Lets see if we can keep this thread a little more civil.

I found this interview very interesting.  A lot of soft balls thrown at Trump, he explained his back pedalling on his more extreme issues as a lot of his claims as opening bids for negotiation purposes.  Which .. whatever .. I still think that those are insincere claims he used to get elected.

He does now come across way more presidential then he did prior to the election.  A lot of his noise, yelling, and rhetoric has been scaled back.

Do respect this one though:

Quote

 

Lesley Stahl: Are you gonna take the salary, the president’s salary?

Donald Trump: Well, I’ve never commented on this, but the answer is no. I think I have to by law take $1, so I’ll take $1 a year. But it’s a -- I don’t even know what it is.

Donald Trump: Do you know what the salary is?

Lesley Stahl: $400,000 you’re giving up.

Donald Trump: No, I’m not gonna take the salary. I’m not taking it.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-donald-trump-family-melania-ivanka-lesley-stahl/

Alabama town declares COVID state of emergency ahead of Trump's upcoming rally
   
As former President Donald Trump prepares to visit Cullman, Ala., for an upcoming Republican rally on Saturday, the city has declared a health-related state of emergency due to the resurgence of COVID-19.

Due to the recent resurgence of COVID, Alabama is struggling to mitigate the spread of the virus as hospital systems face bed shortages due to increases in the hospitalizations of COVID patients. Speaking to AL.com, Luke Satterfield, an attorney for the city of Cullman, recently spoke out about the steps the city is taking to prevent more strain on the state's hospital systems.

"We want to prevent as many non-Covid related things as possible, so our hospital can use its resources to focus on the pandemic and its variants," Satterfield said. "We don't want to put any extra strain on them."

The announcement comes after Alabama's COVID report on Wednesday, August 18. The state reported 3,890 new COVID-19 cases and now has a seven-day fluctuating average of approximately 3,000 new cases, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) COVID data tracking system.

Despite the alarming rise in COVID cases in the area, NBC News 15 reports that thousands of individuals are expected to attend the rally. "We think the hotels are going to be booked out and we think this is going to be something, people are going to come from all over the state," said Waid Harbison, Former Chair of the Cullman County Republican Party.

Harbison went on to note that those planning to attend understand the risk, as well.

Alabama town declares COVID state of emergency ahead of Trump's upcoming rally - Alternet.org

New proof that Trump's Capitol riot is still a big danger
   
Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) circulated a memo warning that Donald Trump and his allies were stoking the threat of domestic terrorism by hyping the Big Lie. Trump was holding rallies earlier in the summer to keep his followers riled up with false claims that he is the "real" winner of the 2020 election and President Joe Biden only won through "fraud." He also spent the summer hyping a fake "audit" of the votes in Arizona. Meanwhile, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who has found a second career spending all of his money on being a fascist propagandist, was pushing the idea that he has his hands on some shocking evidence that would lead to Trump being "reinstated" as president on August 13. Both claims have gone up in smoke, but they nonetheless served their main purpose: feeding anger and frustration to the hardcore Trump base. That rage then has to go somewhere, which is why DHS was concerned.

"Some conspiracy theories associated with reinstating former President Trump have included calls for violence if desired outcomes are not realized," the memo noted. Indeed, it's hard to imagine that Trump and his allies are envisioning anything less. After all, part of Trump's schtick these past few months has been to rewrite the failed insurrection he incited on January 6 as a noble act of patriotism and to paint the people who were arrested or even killed for their part as martyrs for the Trumpist cause. There's no reason to do that other than wanting to see more of the same.

Well, unsurprisingly, Trump just got his not-so-secret wish.

On Thursday, 49-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry of Grover, North Carolina was arrested in Washington D.C. after making threats of a bombing that resulted in a five-hour standoff with police. As the Washington Post reports, during the standoff, "Roseberry delivered a tirade over a Facebook live video in which he assailed Biden and other Democrats, called for a revolt against the federal government and claimed there were other 'patriots' waiting in vehicles elsewhere in D.C."

