Are we concerned at all that talking about Trump's bloodbath comments could backfire?
Not because of the "bloodbath hoax" but because their are people out there who are like I don't want there to be widespread violence and I could get by with another 4 years of Trump.
These republicans who say they can't vote for Trump but refuse to vote for Biden bug my ass! OK, you finally have realised that Trump is an existential threat, but you just don't like Biden's policies (Wha, wha, wha). Which policies, you hypocrites? Beefing up the border security, infrastructure, fair elections, aid to Ukraine? Please, which one is so bad you're rolling the democratic collapse dice and voting RFK Jr.? Enjoy the bloodbath.
How should a president acknowledge the salutes of military personnel? Ignore them? Salute back (never done out of uniform, btw)? Offer a deep nod of respect?
I kind of favor the deep nod, plus eye contact. "I see you; you serve; you are here for my protection, and I am grateful." That's what I want to see.
In the words of the late, great John le Carre, "Nationalism is quite different than patriotism. For Nationalism you need enemies." I couldn't help but think of this quote from an interview le Carre gave -- about a year before his death -- throughout Bill and Tim's conversation on the pod yesterday. It is utterly terrifying, especially when you see what happened last week with Trump's 180 on TikTok: Meta, an American company, and Zuckerberg, an American, are supposed to be viewed as being more dangerous than TikTok, a company with deep ties to the CCP. I understand there to be more nuance there than simply Nationalism vs. Patriotism; however, those nuances are too inside baseball for most voters, and Trump understands this, which makes his Nationalist tendencies to be all the more dangerous.
I hate listening to someone who won’t complete a…. Don’t you hate listening to someone who won’t complete a… Sayyyy, how about that great patriot Benedict Arnold…
Benedict Arnold is proof that life isn't black and white, it's gray. Yes, he did some good things early on in our country's fight for independence, especially at Saratoga. But as we tick through the ledger of moral and patriotic debits and credits, the scale ultimately (and overwhelmingly) tilts in the direction of his being an absolutely horrible person who attempted to sell out the revolutionary cause in favor of his own benefit. In fact, he played a direct role in the deaths of Americans (see the last British victory of the war at New London). All of this is to say that Trump and his supporters, through their support of those who stormed the Capitol on January 6th, are favoring their own benefit to that of the country.
I realize my comments might suggest that I am comparing people who support the, to use their term, "J6 Patriots", to that of Benedict Arnold, a traitor, but I cannot think of a better way to demonstrate, anecdotally, what their support for those who attempted to overturn the election represents to this country in a modern context.
Trump salutes the insurrectionists. Now he promises them pardons if he gets elected and keeps his promise. Pardons after years of jail time and court cases.
Okay.
They deserve prison, not pardons There is an unreported side to this story.
Trump had his last two weeks in office to pardon his followers and did not get around to it.
It wasn't important to him when he was handing out pardons to people he cared about. People with money or influence.
Now he pretends to respect them while exploiting them. Their suffering resulted from their following his criminal leadership.
Has he been asked why he is waiting 4 years to pardon his "patriots"?
The business of saluting the rioters of January 6th is much more important than the “bloodbath” remark. We cannot say for sure what Trump meant with the remark, though we can be pretty sure that if an ordinarily intelligent and articulate person wanted to accuse a political opponent of leading the country toward a secular economic disaster, he could do it better and more clearly. The stuff with the rioters, on the other hand, is clear. He saluted them because he thinks the riot and his attempted coup were good things. The only thing he regrets about trying to overthrow the government is that he failed. I don’t see how even his most dedicated apologist can see it any other way.
I've been thinking this for at least a year. All the Republicans who make excuses for Trump's calls of violence, should be asked if Trump calls for their deaths, will they submit. And the worst part is, it's not a joke. We all saw an attempt, so far Pence is the only one to answer "no"
"Then, as the speaker system plays a recorded mash-up of the national anthem sung by participants in the January 6th insurrection, Trump melodramatically salutes."
Personally, I'm appalled and outraged that the Mango Malignancy salutes during the National anthem. The salute is the prerogative of the women and men in uniform: military, police, firefighters..., and should not be used by a civilian. No matter what the Mango Malignancy thinks, says, does or acts upon, he is no longer the Commander in Chief; basically, he's just another citizen. As such, he should take his hat off and put his right hand over his heart, anything else should be deemed disrespectful. (But then again, *nothing* the Sandstone Snowflake does shows the least modicum for our country.)
