September Current Events: an alcoholic rapist wants control of all vaginas

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That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Handsome Ralph posted:

I know they'll never loving do it, but the cabinet needs to just loving 25th his broke brain rear end so we can deal with Pence and at the very least not worry about WW3 starting as we lose healthcare benefits and collective bargaining.

The cabinet is likely concerned right now about using their positions for individual profits.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 16:40

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# ? May 25, 2024 10:21

Riot Carol Danvers: Jul 30, 2004; It's super dumb, but I can't stop myself. This is just kind of how I do things.

DoktorLoken posted:

https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1037002170569248768?s=21

# ? Sep 4, 2018 16:50

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

That Works posted:

The cabinet is likely concerned right now about using their positions for individual profits.

That just means we should remind them a dumpster fire shines a light on everyone.

Wait why am I condoning and encouraging government corruption is this what I'm reduced to?

# ? Sep 4, 2018 16:51

facialimpediment: Feb 11, 2005; as the world turns

WaPo is teasing more "around lunchtime" and a reporter just said "You'll want to hear this"

TAPES?!?!

Edit: gahahahahah someone forgot to say it was off the record

https://twitter.com/PhilipRucker/status/1037010081810993155?s=19

facialimpediment fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Sep 4, 2018

# ? Sep 4, 2018 16:52

joat mon: Oct 15, 2009; I am the master of my lamp;
I am the captain of my tub.

John Kelly posted:

He�s an idiot. It�s pointless to try to convince him of anything. He�s gone off the rails. We�re in Crazytown. I don�t even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I�ve ever had.

The quote is kind of gilding the lily, given this 1000 word picture:

# ? Sep 4, 2018 17:11

facialimpediment: Feb 11, 2005; as the world turns

joat mon posted:

The quote is kind of gilding the lily, given this 1000 word picture:

I laughed hysterically out loud at this:

https://twitter.com/jjouvenal/status/1037012124021792768?s=19

# ? Sep 4, 2018 17:19

Blind Rasputin: Nov 25, 2002; Farewell, good Hunter. May you find your worth in the waking world.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 17:22

shame on an IGA: Apr 8, 2005

ahahahahahhaa hell universe delivers

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-upset-woodward-didnt-interview-him-for-book-report

# ? Sep 4, 2018 17:40

Acebuckeye13: Nov 2, 2010; Ultra Carp

That Works posted:

The cabinet is likely concerned right now about using their positions for individual profits.

I'm sure some of them want to, but it needs to be a majority and they can't do it without Pence:

quote:

Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 17:48

Handsome Ralph: Sep 3, 2004; Oh boy, posting!
That's where I'm a Viking!

Listening to this phone call and Trump sounds like one of those elderly people who get scammed into buying a itunes gift card to fix his computer.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 17:48

facialimpediment: Feb 11, 2005; as the world turns

John Kyl is replacing John McCain. John Kyl is a former high-level GOP senator, is currently the Sherpa for the Kavanaugh nomination, and if you don't see why that's bad:

https://twitter.com/RobertMaguire_/status/1019265338096136192?s=19

https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/844929071360413696?s=19

Granted, he's "standard-Republican bad", but that doesn't exactly help matters much.

facialimpediment fucked around with this message at 17:54 on Sep 4, 2018

# ? Sep 4, 2018 17:52

M_Gargantua: Oct 16, 2006; STOMP'N ON INTO THE POWERLINES; Exciting Lemon

UFOTacoMan posted:

Trump: Hello, Bob.

BW: President Trump, how are you?

Trump: How are you? How are you doing? Okay?

BW: Real well. I�m turning on my tape recorder, with your permission.

Trump: Oh, that�s okay. That�s okay. I don�t mind that at all.

BW: I�m sorry we missed the opportunity to talk for the book.

Trump: Well, I just spoke with Kellyanne [Conway] and she asked me if I got a call. I never got a call. I never got a message. Who did you ask about speaking to me?

BW: Well, about six people.

Trump: They don�t tell me.

BW: A senator. I talked to Kellyanne about it two and a half months ago.