"The revolution is on, it's here, it's today," he declared.

There's ample proof, of course, that Roseberry is a Trump enthusiast whose social media feed featured posts of him participating in "stop the steal" nonsense. He also posted videos about the Lindell-and-Trump-driven conspiracy theory that Trump was going to be "reinstated." But one hardly needs all this evidence because anyone arguing in good faith already knows what's going on here. Just as DHS warned, Trump and his allies have been encouraging violence all summer by hyping the Big Lie. Of course one of their followers heeded the call.

As Chauncey DeVega has explained at Salon, this is a strategy known as "stochastic terrorism." Propagandists stir up outrage and drop heavy hints with the hopes that followers will read between the lines and choose violence. Trump is a natural at this sort of thing, as expressing his wishes through implication is how he does business. "He doesn't give you questions. He doesn't give you orders," Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen explained in his 2019 House testimony. "He speaks in code." Trump communicates, in other words, like a mob boss and has admitted that, "I did not make a statement that, 'You have to do this or I'm not going to give you A.' I wouldn't do that."

To be clear, Trump's code isn't subtle. Holding out the dead Capitol insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt as a martyr and stating that the goals of the insurrectionists were good is about skirting, but not crossing, the line of openly calling for more terroristic violence to avoid criminal exposure for incitement. But keep up that patter of "woe to the noble insurrectionists" and "their cause is just" long enough and more people will pick up what is being put down.

New proof that Trump's Capitol riot is still a big danger - Alternet.org

Add a couple of Blackhawk helicopters that the American's left in the Taliban gift bag

17 minutes ago, bustamente said:

Add a couple of Blackhawk helicopters that the American's left in the Taliban gift bag

Plus a whole armory of stuff that ought to serve the Taliban well in Iraq, which will be the next stop in their tour.

Jaw-dropping scandal leaves Minnesota GOP 'in ruins'
   
Just months after suffering an upsetting loss during the 2020 presidential election, Minnesota Republicans are now left reeling as a result of the latest loss.

On Thursday, August 19, Jennifer Carnahan, wife of Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.) and embattled chair of the Minnesota Republican Party, submitted her resignation, adding more insult to injury for the ailing political party.

To make matters worse, Carnahan is also "accused by party officials and former staffers of running a toxic, retaliatory workplace, mismanaging party finances and, through the use of non-disclosure agreements, squashing transparency."

Her resignation came just days after Republican donor Anton "Tony" Lazzaro was hit with an indictment of federal sex trafficking charges. Gisela Castro Medina, chairwoman of the University of St. Thomas College Republicans, was also arrested in connection with Lazzaro's scheme as she was accused of assisting him in the sex trafficking of minors.

The publication reports that the accusations against Carnahan and her alleged affiliation with Lazzaro likely contributed to her abrupt departure from the political party. Now, some members of the party are speaking out about the latest scandal and its impact on the political party.

"The party is in ruins," said Michael Brodkorb, former deputy chair of Minnesota's Republican Party. He added, "I don't know if the party has hit rock bottom yet."

Jaw-dropping scandal leaves Minnesota GOP 'in ruins' - Alternet.org

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/22/larry-elder-california-governor-recall-election

 American electoral systems border on inane. It's hard to believe he has a legit shot at becoming Govenor of California of all places. He's more Trumpish than Trump.

23 hours ago, Tracker said:

The party is in ruins," said Michael Brodkorb, former deputy chair of Minnesota's Republican Party. He added, "I don't know if the party has hit rock bottom yet."

Jaw-dropping scandal leaves Minnesota GOP 'in ruins' - Alternet.org

pizza parlours! benghazzi!

 

attack where you are weakest. republican essential technique.

Just in case any one was worried straight jacket pillow guy has told the brainless that Trump will be reinstated by the end of 2021, being brain dead the minions will not question this

Edited August 23, 20214 yr by bustamente

The peace-loving right were attacked yesterday by a handicap van. 

 

Nah, just kidding. Just the usual right wing news lying. 

