US Politics: The Motorcade of Madness

[Ran]

Just now, Jace, Basilissa said:

Think they're just focusing on paying back Trump Inc. for the expenses of candidate Trump's campaign?

David Fahrenthold pointed out that despite the apparent money crunch, they're still paying $37,000 a month to the Trump Organization for rent at Trump Tower for an office that apparently isn't being used and seemingly hasn't been used for months. And I suspect Guilford and Lara Trump are also still getting salaries from the campaign. And...

[HoodedCrow]

Jace, that’s what I was thinking. We have the example of the Inauguration Commitee. The Trumpers collected a lot of money, and then put on a chintzy show. They are being investigated. 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

1 hour ago, DMC said:

...Actually I think most of us would've been fine with that.  Anyway, Biden's "pulling" of negative ads was a political maneuver - his SuperPACs did not cease while he gets to appear above the fray.  I do, however, agree that once Trump wheezed back to the White House on Monday Biden should've resumed negative ads immediately and hopefully he does so soon.  

I agree with you. Pulling negative ads was a good move--this is personal anecdote, but I tend to find negative ads for either side to be off-putting (the Hickenlooper and Gardner ads here in Colorado are childish--though I do think Hickenlooper has done a great job of using Corey's words against him). You know my tendency is to think more about how he is messaging to the left as I can't pin down anymore how they might vote. I do appreciate the work Bernie does on this front. Anyway, I think it's a big question mark.

Biden wins with them, in my opinion, by emphasizing Trump's recklessness with Covid (and also using that as a springboard to explain that his public option is for anyone who wants it, which, due to Trump's asshole behavior at the debate, might be in question). If it were me personally, I would totally tell Trump to fuck off--and I know plenty think like me--but I'm not willing to commit to that as a winning strategy.

[Maithanet]

2 minutes ago, Ran said:

David Fahrenthold pointed out that despite the apparent money crunch, they're still paying $37,000 a month to the Trump Organization for rent at Trump Tower for an office that apparently isn't being used and seemingly hasn't been used for months. And I suspect Guilford and Lara Trump are also still getting salaries from the campaign. And...

In many ways a political campaign is an ideal money laundering operation.  If your goal is to funnel money to the Trump family, just hire Ivanka as a political consultant and have her charge $10,000 a hour.  Surely her expertise and high level connections means that she can command an exorbitant price, and the onus is on the prosecutor to prove that this ISN't the proper rate.  Then she can claim to be working as a consultant 10 hours a day for a year, and you're looking at $35 million.  Then add Don Jr., Jared, Lara, etc, and you're talking hundreds of millions. 

[argonak]

21 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

In many ways a political campaign is an ideal money laundering operation.  If your goal is to funnel money to the Trump family, just hire Ivanka as a political consultant and have her charge $10,000 a hour.  Surely her expertise and high level connections means that she can command an exorbitant price, and the onus is on the prosecutor to prove that this ISN't the proper rate.  Then she can claim to be working as a consultant 10 hours a day for a year, and you're looking at $35 million.  Then add Don Jr., Jared, Lara, etc, and you're talking hundreds of millions. 

As long as the information isn't hidden and the donations are done right, I'm having a hard time having anything wrong with that.  If Republican voters want to donate their money to the Trump family like some sort of religious Tithe, I guess that's their own affair.  Trump would probably pick up a few million just by running Go-fund-me for his hair stylists.  I don't understand his cult's love, but he certainly has it.

[Xray the Enforcer]

54 minutes ago, Gertrude said:

A bit of local drama here in eastern Iowa. A liberal opinion writer was recently fired from the Gazette - 2nd largest paper in Iowa, based in eastern Iowa which skews more blue than western. Word has it it was political because Iowa GOP was unwilling to meet with the Gazette because of this columnist.

This pissed me off in two ways - first, fuck the Gazette for capitulating in favor of access. And second, fuck the GOP for insisting on a safe place - bunch of fucking snowflakes.

That was Lyz Lenz, right? I couldn't fucking believe that.

[Gaston de Foix]

4 minutes ago, argonak said:

As long as the information isn't hidden and the donations are done right, I'm having a hard time having anything wrong with that.  If Republican voters want to donate their money to the Trump family like some sort of religious Tithe, I guess that's their own affair.  Trump would probably pick up a few million just by running Go-fund-me for his hair stylists.  I don't understand his cult's love, but he certainly has it.