-----
"But many are as conservative and Trump-supporting as [Mike] Bost, if not more so. Rep. William Timmons (R-SC), who has a 95 percent lifetime score from the right-wing Heritage Foundation, is facing an aggressive primary challenge . . .
What nearly all of these incumbents have in common is that their opponents hail from the far-right fringes of the party."
A 95% lifetime score from a reactionary hard-right organization still is not 100%. As we've witnessed sooooo many times since 2018, all it takes is one action or statement that misses the MAGA mark, even if only by a whisker, renders one as non-MAGA, and *must* be punished for their infraction. The MAGA Thought Police are busy sniffing out relapsed MAGAdroids like Mr Timmons; one is considered relapsed for even one small infraction of "the rules."
The only thing working in America's favor, imo, is that these reactionary asshats will win in their respective primaries, and then lose biggly in the general -- where the preponderance of voters are not MAGA cultists. The farther right MAGA moves, the more they express their desires to turn the country into an authoritarian/theocratic country ruled by the minority (while trying to usher in a "Christian" Nationalist version of American Sharia based entirely on perversions of the teachings of the Christ), the more they will isolate themselves from the body politic, ushering in a Biden second term and a blue majority in the House and Senate.
Why no mention of Trump saying the teleprompter was moving around. That was not vague talking; that was him describing why he was having trouble reading a piece of equipment that doesn’t move around, suggesting what my mother used to describe as a “visual event” after she had had a stroke. Evidence of neurological problems should be talked about and written about.
Can "Never Trumpers" and Democrats please please please please take advantage of the fact that Trump cannot post bond for his criminal conviction? Please? He is not the wealthy man he says he is, he is not the successful businessman he says he is, he is not the "solution" to all our problems. He cannot even solve his own problems!!!! Please!?!?!?!?!?
America does not want an ignorant lying racist adjudicated rapist four times criminally indicted treasonous insurectionist for it's president, no matter how hard the media pushes hump in front to sell space, readership, minutes on tv and newspapers. America has hump stuffed down it's throats. Vomit if you have to, but block this manure at the voting box.
Are we concerned at all that talking about Trump's bloodbath comments could backfire?
Not because of the "bloodbath hoax" but because their are people out there who are like I don't want there to be widespread violence and I could get by with another 4 years of Trump.
These republicans who say they can't vote for Trump but refuse to vote for Biden bug my ass! OK, you finally have realised that Trump is an existential threat, but you just don't like Biden's policies (Wha, wha, wha). Which policies, you hypocrites? Beefing up the border security, infrastructure, fair elections, aid to Ukraine? Please, which one is so bad you're rolling the democratic collapse dice and voting RFK Jr.? Enjoy the bloodbath.
It was funny to see Corporal Bone Spurs salute the rioters, even if the context was very unfunny.
How should a president acknowledge the salutes of military personnel? Ignore them? Salute back (never done out of uniform, btw)? Offer a deep nod of respect?
I kind of favor the deep nod, plus eye contact. "I see you; you serve; you are here for my protection, and I am grateful." That's what I want to see.
In the words of the late, great John le Carre, "Nationalism is quite different than patriotism. For Nationalism you need enemies." I couldn't help but think of this quote from an interview le Carre gave -- about a year before his death -- throughout Bill and Tim's conversation on the pod yesterday. It is utterly terrifying, especially when you see what happened last week with Trump's 180 on TikTok: Meta, an American company, and Zuckerberg, an American, are supposed to be viewed as being more dangerous than TikTok, a company with deep ties to the CCP. I understand there to be more nuance there than simply Nationalism vs. Patriotism; however, those nuances are too inside baseball for most voters, and Trump understands this, which makes his Nationalist tendencies to be all the more dangerous.
You know, it’s just missing a word… “ J6 Convicts Are ’Unbelievable *AS* Patriots’”. See? That works
I hate listening to someone who won’t complete a…. Don’t you hate listening to someone who won’t complete a… Sayyyy, how about that great patriot Benedict Arnold…
Benedict Arnold is proof that life isn't black and white, it's gray. Yes, he did some good things early on in our country's fight for independence, especially at Saratoga. But as we tick through the ledger of moral and patriotic debits and credits, the scale ultimately (and overwhelmingly) tilts in the direction of his being an absolutely horrible person who attempted to sell out the revolutionary cause in favor of his own benefit. In fact, he played a direct role in the deaths of Americans (see the last British victory of the war at New London). All of this is to say that Trump and his supporters, through their support of those who stormed the Capitol on January 6th, are favoring their own benefit to that of the country.
