U.S. Politics megathread (merged)

[Jim_Duncan]

Just now, Footballfirst said:

Trump "mooning" at everyone is the US?

You've put me right off my afternoon tea, FF.

[Gizmo]

5 hours ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

Amazing, a literal blot on the sun sums up this abhorrent halfwit.

[JFK-1]

7 hours ago, Footballfirst said:

Trump "mooning" at everyone is the US?

Well he does have an arse big enough to eclipse the sun.

[JFK-1]

Confidence Man with Maggie Haberman // The American Story

How does a man like Donald Trump—simultaneously hailed as an all-American hero and condemned as a harbinger of the end of American democracy—become not only a cultural phenomenon, but the president of the United States? Maggie Haberman, the New York Times reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the 45th president, offers insight into his background, his motivations, and the true nature of his personality, not to mention the means by which he gained a seat in the Oval Office.

Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent for the New York Times and a political analyst for CNN, is the author of Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.

 

 

 

[Maple Leaf]

That's another former Trump employee going to jail.  I've lost track of them all, but how many is that now, employees or associates?  8?  Birds of a feather, etc.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/10/politics/allen-weisselberg-sentencing/index.html

[Cade]

Another witch convicted and jailed.

This witch hunt is finding an awful lot of witches.

[Maple Leaf]

6 minutes ago, Cade said:

Another witch convicted and jailed.

This witch hunt is finding an awful lot of witches.

This particular witch, like most of the others, pleaded guilty!

[Watt-Zeefuik]

The news out of Arizona is huge this week. The state Supreme Court upheld an 1864 law (note that Arizona was not a state until 1912 but inherited its former territory laws) banning abortion in all but the most extreme instances. At the same time, it approved a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.

 

This has Trump running around to say "it should be left up to the states" without saying anything about Arizona. Kari Lake, the GOP nominee for Senate, had previously endorsed the law but is now criticizing the court ruling as out of step with Arizona and is demanding that the Governor (whom she lost the election to while running on restricting abortion) pass a law to fix it.

 

Meanwhile the ballot initiative is likely to be a huge boost to voter turnout in Arizona, likely to the advantage of Democrats. (Many political observers credit a number of gay marriage ballot initiatives with helping GWB narrowly win reelection in 2004.)

 

This is what I mean by abortion being the ultimate wedge issue. Evangelicals continue to support Trump in large part because he got the SCOTUS majority that overturned Roe in the Dobbs decision and opened the floodgates for all of this shit. So during the primary campaign he stood up on stage and bragged about how he accomplished that. But as the shit hits the fan? He's running from it hard, and just said he won't sign a national abortion ban (a pledge as durable as one written on a wet paper napkin, but anyway).

 

Long way to go. But the GOP winning in Arizona just got a whole lot harder for them.

[Cade]

After cheering the reversal of Roe/Wade, the GOP is scrambling around trying to pretend to denounce the Arizona ruling as they know it's political poison at this stage.

Video footage of so-called "Christian" extremists speaking in tongues on the Arizona senate floor in celebration has brought people up sharply.

I think the bams have gotten too brazen, pushed too far and too fast.

Enabled and emboldened by the Orange Antichrist, they think they can do anything with zero accountability and that's going to cost them in November.

 

 

[Tazio]

1 hour ago, Cade said:

After cheering the reversal of Roe/Wade, the GOP is scrambling around trying to pretend to denounce the Arizona ruling as they know it's political poison at this stage.

Video footage of so-called "Christian" extremists speaking in tongues on the Arizona senate floor in celebration has brought people up sharply.

I think the bams have gotten too brazen, pushed too far and too fast.

Enabled and emboldened by the Orange Antichrist, they think they can do anything with zero accountability and that's going to cost them in November.

 

 

The massive irony of the extreme Christian right flocking to a man with no Christian values. 

[Jim_Duncan]

8 minutes ago, Tazio said:

The massive irony of the extreme Christian right flocking to a man with no Christian values. 

Bonding over their difficulty with the truth.

[Watt-Zeefuik]

1 hour ago, Tazio said:

The massive irony of the extreme Christian right flocking to a man with no Christian values. 

 

The line that comes out of the evangelicals is that he's sent by God as an imperfect vessel to accomplish. . .  <gestures broadly at the shit>

[JFK-1]

Biden warns that Iran may be planning attack on Israel

 

 

 

[JFK-1]

Trump apparently may confound us all by taking the stand at some point during this trial due to begin Monday, he's run out of stalling tactics. His lawyers will be strongly advising him to say absolutely nothing, when you're so obviously guilty there's nothing you can say that will help so just shut up and let us try to spin it.

