Trump 48: Nobody Likes Me

[WiseGirl]

Are you fucking kidding me "thighland" for Thailand?  What an idiot.  The puns are fun though.

https://mashable.com/article/trump-mispronounced-thighland-thailand-puns/

 

Edited August 7, 2020 by WiseGirl
Add text

[Cartmann99]

It's after 8pm where I am, so...

[onekidanddone]

8 minutes ago, WiseGirl said:

Are you fucking kidding me "thighland" for Thailand?  What an idiot.  The puns are fun though.

https://mashable.com/article/trump-mispronounced-thighland-thailand-puns/

 

Yo!!! This Semite right here loves her thigh food.

[GreyhoundFan]

38 minutes ago, WiseGirl said:

Are you fucking kidding me "thighland" for Thailand?  What an idiot.  The puns are fun though.

Well, most food is "thigh" food for me, since it all goes right to my thighs.

[AnywhereButHere]

Thigh food with a side of covfefe?

[fraurosena]

 

[fraurosena]

He’s got a weird obsession with water, doesn’t he? 

The comment section is as golden as his sweaty skin tone.

 

[JMarie]

9 hours ago, WiseGirl said:

Are you fucking kidding me "thighland" for Thailand?  What an idiot.  The puns are fun though.

https://mashable.com/article/trump-mispronounced-thighland-thailand-puns/

 

I’m sure he’s extremely familiar with Thighland. 

[Smash!]

Thigh food with a side of covfefe?

This without the question mark should be the next thread title [emoji16]

[smittykins]

11 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

It's after 8pm where I am, so...

Isn’t Biden Catholic?  I’m sure I know where many of Trump’s evangelical supporters stand with that.

Edited August 7, 2020 by smittykins

[GreyhoundFan]

Why is this not a surprise?

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Cue the rage tweets from the orange menace:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Every single decision is made to give twitler more money to line his pockets:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

It is mind-boggling how much he costs taxpayers:

 

[fraurosena]

In the midst of a pandemic and an economic crisis, why not start another trade war?

Trump imposing new aluminum tariff, Canada readies countermeasures

Quote

Canada is planning to retaliate with countermeasures after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his plans to impose a 10-per-cent tariff on Canadian aluminum imports, despite condemnation from aluminum organizations on both sides of the border.

“In response to the American tariffs, Canada intends to swiftly impose dollar-for-dollar countermeasures,” said Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in a statement late Thursday, promising more information about the retaliatory measures “shortly.”

The federal government was informed by the U.S. administration that the new tariff was coming, and will apply to unprocessed Canadian aluminum, as of Aug. 16.

Freeland called Trump’s move “unwarranted and unacceptable.” 

In announcing the new trade action at an event in Ohio, Trump said that: “Canada was taking advantage of us, as usual.” 

Trump claimed on Thursday that the American aluminum business has been “decimated” by Canada, calling it “very unfair” and accusing Canadian producers of flooding the U.S. with exports.

He also said that the new tariffs are “absolutely necessary,” and pledged he will “always put American workers first,” and use all tools at his disposal—including tariffs—to do that.

The United States had been considering whether to slap tariffs on aluminum imports coming from Canada, under Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act, unless Canada agreed to restrict its export volumes through quotas.

In a tweet, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed to stand up for Canadian workers, echoing Freeland’s commitment to retaliate. 

Responding to the initial threat, Trudeau said that the U.S. “needs Canadian aluminum,” as it does not produce enough to fill its domestic manufacturing needs.

"If they put tariffs on Canadian aluminum, they’re simply increasing the costs of inputs, necessary inputs, to their manufacturing base which will hurt the American economy. Again, we see that our economies are so interlinked that punitive actions by the United States administration end up hurting Americans the same way they end up hurting Canadians," Trudeau said back in June.

INDUSTRY GROUPS ON BOTH SIDES AGAINST

Aluminum association groups on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border are speaking out about Trump’s move, and are in agreement that it’s the wrong approach. 

Aluminum Association of Canada President & CEO Jean Simard told CTV News that Canadian producers are not dumping aluminum—the term for when selling under domestic price—rather that Canada is selling at the current international price.

“There’s no dumping. It’s a misuse of a word that is very well documented in international trade law. This is not dumping. This is quite an assumption by the president,” Simard said.

