Branch Trumpvidians 3: Too Many Deplorables

[thoughtful]

Hmmph - if those shoes don't actually walk on water, what's the point?

Spoiler

 

 

[smittykins]

BT’s:  “But Colin Kaepernick!”

[GreyhoundFan]

Because of course they do: "Trump’s supporters back his decision to pull out of northern Syria"

Spoiler

LAKE CHARLES, La. — As the consequences from President Trump’s decision to withdraw some American troops from Syria became clearer, and as some congressional Republicans continued to be heavily critical of the decision, Trump supporters at a rally said they still support the decision.

“I agree with him,” said Bill Harold, a 67-year-old veteran who said he doesn’t always agree with the president, but he does on the Syria question.

“We’ve been there long enough. We’ve done what we’re supposed to. Now, let the people take over and do their thing,” Harold said. “If they can’t? Hey. You had your help. We taught you how to fish, you oughta be able to eat.”

Harold wasn’t alone in his sentiments among those who watched Trump rally voters for the Louisiana governor’s race, which will be held Saturday. Their support suggests that while the decision has been unpopular with Republican lawmakers with more traditional, hawkish views on foreign policy, it has been greeted positively by the president’s most ardent supporters — the ones he is counting on to turn out in droves as part of his reelection strategy. Trump campaigned on a promise to pull troops out of conflicts abroad as part of his nationalist platform and his supporters argue that his Syria decision is consistent with what he said he would do on the campaign trail and since becoming president.

“Going into the Middle East is one of the worst decisions ever made in the history of our country. It’s like quicksand,” said Trump, who did not mention Syria by name Friday night. “We are slowly and carefully bringing our great soldiers and warriors back home.”

Critics of Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria argue that the president is leaving the Kurds — longtime U.S. allies crucial to American efforts to combat the Islamic State — defenseless at the hands of the Turkish military, which launched an offensive against them in northern Syria in the wake of U.S. withdrawal. They also argue that the decision will allow for the regeneration of the Islamic State in the region.

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), for example, bent his usual supportive posture to call the decision “shortsighted” and “irresponsible.” Other usual Trump allies have echoed similar critiques. Some supporters Friday dismissed such criticism of the decision by dismissing the critics themselves.

“Lindsey Graham is criticizing him? Lindsey Graham — I think he folds when things get tough,” said Aloner Nicks, 66, from Ville Platte, La.

“That’s what I like about Trump. He is tough. He doesn’t fold. He’s my John Wayne. My Clint Eastwood. My Rocky Balboa.”

Others separated the effects Trump’s decision would have on American troops from the potential consequences for the region.

“I’m glad he did it. Get our troops out of harm’s way.” said Katy Burgess, a Lake Charles resident. “I’m not so sure I agree with Turkey doing what it’s doing, but I’m glad he pulled our troops out of harm’s way.”

Trump has pushed a similar interpretation, arguing that he is prioritizing American interest over others — an argument he articulated in striking terms for the crowd Friday night.

“I am not president of the world. I am president of the United States of America,” Trump said. “We reject globalism. We embrace patriotism.”

That line received raucous applause from a crowd gathered to watch Trump stump for two Republican candidates for governor who are hoping to combine for more than 50 percent of the vote here Saturday, thereby forcing a runoff election with incumbent Democrat John Bel Edwards.

Trump had kept that crowd waiting about 30 extra minutes late for the rally to start Friday evening, and he told the crowd China had kept him — a reference to negotiations with Chinese Vice Premier Hiu Le that resulted in the White House agreeing not to proceed with plans to increase tariffs on Chinese goods soon. Even as he explained the delay, Trump made sure to tell the crowd he had elevated domestic priorities over foreign business.

“I said I’m not going to be late for Louisiana, even if it means standing up China,” Trump said.

Trump spoke for an hour and a half, and didn’t touch on the situation in the Middle East until the end of his remarks. When he did, some attendees were already on their way out, and those remaining showed no signs of opposition to the president’s strategy.

“I feel very strongly that he’s doing the right thing for our troops. That’s what’s most important to me, doing what’s best for our people,” said Julie Davidson, who has two sons serving in the Marine Corps.

Trump said the decision is not made with only American troops in mind.

“After decades of building foreign countries, we are finally rebuilding our own country,” His supporters echoed the notion that other countries have benefited from American help while Americans have not.

“[They] haven’t helped us,” Harold said. “It’s doesn’t have to be quid pro quo, but you didn’t help us.”

