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

[Florestan]

Could be the second Tuesday.

You mean a typo from JBS? Even so it is still redundant to mention the first Monday.

Be it as it might, it's obvious that the date of the elections is set by the Congress alone; the POTUS has no saying in this whatever. Anyone who bothered to read the US Constitution knows that.

[ritter]

I presume that if, e.g. November the 1st is a Tuesday, then it'll be on November the 8th, as the first Monday of the month is November the 7th.

[SimonNZ]

Could be the second Tuesday.

Yes. Tuesday the 1st wouldn't fit the formula.

Is the problem there that Nov 1 has superstitious or religious relevance? All saints day?

[Florestan]

I presume that if, e.g. November the 1st is a Tuesday, then it'll be on November the 8th, as the first Monday of the month is November the 7th.

That makes sense indeed.

[Herman]

All I am saying is Trump has consistently talked about extending his presidency, not just in a second term, but a third and fourth, too.

It's pretty clear he's been bending the rules (constitutional or otherwise) all the time. He's maybe exploring what would happen if he'd declare a State of Emergency.

Maybe it's just easier to let the elections happens, sabotage them as much as possible, by calling for his goon troops to stand near the voting locations with a lot of assault rifles, and hope for a really close vote.

In any case, these coming elections are going to be extraordinary. There's no way Trump is going to let go easily.

[Florestan]

All I am saying is Trump has consistently talked about extending his presidency, not just in a second term, but a third and fourth, too.

There is no way he can do that except by a coup. In other words, there is no way he can do that.

[Herman]

There is no way he can do that except by a coup. In other words, there is no way he can do that.

As the Senate is now they will rubber stamp anything he does; so will the SCOTUS.

[Florestan]

As the Senate is now they will rubber stamp anything he does; so will the SCOTUS.

Are you implying that the Congress will support Trump in overthrowing the Congress? Because according to the US Constitution only the Congress in its entirety can modify the date of the elections, which in its current incarnation has been set in 1845 and afaIk has never ever been posponed or modified, not even during wars.

[Todd]

You call Todd of all people to your defense. Quite a suicidal move. 

The best part is I have no idea what he is writing about.

All I am saying is Trump has consistently talked about extending his presidency, not just in a second term, but a third and fourth, too.

This forum and thread is getting goofier and goofier.

[Herman]

Are you implying that the Congress will support Trump in overthrowing the Congress? Because according to the US Constitution only the Congress in its entirety can modify the date of the elections, which in its current incarnation has been set in 1845 and afaIk has never ever been posponed or modified, not even during wars.

We'll see (from a safe distance) what happens.

Maybe they'll just put sedation in the White House drinking water from late October onwards and things will just happen without any antics (though I'm pretty sure the armed goons will be out near voting stations).

[JBS]

Yes. Tuesday the 1st wouldn't fit the formula.

Is the problem there that Nov 1 has superstitious or religious relevance? All saints day?

I have no idea. But that's the way the law has expressed it.  It does mean that the election date is no earlier than November 2 and no later than November 8.

[Karl Henning]

Is the problem there that Nov 1 has superstitious or religious relevance? All saints day?

I have no idea.

I am speculatively doubtful; I don't think that minor feasts of the liturgical calendar meant all that much to the Protestant colonists of the time.

[JBS]

According to this religion had an impact.  But it was the day of the week thst was involved: they were avoiding the need to travel on Sunday.
https://www.history.com/news/why-is-election-day-a-tuesday-in-november

[Karl Henning]

According to this religion had an impact.  But it was the day of the week thst was involved: they were avoiding the need to travel on Sunday.
https://www.history.com/news/why-is-election-day-a-tuesday-in-november

Most interesting, thanks.

[arpeggio]

There is no way he can do that except by a coup. In other words, there is no way he can do that.

There are many of us who are afraid that even if he loses the election, Trump will claim there was election fraud or some other excuse to refuse to leave office.  He would have support of his hard core base which could be as high as 30% of the electorate.

A few of us are afraid this may lead to a civil war.

Hopefully this not true and we are being paranoid.

I also hope you are correct about the election but I would not be surprised if he tried to delay it as well, so put me on you list.

[Florestan]

There are many of us who are afraid that even if he loses the election, Trump will claim there was election fraud or some other excuse to refuse to leave office. 

