Sound The TRUMPets! A Thread for Presidential Pondering 2016-2020(?)

[Florestan]

It's pretty clear that Trump was depressingly correct when he claimed he could shoot someone in broad daylight on Fifth Avenue, and get away with it. His core of support among the electorate will be behind him, no matter what. They are the true suckers for fake news, yet they rationalize their emotional attachment by fondly imagining that any facts/news not to their liking is false.

All of this would mean nothing if they were not a majority translatable (is this a word?) in the Electoral College.

Look, I know only too well what a blind partisan is, because I have them in my (in-law) family: people who would vote for the Social Democratic Party no matter how corrupt and immoral their leaders; people rock-solid impenetrable to any rational arguments; people who only think in terms of "what the government gave us, or is likely to give us, or promised to give us".

[SimonNZ]

Ho, ho, ho! It's you who are (deliberately) being disingenuous, because it's you who brought up pederasty.

Well yeah. I' was drawing an analogy of a person in a position of authority and trust who abuses that trust in an attempt to highlight Trumps defense that any crimes over here should be forgiven by supposedly good works over there.

I wasn't calling him a pederast. Though he has said repeatedly how he wanted to date his teenage daughter and what a nice ads she has I think he probably just drew the line at masturbating while thinking about her.

(I was watching a documentary on poverty in America recently and one Trumpist in Appalachia was saying what he liked best about Trump was that he kept his family close)

[SimonNZ]

Christianity Today editorial board calls for Trump to be removed from office

"Christianity Today, the flagship Evangelical magazine, called for President Trump to be removed from office in a new editorial.

The piece, attributed to Christianity Today Editor in Chief Mark Galli, notes that the magazine's "typical approach" is to "stay above the fray," allowing readers to "make their arguments in the public square, to encourage all to pursue justice according to their convictions and treat their political opposition as charitably as possible."

But editorial critisized Trump, saying "[T]he facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president's political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral."

Galli continued, noting that the president has, in his opinion, lowered the standard for presidential decorum, openly admitted to unsavory interactions with women and has worked with a "number of people who are now convicted criminals."

"The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration" Galli said.

"His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused," he added.

The editor went on to say that the findings from the Mueller investigation were not enough to impeach the president, but that the recent impeachment hearings made it clear that Trump abused his power and betrayed his oath of office. 

"We believe...that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath. The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president's moral deficiencies for all to see. This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people.

Galli opined that none of the president's positive qualities outweigh the "moral and political danger" America faces under Trump's leadership, before calling on lawmakers to impeach and remove the president. "[...]

[SimonNZ]

Trump's remark about congressman being in hell was 'just riffing'

"The White House said Donald Trump was "just riffing" when he took a swipe at the late congressman John Dingell during a raucous impeachment day rally, when the president suggested the popular politician may have gone to hell.

The remarks drew a quick rebuke from the longtime Michigan congressman's widow and successor in the House, Debbie Dingell.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Thursday on ABC's Good Morning America that she did not know why Trump decided to suggest that Dingell was in hell. "You'd have to talk to the president about that," she said.

But Grisham added that Trump is a "counter-puncher," and suggested Trump was venting his frustration after being impeached by the House. "It was a very, very supportive and wild crowd and he was just riffing on some of the things that had been happening the past few days."[...]

[drogulus]

     

     Trump assures Michigan crowd everything's fine.
     

[SimonNZ]

^there's those nasty energy-efficient light bulbs again, making "everyone" look orange

meanwhile:

Democratic senators tweet photos of pile of House-passed bills 'dead on Mitch McConnell's desk'

[Florestan]

The problem is simple.

Suppose -- which is very likely --- Trump will survive impeachment.

How many Americans will vote for him next year, as opposed to how many will vote against him? Translation: how many votes in the Electoral College will he have?

[Daverz]

The problem is simple.

Suppose -- which is very likely --- Trump will survive impeachment.

How many Americans will vote for him next year, as opposed to how many will vote against him? Translation: how many votes in the Electoral College will he have?

