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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
I see what you did there.
So many Republicans are finding safe harbor in the Democrat party right now that I could conceivably believe the party itself splitting in half, with the radical extremists becoming as credible as a third-party interest while the more reasonable elements of the party remain with the Democrats, creating a sort of two-party system within the party itself.
During the primary, we talked about how Sanders and Clinton, in a reasonable election, would have been the Democrat and Republican candidates respectively. Their primary was what the general election is supposed to be. That may be just a taste of things to come if the GOP itself proves no longer sustainable and the Democrat party balloons from having both the left and the right now encompassed within it.
And, like, George H.W. Bush is just the latest in big-name GOP celebrities throwing their support behind Clinton as a sort of "Neo-Republican" Democrat. If Trump fails, he could bring about the end of the Republican Party and a necessary restructuring of how the nation views left and right politics.
edited 20th Sep '16 9:18:27 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-used-258000-from-his-charity-to-settle-legal-problems/2016/09/20/adc88f9c-7d11-11e6-ac8e-cf8e0dd91dc7_story.html
Trump is on some very thin ice right now. Of course the hardcore supporters don't care but still interesting.
For anyone who doesn't want to click the link, brief summary:
Despite his refusal to release his tax returns, damning financial data continues leaking out of Trump like water from a faucet as it relates to the Trump Foundation, a non-profit charity he owns and is responsible for, but is funded entirely by donations from other parties.
Misappropriations from the Trump Foundation have not been uncommon. In 2013, he used $5,000 from the charity to buy advertising for his hotel chain. He spent $10,000 of his charity’s money to buy a portrait of himself during his own charity’s fundraiser. I’m sorry, a SECOND portrait, as he’d already used $20,000 of the Trump Foundation’s money on a Trump portrait.
He’s even used the Foundation to pay bribes. In 2013, Florida’s Attorney General Pam Bondi was contemplating investigating fraud allegations against Trump University when suddenly, her supporters received a donation of $25,000 from the Trump Foundation. To nobody’s surprise, they dropped the investigation immediately. However, the rabbit hole goes much deeper than that.
In 2007, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach was facing a legal dispute over the size of its flagpole. The pole was over twice the legal limit for the city and, when challenged, Trump asserted that “You don’t need a permit to put up the American flag!” The town began fining him $1,250 per day, racking up over $120,000 in unpaid fines.
Trump sued the town in response, claiming that a smaller flag “would fail to appropriately express the magnitude of Donald J. Trump’s … patriotism.” He eventually settled the matter with the city of Palm Beach by agreeing to pay $100,000 to Fisher House, a charity organization to provide housing for military veterans, which he paid entirely out of the Trump Foundation’s funds.
Then in 2010, a man named Martin Greenberg won a $1 million prize for hitting a hole-in-one during a charity tournament at Trump’s Westchester golf course. Only to be later told that he was ineligible for the prize because the rules stated the shot had to go 150 yards and the course was deliberately made just shy of that distance.
Greenberg sued and, in response, Trump agreed to a settlement of $158,000 to the charity of Greenberg’s choosing, which was paid entirely out of funds from the Trump Foundation.
With over a quarter million in misappropriated funds, the Trump Foundation seems primarily concerned with taking money from donators and funneling it straight into flagellating Trump's ego and covering his legal expenses. The Trump charity truly is a charity for Trump.
edited 20th Sep '16 10:21:18 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Ladies, gentlemen and whatever here is Trump a shining beacon of trustworthiness and honesty.
How great it is the Trump supporters claim that Hillary is crooked to the bone when Trump actively engages in frauds and misappropriation of funds for his own sake.
Truly the one that will make America great again.
Inter arma enim silent legesI think there's been a miscommunication here.
edited 20th Sep '16 11:09:11 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.![]()
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NoName's response referred to the Trump Foundation issue, so I assume your initial question was referring to Huma Abedin's marriage problems. As for why you should care about that: you shouldn't, but the fact that that non-issue has received more media attention is, in itself, an issue.
edited 20th Sep '16 11:09:13 AM by Blueeyedrat
To be moderately fair though, this is Anthony Weiner we're talking about Maybe he's a 'good democrat' but the guy has personal behavior issues going back some years. (And the misfortune of having the last name "Weiner".)
More apt, though, is that fact that Brangalena breaking up is being treated as a bigger headline.
A surname that is a strangely appropriate description of his personal behavior issues, at that.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.The idea that his marital infidelities somehow meant that Abedin had told him some sort of confidential information and that he was subsequently spreading or using this info however, was totally fabricated and implied by Trump, and has no basis in fact. Trump was using the break up to insinuate that Abedin had somehow passed important state secrets, despite the fact that both of these people should know how to keep such secrets, and also know not to ask about such things if Abedin was in fact trusted with such things. That somehow, in remaining married to this man as long as she did, Abedin somehow endangered state secrets and security.
Basically, Trump made it a deal by doing what he usually does; rampant and gross speculation. And some sexism.
Colbert f*cking went OFF on Trump for claiming to have ended the Birther Controversy.
I can't wait to see what statement of Hillary's they dissect as her "biggest lie yet" in order to provide the illusion of balance.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Neither Colbert nor Trevor Noah have really been bagging on Hillary for big lies. Their criticism is that she repeatedly makes small lies, such as trying to act like everything was fine after the pneumonia incident when she actually could have won political points by going, "Hey everyone, totally being upfront here, I have pneumonia and that incident at the 9/11 rally happened 'cause I consider it more important to serve the American people than to get the bed-rest my doctor advised."
With Trump, the accusation is, "He makes these huge sweeping bullshit statements," and with Clinton, it's "She reflexively denies everything whenever challenged on anything, and then only comes clean when caught."
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.CNN has Clinton leading Trump in Florida by 5 points.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/20/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-florida-poll/index.html

Regarding Trump: I've heard the logic that he doesn't really mean anything he says and that he's just pandering to his base a lot. And there's a huge, glaring flaw in it: we have seen Trump lie and Trump is the shittiest liar. One of his campaign's biggest issues is that he's too honest for his own good. He fails so hard at dogwhistling because he can't lie for crap and when he tries, he's prone to making this little asides that reveal his paper-thin deception.
Like, if he was just pandering about Muslims, he'd sound like this.
Oh good! They're already having trouble getting Trump cronies through the primary against established and experienced GOP senators. If they proceed to disqualify those who won their primaries but refuse to lick Trump's boots, then the Dems taking Congress is all but guaranteed.
Meanwhile, they're threatening to ban Ted Cruz, Jeb!, and John Kasich from running in 2020 which would be amazing because Cruz is as terrifying as Trump but does an infinitely better job of presenting himself like a reasonable person with opinions that aren't toxic.
Cruz is a legitimate threat for 2020 because he's planning to run on the "I F*cking Told You So" platform after Trump collapses. So if Trump loses and the GOP bans Cruz from coming back, that's two birds with one stone.
Oh, this is just the continuation of the trend that's been going since the primary, which I've taken to calling the Republican Civil War. And yes, it is entirely possible that the party may collapse entirely from the strain of all this.
edited 20th Sep '16 8:51:02 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.