone says they really want to know something it usually means they want to hear themselves talk.
My posting dozens and dozens of examples of trump being an a****** probably got under your skin
We all know you're a trump supporter just say why unless you're afraid to
Deflection number 2. Care to go for the trifecta?
You afraid to admit you didn't really want anyone to give you reasons like you said?
You can give your reason right now
I would honestly listen to you yet we all know the peanut gallery would jump in.
I'm listening to them too.
I think they feel it is a losing proposition. Some of them would sort of feel that way with me because apparently I am kind of an ass...
They can give their reasons.
Far too many Trump supporters take the position that Trump is no worse than any other politician. I think that is absurd, for dozens of reasons.
But if they have a case to make let them make it.
It is a problem of perception. As much as it makes no sense to some, the "Trump the persecuted" shtick is highly resonant with a great deal of his supporters. It is "religious" in that scope. Optics refracted through those lenses put all Trump actions into the perspective of "must be right" by definition. He did it, therefore he was justified in doing it.
This is how peoples minds work on the subjective level. It is also how smart and sane people rationalize their support for DJT.
He was right about one thing:
I don't believe it.
That's all this is. And don't forget to also insult those that are pointing out the hypocrisy of the left.
More than dozens and dozens.
It was hundreds
And none of them with proof.
Honestly listen if I said in reality I am not a trump suppoter? Some here think I am because I don't support he is the devil narrative?
With anything but an open mind.
You can stop deflecting from my question right now
Yep. Doing everything they accuse others of doing.
Some seem to think if they keep saying the same thing 100 times it proves it must be true.
I dont deflect from anything. My asking you for your reasons why you support Trump is its own proof that I am soliciting such replies.
I want the people on Newstalkers who support and/or defend Trump to go on the record as to why they do so. This is your chance.
In 3.1.8 I asked for the truth as to why you were asking. You have not responded but your responses to others has answered the question. I was right.
You have now made about 8 non responsive comments on this seed. I guess you cant articulate why you support and defend Trump.
Just because I give my opinion of him does not mean I am not seeking the opinions of his supporters. Your entire premise here is nonsense, and stalling.
I have posted two articles on this seed that give dozens and dozens of reasons why he is not fit to be president.
Can you tell us why you think he is fit without mentioning Clinton Obama or Biden ?
All 4 of your comments are incorrect. Batting a thousand
You are leaping to the extreme (Trump is the devil) and pretending that is the normal criticism of Trump.
The criticism of Trump is not the extreme: Trump ≅ the Devil but rather that Trump is an abysmal human being who has engaged in wrongdoing that has harmed the nation and thus should never be considered for public office much less the presidency.
Deal with the actual criticism instead of pretending the criticism is only an absurd extreme.
Issue is you have decided all about what I think about trump. It seems if you want to know what people think you wouldn't spend so much time telling them what they think.
You obviously have nothing pertinent to say about the topic. Thanks for making that clear.
America has let itself down. All this pro Trump crap should have been nipped in the bud and rejected 8 years ago. He has never , for one second, been fit to hold office.
Now we have millions and millions of people whose own self worth and identity is wrapped up in defending him. I am not sure there is a way out of this anymore.
You are always correct when you deal with leftists.
It's not difficult to do.
The extreme absurd is exactly what the left is peddling.
And there you go doubling down on your ridiculous claim.
That is such a self-defeating tactic ... what on Earth do people think it will accomplish?
Truth hurts doesn't it
More childish / witless / cliche quips.
JR has asked why people defend and/or support Trump.
Are you able to provide a post with some value?
For example, here is what I posted @11:
I suspect the second paragraph is where you fit in. Weigh in.
I wish people on both sides would stop using hypocrisy as an argument for or against something. It's not, it's simply an attribute of human beings. If I tell you eating french fries all the time is bad for you while eating french fries all the time myself, I'm not wrong. Debate would improve dramatically if people presented valid arguments. Babbling about 'hypocrisy' is just noise.
Not even close. Let me know when you get to the people that have no party allegiance. People who have almost never voted for just one party. People that don't feel a need to make proclamations as to who is fit or not fit for an office at this time. Someone that is ok with the parties nominating the person they feel is best for their interests and the country. Someone who will weigh all the factors of these people and will then decide who to vote for.
Shooting fish in a barrel comes to mind
Once again you show you have nothing new to say. Just a new way to regurgitate the same old bile.
Okay, then tell us why you defend Trump. Maybe you are a new category that none of us has thought of.
I don't. Try reading my post again.
I suppose we can call that the category of denial.
Knock yourself out. You don't like my response so you dismiss it. That is a you problem, not a me problem.
