USA elections 2020 - 2021

[Cyclops]

So at 1:24 a man in a golf cart mocks protestors by saying “You got it mate, white power, white power!” after the protestor calls them a Nazi and shouts, “Where’s your white hat! Where’s your white hat!”

Right so its a nasty thing to say at this point. I expect if the Labour or Conservative leader in Britain did it they'd be under pressure to resign at once? Sure would here.

It’s poor PR, but it’s not a racist rant, and there’s nothing else objectionable in the video, unless you consider a woman shouting “ Trump objectionable.

That's very objectionable, US politics has a very low tone. I agree Trump is a clumsy oaf a lot of the time (so is the other guy).

I don’t care.

Yes but what you and I think doesn't matter, its what people in the US put up with.

The White House apparatchiks are saying Trump retweeted the video without hearing the "white power" bit so they are using the stupid defence.

[Morifea]

Not glee, just shaking our heads that everything we said would come to pass has happened. We told his supporters that Trump was an incompetent buffoon who has never faced any difficulty in his life thanks to his father's money and would crumble at the first bump in the road, and we were right. We told them that Trump would diminish the US to such a degree that it may never recover, and so he has. And right now we are telling them the economy and Covid-19 will get even worse, and all signs point to us being right again.

Its like when you tell your wife a thousand times, that something won´t work. Then she tries it despite your warnings, she fails, something breaks down or somebody gets hurt.
BUT you won`t say "I told you so" to safe the Peace... and because it doesn´t help.

[swabian]

Its like when you tell your wife a thousand times, that something won´t work. Then she tries it despite your warnings, she fails, something breaks down or somebody gets hurt.
BUT you won`t say "I told you so" to safe the Peace... and because it doesn´t help.

Or somebody is just sick of her .

[alhoon]

I have to give it to that Tiktok grandma that thought of the prank with the Tulsa Rally: She broke Trump.
Apparently Trump doesn't believe anything except crowd numbers, not even polls from his own party, but he realized that it was not "fake news" when he saw the half-empty stadium in Tulsa. He is not the same since then. He has lost a lot of his fanfare. It will take 2+ good rallies for him to jump back to the "we're winning, everything else is a damn lie!" guy that his base wants him to be.

And as Trump's confidence wavers, he acts like a loser and that is one of the few things his base cannot tolerate.

Since the economy may still show strong recovery trends later in the year and congress may release more money close to the election (which will bolster his numbers somewhat or break the downward spiral) + Democrats have infighting, people are getting tired with protests and Biden is Biden it is not sure that Trump would lose, but it is possible.

Even Trump realizes this and he even said that Biden may be the next president.
Again, acting like a weak-willed loser and not the confident "I have all answers" messiah his base wants him to be.

[Coughdrop addict]

Whats the working defence here, do Republicans double down on the racism or go with "Trump is deaf and incompetent, vote for him?"

The defense is that Republicans must vote for Trump no matter what because he is their leader. It's a classic fascist trait, the leader is loved and obeyed because he is the leader, his actual ability to govern matters not at all.

Its like when you tell your wife a thousand times, that something won´t work. Then she tries it despite your warnings, she fails, something breaks down or somebody gets hurt.
BUT you won`t say "I told you so" to safe the Peace... and because it doesn´t help.

In this case we should be bringing it up constantly. Republicans need to accept that they have extremely poor decision-making skills and should listen to us when we try to tell them things like "Don't stick your hand in the woodchipper. It will hurt." or "The reality tv gameshow host with a history of fraud is lying to you."

Again, acting like a weak-willed loser and not the confident "I have all answers" messiah his base wants him to be.

It's not acting, it's his natural state. Trump is like a balloon, unless it is filled with hot air by someone it just lays deflated on the ground. It cannot fill itself, someone else must do so, and keep the supply of hot air constant or it will fall to the ground.

[alhoon]

Now you're outright cheering American deaths to own the libs. Is there any action Trump or Putin could do you would not approve of?


Not glee, just shaking our heads that everything we said would come to pass has happened.

Well, for some prominent Democrats, it is rubbing their hands with glee. It is certainly not just shaking of heads sadly. This is clear malice and glee.

