US Politics

[Mark F]

2 hours ago, Tracker said:

Many

"many."

trumpspeak:

more than one person, including himself.

 

why did so many people who had a choice, hang out with this abysmal bore?

[bustamente]

Well everyone else is trying to re-write history

 

[Tracker]

Donald Trump's military coup didn't (quite) happen — but it was much closer than we knew

Ever more damning revelations about Donald Trump's regime began first as a trickle, then became a persistent leak, eventually a torrent and are now seemingly a tsunami.

For more than four years, many prominent public voices continued to deny that Trump led a neofascist movement that posed an existential threat to American democracy. Too many Americans, to protect themselves from trauma or to evade personal responsibility for their inaction or indifference or passivity, have also consistently denied the dangers of Trumpism.

Even after Trump's attempted coup and his followers' attack on the U.S. Capitol, public opinion polls suggest that tens of millions of Americans would prefer to throw the horrors of Trumpism and the events of that day down the memory well. 

That will not save them from the reality of what has happened, and is still happening, as Trumpism, the Jim Crow Republican Party and the white right escalate their assault on American democracy and freedom.

The proverbial flood waters are getting higher with each set of new "revelations" about the last days of the Trump regime.   

On Wednesday, CNN published excerpts from "I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year," the forthcoming book by Washington Post reporters Carol D. Leonnig and Philip Rucker. A lengthier excerpt followed in the Post on Thursday. CNN's explosive report focused on the possibility that Trump contemplated a military coup:

The top US military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley, was so shaken that then-President Donald Trump and his allies might attempt a coup or take other dangerous or illegal measures after the November election that Milley and other top officials informally planned for different ways to stop Trump, according to excerpts of an upcoming book obtained by CNN.

The book, from Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, describes how Milley and the other Joint Chiefs discussed a plan to resign, one-by-one, rather than carry out orders from Trump that they considered to be illegal, dangerous or ill-advised.

Donald Trump's military coup didn't (quite) happen — but it was much closer than we knew | Salon.com

"It was a kind of Saturday Night Massacre in reverse," Leonnig and Rucker write. ...

Milley felt "growing concerns," the report continues, that Trump had placed loyalists in positions of power after the November 2020 election, replacing both Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Attorney General William Barr. He feared these personnel moves "were the sign of something sinister to come":

[Mark F]

2 hours ago, Tracker said:

Donald Trump's military coup didn't (quite) happen — but it was much closer than we knew

and yet no significant response from Joe, Nancy, Chuck. nice speeches. no arm twisting, nothing.

reminds me so much of "make me do it" Obama. now a multi multimmillionaire for his non effort.

The Democrats are still getting a lot of leeway from the media. digby just writes about trump.how awful he was, is.

nothing about Biden inaction.

democracy being frittered away.

Edited July 16, 2021 by Mark F

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, Mark F said:

and yet no significant response from Joe, Nancy, Chuck. nice speeches. no arm twisting, nothing.

reminds me so much of "make me do it" Obama. now a multi multimmillionaire for his non effort. The Democrats are still getting a lot of leeway from the media. digby just writes about trump.how awful he was, is.  nothing about Biden inaction.

democracy being frittered away.

Its the "frog in a pot of water" scenario. If you drop a frog into a pot of hot water, it ill jump out immediately. If you put the frog into  pot of cool water and turn the heat up slowly, the frog will recalibrate again and again until it dies without jumping out.

[Mark F]

why do top Democrats think they will be physically safe under a facist dictatorship?

right wing have been conditioned for this for decades, the followers of the american fascists will have to be given some actual blood of Democrats.. 

ie. executions. 

Edited July 16, 2021 by Mark F

[HardCoreBlue]

54 minutes ago, Tracker said:

Its the "frog in a pot of water" scenario. If you drop a frog into a pot of hot water, it ill jump out immediately. If you put the frog into  pot of cool water and turn the heat up slowly, the frog will recalibrate again and again until it dies without jumping out.

My first conspiracy theory using your analogy as the frog being the democrats.

Maybe the frog isn't in the water, it's just a mirage. Maybe the frog is on the whole thing just with different motives/rewards than the republicans .

[Bigblue204]

Saw a few interesting tweets, one about how Delta is currently ripping through Conservative states...which is starting to make some Repubs condemn Vaccine Hesitancy (can't vote if your dead). And The other one I saw said every state is seeing a rise in cases, which hasn't happened since Jan.

