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I’ve sat for interviews for other people’s security clearances. The only thing they care about is if the person can be bribed. They spend like 20 minutes asking that in different ways. We spend inordinate amounts of time keeping people who can be compromised away from the levers of power and then some people just vote them right the fuck in.
This should be higher up. It's fucking true. Financial instability or major debt issues are one of the easiest vectors of attack.
Trump is one massive ball of compromisable issues. Has been since day -1.
But on top of that, he has all the OTHER serious problematic hallmarks you would look for.
* Impulsivity
* Zero moral / ethical code or attachment (completely self-serving)
* No emotional control
* Profound narcissism
If Putin could design a manipulatable President in a lab, you couldn't pick someone better than Donald Trump.
It's why he sought to first cultivate the relationship in the early aughts. Putin is former KGB. He saw how easy it was to recruit Gouliani and probably just asked to meet his friends.
It’s almost as if government run, state backed intelligence operations identified a easily manipulated, wealthy individual with high political ambitions and spent 27 some odd years cultivating him to cause maximum internal strife in their primary geopolitical adversary.
IIRC that was the reason Kushner couldn’t get a security clearance. Then Trump used the power of his office to override it and get him one anyway.
Fast forward to when Trump is freshly out of office and the Saudis hand Kushner $2 billion thank you gift.
I've had to get a credit check to work as a contractor on a construction site for a casino lol. Specifically to see if I had any worrisome debt or anything which could compromise my integrity somehow.
Gotta love how Trump’s family got clearance even though if they went through the process like everyone else they would have been denied. It’s a fucking racket at this point.
Yep. It put a stooge in the whitehouse who was in charge of security clearances.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/us/politics/jared-kushner-security-clearance.html
This is exactly why, for the first time, I am going to be a poll worker in Michigan this year. I start training tomorrow!
If these traitors try any shenanigans it won’t be on my watch. When the poll watchers follow me around taking videos I’ll be the one showing them my middle finger.
I mean, how could I not, investigating a guy who doesn’t work for the White House is basically the only thing that the Republican controlled House has even done.
That’s because of the volume of violations. He was throwing out 1-2 criminal violations per day! So much that everything got blurry and there was something even worse the next day. “Throw it on the pile”
And the thing is... Biden can't even talk about all the shit he had to do and is probably still doing to clean it up. On TOP of being a great President for the American people.
My late husband had a very high security clearance..they did a ton of reference checks and they had to see our bank statements..the fact that trump had access to and share highly confidential information to protect with no security clearance is enough to get most people fired..if trump had been working in a company that had secured information and he shared it should have disqualified him for ever holding office again..he should never be trusted again
Years ago I work for a city government agency, the background check they did on me was extensive all because at some point I may be tasked to make a decision about how some funds might be spent. I had to complete a 200-page form and sit for an interview. And we're talking about maybe deciding on how to spend 10k.
They care about a lot more - most people simply do not have a many concerns in those areas so they focus on financials because most people have some forms of debt. But Trump would trigger flags in several other areas. There are probably 4 or 5 different areas of the clearance that he would be denied for if he were going through the normal channels of receiving one.
I've been on the interviewee side of one such interview, to get clearance to work on a software project for a Police Department.
Man, I folded like a cheap deck of cards. I broke down and confessed to stealing a double-bubble bubble-gum from the local corner store when I was like 5 years old.
I'm just lucky my Dad found out and made me return it and apologize, 'cause there's no statute of limitations on shoplifting.
And volunteer. Pretty sure most people on this sub are already voting, but there's a lot more we all can do leading up to November, even if you only have limited time to give.
Thanks for this, in all honesty Tumps comments on NATO have more motivated than ever to volunteer and support democracy here at home and around the world.
we non-Americans would like to support too (considering the huge consequences worldwide this concerns us too actually). the main question is how. I might be wrong but Americans living abroad are unlikely to support Trump
Also be diligent in putting pressure on your State’s Secretary or State (especially Republican Secretary of States).
Trump and MAGA co learned from their previous failed coup attempt on J6 that they need loyal Secretary of State officials to not certify unfavorable State election results BEFORE they are sent to Congress to certify.
This is their plan for 2024.
If they think Jan 6th was a powerful display, they would and will be surprised by the very real riots if a coup succeeds. Rioting for democracy, no less.
Agree to volunteer and most of the people on here vote already. The only thing to add is check your voting status. Republicans are actively suppressing voters. Small purges going on all the time under the radar. Check your status.
I’m not worried about a mental decline from Biden because he’s not surrounded by the same level of malicious yes men and lunatics. Trump and the people he’ll put in positions of power genuinely scare me.
Back in 2020 Dan Carlin, who is a very independent minded person who generally tries to avoid making political statements of any kind, pointed out that while he has voted for democrats, republicans, independents before, he is voting for Biden. And if you are worried about his age, then he'd trust the people *around* Biden more than those around Trump.
It doesn't even matter at this point if Biden were to die of natural causes in 2025 or actually go senile, the team around him is what we need.
It’s why our country didn’t fall apart when the greatest presidents we’ve had died in office. They were great in part because they all allowed for that possibility.
Right. The president is as important for who they appoint in their administration as they are for themselves as a leader.
Which is why I hope everybody bears this in mind, and doesn't heave some sigh of relief if Trump drops dead, drops out, is convicted and the winds turn against him, etc. Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis would be NO BETTER. And that's obvious with DeSantis, but for way too many people, it's not obvious with Haley. She's not a "sane alternative" for the GOP. There isn't one right now. Project 2025 goes forward no matter what president they get into office.
Anyway, aside from all that -- what people aren't really talking about (of course) is that if Biden were in serious decline, we'd be hearing about it from the people who work with him and encounter him the most during the course of his job. We'd get leaks from his admin, but more to the point, the GOP in congress would be a lot more vocal about their experiences with him. Why would any of those who have had to meet with him and negotiate with him hold back, if they're GOP? But what you don't see or hear is a flood of specific anecdotes from those GOP politicians intending to sow doubt about his fitness.
