Trump 45

[JMarie]

9 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

 

I'm surprised it's only been 29 times.  Yes, I know he also goes to Bedminster, but it seemed like he spent every single weekend in Florida.

[fraurosena]

Only the best people!

 

[GreyhoundFan]

@fraurosena -- I would think that drinking heavily would be one of the few ways to deal with the shame of working in this sham administration.

[fraurosena]

Awww... poor pwesidunce is all upset everybody laughed at his wall falling down.

Why is "fell over" in quotation marks? It really did fall over, and no amount of quotation marks will make it any less stupid.

Who pours concrete and sticks a wall in it when you know 'big winds' are coming?

Also, why is "forever" in quotes? Immediately makes one think it's not a true statement. Which, conversely, might actually be the truth. 

[fraurosena]

They cut off his speech before it even began. ?

OT, but what a weird picture in the article! It looks like Melania has a stumpy arm...

[47of74]

Everything fuckhead touches turns to shit.  NASCAR is no exception.  Of course it's hard to feel any sympathy for them.

Quote

The Daytona 500 has been postponed by rain for the first time since 2012, dampening NASCAR’s season opener that started with a ballyhooed visit from President Donald Trump.

The race was postponed after two lengthy delays totaling more than three hours. The race will now begin at 4 p.m. Monday and be broadcast live on Fox.

The first delay of the day came moments after the presidential motorcade completed a ceremonial parade lap around the 2 1/2-mile track. Trump’s armored limousine nicknamed “The Beast” exited Daytona International Speedway, and the sky opened for a brief shower that forced drivers back to pit road.

The start already had been pushed back 13 minutes to accommodate Trump’s trip. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. eventually led the field to the green flag and was out front for the first 20 laps before heavier rain soaked a racing surface that takes hours to dry.

 

[fraurosena]

You know what? I don’t give a flying hoot about Mattis’ opinion. Like Kelly, he enabled Trump and didn’t speak up during the impeachment. 

But!

But... I am also very relieved that Trump’s vile attack on Vindman (and his brother) has turned these generals against him. Because it means the sentiments in the military are now against Trump. And that is a very good thing indeed. You do not want the military on Trump’s side when he refuses to concede his electoral loss in November...

[Xan]

4 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

But... I am also very relieved that Trump’s vile attack on Vindman (and his brother) has turned these generals against him. Because it means the sentiments in the military are now against Trump. And that is a very good thing indeed. You do not want the military on Trump’s side when he refuses to concede his electoral loss in November...

I'm relieved as well.  It's one thing to have a percentage of the population backing him but it would be disastrous if the military supported him.

Did you watch the Daytona stuff?  He gave a brief remark right before the "start your engines" and he looked as if he was reading what he was saying and he was doing that weird forward lurch again.  I don't know how anyone can think he's mentally competent at this point.

When did we start calling the presidential limo "the beast"?  Is this another one of Fat Donny's attempts to look fierce?

[Cartmann99]

37 minutes ago, Xan said:

  I don't know how anyone can think he's mentally competent at this point.

His supporters don't care if he's competent. They love it when he shoves a hand down his diaper and starts finger painting on the nearest wall.

 

[fraurosena]

This sentence bugs me so much.

1. How can a wedding be between Mr. and Mrs? They have to marry before the bride is a Mrs. Till then the bride is a Ms. and her name isn’t Miller either.

2. Is Stephen marrying himself, and is he both Mr and Mrs Stephen Miller? Like Jane Lynch’s character in Glee? (Yikes, I just had a horrible image of Stephen Miller breaking into song).

3. Or is the bride also called Stephen? Is she secretly a he? 

Edited February 17, 2020 by fraurosena
Typo

[GreyhoundFan]

11 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

This sentence bugs me so much.

1. How can a wedding be between Mr. and Mrs? They have to marry before the bride is a Mrs. Till then thd bride is a Ms. and her name isn’t Miller either.

2. Is Stephen marrying himself, and is he both Mr and Mrs Stephen Miller? Like Jane Lynch’s character in Glee? (Yikes, I just had a horrible image of Stephen Miller breaking into song).

