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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#251276: Aug 6th 2018 at 7:20:24 PM

He lacks trump's..."popularity" and would only be in for a short time till the next election.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#251277: Aug 6th 2018 at 7:21:35 PM

Trump being senile or borderline has been obvious for awhile.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Aug 6th 2018 at 7:22:37 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#251278: Aug 6th 2018 at 7:22:10 PM

Pence would be an absolute nightmare as president.

They should have sent a poet.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#251279: Aug 6th 2018 at 7:23:21 PM

Be careful what you wish for, then we'd be stuck with Pence.

He's a fundamentalist who hates gays so he certainly doesn't get my endorsement but I think it'd be the case of fighting Pence on 1 or 2 fronts versus every single front imaginable from the environment to gays to immigration to war to being a servant of Russia.

Not an improvement but a simplification, if that makes sense. I'm no longer of the opinion Trump is a better option than his insane VP, though.

Obviously, I'd love both to be out and a Democrat Speaker take their place.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Aug 6th 2018 at 7:24:21 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#251280: Aug 6th 2018 at 7:30:09 PM

Pence would be worse in the sense that he would actually know how to get legislation passed in Congress. Because he is a career politician who knows how the system works.

But he is not as popular, nor is he as blatantly awful on every front. And it is not like he is not already in a position of great power.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#251281: Aug 6th 2018 at 7:34:49 PM

With trump's mental state I wouldn't be surprised to wake up one morning and hear that he wandered onto the highway or that he had a mental breakdown and murdered Pence in his delirious state.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#251282: Aug 6th 2018 at 7:37:36 PM

https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2018/08/06/day-564/

Day 564: A complete fabrication.

1/ Trump admitted that the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between top campaign aides and a Russian lawyer was to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. "This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics - and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!" Trump's tweet contradicted Trump Jr.'s original statement about the meeting – which was dictated by Trump – that the meeting was to discuss the adoption of Russian children. (New York Times / New Yorker / NBC News / NPR)

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/06/635860399/trump-admits-his-son-met-with-russian-lawyer-to-get-dirt-on-clinton

2/ Trump told confidants that he is worried about how the Robert Mueller probe could impact Trump Jr.'s life. Mueller is investigating Trump Jr.'s role in organizing the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with Russians promising dirt on Hillary Clinton. One adviser said Trump doesn't believe his son intentionally broke the law, but that Trump Jr. may have inadvertently wandered into legal ­jeopardy. Trump tweeted that his concern about Trump Jr.'s potential legal exposure from the meeting was "Fake News reporting" and "a complete fabrication." (Washington Post / ABC News)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-total-fabrication-concerned-son-legal-trouble-russia/story?id=57043917

Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley this week said that if Trump Jr. "misled the committee, he's lying to Congress. That's a crime. And that'd be up to the prosecutors, not me." (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/04/politics/trump-concerned-trump-jr-mueller/index.html

Why this weekend's Trump Tower tweet matters. The tweet comes at a time when Trump is increasingly anxious about Robert Mueller's investigation and how it may impact him and his family. (CNN / Washington Post)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/06/politics/trump-tower-tweet/index.html

Hope Hicks was spotted boarding Air Force Once ahead of Trump's departure for a campaign rally in Ohio. The former White House communications director resigned from her role in February, a day after testifying before the House Intelligence Committee and saying she told white lies on the job. (The Hill / CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/04/politics/hope-hicks-air-force-one/index.html

3/ Trump has raised more than $200,000 for his Patriot Legal Expense Fund Trust, but hasn't spent any money on legal services. The fund was launched in late February 2018 to pay for legal expenses incurred by White House officials and allies caught up in Robert Mueller's investigation. Through June, the only expenditures have been to an insurance provider and an accounting firm, totaling less than $50,000. (Daily Beast / ABC News)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/top-trump-donors-made-largest-contributions-legal-defense/story?id=57061721

