Surviving a second Trump admin*

[neoplacebo]

I keep wondering why trump refuses to release the 247 million dollars Congress appropriated for the Kennedy Center renovation and instead lie that his faboulous fundraising ability is the only thing that can save it and that he'll tear it down if he can't put his name on it. What the hell is wrong with these people?

[supesalemgr2]

I keep wondering why trump refuses to release the 247 million dollars Congress appropriated for the Kennedy Center renovation and instead lie that his faboulous fundraising ability is the only thing that can save it and that he'll tear it down if he can't put his name on it. What the hell is wrong with these people?

I agree with you. If Trump would drop his naming ego trip proper renovations would have bi-partisan support.

[neoplacebo]

I keep wondering why trump refuses to release the 247 million dollars Congress appropriated for the Kennedy Center renovation and instead lie that his faboulous fundraising ability is the only thing that can save it and that he'll tear it down if he can't put his name on it. What the hell is wrong with these people?

I agree with you. If Trump would drop his naming ego trip proper renovations would have bi-partisan support.

As far as I know, there has never been anything that isn't bipartisan with regard to the Kennedy Center until trump came along. Besides, he has no authority to sequester or rescind money already appropriated by Congress.

[GoCubsGo]

As far as I know, there has never been anything that isn't bipartisan with regard to the Kennedy Center until trump came along. Besides, he has no authority to sequester or rescind money already appropriated by Congress.

When has that stopped him?

[neoplacebo]

As far as I know, there has never been anything that isn't bipartisan with regard to the Kennedy Center until trump came along. Besides, he has no authority to sequester or rescind money already appropriated by Congress.

When has that stopped him?

Uhhh, never. Hell, it's what he was impeached for the first time. Turns out the Republican Senators all suffered TDS (Trump Devotional Syndrome) at the time, and it's only progressed into now an incurable and terminal condition. Winning!

[GoCubsGo]

They're just effing weird.

[Vrede too]

They're just effing weird.

https://x.com/Michael16315053/status/21 ... 9782724613

"packaging change" - Dementia Don is in drag with a red wig and freckles now?

[GoCubsGo]

Seems like we are getting an early version of "Bunker DonOld."

The guy that hunkered and bunkered after the 2020 election.

Everyone is gonna have a fun two years.

[Vrede too]

Seems like we are getting an early version of "Bunker DonOld."

The guy that hunkered and bunkered after the 2020 election.

Everyone is gonna have a fun two years.

https://x.com/sentdefender/status/2101309463479165337

[GoCubsGo]

Why are we making the Cuban people suffer?

Making the people suffer is working out so well in Iran and Cuba.

Millions in Cuba were left without power on Friday as the country was plunged into yet another major blackout.

The country's entire electricity grid suffered "total disconnection" that triggered a nationwide outage, Cuba's energy ministry said.

Power was restored to some priority areas by late evening, including those near hospitals and water pumping stations in the capital Havana, grid operator UNE said.

It is at least the sixth partial or total blackout to hit Cuba this year, where ageing electricity infrastructure and chronic fuel shortages have been placed under further strain by a US blockade on oil shipments to the communist-run nation.

[Vrede too]

Why are we making the Cuban people suffer?

Making the people suffer is working out so well in Iran and Cuba.

Making people suffer is what the petulant child does.

Trump’s transactional presidency takes a more brazen turn

Few things have defined President Donald Trump's second term as much as his transactionalism. He's gone to great lengths to wield potential official actions for political and even personal gain in ways simply not seen since at least Watergate.

It's this same sensibility that led to Trump's first impeachment in 2019, after he suggestively tied Ukraine's military aid to that country investigating the Bidens ahead of the 2020 election.

But while that and many of Trump's transactions have relied on implied threats or quid pro quos, he's increasingly coming out and saying them out loud.

His brazenness was on display on multiple fronts over the last eight days. Last week, he promised American adults thousands of dollars each if they elect Republican majorities in November. This week, he's repeatedly threatened to abandon or even tear down the Kennedy Center if he's not allowed to put his name on it.