You can game things out with this interactive map:

https://www.270towin.com/maps/2016-actual-electoral-map

Here are what are considered the "battleground" states:

https://electoralvotemap.com/2020-battleground-states-2/

Trump won Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016 by about 77000 votes in those 3 states.  If he loses Florida, he has to win in all 3 of those states.  Otherwise he only has to keep one of them.

Trump's state-by-state approval ratings:

https://morningconsult.com/tracking-trump-2/

So Trump is under water in those upper Midwest states and, interestingly, Arizona and North Carolina.  We'll see if Putin and Bill Barr are able able to turn that around.

[Karl Henning]

Christianity Today editorial board calls for Trump to be removed from office

"Christianity Today, the flagship Evangelical magazine, called for President Trump to be removed from office in a new editorial.

The piece, attributed to Christianity Today Editor in Chief Mark Galli, notes that the magazine's "typical approach" is to "stay above the fray," allowing readers to "make their arguments in the public square, to encourage all to pursue justice according to their convictions and treat their political opposition as charitably as possible."

But editorial critisized Trump, saying "[T]he facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president's political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral."

Galli continued, noting that the president has, in his opinion, lowered the standard for presidential decorum, openly admitted to unsavory interactions with women and has worked with a "number of people who are now convicted criminals."

"The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration" Galli said.

"His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused," he added.

The editor went on to say that the findings from the Mueller investigation were not enough to impeach the president, but that the recent impeachment hearings made it clear that Trump abused his power and betrayed his oath of office. 

"We believe...that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath. The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president's moral deficiencies for all to see. This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people.

Galli opined that none of the president's positive qualities outweigh the "moral and political danger" America faces under Trump's leadership, before calling on lawmakers to impeach and remove the president. "[...]

Holy cats! Sans blague? Still, it may be too little, too late, to filter down to the sheeple.

[Karl Henning]

All of this would mean nothing if they were not a majority translatable (is this a word?) in the Electoral College.

Look, I know only too well what a blind partisan is, because I have them in my (in-law) family: people who would vote for the Social Democratic Party no matter how corrupt and immoral their leaders; people rock-solid impenetrable to any rational arguments; people who only think in terms of "what the government gave us, or is likely to give us, or promised to give us".

As Daverz points out, Trump won in a few key states by so slender a margin, that the only realistic chance a Democratic nominee will have, is likeability in the center. Nominating Bernie, e.g. will only cement Trump's advantage in those states.

[Daverz]

Holy cats! Sans blague? Still, it may be too little, too late, to filter down to the sheeple.

They just noticed the "unsavory interactions with women"?

My new ambition is to have only savory interactions with women.

https://www.youtube.com/v/Og7JS8mcp3c

[Karl Henning]

They just noticed the "unsavory interactions with women"?

My new ambition is to have only savory interactions with women.

Honestly, when I saw that byline, my first thought was, The Onion is serving this one extra-dry!

[Florestan]

As Daverz points out, Trump won in a few key states by so slender a margin, that the only realistic chance a Democratic nominee will have, is likeability in the center. Nominating Bernie, e.g. will only cement Trump's advantage in those states.

I agree. Only a centrist can defeat Trump. I don't think Bernie will get the nomination. The Dems have shot themselves in the foot with Hillary, they probably won't do it again with him.

[SimonNZ]

Trump responds to the Christianity Today piece the only way he knows how:



(ET? Is he immediately mixing it up with Evangelical Times? Because its all just words-reading jesus-stuff?)

[Karl Henning]

He never reads, so it's safe for him to say he'll never read X again....

[Ratliff]

Trump responds to the Christianity Today piece the only way he knows how:



(ET? Is he immediately mixing it up with Evangelical Times? Because its all just words-reading jesus-stuff?)

That's for real? Not a parody?

[SimonNZ]

That's for real? Not a parody?

That's some really real stable genius.

He never reads, so it's safe for him to say he'll never read X again....

"Promises made. Promises kept."

[SimonNZ]

NBC via Wonkette:

Upton Sinclair Rolls Over In Grave, Is 'USDA Prime' Under New Trump Meat Rules
It's a Jungle out there.

