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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Little tidbit: Jimmy Carter is now the longest lived POTUS in history.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/03/21/day-791/
2/ The former owner of a Florida spa involved in a prostitution investigation claimed she didn't sell access to Trump. Cindy Yang says the allegations that she is a Chinese agent are false, and that she believes she is being persecuted because of her ethnicity and political party. "I'm Chinese. I'm Republican," she said. "That's the reason the Democrats want to check me." She also said that she hasn't had any contact with members of the Chinese government since she moved to the United States 20 years ago. (NBC News)
3/ Trump wants Patriots owner Robert Kraft at the White House celebrating the team's Super Bowl victory despite Kraft's recent arrest on charges of soliciting prostitution at a Florida massage parlor. White House aides are worried that it could turn a photo op into an embarrassing media spectacle. (Politico / New York Times)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/20/trump-bob-kraft-visit-1230492
4/ Trump charged his own reelection campaign $1.3 million for rent, food, lodging and other expenses at Trump-owned properties since taking office. Federal regulations allow candidates to put campaign money into their own businesses only if they pay going rates. (Forbes)
5/ Trump signed an executive order that would deny colleges some federal research and education grants if they failed to comply with free speech standards outlined by the administration. Trump cited complaints by conservatives who allege their views are suppressed on campuses, and that speakers are sometimes assaulted or silenced when protesters threaten violence. Earlier this month, Trump said he would issue an executive order "requiring colleges and universities to support free speech if they want federal research dollars." Details about the policy and how it would work remain unclear. The White House says Trump will sign the order and make a statement about "improving free inquiry, transparency and accountability on campus" this afternoon. (Politico / ABC News / CNN / Washington Post)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/21/politics/campus-free-speech-executive-order-donald-trump/index.html
poll/ 36% of American support impeaching Trump – down 7 percentage points since December. Support had been as high as 47% last fall. (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/20/politics/cnn-poll-impeachment-trump-russia/index.html
poll/ 78% of Republicans who watch Fox News say Trump is the most successful president in history, compared to 49% of Republicans who do not watch Fox News. 79% of Republican Fox News viewers said they believe the FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies were trying to sabotage Trump, compared to 49% of non-Fox News viewing Republicans. (Daily Beast)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/poll-78-of-gop-fox-news-viewers-say-trump-is-best-president-ever
https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-republicans-now-unanimous-in-opposing-abortion-rights-11553172954
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has reportedly released hundreds of migrants from detention facilities along the southern border in Texas due to severe overcrowding. At least 250 migrants were released on Tuesday and Wednesday. Officials say the releases are necessary due to the recent influx of migrants from Central America. Immigrant advocates said the releases are meant to sow confusion at the border to help make the case for Trump's national emergency declaration. (Los Angeles Times / The Hill)
The Florida man who sent pipe bombs to Trump's political enemies pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court. Cesar Sayoc's change-of-plea hearing was made public last week after a conference call between prosecutors, a judge, and Sayoc's attorneys. By pleading guilty, Sayoc will avoid his trial, which was scheduled for July. Sayoc has been held without bail since he was arrested in late October outside of a South Florida auto parts store. Sayoc faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. (Reuters / Bloomberg / Politico / NBC News / CBS News)
Trump announced that ISIS would be "gone by tonight," presenting two maps showing before-and-after photos of the Islamic State territory that he said proved that he's had done more to eradicate the extremists than Obama had. (ABC News / New York Times)
The Department of Defense Inspector General is investigating the acting Secretary of Defense over reported bias for Boeing. A spokesperson for the IG's office said they have "decided to investigate complaints we recently received that Acting Secretary Patrick Shanahan allegedly took actions to promote his former employer, Boeing, and disparage its competitors, allegedly in violation of ethics rules." Shanahan said during his testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee that he supported an investigation into the issue, so the IG's office "informed him that we have initiated this investigation." (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/20/pentagon-investigating-shanahan-boeing-ties-1284597
In a shift in decades-long American policy, Trump announced that "it is time" for the U.S. to "fully recognize Israel's sovereignty" over the Golan Heights, one of the world's most disputed territories. The international community has never recognized Israel's sovereignty over the territory that it captured in 1967. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/21/politics/trump-golan-heights-tweet/index.html
Mueller Watch: Your guide to the conclusion of the Mueller probe. (NBC News / Politico / USA Today)
Edited by sgamer82 on Mar 21st 2019 at 6:14:17 AM
State of Mind
" Trump charged his own reelection campaign $1.3 million for rent, food, lodging and other expenses at Trump-owned properties since taking office. Federal regulations allow candidates to put campaign money into their own businesses only if they pay going rates. (Forbes)"
If he wants to spend his own campaign money on other stupid stuff, by all means keep doing it. Less money for him during the election.