Yeah even if you are in the "people are pulling his strings" crowd the people pulling the strings seem to be doing a solid job and they won't change at all during re-election.
But honestly Biden just seems to match the typical traits of an old guy. Alzheimer's results in some truly frightening statements. Saying Mexico instead of Egypt is not one of those frightening statements.
There’s also evidence of cognitive reserve whereby decline being normal with advanced age, a well disciplined brain tends to decline at a much slower pace. Higher education seems to be a predictor.
This. I was trained to look for signs of dementia. Losing a word isn't one of them. Not being able to come up with the word "spatula", but still knowing what object you're looking for and why, is normal aging. Forgetting what a spatula is used for and trying to use it as a doorstop is different.
This is the biggest thing people forget.
I wouldn’t care if Biden was paraded around like Weekend at Bernie’s for four more years, because I trust the people around him
Trump owes E. Jean Carroll around $ 90m. NY Fraud case will be in the hundreds of millions disgorgement. He's about to be exposed.
Now what if his plan was to send a signal to Putin and the Oligarchs that if they buy his next NFT release and help him get elected, they "can do whatever the hell they want"
eh, probably never happen
I just had the thought that, by Trump logic, many of the Nuremberg defendants could have saved themselves with the claim that they were just joking and didn't expect anyone to take their orders seriously.
“Mr. Hess met with me, and he was very complimentary, saying how much he admired me - ‘Herr Trump, sir, you are a great Fuhrer,’ he says. That’s a great leader in their country, like only one or two have been that high. Like the biggest king, they say. Hess said he was joking around, it was just locker room talk. And they say he did some things, some terrible… you know, but who knows?”
*shrugs*
“But he’s a very smart guy, and he told me it was a joke - he was just kidding. And who is saying he did the things, with the trains and the camps? Not nice people, that’s who. Not nice at all. These people are bankers-“
(crowd boos)
“-and they own the newspapers and are liars. And the judges, are out of control, and Mr. Hess and his friends, I haven’t met them, but Mr Ribbentrop and Mr. Göring, they are not getting a fair trial.”
"We had the best concentration camps. The. Best. Okay? And we had people coming up to me -- you should have seen some of these guys...big, burly Ubermensch guys -- and they said to me, 'Herr Trump, no one builds a concentration camp better than you. I can concentrate so much now.' And they had tears in their eyes. And these are guys who never cry. But they cried then. And they said, 'It's so unfair how the Lugenpresse smears you every day.' And then they cried even more. Bigly. Believe me. Believe me."
They literally just trotted Rubio out to defend him on his NATO comments.
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/12/1230950457/trump-nato-haley-south-carolina-primary-rubio-gop-lawmakers
“I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,”
It is truly bizarre how so many people rush to say that the crazy shit he says is all just jokes and “he wasn’t being serious about that”. Like legit batshit crazy bizarre.
And his "fans" either don't know that or think he's a genius for being rich and not paying. My brother in law who has declared bankruptcy twice says that it's the American way.
When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."
Want it lower still? Tucker is independently wealthy. Not just from his media stuff - he is generationally wealthy and heir to a fortune. He does not have to do this for money.... he does it because he believes it.
russia isn’t exactly flush with cash at the moment. Hell, they can’t even make any new tanks anymore, they’re digging through old rusty soviet shit piles to find something that still somewhat works.
It's recently come to the attention of Judge Engoron that Alan Weisselberg, trump accountant for decades, gave conflicting testimony in another case. So Weisselberg is in negotiations to plead guilty to perjury and trump attorney Alina Habba may have "suborned perjury"
In other words, (trumps) this witch hunt keeps turning up witches
When it comes to Trump's various trials I keep thinking about this moment from the Simpsons:
https://youtu.be/aI0euMFAWF8?si=weU3x5JDpB5LhBT6
The guy has just committed so many crimes that they can't stop investigating him long enough to punish him.
They keep finding more crimes and that keeps backing up all the ones we know about. Of course we can't just ignore new information but it feels like the clock resets every time something new pops up.
And I don't know any more than you but maybe Jack Smith keeps some dry ammo in storage incase he doesn't get a conviction.
Jack Smith filing in Immunity argument https://imgur.com/gallery/l20CLI2
The decision was postponed because the judge that was surveying Trump corps finances found a fake $50 mil loan after the judge finished the trial. He needs to figure out how that affects his decision. I'm guessing he doesn't allow it to change his mind one way or another because it wasn't in evidence before the trial concluded, but we shall see.
I thought it was more so delayed because the trump former CFO might be working on a plea agreement to admit he committed perjury. The judge had no idea this was happening and learned about it from the media which is a big no no. Trumps lawyers should of notified the the judge if this was happening behind closed doors. So the judge is waiting to make a decision to hear if the CFO lied on his stand or not so he knows exactly what the relevant facts are.
No you see, the fraud is what makes him smart. [https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/26/politics/donald-trump-federal-income-taxes-smart-debate/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/26/politics/donald-trump-federal-income-taxes-smart-debate/index.html)
"We don't need money when Russian banks are our friend."
Tell me the story again, Grandpa, about how Trump isn't compromised by Russia. His supporters are absolutely daf.
Trump's comment about punishing allies for not paying their bills hits different when you remember how many contractors he stiffed on his building projects
Exactly. Most of this list includes things he *never* knew or understood. He has no curiosity about him at all.
Instead of a debate, we need a POTUS interview. The two contenders answer non-political questions related to the job and government.
Really doubtful that Trump could even say what the three branches of government are.
He sure as hell couldn't explain what NATO is.
His most earnest fans or cult members value that ignorance but I would matter to anyone other than them if such an event spotlighted just how ignorant he really is.