Like many many other words and phrases they have tried to change the meaning of defending trump is just one of the latest. Then you can almost sense their panties getting more and more into a twist if you don't buy into their fantasy or follow them down their rabbit hole of delusion.
It does get old but I refrain from putting them on ignore simply for the entertainment factor.
And you will be asked incessantly over and over why you are defending Trump until you provide the correct ore approved response. Until then, most of us call it harassment.
Absolutely, I put no one on ignore as the main reason to come here is to read the illogical, stupid shit some people write.
Exactly!!!
I agree but I do hope for some originality from time to time and not just different bait to lead you down the same rabbit hole.
There will be no originality until they are told to change their shtick. Then, they will usually go back to an old shtick, like P. D and D as an example.
"Defend the indefensible " is another one but pretty overused already.
Overused, and usually never used in the correct context.
Sometimes I think they don't even know the meaning of what they post....like fascist.
Who else earned 37 federal felony charges?
1. Can't recall any other American political entity receiving love letters from Kim Jong Un the N. Korean dictator.
2. Can't recall any other political entity ever publicly revealing that he 'saved the ass' of an Arabic monarch autocrat, bin Suliman.
Sean, you said they believe, "The more he's attacked the more they believe he's on the right track." Fair enough, you are probably correct----But I honestly wish I knew what 'that right track' is. Do you have any thoughts?
Trump is being prosecuted because of two reasons...
1. He beat queen Hillary. Most leftists still have not gotten over that.
3. They are deathly afraid of him in the 2024 election. They know in their dark hearts that the fuck up in the White House now has no chance against him.
Mich to the chagrin of some leftists on here, no one is defending Trump. We are simply pointing out the similarities and differences in DOJ/FBI reactions to similar circumstances between those with and without the almighty "D" after their name.
That is delusional.
When someone makes excuses for Trump's wrongdoing, they are defending Trump.
You can plead that this is not defending Trump, but that is simply denying reality — a feeble argument.
Denying that there is an actual legal, rather than political, reason for his prosecution is a defense of Trump. You're defending him and simultaneously denying defending him.
It took a couple hours but you got a couple responses proving your comment was correct. Good work.
Your comment is a perfect example of dishonest pretense. You make a claim that is in no way supported by the evidence you cite.
How stupid do you think readers are? And how do you figure blatant intellectual dishonesty is valuable to you?
It's all part of the "slight of hand if you aren't paying attention" gig.
Other examples include:
Everyone with room temperature IQ can see just how false bugsy's claim is. Nobody is falling for the lie.
Again, I am not defending Trump. I think he is a deplorable human.
I'm not going down a rabbit hole with you so you can argue something that is not there.
Not a good look for you.
Is Donald Trump fit to be president of the United States?
Remember, his fitness does not depend on anything other than his own words and actions.
Guilty conscience? I did not just accuse you of defending Trump. Read more carefully what I wrote.
I don't blame you, the argument you use is feeble and absurd.
I've seen more convincing magic tricks performed by grade-schoolers.
Everyone with a pulse knows this is politically motivated, and used by the person who he could very well beat in 2024.
In essence, election interference.
Most leftists only agree with these indictments because THEY know he can beat Biden this time around.
Problem is they will deny that THEIR points are wrong.
Actually, my argument is on target.
Yours is just an argument simply to argue.
I don't need to read "more carefully". Your rhetoric is loud and clear.
Everyone on the grand jury was a leftist?
No, bugsy, "everyone" knows no such thing. You saying so doesn't make it so.
Do you honestly think that the Ds want the GOP to nominate someone other than Trump?
Do you honestly think that Trump is the likely winner of a general election?
Their hair starts on fire if you don't agree.
All you are offering is bullshit and apparently you think people buy it.
Make an argument or a topical point instead of posting pathetic taunts.
They're still praising the emperor's new clothes. It's pathetic.
There is only one "conservative" who has answered the question posed by the article, and that is Sean. And I give him credit for that.
The rest of the responses on this seed by the right are various degrees of obfuscation, denial, trying to shift the focus, and trolling.
Alright...let me help you JR, since you fail to recognize others have already answered you. You just didn't like what they posted.
As a human, I think Trump sucks, however, his administration hit places where no other administration has ever been, D or R,.
He brought the unemployment rate down to record levels.
He permanently ensured HBCUs would receive federal funds.
The stock market hit all time highs in his administration, making everyday working people a little more secure with their retirement funds.
Had the largest tax reform in history passed. I'm sure leftists will claim it was only for the rich and corporations, blah, blah. That is just what they have been told to say.
Unemployment rates for minorities and women hit all time lows.