"What a century this week has been." - Seung Min Kim
Queen of Good Things, Honest
Trump doesn't need money. He has all the free press he could ever ask for.
All he has to do is step outside and say, "Mexicans are rapists," and a swarm of press will surround him with follow-up questions, then blanket the headlines with every stupid thing that poured out of his mouth. "Also his opponent likes healthcare. BUT THEN TRUMP SAID THIS!!!"
It worked for him in 2016. Trump is a clickbait goldmine, which unfortunately means his opponent can't get a word in edgewise with reporters.
Edited by TobiasDrake on Mar 21st 2019 at 7:02:02 AM
My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
Trump knows that there's No Such Thing as Bad Publicity very well. In fact, I strongly suspect he's actually Obfuscating Stupidity to some degree to intentionally get people to hate him-because if you hate him, you are thinking about him and probably talking about him too. This also makes him popular with the opponents of the people complaining.
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"
She/her
Or he’s just a vicious asshole bigot whose bully tendencies for getting constant attention coincide with a news media focused on views and hits rather than substantive coverage.
Not mutually exclusive-he ‘’is’’ a jerk, but is deliberately using that to his advantage.
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"
Disasturbator
Oh definitely,he's been a reality tv star he knows how to play up his personality,though I figure he's not acting as he's genuinely like that
New theme music also a box
State of Mind
That actually would be mutually exclusive. Obfuscating Stupidity is about pretending to be stupid. Or vile and racist in this case. Trump is certainly not pretending. Being racist is the one position he stays consistent on at all times and every leak from the White House or from testimony indicates he's just as much a douchebag when not in front of the camera.
"What a century this week has been." - Seung Min Kim
so i made a new avatar
I don't think it's a stretch to say you can genuinely believe something and also exploit that belief for clicks and airtime.
To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."
State of Mind
Interesting anecdote from the Pod Save America hosts when they worked for Obama in '07 about talking about your policy during an election:
Host #1: "Early on in that race there was an SEIU forum about healthcare, and Hillary Clinton already had a detailed healthcare plan ready to go. John Edwards already had a detailed healthcare plan ready to go. Barack Obama said, 'I will pass universal healthcare by the end of my first term in office.' That was his promise.
He did not have a detailed healthcare plan.
We go to the SEIU forum, and they ask them questions about healthcare and their healthcare plans, and Hillary Clinton gives detailed, detailed answers. John Edwards gives detailed answers. Barack Obama fumbles through it and is maybe the angriest I had heard him in the whole campaign because he felt unprepared, he felt like he didn't do the work. And the truth was we were just getting a policy staff together, he didn't have time to put the whole plan together. But he was like, "That's no excuse! I'm running for president. I need to put plans together and we need to get this."
Now the other part of the story is because Hillary Clinton was the Substantive Policy One in the race, for the next sixth months Obama over-corrected and started getting into such detail on every single policy to the extent that in Iowa he was giving these 50-60 minutes long speeches -"
-Other host cuts in, remembering those speeches with total exasperation ![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
-
Host #1: "Because he wanted to prove to people that he was super substantive. And it turns out that people want some substance, but not a ton of substance. Because they also want message and inspiration. And it wasn't until the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in fall that he once again lost all the detail on policy and got back to inspiring people."