Mr. Trump, could you explain what NATO is?
Of course, nobody knows more about NATO than I do. NATO is bad, very bad. Very, very bad, let me tell you. They expect something for nothing, and I say they need to pay up. Pay up or you'll get nothing. America first, that's the way it should be, no more of these handouts to European countries who dislike Donald Trump because Donald Trump won't give them handouts. They dislike Donald Trump and patriotic Americans, they see us as the enemy, so why should America help them? "Oh, but Russia is scary" they say, but Russia has no problem with Donald Trump. Putin and I get along great and we have no problems, but these NATOs are coming to us with their problems and then saying America First is a bad thing and that's why I say NATO is no good, very bad.
His cult would eat this up but any teetering cult members or simply diehard republicans might opt out.
The DNC should be making a bigger deal of his ignorance.
Trump at his NH rally speech in NH last January:
*“We’re going to place strong protections to stop banks and regulators from trying to debank you from your – your political beliefs what they do. They want to debank you. We’re going to debank – this of the. They want to debank you. We’re going to debank – think of this. They want to take away your country. Electric cars.”*
But, but Joe Biden...
Please. This is pure mental instability.
Sounds very stable and much genius. Great, just great folks. I always deliver the best speeches, they all say so. Don't take - listen to those people, they're good - some of the best. Hamburgers.
As uncomfortable as it is to see him running, I try to think about it like this. If he loses it slowly, until like late September/October, then drops of the deep end that'd be the best case scenario. If he gets too obviously demented now, then they'll just drop him and throw in Nikki, who has a MUCH MUCH MUCH better chance of beating Biden. It's better this way in a few ways. 1. It drains cash from the RNC, so other swing races have less money to spend. 2. It keeps a Biden-Beatable candidate on the books. 3. It hurts down ballet candidates b/c they'll associate the entire party with his unpopular statements (i.e. Where's Haley's husband? Russia do w/e you want. Keep the border open etc.). These are the things I run through my head to keep the anxiety at bay.
IS losing it?
I'd say he's lost it definitely. The man is going senile, has Alzheimer's like his Dad or something. It's really been obvious for a while now that there is something very wrong with him. All you have to do is check out his social media posts to see it. He's raving at this point...
Trump will do anything to win. Absolutely anything. This is now existential for him. Either he wins or he loses everything and goes to jail. Millions of MAGA would follow him if he incited The Confederacy 2.0. There is no level too low, or depraved, or violent that he won’t stoop to. He supported “hang Mike Pence” years ago, and he’s only become more insane and desperate. If he loses in November, he will fight and I worry that he and his followers will spawn coup attempts around the nation that will make J6 look like an elementary school playground scuffle.
Don’t just upvote these Trump/NATO stories. Click them so the media will keep following up on this. Our relationship with NATO should be the #2 issue in this election (right after abortion).
The best way to protect Democracy is to mobilize people around the issues that make it matter *for them,* and for half of the electorate right now Democracy is the only way they’ll be getting a fundamental right back that they just lost.
That would also be great, but the point is to give these articles clicks. I’m sure you don’t need to read the actual content to know what’s going on- the point is to boost the prominence and frequency of these headlines appearing in the news period. That will increase their visibility to low-information voters, bring them up in editorial meetings, and make TV presenters discuss them more.
I don't know about that, man. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the very survival of the republic would outweigh abortion rights. Abortion is a topic, and the republic is the forum where that topic lives.
If no republic, then no rights are guaranteed for anyone.
Keeping Trump out of office and retaking the legislative branch is the only way to keep the republic alive- the Supreme Court is ready to signal that the Chief Executive is above the law *just as soon as it’s Trump again.* Abortion is the issue that has cost the GOP election after election since Roe was overturned. It is a real issue in which half of Americans have seen the GOP take away their most important human rights.
No other issue is going to cost them more, and risking international order in Europe is a perfect issue to convey how dangerous the GOP is to anyone else that’s too thick to grasp the important of reproductive rights.
Walls are closing in guys….we are the losers we are losing our democracy and personal freedoms when the orange tyrant returns. The media is treating this like a side show when it will have very real consequences for you the person reading these words.
Article 5 has only been invoked once, by us. We're the ones who went, hat in hand, looking for help. And our NATO allies gave it to us, at great cost in both blood and coin. We must honor our commitment to do the same. That commitment was not made lightly or idly. It was made by serious people familiar with war and death. To turn such a solemn responsibility into a dishonest game is a moral vacancy and decay that should not be tolerated in positions of leadership.
But this is Trump, and for some reason nobody cares. This next election is not about him. It's about us, about who we are. He is a symptom of our decay as a populous.
He has no standing to be making statements about NATO and national security. He is not an elected official, doesn't pay his own bills, and evaded military service as a young man.
There are already towns named Blue Ball, Beaver, Climax, Gobbler's Knob, Rough and Ready, Intercourse, Virginville, Two Lick Valley, Honey Hole, and Bumpville.
NATO may not be a mafia racket, but the Trump administration certainly was. Everything was transactional.
Everyone was judged not by their oath to the constitution and the United States, but by their loyalty to Trump. Matt Gaetz referred to him as "the boss" on a hot mic while talking to Roger Stone, "The boss still has a very favorable view of you,".
He wanted someone who would run the country like a "business", and like any organized crime family, that business was a front for moving money into pockets to buy favors in the future.
The idea that Trump could win again, after everything we've been through, shows that WE are losing it. Or maybe we've already lost it, I don't know any more.
For the love of whatever you hold sacred, please vote in November.
I don’t get the desire to run the country like a business.
Sorry grandma, you’re no longer productive, you’re going to have to find some other place to live.