1 hour ago, JCon said:

Nah, just kidding. Just the usual right wing news lying. 

Speaking of...

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/national-international/proud-boys-leader-sentenced-to-over-5-months-for-burning-black-lives-matter-banner/2677859

11 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Speaking of...

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/national-international/proud-boys-leader-sentenced-to-over-5-months-for-burning-black-lives-matter-banner/2677859

Got off cheap. All of these should be given the max as this was not a harmless prank.

Why is it that every time there is "leftist" violence, we find out it was actually the right? I wonder. 

GOP congressman denounces Speaker Pelosi with a Nazi slur
   
It was barely months ago the U.S. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) promised she finally understood how using Nazi and Holocaust references are "offensive," and can hurt and cause great pain to whole groups of people, and vowed to not do it again. Until she did, three weeks later.

She apparently still hasn't learned her lesson.

On Monday U.S. Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX), a far right anti-LGBTQ extremist who has a history of using Nazi references, doubled down and repeatedly called the Speaker of the House the "Gestapelosi," a contrived word referencing Adolf Hitler's deadly, secret police force, known as the Gestapo.

Congressman Weber falsely blamed Speaker Pelosi for the mask mandate in the House, a mandate caused primarily by the lack of Republicans – across the country and in the halls of Congress – being vaccinated. But the Speaker did not order the mask mandate, a rule to help keep everyone safe from coronavirus, the Attending Physician of the United States Congress did. in observance of the CDC's rules, something Congressman Weber knows.

GOP congressman denounces Speaker Pelosi with a Nazi slur - Alternet.org

 

NSFW

 

How a 'wild-eyed' legal theory could bring a 'death blow to the republic': law professor
   
When President Joe Biden was sworn into office on January 20, the former president/ex-U.S. senator inherited the most right-wing U.S. Supreme Court in generations — one in which only three of the nine justices were appointed by Democratic presidents. Legal expert and law professor Harry Litman, in an op-ed published by the Los Angeles Times on August 24, explains why he fears that the High Court may interfere with democratic election results at some point in the future.

Litman, a former U.S. attorney, argues, "The truth is, the biggest threat to American democracy isn't a military coup…. The more probable danger is much less dramatic and much more terrifying: a horrible decision from the final arbiter of our constitutional system — the Supreme Court of the United States. A constitutional theory is gaining ground at the Court that could theoretically have awarded the 2020 election to Donald Trump, despite his having been swamped at the polls."

Litman continues, "Its basis is an obscure and muddled argument that first surfaced when the Supreme Court stepped into the George W. Bush-Al Gore 2000 presidential contest and stopped a state court-ordered recount in Florida. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, straining to explain why the U.S. Supreme Court should meddle in the matter, seized on Article I, Section 4 and Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution, which specify that state legislatures may establish rules for the 'Manner' in which federal elections are conducted — unless Congress sets a contradictory national rule."

How a 'wild-eyed' legal theory could bring a 'death blow to the republic': law professor - Alternet.org

not sure I understand it, but I think this is a very big positive step, Pelosi has carried ou

• Pelosi Runs Over Right-Wing Dems as House Approves $3.5 Trillion Budget Blueprint.

  https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/08/24/pelosi-runs-over-right-wing-dems-house-approves-35-trillion-budget-blueprint

   
  This is the bill that contains much action on climate heating amongst other things. I have a long list I read this am.
   
  here on Vancouver island, home of rainforests, it has rained once in four months. dry as a crisp, and fire danger extreme.
  salmon are gathering to spawn on streams which do not exist due to lack of rain

 

 

a raging out of control forest fire is approaching legendary Lake Tahoe community. many multi million dollar homes and wealthy people there.

 

that might be an attention grabber for the upper crust.

Edited August 24, 20214 yr by Mark F

 

The real reason unvaccinated Americans are dying in hospital beds and claiming they love 'freedom'
 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new report showing the dominant delta variant of the coronavirus is now making vaccines against catching it less effective. Before delta, they were 91 percent effective. After delta, they are 66 percent effective. The United Kingdom and Israel have reported similar findings. Vaccines are still preventative, the CDC said, and booster shots were already in the works. The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to sign off on a booster campaign set to begin Sept. 20, according to Bloomberg.

