To the extent it comes up: Trump crap post-WH years

[EnochRoot]

I went back and watched the whole thing. God Bless Youtube and their ability to watch at a higher speed. The last 20-30 minutes was all setting up how Trump and his campaign knowingly used false information (debunked conspiracy theories and flat out lies as determined by Trump's own appointees) to grift campaign funds. He collected $250 million(?) promised to pay for the legal fees to fight the election fraud. None of that money went to fight fraud, but instead went to the Trump Hotel Collection, Mark Meadow's private charity and a list of other businesses and charities associated with Trump and his minions. Now I think they are swinging the hearings to go after campaign fraud!

There was so much evidence of Trump and his family committing campaign fraud in 2016, so this tact surprises me a bit. Ivanka funneled millions of campaign donations into the Trump family business on top of the campaign grossly overpaying Trump businesses for use of hotel space, Trump Wine and various other Trump businesses. It's pretty hilarious that the victims of this fraud are the ones who still support him. It's so sad that so many people are this fucking stupid to worship a guy with a 40 year history of being a conman and a huckster, and throw money at his campaign for incredibly stupid and obvious lies. Early in the post-election begging for money I was saying the whole thing was a grift and he didn't really believe it*, but after 1/6 I forgot about all of that. The worst was Steve Bannon and a few others bilking dummies out of $millions to privately fund the wall. Those guys pocketed all the money with no intention of ever putting the money towards the wall. They were indicted (did they plead or get convicted, I can't remember what with all of the criminals running in Trump's circle) and the morons who were bilked cheered when Trump pardoned Bannon for ripping them off! I know it's cliche, but half the country is already living in Idiocracy.


*I'm not sure whether Trump actually believed the fraud bullshit. I said before the election that his mental disorder wouldn't allow for him to accept defeat and he'd create a narrative to avoid admitting to himself he lost, and I wouldn't be surprised if he willfully ignored all facts, evidence and counsel and chose to believe the crazy conspiracies because his delicate ego and his stunted personal development left him with a two year old's mentality, so he may actually believe his bullshit. I also wouldn't be surprised if the conman in him knew he could spout bullshit, and as long as he kept repeating his lies, his worshippers would keep sending him money. Fuck, initially announcing his campaign was only supposed to be a PR stunt to sell books for his re-release of The Art of the Deal.

The fact Barr said in his testimony that Trump was (paraphrasing) “a delusional sad, sack of shit,” and he chose to walk away rather than help to invoke the 25th amendment to get him the fuck out of Washington says all you know about that man’s character.

[sancarlos]

Having Republicans be the ones to lay out and describe all the crimes and grifts is a good strategy.

[The Sybian]

Having Republicans be the ones to lay out and describe all the crimes and grifts is a good strategy.

Yep, I just wonder how many people will be convinced who aren’t already. And not just Republicans, but Trump insiders and a previously respected FoxNews producer. Once again, every single person Trump ever appointed or hired eventually gets trashed by Trump and considered a RINO or secret Dem plant. You really have to question the Judgment of a President who calls ever person he ever hired or appointed a moron/traitor etc… because they outed him as incredibly dumb/mentally ill/a criminal/ asking about nuking hurricanes… either he actually is all of those things, or he is an epically horrible executive with an astronomically bad streak of hiring for incredibly important positions.

[Gunpowder]

Having Republicans be the ones to lay out and describe all the crimes and grifts is a good strategy.

Yep, I just wonder how many people will be convinced who aren’t already. And not just Republicans, but Trump insiders and a previously respected FoxNews producer. Once again, every single person Trump ever appointed or hired eventually gets trashed by Trump and considered a RINO or secret Dem plant.

None of them will be. If you check Truth Social (don't but like if you did, even though you wouldn't but you know like, if you did), everything is a false flag meant to distract from real issues and Patriot Front is a bunch of Feds and yada yada 2000 mules

You really have to question the Judgment of a President who calls ever person he ever hired or appointed a moron/traitor etc…

You would think but so far just 587 cases of bad luck.

[The Sybian]

Having Republicans be the ones to lay out and describe all the crimes and grifts is a good strategy.

Yep, I just wonder how many people will be convinced who aren’t already. And not just Republicans, but Trump insiders and a previously respected FoxNews producer. Once again, every single person Trump ever appointed or hired eventually gets trashed by Trump and considered a RINO or secret Dem plant.