Wages outpaced interest his whole term, unlike now where the opposite is true.
Great economic recovery after the pandemic, where Joe rode his coat tails and is claiming to be the sole reason why the economy recovered from it's low during the pandemic.
Gas prices dropped to just under 2.00 in my city. Brandon ensured it rose 80 cents within a few short weeks from going in office, and it has been nowhere near that since.
Now, this is just a few and I'm sure you and other leftists will spin the points into something negative, because leftists will never admit Trump did very well as president.
In short, you hold that people defend / support Trump because they like his policies and are willing to overlook his outrageously bad behavior.
I know plenty of people who held that view prior to the Big Lie. After seeing Trump's narcissism and willingness to throw even the government of the USA under the bus, those numbers lessened considerably (in my little statistical circle).
Seems to me, there should be a point where rational, responsible, patriotic citizens prioritize Trump's outrageously bad behavior over the good they perceive. How that point has not already been crossed for many people is fascinating (and sad).
Ok, you answered the question. Finally.
What you list are policy steps that some people in America agree with, even a majority of people in some instances.
But none of that goes to his fitness for office.
One can easily list DOZENS of reasons he is not fit for office, dozens.
And you want that over ridden by the fact that the stock market went up during his tenure? The stock market has gone up to a record level under almost every president in history since they started tracking it.
Trump was not in office after the pandemic.
Totally ballooned the national debt that Republicans are whining about so much now.
The president does not determine gasoline prices.
Meaningless, since interest rates were almost zero, and had been since before Trump took office.
There are some who will (mechanically) argue against whatever position is held by those they consider 'the opposition'.
What is amazing to me is that some (many, nowadays) will even at times make brain-dead-stupid arguments replete with made-up 'facts' and apparently do not care about being right or honest. As long as they are 'fighting the good fight' against 'the opposition', the quality of their arguments is of no concern.
Never said that.
I answered the question as it was written. Nowhere did I say that because of these policies, people would once again vote for him.
You can enjoy a good administration, opposite of the current one, and want someone else that embraces the same policies.
There are a couple of candidates now that do that.
Because you never asked that in your question.
You asked why people support/defend Trump...nothing else.
We all know you don't think he is fit. You have harped on that for years. No need to make others parrot your infatuations.
He was at the beginning of the recovery. Biden only rode the coat tails of that recovery, then gave himself credit.
"Totally ballooned the national debt that Republicans are whining about so much now."
Who was in charge of Congress, both houses, during most of Trump's admin? Who held the purse strings during that time?
Hint...it wasn't Republicans.
"The president does not determine gasoline prices. "
But you leftists had no problem blaming Trump when it went to 4 dollars during his admin, and went it went from 5 dollars, an all time high, during the current admin, then started falling, you leftists had no problem giving Biden credit for that, even though he essentially wiped out the reserve...twice.
"Meaningless, since interest rates were almost zero, and had been since before Trump took office. "
Thanks for making my point. Great job~!!!
The grand jury was seated in DC. The D to R ratio is better than 95 to one, so yes, the odds are the grand jury was nothing but leftists.
I did not claim that you literally wrote my words. But logically if someone supports / defends Trump they are willing to overlook his outrageously bad behavior. If they are unwilling to overlook his behavior then they would not support / defend against criticism of same.
Your equivocation is pathetic; don't run away from what you write and/or move the goalposts. You cited 'accomplishments' (which by definition reflect policies) as the reasons why people support / defend Trump
Yeah, bugsy, that is a point I have made many times. Those who like Trump's policies can easily rally about another GOP candidate who would easily hold true to the same policies. Trump's policies were core GOP. Failure to do this is a clear sign of dysfunction.
[✘]
The grand jury that recently voted to indict Trump was not in DC, it was in Florida.
Another feeble 'rebuttal' from you.
If Trump is nominated, would you vote for him? That is, do you prioritize his 'accomplishments' over the fact that he should never be allowed to hold a public office?
Well, sure. That's why more Trump lawyers jumped ship. They know it's all political.
Think, bugsy. Even the people paid to defend him aren't buying this line of bullshit.
TBH I don't know why the left.
Do you?
I only hear leftist opinions as to why they did.
Based only on transcribed information by a DC grand jury.
No one testified in person in Florida.
Spin, spin, bugsy. You expect everyone to accept your (extremely tenuous) speculation that the indictments are only political, in face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. But the endless parade of Trump lawyers who become former Trump lawyers is just - what, them deciding to spend more time with their families? Excluding, of course, the ones who ended up in prison, themselves.
It's really just laughable at this point, the twisting some folks do to avoid the truth, and to defend Trump, while denying defending Trump.