Trump: [?].

BW: She came for lunch.

Trump: Well, it�s too bad. Of course, you and I had a conversation a couple of years ago, and so that I think got you there a little bit. And we had a conversation many years ago, if you remember, in Trump Tower.

BW: Yeah, I do.

Trump: That has to be 20 years ago. And you were thinking about doing a book about me then, which is interesting. Who knew it would�ve been on this subject? Right? That was not in the cards at that time.

BW: That�s right. Well, I�m sorry, I . ..

Trump: I still remember that.

BW: I spent a lot of time on this, talked to lots of people.

Trump: All right. Good.

BW: And as you know and are living, we are at a pivot point in history.

Trump: Right.

BW: And I would�ve liked to have done that, and I maximized my effort, and somehow it didn�t get to you, or . ..

Trump: It�s really too bad, because nobody told me about it, and I would�ve loved to have spoken to you. You know I�m very open to you. I think you�ve always been fair. We�ll see what happens. But all I can say is the country is doing very well. We�re doing better economically just about than at any time. We�re doing better on unemployment maybe than ever. You know, I mean, if you look at the unemployment numbers, you�ve heard me say it. And we�re doing better on unemployment than just about ever. We�re having a lot of � a lot of companies are moving back into our country, which would�ve been unheard of two years ago. If the other administration or representatives of it had kept going, had kept � you know, if the other group had won, I will tell you, that you would have, I think you�d have a GDP of less than zero. I think we would�ve been going in the wrong direction. Because regulations are such a big part of what we�ve done, Bob.

BW: Well, I understand that point of view. And as you know, it�s also a difficult time where the political system and you and my business is being tested.

Trump: Yeah. Yeah.

BW: I take it very seriously. I�ve done books on eight presidents, going back from Nixon to Obama.

Trump: Right.

BW: And I learned something about reporting, frankly, Mr. President.

Trump: Good.

BW: I�ve got to go talk to people and see them outside of the White House and outside of their offices, and gained a lot of insight and documentation. And it�s � you know, it�s a tough look at the world and your administration and you.

Trump: Right. Well, I assume that means it�s going to be a negative book. But you know, I�m some � I�m sort of 50 percent used to that. [Laughter] That�s all right. Some are good and some are bad. Sounds like this is going to be a bad one.

BW: It was a chance missed, and I don�t know how things work over there in terms of . ..

Trump: Very well. We . ..

BW: . . . getting to you.

Trump: Well, if you would call Madeleine [Westerhout] in my office . . . Did you speak to Madeleine?

BW: No, I didn�t. But I . ..

Trump: Madeleine is the key. She�s the secret. Because she�s the person . ..

BW: Well, I talked to Raj [Shah] about it. I talked to . . . I talked to Kellyanne.

Trump: Well, a lot of them are afraid to come and talk, or � you know, they are busy. I�m busy. But I don�t mind talking to you. I would�ve spoken to you. I spoke to you 20 years [ago] and I spoke to you a year and a half or two years ago.

BW: A couple of years ago, I understand.

Trump: And I certainly don�t mind talking to you, and I wish I could�ve spoken to you. But nobody called my office. I mean, you went through, I guess, different people. ...

BW: Well, Mr. President, how can I spend all this time talking to people and � like Kellyanne and Raj and Republican senators?

Trump: Who were the senators? No, they never called me about it.

BW: Senator [Lindsey] Graham said he had talked to you about talking to me. Now, is that not true?

Trump: Senator Graham actually mentioned it quickly in one meeting.

BW: Yes. Well, see. And then nothing happened.

Trump: That is true. That is true. Well, that � no, but that is true. Mentioned it quickly, not like, you know, and I would certainly have thought that maybe you would�ve called the office. But that�s okay. I�ll speak to Kellyanne. I am a little surprised that she wouldn�t have told me. In fact, she just walked in. [to Kellyanne] I�m talking to Bob Woodward. He said that he told you.

Conway: Yes.

Trump: About speaking to me. But you never told me. Why didn�t you tell me?