 

[Smash!]

I'm finally catching up with this thread. Some posts were an eye opener. I guess I finally got a glimpse as to why Trump is so popular among the evangelicals. As long as he is pro life and mentions God in his rallies he can't do anything wrong right? It doesn't matter that he obstructs justice and destroys democracy as long as he's on their side. I think they might not even have a problem with Trump becoming more authoritarian for that reason. This is scary as hell because it means a less extreme candidate is not worth voting for.

[fraurosena]

10 hours ago, Smash! said:

I think they might not even have a problem with Trump becoming more authoritarian for that reason.

This sentence got me thinking. Evangelicals give over all authority to their god, so they are already used to giving away their personal agency. Patriarchal evangelicals also give away authority to their husbands and fathers. It stands to reason that if you are comfortable giving away your authority in spiritual matters, there is no reason to not also do so in secular life. It means you never have to worry anymore, because you're not responsible for anything. You can leave that up to others.

And if Trump is touted by spiritual leaders as god's gift to human kind, what could possibly be wrong (in their eyes) with potential authoritarian rule in America?

[Smash!]

And if Trump is touted by spiritual leaders as god's gift to human kind, what could possibly be wrong (in their eyes) with potential authoritarian rule in America?

 

Exactly. Their wet dream is the US to be a theocracy and for that purpose Trump is indeed a godsend. See the speech his "personal lawyer" William Barr gave at an university

Trump can become a dictator and put all the money from the government in his pocket while they get their christian laws and society who apply for everyone except those above the law. I have to say Trump pulled the right strings with the evangelicals.

[fraurosena]

31 minutes ago, Smash! said:

I have to say Trump pulled the right strings with the evangelicals.

Meh. I'm not convinced he's that smart. McConnell and the tea party repugliklans though...

[apple1]

34 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Meh. I'm not convinced he's that smart. McConnell and the tea party repugliklans though...

@fraurosena I agree with this.

As for Barr - he is a proponent of super-conservation (traditionalist?) Catholicism. Generally, the majority of evangelicals believe rather strongly that Catholicism in general is doctrinally wrong. So there is also a dispute brewing if evangelical leaders come into dispute with Barr and others like him.

This issue has potential to weaken the power of this group. Just my opinon, of course.

[apple1]

2 hours ago, apple1 said:

@fraurosena I agree with this.

As for Barr - he is a proponent of super-conservation (traditionalist?) Catholicism. Generally, the majority of evangelicals believe rather strongly that Catholicism in general is doctrinally wrong. So there is also a dispute brewing if evangelical leaders come into dispute with Barr and others like him.

This issue has potential to weaken the power of this group. Just my opinon, of course.

Typo - supposed to be "conservative" not conservation.

[WiseGirl]

Just came back from a big flea market and oh the amount of MAGA and Trump 2020 was too much. No, I did not buy from those vendors. I just had to come and vent to my FJ politics tribe. Plus it worries me being in a traditionally blue state. Then again it wasn't like people were buying that shit.

[GreyhoundFan]

Another wildly overpriced accessory for the vacationing MAGAT:

 

[WiseGirl]

Sam did go there and good for him. Someone had to call them on their racist bullshit.

[47of74]

Then this happened at a fuck head property.

 

A disturbing video of a fake President Donald Trump shooting, assaulting and stabbing his critics and the media was played at a conference held by a pro-Trump group at his Miami resort last week, according to footage obtained by The New York Times.

 

The video, which was shown at Trump's National Doral Miami during a three-day conference held by American Priority, includes the logo for Trump's 2020 reelection bid and showcases a series of internet memes, the Times reported. One part of the video, the Times said, shows a fake Trump's head edited onto the body of a man opening fire in the "Church of Fake News" on a group whose faces were edited to appear as a group of Trump critics and news organizations.

 

According to the Times, the clip ends with Trump driving a stake into the head of a person who has the CNN logo for a face before standing and smiling as he looks around. The clip appears to be edited from a church massacre scene in the 2014 movie "Kingsman: The Secret Service," the Times reported.

 

CNN cannot independently verify the video as of Sunday night and has not shared contents of it. CNN has confirmed the video was played at the conference and not in the main ballroom.

 

It was quickly followed by fuck head supporters falling over each other claiming they don’t endorse violent attacks on fuck head’s opponents.