4/ Documents from Trump's voter fraud commission "do not contain evidence of widespread voter fraud," according to Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, one of the panel's 11 members. After reading through more than 8,000 pages of documents, Dunlap said he believed that the goal of the commission "wasn’t just a matter of investigating President Trump's claims that 3 to 5 million people voted illegally" but that it "seems to have been to validate those claims." The panel was disbanded in January, and the White House claimed at the time that despite "substantial evidence of voter fraud," the commission was shut down due to legal challenges from states. The panel never presented any findings or evidence of widespread voter fraud. Kris Kobach, the commission's vice chair, however, said at the time that the panel was shut down because "some people on the left were getting uncomfortable about how much we were finding out." (Washington Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/08/03/the-most-bizarre-thing-ive-ever-been-a-part-of-trump-panel-found-no-voter-fraud-ex-member-says/

A district judge has struck down a Federal Election Commission rule that allowed for anonymous donations to "dark money" groups. Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the FEC regulation allowing for those donors to remain anonymous fell below the standard that Congress meant to set when it passed laws on disclosing the sources of political donations. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/04/campaigns-dark-money-groups-donors-anonymous-ruling-762440

Marco Rubio said he'd consider altering bipartisan legislation to automatically sanction Russia for any future election meddling in order to get the DETER Act passed. The measure would bar foreign governments from buying ads to influence U.S. elections and would give the director of national intelligence the ability to deploy "national security tools," such as sanctions. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/05/rubio-election-meddling-russia-763536

Trump tweeted that Kris Kobach has his "full and total Endorsement!" for governor of Kansas, despite warnings from aides that it would alienate Republicans loyal to incumbent Gov. Jeff Colyer. Kobach is an advocate of stricter voter identification laws in his state, including a requirement that new voters provide proof of citizenship when they register, which a federal judge recently struck down. (Associated Press / NPR / Politico)

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/06/635850525/kobachs-polarizing-views-may-not-hurt-his-chances-of-becoming-governor-of-kansas

5/ Trump signed an executive order to reimpose several sanctions against Iran. Three months after unilaterally pulling the U.S. out of the "horrible, one-sided" Iran nuclear deal, Trump said today's move is meant to exert "maximum economic pressure" on Iran. Trump also warned all other countries "to make clear that the Iranian regime faces a choice: either change its threatening, destabilizing behavior and reintegrate with the global economy, or continue down a path of economic isolation." (Associated Press)

https://apnews.com/d91a8e71b45b456a97f6a633a391a0c4/The-Latest:-Trump-reinstates-many-sanctions-on-Iran

6/ Two of the largest American steel companies, both of which have deep ties to the Trump administration, successfully objected to hundreds of tariff exemption requests by American companies that buy foreign steel. Nucor and United States Steel objected to 1,600 exemption requests filed with the Commerce Department over the last several months, arguing that companies should not be exempt from the tariffs because the imported products are readily available from American steel manufacturers. The Trump administration established a process for companies to request "exclusions" from the metal tariffs, but the Commerce Department also allowed American companies to challenge exclusion requests. Not a single exclusion challenge by the two companies has failed to date. (New York Times)

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/05/us/politics/nucor-us-steel-tariff-exemptions.html

7/ A federal judge ruled on Friday that the Trump administration must fully restore the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, setting a 20-day deadline for the administration to do so. DC District Judge John Bates said the Trump administration failed to justify its proposal to end DACA and that its rationale for dropping the program was inadequate. Jeff Sessions said in a statement that the Justice Department will "take every lawful measure" to defend the decision to terminate the Obama-era program. (NPR / Washington Times / CNN / Politico)

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/03/635546997/judge-orders-trump-administration-to-fully-restore-daca

Notables.