 

That would apply to anybody but to an idiot like Trump it should apply even more so. Thing is he doesn't know he's an idiot, on the contrary he thinks he's a genius, a very stable genius even, though prone to toddler like outbursts.

 

There are people who now think Trump doesn't have the self control to just sit there and shut up, as the prosecution lay out their indisputable evidence he will want to dispute it with his own fantasy version of reality, 'his side of the story' Like he does at those dumb rallies.

The weirdos at those rallies clap and whoop like seals, the jury in this trial will not, they wont be rally like weirdos and neither is the judge, but Trump doesn't get that. Everybody around him will be trying to get him to shut up, I hope they fail.

 

'No telling how much damage' Trump can do to himself on witness stand

 

NBC News obtained the list of potential witnesses for former President Trump's New York hush money trial. NBC News' Garrett Haake, White House Deputy Chief of Staff under Obama Jim Messina and former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance provide more insight on the people named.

 

 

[Horatio Caine]

On 11/04/2024 at 01:30, Watt-Zeefuik said:

 

The line that comes out of the evangelicals is that he's sent by God as an imperfect vessel to accomplish. . .  <gestures broadly at the shit>

Oh dear oh dear.  I've always been sceptical about the whole `Antichrist` thing - but so far Trump ticks all the boxes.  He's seriously bad news.

[CavySlaveJambo]

Dobbs has put Women's lives at Risk.  

Medical care for missed miscarriage is an abortion, but the baby is already dead and poisoning the mother.   Women's lives are at risk over a baby who could not have survived outside the womb.    

 

This is heartbreaking.  

 

 

 

Also I thought I saw somewhere the Court has not accepted the civil trial bond. 

 

 

 

[JFK-1]

This is Trump without the makeup, this is what he will look like in prison, minus the 'make assholes get attorneys' cap.

 

 

I don't know what looks most artificial, the bare faced walking dead like Trump or the muddy brown Trump. But no matter what the idiot looks like it's still same old.

 

'Trump posts "72 hours until all hell breaks loose" ahead of hush money trial'

 

Same thing again, "people are extremely angry"

 

The only one extremely angry is Trump, and no gives enough of a flying to do anything. It's an attempt to replicate Jan 6th, "going to be wild, be there" which was an attempt to block the transfer of power.

 

This is a last ditch attempt to prevent this trial starting but will probably amount to nothing and just make him look even more of a complete tit.

 

Even the dumbest of the dumb trumpets now know starting riots for Trump he would never do himself and would never do for you gets you real jailtime. The very definition of all hell breaking loose, for you, you're going to Rikers.

 

 

[JFK-1]

There has to be a response to the Iranian attack on Israel. Biden came out and said don’t you dare, they dared.

[Jim_Duncan]

49 minutes ago, JFK-1 said:

There has to be a response to the Iranian attack on Israel. Biden came out and said don’t you dare, they dared.

 

Biden v Khamenei on the undercard of Fury v Usyk. 

 

 

[Lone Striker]

On 13/04/2024 at 00:58, JFK-1 said:

This is Trump without the makeup, this is what he will look like in prison, minus the 'make assholes get attorneys' cap.

 

 

I don't know what looks most artificial, the bare faced walking dead like Trump or the muddy brown Trump. But no matter what the idiot looks like it's still same old.

 

'Trump posts "72 hours until all hell breaks loose" ahead of hush money trial'

 

Same thing again, "people are extremely angry"

 

The only one extremely angry is Trump, and no gives enough of a flying to do anything. It's an attempt to replicate Jan 6th, "going to be wild, be there" which was an attempt to block the transfer of power.

 

This is a last ditch attempt to prevent this trial starting but will probably amount to nothing and just make him look even more of a complete tit.

 

Even the dumbest of the dumb trumpets now know starting riots for Trump he would never do himself and would never do for you gets you real jailtime. The very definition of all hell breaking loose, for you, you're going to Rikers.

 

 

Trump has such disdain for the American Justice system and American democracy.   Almost as much as the disdain he has for his own MAGA supporters.

 

Widespread use of "plants"  behind him at speeches ("Blacks for Trump") - and now this (ahem) "random" black girl showing up and getting a hug (yuck) from the orange slimeball.

