All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Mister Mets]

If Trump, a hopeless narcissist totally unable to accept defeat had never opened his mouth and whined about the election having been "stolen" from him, would Qpublicans be hellbent on going through with the "Big Lie", the damn audits, January 6th and the rest of the nonsense? I mean, where was all the outrage from right wingers after Mitt Romney lost in 2012?

Obviously, Trump's willingness to embrace lies makes things worse. He is an elderly conspiratorial Fox News viewer and motivates that demographic.

There are a few differences that made 2020 a perfect storm in terms of bullshit allegations.

First, it was pretty close. In 2020, the difference between Trump and Biden in Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin was under 0.64%. Had it gone the other way, he'd still be President. In 2012, the difference between Obama and Romney in the tipping point state of Colorado was 5.37% (it was also 5.39% in Pennsylvania. 5.51% in New Hampshire and 5.81% in Iowa.)

Due to Covid, there were changes in election administration and oversight, which meant skeptics had something new to point to. It was also the most high turnout election in a century, and some Trump allies had been priming people to expect some kind of fraud. Many of the people primed would be unfamiliar with basics of election administration, and make honest mistakes out of ignorance. Two months before the election, I wrote the implications of the red mirage, as in-person Republican votes might be counted before Democratic-leaning absentee ballots, resulting in initial numbers that favor Republicans.

https://community.cbr.com/showthread...=1#post5126024

The right-wingers never really liked Mitt Romney. Sure, they supported him after he won the GOP nomination, but they felt no real connection with the plutocratic wing of the party. When he lost, it just reinforced their belief that it was because he wasn't a "real" conservative. (After all, he had been a governor of Massachusetts!) His loss intensified their drive to make sure that the right wing would win total control of the party, as has now happened.

Trump isn't necessarily more right-wing than Romney. He was a Democrat up until 2009, and took some moderate positions in the 2016 primary.

https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politi...what-you-think

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-polit...ate-republican

What made him appealing to right-wingers was affect rather than substance. One of the claims I've heard from his supporters is that Republicans who fight win. The way they see it the likes of McCain didn't fight hard enough, because they weren't willing to go after Jeremiah Wright, or Obama's college grades, or whatever. Trump would invite Bill Clinton's accusers to presidential debates, and suggest Joe Biden's top priority as Vice President was helping Hunter Biden's patrons. The ******* conservatives feel validated by Trump's win even if that's more due to timing than anything else. Ford, Papa Bush and McCain lost because parties have a tough time keeping the White House for more than two terms (Bush's 1988 win was historically unusual.) Dole, and Romney lost because parties tend not to get kicked out of the White House after one term (Trump's 2020 loss is the second time this has happened since 1900.)

[babyblob]

Here is some dumbass shot. Trump lawyer claims 9/11 is fake and it was CGI and deep fakes. Maybe WBE should profile this idiot if his liver can handle it!

https://www.newsweek.com/lin-wood-cl...played-1634989

I think it is very telling that the second auto fill suggestion when you type his name into google is Lin Wood mental health.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Here is some dumbass shot. Trump lawyer claims 9/11 is fake and it was CGI and deep fakes. Maybe WBE should profile this idiot if his liver can handle it!

https://www.newsweek.com/lin-wood-cl...played-1634989

Reading this thread, I can only come to the conclusion that everyone hates WBE's liver.

[Tendrin]

Reading this thread, I can only come to the conclusion that everyone hates WBE's liver.

The state of WBE's liver...

[Tami]

Here is some dumbass shot. Trump lawyer claims 9/11 is fake and it was CGI and deep fakes. Maybe WBE should profile this idiot if his liver can handle it!

https://www.newsweek.com/lin-wood-cl...played-1634989

I think it is very telling that the second auto fill suggestion when you type his name into google is Lin Wood mental health.

Pro-Trump Lawyer Lin Wood Loses Lawsuit Over Mental Health Evaluation - Jun 10, 2021

The State Bar of Georgia’s investigation into far-right attorney Lin Wood and whether he should lose his law license after trying to overturn the presidential election results will move forward, as a federal judge Wednesday struck down Wood’s lawsuit trying to stop the bar from requiring him to undergo a mental health evaluation as part of their probe.

Wood is still refusing to participate in the mental health evaluation, and the state bar’s rules state that being unwilling to undergo the examination “may be grounds for further proceedings...including emergency suspension proceedings.” In a court filing, however, the state bar members noted that refusing to undergo the evaluation wouldn’t be immediate grounds for Wood having his law license revoked. That would only happen after “an initial finding that the lawyer’s conduct poses a substantial threat of harm to his client or the public,” followed by a hearing by a third-party “special master” at which Wood could make his case for why he shouldn’t be punished. The special master would then have to formally recommend that the license be suspended, and the Georgia Supreme Court would have to accept that recommendation.

[ed2962]

Trump trying to get his Twitter reinstated

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-account-judge

I don't get why he doesn't just go to Parlor or something...

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Nah, they're still clinging to "the election was stolen" garbage

I suspect that deep down in the hearts of Qpublicans, they don't believe that bullshit, but they have no choice but continue pushing the big lie because they need the support of Trump's deplorable base.

Here is some dumbass shot. Trump lawyer claims 9/11 is fake and it was CGI and deep fakes. Maybe WBE should profile this idiot if his liver can handle it!

https://www.newsweek.com/lin-wood-cl...played-1634989

I think it is very telling that the second auto fill suggestion when you type his name into google is Lin Wood mental health.

