Trump

[Dhi]

Definitely. That happens with each new administration . Trump took it a stumble further when he took office by firing permanent staff like janitorial, cooks, and landscaping because he's a petulant boy king. Even under normal circumstances, the purview of the executive branch is to appoint leadership to pursue their policy goals.

I expect a lot of these people to return to work late January, and I expect to see recompense for professionals of caliber like Vindman; like Fauci who is certain to be "fired;" like FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe who was terminated one day before his retirement.

[Beguile's Mistress]

As states press forward with vote counts, Trump advisers privately express pessimism about heading off Biden’s win.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-challenges-state-count/2020/11/10/45148fac-2378-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html?utm_content=sharelink&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_drop_me_the_link

If any of those Republicans cared about this country they would pull up their big girl panties and get the transition under way. 

[Callie Del Noire]

As states press forward with vote counts, Trump advisers privately express pessimism about heading off Biden’s win.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-challenges-state-count/2020/11/10/45148fac-2378-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html?utm_content=sharelink&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_drop_me_the_link

If any of those Republicans cared about this country they would pull up their big girl panties and get the transition under way.

Thing is.... they have a man in place who gives them what they want, with no idea of the cost..or caring what it will do. Or that the minute they can they WILL stick this on him the moment they can.

[Andol]

I personally just want these lawsuits and investigations or whatever panned out, so we don't have to deal with another four years of one side saying the election was stolen. The whole concept of this happening only further damages any trust that exist in the election process. Plus it gets very annoying. 

[Sara Nilsson]

Pretty sure God could come down and say it was a legit election and they would still argue.

[Beguile's Mistress]

Pretty sure God could come down and say it was a legit election and they would still argue.

+1 

We live in a country where election oversight is pretty strong so we don't see where there is any benefit in challenging the process.  However, letting these challenges work through the courts is a good thing if only to show it could be done if necessary.  Let's say one party in one county in one state had been able to control the outcome fraudulently.  We need the option to challenge that result if we have proof.  So far no proof that I can see is showing up for 2020.  Sooner or later all the challenges and law suits will be thrown out and the Republicans and 45 will have to concede or do something else to entertain us.

[Dhi]

another four years of one side saying the election was stolen

Please elaborate.

[Andol]

Pretty sure God could come down and say it was a legit election and they would still argue.

You are not wrong when it comes to what we have seen from the fringe types. I guess I was just more speaking from either people I know, or a few articles I read interview middle of the road conservatives that talked about they wanted to see the process handled through. Though yes at this point it is getting obvious that any of Trump's lawsuits are going to be thrown out.

Also from what I see it looks like a lot of Republicans are throwing Trump under the proverbal bus. Not so much by what they are saying, but by just not touching the dumpster fire he is making going out the door with a ten foot pole.

Please elaborate.

Eh... I have to admit I am not the best at this, but I will try. I simply meant the fact that the last four years felt like the side that lost tried a lot of things to say they didn't, especially with the whole Russia gate thing.

 

[Sara Nilsson]

Thing is, the russia gate thing as you called it was correct. He was impeached for it and the report did state that he had colluded. The republicans just said.. meh we don't want to kick him out for it. But he was guilty, so not quite the same thing :)

[CrownedSun]

Eh... I have to admit I am not the best at this, but I will try. I simply meant the fact that the last four years felt like the side that lost tried a lot of things to say they didn't, especially with the whole Russia gate thing.

You're definitely not wrong; the Democrats especially took any excuse they could get their hands on to not have to fundamentally look at their party.

That said, there's a big difference between Russian influence on an election and just completely overturning the results of an election. I don't think anyone seriously suggested that Trump was an illegitimate leader, just that he benefited from some outside help to get elected but in the end he won the votes that he needed in the EC four years ago. The closest you came was some people suggesting that the EC wasn't really a good barometer for picking a president,-- which honestly, IMHO, is true,- rather than suggesting that he wasn't the president according to the laws of the lands.

[CrownedSun]

Thing is, the russia gate thing as you called it was correct. He was impeached for it and the report did state that he had colluded. The republicans just said.. meh we don't want to kick him out for it. But he was guilty, so not quite the same thing :)

This too, of course, it amazes me how many people-- even Democrats,- legitimately believe that "Russiagate" was a scam.

All because Trump stood up and said, "See, I was totally exonerated" by a document that did nothing of the sort.

[Bibliophilia]

I think a lot of people equate impeachment with being ousted from the presidency, and thus since he didn't get booted, think he must have been innocent.

[CrownedSun]

I think a lot of people equate impeachment with being ousted from the presidency, and thus since he didn't get booted, think he must have been innocent.

Which was an entirely different procedure over an entirely different charge.

Which he ALSO did and which was also very very illegal.



But, you're definitely not wrong.

[Bibliophilia]

One thing Trump does know how to do is lie with confidence, and shirk responsibility shamelessly.  Most people find it difficult to believe that anyone could do either of those things as openly and blatantly as he has done the entire time he's been in the public eye.  Ever since his nomination, he's never changed the narrative, it's never his fault, he never does anything wrong and he effortlessly prevaricates and abandons anyone and any plotline that proves faithless or fruitless.