 

 

[JFK-1]

8 hours ago, Lone Striker said:

Trump has such disdain for the American Justice system and American democracy.   Almost as much as the disdain he has for his own MAGA supporters.

 

Widespread use of "plants"  behind him at speeches ("Blacks for Trump") - and now this (ahem) "random" black girl showing up and getting a hug (yuck) from the orange slimeball.

 

 

So Trump hugging a black person goes viral. That doesn’t surprise me, it’s akin to Hitler hugging a Jew, which would also ‘go viral’

 

But we would always know it was a setup, like this was.

[Lone Striker]

Is it just  co-incidence that these 2 racists look vaguely similar ?

 

 

 

Both racists, both dangerous political thugs, both pretending to advocate democracy while actively doing their best to subvert it.

 

Main  difference is that one is Russian, the other is American.

 

Our guy was a nutjob too, but not in the same league as Putin and Miller

 

 

 

 

 

[Footballfirst]

Seems more "sleepy Don" than "sleepy Joe"

 

 

[JFK-1]

This won’t end well for Trump. This is a low IQ with toddler like patience. Let’s see the low IQ toddler sit quietly in a court room all day for weeks.

 

That  would be an ordeal for a toddler and for Trump too.

[Footballfirst]

 

This jury selection process could run on for a while.

[Mikey1874]

Re above its a high standard. Anyone with a hint of maybe possibly disliking or being a fan of Trump will be rejected. 

[Cade]

Hard to find an open and unbiased jury when it comes to the most divisive figure in US history, likes.

 

Can we not just let ChatGPT do it?

[SwindonJambo]

For the 1st time in many months, Biden is now the bookies' favourite by a nose, after lagging the toddler by a distance at times. 

 

https://www.oddschecker.com/politics/us-politics

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

[Mysterion]

4 hours ago, Footballfirst said:

Seems more "sleepy Don" than "sleepy Joe"

 

 

 

Read that when leaving the court he stared out Haberman for this piece of reporting.  Clearly touched a nerve. 😆

[JFK-1]

I think we're going to see a lot of Trump falling asleep in courtrooms. Trump has an exceedingly short attention span and that's for anything he has an actual interest in at all.

Now while you would think he would have a great interest in this case, most normal people in his position would, he's entirely uninterested, not listening and bored. Not that him taking an interest would change anything, this is an open and shut case and if his lawyers haven't told him that they're being unprofessional.

Some discussion here of Trump falling asleep, apparently he was really almost gone, the judge called for a break presumably to make sure everybody was awake.

Incidentally afterwards Trump whined that the judge wouldn't let him skip the trial to see his sons high school graduation. The same son who was being born while Trump was romping with Stormy Daniels, what a coincidence.

 

 

 

[Seymour M Hersh]

15 hours ago, SwindonJambo said:

For the 1st time in many months, Biden is now the bookies' favourite by a nose, after lagging the toddler by a distance at times. 

 

https://www.oddschecker.com/politics/us-politics

 

Trump is well ahead of Biden in 5 of 6 key swing States. Biden ahead in 1 by 1 point. 

[il Duce McTarkin]

3 hours ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

Trump is well ahead of Biden in 5 of 6 key swing States. Biden ahead in 1 by 1 point. 

 

Trumpy is going to skoosh this election.

[Watt-Zeefuik]

4 hours ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

Trump is well ahead of Biden in 5 of 6 key swing States. Biden ahead in 1 by 1 point. 

I will be back on my hobbyhorse that polls right now are largely meaningless. People are not paying attention to the election right now.

 

Obviously it's better to be ahead than behind by the margin of error for an April poll predicting November results is about +-10 percentage points, and that's on the conservative side..

[Watt-Zeefuik]

Calls his opponent "Sleepy Joe."

 

Falls asleep in his own criminal trial.

[Jim_Duncan]

2 hours ago, il Duce McTarkin said:

 

Trumpy is going to skoosh this election.

There isn’t enough popcorn in all the world for November. 

[Seymour M Hersh]

1 hour ago, Watt-Zeefuik said:

I will be back on my hobbyhorse that polls right now are largely meaningless. People are not paying attention to the election right now.

 

Obviously it's better to be ahead than behind by the margin of error for an April poll predicting November results is about +-10 percentage points, and that's on the conservative side..

 

But bookies odds are okay? 🤷‍♂️

[Watt-Zeefuik]

24 minutes ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

But bookies odds are okay? 🤷‍♂️

 

I mean it's all "okay" because chatting about this on JKB is all just for shits and giggles anyway, but at the very least whoever's going to the bookies right now is actually trying to make a call about who's going to win in November, rather than just measuring the vibes right now.