In a statement, President and CEO of the Aluminum Association Tom Dobbins said his organization— which represents aluminum production and jobs in the United States—is “incredibly disappointed,” and said Trump’s move while trying to help will only add volatility to the industry as a whole. 

“The administration failed to listen to the vast majority of domestic aluminum companies and users by reinstating Section 232 tariffs on Canadian aluminum. After years of complex negotiations and hard work by government, industry and other leaders across North America to make the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) a reality, this ill-advised action on a key trading partner undermines the deal’s benefits at a time when U.S. businesses and consumers can least afford it,” said Dobbins. 

He added that the reports of a surge of imports from Canada are “grossly exaggerated,” citing data released on Wednesday from the U.S. Census Bureau that showed that overall primary aluminum imports from the U.S. to Canada declined about 2.6 percent from May to June and are below 2017 levels.

“The few companies that stand to benefit from reinstated 232 tariffs on aluminum have cherry-picked government data and omitted important context to build their case, which unfortunately won the day,” he said. 

TRUDEAU ACCUSED OF INACTION  

Reacting to the late-in-the-day news, several Conservative MPs issued a joint statement saying Trudeau has “once again let down” thousands of Canadian aluminum workers.

“The U.S. administration has been foreshadowing new tariffs on Canadian aluminum for weeks, so why didn’t the Trudeau government take action to protect Canadian workers?” reads the joint statement.

“The aluminum sector is vital to the Canadian economy. It’s essential that this industry thrive, especially during COVID-19,” said the Conservative MPs.

In a statement, NDP MP and the party’s international trade critic Daniel Blaikie said his thoughts were with the aluminum workers who will be hurt by Trump’s “electioneering” and the lack of Liberal action at home. He is calling for a federal plan to help protect Canadian aluminum jobs.

Freeland agreed in her statement, that “the last thing Canadian and American workers need is new tariffs that will raise costs for manufacturers and consumers, impede the free flow of trade, and hurt provincial and state economies.” 

NOT THE FIRST TIME

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is also condemning the U.S. move., saying the tariffs will “only exacerbate disruptions to North American supply chains.

In a statement the Chamber’s Senior Director of International Trade Mark Agnew said that Canadian aluminum exports pose “absolutely no national security threat” and the move is just as wrong as it was when it was tried by Trump in 2018. 

Trump hit Canada with steel and aluminum tariffs in May 2018, during negotiations for the new NAFTA deal. The tariffs remained in place for a year, during which time Canada reciprocated with dollar-for-dollar countermeasures on American steel, aluminum, as well as levelling a surtax on other goods.

A year later, Canada and the U.S. issued a joint statement announcing a decision to lift the tariffs, confirming that the two nations also agreed to terminate World Trade Organization litigation Canada launched after slamming the U.S. tariffs as "punitive" and "an affront" to Canada-U.S. relations.

The new NAFTA came into effect on July 1, meaning this latest American trade action comes just over a month into the new deal.

The new rules of origin for automobiles within the new NAFTA state that 70 per cent of the steel and aluminum purchased by North American automakers has to be produced in North America.

CALLS TO RETALIATE

The largest private sector union has called on Trudeau to “stand firm” against the prospect of the re-imposition of tariffs and has suggested that Canada should retaliate.

Unifor National President Jerry Dias has previously called the prospective tariffs “totally unwarranted.”

Speaking to the prospect of the tariffs, Unifor National President Jerry Dias has called the prospective tariffs “totally unwarranted.”

Dias has said that the arguments that American steel producers are making to the Trump administration about the need for intervention — including that a surge in Canadian aluminum imports is causing aluminum prices to collapse — are “preposterous and utterly divorced from reality,” because globally, due to COVID-19, demand for metal has gone down and that’s led to the declining prices. 

The Conservatives have also called for immediate retaliation to “send a clear message to the U.S. that we will not restrict our exports,” and industry representatives are calling on Freeland to begin consulting the business community on what the government’s retaliatory response will be.  

 

[onekidanddone]

14 hours ago, WiseGirl said:

Are you fucking kidding me "thighland" for Thailand?  What an idiot.  The puns are fun though.

https://mashable.com/article/trump-mispronounced-thighland-thailand-puns/

 

Ordered some chicken ties this morning 

 

Edited August 7, 2020 by onekidanddone

[thoughtful]

If someone serves Donald Trump the upper leg of a chicken, cooked in a sauce made with peanut butter, sugar, soy and chili sauces, is it a Thai thigh or a thigh Thai?