Conway: [inaudible].

Trump: I would�ve been very happy to speak to him. All right, so what are you going to do?

BW: Well ...

Trump: So I have another bad book coming out. Big deal.

BW: . . . it goes on, and I . . . What you can count on is that I�ve been very careful. And Evelyn, are you on?

EMD: Yes.

BW: Evelyn Duffy, who�s my assistant, Mr. President.

Trump: Hello, Evelyn.

BW: She transcribed all the tapes because, with permission, I taped people for hundreds of hours.

Trump: Good.

BW: And I think there�s nothing in this book that doesn�t come from a firsthand source. Is that correct, Evelyn?

EMD: I believe that�s �

Trump: But are you naming names? Or do you just say sources?

BW: Yeah, well, it names real incidents, so . ..

Trump: No, but do you name sources? I mean, are you naming the people, or just say, people have said?

BW: I say, at 2:00 on this day, the following happened, and everyone who�s there, including yourself, is quoted. And I�m sorry I didn�t get to ask you about these . ..

Trump: I mean, you do know I�m doing a great job for the country. You do know that NATO now is going to pay billions and billions of dollars more, as an example, than anybody thought possible, that other presidents were unable to get more? And it was heading downward. You do know all of the things I�ve done and things that I�m doing? I�m in the process of making some of the greatest trade deals ever to be made. You do understand that stuff? I mean, I hope.

BW: Certainly, I understand and I would�ve loved to go through a discussion with you about NATO, because this goes back to early in your administration and your concern about it, and the agreement that the countries have that they would increase their defense contribution, what is it, by the year 2024? And you know . . . So anyway, we are . ..

Trump: Well, you know last year, if you see the secretary, [Jens] Stoltenberg, he said I believe $44 billion just last year, and that was from last year�s meeting. And this year it�s much more money they�ve agreed to put up. So it�s a tremendous amount of money. No other president has done it. It was heading down in the opposite direction. So I don�t know if you�re going to report it that way; probably not. But that�s too bad, but that�s all right, but you know, one of those things.

BW: Everything is going to be factual. And it is not a good thing for my business, if I may say this to you, Mr. President, to the presidency, or to the country, to not have real, full exchanges on these. And I broke my spear on it trying to get to you.

Trump: Well, other than Lindsey [Graham], who did quickly mention it, nobody mentioned it.

BW: You say Kellyanne�s there, ask her.

Trump: Nobody told me about it. Well, let me ask her. Why don�t you speak to Kellyanne. Ask her. She never told me about it.

[Conway takes the phone.]

BW: Kellyanne?

Conway: Bob, how are you? Hi.

BW: Hi. Remember two and a half months ago you came over and I laid out, I wanted to talk to the president? And you said you would get back to me?

Conway: I do. And I put in the request. But you know, they � it was rejected. I can only take it so far. I guess I can bring it right to the president next time.

BW: Yeah.

Conway: But I try to follow all the protocols, or else I�m accused of being somebody who doesn�t follow protocol.

BW: President Trump, I just want you to know I made every effort.

Conway: But you had talked to [former White House communications director] Hope [Hicks], right, who said no?

BW: Listen, I talked to anyone I could. [Laughs]

Conway: You talked to a number of people and they all said no?

BW: I talked to Raj.

Conway: Raj.

BW: He was going to work it out.

Conway: Hope. [Me?].

[The president says something in the background that is inaudible.]

Conway: I said you tried talking to everybody? What about when you interviewed, like, other people? They all said yes? That they�d try?

BW: Yeah, well, about six or seven people. I tried. And I couldn�t have � you and I spent a whole lunch on it, Kellyanne. And I said, I want to cover the substantive issues in foreign policy and domestic policy. And you said you would get back to me. Nothing.

Conway: Yeah. So, I did. I presented it to the people here who make those decisions, but . ..

BW: Who are the people?

Conway: But anyway, I�ll give you back to the president. And I�m glad to hear that you tried through seven or eight different people. That�s good. You should tell him all the names. [Laughs] Thank you.