Perhaps Wood should consult with Alex Jones about how spouting certain conspiracy theories (that Sandy Hook was fake news) can go BOOM like dynamite and lead to lawsuits out the ass

Trump trying to get his Twitter reinstated

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-account-judge

I don't get why he doesn't just go to Parlor or something...

Maybe Parler doesn't get the crowds Twitter does. I've said this once before, but bears repeating, if but for no other reason than my own personal gratification: If Trump wants his accounts on Twitter and Facebook restored, he has to do these three things, and do them in prime time with the whole nation watching:

1) Admit the election wasn't stolen
2) Acknowledge Joe Biden as the legally elected president
3) Insist that Qpublicans help in the investigation of the 1/6 insurrection

Now, we all know Trump would NEVER do any of those things, so he remains on the outside looking in when it comes to social media.

[Tami]

Pandora Papers | A global investigation - Billions hidden beyond reach

Trove of secret files details opaque financial universe where global elite shield riches from taxes, probes and accountability

A massive trove of private financial records shared with The Washington Post exposes vast reaches of the secretive offshore system used to hide billions of dollars from tax authorities, creditors, criminal investigators and — in 14 cases involving current country leaders — citizens around the world.

The revelations include more than $100 million spent by King Abdullah II of Jordan on luxury homes in Malibu, Calif., and other locations; millions of dollars in property and cash secretly owned by the leaders of the Czech Republic, Kenya, Ecuador and other countries; and a waterfront home in Monaco acquired by a Russian woman who gained considerable wealth after she reportedly had a child with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Other disclosures hit closer to home for U.S. officials and other Western leaders who frequently condemn smaller countries whose permissive banking systems have been exploited for decades by looters of assets and launderers of dirty money.

The files provide substantial new evidence, for example, that South Dakota now rivals notoriously opaque jurisdictions in Europe and the Caribbean in financial secrecy. Tens of millions of dollars from outside the United States are now sheltered by trust companies in Sioux Falls, some of it tied to people and companies accused of human rights abuses and other wrongdoing.

The details are contained in more than 11.9 million financial records that were obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and examined by The Post and other partner news organizations. The files include private emails, secret spreadsheets, clandestine contracts and other records that unlock otherwise impenetrable financial schemes and identify the individuals behind them.

---------------

Pandora papers: biggest ever leak of offshore data exposes financial secrets of rich and powerful

-------------

A massive trove of private financial records shared with The Washington Post exposes vast reaches of the secretive offshore system used to hide billions of dollars from tax authorities, creditors, criminal investigators and citizens around the world.

-----------------

Records from the Pandora Papers show that a Russian woman acquired luxury property in Monaco through an offshore company after giving birth to a girl during a time when she was reportedly in a secret, years-long relationship with Vladimir Putin.

-----------------

While billions of dollars in American aid poured into Jordan over the past decade, a secret stream of money was flowing in the opposite direction as the country’s ruler, King Abdullah II, spent millions on extravagant homes in the U.S., documents show.

[Malvolio]

I suspect that deep down in the hearts of Qpublicans, they don't believe that bullshit, but they have no choice but continue pushing the big lie because they need the support of Trump's deplorable base.



Perhaps Wood should consult with Alex Jones about how spouting certain conspiracy theories (that Sandy Hook was fake news) can go BOOM like dynamite and lead to lawsuits out the ass


.

Or perhaps Wood should speak to Rudy Giuliani. I mean, let's remember, before he became Trump's gofer, he made a cottage industry of his being mayor of NYC on 9/11.

[numberthirty]

Trump trying to get his Twitter reinstated

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-account-judge

I don't get why he doesn't just go to Parlor or something...

You can't really use Parler to attempt to wind folks up who do not use Parler.

[JCAll]

You can't really use Parler to attempt to wind folks up who do not use Parler.

I think Trump probably could, considering the news would report on his every parlor tween just as fanatically as they did his original tweets.

[ed2962]

Maybe Parler doesn't get the crowds Twitter does. I've said this once before, but bears repeating, if but for no other reason than my own personal gratification: If Trump wants his accounts on Twitter and Facebook restored, he has to do these three things, and do them in prime time with the whole nation watching:

1) Admit the election wasn't stolen
2) Acknowledge Joe Biden as the legally elected president
3) Insist that Qpublicans help in the investigation of the 1/6 insurrection

Now, we all know Trump would NEVER do any of those things, so he remains on the outside looking in when it comes to social media.

Right now, I'm sure they don't. But if Trump moved there, there'd be a lot more eyes on that platform. And more importantly, so many folks claim that Twitter is "censoring" them, well here's an alternative ( among many others), yet those same people won't use them.

[ed2962]

You can't really use Parler to attempt to wind folks up who do not use Parler.

But more people would go to Parler just because he was there...

[ed2962]

I think Trump probably could, considering the news would report on his every parlor tween just as fanatically as they did his original tweets.

That's what I think.

[worstblogever]

Trump trying to get his Twitter reinstated

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-account-judge

I don't get why he doesn't just go to Parlor or something...

He's still spreading election fraud lies. Which is what got his account suspended in the first place.

Trump can get f***ed. He hasn't learned a thing, and doesn't need a platform to drag the country all the way into a civil war.