3 Trump: Parables, Politics, Panic

[Howl]

32 minutes ago, Geechee Girl said:

Sanford, THAT guy!  I figured he tucked tail and ran after the scandal. 

No, he hung around to remind South Carolinians that, as of 2015, he can still spend their tax money on his girlfriend.  According to the FitsNews site (Unfair, Imbalanced) 

Quote

… taxpayers are once again subsidizing Sanford’s hook-ups with Chapur, according to a source close to the congressman’s Washington, D.C. scheduling office.  Specifically, Sanford’s congressional staffers handle all of Chapur’s scheduling and travel arrangements when she is in the United States – with the primary goal being to keep the couple shielded from the press.

“(Chapur) only goes to events with Sanford in D.C. after staff has confirmed that events are closed and no press (is allowed), one of our sources said.

Not only that, all of Chapur’s flight arrangements – and her travel in and around Washington, D.C. – is provided by Sanford’s office.  On taxpayer time.  Using taxpayer resources.

Does that make sense seeing as Chapur’s Argentine family is independently wealthy?

Of course not …

Unfortunately, chronicling the taxpayer resources devoted to Chapur’s visits will prove difficult.  That’s because the “Luv Gov” and his scheduling office conduct all Chapur-related business on private email accounts in an effort to evade Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

 

[Mecca]

9 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

From the NYT:

 

I think many of his voters would fail this test. 

I know, right? I seriously need to stop having things in my hands while listening to that fartknocker talk. I was ironing when Trump talked about the testing he wants to implement for immigrants and I nearly threw my iron at the TV. I did scream a hardy "F U!" at the TV, though. So there is that.

Has Trump read the Republican platform? If his standard for immigrants coming into the U.S. and staying in the country is how they believe women and gays should be treated, then he might want to look at that platform. Trump is going to have to round up most republicans and send them elsewhere if that is the standard he will adopt. 

[Geechee Girl]

@Howl Did the wife stand by her man?

[Cartmann99]

5 hours ago, Howl said:

No, he hung around to remind South Carolinians that, as of 2015, he can still spend their tax money on his girlfriend.  According to the FitsNews site (Unfair, Imbalanced) 

 

Hells bells! The last I heard about his personal life, was that his wife had divorced him, his minor sons were hurt because Sanford was too busy with his girlfriend to spend time with them, and then that he and his girlfriend had called it quits. I didn't realize Sanford and the girlfriend had reunited. I guess I got too distracted by all the other "family values" politicians who were caught having affairs to keep paying attention to the Mark Sanford trainwreck.

I did hear about Sanford deciding he wanted to be a congressman, and I thought for half a second that the people in SC wouldn't vote for him. Then I slapped myself upside the head and reminded myself that all he had to do was go and boo-hoo in front of the cameras, talk about how God forgave a low-down, dirty, lying sinner like him, and wait for the good Christians of SC to line up to vote for him.  

I'm not picking on SC by saying that. There's lots of people here in Texas who would do the exact same thing. Some people just choose to ignore the flashing red lights, because they so desperately want a happy ending for their redemption story. 

[turquoise]

17 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

Yup. It's depressing that in the 21st century we still have to deal with idiots who are upset because women don't "know their place". 

 

I really believe that's what is behind a lot of the extreme dislike for Hillary. She has the nerve to be assertive and she serves in positions of power traditionally held by men. But people don't want to say that out loud, so they repeat all sorts of crazy theories as to why she is evil and unqualified. If Joe Biden was running for President, with the exact same resume and advocating for the same policies, I doubt he would get the level of hatred that Hillary Clinton gets.

[RoseWilder]

Trump has begun to affect the GOP's chances of holding on to the Senate: 

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-gops-chances-of-holding-the-senate-are-following-trump-downhill/

Quote

Donald Trump’s post-conventions polling slump seems to be having an effect on the Republican Party’s U.S. Senate candidates. We thought this might happen: There’s been an increasingly strong relationship between how a state votes for president and how it votes for Senate over the past few election cycles. And, indeed, Trump’s tumble has coincided with worsening GOP numbers in key states. It may cost the party the Senate.

 

[Howl]

6 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

Hells bells! The last I heard about his personal life, was that his wife had divorced him, his minor sons were hurt because Sanford was too busy with his girlfriend to spend time with them, and then that he and his girlfriend had called it quits. I didn't realize Sanford and the girlfriend had reunited. I guess I got too distracted by all the other "family values" politicians who were caught having affairs to keep paying attention to the Mark Sanford trainwreck.