None of them will be. If you check Truth Social (don't but like if you did, even though you wouldn't but you know like, if you did), everything is a false flag meant to distract from real issues and Patriot Front is a bunch of Feds and yada yada 2000 mules

You really have to question the Judgment of a President who calls ever person he ever hired or appointed a moron/traitor etc…

You would think but so far just 587 cases of bad luck.

Or MAYBE, the Dems are so incredibly super-competent they can sneak in operatives to every cabinet level position of Trump's admin. That seems the most likely.

[Nonlinear FC]

Update/correction: I mentioned last night that these hearings are being produced by a former ABC News editor/producer... It's actually the former president of ABC News.

[Nonlinear FC]

Lots of lawyers on here, so I don't want to go too far out on a limb, but...

The only real defense for Trump at this point is pleading insanity, in terms of having convinced himself that despite his AG, campaign director and numerous other legal and election experts/staffers telling him he lost and there was no fraud... despite all that, he still knowingly went out and peddled this bullshit... He's going to lean on "but conservative outlets agreed" so it was fine to keep repeating it.

I get what SL is saying, and it's where I started in terms of "will these hearings have an impact," but I'm starting to come around to thinking it just might make a dent. Especially if Fox feels compelled to air it. That's a massive issue for Trumpers. When you completely pull the wool over ppl's eyes and you control 99 percent of the narrative, it's very easy to keep everyone in line.

But hours of unfettered truth is going to blow some of those people's minds. I know a number of GOPers... They're not all conspiracy nuts, they just like to hear what they want to hear and they love "owning the libs." But if you start to lay out a compelling case of fraud, there's a point where they are going to at least pause for a moment and at a minimum stop being so vocal in their support.

[The Sybian]

Lots of lawyers on here, so I don't want to go too far out on a limb, but...

The only real defense for Trump at this point is pleading insanity, in terms of having convinced himself that despite his AG, campaign director and numerous other legal and election experts/staffers telling him he lost and there was no fraud... despite all that, he still knowingly went out and peddled this bullshit... He's going to lean on "but conservative outlets agreed" so it was fine to keep repeating it.

I get what SL is saying, and it's where I started in terms of "will these hearings have an impact," but I'm starting to come around to thinking it just might make a dent. Especially if Fox feels compelled to air it. That's a massive issue for Trumpers. When you completely pull the wool over ppl's eyes and you control 99 percent of the narrative, it's very easy to keep everyone in line.

But hours of unfettered truth is going to blow some of those people's minds. I know a number of GOPers... They're not all conspiracy nuts, they just like to hear what they want to hear and they love "owning the libs." But if you start to lay out a compelling case of fraud, there's a point where they are going to at least pause for a moment and at a minimum stop being so vocal in their support.

I don't think the insanity defense really applies. It's different across jurisdictions, but for the most it's limited to having the capacity to understand right and wrong.

As for convincing the believers, Fox and the GOP have a 30 year head start of indoctrinating the belief that anything opposed to the Party or the message is inherently a lie. They will automatically twist anything into an anti-Trump conspiracy and lie. This is why it's so powerful only using the words of Trump insiders. This still won't sway the true believers, but it may sway fence sitters if there somehow are any still out there. But to be a fence sitter, you have to be so removed from paying attention that there is no way they are watching. The Pod Save guys commented on a piece they were doing interviewing registered Dems, and most didn't even know the Hearing existed.

[EnochRoot]

Lots of lawyers on here, so I don't want to go too far out on a limb, but...

The only real defense for Trump at this point is pleading insanity, in terms of having convinced himself that despite his AG, campaign director and numerous other legal and election experts/staffers telling him he lost and there was no fraud... despite all that, he still knowingly went out and peddled this bullshit... He's going to lean on "but conservative outlets agreed" so it was fine to keep repeating it.

I get what SL is saying, and it's where I started in terms of "will these hearings have an impact," but I'm starting to come around to thinking it just might make a dent. Especially if Fox feels compelled to air it. That's a massive issue for Trumpers. When you completely pull the wool over ppl's eyes and you control 99 percent of the narrative, it's very easy to keep everyone in line.