[Mikey1874]

3 hours ago, Watt-Zeefuik said:

I will be back on my hobbyhorse that polls right now are largely meaningless. People are not paying attention to the election right now.

 

Obviously it's better to be ahead than behind by the margin of error for an April poll predicting November results is about +-10 percentage points, and that's on the conservative side..

 

Polls say Trump loses with a criminal conviction. 

[Mikey1874]

6 jurors including foreperson agreed. 

Edited April 16 by Mikey1874

[Watt-Zeefuik]

"DJT" stock for Truth social down 75% from its peak last week. Closing down again today at $22 and still falling in after hours trading.

[Bigsmak]

I hear rumours that he might be charged with Securities fraud as he has lied about the truth social company.  Its the first time he has a public traded one so he's never been in trouble with this before. 

 

That would be hilarious! 

[Mikey1874]

1 hour ago, Mikey1874 said:

6 jurors including foreperson agreed. 

 

Who is the foreperson tasked with leading the jury?

Kayla Epstein

Reporting from court

The foreperson in this historic trial of an American president is actually from... Ireland.

A foreperson is the lead juror charged with overseeing jury deliberations.

The juror, who now lives in Harlem, said he works in sales and previously worked as a waiter.

He is married and likes to spend his spare time outdoors.

It just goes to show that New Yorkers can come from all over the world.

[Ulysses]

[JFK-1]

It's almost comical that Trump is such a buffoon and doesn't know it. I can't remember which but either the Mueller investigation or the impeachment trial for trying to strong arm Ukraine into telling lies for aid.

 

Trump wanted to testify because he doesn't know he's a total idiot and thinks he's a great speaker people will be persuaded by. No comprehension that you're not going to persuade a normally functioning adult with piles of fantasy shite, this is a rally. The lawyers managed to convince him otherwise and he apparently said to them "you don't think i'm a good witness"

 

Seems what he had said while they were trying to prep him would have landed him in jail inside 5 minutes if he had said it to a judge, and Trump is too dumb to know it. I have always said keep Trump talking, the moron will fess up to everything if you just let him ramble.

 

He's such a weirdo he said outside the court today the judge is a Trump hater which may actually be true. But even if so is irrelevant, the judge is a credible professional analysing evidence, Trump a fanatsising moron.

 

It's like Ted Bundy saying this judge doesn't like me, you can't try me unless you find a judge who is a Bundy fan. Trump too dumb to get the absurdity.

 

Trump accidentally CONFESSES to his OWN crime at trial

 

 

 

 

 

[Cade]

Getting him on the witness stand has always been the key.

That idiot will talk himself into jail.

[Watt-Zeefuik]

RIP to former Senator Bob Graham. Probably should have been the 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee, and probably would have won. An always grounded but still fierce critic of the Iraq War.

[Malinga the Swinga]

I have no idea if Trump will win next election but I did hear that this trial is likely the only one that will go ahead prior to election taking place.

Presumably Trump will, if he wins election, put a halt to the other trials therefore does this one take on greater importance as it would be only one where he cannot bluster his way out of trouble by shouting and abusing his detractors?

If he takes the stand, I'd make effort to watch his testimony as it would not only be a historical moment in history but could be one of funniest moments on TV ever.

If he gets found not guilty, and it is possible, see the OJ case, then his momentum to election could be unstoppable. If he's found guilty, opposite is true.

Don't envy the jurors tbh.

[Ulysses]

23 hours ago, Jim_Duncan said:

There isn’t enough popcorn in all the world for November. 

 

"I'm a Palestinian American and I'm gonna help hand the keys to the White House to Donald Trump in November.  And there's plenty of others just like me."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/17/as-a-palestinian-american-i-cant-vote-for-joe-biden-any-more-and-i-am-not-alone?CMP=share_btn_url

 

 

[Jim_Duncan]

36 minutes ago, Ulysses said:

 

"I'm a Palestinian American and I'm gonna help hand the keys to the White House to Donald Trump in November.  And there's plenty of others just like me."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/17/as-a-palestinian-american-i-cant-vote-for-joe-biden-any-more-and-i-am-not-alone?CMP=share_btn_url

 

 

Twenty years ago I got a round of applause from a group of students at an American university when I suggested Americans need to focus less on the first and more on the second part of their hyphenated national identities. Those students were mainly of Hispanic origin.