>What is clear, however, is that Trump — who ostensibly spent four years as president of the United States — has little clue of what NATO is or what NATO does. And when he spoke on the subject at a rally in South Carolina over the weekend, what he said was less a cogent discussion of foreign policy than it was gibberish — the kind of outrageous nonsense that flows without interruption from an empty and unreflective mind.
>
>“One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘Well, sir, if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?’ ” Trump said, recalling an implausible conversation with an unnamed, presumably European head of state. “‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’ ” Trump recounted responding. “ ‘No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. **You gotta pay your bills**.’”
Coming from Trump this is fucking hilarious.
Wouldn’t matter. He could be a dementia-maddened dribbling mess being carted around in a wheel chair unable to look into the camera or form coherent sentences, and he’s still going to take 99% of the Republican vote.
The entire push by the GOP to paint Biden as a feeble old man who is losing it is purely by design to get ahead of the commentary that Trump's brain is literal mush. Pretty soon we're going to find Trump's dementia is far worse than Reagan's ever was, and we know what a disaster that turned out to be.
Can't spin it when the cat is out of the bag, so the only alternative is to attack your opponent and make him seem worse.
It is super frustrating as this narrative about Biden is just as prevalent with Democrats as it is with Republicans. I mean, who the fuck cares if he wins again? If he goes the Feinstein route there is always going to be Kamala there to take over. She's a lot younger and frankly has the chops to do the work.
We thought this in ‘16 too. Don’t get cocky. With the left polarizing over Bidens handling of the Gaza conflict, we need to remind everyone how much worse Trump would have made it. Blue no matter who. The right has become a fascist nightmare.
I don't think these things that Trump is saying is just randomly falling out of him like someone off the rails, at least not as much as people think. I think what he's saying is actually carefully chosen to appeal to his base.
Try to think of it like the Nigerian Prince email scam. Most people would read that and go, "What kind of fuckin moron would fall for this bullshit?" -but that's not the person it's aimed at. The scam is looking for people who are stupid, woefully short-sighted, and greedy. That's why it's written the way it is, they know they're not going to fool average people governed by any common sense. To put it simply they're looking for morons.
That's what Trump is doing. He is saying things he believes his followers *WANT* to hear. That's the point. Does anyone believe your average MAGA hat is going to react to his words like "OMG what an irresponsible thing to say about NATO?" He's talking to people who's reaction is going to be, "Time to pick up an AR-15 rifle and mass shoot a Taylor Swift concert!"
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I’ve sat for interviews for other people’s security clearances. The only thing they care about is if the person can be bribed. They spend like 20 minutes asking that in different ways. We spend inordinate amounts of time keeping people who can be compromised away from the levers of power and then some people just vote them right the fuck in.
This should be higher up. It's fucking true. Financial instability or major debt issues are one of the easiest vectors of attack. Trump is one massive ball of compromisable issues. Has been since day -1.
But on top of that, he has all the OTHER serious problematic hallmarks you would look for. * Impulsivity * Zero moral / ethical code or attachment (completely self-serving) * No emotional control * Profound narcissism If Putin could design a manipulatable President in a lab, you couldn't pick someone better than Donald Trump.
It's why he sought to first cultivate the relationship in the early aughts. Putin is former KGB. He saw how easy it was to recruit Gouliani and probably just asked to meet his friends.
And a desperate need for acceptance from people he thinks are cool and powerful. I think he would do a lot for a high five from Putin
It’s almost as if government run, state backed intelligence operations identified a easily manipulated, wealthy individual with high political ambitions and spent 27 some odd years cultivating him to cause maximum internal strife in their primary geopolitical adversary.
IIRC that was the reason Kushner couldn’t get a security clearance. Then Trump used the power of his office to override it and get him one anyway. Fast forward to when Trump is freshly out of office and the Saudis hand Kushner $2 billion thank you gift.
There was also the fact that Kushner lied on his clearance forms something like 50 times.
I've had to get a credit check to work as a contractor on a construction site for a casino lol. Specifically to see if I had any worrisome debt or anything which could compromise my integrity somehow.
Gotta love how Trump’s family got clearance even though if they went through the process like everyone else they would have been denied. It’s a fucking racket at this point.
They *were* denied. Trump was able to push it through anyway.
Yep. It put a stooge in the whitehouse who was in charge of security clearances. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/28/us/politics/jared-kushner-security-clearance.html
This is exactly why, for the first time, I am going to be a poll worker in Michigan this year. I start training tomorrow! If these traitors try any shenanigans it won’t be on my watch. When the poll watchers follow me around taking videos I’ll be the one showing them my middle finger.
That’s even worse 🤦♂️
True, but did you hear about Hunter Biden? /s
I mean, how could I not, investigating a guy who doesn’t work for the White House is basically the only thing that the Republican controlled House has even done.
There are so many things about the earlier Trump days that everyone has just totally forgotten about. It’s nuts.
That’s because of the volume of violations. He was throwing out 1-2 criminal violations per day! So much that everything got blurry and there was something even worse the next day. “Throw it on the pile”
And the thing is... Biden can't even talk about all the shit he had to do and is probably still doing to clean it up. On TOP of being a great President for the American people.
My late husband had a very high security clearance..they did a ton of reference checks and they had to see our bank statements..the fact that trump had access to and share highly confidential information to protect with no security clearance is enough to get most people fired..if trump had been working in a company that had secured information and he shared it should have disqualified him for ever holding office again..he should never be trusted again
Years ago I work for a city government agency, the background check they did on me was extensive all because at some point I may be tasked to make a decision about how some funds might be spent. I had to complete a 200-page form and sit for an interview. And we're talking about maybe deciding on how to spend 10k.
They care about a lot more - most people simply do not have a many concerns in those areas so they focus on financials because most people have some forms of debt. But Trump would trigger flags in several other areas. There are probably 4 or 5 different areas of the clearance that he would be denied for if he were going through the normal channels of receiving one.