And he expects everyone to not recognize that he is defending Trump with his 'arguments'.
We have another two years of this nonsense to look forward to.
As Thomas said - it's attempted sleight-of-hand.
But it would take the skills of a David Copperfield to pull it off, and those are lacking.
There is no spin. My post stands as fact..
As you should realize that pointing out the hypocrisy of the loons on the left does not equate to defending Trump.
Hell, to some of you, just mentioning Biden is akin to defending Trump.
You all need to get a clue.
Probably, but thankfully, there is a very good chance the fuck up in the White House will be booted out in Jan 25
No it does not. But trying to equate Biden (and Pence) document handling with Trump's handling of classified documents is indeed defending Trump.
You have a very loose definition of "fact". Trump's defenders in the court of public opinion are abandoning him. Bill Barr, who once championed his right to do pretty much anything he wanted, thinks he's guilty.
You might want to stop defending him (while saying you're not defending him, which nobody believes). Defending him is an exercise in futility.
Some sure do seem to get off by telling you what you think and believe and then trying to have you convince them that they are wrong about what they think you believe. They are actually arrogant enough to believe they know you better than you know yourself. Would actually be funny if it wasn't so pathetic.
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It seems that is the far left's strategy to try and overwhelm the person they are posting to with their own version of spin and "facts", then claim victory.
Unfortunately for them, not the case today.
At this point trump could cure cancer and some would say he is unfit to be president because he put some doctors out of business.
But they will keep on trying no matter how desperate it makes them look.
I agree but I don't hold out hope they will change their definition of defending trump to be anything other than ah hourly proclamation that he and anything he has ever done is pure evil. You need to ask them for a copy of their I hate trump book and swear upon it as you beg for their forgiveness for not seeing the light earlier.
The irony in accusing us of defending Trump comes with them having to defend Biden....but they sear they aren't doing that.
Hilarious, but sad.
They really seem to have trouble coming to grips with the reality that others could have valid ideas that don't align with theirs.
Absolutely, one hundred percent, not allowed in the world of leftist loonyism.
We all know you don't think he is fit.
I am not even sure what they mean by "fit". I am not even sure they know or if it isn't a moving target.
Really? You need someone to explain this to you? There are myriad articles which discuss why Trump is unfit for office. Google.
It means that he should not be trusted with the power of the office. There are many ways to be unfit for office but in Trump's case it is his narcissistic abuse of power and authority to, as priority 1, feed his ego at the expense of anyone or anything (including the USA).
in Trump's case it is his narcissistic abuse of power and authority to, as priority 1, feed his ego at the expense of anyone or anything (including the USA).,
Ah, opinion stuff. You forgot mean tweets but thanks for your clarification.
You do not hold that Trump is a narcissist who DID abuse the power and authority of his office to feed his ego at the expense of other human beings and the nation itself?
Were you out of the country during his Big Lie schemes?
Exaggeration and opinion (bordering on hysteria) that it is so bad as to mean he is not fit. People that think he is not fit can always rationalize why he is not fit. People that think he is fit can always rationalize why he is fit. Then there are millions that will wait until each party nominates and makes a decision at that point avoiding getting an ulcer worrying about it now. It may never happen.
So, cutting through your wishy washy nonsense, you think Trump is fit to be PotUS. You think it would be responsible, rational and patriotic to put this abysmal character in the most powerful office on the planet.
And you wonder why I criticize your comments.
[✘]
And you deflect.
Do you think Trump is fit to be PotUS?
Do you think it would be responsible, rational and patriotic to put this abysmal character in the most powerful office on the planet?
If Trump secures the GOP nomination, would you vote for him to be PotUS?
Read 3.4.58 again. I am one of the millions. That answers you question.
Let me give you a hint. I feel no need to make a definitive decision on anything at this point. Try not to read anything more into it than that.
Or just read the last paragraph of 3.4.60 and criticize away.
Donald Trump is a traitor.
These people are getting worse by the day. I fear for our country.
Yep. And they just keep regurgitating the same shit until they get an answer that satisfies their needs.
Then I will buy popcorn for the upcoming execution. When is it?
I agree. But I don't think we are talking about the same people for the same reasons.
No, it deflects. You point to another post which does NOT answer the very simple, very direct questions I asked.
Refusal to answer direct questions is an extremely common theme among those I challenge.
I think they are simply not getting better (yet they should). Trump supporters / defenders should be moving away from Trump yet they are digging in.
Trump betrayed the country on and leading up to Jan 6th. That makes him a fucking traitor. Open your dictionary if you have one.
[✘]
And if you gave them that they would move the goalposts and it would still not be enough. Makes me feel sorry for some people.