Weirdest Zen koan ever.

[front hugs > duggs]

I previously lived in Bedminster and worked in Morristown. It's literally all of 15 minutes, direct on one interstate. I'm sure this cost tax payers in insane amount of money.

[AnywhereButHere]

11 hours ago, fraurosena said:

 

Or (as seen in a Facebook comment) Nepal...

[K'Z'K]

28 minutes ago, AnywhereButHere said:

Or (as seen in a Facebook comment) Nepal...

From February 2019:

Trump Called Nepal And Bhutan ‘Nipple’ And ‘Button’ In Intel Briefing: Time’s John Walcott

 

[47of74]

I just came across the Safire Memo on line.  It was what Nixon was going to say if Apollo 11 had ended badly with the astronauts stranded on the moon.  

God I shudder to think what Fuck Face would say in such a situation.  Nixon at least had a solemn and dignified speech prepared.  Fuck Face probably would have ditched the speech and said something stupid, cold, and callous as well as trying to make it all about him. 

God I fucking hate that man.

[Audrey2]

3 hours ago, Smash! said:

This without the question mark should be the next thread title

Trump is like Jill Rodrigues- there's a new thread title with every post! We probably have enough bad quotes of theirs for thread titles to last through 2045!

[Smash!]

Trump is like Jill Rodrigues- there's a new thread title with every post! We probably have enough bad quotes of theirs for thread titles to last through 2045!

I mean with all the shit going on we need at least funny thread titles [emoji16]

[AnywhereButHere]

13 minutes ago, K'Z'K said:

From February 2019:

Trump Called Nepal And Bhutan ‘Nipple’ And ‘Button’ In Intel Briefing: Time’s John Walcott

 

Oh god. He's done so many stupid things that I'd actually forgotten he already did this one! 

[GreyhoundFan]

Because of course: "Trump tries to muscle through changes in presidential debates to gain advantage"

Spoiler

President Trump’s efforts to influence the timing and makeup of this fall’s presidential debates, some of the last planned events with the power to shift the trajectory of the campaign, have been rejected, with both the independent debate commission and the Biden campaign showing no interest in altering course.

But that has not stopped Trump from trying to gain advantage by making the debates a top-tier issue, as he and his advisers circulate unfounded claims that Joe Biden may try to dodge the events and suggest that the Democrat may try to cheat by using notes if the sessions are held virtually.

“I would be highly surprised if Joe Biden actually went through with all three debates,” Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller said Friday. “I think their strategy will be to show up to one, show that he is able to function and then pull the plug on any additional debates.”

Biden pledged in June to attend all three of the scheduled debates, a commitment that the president only matched in a letter Thursday, after the debate commission rejected a request to use a list of Trump-approved moderators and move up the timing of the debates. The Biden team has taken to mocking the Trump campaign’s effort to shape the rules and timing of the events, with one Biden aide suggesting that the president and his staff can Google the phrase “be there” if they have any questions.

“The Trump campaign’s attempt to create a debate about debates is as phony as the president’s claim that coronavirus will vanish on its own,” Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said. “It’s unsurprising they have adopted this embarrassing tactic.”

The debates, set to begin Sept. 29, are expected to carry outsize importance in a remarkably bizarre election cycle — without public rallies or much in-person campaigning — offering homebound voters one of the few chances to see both candidates in an uncontrolled environment and to make direct comparisons.

“This is like the Super Bowl,” said Philippe Reines, a longtime adviser to Hillary Clinton who played the role of Trump in her 2016 debate preparations. “It is one of the few moments of the year when we all gather together. We all have a shared base of experience and knowledge.”

The debates have taken on particular gravity for the Trump campaign, which has fallen behind in swing-state and national polls and has been frustrated by the Democrat’s cautious and controlled campaign, which offers only limited opportunities for the Biden flubs and gaffes that Trump has made central to his argument for reelection.

Three campaign officials said Trump knows that the debates are important to turning around his chances in November. His new campaign manager, Bill Stepien, has told other advisers that getting Biden to engage more publicly in uncontrolled situations is one of his primary goals.

Yet Trump’s current standing has given him little leverage to force any changes to the traditional format of the debates. In addition to the three meetings of the presidential candidates, including one with a town hall format, there will be one debate between the vice presidential contenders. The moderators will be selected by the Commission on Presidential Debates, an independent body made up of officials from both parties.

