The Trump observations thread

[Dr. Medulla]

Wow. When you see one brain fart after another like that, it's kinda sad. And funny. Because I hate him.

Well, he is evil after all.

When I was an undergrad, there was one used bookstore I went to a lot. One of the people who worked there was a sociology sessional prof (i.e., not tenured). One time when I was in there, I bought a copy of Robert Caro's first volume of his LBJ biography. This guy, I learned, was American, a draft dodger who came to Canada in the 60s. He told me that when LBJ died, he and his friend cracked open a bottle of champagne to celebrate. I thought at the time that was an over-reaction—yes, Vietnam was monstrous, but LBJ had expended more political capital on civil rights and poverty than any other president; even today, I'm conflicted on LBJ—but when I think about Trump I come back to that guy. And I know, without a doubt, that I will celebrate Trump's death like people celebrated Hitler's death.

[Mimi]

Wow. When you see one brain fart after another like that, it's kinda sad. And funny. Because I hate him.

Well, he is evil after all.

When I was an undergrad, there was one used bookstore I went to a lot. One of the people who worked there was a sociology sessional prof (i.e., not tenured). One time when I was in there, I bought a copy of Robert Caro's first volume of his LBJ biography. This guy, I learned, was American, a draft dodger who came to Canada in the 60s. He told me that when LBJ died, he and his friend cracked open a bottle of champagne to celebrate. I thought at the time that was an over-reaction—yes, Vietnam was monstrous, but LBJ had expended more political capital on civil rights and poverty than any other president; even today, I'm conflicted on LBJ—but when I think about Trump I come back to that guy. And I know, without a doubt, that I will celebrate Trump's death like people celebrated Hitler's death.

Yeah, I'll probably smile or do a fist pump.

[Sparky]

Bah, fake news, everybody knows people are saying he's a stable genius.

[revbob]

Wow. When you see one brain fart after another like that, it's kinda sad. And funny. Because I hate him.

Well, he is evil after all.

When I was an undergrad, there was one used bookstore I went to a lot. One of the people who worked there was a sociology sessional prof (i.e., not tenured). One time when I was in there, I bought a copy of Robert Caro's first volume of his LBJ biography. This guy, I learned, was American, a draft dodger who came to Canada in the 60s. He told me that when LBJ died, he and his friend cracked open a bottle of champagne to celebrate. I thought at the time that was an over-reaction—yes, Vietnam was monstrous, but LBJ had expended more political capital on civil rights and poverty than any other president; even today, I'm conflicted on LBJ—but when I think about Trump I come back to that guy. And I know, without a doubt, that I will celebrate Trump's death like people celebrated Hitler's death.

It will be celebrated the world over, like Thatcher and Reagan.

[Dr. Medulla]

Wow. When you see one brain fart after another like that, it's kinda sad. And funny. Because I hate him.

Well, he is evil after all.

When I was an undergrad, there was one used bookstore I went to a lot. One of the people who worked there was a sociology sessional prof (i.e., not tenured). One time when I was in there, I bought a copy of Robert Caro's first volume of his LBJ biography. This guy, I learned, was American, a draft dodger who came to Canada in the 60s. He told me that when LBJ died, he and his friend cracked open a bottle of champagne to celebrate. I thought at the time that was an over-reaction—yes, Vietnam was monstrous, but LBJ had expended more political capital on civil rights and poverty than any other president; even today, I'm conflicted on LBJ—but when I think about Trump I come back to that guy. And I know, without a doubt, that I will celebrate Trump's death like people celebrated Hitler's death.

It will be celebrated the world over, like Thatcher and Reagan.

I suspect it’ll be much more intensely celebrated, both because of his evil and that his death is likely closer than theirs from their time of destruction. They both dropped out of sight, too, before being called back to hell.

[Dr. Medulla]

More from the liquid brain of our orange god: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 01342.html

[Dr. Medulla]

https://newrepublic.com/post/179203/tru ... ment-delay

On the one hand, it's the default Trump ploy to delay and deny. But on the other hand, it's also his default to exaggerate his wealth, including, presumably, how liquid that wealth is. So, yeah, I think it's entirely plausible that he flat out doesn't have the cash to pay the penalty or post the bond for appeal.

[Dr. Medulla]

https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-poli ... can-party/

Posting mainly for the amusing metaphor, but I'm dubious about the idea of "if only Trump weren't such a boob …." I'm not convinced that the public role can't not be such a boob, and an authentic one at that. Someone smarter doesn't sell themselves to the base like Trump because the base is suspicious of anyone vaguely intelligent or competent in governance.