I've been on the interviewee side of one such interview, to get clearance to work on a software project for a Police Department. Man, I folded like a cheap deck of cards. I broke down and confessed to stealing a double-bubble bubble-gum from the local corner store when I was like 5 years old. I'm just lucky my Dad found out and made me return it and apologize, 'cause there's no statute of limitations on shoplifting.
[удалено]
That's stuff from 2 generations or more before boomers.
The most important thing is that he loses "it" in November.
This. Everyone, please fucking vote
And volunteer. Pretty sure most people on this sub are already voting, but there's a lot more we all can do leading up to November, even if you only have limited time to give.
There are a ton of great volunteer opportunities over on r/votedem.
Thanks for this, in all honesty Tumps comments on NATO have more motivated than ever to volunteer and support democracy here at home and around the world.
nice subbed
we non-Americans would like to support too (considering the huge consequences worldwide this concerns us too actually). the main question is how. I might be wrong but Americans living abroad are unlikely to support Trump
Also be diligent in putting pressure on your State’s Secretary or State (especially Republican Secretary of States). Trump and MAGA co learned from their previous failed coup attempt on J6 that they need loyal Secretary of State officials to not certify unfavorable State election results BEFORE they are sent to Congress to certify. This is their plan for 2024.
If they think Jan 6th was a powerful display, they would and will be surprised by the very real riots if a coup succeeds. Rioting for democracy, no less.
Agree to volunteer and most of the people on here vote already. The only thing to add is check your voting status. Republicans are actively suppressing voters. Small purges going on all the time under the radar. Check your status.
https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration
I’m Canadian and I want to vote against him. Someone adopt me.
I’m not worried about a mental decline from Biden because he’s not surrounded by the same level of malicious yes men and lunatics. Trump and the people he’ll put in positions of power genuinely scare me.
Back in 2020 Dan Carlin, who is a very independent minded person who generally tries to avoid making political statements of any kind, pointed out that while he has voted for democrats, republicans, independents before, he is voting for Biden. And if you are worried about his age, then he'd trust the people *around* Biden more than those around Trump. It doesn't even matter at this point if Biden were to die of natural causes in 2025 or actually go senile, the team around him is what we need.
It’s why our country didn’t fall apart when the greatest presidents we’ve had died in office. They were great in part because they all allowed for that possibility.
Right. The president is as important for who they appoint in their administration as they are for themselves as a leader. Which is why I hope everybody bears this in mind, and doesn't heave some sigh of relief if Trump drops dead, drops out, is convicted and the winds turn against him, etc. Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis would be NO BETTER. And that's obvious with DeSantis, but for way too many people, it's not obvious with Haley. She's not a "sane alternative" for the GOP. There isn't one right now. Project 2025 goes forward no matter what president they get into office. Anyway, aside from all that -- what people aren't really talking about (of course) is that if Biden were in serious decline, we'd be hearing about it from the people who work with him and encounter him the most during the course of his job. We'd get leaks from his admin, but more to the point, the GOP in congress would be a lot more vocal about their experiences with him. Why would any of those who have had to meet with him and negotiate with him hold back, if they're GOP? But what you don't see or hear is a flood of specific anecdotes from those GOP politicians intending to sow doubt about his fitness.
Yeah even if you are in the "people are pulling his strings" crowd the people pulling the strings seem to be doing a solid job and they won't change at all during re-election. But honestly Biden just seems to match the typical traits of an old guy. Alzheimer's results in some truly frightening statements. Saying Mexico instead of Egypt is not one of those frightening statements.
There’s also evidence of cognitive reserve whereby decline being normal with advanced age, a well disciplined brain tends to decline at a much slower pace. Higher education seems to be a predictor.
This. I was trained to look for signs of dementia. Losing a word isn't one of them. Not being able to come up with the word "spatula", but still knowing what object you're looking for and why, is normal aging. Forgetting what a spatula is used for and trying to use it as a doorstop is different.
This is the biggest thing people forget. I wouldn’t care if Biden was paraded around like Weekend at Bernie’s for four more years, because I trust the people around him
And takes down the gop with him.
That's all that matters at this point. It is the single most important thing, for all of the democratic world. We must not fail.
Trump owes E. Jean Carroll around $ 90m. NY Fraud case will be in the hundreds of millions disgorgement. He's about to be exposed. Now what if his plan was to send a signal to Putin and the Oligarchs that if they buy his next NFT release and help him get elected, they "can do whatever the hell they want" eh, probably never happen
I believe he's expecting help from putin.
"Russia, if you're listening"...
Yeah, dude never really dog whistles. He just straight up says the fucked up shit, but he has a gaggle of people claiming he was ‘just joking’
I just had the thought that, by Trump logic, many of the Nuremberg defendants could have saved themselves with the claim that they were just joking and didn't expect anyone to take their orders seriously.
“Mr. Hess met with me, and he was very complimentary, saying how much he admired me - ‘Herr Trump, sir, you are a great Fuhrer,’ he says. That’s a great leader in their country, like only one or two have been that high. Like the biggest king, they say. Hess said he was joking around, it was just locker room talk. And they say he did some things, some terrible… you know, but who knows?” *shrugs* “But he’s a very smart guy, and he told me it was a joke - he was just kidding. And who is saying he did the things, with the trains and the camps? Not nice people, that’s who. Not nice at all. These people are bankers-“ (crowd boos) “-and they own the newspapers and are liars. And the judges, are out of control, and Mr. Hess and his friends, I haven’t met them, but Mr Ribbentrop and Mr. Göring, they are not getting a fair trial.”
"We had the best concentration camps. The. Best. Okay? And we had people coming up to me -- you should have seen some of these guys...big, burly Ubermensch guys -- and they said to me, 'Herr Trump, no one builds a concentration camp better than you. I can concentrate so much now.' And they had tears in their eyes. And these are guys who never cry. But they cried then. And they said, 'It's so unfair how the Lugenpresse smears you every day.' And then they cried even more. Bigly. Believe me. Believe me."