"New meat inspection rules being rolled out by the Trump administration will get Big Government out of your food, leaving safety inspections in the maybe-washed hands of line employees at giant pork producers instead of US Department of Agriculture inspectors, according to a vegetarianism-inducing report by NBC News. The new rules will apply to factories producing roughly 90 percent of the pork consumed in America, and then later will be applied to beef plants, too. Your meals won't be any cheaper, probably, but the producers can goose their profits, possibly by adding actual geese while nobody's looking.

"The consumer's being duped," Food Safety and Inspection Service inspector Jill Mauer told NBC News. "They believe that it actually is getting federally inspected when there's no one there to even watch or do anything about anything."

"It's so hard to go to work without feeling physically sick watching this just happen, unfolding in front of you," inspector Anthony Vallone said. "Especially since you took the oath to protect the American people."
The two rogue meat heads have filed official whistleblower complaints with the Office of Special Counsel, and decided to go public through NBC News. Probably because they're just lazy government employees who hate private enterprise! NBC also spoke to several other inspectors for information on the pilot program that's about to be taken national. In case anyone needs to name their punk band, the new rules are called the "New Swine Inspection System."

Most pork plants now have as many as seven USDA inspectors working in them, right on the production line, looking closely at hog carcasses and making sure the meat is safe, at several points along the pig-disassembly line. (For a thoughtful look at the business -- at a beef plant, but we're all made of meat -- see Ted Conover's excellent 2013 piece "The Way of All Flesh," for which the author went sort-of undercover and became a trained USDA inspector.)

The New Swine Singers plan will cut the number of inspectors per plant sharply, to just two or three, and they won't usually be directly inspecting the meat.

Instead, the plant's own employees will be checking and sorting the hog carcasses and letting the federal inspectors, called consumer safety inspectors, check their work from a distance. There is no required federal training for those employees."[...]

[JBS]

NBC via Wonkette:

Upton Sinclair Rolls Over In Grave, Is 'USDA Prime' Under New Trump Meat Rules
It's a Jungle out there.

"New meat inspection rules being rolled out by the Trump administration will get Big Government out of your food, leaving safety inspections in the maybe-washed hands of line employees at giant pork producers instead of US Department of Agriculture inspectors, according to a vegetarianism-inducing report by NBC News. The new rules will apply to factories producing roughly 90 percent of the pork consumed in America, and then later will be applied to beef plants, too. Your meals won't be any cheaper, probably, but the producers can goose their profits, possibly by adding actual geese while nobody's looking.

"The consumer's being duped," Food Safety and Inspection Service inspector Jill Mauer told NBC News. "They believe that it actually is getting federally inspected when there's no one there to even watch or do anything about anything."

"It's so hard to go to work without feeling physically sick watching this just happen, unfolding in front of you," inspector Anthony Vallone said. "Especially since you took the oath to protect the American people."
The two rogue meat heads have filed official whistleblower complaints with the Office of Special Counsel, and decided to go public through NBC News. Probably because they're just lazy government employees who hate private enterprise! NBC also spoke to several other inspectors for information on the pilot program that's about to be taken national. In case anyone needs to name their punk band, the new rules are called the "New Swine Inspection System."

Most pork plants now have as many as seven USDA inspectors working in them, right on the production line, looking closely at hog carcasses and making sure the meat is safe, at several points along the pig-disassembly line. (For a thoughtful look at the business -- at a beef plant, but we're all made of meat -- see Ted Conover's excellent 2013 piece "The Way of All Flesh," for which the author went sort-of undercover and became a trained USDA inspector.)

The New Swine Singers plan will cut the number of inspectors per plant sharply, to just two or three, and they won't usually be directly inspecting the meat.

Instead, the plant's own employees will be checking and sorting the hog carcasses and letting the federal inspectors, called consumer safety inspectors, check their work from a distance. There is no required federal training for those employees."[...]

I've seen various reports over the years that portray USDA inspections in a less generous light, and which would mean, if they were accurate, that these new rules are simply legalizing the current situation.

[JBS]

Trump responds to the Christianity Today piece the only way he knows how:



(ET? Is he immediately mixing it up with Evangelical Times? Because its all just words-reading jesus-stuff?)

ET in the US often refers to a show that Trump knows well and which knows Trump well: Entertainment Tonight.

If Trump actually were removed from office, a very hard Evangelical would of coursr replace him (Mike Pence).