3. Or is the bride also called Stephen? Is she secretly a he? 

I couldn't agree more. Did you see that the wedding was held at Twitler's hotel a couple of blocks from the White House? Of course it was, because he wouldn't deign to go anywhere else in DC. The bride, whose mental stability I question, is Pence's spokesperson. I wonder if Nosferatu will make her quit workinig.

Thanks for the reminder of Sue Sylvester, one of the best characters on Glee. Her tracksuit wedding dress was a hoot. If I ever decide to get married, I may have to copy it.

[fraurosena]

6 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I couldn't agree more. Did you see that the wedding was held at Twitler's hotel a couple of blocks from the White House? Of course it was, because he wouldn't deign to go anywhere else in DC. The bride, whose mental stability I question, is Pence's spokesperson. I wonder if Nosferatu will make her quit workinig.

Thanks for the reminder of Sue Sylvester, one of the best characters on Glee. Her tracksuit wedding dress was a hoot. If I ever decide to get married, I may have to copy it.

Yes, I saw it was at Trump International. Do you think he got a discount?

Sue Sylvester was one of the great characters in Glee, wasn’t she? She especially stole my heart for the way she always treated Becky with respect.

[47of74]

His supporters don't care if he's competent. They love it when he shoves a hand down his diaper and starts finger painting on the nearest wall.
 

Fuck Face’s supporters love having someone who is just as rude, racist, homophobic, corrupt, sexist, and idiotic as they are in the White House. Even if orange fuck is handed his walking papers how the fuck can we live with Branch Trumpvidians ever again?

[GreyhoundFan]

1 minute ago, fraurosena said:

Yes, I saw it was at Trump International. Do you think he got a discount?

Sue Sylvester was one of the great characters in Glee, wasn’t she? She especially stole my heart for the way she always treated Becky with respect.

Oh, Nosferatu probably got a discount, but I bet taxpayers paid full price for any food and beverages consumed by attending Secret Service employees.

Agreed, she was sweet to Becky. Jane Lynch was perfect as Sue.

[apple1]

10 hours ago, fraurosena said:

This sentence bugs me so much.

1. How can a wedding be between Mr. and Mrs? They have to marry before the bride is a Mrs. Till then the bride is a Ms. and her name isn’t Miller either.

2. Is Stephen marrying himself, and is he both Mr and Mrs Stephen Miller? Like Jane Lynch’s character in Glee? (Yikes, I just had a horrible image of Stephen Miller breaking into song).

3. Or is the bride also called Stephen? Is she secretly a he? 

OMG - Ditto on all of this.

Plus - There are so many red flags that I cannot even imagine where this marriage is going.

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[Alisamer]

On 2/15/2020 at 11:34 PM, JMarie said:

I'm surprised it's only been 29 times.  Yes, I know he also goes to Bedminster, but it seemed like he spent every single weekend in Florida.

Note they said 29 "golf related" trips to Mar-a-Lago. I wonder if they counted the ones where Trump was seen wearing golf clothes at the golf course, but the administration refused to say whether he actually played any golf?

Also - 29 trips. Each of those were for at least 2 days, so let's round the numbers conservatively and not count holidays where he was there an entire week. 

He's spent a full 2 months worth of time on "golf related" trips to Mar-A-Lago. Add in vacations - we'll say 2 weeks a year since that's what most US employees get. 2 weeks times 4 years... So by the end of this first term he'll have spent a bare minimum of 4 full months at Mar-A-Lago. And if you add extra days for long weekends, times he was there on non-golf-related trips, etc... It's got to be at least half a year of Mar-a-Lago time. And that's not counting Bedminster, Scotland, and any of his other golf and other outings.

I don't begrudge people taking weekends and vacation time. It's important, even for government officials, to have some downtime. BUT... combine that with his hours of "executive time" every day, and I'd bet Trump has spent far less time in the Oval Office working than he has vacationing and playing golf. Add in the amount of time he spends having pep rallies and tweeting and wow I'd love to have a job where I could actually WORK a couple hours a week at maximum and still get paid over $100,000 a year. AND have a huge private plane, a helicopter, bodyguards, assistants, and basically anything I wanted at my fingertips.

All on the taxpayer's dime.