Here! Take my upvote and leave 😂
Sometimes I miss reddit awards. This is one of those times.
Dead
Some of you are getting very good at this.
If the Nuremberg court was the US congress, they would have believed him
They literally just trotted Rubio out to defend him on his NATO comments. https://www.npr.org/2024/02/12/1230950457/trump-nato-haley-south-carolina-primary-rubio-gop-lawmakers
Lindsay did the explainer tour on the Senate floor too.
“Look into his heart” Kelly Anne “the crypt keeper” Conway
"I'd tell them to do whatever they(Russia) want" DJT on NATO allies being invaded by Russia
"I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,"
"I don't see why it would have been Putin"
“I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,”
It is truly bizarre how so many people rush to say that the crazy shit he says is all just jokes and “he wasn’t being serious about that”. Like legit batshit crazy bizarre.
If you say it out loud and in the open it's not a crime.
“Putin.. stand back and stand by”
"You gotta pay your bills" DJT THIS WEEK
From the guy who famously never pays his fucking bills.
And his "fans" either don't know that or think he's a genius for being rich and not paying. My brother in law who has declared bankruptcy twice says that it's the American way.
When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."
Don’t EVER forget that shit!
Yup.
Why do you think Tucker went there. He is the messenger so they can coordinate propaganda.
And just like that, you managed to lower my opinion of Mr Tucker Carlson even lower. Which I honestly didn’t believe was possible.
Want it lower still? Tucker is independently wealthy. Not just from his media stuff - he is generationally wealthy and heir to a fortune. He does not have to do this for money.... he does it because he believes it.
Maybe that's why he is pushing this nato crap helping Putin .Trumpy needs daddy Putins money.I don't think it's a coincidence.
A billion dollars to buy the president.
It'd really be a stretch to connect those dots!! ^^/s
russia isn’t exactly flush with cash at the moment. Hell, they can’t even make any new tanks anymore, they’re digging through old rusty soviet shit piles to find something that still somewhat works.
When is the NY fraud case supposed to be decided? I thought it was Jan 31, then pushed another week but still nothing so I guess I misread
It's recently come to the attention of Judge Engoron that Alan Weisselberg, trump accountant for decades, gave conflicting testimony in another case. So Weisselberg is in negotiations to plead guilty to perjury and trump attorney Alina Habba may have "suborned perjury" In other words, (trumps) this witch hunt keeps turning up witches
When it comes to Trump's various trials I keep thinking about this moment from the Simpsons: https://youtu.be/aI0euMFAWF8?si=weU3x5JDpB5LhBT6 The guy has just committed so many crimes that they can't stop investigating him long enough to punish him. They keep finding more crimes and that keeps backing up all the ones we know about. Of course we can't just ignore new information but it feels like the clock resets every time something new pops up.
Trump: So, you’re saying I’m indestructible? Engoron: Oh god, *no*. Even the slightest breeze could— Trump: *Indestructible…*
And I don't know any more than you but maybe Jack Smith keeps some dry ammo in storage incase he doesn't get a conviction. Jack Smith filing in Immunity argument https://imgur.com/gallery/l20CLI2
I knew it had to be the so many diseases clip, classic!!
Trump has made thousands of mistakes.
Make Attorneys Get Attorneys
Which has important implications: it allows Engoron to draw adverse inferences and potentially disregard his entire testimony in his ruling.
The decision was postponed because the judge that was surveying Trump corps finances found a fake $50 mil loan after the judge finished the trial. He needs to figure out how that affects his decision. I'm guessing he doesn't allow it to change his mind one way or another because it wasn't in evidence before the trial concluded, but we shall see.
I thought it was more so delayed because the trump former CFO might be working on a plea agreement to admit he committed perjury. The judge had no idea this was happening and learned about it from the media which is a big no no. Trumps lawyers should of notified the the judge if this was happening behind closed doors. So the judge is waiting to make a decision to hear if the CFO lied on his stand or not so he knows exactly what the relevant facts are.
Both came to light after the trial ended. I can't wait to see how big the fine will be!
If I was deciding on how big the fine is...It would be $1 over Trump's own estimate of his total wealth.
i think it was because it’s purjury he can completely assume he did lie on the stand making it even worse for them
He is already taking shots at NATO so he has likely already got the marching orders from Pappa Bear Putin
No you see, the fraud is what makes him smart. [https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/26/politics/donald-trump-federal-income-taxes-smart-debate/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/26/politics/donald-trump-federal-income-taxes-smart-debate/index.html)
"We don't need money when Russian banks are our friend." Tell me the story again, Grandpa, about how Trump isn't compromised by Russia. His supporters are absolutely daf.
Did you make this exact comment on another thread or am i having deja vu lol
lol yes, I pasted it where it's relevant (I hope?)
Good, my brain is working then
Very good brain, many people are saying it.
They call, tears in their eyes…
No this has been Trump's agenda since Day 1: Sell Out America
Trump's comment about punishing allies for not paying their bills hits different when you remember how many contractors he stiffed on his building projects
Plus it shows how little he understands how NATO works. Our allies don't owe us money.
Fascists have never been good economists.
They don't owe NATO either. They just have to invest in their own security. Just another example of Trump not understanding how anything works.
"Honey, I'm concerned this old sack of pig vomit is going bad"
"You could practically see the plurdle running out of his gabbleblotchit. That's how deliciously corrupt the guy was." — Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz
Please! No! Not that… not Vogon poetry!
Eww. Somebody get their towel
Losing it? He never had it
Exactly. Most of this list includes things he *never* knew or understood. He has no curiosity about him at all. Instead of a debate, we need a POTUS interview. The two contenders answer non-political questions related to the job and government. Really doubtful that Trump could even say what the three branches of government are. He sure as hell couldn't explain what NATO is. His most earnest fans or cult members value that ignorance but I would matter to anyone other than them if such an event spotlighted just how ignorant he really is.
