The President of the United States has released a 46 minute video, claiming all of the same things he's been claiming for the last four weeks everywhere except in actual court submissions. It makes me feel physically ill to report this here, but as he continues to besmirch our democratic processes, we're obligated to continue to disinfect them with sunlight. Beyond that observation, I can't think of anything to say about this untruthful, futile, shameful, disgraceful post-election campaign which hasn't been said many times already.
Well, I do have one thought: in the video, he continues to defame Dominion Systems. I understand that presidents are, for practical purposes, immune from lawsuits. As soon as President-elect Biden is sworn in, I'd think that Dominion could sue him for slander.
I made it through 15 minutes of the video and then gave up. I am truly sorry for anyone who has a professional obligation to watch this all the way through.
January 20th can't come fast enough.
Thanks for the link to the video, Jim. But I'm, um, not going to click on it. I'll take your word for it that it's awful. But that's no surprise. What is surprising is that he apparently doesn't recognize how his rants make him look. If he was really the winner reality star he claims to be he would try and channel some dignity, you know, the emeritus statesman who valiantly served his country. But nah. That's not him. In a way it's better that he's letting it all hang out. Even members of his own party are distancing themselves. I think he can forget about a 2024 rerun. He's going to make his brand so toxic that the party won't touch it.
ReplyDeleteBTW, there are some people who actually should click on that video and watch the. whole. 46. minutes for penance. I'm looking at you, Archbishop Gomez and the USCCB. Didn't you need a "working group" to figure out how you were going to deal with this guy when he diverged from Catholic teaching?
Katherine, I wish I shared your confidence that rank-and-file Republicans are on to his grift. I believe a majority, or at least a large plurality, claim to believe him. That includes at least one member of my own extended family (for which I can't find words to express my disappointment).
DeleteI think this is the lowest he has sunk during the course of his presidency - and that is saying something.
If you ignore Trump's awful personality, what's there for a Republican to dislike, Jim?
DeleteHe put three conservatives on the court, cut corporate taxes and environmental regs, strengthened the southern border, moved the U.S. away from foreign entanglements, and supported school choice, the death penalty, and Israel.
His efforts to reduce dependence on cheap Chinese goods was not too successful, but that was his aim. He also presided over a long period of low unemployment and focused on rapid vaccine development instead of economy-killing shutdowns.
But it's not possible to ignore his awful personality. Not without a mind numbing amount of cognitive dissonance. Any of the 16 or so Repub candidates who ran in the primaries in 2016 probably would have accomplished the same things dear to the heart of the party faithful without a lot of the other "accomplishments". Lets see, most lies ever told by a president in their lifetime, not just time in office. Most members of his staff indicted. Most cabinet posts filled by "acting" officials. Most dictators rear-end kissed. Most encouragement of violent fringe groups. Forget about dog-whistles, how about a megaphone? As in "stand back and stand by." Least hours spent reading security briefings. Most hours spent on the golf course. Most public money spent at his businesses. Most stonewalling about his tax returns. I could go on and on, but I want. Any party members who can ignore all that are in the throes of Stockholm Syndrome (thanks to Anne fir that comparison).
Delete"want" should be won't.
DeleteI could go on and on, too, but I'm not a Republican. There are lots of Republicans with fully functioning brains who might find Trump utterly repellent but far more palatable than a Democrat. They needed white racists, far-right evangelicals and fundamentalists, and malcontented blue-collar workers to get excited enough to put a Republican in office. None of the rest of the candidates in 2016 were going to appeal to the the fringe groups needed to add votes to the corporate capitalist types.
DeleteI think what's interesting is that the GOP, for all its screaming about socialist "radicals" who are out of touch with "normal" Americans, has proved its willingness to make alliances with whacko groups in order to accomplish its goals.
I have tried to make this point with my GOP legislators--that the Michigan Republican party historically were country club types who generally pushed moderation, thrift, and saw a clear connection between between prosperity and good roads, schools, libraries, and a clean environment.
I have no idea what the Michigan Republican party stands for any more. It seems to be made up of the same, uneasy coalition of religious nuts, capitalists, and racists.
And legislators of both parties are generally more short-sighted than they used to be because of term limits. They will run on a single, wild-eyed issue and are gone in a couple of terms before they can take the more considered view on anything.
I believe that what Trump actually accomplished in 2016 was similar to the hostile takeover of a hedge fund by "activist investors" aka vulture capitalists or corporate raiders. They don't actually have to control a majority of stock. They can play utter havoc with 12%.
DeleteKatherine: If Moscow Mitch remains in charge of the Senate, Biden may have to resort to "acting" appointments in order to have the cabinet and key positions staffed with the people he wants and needs.