But it's the Democrats that want to raise peoples' taxes, y'all. It's OK to spend a few HUNDRED MILLION on Trump gallivanting around playing golf, making incoherent campaign speeches, and watching TV. But to make healthcare more affordable so people don't die of treatable illnesses? Hell no. Poor people might use it! (Says the equally poor people in need of healthcare, but under Trump's thrall for some reason.)

[Xan]

What bothers me the most is that he doesn't actually work.  You can pull up his schedule and he never has much that he has to do.  From books and interviews, he's said to come into the office late.  He never reads briefings.  He never follows instructions on calls with international leaders.  Some days apparently all he does is watch television.  I would prefer that the leader of my country actually, you know, spend time doing his damn job.

Today he had nothing scheduled except "in-house pool call time" which might mean he took or made some calls with the press or maybe did nothing at all.

Presidential schedule site:

Spoiler

https://factba.se/topic/calendar

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

7 minutes ago, Xan said:

What bothers me the most is that he doesn't actually work.  You can pull up his schedule and he never has much that he has to do.  From books and interviews, he's said to come into the office late.  He never reads briefings.  He never follows instructions on calls with international leaders.  Some days apparently all he does is watch television.  I would prefer that the leader of my country actually, you know, spend time doing his damn job.

Today he had nothing scheduled except "in-house pool call time" which might mean he took or made some calls with the press or maybe did nothing at all.

Presidential schedule site:

  Reveal hidden contents

https://factba.se/topic/calendar

 

I would agree with you, that the President should actually perform his job, in almost every other case.

But this guy?  I want him to do nothing, touch nothing, say nothing, until he's replaced.

[Xan]

7 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

I would agree with you, that the President should actually perform his job, in almost every other case.

But this guy?  I want him to do nothing, touch nothing, say nothing, until he's replaced.

True.  But most presidents grow in the job.  That's why they usually age so fast.  If he applied himself he might learn something and not be such a f#%king disaster.

Never mind.  You're right.  He's incapable of learning.  He isn't a president.  To borrow from "Addams Family Values", he's just a big, dumb, weird thing.

[GreyhoundFan]

Awwww, Twitler got his fee fees hurt: "Obama pushes Trump’s button on economy. Trump responds: ‘Did you hear the latest con job?’"

Spoiler

On Monday, former president Barack Obama commemorated the 11th anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $800 billion stimulus, with a tweet, boasting that it “[paved] the way for more than a decade of economic growth and the longest streak of job creation in American history.”

Obama’s tweet did not sit well with President Trump, who brags constantly about being responsible for the “greatest economy in the history of our country” and has touted economic growth as a main talking point in his bid for reelection.

Trump fired off back-to-back tweets Monday evening, writing, “Did you hear the latest con job? President Obama is now trying to take credit for the Economic Boom taking place under the Trump Administration.”

Trump went on to attack Obama for having the “WEAKEST recovery since the Great Depression,” adding, “NOW best jobs numbers ever.” The president concluded his missives with an all-caps declaration: “THE BEST IS YET TO COME. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!”

Monday’s Twitter spat sparked an online frenzy among supporters of Trump and Obama over who should get credit for the current robust economy, which grew 2.3 percent in 2019, according to federal data released last month.

Conservatives, including prominent commentators and at least two Republican lawmakers, backed Trump and echoed his criticisms of Obama. An October 2019 Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 44 percent of Americans said the economy had improved under Trump. Within that group, about 4 in 5 said Trump deserves at least a good amount of the credit.

“President Trump reversed every single failed Obama-era economic policy, and with it, reversed the floundering Obama/Biden economy," Kayleigh McEnany, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, said in a statement emailed to The Washington Post early Tuesday.

“Obama and [former vice president Joe Biden] orchestrated the worst economic recovery in modern history,” McEnany said, later adding, “It’s no wonder Democrats seek to take credit for the Trump economy after eight years of betraying blue collar workers and inflicting pain upon the middle class as Americans everywhere suffered. But the failed days of Democrat stagnation are over, and the soaring Trump economy is here to stay.”

Meanwhile, Democrats rallied behind Obama, praising the Recovery Act and launching the trending hashtag “#ObamaWasBetterAtEverything.”

“THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA!” tweeted Scott Dworkin, co-founder of the super PAC Democratic Coalition. “A REAL president.”

This isn’t the first time Trump and Obama have taken aim at each other in public over the economy. Trump has repeatedly attacked his predecessor on Twitter and crowed that the economy is now the “best,” “strongest” and “greatest” the U.S. has ever seen. On the other hand, Obama has argued that Trump inherited the strong economy created by his administration.

“When I walked into office 10 years ago, we were in the middle of the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes,” Obama said during a 2018 campaign rally for Nevada Democrats. “That was the last time that the other party was in charge of things.”

“By the time I left office, wages were rising, uninsurance rate was falling, poverty was falling and that’s what I handed off to the next guy,” Obama continued. “So when you hear all of his talk about economic miracles right now, remember who started it.”

Among those rising to Obama’s provocation Monday were Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and actor James Woods, a prominent pro-Trump tweeter.

Scalise highlighted a well-known quote by Obama from his 2012 presidential campaign, tweeting, “I believe the saying is: ‘You didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.’ @realDonaldTrump made that happen.”

“The notion that you did anything but destroy this nation’s economy is beyond hilarious,” Woods tweeted, referencing Obama’s post.

But as conservatives and Trump went after Obama, a handful of journalists fact-checked the president’s tweets.

NBC News senior business correspondent Stephanie Ruhle tweeted that growth of the country’s gross domestic product hit 4 percent four times during the Obama administration and unemployment rates dropped 2.5 percent — accomplishments that have not been matched under Trump.

In fact, a number of Trump’s flattering assessments of the economy have not been supported by data, despite unemployment rates being at a 50-year low, steady economic growth and high consumer confidence, The Post’s Heather Long reported.

“The broad consensus among economists is that the U.S. economy is doing well, but these are not unprecedented times,” Long wrote, noting that “where Trump goes too far is in touting this economy as the ‘best ever’ and trying to portray the end of the Obama era as dire and himself as the hero flying in on the Trump jet to save the day.”

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Sigh. "Why did Trump just pardon a former owner of the 49ers? In part because he wants to win Ohio."

Spoiler

When my family moved to Howland, Ohio, when I was a freshman in high school, I quickly learned that while the region in northeastern Ohio was formally Cleveland Browns territory, there was a big, loud San Francisco 49ers subculture. The reason for this was twofold. In part, it was a function of how good the Niners were at the time. In larger part, though, it was a function of the team’s owner: Edward DeBartolo Jr.

Howland is a bit east of the city of Warren, which is itself due northwest of the much larger city of Youngstown. In Youngstown, the DeBartolos weren’t quite royalty, but they weren’t quite not. I knew the name DeBartolo within weeks of moving to the area. They were a family that had risen to national prominence from an area that was more often the subject of mopey songs or depressing news articles about the U.S. economy. Youngstown was a big loser in the economy of the 1970s and 1980s — but could also boast of being the home to the family that owned a team that kept winning the Super Bowl.

Antiheroes were something of a trend in the region at the time. The local congressman at the time was Jim Traficant (D), whose career was mottled by allegations and evidence of ties to organized crime (including when he was sheriff). But he was beloved by voters for his eccentricities and his eagerness to fight for the region’s working class. There were rumors about the DeBartolos, too, probably not a surprise given the region’s history with the Mafia. The family represented success and served as a curiosity.

Ed DeBartolo Jr. did eventually face criminal charges after being solicited for a bribe by the governor of Louisiana and failing to report it. He agreed in 1998 to serve two years’ probation and pay $1 million in fines. He transferred ownership of the 49ers to his sister Denise DeBartolo York in 2000.

On Tuesday, President Trump granted DeBartolo a full pardon. In the abstract, it’s an odd decision, focused on someone whose infraction was fairly minor and resolved two decades ago. It may be a function in part of the 49ers’ reemergence as a force in the NFL. But it may also be a way to send a signal to a critical part of an important state.

