Subject: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thre From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 Jan 25 - 11:31 AM The threads have merged to do with the US 2024 presidential election and the conviction of Donald J. Trump. Musk and many of his team are not elected and some not eligible to ever be president, but there are suggestions that for a while we may see a co-presidency between Trump and Musk. This is troublesome and people may find interesting articles that clarify or alert us to problems going forward. This doesn't mean that every weird thing that pops into Don and Dick's heads should be printed here. If it gets too out of control you have advance warning that odd stuff will be culled. If you feel like you're being trolled don't post normal stuff and insults in the same post because both parts will disappear. If too many insults are posted you may disappear for a while. The other threads are going to close because we've tried to keep it to one UK and one US political thread. An exception was made mostly because we couldn't stop it. Now we can. Looking for a news page that everyone should be able to open and read, here is a story that CNN may update: https://www.cnn.com/politics/president-donald-trump-47 Donald J. Trump News on former President Donald Trump and the Trump administration Meanwhile, here is his claim that he will hand over his private businesses during the presidency: Trump Organization’s new ethics plan pledges Donald Trump will separate himself from his private business interests (CNN) — The Trump Organization on Friday announced that President-elect Donald Trump will not have any involvement in managing his real estate and branding empire during his second term and appointed an outside ethics adviser to monitor major company actions – part of several measures the organization said it was taking to avoid conflicts of interest as Trump prepares to return to the White House later this month. Another thing I'm curious about but haven't bothered to look up is where are Jared and Ivanka this time around? They were front and center in the last administration, but have pulled away from a lot of his activity once he was indicted. Are they completely out of the picture, or are they doing more behind the scenes money-making on the family name? Managing the crypto fund? The Democrats are working to elect a new party leader. Whoever is put in that role has the job of trying to flip the House and the Senate in two years to hobble Trump's ability to do more damage (he's already considered a "lame duck" and that may result in some surprising pushback by his own party.) Getting past the lies told to people who have no connection with their local politics is the biggest challenge. (A side issue is that many US newspapers have closed so the only source of info about elections for people in small communities is on the national level.) We need to rediscover the meaning of "loyal opposition." Participants here may want to pick up a couple of small books: The U.S. Constitution (ACLU asks you for money, but skip past and read it), and Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. Snyder's first lesson: Do not obey in advance. (Clearly many of the big names in corporate America including oligarchs like Bezos and Zuckerberg did not read this book.) |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: MaJoC the Filk Date: 11 Jan 25 - 01:31 PM I'll restrict myself to a "hear, hear" on "We need to rediscover the meaning of "loyal opposition" and Snyder's First Lesson, and throwing in the expression "government by brain fart". |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: keberoxu Date: 11 Jan 25 - 04:32 PM Forbes magazine just pointed something out: international travel as a felon. Twenty-two countries, it states, have "laws that allow them to kick out any visitors once their [criminal] record is discovered." Canada, the U.K., Israel, Japan, China, India, and Argentina are among the countries with "strict requirements for visitors with criminal histories, if they're allowed in at all." Forbes goes on to say that another president before Trump had problems: George W. Bush had a misdemeanor drunk driving conviction on this record, and had to "apply for a special waiver to enter Canada." |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Helen Date: 11 Jan 25 - 10:28 PM Trump prosecutor Jack Smith resigns after submitting DOJ report "In short: Special Counsel Jack Smith has resigned days before Donald Trump's inauguration. "Mr Smith led the first federal indictments against a former president in US history. "Trump said he would fire Mr Smith immediately after gaining office, claiming the cases were politically motivated." |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Mr Red Date: 12 Jan 25 - 05:23 AM Huston, you have a problem. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 Jan 25 - 11:32 AM There were lots of photos of all five living presidents at the Carter funeral. This photo released by the Carter Center is composed beautifully. Never did a pillar do such good work. The photos of the coffin passing, coming and going for the funeral, show everyone with their hands on their hearts - except the Trumps. Photos posted on Bluesky by the Washington Post It takes so little to be kind. This man works at avoiding all of those gestures. He complained about the flags being at half-mast for 30 days for Carter landing during his inauguration. I would put money on his calling to have that rescinded the moment he's in office. Because it suits him. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Mr Red Date: 12 Jan 25 - 12:34 PM video - Dubya greeting Trump at Carter's funeral just in case you haven't seen it (:-) |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Helen Date: 12 Jan 25 - 02:10 PM Except that he would expect flags to be at half-mast when he shuffles off his own mortal coil. Did you see halfway down the page of the Photos posted on Bluesky by the Washington Post, a photo of Mark Zuckerberg with headline and text? My Hubby sent me that image. It was generated immediately after Zuckerberg announced that Meta will no longer fact-check posts on Facebook. Someone jumped in with a post about Zuckerberg which needs to be fact-checked. LOL |
Subject: RE: New Rules From: Donuel Date: 13 Jan 25 - 06:55 AM "If it gets too out of control you have advance warning that odd stuff will be culled." the problem is... More 'odd stuff' is coming true. https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/fartcoin/ Will Trump repeat anti protest policy? https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/politics/donald-trump-george-floyd-protest-military/index.html |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Donuel Date: 13 Jan 25 - 05:02 PM The reason autocrats arrest journalists is to hide odd secrets. These are odd days indeed, but nuclear destruction seems less critical than decades ago unless Hegseth obeys his master's sudden wrath. There will be deja vu to come like 'crowd size' and the greatest Presidential advances the universe has ever seen. Right now the odd secrets are more like open secrets. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Stilly River Sage Date: 14 Jan 25 - 11:16 AM The parade of horribles begins today with Hegseth going before the senate, though it seems the FBI is already carrying water for Trump and didn't investigate the crimes and complaints against the man. No interviews with those who he abused and the organizations he mismanaged. |
Subject: RE: Spot the anachronism From: gillymor Date: 14 Jan 25 - 12:44 PM Speaking of Trump anachronisms there were a couple of doozies during this July 4th Speech where he referenced airports during the Revolutionary War. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Donuel Date: 14 Jan 25 - 02:41 PM "We need to tear out root and branch weak woke DEI liberal CRT leftists in our military and replace them with patriots who love America" Pete Hegseth. A partisan military is Trump's desire and Pete will seek it out. Pete is also critical of women in combat and veterans who milk the VA system for all sorts of gifts. Democratic Senators were all denied any interview with Hegseth or an FBI investigation report into Hegseth. Only the Republican chairman was allowed to see the FBI report.f Pete does not know the meaning of anonymous when witnesses to his drunkenness have given their names addresses and phone numbers including his mom. Republicans claim that Hegseth's staff will do the real work and that Senators get drunk too. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Stilly River Sage Date: 14 Jan 25 - 03:43 PM From Slate, so there is a paywall, but the browser extension "JustRead" lets you see the article. Aileen Cannon's final gift to Trump: The Jack Smith report DOA. And yet: It feels as though Cannon’s conduct in recent days marked a departure, even for her. Among other things, last week she reached out and meddled in a case over which she had no jurisdiction, plucking the matter back from the appeals court where it was properly pending. She attempted to quash a report on a case that was wholly unconnected to the Mar-a-Lago case that was being litigated before a different judge in D.C. Amid the chaotic filings and deadlines and decisions issued over the past few days, lawyers attempted to parse what she was doing and why she believed she could do it as we waited with bated breath to figure out who would stop her. When it became clear on Monday that in fact nobody was going to stop her, Cannon took her own win by keeping the Mar-a-Lago report under wraps and begrudgingly letting the Justice Department release the Jan. 6 volume (after the 11th Circuit indicated that it would do so for her if she didn’t backtrack quickly). This seems a moment worth naming and marking. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: gillymor Date: 14 Jan 25 - 06:27 PM My post of 12:44 was moved here from up top and so appears to be a non sequitur. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Stilly River Sage Date: 15 Jan 25 - 12:08 AM Trump is a non sequitur, it fits right in! |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Donuel Date: 15 Jan 25 - 06:03 AM Lyrics If you wake up and don't want to smile or it takes just a little while Open your eyes and look at the day You'll see things in a different way Don't stop thinking about tomorrow Don't stop, it'll soon be here It'll be better than before Yesterday's lie, will eventually die. Why not think about times to come? And not about the things that hate has done If your life was bad to you Just think what tomorrow will do Don't stop thinking about tomorrow Don't stop, it'll soon be here It'll be better than before Yesterday's lie, will eventually die All I want is to see you smile If it takes just a little while I know you don't believe that it's true There are folks who meant harm to you Don't stop thinking about tomorrow Don't stop, it'll soon be here It'll be better than before Yesterday's lie will eventually die Don't stop thinking about tomorrow Don't stop, it'll soon be here It'll be better than before Yesterday's lie will eventually die We won't go back (Ooh) We won't go back (Ooh) We won't go back |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: gillymor Date: 15 Jan 25 - 07:32 AM I hope he's a non sequitur and not the end of our "more perfect union". I guess the best we can do is to be good citizens and fight to preserve what we've created over these last 2 1/2 centuries. It sounds dramatic but a decent way of life is in the balance for the common man and it's not inconceivable that Trump and his billionaire friends could destroy it. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Donuel Date: 15 Jan 25 - 08:04 AM The balance of a decent middle-class life has been attacked since the death of FDR. Billionaire-owned government has expanded since the 50's when taxes on the wealthy was as high as 90%. Now it's 16% if income is claimed. It's less if it is called capital gains. Our tax code has grown by 3,000 more pages, all to take from the middle class and poor to give to the rich. Of course, the rules were written by the rich. South Korea has more respect for the law than the US. Today the police arrested the impeached President who declared martial law. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: gillymor Date: 15 Jan 25 - 08:16 AM There certainly has been a significant transfer of wealth over the last half century and more, but at some point we have to stop bending over for the graspers. Perhaps it's going to take a period of abject misery for that to come about. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Stilly River Sage Date: 15 Jan 25 - 10:45 AM If we can't get the representation back where it belongs, in non-gerrymandered districts, and can't get the big money out of politics, we are sunk. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Backwoodsman Date: 15 Jan 25 - 12:03 PM ‘Twas ever thus… |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Stilly River Sage Date: 15 Jan 25 - 12:50 PM The states will have to take the lead on this. I should have completed the thought. The money is the biggest problem by far, with billionaires throwing it at anyone who threatens to not toe the line. "You'll be primaried" means they'll support someone in the party to run against them the next time around. Only a couple of the Republicans who voted to impeach Trump survived the process. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Donuel Date: 17 Jan 25 - 08:32 AM "The money is the biggest problem by far" This is how it will end: The bankruptcy king, Donald Trump, will explode a 46 trillion-dollar debt until the bond market will no longer buy federal bonds. Game over. The bank is empty. Billionaires will scatter with their share of the loot to other markets and countries. Desperate measures will be tried with unknown results. Besieged by climate disasters the hardships will be catastrophic. No, Stilly, it will not end well for anyone but the top 3% and their loyal servants. I suspect that people as clever and pioneering as Stilly will find ways to live and eat in a destroyed economy, but as Elon has already suggested, most people will suffer desperation. Yes income disparity has grown to 46% for the 1% and 3% for the bottom 50%. A couple decades ago the rich only had a 10% advantage but now the race to survive a collapse has reached levels that this next tax cut for the oligarchs will not sustain. This doom and gloom is my opinion and can be ignored with or without certain peril. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Stilly River Sage Date: 17 Jan 25 - 10:18 AM The amount of billionaire money rolling in to the Kleptocracy for the inauguration is obscene, and while last time Stephanie Winston Wolkoff (another one to add to Biden's preemptive pardon list) wrote a book about how the dollars were taken from her 2017 inauguration management by Trump's family and a allies with no accountability, this time they'll hide the records much deeper. Or keep no records at all. No more legal fees for the time being (he probably won't pay the ones he has left, telling them to brag about defending him for their promotional benefit.) It's gravy from here on out for the convicted felon. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Stilly River Sage Date: 17 Jan 25 - 11:22 AM Biden offered a warning about the American oligarchy in his last speech to the nation. He offered a lot of interesting material in his last major interview with MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell Biden shares 'serious concern' for U.S. democracy in Oval Office interview with Lawrence O'Donnell |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Donuel Date: 17 Jan 25 - 12:33 PM Great McDonnel interview. The average American does not understand what has happened. THE EASIEST way for Joe Sixpack to understand what has happened is remind them of every villain James Bond ever faced. Every villain was a corporate monopolist with dire plans financed by their extreme wealth. The entire US government is now bought and paid for by a cabal of the wealthiest people on Earth. Greed at any expense is now standard operating procedure. 10,000 James bonds won't be able to turn the tables this time. Besides, the last Bond movie I saw. it looked like James Bond was killed. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Donuel Date: 17 Jan 25 - 02:42 PM There is going to be a lot of this in the next 4 years. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Mr Red Date: 18 Jan 25 - 10:41 AM Given the hoped for "sees fire" (s) What do we think are the chances the the Orange Jesus will be awarded the Nobel Peace gong? There is a precedent................ Kissinger |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Donuel Date: 18 Jan 25 - 11:32 AM As Biden rides east into the sunset on old paint with his 36% approval rating, the NYT has a front-page story about the cover-up of his diminished capacity by his staff. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: SPB-Cooperator Date: 19 Jan 25 - 07:07 AM Donuel, not understanding what has happened is a symptom of populism where populations take more credence from slogans than from critical thought and analysis. They are too lazy to think for themselves or understand what is going on around them and accept whatever they are spoon fed without question. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: SPB-Cooperator Date: 19 Jan 25 - 07:09 AM If they are told that a perceived enemy is going to suffer as a result, they would willingly cut off their own leg. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Backwoodsman Date: 19 Jan 25 - 07:10 AM Amen to that, SPB. It’s what the Trumps and Farages of this world know only too well, and use very much to their own advantage. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Donuel Date: 19 Jan 25 - 10:01 AM Around town the hotels are charging fortunes for inauguration suites. Watergate is charging $75,000 but the Willard and 4 Seasons aren't saying. A third of DC is closed entirely or under strict security. Crowd size won't be an issue, but having a ticket is no guarantee of getting in since the shindig has moved indoors. After the oath ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, a MAGA rally will be at the basketball Capitol One arena, featuring Elon Musk and Donald. This event will separate the billionaire boys from the millionaire men. ;^/ |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Donuel Date: 19 Jan 25 - 11:19 AM 'Strongman' Lindsey Graham just announced on Face the Nation that he will demand that Trump attack Iran to eliminate their nuclear program. He also said that it was only Turmp's threat that all hell will break loose and not the State Dept. and diplomatic core of Biden that has led to a Gaza war ceasefire. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Backwoodsman Date: 19 Jan 25 - 12:13 PM Diplomatic Corps... |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Backwoodsman Date: 20 Jan 25 - 04:54 AM Well the big day has arrived for the inauguration of President-by-Proxy Musk. Up to two hundred Executive Orders threatened to be signed on his first day in office, including the deportation of up to ten million undocumented ‘aliens’ (how I HATE that f***ing word!). GOD HELP AMERICA! |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Donuel Date: 20 Jan 25 - 06:24 AM America did not give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor! John Belushi |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Donuel Date: 20 Jan 25 - 06:35 AM Manners are morals, not empty gestures. Despite our many mistakes, the US respects morality, accountability, and sensibility. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Dave the Gnome Date: 20 Jan 25 - 11:25 AM Is that why Trump won by a landslide? |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Stilly River Sage Date: 20 Jan 25 - 12:38 PM He had less than 50% of total votes. Not even a mandate, let alone a landslide. I didn't listen to the swearing in, though I did play a little of the car radio version of "drop the needle." I clicked onto MSNBC at about 10:40 our time and heard Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic senator from Minnesota, speaking about government and the three co-equal branches. She was offering a very clear warning to Trump and his allies that the government will hold. Now we all need to work on that. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Helen Date: 20 Jan 25 - 01:18 PM Joe Biden pardons Dr Anthony Fauci to guard against Trump 'revenge' "In short: Joe Biden has pardoned Dr Anthony Fauci, retired general Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the January 6 attack on the Capitol. "The decision by Biden comes after Donald Trump warned of an enemies list filled with those who have crossed him politically. "What's next? President Biden has promised a smooth transition to the next administration." .... "'The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgement that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offence,' Mr Biden said in a statement. "'Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.' "The decision by Biden comes after Donald Trump warned of an enemies list filled with those who have crossed him politically." ... "Mr Biden is also extending pardons to members and staff of the January 6 committee, including Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both Republicans, as well as the US Capitol and DC Metropolitan police officers who testified before the committee." |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Stilly River Sage Date: 20 Jan 25 - 01:44 PM The only song that comes to mind at the moment is Poor Unfortunate Souls (for all of us). Gift article from the New York Times Biden in Final Hours Pardons Relatives and Others to Thwart Trump Reprisals President Biden used his executive clemency power to protect people targeted by Donald J. Trump, including five members of his family as well as Liz Cheney, Anthony S. Fauci and Mark A. Milley. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Dave the Gnome Date: 20 Jan 25 - 02:53 PM Sorry Stilly, but it was what everyone else calls a landslide. Majority of both electoral college and popular vote as well as his supporters winning both houses. We had the same in this country with the last general election. Labour gained 412 of the 650 seats available and that was also a landslide win. Yet they only had 34% of the vote. That is just the way first past the post democracy works. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Stilly River Sage Date: 20 Jan 25 - 03:01 PM He won the election, but it wasn't an outright majority. Look at the numbers. Yes, the house and senate flipped. The house is so close it could flip again before the term it out if anyone else is ejected or dies or quits in the GOP side. It's close, it wasn't a landslide. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Dave the Gnome Date: 20 Jan 25 - 03:54 PM A landslide does not mean an outright majority. It means that the candidate or party won by an overwhelming margin. In your election there were 538 votes to be counted. Trump 312 while Harris got got 226 which is an overwhelming margin by anyone's standards. Yes, I know it is the electoral college and, yes, I know it is stupid but it is, sadly, the system at the moment. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Helen Date: 20 Jan 25 - 04:41 PM What's done is done and not worth quibbling about. Let's look to what needs to be done now to try to turn back this tide. I still have a glimmer of hope that Trump's Republican "supporters" are working behind the scenes to prevent some of his society-breaking projects and to try to bring civilised society back to where it belongs. Sometimes catastrophe brings about revelations for right-minded people of what society should look like and what needs to be done to bring about that change. Sometimes we need to look into the abyss to be able to look up again at the sky. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Bill D Date: 20 Jan 25 - 05:03 PM Winning margin does not equal "overwhelming margin" just because it sounds good. I don't thing the International Bureau of Standards defines "overwhelming". It's just a subjective, personal idea. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: gillymor Date: 20 Jan 25 - 05:48 PM How do I know that it definitely wasn't a landslide? Trump said it was a landslide. |
Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47th President 1 thread From: Stilly River Sage Date: 20 Jan 25 - 05:51 PM Electoral votes are part of the problem. The actual population vote is what I was talking about. |
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