True, but it's not the ordinary Republican voters from the whom the majority of the money is coming from.  Sheldon Adelson doesn't give his money away.  He invests and he makes sure he gets a decent rate of return.  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

31 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

In many ways a political campaign is an ideal money laundering operation.  If your goal is to funnel money to the Trump family, just hire Ivanka as a political consultant and have her charge $10,000 a hour.  Surely her expertise and high level connections means that she can command an exorbitant price, and the onus is on the prosecutor to prove that this ISN't the proper rate.  Then she can claim to be working as a consultant 10 hours a day for a year, and you're looking at $35 million.  Then add Don Jr., Jared, Lara, etc, and you're talking hundreds of millions. 

Isn’t this kind of what Ivanka’s already in some hot water with, just with The Trump Organization instead of the campaign?

[DMC]

35 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

In many ways a political campaign is an ideal money laundering operation.

Let's not forget the FEC literally cannot function because of Trump.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

27 minutes ago, argonak said:

As long as the information isn't hidden and the donations are done right, I'm having a hard time having anything wrong with that.  If Republican voters want to donate their money to the Trump family like some sort of religious Tithe, I guess that's their own affair.  Trump would probably pick up a few million just by running Go-fund-me for his hair stylists.  I don't understand his cult's love, but he certainly has it.

They love him in part because he green lights their hate and makes them feel vindicated for it.

[Relic]

8 hours ago, Maithanet said:

Does anyone else feel like the Democrats are missing a real opportunity to pick up a senate seat in Texas?  There was a poll that came out today with Cornyn up just one 47/46.  And that's with Hegar still getting virtually no national support and being (relatively) unknown in Texas.  I get that investing in Texas is a lot more expensive than trying to win in KS, MT or SC.  But given how important flipping the Texas House is, I would really hope that Democrats would make a push for Hegar as well.  It certainly makes more sense than sending more money to defeat McConnell in Kentucky (it's not happening people!)

ive been following her for like 2 years now. she seems pretty solid, as far as politicians go, at least. No idea why she isnt getting national attention.

[Relic]

3 hours ago, Simon Steele said:

 

However the Trump campaign handles his illness, some high-profile Democratic strategists argue that Mr. Biden has an obligation to sustain his criticism of the president. “At this point, Biden must share truth and facts even if they paint Trump negatively,” Amanda Renteria, the political director for Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016, told McClatchy. “There is simply too much the public needs to know in the most important election in our lifetime. It is critical that Biden also vigorously proceeds.”

Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior adviser to Barack Obama, is more forgiving of the Biden campaign’s posture, since harsh ads assailing the president right now might risk undermining Mr. Biden’s calls for national comity under crisis. At the same time, though, he warns Democratic candidates in other races, especially Senate ones, against taking their cue from the former vice president.

“Trump’s failure to prepare for and respond to Covid is the most important issue in this election,” Mr. Pfeiffer writes. “As Democrats and as Americans we can simultaneously wish that Donald Trump and the growing number of Republican politicians he has infected recover and hold them accountable for their misdeeds. No one should stop making the political case against Trump and his enablers — the stakes are too damn high.”

 

So, you're either just lying to try and make my point weaker, or you are confused. Disregard the bolded, I quickly realized all of it would ended up bolded. Hey buddy, it's okay, let's not let past disagreements derail political conversations that are being had. Thanks, pal.

I know this would be considered waaay too far by some of you, but a simple, "Our thoughts are with the Trump family. And they're also with all those impacted by the disease, including the families and friends of 210,000 who are now dead."

One one hand, fuck Dan Pfeiffer and his merry band of partisan hacks. They are all political creatures, deep at heart. Even tho he and all the Pod Save America guys were totally wrong the last pres election cycle, they somehow remain relevant political commentators. 

On the other hand, maybe he's right. Trump's loyal base doesnt give a fuck about wearing masks, and hammering the idiocy of his Covid failures won't matter to them. 