Host #2: "If you want to lay out every single policy proposal you have on day one that is an incredible accomplishment and extremely admirable, but politically in terms of communication strategy it makes a lot more sense to sequence them and phase them over the course of them campaign so you might actually get covered on each proposal."
"What a century this week has been." - Seung Min Kim
Queen of Good Things, Honest
That goes back to what I've been saying about how Democrats need to learn how to deliver soundbytes.
The average voter isn't interested in policies. They want to be assured that you have policies, don't get me wrong. But they don't want to hear the policies. They don't want to audit the policies. They don't want a play-by-play of the legalese.
Voters are like IT customers. They have no idea how you're planning on fixing it. They don't want to know. If they cared, they'd have studied computer software themselves. They just want to feel like if they leave their computer in your hands, the problem will get fixed. However that has to happen.
Now, it's good to have your policies and ideas out there somewhere. Maybe on your website? So that if the voters do want to leaf through them, they have the option. But at press events? Speeches? Debates? Being snappy is better than being thorough.
Trump fell ass-backwards into this. He's an asshole and a bully, and he accidentally failed politics so hard it landed him in the White House. Obama was very good at doing it the right way, and AOC's mastered the skill to the point that she can make political statements out of hashtags. #WheresMitch
We gotta keep cultivating this skill.
Edited by TobiasDrake on Mar 21st 2019 at 8:10:28 AM
My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
Organized Canine Bureau Special Agent
This came out.
My bad. Damn. Basically Trevor weights in on the argument of reparations towards the descendants of slavery by the Democrat/Republican factions.
Edited by Ominae on Mar 21st 2019 at 11:53:00 AM
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"
Figure of Hourai
And some summary for those of us who can't watch it?
Avatar Source
Oh, bother.
Anyone who has worked IT support calls would feel tremendous concern for our democracy after reading this.
Edited by M84 on Mar 21st 2019 at 11:49:06 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I will second that. And note that in my experiance, it's pretty accurate. There is a reason that Oligarchy has been the norm for most of human history and arguably even today.
Edited by Soban on Mar 21st 2019 at 11:51:18 AM
Or customers in retail/banking. How I haven't been driven to drinking is beyond me.
Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.
Oddly enough, the best time for the two state solution was under Dubya who was committed firmly to a two state solution and refused to budge on supporting the Palestinians.
That gave them at least a little bargaining room.
I'm not saying it was the only good thing he ever did in his life but it was up there.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Mar 21st 2019 at 9:07:25 AM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
I mean, it was probably the only good thing he did, let's be fair here.
"If you spend all your heart / On something that has died / You are not alive and that can't be a life"
I think most of us are aware of how much shit AOC gets, but here's something to put it into perspective:she receives so many death threats her staff performs risk assessments of every visitor, even the ones who just leave positive post-it notes.
I can't imagine living this way, and I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon. If anything it might get worse. That's legitimately terrifying.
That gave them at least a little bargaining room.
I'm not saying it was the only good thing he ever did in his life but it was up there.
In retrospect, Dubya's behavior towards muslim voters is pretty much unthinkable for the GOP now. He actually made a point of courting their votes, which was actually a smart decision on his part because many of them are pretty conservative.
...then 9/11 happened and it's just been miserable ever since.
Edited by Draghinazzo on Mar 21st 2019 at 1:03:36 PM
W did also help out quite a bit in Haiti in pretty significant way.
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"
She/her
Well, that’s terrifying. Good lord.
Who's AOC?
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"
One Winged Egret
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The young Congresswoman who the GOP collectively decided was their nemesis.
I might have spelled her name wrong.
Edited by Clarste on Mar 21st 2019 at 10:26:55 AM
To be fair, there was a time when Israel had a liberal wing that actually agitated for the two state solution, within the Israeli political arena. They were represented in their parlement, even the majority coalition on occasion (the same was true on the American side). Then the conservatives (in both countries) took over...
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."