Trump: But you never called for me. It would�ve been nice, Bob, if you called for me, in my office. I mean, I have a secretary. I have two, three secretaries. If you would�ve called directly � a lot of people are afraid . . . Raj, I hardly have . . . I don�t speak to Raj.

BW: Kellyanne is a . ..

Trump: I do, I do, and Kellyanne went to somebody, but she didn�t come to me.

BW: Well, does she have access to you?

Trump: And she should�ve come to me. She does have access to me. Absolutely. She has direct access, but she didn�t come to me. And you know what? That�s okay. I�ll just end up with another bad book. What can I tell you?

BW: It�s surprising to me that these people � did Raj have access to you?

Trump: Not really, but he would�ve been able to do it. But I have an office. You have the office number. I have an office that�s directly into my office.

Conway: [inaudible in background]

Trump: It doesn�t matter. Let me tell you what matters: The economy is the best it�s been in many, many decades. And it�s going to get a lot better. And the country is doing very well. That�s what�s important.

BW: Yes, sir. I thought I would . ..

Trump: We�re doing a good job.

BW: . . . never kind of say, let�s not talk about this because the book is done to a president . ..

Trump: Yeah, I know.

BW: . . . and, but that�s the position we�re in. And it�s one I tried to avoid. You need to know I made maximum effort.

Trump: All right. It�s too bad.

BW: Yes, sir.

Trump: I�m just hearing about it. And I heard � I did hear from Lindsey, but I�m just hearing about it. So we�re going to have a very inaccurate book, and that�s too bad. But I don�t blame you entirely.

BW: No, it�s [?] � it�s going to be accurate, I promise.

Trump: Yeah, okay. Well, accurate is that nobody�s ever done a better job than I�m doing as president. That I can tell you. So that�s . . . And that�s the way a lot of people feel that know what�s going on, and you�ll see that over the years. But a lot of people feel that, Bob.

BW: I believe in our country, and because you�re our president, I wish you good luck.

Trump: Okay. Thank you very much, Bob. I appreciate it. Bye.

[Call ends]

[Recording ends]

# ? Sep 4, 2018 17:57

Godholio: Aug 28, 2002; Does a bear split in the woods near Zheleznogorsk?

quote:

Trump: I�m just hearing about it. And I heard � I did hear from Lindsey, but I�m just hearing about it. So we�re going to have a very inaccurate book, and that�s too bad. But I don�t blame you entirely.

This line sums it all up.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:05

Proud Christian Mom: Dec 20, 2006; READING COMPREHENSION IS HARD

that this administration is ludicrously incompetent is the only thing saving us

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:11

CommieGIR: Aug 22, 2006; The blue glow is a feature, not a bug; Pillbug

Proud Christian Mom posted:

that this administration is ludicrously incompetent is the only thing saving us

Its probably the only real reason not to get rid of Trump.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:19

Thwomp: Apr 10, 2003; BA-DUHHH; Grimey Drawer

Trump brings Stephen Miller to the table which automatically disqualifies that statement.

Get him the gently caress out as soon as possible.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:23

CommieGIR: Aug 22, 2006; The blue glow is a feature, not a bug; Pillbug

Thwomp posted:

Trump brings Stephen Miller to the table which automatically disqualifies that statement.

Get him the gently caress out as soon as possible.

I don't know if Pence would get rid of Miller, but I have my doubts that he wouldn't bring someone just as bad, but with less of a public reputation on board...

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:25

pantslesswithwolves: Oct 28, 2008

quote:

Hovering over the White House was Mueller�s inquiry, which deeply embarrassed the president. Woodward describes Trump calling his Egyptian counterpart to secure the release of an imprisoned charity worker and President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi saying: �Donald, I�m worried about this investigation. Are you going to be around?�

Trump relayed the conversation to Dowd and said it was �like a kick in the nuts,� according to Woodward.