I realize my comments might suggest that I am comparing people who support the, to use their term, "J6 Patriots", to that of Benedict Arnold, a traitor, but I cannot think of a better way to demonstrate, anecdotally, what their support for those who attempted to overturn the election represents to this country in a modern context.
Trump salutes the insurrectionists. Now he promises them pardons if he gets elected and keeps his promise. Pardons after years of jail time and court cases.
Okay.
They deserve prison, not pardons There is an unreported side to this story.
Trump had his last two weeks in office to pardon his followers and did not get around to it.
It wasn't important to him when he was handing out pardons to people he cared about. People with money or influence.
Now he pretends to respect them while exploiting them. Their suffering resulted from their following his criminal leadership.
Has he been asked why he is waiting 4 years to pardon his "patriots"?
The business of saluting the rioters of January 6th is much more important than the “bloodbath” remark. We cannot say for sure what Trump meant with the remark, though we can be pretty sure that if an ordinarily intelligent and articulate person wanted to accuse a political opponent of leading the country toward a secular economic disaster, he could do it better and more clearly. The stuff with the rioters, on the other hand, is clear. He saluted them because he thinks the riot and his attempted coup were good things. The only thing he regrets about trying to overthrow the government is that he failed. I don’t see how even his most dedicated apologist can see it any other way.
I've been thinking this for at least a year. All the Republicans who make excuses for Trump's calls of violence, should be asked if Trump calls for their deaths, will they submit. And the worst part is, it's not a joke. We all saw an attempt, so far Pence is the only one to answer "no"
"Then, as the speaker system plays a recorded mash-up of the national anthem sung by participants in the January 6th insurrection, Trump melodramatically salutes."
Personally, I'm appalled and outraged that the Mango Malignancy salutes during the National anthem. The salute is the prerogative of the women and men in uniform: military, police, firefighters..., and should not be used by a civilian. No matter what the Mango Malignancy thinks, says, does or acts upon, he is no longer the Commander in Chief; basically, he's just another citizen. As such, he should take his hat off and put his right hand over his heart, anything else should be deemed disrespectful. (But then again, *nothing* the Sandstone Snowflake does shows the least modicum for our country.)
-----
"But many are as conservative and Trump-supporting as [Mike] Bost, if not more so. Rep. William Timmons (R-SC), who has a 95 percent lifetime score from the right-wing Heritage Foundation, is facing an aggressive primary challenge . . .
What nearly all of these incumbents have in common is that their opponents hail from the far-right fringes of the party."
A 95% lifetime score from a reactionary hard-right organization still is not 100%. As we've witnessed sooooo many times since 2018, all it takes is one action or statement that misses the MAGA mark, even if only by a whisker, renders one as non-MAGA, and *must* be punished for their infraction. The MAGA Thought Police are busy sniffing out relapsed MAGAdroids like Mr Timmons; one is considered relapsed for even one small infraction of "the rules."
The only thing working in America's favor, imo, is that these reactionary asshats will win in their respective primaries, and then lose biggly in the general -- where the preponderance of voters are not MAGA cultists. The farther right MAGA moves, the more they express their desires to turn the country into an authoritarian/theocratic country ruled by the minority (while trying to usher in a "Christian" Nationalist version of American Sharia based entirely on perversions of the teachings of the Christ), the more they will isolate themselves from the body politic, ushering in a Biden second term and a blue majority in the House and Senate.
fnord
Why no mention of Trump saying the teleprompter was moving around. That was not vague talking; that was him describing why he was having trouble reading a piece of equipment that doesn’t move around, suggesting what my mother used to describe as a “visual event” after she had had a stroke. Evidence of neurological problems should be talked about and written about.
Can "Never Trumpers" and Democrats please please please please take advantage of the fact that Trump cannot post bond for his criminal conviction? Please? He is not the wealthy man he says he is, he is not the successful businessman he says he is, he is not the "solution" to all our problems. He cannot even solve his own problems!!!! Please!?!?!?!?!?
Trump would know a patriot if he fell over one, they are suckers and losers as far as he is concerned
America does not want an ignorant lying racist adjudicated rapist four times criminally indicted treasonous insurectionist for it's president, no matter how hard the media pushes hump in front to sell space, readership, minutes on tv and newspapers. America has hump stuffed down it's throats. Vomit if you have to, but block this manure at the voting box.
I believe that too, but they are not in the majority.
Very interesting post today Bill and Andy. Love the comments.