[iHeart]

52 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

Saw a few interesting tweets, one about how Delta is currently ripping through Conservative states...which is starting to make some Repubs condemn Vaccine Hesitancy (can't vote if your dead). And The other one I saw said every state is seeing a rise in cases, which hasn't happened since Jan.

Maybe some politicians should be reminded that next time health care is brought up in congress or the senate again

[Tracker]

'Because they are evil': New book uncovers a post-election plot to bomb Iran
   
Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley was reportedly worried that Donald Trump might declare war on Iran as part of a last-ditch attempt to overturn his election loss, according to a New Yorker report on Thursday.

Miley was "engaged in an alarmed effort to ensure that Trump did not embark on a military conflict with Iran as part of his quixotic campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election and remain in power," journalist Susan B. Glasser wrote. "Trump had a circle of Iran hawks around him and was close with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu," she continued, "who was also urging the Administration to act against Iran after it was clear that Trump had lost the election."

The report stems from a forthcoming book by Glasser and her husband, New York Times reporter Peter Baker. It echoes bombshell allegations in another forthcoming book by two Washington Post reporters.

According to Glasser, the former president had floated the idea of engaging militarily with Iran on a number of occasions during his final months in the presidency. His proposals, the book's authors wrote, reflected Trump's seeming willingness "to do anything to stay in power."

During one meeting in which the president was not present, Milley pressed former Vice President Mike Pence on "why they were so intent on attacking [Iran]."

Pence reportedly answered: "Because they are evil."

'Because they are evil': New book uncovers a post-election plot to bomb Iran - Alternet.org

Prosecutors shocked as witness directly implicates Trump in "explosive interview": report

A witness directly implicated Donald Trump in the tax fraud scheme that landed his family business and longtime accountant under indictment.

Jennifer Weisselberg, the former daughter in law to indicted Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, told investigators last month in New York that Trump personally guaranteed he would pay school tuition for her two children instead of increasing a salary that could be taxed, reported The Daily Beast.

"Weisselberg [on June 25] provided key details for investigators," the website reported. "In January 2012, inside Trump's office at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, Jennifer Weisselberg watched as Trump discussed compensation with her husband and her father-in-law, both company employees. Her husband wouldn't be getting a raise, but their children would get their tuition paid for at a top-rated private academy instead."

"Weisselberg allegedly relayed to prosecutors that Trump turned to her and said: 'Don't worry, I've got it covered,'" the report added. "Prosecutors were astonished, according to one source."

Prosecutors shocked as witness directly implicates Trump in "explosive interview": report | Salon.com

[Tracker]

Trump's generals weren't the only ones: Did Mike Pence fear a coup too?  A new book alleges that Mike Pence refused to get in a car with Secret Service during the Capitol riot

Back in 2016, candidate Donald Trump made it very clear that as president he would not hesitate to order the military to torture prisoners. On March 3rd of that year, in a presidential primary debate, Fox News anchor Brett Baier noted that over 100 foreign policy experts had signed an open letter refusing to support him because his "expansive use of torture" is inexcusable, declaring that the military would refuse because they have been trained to refuse illegal orders.

Baier asked Trump, "so what would you do, as commander-in-chief, if the U.S. military refused to carry out those orders?"

"They won't refuse," Trump arrogantly replied. "They're not going to refuse me. Believe me."

He went on to rant about terrorists "chopping off heads" and how he would go beyond waterboarding, ending with this: " And -- and -- and -- I'm a leader. I'm a leader. I've always been a leader. I've never had any problem leading people. If I say do it, they're going to do it. That's what leadership is all about."

He walked back his comment the next day with a perfunctory statement promising not to give an illegal order but it was clear that he was utterly ignorant of the president's constitutional limits and saw himself as a would-be dictator. And throughout his presidency, he said over and over again that he had the power to do anything he chose, parroting what one of his flunkies told him about "Article II" of the constitution:

Nobody took him very seriously, to be sure, because it was ridiculous. And with the exception of regularly firing members of his administration, until the final year of his term, he tended to push the boundaries of his power mostly by breaking long-standing norms and corruptly abusing his office for political and financial gain which he did frequently. But as he faced re-election in the midst of the COVID pandemic, which he had no idea how to handle, and the humiliating prospect of losing re-election (along with the legal protections the office gave him) it's clear that the people around him started to get worried that he was going to use his very robust and clearly delineated powers as Commander in Chief for political purposes.