In the 2016 election, Mahoning County, where Youngstown is located, narrowly voted for Hillary Clinton over Trump, though Trump benefited from a 25-point swing in his favor. Trumbull County, where Warren and Howland are located, voted Republican for the first time since 1972. Trump won Ohio by eight points, but polling last year had him trailing some potential Democratic opponents. Locking down Mahoning County, 2 percent of the state’s population, doesn’t hurt Trump’s chances.

There are other reasons for Trump to have been sympathetic to DeBartolo, including that the Youngstown native supported Trump’s presidency. But someone, somewhere, no doubt kept Trump apprised of DeBartolo’s popularity in a region central to U.S. presidential politics.

“It’s a family-oriented community, so even people that had no reason to cheer for the 49ers, they would because of my family,” current 49ers CEO Jed York — nephew of DeBartolo — said last year about the Youngstown area. “Everybody sort of looks at the 49ers as their second team, or some people, their first team. So it’s cool to have that family feel, back then in the ‘80s and ‘90s and even today, seeing the excitement the 49ers bring to the community.”

It’s a sense the team fosters. The Niners held practice sessions at Youngstown State University last year, and the players participated in community events, as well.

Youngstown is, as York said, a 49ers town. It is a 49ers town because of the DeBartolos. And, days after heading to Daytona to woo NASCAR fans, Trump on Tuesday tied himself more closely to that family.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 "Trump says he is granting clemency to ex-governor Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.) and former N.Y. police commissioner Bernard Kerik"

Spoiler

BREAKING: Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois, was convicted on corruption charges in 2011 related to trying to sell then-President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat. Kerik pleaded guilty in 2010 to eight felony charges, including tax fraud and lying to White House officials. This is a developing story and will be updated.

President Trump has decided to commute the prison sentence of Rod R. Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois convicted on corruption charges in 2011 related to trying to sell then-President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat, according to a senior administration official.

Word of Trump’s decision to use his clemency powers on behalf of Blagojevich came shortly after the White House announced a pardon for Edward DeBartolo Jr., the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team, who pleaded guilty two decades ago for failing to report a felony.

The decision regarding Blagojevich, which was first reported by ABC News, is likely to be announced later Tuesday, said the administration official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

Blagojevich, 62, has been serving a 14-year sentence and is not due to be released from prison until May 2024.

Trump had raised the prospect of interceding on Blagojevich’s behalf on multiple occasions since 2018, telling reporters traveling with him on Air Force One last summer that he believed the former governor “was treated unbelievably unfairly.”

Several prominent Democrats have also lobbied for a shortened sentence, arguing that his punishment was too severe. The five Republicans in Illinois’ congressional delegation, however, had urged Trump not to commute the former governor’s sentence, citing the importance of taking “a strong stand against pay-to-play politics.”

Blagojevich was a contestant on Trump’s NBC reality show, “Celebrity Apprentice,” in 2010, after he was indicted but before his convictions. Trump praised Blagojevich at the time for having “a lot of guts” to appear on the program.

Blagojevich was caught on FBI wiretaps talking about trying to sell Obama’s vacated Senate seat, saying it was a “valuable thing” and “you don’t just give it away for nothing.” But Trump told reporters he believed Blagojevich had sufficiently served his time for an offense the president did not view as particularly pernicious.

“He’s been in jail for seven years over a phone call where nothing happens — over a phone call which he shouldn’t have said what he said, but it was braggadocio, you would say,” Trump told reporters last year. “I would think that there have been many politicians — I’m not one of them, by the way — that have said a lot worse over the telephone.”

Last year, Illinois Republican congressmen Darin LaHood, John Shimkus, Adam Kinzinger, Rodney Davis and Mike Bost urged Trump not to commute Blagojevich’s sentence.

“It’s important that we take a strong stand against pay-to-play politics, especially in Illinois, where four of our last eight governors have gone to federal prison for public corruption,” the lawmakers wrote. “Commuting the sentence of Rod Blagojevich, who has a clear and documented record of egregious corruption, sets a dangerous precedent and goes against the trust voters place in elected officials.”

Trump continued to flirt with the idea, however. At fundraiser last year at his Chicago hotel, he polled the room on whether he should do it, taking some donors by surprise.

The decision regarding DeBartolo was announced publicly on Tuesday by deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley, who was flanked by several former NFL players outside the White House.