Most people are not capable of that level of gall, and so they find it hard to believe that anyone could be.  So, instead, they convince themselves that there must be some truth to what he says.

[Regina Minx]

One thing Trump does know how to do is lie with confidence...

I have to disagree with you slightly. Of all the books adn articles I've read that I think have helped me understand the man, is a short book called "On Bullshit", wherein Princeton philosophy professor Harry Frankfurt attempted to ontologically classify bullshit. And the distinction he ended up making was that a liar has to, at some, level, recognize and care about truth, even if they're not saying it, because their goal is to persuade someone that something untrue is true. In order to persuade someone to believe a lie, you have to understand the truth well enough to convince someone of an untruth.

Bullshit, on the other hand, is what results when people don't care about what is true or false, which makes it a lot more dangerous than a lie. And Trump is an inveterate bullshitter. I doubt in many cases he even recognizes the difference between truth and falsity any more. He simply says what he says, and then either expects the world to accommodate him, or he throws a tantrum and moves on to some other bit of bullshit.

[TheHangedOne]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/11/11/lino-lakes-trump-supporter-golf-club-attack-charges/

Self-declared Trump supporter, in the day after the election, got upset by a Biden sign. Like any rational person, he decided to deal with his anger in a constr--oh, sorry. Like a homicidal maniac, he decides to take out his anger by beating an elderly couple. And the police that responded, too.

[Skynet]

So this isn't one article or story, but rather a group of related ones that hint to the decline of the Republican Party as a whole. For a while now, the Lincoln Project were the self-declared vanguard of Never Trump Republicans. Their ads were praised as hard-hitting, and even had accolades in liberal spaces in spite of the fact that many of its members helped strengthen previous administrations which did a lot of harm towards the very same groups that the Trump administration's hurting.

But as of November 4th, their project of weaning off Republicans from Trump is more or less a failure. In terms of numbers they are politically negligible, with not even 10 red electoral districts turning blue. Furthermore, a Gallup poll examining Trump's approval rating found that 95% of Republicans approved of him during the time period of October 27th to 30th, 2020. This is in comparison to 41% of Independents and 3% of Democrats.

Fox News and certain Republicans such as Ted Cruz are doing their part to distance themselves from Trump now. But all in all, this is cowardice and opportunism, given that this was done only during election nights when the tide began to turn in the electoral college. 70 million Americans still saw fit to vote for Trump, and there's likely many more; the under-18s who have Trump-loving family members and social circles, and the convicted felons who'd want to vote for him but cannot. Trumpism is still a strong political force in American politics, and will be for a while.

Some time earlier this year, a little over half of Republicans in a YouGov poll (which used a nationwide sample of 1.5 thousand people) would refuse a COVID vaccine if it became available.

Even the conservative Washington Times reported that around half of polled Republicans, also in a YouGov/Economist survey back in 2016, believed that there's some truth to the Pizzagate scandal.

Huge swathes of the country believe that a secret cabal of liberal Satanist cannibal pedophiles are drinking the blood of children to stay immortal. An equally huge swath believe that a pandemic that has killed nearly a quarter million people in their own country does not even exist, or if it does is not a big deal. Any talk of reuniting with these advocates or rehabilitating their behavior is dangerous, for it risks moving society in a more hateful, anti-science direction.

[Haibane]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/11/11/lino-lakes-trump-supporter-golf-club-attack-charges/

Self-declared Trump supporter, in the day after the election, got upset by a Biden sign. Like any rational person, he decided to deal with his anger in a constr--oh, sorry. Like a homicidal maniac, he decides to take out his anger by beating an elderly couple. And the police that responded, too.

That link is behind a paywall unfortunately. Would like to read the story though.

[Haibane]

Found another account of the incident here

https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/11/12/complaint-self-professed-trump-supporter-attacked-elderly-couple-over-joe-biden-yard-sign/

[Callie Del Noire]

Found another account of the incident here

https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/11/12/complaint-self-professed-trump-supporter-attacked-elderly-couple-over-joe-biden-yard-sign/

Wow..another one of the Presidents 'perfectly good people'. Nice to see fascism is out and in the open these days.. I truly hope he gets more than a slap on the wrist.

[Haibane]

According to the law he could get 15 years. I hope so.

Just imagine how that would have played out of he'd chosen a gun instead of a golf club.

[Haibane]

Trump asking for Republicans to pay off his debts...

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/nov/10/donald-trump-election-fund-debt

The Guardian writer who penned this piece has a sense of humour that appeals to me.

[Sara Nilsson]

https://twitter.com/DavidCornDC/status/1326903719208906755?s=19

Apparently Pence is sending out messages labeled "update on the election" but when you open it, it is just begging for money. No info at all.

So yeah looks like they are broke.

[Lexandria]

https://bypass.theweek.com/speedreads-amp/949542/trump-reportedly-aware-lost-election-but-putting-fight-theater?__twitter_impression=true

This sounds about right.

[Haibane]

It sounds bloody criminal. If true that's more than sick and twisted. I hope the law comes down on the stupid bastard like several tons of bricks. Idiot.