By "many of us" do you mean "many of us GMGers" or "many of us US citizens"?

A few of us are afraid this may lead to a civil war.

Just how many?

Hopefully this not true and we are being paranoid.

You are being paranoid. You really are.

[MusicTurner]

Pure exaltation this morning:

"I tested very positively in another sense. I tested positively toward negative. I tested perfectly this morning, meaning I tested negative"

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/coronavirus-trump-test-positive-negative-answer-video

[SimonNZ]

Trump administration paying huge premium for mask-cleaning machines. Which don't do the job.
The president pressured the FDA to waive rules for mask-cleaning machines that ballooned to 10 times the original cost. But the process may damage the masks.

"It sounded like a great deal: The White House coronavirus task force would buy a defense company's new cleaning machines to allow critical protective masks to be reused up to 20 times. And at $60 million for 60 machines on April 3, the price was right.

But over just a few days, the potential cost to taxpayers exploded to $413 million, according to notes of a coronavirus task force meeting obtained by NBC News. By May 1, the Pentagon pegged the ceiling at $600 million in a justification for awarding the deal without an open bidding process or an actual contract. Even worse, scientists and nurses say the recycled masks treated by these machines begin to degrade after two or three treatments, not 20, and the company says its own recent field testing has only confirmed the integrity of the masks for four cycles of use and decontamination.

Nurses in several places across the country now say they are afraid of being at greater risk of acquiring COVID-19 while using N95 masks, which they say often don't fit correctly after just a few spins through a cleaning system that uses vapor phase hydrogen peroxide to disinfect them.

The nurses, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution from their employers or the government, said they believe the machines, which are made by the Battelle Memorial Institute and have been promoted by President Donald Trump, were rushed into service as a shortcut to acquiring and manufacturing protective equipment.

"It's a fairy tale," said one nurse in Connecticut who works at a hospital where masks are run through the Battelle decontamination system. "It's being done because we don't have the policies in place to do what needs to be done, and people are going to be hurt because of it."[...]


Trump's preferred construction firm lands $1.3 billion border wall contract, the biggest so far

"A North Dakota construction firm that has received backing from President Trump has now secured the largest border wall contract ever awarded, a $1.3 billion deal to build 42 miles of black-painted fencing through the rugged mountains of southern Arizona.

The company that won the contract, Fisher Sand and Gravel, has been repeatedly lauded by the president in White House meetings with border officials and military commanders, the result of a long and personalized marketing pitch to Trump and ardent supporters of his barrier project.

After its initial bids for border contracts were passed over, the company and its CEO, Tommy Fisher, cut a direct path to the president by praising him on cable news, donating to his Republican allies and cultivating ties to former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon, GOP Senate candidate Kris Kobach and other conservative figures in Trump's orbit.

Fisher's first and only other major border contract, for $400 million, is under review by the Defense Department inspector general after Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about improper White House influence on the procurement process. The inspector general's office confirmed Tuesday that the audit is ongoing."[...]


GOP fronts 'pro-Trump' doctors to prescribe rapid reopening

"Republican political operatives are recruiting "extremely pro-Trump" doctors to go on television to prescribe reviving the U.S. economy as quickly as possible, without waiting to meet safety benchmarks proposed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

The plan was discussed in a May 11 conference call with a senior staffer for the Trump reelection campaign organized by CNP Action, an affiliate of the GOP-aligned Council for National Policy. A leaked recording of the hourlong call was provided to The Associated Press by the Center for Media and Democracy, a progressive watchdog group.

CNP Action is part of the Save Our Country Coalition, an alliance of conservative think tanks and political committees formed in late April to end state lockdowns implemented in response to the pandemic. Other members of the coalition include the FreedomWorks Foundation, the American Legislative Exchange Council and Tea Party Patriots."[...]

[Mirror Image]

Pure exaltation this morning:

"I tested very positively in another sense. I tested positively toward negative. I tested perfectly this morning, meaning I tested negative"

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/coronavirus-trump-test-positive-negative-answer-video

[SimonNZ]

The Deep State and Left tried to impeach the president the moment he took office and you dare talk about a civil war?

The war has already begun, buddy, and we won't surrender or be silenced by the forces you represent.

"The Deep State"...

In the words of Steve Bannon himself after laying out his patented Deep State conspiracy to  an alt-right activist: "You know it's all bullshit, though. Right?"