 

[Raja]

NEJM pulling no punches here - I'm startled, yet pleased, to see them speak out so unequivocally

Quote

Covid-19 has created a crisis throughout the world. This crisis has produced a test of leadership. With no good options to combat a novel pathogen, countries were forced to make hard choices about how to respond. Here in the United States, our leaders have failed that test. They have taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy

Why has the United States handled this pandemic so badly? We have failed at almost every step. We had ample warning, but when the disease first arrived, we were incapable of testing effectively and couldn’t provide even the most basic personal protective equipment to health care workers and the general public. And we continue to be way behind the curve in testing. While the absolute numbers of tests have increased substantially, the more useful metric is the number of tests performed per infected person, a rate that puts us far down the international list, below such places as Kazakhstan, Zimbabwe, and Ethiopia, countries that cannot boast the biomedical infrastructure or the manufacturing capacity that we have.² Moreover, a lack of emphasis on developing capacity has meant that U.S. test results are often long delayed, rendering the results useless for disease control.

Although we tend to focus on technology, most of the interventions that have large effects are not complicated

Anyone else who recklessly squandered lives and money in this way would be suffering legal consequences. Our leaders have largely claimed immunity for their actions. But this election gives us the power to render judgment. Reasonable people will certainly disagree about the many political positions taken by candidates. But truth is neither liberal nor conservative. When it comes to the response to the largest public health crisis of our time, our current political leaders have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent. We should not abet them and enable the deaths of thousands more Americans by allowing them to keep their jobs.
 

 

[Week]

13 minutes ago, Relic said:

One one hand, fuck Dan Pfeiffer and his merry band of partisan hacks. They are all political creatures, deep at heart. Even tho he and all the Pod Save America guys were totally wrong the last pres election cycle, they somehow remain relevant political commentators. 

On the other hand, maybe he's right. Trump's loyal base doesnt give a fuck about wearing masks, and hammering the idiocy of his Covid failures won't matter to them. 

 

Yeah, don't disagree broadly there. I was an avid "Keeping it 1600" listener in the run up to 2016. Crooked Media and Pod Save America have received zero dollars and zero seconds of listening time from me.

[Zorral]

16 minutes ago, Raja said:

NEJM pulling no punches here - I'm startled, yet pleased, to see them speak out so unequivocally

 

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7222830-Foege-Letter.html

 

[argonak]

34 minutes ago, Relic said:

ive been following her for like 2 years now. she seems pretty solid, as far as politicians go, at least. No idea why she isnt getting national attention.

Because we elected a celebrity and he sucks up the attention of the nation like a black hole while simultaneously exhausting nearly everyone with his antics.  Case in point his 360 degree turn on further stimulus packages in the last two days.

[JGP]

I'm neck deep in piece of artwork [god it feels good, the creativity has been gone a while] so apologies if someone has already shared this-- but is this as bad as it sounds? Cause if so, whew, they're really going for it.

DOJ Frees Fed Prosecutors To Take Steps That Could Interfere With Elections

 

[Week]

3 minutes ago, argonak said:

Because we elected a celebrity and he sucks up the attention of the nation like a black hole while simultaneously exhausting nearly everyone with his antics.  Case in point his 360 degree turn on further stimulus packages in the last two days.

Remember the NYT story about his taxes that came out approximately 10 Scaramucci's ago?

[argonak]

6 minutes ago, Week said:

Remember the NYT story about his taxes that came out approximately 10 Scaramucci's ago?

No, Week. I can't recall the taste of food, nor the sound of water, nor the touch of grass. Instead, I'm... naked in the dark. There's nothing. No veil between me and the Orange one! I can see him... with my waking eyes!

[DMC]

11 minutes ago, JEORDHl said:

I'm neck deep in piece of artwork [god it feels good, the creativity has been gone a while] so apologies if someone has already shared this-- but is this as bad as it sounds? Cause if so, whew, they're really going for it.

DOJ Frees Fed Prosecutors To Take Steps That Could Interfere With Elections

From the link:

Quote

Avoiding election interference is the overarching principle of DOJ policy on voting-related crimes. In place since at least 1980, the policy generally bars prosecutors not only from making any announcement about ongoing investigations close to an election but also from taking public steps — such as an arrest or a raid — before a vote is finalized because the publicity could tip the balance of a race.

Someone shoulda told this to James Comey.