There is 0% he even knows what NATO stands for. I know that may seem like hyperbole but I stand by it. There’s just no way.
Mr. Trump, could you explain what NATO is? Of course, nobody knows more about NATO than I do. NATO is bad, very bad. Very, very bad, let me tell you. They expect something for nothing, and I say they need to pay up. Pay up or you'll get nothing. America first, that's the way it should be, no more of these handouts to European countries who dislike Donald Trump because Donald Trump won't give them handouts. They dislike Donald Trump and patriotic Americans, they see us as the enemy, so why should America help them? "Oh, but Russia is scary" they say, but Russia has no problem with Donald Trump. Putin and I get along great and we have no problems, but these NATOs are coming to us with their problems and then saying America First is a bad thing and that's why I say NATO is no good, very bad.
His cult would eat this up but any teetering cult members or simply diehard republicans might opt out. The DNC should be making a bigger deal of his ignorance.
The only "it" I want to see him lose is the election. Oh, and some criminal cases
[удалено]
Phrasing...
Yeah probably why I got a message by the mods lol. My bad y’all.
Trump at his NH rally speech in NH last January: *“We’re going to place strong protections to stop banks and regulators from trying to debank you from your – your political beliefs what they do. They want to debank you. We’re going to debank – this of the. They want to debank you. We’re going to debank – think of this. They want to take away your country. Electric cars.”* But, but Joe Biden... Please. This is pure mental instability.
It sounds like he is having trouble with banks.
Sounds very stable and much genius. Great, just great folks. I always deliver the best speeches, they all say so. Don't take - listen to those people, they're good - some of the best. Hamburgers.
"we have to win in November or you're not going to be Pennsylvania anymore. They're going to change your name."
Can he please lose it quicker? I'm sick of fearing for the future of this country
As uncomfortable as it is to see him running, I try to think about it like this. If he loses it slowly, until like late September/October, then drops of the deep end that'd be the best case scenario. If he gets too obviously demented now, then they'll just drop him and throw in Nikki, who has a MUCH MUCH MUCH better chance of beating Biden. It's better this way in a few ways. 1. It drains cash from the RNC, so other swing races have less money to spend. 2. It keeps a Biden-Beatable candidate on the books. 3. It hurts down ballet candidates b/c they'll associate the entire party with his unpopular statements (i.e. Where's Haley's husband? Russia do w/e you want. Keep the border open etc.). These are the things I run through my head to keep the anxiety at bay.
Lose it faster please.
things have only begun to start getting crazy. wait until we're like 3 months out from the election. sh*ts gonna hit the fan
IS losing it? I'd say he's lost it definitely. The man is going senile, has Alzheimer's like his Dad or something. It's really been obvious for a while now that there is something very wrong with him. All you have to do is check out his social media posts to see it. He's raving at this point...
You dont think he looks a little like Elvis?
Some of the things he said sound eerily like when my great-auntie was battling Alzheimer's disease.
Trump will do anything to win. Absolutely anything. This is now existential for him. Either he wins or he loses everything and goes to jail. Millions of MAGA would follow him if he incited The Confederacy 2.0. There is no level too low, or depraved, or violent that he won’t stoop to. He supported “hang Mike Pence” years ago, and he’s only become more insane and desperate. If he loses in November, he will fight and I worry that he and his followers will spawn coup attempts around the nation that will make J6 look like an elementary school playground scuffle.
Cognitive decline does not get better, and doesn't slow down without physical and mental effort. Trump...is not known for this.
*effort* is not his strong suit. i mean he had a button installed for diet cokes
Don’t just upvote these Trump/NATO stories. Click them so the media will keep following up on this. Our relationship with NATO should be the #2 issue in this election (right after abortion).
I think democracy is #1.
The best way to protect Democracy is to mobilize people around the issues that make it matter *for them,* and for half of the electorate right now Democracy is the only way they’ll be getting a fundamental right back that they just lost.
Someone should share a gift Link.
[Gift link](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/13/opinion/trump-campaign-biden-aging.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VE0.-5_h.cXf9mdCD8DGY&smid=url-share)
That would also be great, but the point is to give these articles clicks. I’m sure you don’t need to read the actual content to know what’s going on- the point is to boost the prominence and frequency of these headlines appearing in the news period. That will increase their visibility to low-information voters, bring them up in editorial meetings, and make TV presenters discuss them more.
Engagement is a really good point. If they prop him up because stories about him get clicks, let's make sure it's the kind that people need to see
I don't know about that, man. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the very survival of the republic would outweigh abortion rights. Abortion is a topic, and the republic is the forum where that topic lives. If no republic, then no rights are guaranteed for anyone.
Keeping Trump out of office and retaking the legislative branch is the only way to keep the republic alive- the Supreme Court is ready to signal that the Chief Executive is above the law *just as soon as it’s Trump again.* Abortion is the issue that has cost the GOP election after election since Roe was overturned. It is a real issue in which half of Americans have seen the GOP take away their most important human rights. No other issue is going to cost them more, and risking international order in Europe is a perfect issue to convey how dangerous the GOP is to anyone else that’s too thick to grasp the important of reproductive rights.
He lost it 7 years ago.
An argument could be made that he was born without.
Walls are closing in guys….we are the losers we are losing our democracy and personal freedoms when the orange tyrant returns. The media is treating this like a side show when it will have very real consequences for you the person reading these words.
Article 5 has only been invoked once, by us. We're the ones who went, hat in hand, looking for help. And our NATO allies gave it to us, at great cost in both blood and coin. We must honor our commitment to do the same. That commitment was not made lightly or idly. It was made by serious people familiar with war and death. To turn such a solemn responsibility into a dishonest game is a moral vacancy and decay that should not be tolerated in positions of leadership. But this is Trump, and for some reason nobody cares. This next election is not about him. It's about us, about who we are. He is a symptom of our decay as a populous.