This one is particularly something considering how the only reason Sisi has his job is because he overthrew the dude who used to have it.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:26

Duzzy Funlop: Jan 13, 2010; Hi there, would you like to try some spicy products?

facialimpediment posted:

John Kyl is replacing John McCain. John Kyl is a former high-level GOP senator, is currently the Sherpa for the Kavanaugh nomination, and if you don't see why that's bad:

https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/844929071360413696?s=19

Granted, he's "standard-Republican bad", but that doesn't exactly help matters much.

That was such an easy dunk and she still had to be fed the line :lol:

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:27

Nostalgia4Infinity: Feb 27, 2007; 10,000 YEARS WASN'T ENOUGH LURKING

Thwomp posted:

Trump brings Steve Bannon to the table which automatically disqualifies that statement.

Get him the gently caress out as soon as possible.

there must always be a lich king

besides this point is moot because the decorum shitshow around mccain's funeral is going to get trump reelected.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:31

bird food bathtub: Aug 9, 2003; College Slice

It's working for the moment but the next person inspired by Trump to run on blatant white supremacy and authoritarian rule is likely not going to be in the middle stages of dementia. I have no trouble believing that the rabidly loyal base of bigots the Republicans have spent decades curating would have zero problems with kidnapping or murder of the "enemy of the people" media personnel and calling the Democrat party "radical leftist terrorists" that need to be outlawed.

They're already begging for it at his Two Minute Hate rallies, they ll be endlessly loyal to anyone actually does it. This particular Frankenstein's monster isn't going away any time soon, the bigger question is how many of them there are and if there can be a political course correction before the only thing left that matters is how many villagers pick up torches and pitchforks.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:35

aphid_licker: Jan 7, 2009

Making public specific instances of their aides actively and purposefully loving with them would send most narcissistic psychopaths into a very dangerous rage / paranoia / attempts to assert themselves, but this particular one doesn't read so we should be fine :v:

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:40

psydude: Apr 1, 2008

CommieGIR posted:

I don't know if Pence would get rid of Miller, but I have my doubts that he wouldn't bring someone just as bad, but with less of a public reputation on board...

Pence would probably govern pretty similarly to Bush, including surrounding himself with seasoned neo- conservatives with ample experience at crafting and vetting policy, albeit with more of an emphasis on culture wars and less of an emphasis on invading Iraq. So take that as you will.

psydude fucked around with this message at 18:43 on Sep 4, 2018

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:41

pantslesswithwolves: Oct 28, 2008

And in the meantime, here�s how our next SCOTUS justice is behaving at his confirmation hearings:

https://twitter.com/fred_guttenberg/status/1037023269923287041

Like, the absolute minimum thing to do as a human being, let alone a prospective appointee to the highest court in the country, would have been to return the handshake and say �I�m sorry for your loss� not this bullshit.

If Trump does get impeached, is there any kind of mechanism to undo his appointments?

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:47

Slim Pickens: Jan 12, 2007; Grimey Drawer

Reddit=bad, but this comment is pretty solid.

https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/9cm3wg/trump_has_normalized_racism_lying_scapegoating/e5bmje6/

ninemiletree posted:

No. Fox News has normalized racism, lying, scapegoating and corruption. Trump is just another rich, narcissistic sack of poo poo that has gleefully embraced Fox News' weaponization of propaganda and managed to coast into the presidency because he simply emulated at the podium the type of bullshit that Republican voters were accustomed to hearing on the television 24/7.

For gently caress's sake, I remember during the Obama administration when Fox News would have Donald Trump call in all the god drat time and talk about global loving warming, and they would treat him as if he was in any way, shape or form qualified to talk about that loving subject. Or when they'd let him call in to talk about Obama's loving birth certificate, and nod along when he was talking about all the evidence he had that Obama was born in Kenya that he never produced and never will because he loving lied and made it up.

Fox News acted like that was an actual news story, instead of the horribly transparent publicity stunt of this imbecilic, racist man child. And do you think for one loving second Fox News would have ran that story if, say, Joe Biden were President? gently caress no, they ran it because they're racist and they give their viewers racist scraps of raw meat.

Fox News was created to function as a machine to make up the deficit for the terrible policies and reprehensible behavior of Republicans by keeping the voter base distracted, cripplingly misinformed, and angry at everything except for the real problems and the real enemies.