Reads his own posts?
Wait til I get a postage stamp so I can write on there everything you know about Jan 6th.
I watched all the Jan 6th committee hearings. How many did you watch?
[deleted]
[deleted]
A feeble excuse for running away from three simple, direct questions:
Any time you are ready to debate Donald Trump's behavior leading up to and including Jan 6th let me know.
No trolling allowed though.
Tig, they will never directly answer the question. Their true answer is too embarrassing.
Not answering illustrates the answer.
What is strange is that many of these posters know that Trump should never be given political power yet they will contort into pretzels rather than state what they know is a sensible position.
Also, the wait and see notion does not work. Those who need more info before they decide if they would vote for Trump are either delusional or lying IMO.
It's pretty impressive, the way "some people" struggle to avoid telling the truth. Your three questions put them in an impossible situation.
If they answer "yes" to any of them, they'll have to defend the indefensible.
If they answer "no", they're traitors to The Tribe.
So.... I'll bet no one answers at all. The usual "courage of their convictions".
Thank you for correcting my spelling error.
O.M.G
That is the same bullshit I heard from my parents and the rest of their families during the Watergate fiasco.
get woke, Sean
My hypothesis is that they defend him because they do not want to have his true reputation attached to the GOP. They are trying to forge an alternate reality through denials and lies so that the truth of this abysmal human being who was an R PotUS (and the GOP is stuck with that) is softened.
There are plenty of MAGAites who actually believe Trump's crap and stupidly worship him. But then, IMO, there are plenty of other GOP members who entirely understand (and privately agree with) the criticism of Trump's behavior but are more concerned about party reputation in the short term then they are truth (and responsible patriotism).
Then there are those who do not want Trump for obvious reasons but will vote for him if nominated because they simply cannot even consider allowing a D be elected.
Finally there are those like Liz Cheney who will not play this dishonest and stupidly counterproductive game of supporting / defending Trump and instead tries to do the right thing ... holding Trump accountable and detaching him from the GOP.
Voted you up. But all of that remains to be seen.
And she gets lambasted by her own party and loses her seat. I'm no Liz Cheney fan but that woman has a lot of guts
I say because they listen and do whatever right wing talk tells them to.
Some people like to be told what to be upset about, what to complain about, what to support.
Example, tax cuts for corporations that in actuality do nothing to help the average person yet they will defend these tax cuts tooth and nail using all the rightwing talking points, with no benefit at all to themselves.
Citizens United was the worst supreme court decision for America ever.
At Citizens United the court should have been disbanded and changed into an elected office just like every other political office.
Because they are fucking retarded.
It was Fox that gave the low IQ fascist fools a voice in the first place.
Far right wing hate mongering will be the death of democracy.
So then you agree that it was MSNBC and CNN that gave even lower IQ communist fools a voice.
Left wing hate mongering against anything and everything they don't like will be the death of this country.
[Deleted]
1. Character defect
2. Cognitive deficit/impairment
3. A combination of 1 and 2, above
It's a good question. I'll give it a shot.
I don't think the MAGA movement is monolithic. There are quite a few very different components that mesh together, more or less smoothly.
First, there is the great mass of dissatisfied losers in the Great American Game. These are the millions who aren't getting what America promised them. They do not imagine that they are responsible, so they must find out who is. They are ignorant, so they are incapable of doing the necessary research. They are very pleased with a person who tells them what to think, especially when that person assures them that they themselves are not responsible. It's immigrants (anyone who speaks Spanish), Blacks, Jews, ... all the "woke", whatever that means.
Second, there's the grifters. The people who profit from exploiting the MAGA mass. Fox and the other fake news outlets. Evangelical "preachers". Gun sellers. These are the money machine that keeps the MAGA wagon rolling.
Finally, there's the egotistical assholes who just stir the pot for the pleasure of fucking with people. They don't believe in Trump or anything else. This bunch have an outsized importance in social media.
Since we have a little bit of a lack of forthcoming answers from the right, I will help them along -
thefederalist.com /2023/06/10/on-trump-and-everything-else-the-regime-has-gaslighted-america-into-oblivion/
The Regime Has Gaslighted America Into Oblivion
Kylee Griswold 7-9 minutes 6/10/2023
Well, they finally did it. The powers that be actually indicted Donald Trump.
After the regime weaponized a bogus dossier, spied on his campaign, hamstrung his policy, impeached him, impeached him again, defamed him as a racist Nazi, made his supporters fear isolation and employment retribution, lied about him in every way imaginable on every news station and in every paper every day, and rigged elections again him, they’re finally taking him down with some paperwork.