And it wasn't just Milley and brass who were paranoid about what was happening. In "I Alone Can Fix It" a chilling anecdote shows that Vice President Mike Pence was just as nervous.

On January 6th, his Secret Service detail wanted to drive him off the Capitol grounds and he refused saying to his top agent Tim Giebels, "I'm not getting in the car, Tim. I trust you, Tim, but you're not driving the car. If I get in that vehicle, you guys are taking off. I'm not getting in the car." The book goes on to describe the man in charge of the Secret Service's movements telling Pence's national security adviser, Gen. Keith Kellogg, they planned to move Pence to Joint Base Andrews. Kellogg told him not to do it saying, "he's got a job to do. I know you guys too well. You'll fly him to Alaska if you have a chance. Don't do it."

There are a number of ways to interpret that but MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace said on Thursday, "someone familiar with this reporting tells me that Pence feared a conspiracy. He feared that the Secret Service would aid Trump in his ultimate aims that day."

Trump's generals weren't the only ones: Did Mike Pence fear a coup too? | Salon.com

 

[Tracker]

Trump Says Gen. Mark Milley Should Be ‘Impeached’ Over Coup Fears

A heated Donald Trump said in a statement Friday that Gen. Mark Milley should be “impeached” if reports are true that Milley feared that the former president could have been plotting a coup to stay in the White House.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was worried about a “Reichstag moment” in America, referring to Adolf Hitler’s and the Nazis’ power grab in Germany, according to the forthcoming book “I Alone Can Fix It,” by Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker.

Trump and his supporters “may try, but they’re not going to f**king succeed,” Milley reportedly told his deputies. He vowed to military officers and law enforcement leaders before Joe Biden’s inauguration: “We’re going to put a ring of steel around this city and the Nazis aren’t getting in,” according to the book, which goes on sale Tuesday.

Trump called the report “fake news,” adding that if “‘General Milley’ ... said what was reported perhaps [he] should be impeached, or court-martialed and tried.”

Trump Says Gen. Mark Milley Should Be 'Impeached' Over Coup Fears | HuffPost

 

 

 

                                                  

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

It's funny, because it's true.

 

 

[HardCoreBlue]

28 minutes ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

It's funny, because it's true.

 

 

Best way I’ve seen them described: Carnival Barkers.

[Mark F]

re Manchin.

 

if in his case he is blocking reform for cash, just outbid the right wing.

 

the right wing billionaires like the koch, have ponied up.

where are the multi billionaires that care about democracy and the planet?

why dont they just outbid the fascists for manchins vote? why dont they just buy his coal business, its chicken feed to them.

conclusion: There are no democracy and planet loving billionaires. any of them saying otherwise are full of it.

 

Edited July 17, 2021 by Mark F

[Tracker]

3 minutes ago, Mark F said:

re Manchin.

 

if in his case he is blocking reform for cash, just outbid the right wing. the right wing billionaires like the Koch, have ponied up.

where are the multi billionaires that care about democracy and the planet?  why don't they just outbid the fascists for Manchin's vote?

conclusion: There are no democracy and planet loving billionaires. any of them saying otherwise are full of it.

 

Apparently the Manchin family is heavily invested in the coal industry to the tune of $145 million. Those people who are getting bent about the Trudeau family receiving honoraria for speaking at events should think about that. More than one billionaire and even evangelicals have said that  democracy is incompatible with their goals.

[TrueBlue4ever]

4 hours ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

It's funny, because it's true.

 

 

Don’t know if I saw it here or elsewhere on Twitter, but a very accurate comment on the state of the GOP is “they have a big problem with people going door-to-door to promote vaccines, but have no problem going door-to-door to demand to know how you voted in the last election” in an effort to find voter fraud. 

[the watcher]

On 2021-07-17 at 12:26 PM, Tracker said:

Apparently the Manchin family is heavily invested in the coal industry to the tune of $145 million. Those people who are getting bent about the Trudeau family receiving honoraria for speaking at events should think about that. More than one billionaire and even evangelicals have said that  democracy is incompatible with their goals.

That's still no excuse for what Trudeau tried to do. His family had received around $ 300,000 for speaking at those events. That " charity " was about to be handed the reins on a program that involved up to $ 90 million if I recall right. The  " charity " was set up so the 2 brother's couldn't be held accountable for mis- deeds yet still controlled it . They live a high end life due to that " charity ".When called before parliamentary committee like many charities have been they promptly closed up shop in Canada. THATS why people ( obviously including me) got bent.  It blows my mind that the government survived that.  They are huge beneficiaries of an inept opposition.