Fox News perfected the language of racist dogwhistles (welfare, food stamps, "Chicago") that made it extremely easy for Republican voters and politicians to espouse obviously racist and primitively tribalist views in public with the thinnest amount of plausible deniability for their racism.

Fox News perfected lying. They lie constantly. They omit truths to shape their headlines and their content. They misconstrue facts. They fail to notify their viewers when, say, one of their "legal experts" happens to be the lawyer for an accused Russian spy. Fox News is so prolific at lying that they're loving motto for YEARS was "fair and balanced", and that's just loving hysterical because they're literally the exact opposite of fair and balanced in every conceivable way, shape and form. They also call themselves "news," which is a lie; they're propaganda, and their most popular product are pundits and talking heads at their station who make up whatever bullshit they want and then this is repeated as though its true on their news segments.

Fox News perfected scapegoating (everything is the Democrats' fault, even mistakes clearly made by inept Republicans). Hillary Clinton literally hasn't even held public office in three years and holds absolutely no power or authority and someone on Fox News blames her for something every god drat night. Someone at the daily show ought to just pour over Fox News feeds for the last three years because you could absolutely find footage of someone blaming Clinton for something every. loving. Night.

Fox News is the actual embodiment of political corruption. They provide a propaganda service for Republicans who in turn pass policies that are good for Murdoch's bottom line. They don't inform. They don't report.

Without Fox News, the world world would be a dramatically better place. Nixon was forced out of office because we didn't have Fox News.

And now that we do have Fox News, suddenly, coincidentally, Republicans find it infinitely easier to root themselves into their offices despite a mind-boggling litany of crimes that now, thanks to Trump, includes high treason against America.

gently caress you, Fox News. The damage you've done to the fabric of Democracy is incalculable.

EDIT: And I want to add one more thing. I despise Donald Trump. And the Trump administration is a fascist catastrophe that threatens our entire democracy.

But Donald Trump is not the problem. Donald Trump is a fat, spoiled rich baby. He's ambitious, and spiteful, but he's not intelligent. He isn't. The proof is overwhelming. He inherited a real estate business and made some money until nosediving it into the ground. He's sustained himself with various criminal enterprises and maneuvers that he's escaped prosecution for mostly because we do a loving poo poo job of bringing justice to the wealthy.

And once you realize that Donald Trump is a really stupid human being, you have to ask - then why is he President?

And the answer is because for the last half a century, Republicans have built one of the largest and most extensive organized crime rings in existence. They have built a system that legitimizes preposterous levels of corruption.

They seized on the fact that the constitution grants disproportionate representation in congress and the executive to those who hold the most states, even if those states are mostly empty.

Mitch McConnell got less than eight hundred thousand votes in his 2014 election, and now he has a stranglehold over the Senate. That's loving incredible.

For comparison, Chuck Schumer got over five MILLION votes, and he's the minority leader and almost entirely powerless.

Who the ever-loving gently caress thinks that a party that never wins the popular vote, that has a terrible approval rating and has never represented a majority of Americans should hold literally all the ratchets of power?

So you have these petty criminals and crooks rising up in essentially third-world states, like Kentucky. They've banded together. Now they have a propaganda network. They get their funding from wealthy donors that want to pass laws to legalize their unethical business practices, almost always to the detriment of the American people. And thanks to Fox News, they have an easy-to-access non-stop propaganda stream that passes itself off as news and tells a fictional fairy tale about a Republican party that doesn't exist.

Take away all their bullshit. Take away all the window dressings, the family values. Look at what they do. Dick Cheney spent trillions of our tax dollars on a war to make him and his buddies rich. I say Dick, because Bush was mostly window dressing to draw attention away from him. Now Trump is running America like a business - which is to say, he's running it like an entity which exists entirely to make him wealthy and which he has full control and ownership over.

Look at the tax bill 1.5 trillion, written by lobbyists, to make the tax evasions and other fuckery of their corporations legal, to the detriment of America.