I did hear about Sanford deciding he wanted to be a congressman, and I thought for half a second that the people in SC wouldn't vote for him. Then I slapped myself upside the head and reminded myself that all he had to do was go and boo-hoo in front of the cameras, talk about how God forgave a low-down, dirty, lying sinner like him, and wait for the good Christians of SC to line up to vote for him.  

Hope you didn't miss the part where he ended his engagement with a loooong TMI  facebook post, and this is how his fiancee discovered she was an ex-fiancee. But yes, apparently they are still together on the down low.  

 

[nausicaa]

On ‎08‎/‎14‎/‎2016 at 10:26 PM, Geechee Girl said:

Has anyone seen any tv spots from Trumplethinskin or his PACS?

I'm in very blue southern California, and I haven't seen one. Hillary & PAC have 2 going so far:

 

I'm in the contested purple state of Virginia, in the purpliest region, and I have yet to see a single Trump TV spot. I did see one ad in my Twitter feed and nearly died.

Also, I live in a renowned Republican town, but it's more insular rich people* who don't want to pay more taxes rather than social conservatives. There is nary a Trump sign anywhere, except, sadly, in front of one of the historic mansions. And it's not because of a dislike for the appearance of yard signs. The Republican congresswoman for this area is running for re-election and her signs are all over the damn place.

(*Before people get ideas about my financial state, I only rent a one bedroom cottage in rich person town.)

[louisa05]

37 minutes ago, nausicaa said:

I'm in the contested purple state of Virginia, in the purpliest region, and I have yet to see a single Drumpf TV spot. I did see one ad in my Twitter feed and nearly died.

Also, I live in a renowned Republican town, but it's more insular rich people* who don't want to pay more taxes rather than social conservatives. There is nary a Drumpf sign anywhere, except, sadly, in front of one of the historic mansions. And it's not because of a dislike for the appearance of yard signs. The Republican congresswoman for this area is running for re-election and her signs are all over the damn place.

(*Before people get ideas about my financial state, I only rent a one bedroom cottage in rich person town.)

I live next to the nation's only "swing district" (the Nebraska 2nd--we split our electoral votes). I see Hillary ads on a daily basis. Three different ones run in rotation. We have not yet seen a single Trump ad, neither a campaign ad or a PAC paid ad. Nothing. 

The Clinton campaign has that kind of money to spend, mind you, on securing ONE electoral vote here. Just one. 

 

[Cartmann99]

2 hours ago, Howl said:

Hope you didn't miss the part where he ended his engagement with a loooong TMI  facebook post, and this is how his fiancee discovered she was an ex-fiancee. But yes, apparently they are still together on the down low.  

 

Wait, he dumps her on Facebook, and she goes back for more!?!   These two idiots deserve each other. 

[clueliss]

I live in the former swing state that has been leaning right for President (and other races unless you are in KC or STL) of Missouri.  Hillary yes, Trump?  uhhh not that has made an impact.  

[Mecca]

http://site.people.com/pets/watch-trump-is-losing-the-cat-vote/

This is one smart cat. You go, cat!

[Hera]

46 minutes ago, louisa05 said:

I live next to the nation's only "swing district" (the Nebraska 2nd--we split our electoral votes). I see Hillary ads on a daily basis. Three different ones run in rotation. We have not yet seen a single Trump ad, neither a campaign ad or a PAC paid ad. Nothing. 

The Clinton campaign has that kind of money to spend, mind you, on securing ONE electoral vote here. Just one. 

 

Trump isn't doing TV or radio ads anywhere, apparently.  But he is rallying in CT.  On the other hand, I've spent the last few weeks in bumfuck Alabama and Hillary is even running an ad here highlighting all the crazy shit that Trump has said.  Not to mention my mom's FB feed is apparently full of Trump is a Nutcase stuff that's put on there by her Crazy Conservative Christian friends.  I doubt those people are going to vote for Hillary, but I have heard a lot of them say they're not going to bother to vote.  Probably not enough to change the outcome in Alabama, or anything, but if it's playing out like that in more purple states, then I'd be interested to know whether the polls that show Hillary ahead are taking into account Republicans who are "not going to vote."  If not, her lead might be larger than is being reported. 

 

ETA: And to echo @nausicaa's point:  I've seen exactly 2 Trump yard signs here.  (I've seen zero Hillary yard signs, but that's not surprising.)