If I may, you were quick to condemn Pontifex about what you perceived as "cheering American deaths to own the libs". Yet, Pontifex was not a USA senator for years, nor a prominent democrat candidate.
Should we expect a similar condemnation of Hillary and her supporters?

[Pontifex Maximus]

So someone makes an accusation that is immediately all but debunked, and I'm being generous there, and the left takes off for a victory lap.

Well, I have bombshell news everyone. I have a list of Russians that have infiltrated the army and the upper levels of the federal government, 130 to be exact. Give me like, I don't know, carte blanche to hold some hearings...or trials...we could call them the McPonti Hearings..and I will expose just how deep this rabbit hole goes.

[Cyclops]

So someone makes an accusation that is immediately all but debunked, and I'm being generous there, and the left takes off for a victory lap.

Well, I have bombshell news everyone. I have a list of Russians that have infiltrated the army and the upper levels of the federal government, 130 to be exact. Give me like, I don't know, carte blanche to hold some hearings...or trials...we could call them the McPonti Hearings..and I will expose just how deep this rabbit hole goes.

There's one orange guy who rolls over and begs whenever he meets Putin, might want to look at him first.

[Coughdrop addict]

White House says Trump has now been briefed on Russian bounty intel

First Trump said he never got the Russian/Taliban bounty information. Then he said he got it but did not think it was credible. And now the White House says Trump has only now been briefed.

When was Trump lying? First statement? Second? All three times?

White House dodges questions and blames 'rogue intelligence officers' for leaking Russian bounty claims

First it was fake news, and now it's rogue agents. I believe the next step is usually "Yeah it's true, so what?"

I see three possibilities:

1: Trump was briefed a year ago and could care less about US troops being targeted.

2: Trump was briefed a year ago and his admiration for and fear of Putin prevented him from doing anything.

3: Trump didn't read the briefing a year ago because he was too busy holding his narcissistic supply rallies and tweeting insults at celebrities.

[Pontifex Maximus]

There's one orange guy who rolls over and begs whenever he meets Putin, might want to look at him first.

Only if you buy into leftist conspiracy theories.

[alhoon]

Only if you buy into leftist conspiracy theories.

Or if you watched what happened in Helsinki in 2018 with your own eyes...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZJYAcFeoSM

[Cyclops]

Only if you buy into leftist conspiracy theories.

Trumps a crisis actor now?

You still haven't answered my rude question about whether Trump should go with the evil or stupid defence for tweeting "white power".

Do me a favour and run for president please. The US is a valued ally and we don't want it run be either of the creepy corrupt derelicts currently running. You seem to know when to shut up for example, and AFAIK you are no pal of Epstein. You're better qualified than most of Washington.

"PONTI! PONTI!"

[Coughdrop addict]

Republicans went all in on Benghazi which didn't go anywhere. Now they are trying to minimize and ignore this scandal, which is much worse. I read today that the bounties were $100k for each American. Do you want to bet Trump tried to get a cut of them?

Afghan Contractor Handed Out Russian Cash to Kill Americans, Officials Say

Things are progressing in the usual way they do with anything Trump supporters call a hoax. Of course the intelligence was real, of course there are corroborating people and evidence, of course it was presented to Trump and of course he was far too subservient to Putin to do anything about it.

[Prodromos]

Trump allies push him to be less polarizing

Some of President Donald Trump's Republican allies are urging him to ditch his divisive messaging and outline a clear vision for a second term, fearing his handling of a series of crises has dimmed his re-election hopes.

...

Speaking on condition of anonymity, allies said Trump was often his own worst enemy. They pointed to him retweeting a video on Sunday that included a supporter shouting, "white power," a slogan among white supremacists, and then deleting it.

...

The source said perhaps as soon as August, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may have to advise Republican Senate candidates to distance themselves from Trump if needed to win election and keep their majority.

[Lord Thesaurian]

Republicans are delusional if they think distancing themselves from Trump in down ballot races will help more than it hurts. Now, as ever, they must sink or swim with him. They made that choice long before the current crisis.

[B. W.]