Everything they do is nakedly, openly criminal. But they've found the Thieve's Loophole - it isn't a crime if you ARE the law.

If you just look at them without the trappings - without the suits, without the pomp and prestige of their offices - they are bare-assed crooks. And I know people say that about politicians. And politicians get up to a lot of poo poo - in any country, in any party.

But Republicans are not just individually criminal. Republicans are a criminal organization. They behave identical to one. Their entire legislative approach is basically a protection racket. Corporations pay them, and in return they don't unleash the law on them, or regulatory agencies on them. Other countries play ball or they unleash their horrendously bloated military on them. Which Republicans always want to make bigger. Because what gangster doesn't want more guns?

Even liberals are, in a way, in denial about the extent to which the entire Republican party is an organized crime operation. In some way we believe their legitimacy, because, they're politicians, right? They do fundraisers and speak at colleges. George W. Bush slaps Obama's rear end with a binder, so they can't be all bad, right?

But as we speak Republicans are refusing outright to put any money towards literally protecting our Democracy from the attacks of a hostile foreign nation. Republican Senators are standing up and saying we should reduce sanctions on Russia. They loving stole 1.5 trillion dollars from all taxpayers to give it to the very, very select few who pay them. They are conspiring to insulate their own President, a man who may just be the most corrupt human being to have ever lived, from any form of justice, while simultaneously refusing to impose any of the checks and balances on him that are their constitutional responsibility to impose, all to keep voters happy so that they, personally, can keep their precious seats and can continue to personally profit from their stations.

Trump admitted on live TV he fired the FBI director to protect himself in a legal investigation into his complicity in helping a foreign government attack us.

Republicans did nothing.

Trump called the media - a cornerstone of our Democracy and the shining pillar of the first amendment - the "enemy of the people," because they report "fake news", a word which by Trump's own public admission means stories that paint him in a negative light, regardless of their accuracy or veracity.

Republicans did nothing.

Trump has refused to divest from his business and forced the federal government to pay millions of dollars staying at his properties in the most obvious and blatant corrupt uses of federal power I've ever seen.

Republicans paid.

When a child acts like a selfish brat, and the parents reward them for it, you don't blame the child.

This is who the Republican part is at it's core. Every piece of their apparatus - from congress to their SCOTUS picks to Fox News - is a part of it. They are criminals. They wear suits and robes, but at the end of the day they're just the most successful version of the mob. They are the mob that finally achieved legitimacy and became the law.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:48

CommieGIR: Aug 22, 2006; The blue glow is a feature, not a bug; Pillbug

pantslesswithwolves posted:

And in the meantime, here�s how our next SCOTUS justice is behaving at his confirmation hearings:

https://twitter.com/fred_guttenberg/status/1037023269923287041

Like, the absolute minimum thing to do as a human being, let alone a prospective appointee to the highest court in the country, would have been to return the handshake and say �I�m sorry for your loss� not this bullshit.

If Trump does get impeached, is there any kind of mechanism to undo his appointments?

This man is a monster.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:49

psydude: Apr 1, 2008

pantslesswithwolves posted:

If Trump does get impeached, is there any kind of mechanism to undo his appointments?

Impeachment of the appointees.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:51

M_Gargantua: Oct 16, 2006; STOMP'N ON INTO THE POWERLINES; Exciting Lemon

pantslesswithwolves posted:

If Trump does get impeached, is there any kind of mechanism to undo his appointments?

The Senate also has the power to impeach judges. But its never been done because thanks to :decorum:

the ones who get caught just step down quietly.

I hope they instead pass a law that the supreme court is now 7 seats and the two most recent appointments are no longer on it.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:53

psydude: Apr 1, 2008

Impeachment and removal of any appointee still takes the majority of the house and 2/3 of the Senate, so it's incredibly difficult to do even with a supermajority.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 18:58

Riot Carol Danvers: Jul 30, 2004; It's super dumb, but I can't stop myself. This is just kind of how I do things.