[the watcher]

A good article summing up the swing to the  Far Right at state levels from the Guardian. 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/19/joe-biden-republicans-polarization-us-politics-texas

 

[Tracker]

Trump says his only regret as President was not deploying military to attack BLM protestors
   
Donald Trump, the twice-impeached, one-term Republican president who lost the popular vote twice and the Electoral College once says he has but a single regret for his time as Commander in Chief: not deploying the U.S. Military to attack Black Lives Matter protestors during the summer of 2020 – an act that at the very least would have been met with massive resistance nationwide and some say would have violated the Constitution.

In a lengthy excerpt published at Vanity Fair from their new book, "I Alone Can Fix It," Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker focus on their hours-long interview with the former president at Mar-a-Lago, just 70 days after Joe Biden was sworn in as president.

"I think it would be hard if George Washington came back from the dead and he chose Abraham Lincoln as his vice president, I think it would have been very hard for them to beat me," Trump told the two Washington Post reporters."I think it would be hard if George Washington came back from the dead and he chose Abraham Lincoln as his vice president, I think it would have been very hard for them to beat me."

That was just one of the astonishing remarks Trump made during the interview – an interview he agreed to, knowingly, for the book.

"Over the years," Leonnig and Rucker write, "Trump rarely has expressed misgivings. But he regrets his response to protests last summer in Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, and other cities. 'I think if I had it to do again, I would have brought in the military immediately,' he said."

Trump says his only regret as President was not deploying military to attack BLM protestors - Alternet.org

The fake Arizona "audit" is confusing, idiotic, and endless — which means it's working as intended
Trump and his allies are building the foundation for the 2024 coup effort by sowing more confusion about voting now

The first thing to know about the fake Arizona vote "audit" that was the subject of an equally fake state senate "hearing" last Thursday: It's nearly impossible to follow what the hell is happening.

A lot of wild claims about voting "irregularities" are being flung about, and so are the fact checks, in a dizzying array of information that will cause even the most avid QAnoner's eyes to glaze over. Over the weekend, Donald Trump put out three separate statements full of so many false claims about the "audit," that it's nearly impossible to keep track of and debunk every lie. Associated Press reporters must surely be commended for their efforts in doing so. 

The second thing to know about the fake audit is that everything about it is pure theater. It is agitprop meant to create the illusion of information-gathering while the people involved are doing everything in their power to distort reality.

Take for instance Doug Logan, a conspiracy theorist masquerading as a security "expert," whose firm, Cyber Ninjas, is running the fake audit. He pretended to testify last week about the so-called audit in an environment done up to look like a senate hearing. In reality, as the Arizona Republic reported, "it was not a hearing of any committee," and no one was allowed to ask questions but Arizona Senate President Karen Fann and Sen. Warren Peterson, two Republicans who have been involved in propping up this fake audit from day one. 

The third thing to know is that, even though the "audit" was supposed to be wrapped two months ago, it's quite clear now that it will be dragged out for a long time, and may never really be concluded.

Logan has a pre-existing conclusion — that the election was "stolen" from Trump — and so Logan wants to keep digging even though he is yet have turned up any real evidence, because it didn't happen. He is now asking if his "auditors" can go door to door, using "canvassing" as cover for what is obviously going to be a racialized harassment campaign against Arizona voters. 

The fake Arizona "audit" is confusing, idiotic, and endless — which means it's working as intended | Salon.com

[Mark F]

5 hours ago, Tracker said:

I think it would be hard if George Washington came back from the dead and he chose Abraham Lincoln as his vice president, I think it would have been very hard for them to beat me," Trump told the two Washington Post reporters."I think it would be hard if George Washington came back from the dead and he chose Abraham Lincoln as his vice president, I think it would have been very hard for them to beat me."

this is what the cretin thinks about.

good god.

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

****... finally,

 

 

Sad that it took a private corporation and not ... congress or the electorate to hold her accountable for the **** that spews from her bullshit hole.

[Mark F]

edit

Edited July 20, 2021 by Mark F

[iHeart]

7 hours ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

****... finally,

 

 

Sad that it took a private corporation and not ... congress or the electorate to hold her accountable for the **** that spews from her bullshit hole.

ah peace and quiet

[Mark F]

dont know how to post tweets this is an eight year old talking about her response to her SECOND shooting incident.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Mark F