[Alisamer]

 

On October 13, 2019 at 11:04 AM, apple1 said:

As for Barr - he is a proponent of super-conservation (traditionalist?) Catholicism. Generally, the majority of evangelicals believe rather strongly that Catholicism in general is doctrinally wrong. So there is also a dispute brewing if evangelical leaders come into dispute with Barr and others like him.

This issue has potential to weaken the power of this group. Just my opinon, of course.

I think this is true. Right now all those who want "God back in government" are working toward creating a theocracy. But of course, if that was to somehow succeed, they would immediately begin the infighting - each group wants their own theology to be the rule of law! The US being majority Christian, Muslims would have it pretty hard, most likely, with the more conservative Jewish communities next up to see restrictions on their traditions. (LGBT+ folks would, of course, be the one thing they mostly agree on, so they'd be SOL before the infighting really took serious hold.) The fighting would probably start with Catholic vs. Protestant with a side of anti-Mormon sentiment, with the Jehovah's Witnesses likely rejected out of hand. But if, then, one of those succeeded, the conflict would immediately start again. Which denomination? What type of Catholic? Dunk or sprinkle? 

There can never be a winner, in any situation like this. It turns into the purity olympics. Each group tries to out-Holy the others. This happens in ALL groups - there's always someone who is more extreme who looks down on the others as less-than. "You're skirts only? Well we are skirts only AND cover our heads." "Oh yeah? Well we are skirts only, cover our heads, and never cut our hair or wear makeup." "Really? You are all heathens. I can see every one of your bare collarbones. Sluts."

There's always going to be somebody who thinks they are the only one who is right.

Which is one of many reasons that religion must absolutely stay OUT of government!

[Emma]

Absolutely agree.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"‘Women for Trump’? A rally and a mystery I wanted to solve."

Spoiler

The women at the foot of the U.S. Capitol wore a smattering of red Make America Great Again hats.

Herds of school kids passing by, in their matching field-trip T-shirts, threatened to outnumber the few hundred or so rallygoers, described by one blogger as an “ocean of MAGA caps.”

The March for Trump, organized by Women for Trump, was more like a puddle.

But I wanted to mingle with these folks.

I wanted to hear from the women waving the big pink “Women for Trump” flags or wearing the “Women for Trump” hats. They are the WFTs. And though others may assemble those three letters differently when describing their movement, I wanted to hear why they remain die-hards in a dwindling minority.

Because there was no denying it — the crowd was tiny. I’ve covered 20 years of marches in Washington — from the World Bank protests at the turn of the century to 2017’s ocean-of-pink Women’s March — and this gathering was barely there.

Brittany Sechrist, 30, a stay-at-home mom, had traveled from Lebanon County, Pa., to support President Trump.

“I like what he’s doing,” Sechrist said. She’s been to other Trump rallies, but this one was important to her because she wants to stop the impeachment process.

I asked her why women should get behind Trump.

“Oh, for many, many reasons,” she said.

And that was about all I could get.

But why?

I asked this again and again. I approached the women with the big signs and hats and goofy American-flag sunglasses. I asked the women in plain coats and sensible shoes. I wanted to hear from them all. Why would they support a serial adulterer who bragged about grabbing women’s genitals and has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women?

Many women can’t stomach Trump. A July Quinnipiac poll found that only 34 percent of women overall approved of the job Trump is doing, compared with 61 percent who disapproved.

In a Washington Post-Schar School poll taken this month, the gender gap is also wide when in comes to impeachment, with 65 percent of women saying they are in favor of the inquiry, compared with 51 percent of men.

The women on the Capitol lawn approving of him, for the most part, didn’t want to talk to me once I introduced myself as a columnist with The Post, which Trump calls the Amazon Washington Post in his disparaging tweets.

“Um, no thanks.”

“I’m not interested.”

“Are you kidding?”

Come on! I’m not even the “Failing New York Times.”

The ones who would talk to me said the same things:

“I want him to know I am here for him.”

“We are standing by him.”

“He needs to know women are here.”

Tammy Wynette lives on.

“This man does not have to do what he is doing,” Amy Kremer, the organizer of the event, said when she took the podium. She said Trump could be living a life of luxury, traveling the world and golfing.

(Wait. Isn’t that what he’s doing? And we’re the ones paying for it.)

As Kremer spoke, dozens of women whooped and cheered and hollered, clearly grateful that Trump has left his reality-TV show, his failed casinos, his failed university and all his bankruptcies to run the United States.

But why, specifically, is he good for American women, I wanted to know.