[louisa05]

1 hour ago, Hera said:

Drumpf isn't doing TV or radio ads anywhere, apparently.  But he is rallying in CT.  On the other hand, I've spent the last few weeks in bumfuck Alabama and Hillary is even running an ad here highlighting all the crazy shit that Drumpf has said.  Not to mention my mom's FB feed is apparently full of Drumpf is a Nutcase stuff that's put on there by her Crazy Conservative Christian friends.  I doubt those people are going to vote for Hillary, but I have heard a lot of them say they're not going to bother to vote.  Probably not enough to change the outcome in Alabama, or anything, but if it's playing out like that in more purple states, then I'd be interested to know whether the polls that show Hillary ahead are taking into account Republicans who are "not going to vote."  If not, her lead might be larger than is being reported. 

 

ETA: And to echo @nausicaa's point:  I've seen exactly 2 Drumpf yard signs here.  (I've seen zero Hillary yard signs, but that's not surprising.)

It is quite telling, though, that there are no PAC ads running for Trump. Does anyone know if there any at all? 

He did run ads here prior to the Iowa Caucus. We live literally five minutes from Iowa and saw ads then. 

[clueliss]

I seem to recall ads back in late Feb/early March in Missouri for the primary for Trump.

And if the Koch brothers are backing him via PACs - is anyone else?

[Hera]

55 minutes ago, clueliss said:

I seem to recall ads back in late Feb/early March in Missouri for the primary for Trump.

And if the Koch brothers are backing him via PACs - is anyone else?

I don't think the Koch brothers are backing him, at least not directly.  I guess even they have standards. Apparently, he has money for ads, etc., but he's just not spending it.  

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/12/politics/trump-travel-spending-republicans-connecticut/index.html

If I were a betting woman. I'd bet that the lions share of the political donations to Trump's campaign will go right to Trump's bottom line via paying "rent" and for the "use" of venues, aircraft, etc. that Trump and his cronies own.  

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/21/politics/donald-trump-business-spending-fec/

[JMarie]

I live in Pennsylvania.  I now know that I will be scrutinized by Trump supporters when I vote, to make sure I only vote once, and not multiple times.  Voter fraud must be true, because I'm watching that vile Kayleigh McEneny arguing about it on CNN.  I really really hope she goes away after November, along with Katrina Pearson, Boris Epstein, and Scottie Nell Hughes.

[Mecca]

I was watching an interview with Gov. Rick Perry, jerk extraordinaire, and he is backing Trump. Real shocker there. Anyway, he was saying some really harsh things about the Khan family and said they should be ashamed of themselves. They deserve the wrath of Trump because they came at Trump by striking the first blow. And he even had his smart glasses on when saying this. How did they strike the first blow? Trump came at them and everyone like them for months on end. I just don't get it. Trump can say whatever the crap he wants whenever he wants and then claims being politically correct is for the birds, but when people give it right back, Trump and his minions complain. If you dish it out, you best be able to take it. 

6 minutes ago, JMarie said:

I live in Pennsylvania.  I now know that I will be scrutinized by Trump supporters when I vote, to make sure I only vote once, and not multiple times.  Voter fraud must be true, because I'm watching that vile Kayleigh McEneny arguing about it on CNN.  I really really hope she goes away after November, along with Katrina Pearson, Boris Epstein, and Scottie Nell Hughes.

Urg. I can't stand Kayleigh. She really is awful......like embarrassingly awful. That smirk. Her constant head bobbing up and down. She spins every thing and never answers a question. Boris makes me rage. Katrina is just mean. Scottie...**sigh**.... her lies. She claimed several months back that her family was struggling because of Obamacare. Um, that would be a lie. They sure do live a rather lavish lifestyle around these parts, so I am not believing much of what she says. 

[CyborgKin]

On 15/08/2016 at 10:44 PM, apple1 said:

Ok - I am going to put a slight bit of humor into this otherwise humorless situation. (fyi - Everyone who has followed my posts knows I am highly anti-Trump).

Came across my FB:

I just realized that this election is between a grandma who can't figure out how her email works and a grandpa who believes every crazy spam post he reads and reposts it.

Have to laugh once in a while or otherwise will be sitting and crying. (No, I am not minimizing anything).

Source https://mobile.twitter.com/KevinMKruse/status/750356921291603968

[AmazonGrace]

Trump will protect us from Hillary's bigotry and defend the minorities:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-idUSKCN10R1P0

 

"With each passing Trump attack, it becomes clearer that his strategy is just to say about Hillary Clinton what's true of himself," Clinton spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said.

"When people started saying he was temperamentally unfit, he called Hillary the same. When his ties to the Kremlin came under scrutiny, he absurdly claimed that Hillary was the one who was too close to Putin.

"Now he's accusing her of bigoted remarks - we think the American people will know which candidate is guilty of the charge."