But hours of unfettered truth is going to blow some of those people's minds. I know a number of GOPers... They're not all conspiracy nuts, they just like to hear what they want to hear and they love "owning the libs." But if you start to lay out a compelling case of fraud, there's a point where they are going to at least pause for a moment and at a minimum stop being so vocal in their support.

I don't think the insanity defense really applies. It's different across jurisdictions, but for the most it's limited to having the capacity to understand right and wrong.

As for convincing the believers, Fox and the GOP have a 30 year head start of indoctrinating the belief that anything opposed to the Party or the message is inherently a lie. They will automatically twist anything into an anti-Trump conspiracy and lie. This is why it's so powerful only using the words of Trump insiders. This still won't sway the true believers, but it may sway fence sitters if there somehow are any still out there. But to be a fence sitter, you have to be so removed from paying attention that there is no way they are watching. The Pod Save guys commented on a piece they were doing interviewing registered Dems, and most didn't even know the Hearing existed.

This is always always always a thing. 1/3 of the country are completely ambivalent to everything unless there’s a nuclear blast and they melt with the rest of us.

ETA - ambivalent isn’t a strong enough term. “Lost in their own world” fits better.

[Gunpowder]

Having Republicans be the ones to lay out and describe all the crimes and grifts is a good strategy.

Yep, I just wonder how many people will be convinced who aren’t already. And not just Republicans, but Trump insiders and a previously respected FoxNews producer. Once again, every single person Trump ever appointed or hired eventually gets trashed by Trump and considered a RINO or secret Dem plant.

None of them will be. If you check Truth Social (don't but like if you did, even though you wouldn't but you know like, if you did), everything is a false flag meant to distract from real issues and Patriot Front is a bunch of Feds and yada yada 2000 mules

You really have to question the Judgment of a President who calls ever person he ever hired or appointed a moron/traitor etc…

You would think but so far just 587 cases of bad luck.

Or MAYBE, the Dems are so incredibly super-competent they can sneak in operatives to every cabinet level position of Trump's admin. That seems the most likely.

I don't trust the incompetent Federal government to do ANYTHING except seamlessly pull off a massive deepstate espionage operation.

[Johnnie]

And then if the logic followed, and Trump is insane, why does an insane person get to be president?

I wouldn't want anyone who is insane to be president no matter their political affiliation.

It was maddening listening to the latest Real Time with Kellyann's Conjob as a guest. Josh Barro rightfully asked this question and all she does is filibuster about gas prices and inflation.

Misdirect. Misdirect. Misdirect. That's all they fucking have.

[Nonlinear FC]

ALL they are talking about is gas prices. And, yeah, I get it as a basic political strategy.

It's just not effective in the face of the straight dope being played out on national TV over the course of more than a month.

(The only other tactic I've seen is trying to blame Nancy Pelosi and the (female) mayor of DC for not calling in the national guard. Or for questioning why the capitol police weren't more prepared. Which... wow. That's not going to work, at all.)

[L-Jam3]

And then if the logic followed, and Trump is insane, why does an insane person get to be president?

I wouldn't want anyone who is insane to be president no matter their political affiliation.

It was maddening listening to the latest Real Time with Kellyann's Conjob as a guest. Josh Barro rightfully asked this question and all she does is filibuster about gas prices and inflation.

Misdirect. Misdirect. Misdirect. That's all they fucking have.

If Kellyanne Conway was on Bill Maher's show, which is on HBO, and no one told her to fuck all the way off on any of the many failures of the administration she propped up, then what's the point of that show?

[Johnnie]

And then if the logic followed, and Trump is insane, why does an insane person get to be president?

I wouldn't want anyone who is insane to be president no matter their political affiliation.

It was maddening listening to the latest Real Time with Kellyann's Conjob as a guest. Josh Barro rightfully asked this question and all she does is filibuster about gas prices and inflation.

Misdirect. Misdirect. Misdirect. That's all they fucking have.

If Kellyanne Conway was on Bill Maher's show, which is on HBO, and no one told her to fuck all the way off on any of the many failures of the administration she propped up, then what's the point of that show?

Violent agreement from me on that. I'd love if someone called her a bad mother to her face too.

[Nonlinear FC]

So, watching a few more items and what's striking me today:

We on this board talked about a lot of the stuff being brought out pretty extensively. I'm finding it a little frustrating that these reporters/anchors are actually acknowledging that Trump was using multiple means to poison the well LONG before November.