These papers are criminal, you see, because they have classification markings, were in Trump’s possession, and were part of a documents dispute. Pay no attention to the fact that the DOJ won’t even tell the court specifically what’s in the documents, meaning they can claim this is a Very Serious Matter™ — Scout’s honor! — with no evidence available to the contrary. Or that as president, Trump possessed declassification authority that wouldn’t have belonged to, say, a secretary of state or vice president.
Speak of the devil, ignore that Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Mike Pence, and Barack Obama all had their own “ documents disputes ” — some more serious than Trump’s — without facing any criminal charges. And that the whole Mar-a-Lago fiasco, which involved the FBI sending dozens of plainclothes agents to raid the former’s president’s estate and dig through his wife’s closet, started when a disgruntled, backbench National Archives bureaucrat tattled because he didn’t like the look of Trump’s banker box .
As a result, Trump is being charged with 37 counts . But he isn’t the only target here. So are you.
Biden’s DOJ and FBI and their pals in the media wouldn’t have to go no-holds-barred against Trump if you would just stop supporting him. Just like Trump didn’t go away when the deep state staged its coup, you didn’t repent of your patriotism when the current president stood in front of scary red lights and delivered his diatribe against “ultra-MAGA” Republicanism. Now the ruling class has no choice but to indict, because understand: Waging lawfare, lawlessness, and intimidation brutally and relentlessly against opponents until they crumple is the regime’s whole offensive .
Weapons of War
So the assaults keep coming, fast and hard, and America bleeds out from the wounds that have become all too familiar but no less painful: the lies, the retribution, the gaslighting.
Blue cities can openly flout pro-life laws restricting abortion, and pro-abortion nutjobs can launch molotov cocktails into life-saving pregnancy centers. But when the faithful Christians who do the most to care for single moms and pregnant women pray outside deadly abortion mills, they are arrested. Just to ensure onlooking pro-lifers are sufficiently intimidated, the feds also send agents to raid their homes and arrest them in front of their terrified children.
For those Christians who don’t appear outside Planned Parenthood, just faithfully commune for weekly prayer and worship services, the same ruling regime simply shuts down their gatherings, citing public safety and love of neighbor. Oh, you think you’re going to celebrate your Savior’s resurrection? We’ve got your license plate number and know where you live.
Meanwhile, leftists celebrating their favorite racist doctrines get a free pass to chant together in the streets and burn down buildings. Then “experts” explain why protesting in the faces of police officers is less dangerous than the deadly droplets of congregational singing, and media overlords define “loving your neighbor” as supporting BLM anarchists but streaming Sunday services.
When you demand that the government perform its most basic constitutional duty of protecting America’s borders, its partisans not only insult your intelligence by insisting the border is secure, but they ship busloads of migrants to your community. When any of the illegal invaders go on murderous rampages, the feds claim they were motivated by white supremacy. And while the Biden administration empowers corrupt cartels that traffic children, rape women, and profit off the most vulnerable, the media claim those advocating for a stronger national defense are the heartless ones.
It’s not that the ruling class doesn’t care about borders at all. Ukraine’s border dispute is of utmost importance to them. So they start or fund pointless wars that kill millions while accusing you of being a Putin stooge for opposing. Then they gift weapons to corrupt foreign oligarchs and terrorists while they try to ban you from defending yourself and your family here at home.
With Trump, it comes full circle, but it’s the same old play. Their hoaxes fail, so the feds interfere in elections and then censor you for noticing. When a presidential election with historic turnout, last-minute changes to the law, and countless irregularities shatters confidence in our whole self-governing enterprise, the federal government convicts fed-up grannies for waving flags in the Capitol and calls concerned voters a threat to democracy. To hide their own crimes, they charge and convict the people you elected for daring to challenge them.
The America you once loved and fought for, whose ideals many were willing to give their lives for, is dead. The people in the halls of power today are responsible for killing it — and have faced zero accountability.
Boots on the Ground
Few things can revive a lifeless country, especially when elections border on meaningless and shared values are a relic of the past. But any rebirth that’s going to happen will start in your own heart and household.
First and more important than anything else: Repent and believe the Gospel. There is simply no enduring hope outside the good news that Jesus died and rose again to redeem the wretched souls of this sinful world who abandon their base desires in exchange for His righteousness and eternal life.
Then catechize yourself and your children . Teach them lasting truths about life and death, sin and salvation, worth and unworthiness. Instill in them the importance of hard work, the beauty of marriage and the sexes, the value of all human life, the pitfalls of pride, and their need for humility and forgiveness.
Join a church. Gather with believers who share your values and care about your spiritual state. Sing praise, pray, and read your Bible.