DeleteJean:
DeleteYou conveniently omitted the heavy Catholic vote for Trump, both in 2016 and 2020. Not all of the religious nutcases are white evangelicals:
https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/324410/religious-group-voting-2020-election.aspx
“The Edison exit polls estimate that 52% of all Catholic voters went for Biden this year, and 47% for Trump. The Edison exit polls in 2016 showed a 46% Catholic vote for Clinton, and 50% for Trump. These estimates thus reflect a three-point downturn for the Trump vote among Catholics and a five-point uptick for the Democratic candidate (Biden compared with Clinton).
The AP VoteCast estimates of the national Catholic vote this year show an almost even split: 49% of Catholics voted for Biden and 50% for Trump. This would represent a very small gain for Biden when compared with Edison's 2016 polling, with no change for Trump.”
I wasn't trying to "conveniently omit" anything, just trying to understand how/why the GOP installed Trump by playing Devil's Advocate.
DeleteI am painfully aware that in our two combined parishes, the vast majority of Catholics are Trump voters, much higher than the national figures you cite.
I wish they still had those giant stage hooks from Vaudeville days, and someone would give him the hook in the midst of that diatribe.
ReplyDeleteJim, LOL about the hook. I am remembering a Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Dam clip where that happened.
Delete"Yosemite Dam" should be Yosemite Sam.
DeleteThis is a desperate attempt of Trump to keep himself at the center of the news cycle. Obviously it is not working since Biden and the Pandemic are at the center of the news. Hopefully he will not launch a war or other sort of desperate attempt to regain attention.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of us, Democrats and independents, can move on. Biden has done a good job of ignoring him. When Barr recently acknowledged that Trump did not have an election fraud case, Biden joked that Barr had called him to ask about the witness protection program. I would not be surprised that he fires Barr.
The Republicans, however, cannot so easily move on.
Amazing stuff is happening in Georgia. Trump and other Republicans are talking about not voting in the runoff election because the elections are rigged! Maybe Trump wants the Republicans to lose the Senate so that McConnell will not become the defacto Republican party leader?
Trump is taking on Fox News. Unfortunately for him their revenue streams are all tied up in long term contracts. His attempt to steer viewers to right wing alternatives will not affect Fox financially for a long time.
Looks to me very much like he intends to remain the head of the Republican party using twitter, whatever right wing media attention he can get, and his followers to terrorize Republican officers holders.
When Governor DeWine acknowledged Biden was the President Elect, Trump immediately tweeted that DeWine will have many challengers when he is up for this second term. So it looks like a lot of infighting among Republicans as some of them try to take back their party.
After inflicting Trump on us for four years, I think four more years of Trump for the Republicans is an appropriate purgatory.
Yes, he wants the limelight and is jealous covid gets more coverage. Whether he has any political aims beyond being looked at and quoted 50 times a day is open to debate.
DeleteHe has perhaps accomplished the greatest single man scam in history. 170M USD from his googly-eyed suckers. The Wall Street CDO scam was much greater but was a group activity.
DeleteJim, I have never watched trump speak since I watched a couple of his speeches before the 2016 election. I read what he says but I can’t bear looking at him or hearing his voice. I’m certainly not going to click on the link either.
ReplyDeleteOthers hope that he will sink from view too. Maybe. I do see that a lot of the GOP election operatives, including, of all people, Kemp, are more than disgusted by his attempts to force them to rig the election to favor him. It’s comforting to know that there are still people with integrity in the GOP, including Republican judges - but still none at the national level except for Romney. And Katherine’s Senator has made some noises that sound like disapproval.
The long run issue is figuring out how to get the people to turn to fact based reporting instead of leaning on the purveyors of disinformation and lies.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/12/trump-will-fade-into-obscurity/617271/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20201202&silverid-ref=NjYzMzAzNjU5NTM0S0
Thanks for the Atlantic link, Anne. I forwarded to my sister who is recovering from Covid and needs a cheering thought.
DeleteIt is interesting that the article compared some Republicans to people suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. I had previously compared them to Stepford wives.
About Senator Sasse, I am viewing him a bit more favorably that I had lately. I voted for an independent candidate in the election. Of course it was a protest vote, the Democrats ran an unelectable candidate who was up on sexual harassment charges and refused to drop out of the race.
BTW, safe travels on your journey. Looks like you should have favorable weather. How long does it take to get there?
I don't want a one-party system whether Republican or Democrat. If Trump brings down the Republican Party, it will definitely be time to reform our voting system to make new parties possible. The Republicans can shed their loony tune contingent and the Democrats can be shut of annoying Bernie bros like me.
ReplyDeleteYou previously mentioned a ranked choice voting system, which makes sense.
DeleteMy personal feeling is that all the "wings" of the parties have a few good ideas to add to the mix (even the ones that are like a stopped clock, right twice a day). But that none of them have a lock on truth, they need one another to hold themselves accountable.