... To so openly talk about tying official actions to his political and personal interest should be scandalous. And it was a scandal in Trump's first term, as evidenced by his impeachment.

His transactionalism is treated as less scandalous today in large part because Americans already know it's how Trump's been conducting business for the last 20 months.

But it shouldn't be lost just how brazen it is now.

Trump's joke that might not be a joke about North Carolina disaster aid

At a Wednesday night rally, Trump tied North Carolina getting disaster aid to the state electing Republican Michael Whatley to the Senate — before claiming he was joking.

"You're waiting for some additional money … and I'm gonna get that to you, Michael," Trump said. "Now, if Michael loses, I'm not sending it. Okay?"

... But is it really a joke?

An AP investigation this year found that blue states had to wait longer for disaster aid and were denied more frequently. (The White House told the AP "there is no politicization to the President's decisions on disaster relief.") And the Energy Department in a July 15 legal filing explicitly acknowledged that it canceled clean-energy grants "based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient's state" — i.e. whether it "was in a Blue State or a non-Blue State."

The Kennedy Center ...

The $5,000 checks

Trump's $5,000 checks idea might be the most brazen.

... Even some on the right have labeled that a bribe. It certainly seems like a quid pro quo — a payment made in exchange for a specific outcome.

... A Reuters-Ipsos poll this week showed 66% of registered voters said that Trump's promise to hand out $5,000 checks if the GOP wins the midterms was "inappropriate," compared to just 18% who said it was appropriate.

Even Republicans leaned toward it being inappropriate, 37%-33%.

And while voters previously tended to view both parties as about equally corrupt, some recent surveys suggest the GOP is suddenly at a deficit on this issue.

A New York Times-Siena College poll this week showed likely voters said by 14 points that "corrupt" described Republicans more than Democrats. And a Fox News poll showed registered voters said Democrats would do a better job on issues of corruption by 11 points.

But Trump doesn't seem to have much regard for this perception. He and his deferential GOP congressional allies have made the presidency too powerful not to squeeze all the juice out of it that he can.

And he'll apparently just keep squeezing.

[O Really]

Maybe before Tru*p, but since Tru*p how could even the most idiot of all village idiots think the "parties are about equally corrupt"?? Serious challenge: name the biggest example of corruption you can find or think of by Dems in the past 50 years. Compare that to any of the top 10 repug examples since Tru*mps second term started.

"Equally corrupt"? Seriously?

[Vrede too]

Seems like we are getting an early version of "Bunker DonOld."

The guy that hunkered and bunkered after the 2020 election.

Everyone is gonna have a fun two years.

The other major networks, including Faux Noise, have announced that they will not fill the pool dates for the banned networks. So, Dementia Don will be blacked out on those days.

[GoCubsGo]

The other major networks, including Faux Noise, have announced that they will not fill the pool dates for the banned networks. So, Dementia Don will be blacked out on those days.

This is great.




UN today, Xi later this week and silence.

[Vrede too]

The other major networks, including Faux Noise, have announced that they will not fill the pool dates for the banned networks. So, Dementia Don will be blacked out on those days.

This is great.

https://x.com/atrupar/status/2102093387281088592

UN today, Xi later this week and silence.

Sort of. I THINK there will only be silence when it's the pool turn for the banned networks.

[O Really]

Well it's not like anything resembling truth or accuracy comes out of the whitish house.

[neoplacebo]

The entire thing is ridiculous. trump whines about "lies" and "fake news" from those outlets. Hilarious. It looks to me like just another case of every accusation is a confession.....trump professes to hate "lies" and "fake news" but he engages in lies and fake news on a daily basis. I find it incredible that his "supporters" do not see this.

[GoCubsGo]

Decorum and respect.

Coming from the biggest stain on the Oval in the nation's history.

[Whack9]

Decorum and respect.

Coming from the biggest stain on the Oval in the nation's history.

Oooh somebody is mad. Temper tantrum time.

[O Really]

Mad as a hatter - and angry too.