The people Stockton and King interview, including the white men literally dying in hospital beds, do not fear losing their freedoms. That it is a put-on. They're hiding what they truly fear, which is humiliation. Authoritarian-minded people — which is to say, those who determine politics in southern states — live in daily fear of being humiliated. By what? You name it. Living in a diverse, democratic and capitalist republic offers opportunities aplenty to be humiliated for those who identify strongly with top-down social control. Anything threatening that threatens them. Since the pandemic started as "a hoax," it is a hoax. Buh Gawd, they'll die before being wrong. And they do.

Stockton and King don't have the insight necessary for seeing what they truly fear, but they do something I haven't seen from other members of the pundit corps. They take "fearing the loss of their freedoms" and superimpose the claims over images of imminent death, as if to suggest that freedom to die from the covid is no freedom at all. At one point the narrator says: "This is what freedom looks like in America today." I have never seen a simpler and more powerful way of rejecting GOP bad faith. It's something we all of us need to see more.

The real reason unvaccinated Americans are dying in hospital beds and claiming they love 'freedom' - Alternet.org

                                

'Smoking gun' evidence shows Trump made illegal donation to Florida attorney general's campaign
-Getty
   
Newly revealed records show Donald Trump likely broke the law by issuing a campaign donation to the Florida attorney general investigating his fraudulent university.

The Trump Foundation issued a $25,000 check in 2013 personally signed by the real estate mogul and reality TV star to a political action committee associated with Pam Bondi's re-election campaign, and The Daily Beast obtained new records that dispute Trump Organization denials made when the donation became an issue during the 2016 campaign.

"It kind of blows up their whole story," said Jordan Libowitz, communications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "The Trump Organization staffers knew they were making this political donation. There are no questions about it. There is no ambiguity."

Trump Flips Out at House Committee After It Requests Secret Capitol Riot Documents
-Reuters
Former president Donald Trump has threatened to use presidential powers, despite no longer being president. On Wednesday, he said he would invoke executive privilege to block the House Select Committee from investigating documents containing communications tied to the Capitol riots. “Executive privilege will be defended, not just on behalf of my Administration and the Patriots who worked beside me, but on behalf of the Office of the President of the United States and the future of our Nation,” the ex-president said in a statement. Trump’s successor Joe Biden will have the final say over whether the information can be shared, and the Biden administration has said it won’t stand in the way of the committee’s investigation. CNN reports that the documents Trump is trying to block include records from the Departments of Justice, Interior and Defense as well as the National Archives, which host Trump’s records while in office. In his angry statement, Trump also called the committee “a partisan sham and a waste of taxpayer dollars.”

FAAFO?

 

 

 

 

Yeah, people opining about things they really don't understand...

41 minutes ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

FAAFO?

 

 

 

 

Yeah, people opining about things they really don't understand...

Uninformed, ignorant opinion is what makes social media such a cesspool at times.

4 hours ago, Tracker said:

partisan sham and a waste of taxpayer dollars.”

and he should know. He is a world class expert in both of those things. 

 

also. one of the right wing terrorists who made detailed plans to kidnap, rape, and murder Gretchen Witmer, gov. of Michigan, just pleased guilty, and got six years.

this is lenient, due to his turning state witness against the other right wing terrorists.

they are facing Life ....no parole.

probably all super secret Left wing terrorists in disguise to discredit the right!

 

 

Edited August 26, 20214 yr by Mark F

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/26/us-officials-provided-taliban-with-names-of-americans-afghan-allies-to-evacuate-506957

Edited August 26, 20214 yr by FrostyWinnipeg

According to today's Washington Post, the most recent accounting of the 20 year war in Afghanistan reveals a cost to date of 2.3 Trillion dollars- that's 2.300 BILLION dollars. folks.