Republicans went all in on Benghazi which didn't go anywhere. Now they are trying to minimize and ignore this scandal, which is much worse. I read today that the bounties were $100k for each American. Do you want to bet Trump tried to get a cut of them?

Afghan Contractor Handed Out Russian Cash to Kill Americans, Officials Say

Things are progressing in the usual way they do with anything Trump supporters call a hoax. Of course the intelligence was real, of course there are corroborating people and evidence, of course it was presented to Trump and of course he was far too subservient to Putin to do anything about it.

As usual, it's the New York Times publishing fake news again. Those intelligence reports were never verified and yes, it's Brietbart pointing out that the NYT is publishing more fake news:

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...ter-briefings/

[Basilius]

The Breitbart article says the following:

The White House has said Trump was never briefed on the intelligence, which remains unverified by the intelligence community.

If you read the 06/30/2020 Press briefing, there is confusion on whether the intelligence was included in Trump's PDB back in February, or whether his gate-keepers prevented it from being included for lack of certainty, or if Trump simply did not read his PDB that day and was therefore not "briefed" through ignorance.

The reason for the confusion was that the intelligence was discussed in an inter-agency meeting at the National Security Council in March. Further, as even Breitbart quotes:

When this unverified intelligence came in — although it wasn’t necessary to give to the president at a strategical level because we were trying to verify it and corroborate it — the CIA, as Gina Haspel stated in a public document the other day, put it out to our allies, to our coalition partners, to the DOD. The Department of Defense has come out and said that they took all force protection measures necessary.

And then at the NSC — in my shop, we began writing a process — an interagency process bringing the government together to say look, if this eventually becomes something that’s proven or something that we’re — that we believe, we need to have options for the president to deal with the Russians.

It seems strange that everyone would gave been informed about this--the NSA, the DoD, the CIA America's allies and coalition partners--but President Trump himself.

And while the information is indeed not yet confirmed, it's serious enough to where congressional leaders (of both parties) are awaiting additional briefing from Gina Haspel, the CIA director. Doesn't seem to be "fake news" at all.

[Coughdrop addict]

Former Trump intelligence officials say they had trouble briefing him on Russia: report

Former Trump administration officials said President Trump’s national security advisers began limiting their briefing of the president on matters relating to Russia due to his frequent pushback on such assessments, CNN reported.

Former officials responsible for briefing Trump on national security issues said they found he frequently became angry when being presented with intelligence implicating Russia in political interference.

"The president has created an environment that dissuades, if not prohibits, the mentioning of any intelligence that isn't favorable to Russia," a former senior national security staffer told the network.

Apparently Trump is so in thrall to Putin he's outright refusing to hear anything negative about his beloved Russia.

[B. W.]

The Breitbart article says the following:



If you read the 06/30/2020 Press briefing, there is confusion on whether the intelligence was included in Trump's PDB back in February, or whether his gate-keepers prevented it from being included for lack of certainty, or if Trump simply did not read his PDB that day and was therefore not "briefed" through ignorance.

The reason for the confusion was that the intelligence was discussed in an inter-agency meeting at the National Security Council in March. Further, as even Breitbart quotes:


It seems strange that everyone would gave been informed about this--the NSA, the DoD, the CIA America's allies and coalition partners--but President Trump himself.

And while the information is indeed not yet confirmed, it's serious enough to where congressional leaders (of both parties) are awaiting additional briefing from Gina Haspel, the CIA director. Doesn't seem to be "fake news" at all.

The Democrats and the media claimed that Trump had been briefed. That was fake news. Period.

Your logic is twisted. As was pointed out, no one wants to tell the president an act of war has been committed against the country without it being confirmed and without some recommendations for a response.

[Basilius]

How have you established that he wasn't briefed? All we have is the White House insisting that he wasn't, without explicitly saying if the intelligence was included in the February PDB.

The NYT article that reported this--which came out a day before the press briefing--says the following:

American officials provided a written briefing in late February to President Trump laying out their conclusion that a Russian military intelligence unit offered and paid bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan, two officials familiar with the matter said.

In order for it to be fake news, either the NYT or their sources would have to be lying. That's not likely given how everyone seems to have known about this back in March but (ostensibly) the President himself.