“I take my hat off to Donald Trump for what he did,” said one of them, former 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice, calling it a “great day.”

DeBartolo testified in a gambling fraud and corruption case against former Louisiana governor Edwin W. Edwards (D) in 1998. DeBartolo said the governor extorted him for $400,000 in exchange for approval of a riverboat casino license. DeBartolo paid the money and the state licensing board unanimously approved his project.

For failing to report the governor’s bribe, DeBartolo, a billionaire, had to pay $1 million in fines, was placed on two year’s probation and handed the NFL team over to his sister.

DeBartolo, who spread his campaign donations between Democrats and Republicans for decades, has in the last two years given the maximum contribution just three candidates, all Republicans, according to OpenSecrets donor database.

There’s no indication that DeBartolo donated to Trump’s presidential campaign, but in 2016 he co-hosted a pre-inauguration day party that honored several individuals close to Trump, including former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and former White House aide Omarosa Manigault.

Most of Trump’s 24 presidential pardons have gone to well-connected individuals who have a direct line to him or influence among his supporters.

The DeBartolo family has strong ties to northeastern Ohio, a region likely to be important to Trump’s reelection campaign.

Trump first publicly mused about commuting Blagojevich’s sentence in 2018, when he exercised his clemency powers in a string of cases and speculated about others he might pardon. Others mentioned at the time included Martha Stewart, the television personality and lifestyle mogul who was convicted in 2004 of obstructing justice and lying to investigators about a well-timed stock sale.

Trump has routinely downplayed and mischaracterized the case against Blagojevich, whose trial included not only the wiretap but also numerous witnesses testifying that he had solicited campaign cash in exchange for official acts.

In comments last year, Trump also falsely blamed Blagojevich’s treatment on “the Comey gang and all these sleazebags,” a reference to James B. Comey, the FBI director Trump fired amid the mounting investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Comey was in the private sector at the time of Blagojevich’s prosecution and conviction in December 2011.

Blagojevich has failed to persuade the Supreme Court to review his conviction and sentence.

In a statement after Trump first raised the possibility of a commutation in 2018, Len Goodman, an attorney for Blagojevich, said he was grateful that Trump understood the “unfairness” of his client’s case. “It’s time for Rod Blagojevich to come home to his wife and daughters,” Goodman said.

Blagojevich’s wife has also sought to make the case for clemency during appearances on Fox News.

Democrats who have urged Trump to commute Blagojevich’s sentence include civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and his son, former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.).

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (Ill.), the second-ranking Senate Democrat, has also said that he supports the move.

 

[ALM7]

On 2/16/2020 at 11:57 AM, fraurosena said:

Awww... poor pwesidunce is all upset everybody laughed at his wall falling down.

Why is "fell over" in quotation marks? It really did fall over, and no amount of quotation marks will make it any less stupid.

Who pours concrete and sticks a wall in it when you know 'big winds' are coming?

Also, why is "forever" in quotes? Immediately makes one think it's not a true statement. Which, conversely, might actually be the truth. 

@fraurosena, I think it's an uneducated fundie thing, Jrod does it incessantly.  Trump on the other hand, is simply deranged.  

We do know they drink from the same kool-aid bowl ...

RV Jillbillies 134: The Comforter Has Come (and it is hidden behind 14 dressers) sabretooth replied to nelliebelle1197's topic in RVfull of Grifting (Rodrigues Family)

...why is "magic show" inquotes on the Valentines Day banquet note?

[fraurosena]

14 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Sigh. "Why did Trump just pardon a former owner of the 49ers? In part because he wants to win Ohio."

  Hide contents

When my family moved to Howland, Ohio, when I was a freshman in high school, I quickly learned that while the region in northeastern Ohio was formally Cleveland Browns territory, there was a big, loud San Francisco 49ers subculture. The reason for this was twofold. In part, it was a function of how good the Niners were at the time. In larger part, though, it was a function of the team’s owner: Edward DeBartolo Jr.