If y'all don't remember, Trump started saying in APRIL(!) that "the only way we'll lose this election is through voter fraud." He started somewhere over the summer saying mail-in voting was the key part of the "democrat plot" to steal the election. He even pulled the FBI director into a bogus press conference saying they were looking into possible voter fraud weeks before the actual election.

I'm not sure why they couldn't seem to connect those dots until now?? It was all very obvious what he was doing and we called it out.

It's like... they are so worried about not muckraking that they put their collective head in the sand. This is just another example as to why Fox kills it, while CNN and MSNBC flounder in comparison. They should've been shouting to the rooftops about what Trump was obviously trying to do.

[The Sybian]

And then if the logic followed, and Trump is insane, why does an insane person get to be president?

I wouldn't want anyone who is insane to be president no matter their political affiliation.

It was maddening listening to the latest Real Time with Kellyann's Conjob as a guest. Josh Barro rightfully asked this question and all she does is filibuster about gas prices and inflation.

Misdirect. Misdirect. Misdirect. That's all they fucking have.

If Kellyanne Conway was on Bill Maher's show, which is on HBO, and no one told her to fuck all the way off on any of the many failures of the administration she propped up, then what's the point of that show?

Violent agreement from me on that. I'd love if someone called her a bad mother to her face too.

For some reason I clicked on a Youtube link of Trevor Noah interviewing Kellyann. I cringed as I did this and thought "why is Trevor giving her a platform to pitch her book?" Trevor started by saying, "most of my fans are probably asking why I am inviting you on..." so I was hooked. Trevor made a comment early about how she never answers questions and instead spins an attack completely off topic. First time she avoided a question by attacking Biden, Trevor politely cut her off and said something to the effect of, " see, you are doing it now. If you continue to harp on gas prices instead of answering my question about Trump, you are proving my fans right that I shouldn't have invited you on the show." She tried it a couple more times and he was able to mostly reel her in.

[Giff]

Seems as good a place as any to say Fuck Bill Maher. The most punchable of punchable faces.

[DaveInSeattle]

Seems as good a place as any to say Fuck Bill Maher. The most punchable of punchable faces.

Absolutely. He's always been terrible.

[DaveInSeattle]

Good work, if you can get it...$60K for 2 1/2 minutes....

[L-Jam3]

60 Grand for 2 1/2 minutes, yet she's not even the most successful whore in the family.

[govmentchedda]

Seems as good a place as any to say Fuck Bill Maher. The most punchable of punchable faces.

Absolutely. He's always been terrible.

+1 He's a fucking racist prick.

[Nonlinear FC]

A lot more of that stuff is going to come out, or is going to be leaked.

They are making a really strong case for The Big Grift.

[pruitt2]

60 Grand for 2 1/2 minutes, yet she's not even the most successful whore in the family.

And the mooks just keep on giving and giving to this family.

[Nonlinear FC]

I'm now starting to fast forward to wondering what arresting Trump would look like. This is some really damning stuff.

[Johnnie]

I don't think Merrick Garland has the nuts, frankly. Not sure what AG would, but I just don't see it.

The only thing that I'm banking on with this entire hearing process is that it becomes a blip on the radar of the vast majority of Americans who barely care. There are so many apolitical people that if Trump does get arrested it's treated like a whoa moment since so many people are disengaged. Kinda like how fairweather fans suddenly get engaged come playoff time.

Remember how there was an initial push to have a true bipartisan commission to investigate all of this and we were left with just the House Committee? That doesn't matter now. The fact that there was a committee at all is the news at the end of the day. So if Trump were to get arrested, it may be treated similarly. To a person: "Whoa, this dude committed all these crimes?? My opinion, obviously.

[cerranoredux]

My god, if the democrats are gonna be seen as hyper partisan no matter what they do, go out and put the bracelets on the fat morbid fuck. The resulting civil unrest is gonna be taking place on Election Day otherwise, so might as well get it over with and maybe the elections in November will be a chance to rectify dipshittery that *will*’come from putting orange Julius on a state and/or federal pen.

ETA: star to state

[Johnnie]

January 6th was an inside job.

[Nonlinear FC]

How the fuck does this Loudermilk character NOT realize he's gonna be captured on video? He had to know. Why doesn't he have some type of spin out about being "fooled" or something. That guy is fucked.