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/15/opinions/trump-isis-speech-bergen/

 

After laying out a long laundry list of well-known terrorist outrages by ISIS, Trump said, "We cannot let this evil continue." If elected president, he would, he said, do things very differently than the Obama administration.

However, the Obama administration has long been pursuing many of the policy ideas Trump laid out.

 

-- Partnering with Jordan and Egypt? Check

-- Working with NATO? Check

-- Cutting off ISIS funding? Check

-- Cyber warfare against ISIS? Check

-- Decimating al Qaeda? Check

Trump also said, "The era of nation building will be brought to a very swift and decisive end." This is a straw man, because no one is calling for nation building in the American body politic, including Hillary Clinton, who in her own campaign appearance in Scranton, Pennsylvania, specifically said that American ground troops were "off the table" in Syria.

...

The reality is that Trump's focus on immigrants is to misconceive of the terrorist problem that exists in the United States. Every lethal terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11 has been carried out by an American citizen or a legal permanent resident, not by recent immigrants or by refugees. So tamping down immigration won't fix the real issue, which is "homegrown" terrorism.

[Howl]

Big shakeup in the Trump campaign!  According to HuffPo

Quote

The GOP presidential nominee hired Steve Bannon, executive chairman of the conservative website Breitbart News, to be his campaign CEO and named Kellyanne Conway, a Republican pollster and Trump campaign adviser, as his new campaign manager.

Going forward, Bannon will oversee Trump campaign staff and day-to-day operations, while Conway will primarily focus on messaging. Conway is also expected to travel with the candidate to rallies and speeches.

Don't know what Paul Manafort is going to do.  I see him in a little window on the TV screen, interpreting Trump's speeches in a simultaneous voice over.  This will save Manafort from going on TV talk shows or being interviewed to explain away, cover up, spin, lie about what Trump actually meant or didn't really mean every. single. day.  

An additional problem is the general low level of knowledge of some of the other Trump mouthpieces.  Their gaffes are painfully bad; you can see some TV commentators lighting up at how jaw dropping-ly ignorant these people are.  

Commentator thought balloon: "WHOA! Did I just hear you that?"   Yes, we're talking about YOU, Katrina Pierson.   From politicususa.com/

Quote

Already infamous for her tenuous grasp on reality, Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson went on CNN this morning [August 13th] and told Victor Blackwell,

“Remember, we weren’t even in Afghanistan by this time. Barack Obama went into Afghanistan, creating another problem.”

No. No, we don’t remember that at all. President Bush invaded Afghanistan in 2001, in response to the 9/11 attacks. Barack Obama did not become president until 2009. When Bush invaded Afghanistan, Obama was an Illinois State Senator.

Oh, and in Texas this morning, Trump is 6 points ahead.  Sigh. 

[AmazonGrace]

25 minutes ago, Howl said:

“Remember, we weren’t even in Afghanistan by this time. Barack Obama went into Afghanistan, creating another problem.”

Don't make fun of her... one doesn't become so clueless overnight,  it takes hard work and dedication.

[apple1]

11 hours ago, JMarie said:

I live in Pennsylvania.  I now know that I will be scrutinized by Trump supporters when I vote, to make sure I only vote once, and not multiple times.  Voter fraud must be true, because I'm watching that vile Kayleigh McEneny arguing about it on CNN.  I really really hope she goes away after November, along with Katrina Pearson, Boris Epstein, and Scottie Nell Hughes.

Kayleigh is IMO the worst of the entire (horrible) bunch. I frequently mute the TV when she starts talking. Seriously.

[Cartmann99]

2 hours ago, Howl said:

Big shakeup in the Trump campaign!  According to HuffPo

Quote

 

The GOP presidential nominee hired Steve Bannon, executive chairman of the conservative website Breitbart News, to be his campaign CEO and named Kellyanne Conway, a Republican pollster and Trump campaign adviser, as his new campaign manager.

Going forward, Bannon will oversee Trump campaign staff and day-to-day operations, while Conway will primarily focus on messaging. Conway is also expected to travel with the candidate to rallies and speeches.

 

 

I honestly don't understand the point of hiring new people for this flaming trainwreck. If they propose something Trump doesn't like, he's just going to ignore them and do what he wants to do anyway. Also, how does having the Trump campaign listed on your resume help your career?

 

[RoseWilder]

4 hours ago, Howl said:

Oh, and in Texas this morning, Trump is 6 points ahead.  Sigh. 

I really don't think it's a good thing for Trump that he's only 6 points ahead in a red state like Texas. When you compare how far ahead Clinton is in blue states (30 points ahead in New York, for instance.) Trump should be ahead in Texas by much more than 6 points. It just shows how poorly he's polling with Republicans.