Howland is a bit east of the city of Warren, which is itself due northwest of the much larger city of Youngstown. In Youngstown, the DeBartolos weren’t quite royalty, but they weren’t quite not. I knew the name DeBartolo within weeks of moving to the area. They were a family that had risen to national prominence from an area that was more often the subject of mopey songs or depressing news articles about the U.S. economy. Youngstown was a big loser in the economy of the 1970s and 1980s — but could also boast of being the home to the family that owned a team that kept winning the Super Bowl.

Antiheroes were something of a trend in the region at the time. The local congressman at the time was Jim Traficant (D), whose career was mottled by allegations and evidence of ties to organized crime (including when he was sheriff). But he was beloved by voters for his eccentricities and his eagerness to fight for the region’s working class. There were rumors about the DeBartolos, too, probably not a surprise given the region’s history with the Mafia. The family represented success and served as a curiosity.

Ed DeBartolo Jr. did eventually face criminal charges after being solicited for a bribe by the governor of Louisiana and failing to report it. He agreed in 1998 to serve two years’ probation and pay $1 million in fines. He transferred ownership of the 49ers to his sister Denise DeBartolo York in 2000.

On Tuesday, President Trump granted DeBartolo a full pardon. In the abstract, it’s an odd decision, focused on someone whose infraction was fairly minor and resolved two decades ago. It may be a function in part of the 49ers’ reemergence as a force in the NFL. But it may also be a way to send a signal to a critical part of an important state.

In the 2016 election, Mahoning County, where Youngstown is located, narrowly voted for Hillary Clinton over Trump, though Trump benefited from a 25-point swing in his favor. Trumbull County, where Warren and Howland are located, voted Republican for the first time since 1972. Trump won Ohio by eight points, but polling last year had him trailing some potential Democratic opponents. Locking down Mahoning County, 2 percent of the state’s population, doesn’t hurt Trump’s chances.

There are other reasons for Trump to have been sympathetic to DeBartolo, including that the Youngstown native supported Trump’s presidency. But someone, somewhere, no doubt kept Trump apprised of DeBartolo’s popularity in a region central to U.S. presidential politics.

“It’s a family-oriented community, so even people that had no reason to cheer for the 49ers, they would because of my family,” current 49ers CEO Jed York — nephew of DeBartolo — said last year about the Youngstown area. “Everybody sort of looks at the 49ers as their second team, or some people, their first team. So it’s cool to have that family feel, back then in the ‘80s and ‘90s and even today, seeing the excitement the 49ers bring to the community.”

It’s a sense the team fosters. The Niners held practice sessions at Youngstown State University last year, and the players participated in community events, as well.

Youngstown is, as York said, a 49ers town. It is a 49ers town because of the DeBartolos. And, days after heading to Daytona to woo NASCAR fans, Trump on Tuesday tied himself more closely to that family.

 

 

13 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

 "Trump says he is granting clemency to ex-governor Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.) and former N.Y. police commissioner Bernard Kerik"

  Hide contents

BREAKING: Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois, was convicted on corruption charges in 2011 related to trying to sell then-President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat. Kerik pleaded guilty in 2010 to eight felony charges, including tax fraud and lying to White House officials. This is a developing story and will be updated.

President Trump has decided to commute the prison sentence of Rod R. Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois convicted on corruption charges in 2011 related to trying to sell then-President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat, according to a senior administration official.

Word of Trump’s decision to use his clemency powers on behalf of Blagojevich came shortly after the White House announced a pardon for Edward DeBartolo Jr., the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team, who pleaded guilty two decades ago for failing to report a felony.

The decision regarding Blagojevich, which was first reported by ABC News, is likely to be announced later Tuesday, said the administration official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

Blagojevich, 62, has been serving a 14-year sentence and is not due to be released from prison until May 2024.

Trump had raised the prospect of interceding on Blagojevich’s behalf on multiple occasions since 2018, telling reporters traveling with him on Air Force One last summer that he believed the former governor “was treated unbelievably unfairly.”

Several prominent Democrats have also lobbied for a shortened sentence, arguing that his punishment was too severe. The five Republicans in Illinois’ congressional delegation, however, had urged Trump not to commute the former governor’s sentence, citing the importance of taking “a strong stand against pay-to-play politics.”