Trump blamed Gov. Jerry Brown and "bad environmental laws" for California's catastrophic wildfires. In a tweet, Trump claimed that "vast amounts of water," which "can be used for fires," are "foolishly being diverted into the Pacific Ocean." Firefighters have not raised concerns about the availability of water. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/06/donald-trump-california-fires-tweets-764869

Maria Butina, the alleged Russian spy, socialized with a former Trump campaign aide weeks before the 2016 election. At the time, J.D. Gordon planned to join Trump's transition team, but ultimately never did. From March 2016 until August 2016, Gordon was the point person for an advisory group on foreign policy and national security for the Trump campaign. Paul Erickson, a GOP operative with whom Butina was in a romantic relationship, told her that Gordon was "playing a crucial role in the Trump transition effort and would be an excellent addition to any of the U.S./Russia friendship dinners" that might be held. (Washington Post / New York Times)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-associate-socialized-with-alleged-russian-agent-maria-butina-in-final-weeks-of-2016-campaign/2018/08/03/d87c1d84-96a6-11e8-80e1-00e80e1fdf43_story.html

Rand Paul invited Russian lawmakers to Washington after meeting Russian members of parliament in Moscow. Paul is also expected to meet with Russian deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov and State Duma Foreign Affairs committee head Leonid Slutsky during his visit. (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/06/politics/rand-paul-russia-lawmaker-invite-maria-butina/index.html

The Russian Foreign Ministry tapped Steve Segal to help improve "relations between Russia and the United States in the humanitarian field, including cooperation in culture, arts, public and youth exchanges." (New York Times)

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/05/world/asia/steven-seagal-putin-russia.html

Kristin Davis, the "Manhattan Madam," is scheduled to testify before Robert Mueller's grand jury in Washington this week. Last week an investigator on Mueller’s team questioned Davis, an associate of former Trump adviser Roger Stone, about Russian collusion. (NBC News)

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/manhattan-madam-kristin-davis-testify-mueller-grand-jury-week-n897951

The DNC warned Democrats running in November's midterms not to use devices made by Chinese manufacturers ZTE and Huawei. Top officials from the CIA, NSA, FBI and the Defense Intelligence Agency all testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee in February that the Chinese smartphone makers posed a security threat to American customers. (CNN)

https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/03/technology/democratic-national-committee-zte-huawei/index.html

Apple removed five of Infowars' six podcasts from its iTunes directory for violating its hate speech guidelines. A few hours later, Spotify, Facebook, and You Tube also removed Alex Jones' conspiratorial content. (Buzz Feed News / The Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/aug/06/apple-removes-podcasts-infowars-alex-jones

The Newseum stopped selling the "You Are Very Fake News" T-shirts from its store. The online store is still selling "Make America Great Again" hats. (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/04/newseum-fake-news-shirt-backlash-762443

A Trump supporter threatened "to shoot" CNN reporters Brian Stelter and Don Lemon during an on-air call with C-SPAN. The caller, identified as "Don from State College, Pennsylvania," accused Stelter and Lemon of "calling Trump supporters all racists." (Huff Post / The Hill)

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/400465-cnns-brian-stelter-airs-clip-of-c-span-caller-threatening-to-shoot-him-and-don

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#251283: Aug 6th 2018 at 7:50:55 PM

Putin hiring a celebrity makes sense to get Trump to pay attention.

Can Britain hire Hulk Hogan to talk about Brexit trade agreements?

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
BearyScary Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: You spin me right round, baby
#251284: Aug 6th 2018 at 8:00:22 PM

...Isn't Don Jr in trouble because he was helping Trump with the Trump Tower meeting? Did Trump truthfully not foresee any problems with this?

Do not obey in advance.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#251285: Aug 6th 2018 at 8:01:42 PM

Why is anyone surprised at Trump admitting criminality?

He does it every day.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
CookingCat Since: Jul, 2018
#251286: Aug 6th 2018 at 8:10:05 PM

Christ, a month in, and Wheeler is even worse than Pruitt. He's now allowing asbestos back into manufacturing: https://archpaper.com/2018/08/epa-asbestos-manufacturing/

Edited by CookingCat on Aug 6th 2018 at 8:15:14 AM

PushoverMediaCritic I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out. from the Italy of America Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
#251287: Aug 6th 2018 at 8:19:46 PM

Considering how much people seem to be ignoring his official statements, it seems (and I hope) that Trump is on the fast-track to becoming a powerless figurehead of a leader. I'd still prefer him getting impeached, but him effectively yelling into the void is an acceptable outcome too.

Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#251288: Aug 6th 2018 at 8:21:58 PM

[up][up] Does anyone even use asbestos anymore? Pretty sure we started using other stuff a long time ago.

Imca (Veteran)
#251289: Aug 6th 2018 at 8:29:45 PM

Actualy, yes.

Asbestos is still used heavily, there are just now a lot of restrictions on where it can be used, meaning no construction, no residential.

It is used as insulation in some industrial areas though, break pads, and other high heat environments where you don't want it to catch fire are often made with it as one of the components, since it is safe as long as the fibers don't break off this works.

Its kind of one of those things that is very useful, but can be dangerous if misshandled, and was overused in the past.... like lead or mercury.

But as long as proper regulations and controls are placed on it, and this is a very dumb move because it rolls back on those regulations much like allowing lead in paint agian would be.

Edited by Imca on Aug 6th 2018 at 8:34:16 AM

DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#251290: Aug 6th 2018 at 8:45:10 PM

[up]x3 If one (or both) House(s) of Congress fall(s), then his Presidency does essentially end (unless Republicans dominate 2020). Democrats will work tirelessly to reign in Trump, and even though in most cases they can't do anything (even if they gained the Senate, they wouldn't have enough seats to over-ride a Veto in 2018), Trump couldn't do anything either. Also, if Trump makes 1 wrong move (and knowing him, he will), Democrats will absolutely pounce and begin an Impeachment process.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#251291: Aug 6th 2018 at 9:18:12 PM

A bunch of people seem to think impeachment isn't on the agenda versus just a lame duck presidency as a goal.

Which is bizarre given how awful Trump is.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Hylarn (Don’t ask)
#251292: Aug 6th 2018 at 9:23:11 PM

I wouldn't want to impeach Trump unless I though there was a good chance of it succeeding. Which looks unlikely

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#251293: Aug 6th 2018 at 9:31:56 PM

If there is indeed solid evidence of Trump's criminal activity, a Democratic Party dominated Congress will push for impeachment. Otherwise, they will simply rein him in as if he were an especially disobedient and incontinent pet.

Disgusted, but not surprised
tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#251295: Aug 6th 2018 at 10:09:18 PM

I can't help but feel they also just don't want to have to keep fixing it

TheRoguePenguin Since: Jul, 2009
#251296: Aug 6th 2018 at 10:21:20 PM

So if Trump typically tweets at 3 AM eastern, then in about two hours he's going to start rage-tweeting about his star.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#251297: Aug 6th 2018 at 10:31:56 PM

It's no secret that Trump is hated in Hollywood. In large part because he's an embodiment of everything wrong with Hollywood culture. A lot of people in Hollywood have to deal with their own Trumps in their lives, making it all the more galling that someone who reminds them of their own grabby director or film exec is now POTUS.

If I were a betting man, I'd bet good money that some of those councilmembers secretly wanted to commend the vandals rather than punish them.

Edited by M84 on Aug 7th 2018 at 1:32:24 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#251298: Aug 7th 2018 at 1:52:52 AM

How the HELL does Trump even have a Walk of Fame star in the first place? What has he ever done which is special enough to warrant one?

You know, I am a little bit confused that so many people are still talking about getting Trump on obstruction. Why going for the low hanging fruit? It shouldn't be too difficult to proof that what he did was way worse. And the deeper Müller digs, the more dirt he will find, especially the more he looks into Trumps strange relationship to Russia.

3of4 Just a harmless giant from a foreign land. from Five Seconds in the Future. Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
#251299: Aug 7th 2018 at 1:57:19 AM

[up]If you'd have payed attention you might know that Obstruction is only the first of multiple ongoing investigations.

It's also a good way to pry open the way for the followups.

"You can reply to this Message!"
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#251300: Aug 7th 2018 at 2:03:23 AM

1. Trump has been involved in a shitton of television over the years and is a perfectly fine character. It's just his character is his actual persona and he's probably a murderer (his partners at the Taj Mahal's mysterious deaths while working with the mob) among many other crimes.

2. Obstruction brought down Nixon.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.

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