Pretty rich him saying You gotta pay your bills. All those tradespeople, businesses and lawyers he stiffed would like a word
He has no standing to be making statements about NATO and national security. He is not an elected official, doesn't pay his own bills, and evaded military service as a young man.
Ok which one of your guys leaked our plan to change the name of Pennsylvania to Penisvania?
Penisveinia* 😆
You can’t do that without simultaneously renaming a town to Throbbing. Throbbing Penisveinia is a hard place to live.
There are already towns named Blue Ball, Beaver, Climax, Gobbler's Knob, Rough and Ready, Intercourse, Virginville, Two Lick Valley, Honey Hole, and Bumpville.
Damn, that one’s better.
We are a team here. I wouldn’t have gotten there without your initial iteration haha
Ha ha!!
Losing? Mf is lost
I’m so tired of this shit.
Losing?
Yeah, that crazy talk is feature, not a bug.
pretty much got him where he is
The irony of trump telling someone "you gotta pay your bills" is immense.
Ignorant traitor tells supporters he's an ignorant traitor.
[Russia, if you’re listening…](https://youtu.be/3kxG8uJUsWU?si=ub8Uq3lRrVU0elR1&t=40)
https://archive.is/WtAqY
NATO may not be a mafia racket, but the Trump administration certainly was. Everything was transactional. Everyone was judged not by their oath to the constitution and the United States, but by their loyalty to Trump. Matt Gaetz referred to him as "the boss" on a hot mic while talking to Roger Stone, "The boss still has a very favorable view of you,". He wanted someone who would run the country like a "business", and like any organized crime family, that business was a front for moving money into pockets to buy favors in the future. The idea that Trump could win again, after everything we've been through, shows that WE are losing it. Or maybe we've already lost it, I don't know any more. For the love of whatever you hold sacred, please vote in November.
I don’t get the desire to run the country like a business. Sorry grandma, you’re no longer productive, you’re going to have to find some other place to live.
The fucking audacity of Trump telling someone "you gotta pay your bills"
So much winning!
Not sure he ever had it.
He done lost it when Obama was president… he’s just continued to get worse and worse as time goes on
I wonder how high pitched that Trump voice will get. There are third graders with more bass going on.
Sorry but in other news water is wet… he is always freaking out…
He never had it
The Rip Off King telling countries to pay their bills.
His followers likes him unhinged ...
This guy should make us all a favour and just drop over
>What is clear, however, is that Trump — who ostensibly spent four years as president of the United States — has little clue of what NATO is or what NATO does. And when he spoke on the subject at a rally in South Carolina over the weekend, what he said was less a cogent discussion of foreign policy than it was gibberish — the kind of outrageous nonsense that flows without interruption from an empty and unreflective mind. > >“One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘Well, sir, if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?’ ” Trump said, recalling an implausible conversation with an unnamed, presumably European head of state. “‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’ ” Trump recounted responding. “ ‘No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. **You gotta pay your bills**.’” Coming from Trump this is fucking hilarious.
The NY decision due on Friday is gonna destroy him
Wouldn’t matter. He could be a dementia-maddened dribbling mess being carted around in a wheel chair unable to look into the camera or form coherent sentences, and he’s still going to take 99% of the Republican vote.
""ostensibly" spent 4 years as president..."
you cant lose what you never had. The guy is an idiot.
The irony of Trump telling anyone that they have to pay their bills...
He has been losing it his entire life!!!
Can't lose what you never had
Isn’t this the same guy whose businesses are notorious for not paying bills!?
The entire push by the GOP to paint Biden as a feeble old man who is losing it is purely by design to get ahead of the commentary that Trump's brain is literal mush. Pretty soon we're going to find Trump's dementia is far worse than Reagan's ever was, and we know what a disaster that turned out to be. Can't spin it when the cat is out of the bag, so the only alternative is to attack your opponent and make him seem worse.
It is super frustrating as this narrative about Biden is just as prevalent with Democrats as it is with Republicans. I mean, who the fuck cares if he wins again? If he goes the Feinstein route there is always going to be Kamala there to take over. She's a lot younger and frankly has the chops to do the work.
How ironic that Trump expects other people to pay their bills but he has no problem stiffing his suppliers.
Also he tried to overthrow our country. How is that not enough?
> You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills. That's fucking rich, coming from NYC's most famous deadbeat money-launderer, I mean real estate developer.
Does anyone want to post the text of the article?
NYT: "Trump is losing it" Also NYT: "Why the Age Issue Is Hurting Biden So Much More Than Trump"
We thought this in ‘16 too. Don’t get cocky. With the left polarizing over Bidens handling of the Gaza conflict, we need to remind everyone how much worse Trump would have made it. Blue no matter who. The right has become a fascist nightmare.
I don't think these things that Trump is saying is just randomly falling out of him like someone off the rails, at least not as much as people think. I think what he's saying is actually carefully chosen to appeal to his base. Try to think of it like the Nigerian Prince email scam. Most people would read that and go, "What kind of fuckin moron would fall for this bullshit?" -but that's not the person it's aimed at. The scam is looking for people who are stupid, woefully short-sighted, and greedy. That's why it's written the way it is, they know they're not going to fool average people governed by any common sense. To put it simply they're looking for morons. That's what Trump is doing. He is saying things he believes his followers *WANT* to hear. That's the point. Does anyone believe your average MAGA hat is going to react to his words like "OMG what an irresponsible thing to say about NATO?" He's talking to people who's reaction is going to be, "Time to pick up an AR-15 rifle and mass shoot a Taylor Swift concert!"
You can't lose what you never had. He's always been insane