Care for the needy. Engage with your neighbors. Go outside and appreciate nature. Take good care of your body. Minimize screen time for yourself and your children. Keep an eye on their homework and library books. Run for school board and other local offices. Keep a garden. Buy a gun and learn how to use it responsibly. And don’t cower from a worthwhile fight.
Nobody — not Donald Trump, not Ron DeSantis, and not new FBI leadership — can save America. It’s up to you to save your corner of it.
Kylee Griswold is the editorial director of The Federalist. She previously worked as the copy editor for the Washington Examiner magazine and as an editor and producer at National Geographic. She holds a B.S. in Communication Arts/Speech and an A.S. in Criminal Justice and writes on topics including feminism and gender issues, religion, and the media. Follow her on Twitter @kyleezempel .
To believe this "argument", Trump was just a fine example of American manhood and a wonderful leader for our country until the evil left started lying about him.
PRIOR to the "Steele Dossier" Donald Trump was a KNOWN serial liar, a cheat, a malignant narcissist, and a bigot. So to say he was "ruined" by an unfair dossier is to say none of the previous mattered. In 2011 , Trump cynically tried to destroy Americans respect for the then current president by suggesting Barack Obama was an unAmerican fraud. I say cynically because Trump knew Obama was born in Hawaii, but because Trump wanted to run for president in 2012 but didnt have a political base, he tried to create one by appealing to white racism. It didnt quite work out for him in 2011, but he would be back.
Prior to the Steele Dossier Trump was embroiled in a lawsuit stemming from his fraudulent representations of "Trump University" a real estate course held in hotel ballrooms in which people paid thousands of dollars to be taught real estate by Donald Trump. Only problem, Trump had virtually nothing to do with the course. That didnt stop him from making video advertisements for the course where he claimed to have hand picked the instructors when in fact he didnt know any of them.
Prior to the Steele Dossier Trump had been sued by hundreds of vendors for non payment. If you painted a string of hotel rooms for Trump, if you were lucky you might get paid half of what was agreed to, and he would withhold the rest, claiming that the job was "poorly" done. And then you would have to sue him.
And on and on. Should such a person ever have been considered for the presidency of the United States? There was a time when our traditions and our morals and our common sense would have said "hell no".
But something had changed in America by 2016. America was becoming "diverse", more and more multicultural, and to fight that scary prospect, millions of Americans embraced a truly horrible human being, because he was willing to be their cultural warrior.
At least she's not telling people to stockpile weapons...
There’s no shortage of social media posts along the lines of “I don’t care if he is guilty, I’m voting for him anyways.” Some people just want this country to be torn apart limb by limb and they see Trump as the best vehicle for that to happen.
Actually, Hal, I do not think that:
They see a country that is moving away from what their personal ideal of the country is. Unfortunately, this idealistic view and the constitution are in opposition so they need someone to rough it up a bit to allow for a "reformation". Unfortunately also is the fact that people outside the mainstream would receive the short end of Orwell's "All Animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
They see a country that is moving away from what their personal ideal of the country is.
These are the ones pissed off that they have to choose English when they dial an automated phone number, then wail about the price of produce. The fact that they don’t understand transgender mentality means to them that they are right and anyone who disagrees with them on gender issues is wrong. They fight back against pro-environmental policies by rolling coal in their giant pickup trucks. They are damaging democracy whether they understand it or not.
That's how Hitler did it.
Animal farm was published several months after Hitler killed himself. I always thought it was a metaphor for the Soviet Union than Nazi Germany.
It was an allogorical tale, based on the Soviet experience. However, the duplicitous experience is the same for any group that falls into a "less than" status.
The "two tiered "justice system is not divided by party, but by class.
I know
Thanks, that really clarifies cjcold’s comments.
I was not seeking to clarify cjcolds comments but rather my own.
If they somehow mesh, more is the better.
But either they don't know that or understand it...because they never read George Orwell
Weren’t Orwell's books banned? Communist. (Well, no. Not really... but hey!)
There are plenty of dimwits who believe whatever Trump says and view him as their hero. There will always be low-wattage lemmings who do not (or cannot) think for themselves and need someone to lead them. I am, however, surprised by how many there are and the level of bullshit that they will accept without triggering red flags.
Then there are those who know better but defend Trump because of party loyalty. They will not acknowledge the failure of their party in its support for such an abysmal human being as PotUS thus they must defend Trump to defend their party. And this dynamic is so strong that we see them even attack / blackball other members of their party who have the moral integrity to call Trump out for what he did.
Trump could have avoided all of this by simply returning the documents, nothing stopped him from returning them except whatever is rattling around in his head. He not only didn't return the document he went out of his way to be sure that he held on to them up and including moving documents and his lawyer wasn't even aware of that.