Trump’s efforts to affect the staging of the debates date to December, long before the pandemic shook the country, when he discussed with his advisers the possibility of forcing changes to the board that oversees the commission. In a subsequent call with Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., a former Republican Party chairman who co-chairs the commission, senior Trump campaign officials warned that the president might not participate in the debates if he did not find the arrangements “fair.”

“The problem is that the so-called Commission on Presidential Debates is stacked with Trump Haters & Never Trumpers,” Trump tweeted that month. “. . . As President, the debates are up to me, and there are many options, including doing them directly & avoiding the nasty politics of this very biased Commission.”

The commission was unmoved by the threats or the subsequent demands of the Trump campaign. The Trump team called in June for a fourth debate and argued that the campaigns should have sway over the moderators. Rudolph W. Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, reiterated that request in a letter to the commission this week and asked that the first debate be moved up to early September if no new meeting was added.

Giuliani argued that since early voting is available in 16 states in September, voters deserve a chance to see the candidates in action sooner. He also provided a list of 24 campaign-approved moderators, including journalists whom Trump aides consider relatively sympathetic, like Maria Bartiromo and Charles Payne of Fox Business Network.

Biden advisers dismissed the request out of hand. “Based on his statements about vote-by-mail, Trump’s position is we need to move the first debate up for the benefit of people who are going to commit voter fraud,” joked one Biden adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the campaign’s internal perspective. “About as consistent as everything else on their campaign.”

Commission leaders also rejected the request, saying they would independently pick “qualified and fair” moderators “with great care.”

“Any voter who wishes to watch one or more debates before voting will be well aware of that opportunity,” the commissioners wrote.

Giuliani responded Thursday with a letter that confirmed Trump’s commitment to the scheduled debates, and requested that any pandemic contingencies allow both candidates to “appear onstage, in person” and not through “online transmissions where Mr. Biden could rely on notes, teleprompter or handlers.”

“We aim to continue to put public pressure on Mr. Biden to agree that Americans must see an in-person comparison of the records, visions, and vitality of the two candidates for president before voting begins,” Giuliani wrote.

The commission’s current plan calls for all debates to be in person, with reduced numbers of audience members attending. The town hall format is still planned, with audience members selected by Gallup and allowances to ensure the health of all involved. (The final Democratic primary debate was conducted in March in a Washington television studio, with no audience in attendance.)

An official familiar with the planning said that the debate commission was likely to announce moderators in early September, without input or control from the campaigns, and that the debate places and times are unlikely to move.

This official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Thursday that Giuliani had not talked with the commission since a call this summer that included Brad Parscale, then the campaign manager, during which they pushed for a fourth debate and control over the moderators. Biden’s camp has not shown interest in adding a fourth debate, moving up the timeline or demanding specific moderators, the official said.

In the meantime, both campaigns have been moving forward with preparations under veils of secrecy. Several campaign advisers said that Trump has begun discussing how to approach the debate and that Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who led debate preparations in 2016, is likely to play a key role.

Miller, the Trump adviser, has been studying Biden’s past debate performances.

“Joe Biden is actually a very good debater. He doesn’t have as many gaffes as he does in his everyday interviews,” Miller said, a characterization that runs counter to his rationale for why the former vice president would refuse to debate. “I would make the argument that Joe Biden would even be the favorite in the debates since he’s been doing them for 47 years.”

In Biden’s inner circle, debate prep details are considered akin to a quote from the 1999 movie “Fight Club”: a subject verboten outside the confines of the campaign.

“The first rule of debate prep is that nobody talks about debate prep,” said a person involved in the Biden preparations, who requested anonymity to tell others not to speak publicly.

Both Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn and Ron Klain, a former chief of staff for Biden who has long coached Democratic candidates for debates, have been involved in past efforts to prepare Biden for debates.

Brett O’Donnell, a debate coach who has worked for former president George W. Bush, as well as Republican nominees John McCain and Mitt Romney, said the 2016 debates showed the challenge of facing off with Trump, who has extensive experience with televised rhetorical combat.

“This is not really a debating competition. If it was a debating competition, others might outperform the president,” O’Donnell said of Trump’s debates with Clinton. “But it is about message and moments. And under those rules, the president performed pretty well against her.”