[EnochRoot]

How the fuck does this Loudermilk character NOT realize he's gonna be captured on video? He had to know. Why doesn't he have some type of spin out about being "fooled" or something. That guy is fucked.

Because they wanted to end the United States Government and replace it with one that wouldn’t prosecute events that helped bring it about.

[Nonlinear FC]

BTW, just for a little context... And maybe some of you guys have been on a congressional tour from your MoC. Unless you are a REALLY big donor, or possibly a close personal friend or relative, Congresspeople very rarely are the ones giving these tours. On rare occasions, you might see an AA or CoS provide the tour, but in my experience, it's usually a pretty low level staffer who is just happy to not be on the frontline answering shitty phone calls.

So, that's just another angle that I hope the J6 Committee delves into here.

Spontaneous act... fucking bullshit.

[Nonlinear FC]

How the fuck does this Loudermilk character NOT realize he's gonna be captured on video? He had to know. Why doesn't he have some type of spin out about being "fooled" or something. That guy is fucked.

Because they wanted to end the United States Government and replace it with one that wouldn’t prosecute events that helped bring it about.

Well, sure, of course, but my point is that once that didn't happen, cover your ass. He's apparently been lying/omitting facts from Day one. String his ass up.

[duff]

BTW, just for a little context... And maybe some of you guys have been on a congressional tour from your MoC. Unless you are a REALLY big donor, or possibly a close personal friend or relative, Congresspeople very rarely are the ones giving these tours. On rare occasions, you might see an AA or CoS provide the tour, but in my experience, it's usually a pretty low level staffer who is just happy to not be on the frontline answering shitty phone calls.

So, that's just another angle that I hope the J6 Committee delves into here.

Spontaneous act... fucking bullshit.

When we were given a tour a congressional tour, it was a low level staffer. Our rep wasn't even there that day, and there were only 3 people in the office. They did have to tell the off duty police officer that he would need to go back to his car and lock up his gun. That was interesting.

[EnochRoot]

How the fuck does this Loudermilk character NOT realize he's gonna be captured on video? He had to know. Why doesn't he have some type of spin out about being "fooled" or something. That guy is fucked.

Because they wanted to end the United States Government and replace it with one that wouldn’t prosecute events that helped bring it about.

Well, sure, of course, but my point is that once that didn't happen, cover your ass. He's apparently been lying/omitting facts from Day one. String his ass up.

Gerrymandered America has managed to send a lot of very stupid people to congress.

[mister d]

Well, sure, of course, but my point is that once that didn't happen, cover your ass. He's apparently been lying/omitting facts from Day one. String his ass up.

I know I can sometimes be a touch cynical about this country's leadership, but I really don't think he'll face any legal backlash because it would implicate the entire party. At worst, they'll make sure he's out of office as soon as needed via retirement or loss.

[tennbengal]

Re: high gas prices (and other high prices) - am I completely off-base to assume this is untethered from actual inflation and is artificially high so companies can rob everyone and also make Biden and the dems look bad? especially the gasoline part of this?

[The Sybian]

Re: high gas prices (and other high prices) - am I completely off-base to assume this is untethered from actual inflation and is artificially high so companies can rob everyone and also make Biden and the dems look bad? especially the gasoline part of this?

I think so. Some of it is related to shipping/manufacturing problems due to COVID (including chain events like inability to supply products because microchip shortages). Gas is high for several reasons, but from what I've read, the gas companies are using it as an excuse to overly inflate prices to boost profits. The Dems passed a Bill in the House to limit gas companies from profiteering, but the Republicans in the Senate voted it down so they can blame Biden for high gas prices. It's absolute insanity. I've long said they would rather intentionally hurt their voters to blame the Dems than actually fix a problem, but this and the baby formula Bills are just more blatantly obvious than I'd imagine they would have gone. Disgusting. And the worst part, it's working!!!!

[Rush2112]

Absolutely, it's also to make up for revenue lost from COVID, no travel, everyone working from home, etc.

[Johnnie]

[Nonlinear FC]

Today is making a solid point, but, man... It's just a little too dry. The judge dude's delivery is PAINFUL. Pence's guy is pretty good, so I think they're gonna lean on him more.

This Eastman character is a dipshit. Hope he gets disbarred, at a minimum.

[Rex]

I don't care what anyone else says, "I've decided I should be on the pardon list" is some seriously funny shit.