Blagojevich was a contestant on Trump’s NBC reality show, “Celebrity Apprentice,” in 2010, after he was indicted but before his convictions. Trump praised Blagojevich at the time for having “a lot of guts” to appear on the program.

Blagojevich was caught on FBI wiretaps talking about trying to sell Obama’s vacated Senate seat, saying it was a “valuable thing” and “you don’t just give it away for nothing.” But Trump told reporters he believed Blagojevich had sufficiently served his time for an offense the president did not view as particularly pernicious.

“He’s been in jail for seven years over a phone call where nothing happens — over a phone call which he shouldn’t have said what he said, but it was braggadocio, you would say,” Trump told reporters last year. “I would think that there have been many politicians — I’m not one of them, by the way — that have said a lot worse over the telephone.”

Last year, Illinois Republican congressmen Darin LaHood, John Shimkus, Adam Kinzinger, Rodney Davis and Mike Bost urged Trump not to commute Blagojevich’s sentence.

“It’s important that we take a strong stand against pay-to-play politics, especially in Illinois, where four of our last eight governors have gone to federal prison for public corruption,” the lawmakers wrote. “Commuting the sentence of Rod Blagojevich, who has a clear and documented record of egregious corruption, sets a dangerous precedent and goes against the trust voters place in elected officials.”

Trump continued to flirt with the idea, however. At fundraiser last year at his Chicago hotel, he polled the room on whether he should do it, taking some donors by surprise.

The decision regarding DeBartolo was announced publicly on Tuesday by deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley, who was flanked by several former NFL players outside the White House.

“I take my hat off to Donald Trump for what he did,” said one of them, former 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice, calling it a “great day.”

DeBartolo testified in a gambling fraud and corruption case against former Louisiana governor Edwin W. Edwards (D) in 1998. DeBartolo said the governor extorted him for $400,000 in exchange for approval of a riverboat casino license. DeBartolo paid the money and the state licensing board unanimously approved his project.

For failing to report the governor’s bribe, DeBartolo, a billionaire, had to pay $1 million in fines, was placed on two year’s probation and handed the NFL team over to his sister.

DeBartolo, who spread his campaign donations between Democrats and Republicans for decades, has in the last two years given the maximum contribution just three candidates, all Republicans, according to OpenSecrets donor database.

There’s no indication that DeBartolo donated to Trump’s presidential campaign, but in 2016 he co-hosted a pre-inauguration day party that honored several individuals close to Trump, including former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and former White House aide Omarosa Manigault.

Most of Trump’s 24 presidential pardons have gone to well-connected individuals who have a direct line to him or influence among his supporters.

The DeBartolo family has strong ties to northeastern Ohio, a region likely to be important to Trump’s reelection campaign.

Trump first publicly mused about commuting Blagojevich’s sentence in 2018, when he exercised his clemency powers in a string of cases and speculated about others he might pardon. Others mentioned at the time included Martha Stewart, the television personality and lifestyle mogul who was convicted in 2004 of obstructing justice and lying to investigators about a well-timed stock sale.

Trump has routinely downplayed and mischaracterized the case against Blagojevich, whose trial included not only the wiretap but also numerous witnesses testifying that he had solicited campaign cash in exchange for official acts.

In comments last year, Trump also falsely blamed Blagojevich’s treatment on “the Comey gang and all these sleazebags,” a reference to James B. Comey, the FBI director Trump fired amid the mounting investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Comey was in the private sector at the time of Blagojevich’s prosecution and conviction in December 2011.

Blagojevich has failed to persuade the Supreme Court to review his conviction and sentence.

In a statement after Trump first raised the possibility of a commutation in 2018, Len Goodman, an attorney for Blagojevich, said he was grateful that Trump understood the “unfairness” of his client’s case. “It’s time for Rod Blagojevich to come home to his wife and daughters,” Goodman said.

Blagojevich’s wife has also sought to make the case for clemency during appearances on Fox News.

Democrats who have urged Trump to commute Blagojevich’s sentence include civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and his son, former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.).

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (Ill.), the second-ranking Senate Democrat, has also said that he supports the move.

 

Trump has started pardoning people? This has to be a build up to pardon others too. Like, you know,  Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn and Roger Stone.