Was there a woman who believes the Equal Rights Amendment is an old idea that’s no longer relevant? Or a woman who believes it was Melania Trump who brought family values and Christmas back to the White House? Or a military mom who is so glad funding for military child care will instead be used to build the wall?

Maybe, because we’re face-to-face and not anonymous and online, I could get to the bottom of this.

But in most cases (except for Sechrist — thank you for your civility), when I asked the women they responded with an attack on the media or the elected officials running the impeachment inquiry. They didn’t need online anonymity to make their judgments, even though most of them didn’t want to give me their names.

Same with the speakers, who talked about the deep state, about conspiracy theories and — don’t worry, they didn’t forget — Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Rep. Steven Scalise (R-La.), was greeted like a hero when he took the podium and speculated that Clinton’s server could be “at the bottom of the Potomac.”

Each of the speakers looked upon the small crowd and marveled at its spirit.

The rally’s size, though?

“There would be a lot more of us here if that didn’t happen,” a woman who drove in from Chantilly, Va., told me.

What happened? A conspiracy, natch.

Organizers said bus companies across the nation canceled the buses hired to bring supporters to the nation’s capital.

“We feel this was done intentionally and will be issuing a statement at a later time,” Kremer said in a statement posted on the March for Trump’s Facebook page.

From bus stations in Pennsylvania to a Walmart parking lot in North Carolina, Trump supporters said they were left in the cold and dark early Thursday, waiting for buses that didn’t show up.

The president they think they have — a man who will unite our country and treat everyone with respect — he hasn’t shown up, either.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

More expensive crap for the white supremacists among us:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I wager that most, if not all, of the people interviewed believe that Obama is a Muslim or some similar nonsense.

[47of74]

Another Branch Trumpvidian  fail

Quote

A couple hundred Donald Trump fans rallied outside Congress on Thursday for the “March for Trump,” an event meant to oppose House Democrats’ impeachment investigation. According to organizers, though, there would have been hundreds more people shouting “stop the coup” in Washington’s streets if not for a liberal plot against their buses. 

That’s because, as would-be rally attendees gathered across the East Coast for the US Coachways buses that the organizer had promised would take them to Washington, those buses never showed.

Heap said the organizer only officially confirmed the buses at 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, just hours before the first bus had to leave at 11:30 p.m. Complicating matters, according to Heap, were Department of Transportation regulations that required two drivers for some of the buses. 

Still, US Coachways agreed to organize the last-minute bus order. But when the company tried to run the organizer’s credit card to pay for the buses, it was repeatedly declined, with only a charge for one of the buses succeeding. 

Who do these idiots think they are?  Donnie Dumbfuck?  Gotta pay for shit. 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Man in MAGA cap arrested for attacking anti-Trump protesters with bear repellent"

Spoiler

As anti-Trump protesters crowded between the marker for Route 66′s westernmost point and the bright blue police station on Santa Monica Pier on Saturday afternoon, the latest violent political attack unfolded steps from the California beach.

About a dozen right-wing demonstrators carrying American flags and wearing shirts supporting President Trump’s reelection bid shoved their way into the leftist protest. The anti-Trump crowd, arms linked, stood their ground and pushed back. Then, a man wearing a backward “Make America Great Again” cap over his blond man-bun pulled a canister of bear repellent out of his jeans and sprayed the Southern California crowd with a mist of peppery aerosol.

Police announced Sunday that they arrested David Nicholas Dempsey, 32, on felony charges for allegedly violating his parole, using a prohibited tear gas weapon and assaulting the crowd with a caustic chemical, KTLA reported.

“It was these f---ing libtards over here, man,” the California man, in a short-sleeve button-down shirt with a marijuana-leaf print, told police in video captured at the protest. “These commies — I didn’t do anything.”

Saturday’s march was planned by an anti-Trump group called Refuse Fascism, which has partnered with the Revolutionary Communist Party and other leftist organizations to plan nonviolent protests since the 2016 election. Refuse Fascism advocates for the removal of the Trump administration, including Vice President Pence and the president’s Cabinet, and launched a pro-impeachment campaign called “Out Now” on Saturday.

The group said dozens of activists gathered on the beach in the early afternoon holding multicolored fabric to spell out “Trump-Pence #OutNow!” Then, the group marched along the boardwalk and onto the Santa Monica Pier to hold a rally.

A small group of Trump supporters followed the leftist protesters to the pier. The groups exchanged insults for about 10 minutes, police told the Los Angeles Times, before shoving one another and screaming obscenities.