Slim Pickens posted:

Reddit=bad, but this comment is pretty solid.

https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/9cm3wg/trump_has_normalized_racism_lying_scapegoating/e5bmje6/

Yeah I'd say that pretty much nails it.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 19:07

Shaddak: Nov 13, 2011

In hilariously crazy news:

https://phys.org/news/2018-09-russia-space-station-leak-deliberate.amp

quote:

Russia launched checks Tuesday after its space chief said an air leak on the International Space Station last week could have been deliberate sabotage

E: SPACE FORCE, BABY!

Shaddak fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Sep 4, 2018

# ? Sep 4, 2018 19:07

Vasudus: May 30, 2003

And you can be sure that the majority of people that voted to remove a judge would lose their next election due to a hypermotivated opposition movement.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 19:08

facialimpediment: Feb 11, 2005; as the world turns

pantslesswithwolves posted:

And in the meantime, here�s how our next SCOTUS justice is behaving at his confirmation hearings:

I was going to give Kavanaugh the benefit of the doubt because I didn't really know who it was.

The photo is much, much worse than the text description.

https://twitter.com/andyharnik/status/1037038736155009024

Edit: Video https://twitter.com/tommyxtopher/status/1037039229140983810

facialimpediment fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Sep 4, 2018

# ? Sep 4, 2018 19:15

McNally: Sep 13, 2007; Ask me about Proposition 305

Do you like muskets?

Slim Pickens posted:

Reddit=bad, but this comment is pretty solid.

https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/9cm3wg/trump_has_normalized_racism_lying_scapegoating/e5bmje6/

A lot of good points, but saying that the Republican party "never wins the popular vote" is pretty dumb.

Edit: Unless they mean other than just the national elections, I don't know enough about those results to address it

# ? Sep 4, 2018 19:16

Proud Christian Mom: Dec 20, 2006; READING COMPREHENSION IS HARD

Vasudus posted:

And you can be sure that the majority of people that voted to remove a judge would lose their next election due to a hypermotivated opposition movement.

the legislature is perfectly fine abdicating all their responsibilities to the executive precisely for this reason. you can't lose an election for taking a stand if you don't actually take a stand.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 19:17

Thwomp: Apr 10, 2003; BA-DUHHH; Grimey Drawer

Proud Christian Mom posted:

the legislature is perfectly fine abdicating all their responsibilities to the executive precisely for this reason. you can't lose an election for taking a stand if you don't actually take a stand.

This right here is the worst thing (okay, maybe not the worst worst thing but it's up there).

It's like every politician from both sides took the experience of the Iraq War vote to not ever take a position because it could be used on them later. The slightest bit of consequence meted out on their decisions frightened everyone into supporting vagaries and decorum.

It's why we have complete chambers full of nonsense spouting fuckalls.

Or just the Republicans disdain anything to do with government and will bury themselves in a bottomless well of bad faith if it means not having to take a tough vote ever or do anything that might hurt a fellow team player.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 19:41

Knives Amilli: Sep 26, 2014

facialimpediment posted:

I was going to give Kavanaugh the benefit of the doubt because I didn't really know who it was.

The photo is much, much worse than the text description.

https://twitter.com/andyharnik/status/1037038736155009024

Edit: Video https://twitter.com/tommyxtopher/status/1037039229140983810

sheesh i could feel Kavanaughs disgust through my computer screen

# ? Sep 4, 2018 20:23

Wasabi the J: Jan 23, 2008; MOM WAS RIGHT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAw9eXXVwfM

Here's some light in these dark days...

# ? Sep 4, 2018 21:06

Immanentized: Mar 17, 2009

This can't be coincidental, context in first reply
https://mobile.twitter.com/rubin_kd/status/1037033721235263488

# ? Sep 4, 2018 21:21

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 25, 2024 10:21

ded: Oct 27, 2005; Kooler than Jesus

Wasabi the J posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAw9eXXVwfM

Here's some light in these dark days...

A dim bulb of hope in texas. Too bad he wont get elected simply because of the D next to his name.

# ? Sep 4, 2018 21:31

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > September Current Events: an alcoholic rapist wants control of all vaginas

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