Yeah, I'm coming around to the idea of multiple parties, but I think there need to be run-offs to ensure majority-vote winners. I don't think Americans have the attention span or interest in politics for that, though.
DeleteThe Boy belongs to the Socialist Party. They have been trying to raise their visibility in the community by doing public service projects like cleaning local parks and handing out free masks at bus stops. I've encouraged him to form up a swing for Socialism jazz band with some of his fellow travellers.
I can dance swing and I'd dance to that. Post-COVID, of course.
DeleteAs far as I know, a company cannot use for libel, Citizens United v. FEC aside. (Broadcast speech, of which there is a record, is technically libel, not slander, even though it is spoken falsehood.)
ReplyDeleteThe Dominion technician who was the victim of social media threats and accusations of treason could and should use for slander. The company could probably enhance its image by picking up the tab.
I laud the Georgia Secretary of State's office personnel for calling on Trump to resist and I'm their fellow Republicans to condemn lies.
I am heartened by anti-Trump Republicans who have reached out to work on a bipartisan COVID relief packagein I hope more of them will get on board as Trump descends into his personal preoccupation with the election and people weary of his thugs.
Trumpistas were blocking reporters from the hearing rooms where Rudy Giuliani was before a panel of True Believer legislators in Lansing last night. That's illegal, so not sure why the cops weren't moving them away from the doors.
The Boy lives in the vicinity, in a very ethnically mixed neighborhood. When the Trumpistas come out, the old geezers in the homes nearby sit on their porches to "bear witness" to whatever might happen, and that seems to have started a trend with many neighbors. God bless them, it's been cold and windy out there!
About libel and slander, I am reminded of the old catechism list of sins against the 8th commandment, calumny, detraction, and rash judgement.
DeleteIt's good that people are "bearing witness" .
Dammit! "Use" should be "sue" above. I have to start plugging in my keyboard instead of thumb typing and letting Kindle "help" me with usage.
DeleteIt seems the pandemic is now taking over 3,000 lives per day. That's more than died in the Twin Towers terrorist attack. We poured trillions down the drain based on 9/11. We could have used those trillions now that we have a 9/11 per day and ninety 9/11's so far.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping covid relief talks go womrwhere in Congress. Gov. Whitmer asked the legislature here to consider $100 million stop-gap package, but they were too busy hosting a four-hour "hearing" of Rudy Giuliani's specious claims on Detroit region fraud. Google "Melissa Carone" for a load of his star witness. I saw some weird stuff as a Michigan reporter, but this takes the cake. Clearly she is so unaware as to be deeply pitied.
DeleteA friend of mine had sent me a Twitter video of that Melissa Carone's testimony. I can see how she can hornswoggle people; she has an air of absolute confidence and certainty, and, like the president himself, does not back down for an instant. An advanced species of bee-esser.
DeleteShe's a master Grover Norquister at fast-talking, interrupting, deflection, and accusation with zero facts. She was rude to the GOP legislators who invited Giuliani's people there in the first place. Ignore her performance, and there is no substance in her testimony. Some of my movie club friends were parsing those vid clips. One said she treated the GOP legislators like a Karen bitching out employees at Chick-Fil-A. It will be interesting to see what the legislators do with this.
DeleteNot relevant to this thread, just an observation from someone whose house lies under the flight path for helicopters going to and from Camp David. They fly in threes. And there have been three helicopters several times/ week for a while now. The PTB like to “talk” at Camp David because of the high level of security from both human and signals intelligence snooping. But seldom do we see the helicopters as often as we have for the last few weeks. What’s up, folks?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Biden has any access to Camp David at this point. He's already seeing security briefings.
DeleteWe leave for our journey to the west coast by car through Covid states tomorrow as the pandemic is growing to new records every day.. Wish us luck! And I wouldn’t object if anyone was inspired to say a prayer or two.
ReplyDeleteI will pray, Anne. Sounded like you had things figured out to minimize contact along the way. Hopefully you have AAA or similar service in case of car trouble.
DeleteGodspeed and protect you and your husband. Take care. Travel by car is by far the safest. Your awareness is your best protection. You should be ok.
DeleteHave a good trip!
DeleteThanks everyone. It's a long trip- having done it four times previously, I know. But this time won't be fun - no stopping in the Tetons or Grand Canyon or Arches or other beautiful place. Just a long drive! Since we are 18 years older than the last trip, I'm not sure how well we will handle 4 days in a row of driving all day. I don't want either of us to fall asleep at the wheel - my biggest fear.
ReplyDeleteI will be reading this blog every night though to see how all of you are doing. Take care!
Ann,
DeleteHave a good and safe trip
Anne (and husband), be safe!
Delete