All the rest of the excuses being used to justify/excuse his behavior is whataboutism and what if's, nothing more.
During the campaign, he promised to name a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton, remember ''lock her up''. When he won the election he did not name a special prosecutor, it was his choice.
Currently, there is an active investigation into Biden's part in the documents found in his position. So Trump's whining about Biden is the old Roy Cohn fast shuffle.
The charges listed in the indictment are very serious charges and perhaps he'll let us all know why he kept the documents in his position and what he intended to do with them.
Because Republican voters adopt whatever "R" candidate is put before them no matter what and they exalt that person to become a personal "daddy" authoritarian figure. It boils down to the way these voters feel that Republicans are their "family" and will hear nothing against any of them.
Truth isn't applicable. If you question, or criticize in any way, they take it as an "attack" on their family.
Trump just milked that for all it was worth and his supporters don't even listen to his flip flops, because if "daddy" says it then it must be true. They will perpetually forever vote for any candidate with an "R" and right now they just won't let go of "daddy".
Why is this such a big mystery? Donald Trump is not Joe Biden. Trump ain't Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Gavin Newsom, and Kathy Hochul. Equally important is that Donald Trump ain't Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Phil Graham, and Tom Delay.
Donald Trump ain't woke, politically correct, or intimidated by a belligerent and partisan liberal press. Trump doesn't try to tear down the United States at every opportunity. The fact that Trump doesn't defend the Reagan legacy is just as important as opposing the looney left.
Donald Trump does not play by the rules of politics-as-usual. The political deadwood in both politics and the press have had to react to Trump and not the other way around. Trump is an existential threat to the status quo.
Why would people who have been handed the dirty end of the stick over the last 40 years not support Trump?
Donald Trump is also NOT ELECTABLE!
What has that got to do with anything? Barack Obama is NOT ELECTABLE. Does that mean Obama doesn't have political influence?
Because supporting Trump is a losing proposition for GOP members. It is truly shooting themselves in the foot. It is extraordinarily foolish.
There are a few more elections than just the Presidential election. And if the Republican Party tries to backslide just to win elections then maybe winning just ain't worth it.
Of course, but my comment was regarding the presidency.
WTF Nerm, do you not see that the GOP has been doing just that ever since Trump became popular??
Here's the problem:
That garbage will probably impress a lot of morons. Unfortunately for Trump the morons are already his voters.
Thanks for watching.
And the facts are that for the 2024 election the White House is the booby prize. Political power has begun shifting back to statehouses.
Trump was elected to throw a wrench into the status quo and weaken Federal government. What's been happening indicates that it worked.
Really? In today's politics, Democrats are more likely to quote Ronnie Raygun than are Republicans. The MAGA crowd has even prevented the TEA Party from holding the Republican Party hostage.
So you admit that this trump thing is a plan to all along weaken our own federal government.
Keep saying that real loud right up until the election...
Trump was elected to become a mouthpiece and champion for white grievance.
Didn't you pay attention when Trump was running for President in 2016?
And that has to do with....
That is emblematic of white grievance son.
[Deleted]
You say almost nothing on this forum other than this sort of non responsive crap. People have to spend a lot of time "proving" things to you when you never ever ever prove anything.
Bla, bla, bla.
No, they don't. They can just let him sit there spewing his nonsense and not respond to it. [Deleted]
If he were just a minor annoyance that might work, but he makes as many or more posts than just about anyone here.
I admire your perseverance. At the same time, I find it hilarious.
Well, some people shouldnt even be here, but you or I dont make the rules. It is absurd that we have to deal with this stuff every day.
I'm dancing on a fine line....
And, who exactly has gotten the "dirty end of the stick" for the last forty years? Since the dawn of the "Reagan Era"? Who has fared way worse since the gop's total adoption of Ronald Reagan's lousy "Supply Side Trickle Down Voodoo Economic Theory"? Huh? Do Tell...
Factory workers, blue collar workers, farm workers, union workers.
Yes, Reagan (and Republicans) can be blamed. But for the last forty years Democrats haven't done a thing to fix it.
Trump turned the page on Reagan. Democrats are still trying to keep the Reagan legacy alive. Why wouldn't people who work for a living support Trump, even if Trump is unelectable?
Pick me. Pick me!!!! evil republicans prevented them from changing it.
Why would anyone ever vote for a democrat? for some reason when they are in charge nothing gets done or fixed but the evil republicans manage to get all these evil bills passed. Can't democrats govern without super majorities?
Happy Tuesday everyone !
too bad those aren't real photos
they have symbolic meaning today
has he been arraigned yet?