And in other US News, it appears that the FBI has been under-reporting the degree of conspiracy of the January 6th insurrection out of sympathy for Trump.

Is the FBI telling us the truth about the Jan. 6 coup attempt? Because it doesn't feel that way.  Reports from FBI and DHS suggest a dangerous rift in law enforcement over the Jan. 6 coup plot. We need the truth

The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by Donald Trump's followers is the most documented crime scene in history.  On that day, Trump and his agents attempted to overthrow American democracy. We now know his conspiracy to nullify the results of the 2020 election was well underway. 

The world watched as Trump's attack force, possessed by white rage and Christian nationalist fervor, and fueled by a willingness to kill and die for Trump in the name of "patriotism," viciously attacked police who were protecting the Capitol and the people inside. A core group of Trump's attack force acted with military precision as they breached the Capitol building's defenses.  

Once inside, Trump's attack force continued to battle with police while running amok and chanting "Hang Mike Pence!" Some of Trump's followers hunted for Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats and Republicans deemed to be "traitors," with the apparent goal of capturing and then executing them.

A potentially functional gallows was assembled in a park across the street from the Capitol. Homemade bombs and a cache of firearms were also found in a vehicle parked nearby outside. Trump's attack force was armed with an assortment of lethal weapons.

During the battle, a Capitol police officer was forced to shoot and kill one of Trump's political cultists. An internal investigation has exonerated the officer for his actions, noting that he

potentially saved Members [of Congress] and staff from serious injury and possible death from a large crowd of rioters who forced their way into the U.S. Capitol and to the House Chamber where Members and staff were steps away. USCP Officers had barricaded the Speaker's Lobby with furniture before a rioter shattered the glass door. If the doors were breached, the rioters would have immediate access to the House Chambers. The officer's actions were consistent with the officer's training and USCP policies and procedures.

A total disaster and mass casualty event was averted largely thanks to luck and the quick thinking and courage of the Capitol Police and other law enforcement agents. Otherwise, it's entirely possible that members of Congress would have been killed or seriously injured by Trump's attackers, potentially making a quorum impossible for the vote to certify Joe Biden's electoral victory. Trump could then have declared a national emergency, imposed martial law and remained in power for an indefinite period.

Hundreds of people who were part of Trump's attack force have been arrested by the FBI. Most will not face serious charges such as criminal conspiracy or sedition. Most important, Trump and his high-level confederates have not been arrested or charged with any crime. The Trump-controlled Republican Party and larger neofascist movement are instigating even more political violence and acts of right-wing terrorism. The coup attempt continues.

Yet, despite all of the public and other evidence about the events of Jan. 6, the FBI is now suggesting it was all something "spontaneous," not coordinated as part of a larger plot to overthrow American democracy. It almost seems the FBI is now following Donald Trump's Orwellian command not to believe your lying eyes. As Reuters reports:

The FBI has found scant evidence that the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was the result of an organized plot to overturn the presidential election result, according to four current and former law enforcement officials.

Though federal officials have arrested more than 570 alleged participants, the FBI at this point believes the violence was not centrally coordinated by far-right groups or prominent supporters of then-President Donald Trump, according to the sources, who have been either directly involved in or briefed regularly on the wide-ranging investigations.

"Ninety to ninety-five percent of these are one-off cases," said a former senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation. "Then you have five percent, maybe, of these militia groups that were more closely organized. But there was no grand scheme with Roger Stone and Alex Jones and all of these people to storm the Capitol and take hostages."

FBI investigators have reportedly found that "cells of protesters, including followers of the far-right Oath Keepers and Proud Boys groups, had aimed to break into the Capitol," the report continues, but have found no evidence "that the groups had serious plans about what to do if they made it inside."

These findings strain credulity and must be viewed with suspicion. Who are these four "unnamed sources?" Are they Trump loyalists? Who was involved in completing this new FBI report?

Is the FBI telling us the truth about the Jan. 6 coup attempt? Because it doesn't feel that way | Salon.com