[gkbill]

https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-poli ... can-party/

Posting mainly for the amusing metaphor, but I'm dubious about the idea of "if only Trump weren't such a boob …." I'm not convinced that the public role can't not be such a boob, and an authentic one at that. Someone smarter doesn't sell themselves to the base like Trump because the base is suspicious of anyone vaguely intelligent or competent in governance.

Hello,

To the author's point about the GOP becoming a dwindling minority, I'm afraid I've long given up the belief that 1 person, 1 vote holds true in the US given Citizens United and gerrymandering.

[Dr. Medulla]

https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-poli ... can-party/

Posting mainly for the amusing metaphor, but I'm dubious about the idea of "if only Trump weren't such a boob …." I'm not convinced that the public role can't not be such a boob, and an authentic one at that. Someone smarter doesn't sell themselves to the base like Trump because the base is suspicious of anyone vaguely intelligent or competent in governance.

Hello,

To the author's point about the GOP becoming a dwindling minority, I'm afraid I've long given up the belief that 1 person, 1 vote holds true in the US given Citizens United and gerrymandering.

Perhaps, but I'm not a fan of reading inevitable futures from the present when it comes to politics. I've said this before, but political prognostication tends to rest on the idea of the future being like the present but more so. History, however, is not a steady line, but full of strange zigs and zags that can overturn conventional truth.

[Flex]

https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-poli ... can-party/

Posting mainly for the amusing metaphor, but I'm dubious about the idea of "if only Trump weren't such a boob …." I'm not convinced that the public role can't not be such a boob, and an authentic one at that. Someone smarter doesn't sell themselves to the base like Trump because the base is suspicious of anyone vaguely intelligent or competent in governance.

Hello,

To the author's point about the GOP becoming a dwindling minority, I'm afraid I've long given up the belief that 1 person, 1 vote holds true in the US given Citizens United and gerrymandering.

Perhaps, but I'm not a fan of reading inevitable futures from the present when it comes to politics. I've said this before, but political prognostication tends to rest on the idea of the future being like the present but more so. History, however, is not a steady line, but full of strange zigs and zags that can overturn conventional truth.

Hell, we've seen election results get seriously out of whack with past performance and predictions as recently as our last national election cycle. The post-roe electorate rewired the 2020 results and that may carry through again this cycle. Shit seems inevitable until it isn't.

[Dr. Medulla]

https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-poli ... can-party/

Posting mainly for the amusing metaphor, but I'm dubious about the idea of "if only Trump weren't such a boob …." I'm not convinced that the public role can't not be such a boob, and an authentic one at that. Someone smarter doesn't sell themselves to the base like Trump because the base is suspicious of anyone vaguely intelligent or competent in governance.

Hello,

To the author's point about the GOP becoming a dwindling minority, I'm afraid I've long given up the belief that 1 person, 1 vote holds true in the US given Citizens United and gerrymandering.

Perhaps, but I'm not a fan of reading inevitable futures from the present when it comes to politics. I've said this before, but political prognostication tends to rest on the idea of the future being like the present but more so. History, however, is not a steady line, but full of strange zigs and zags that can overturn conventional truth.

Hell, we've seen election results get seriously out of whack with past performance and predictions as recently as our last national election cycle. The post-roe electorate rewired the 2020 results and that may carry through again this cycle. Shit seems inevitable until it isn't.

The two examples I've used when talking about the dangers of prediction is (1) the 1964 election, which seemed to confirm an ambitious welfare state liberalism had been confirmed, but then Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement, and the counterculture ripped that up; and (2) three successive Republican landslides in the 1920s seemed to confirm laissez faire capitalism and then the Great Depression and World War II brought about an interventionist govt in ways that few could have predicted. At the end of the 50s and in the 90s, two separate scholars (Daniel Bell and Francis Fukuyama) wrote books declaring an end of ideology and a confirmation of the existing order. In each case, within a decade they'd be proven entirely wrong. History is good for lots of things, but not so much at prediction.

[Sparky]

It's gotta be the shoes.

[revbob]

Ty Cobb on Trump.

https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-n ... -door-open

[Sparky]

Apparently he's not the "billionaire" he claims to be. Guess he's going to have to hawk some more hideous sneakers and ridiculous trading cards.

Trump and his lawyers admitted today that he's broke and can't pay the bond in the New York fraud case.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump- ... eb%2028%20