“Everything went to crap,” Santa Monica Police Sgt. D. Hicks, who did not give his full name, told the newspaper.

That’s when Dempsey pulled out the bear spray, video shows.

“At least 10 other people got directly pepper sprayed in the face,” a writer for the Revolutionary Communist Party wrote in a post recounting the incident.

Two other pro-Trump supporters grabbed one man from the crowd and held him on the ground, against the sandy wooden planks of the pier. Video shows Dempsey running up to the man and spraying bear repellent into his face as the other men hold him down. Then, Dempsey and another Trump supporter quickly walk away.

Police cornered Dempsey shortly after the incident, detaining him in an alcove in front of the police substation on the pier, just steps from where the attack unfolded.

Dempsey and another protester, who told police he was Dempsey’s brother, said they had been attacked by the Refuse Fascism crowd. Protesters denied that story to police, offering to show them video of Dempsey spraying people after running up to the group from a few feet away.

“Why am I being penned up when you’ve got all these people who attacked us?” Dempsey said to a police officer who questioned him while onlookers recorded the conversation. When an officer moved to place Dempsey in handcuffs, he complained, “Why do you have to put me in handcuffs?” and again blamed the attack on “commies.”

In its post recounting the incident, the Revolutionary Communist Party said that several people were hurt as people scrambled out of the way of the fiery spray and that one protester may have broken her arm in the chaos. Police said no protesters suffered severe injuries, although some were treated for exposure to the bear spray.

A Facebook account that appears to belong to Dempsey regularly insults liberals and celebrates Trump. Some posts spread conspiracy theories about mass shootings, and two posts from August criticized Trump for statements he made supporting “red flag” laws after 22 people were shot and killed at an El Paso Walmart.

California has seen several violent street attacks and alleged terrorist plots motivated by politics since the 2016 election, as far-right groups have targeted West Coast cities seen as liberal strongholds and left-wing activists have taken to the streets to protest the Trump administration.

Antifascists in black tussled with far-right groups in Berkeley, Calif., in 2017, and vocal opposition led right-wing groups to cancel protests in the San Francisco Bay area. Several hate groups have become increasingly active in the state, targeting leftist activists and holding public demonstrations. In April, the FBI arrested a San Fernando Valley man who planned to bomb a right-wing protest in Long Beach, Calif., as revenge for a massacre in March at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The bear spray attack on Saturday showed the continued danger of extremist political violence, advocates say.

“Saturday’s desperate violence by remnants of Trump’s tattered alt-right coalition is another example of why city leaders and law enforcement need to continue take these attacks on community safety seriously,” Eric Ward, executive director of the Western States Center, a nonprofit that works to counter far-right extremism, said in a statement to The Washington Post. “These individuals must be held responsible for intentionally sowing chaos and violence in communities.”

Dempsey has a “fairly extensive” criminal record, police told the L. A. Times. KTLA reported that the Southern California man had been previously convicted of burglary twice, as well as larceny and conspiracy. Police said he was on parole on Saturday and would have been prohibited from possessing bear repellent or similar tear gas weapons because of his status as a felon.

Police told the Associated Press that a second man may have also attacked the anti-Trump crowd with pepper spray on Saturday. Investigators said they are still analyzing video of the clash to identify the other suspect.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office records show that Dempsey is being held in jail without bond. His arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.

 

[fraurosena]

I literally can't stop laughing... 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[JMarie]

5 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

 

If Pelosi and Schiff ARE manufacturing something, they're doing an awesome job!  All these testimonies! And the books!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/anonymous-author-of-trump-resistance-op-ed-to-publish-a-tell-all-book/ar-AAJaXwc?ocid=spartanntp

[GreyhoundFan]

I wish D'Souza would develop some disease that rendered him unable to speak out loud:

 

[47of74]

Another Branch Trumpvidian douche cannon exposed himself

Quote

Major League Baseball is looking into a since-deleted tweet by longtime umpire Rob Drake, commissioner Rob Manfred said Wednesday.

Drake tweeted late Tuesday that he planned to buy an AR-15 rifle "because if you impeach MY PRESIDENT this way, YOU WILL HAVE ANOTHER CIVAL WAR!!! #MAGA2020", according to a copy of the tweet obtained by ESPN.

The tweet, which was deleted soon after it was posted, followed one earlier in the night regarding the House of Representatives' impeachment proceedings with President Donald Trump.

Drake deactivated his account Wednesday. He did not return phone and text messages.

Hopefully this fuck face supporter is about to be a former umpire.