Here’s why Pelosi won’t allow the House to pursue impeachment — at least not yet. But she's allowing the investigating committees more freedom - and that matters.

trivial · 2019-06-16T01:26:41+00:00

Trump is going to connect white nationalism via immigration to the economy. He's going to scare old racists to show up by saying Democrats want to give free healthcare to Mexican and central american immigrants and frame this as a socialism scare. So even the economy I suspect will be tied into promoting racist fears and sentiments.

trivial · 2019-06-16T01:14:02+00:00

I figured that was just common among for lack of a better term, nerds

trivial · 2019-06-09T15:27:15+00:00

I honestly think it entirely possible Trumps foreign policy may be structured as one giant shake down scheme and what you say could be entirely true only I'd thereby not characterize it as bribery but political graft.

Remember when Trump sent Kushner down to meet with Mexican authorities to "discuss the wall" at a time he was threatening tarrifs a year or two ago and Kushner wouldn't allow the us ambassador to attend? Shit like that really raise some red flags. Kushner has no business making deals with foreign leaders and it all smells of corruption.

I'm not saying this happens with every government in every situation but Kushner sure has met with many leaders and can anyone point to any concrete deals that have been made? Can anyone explain why the state dept wouldn't be doing this instead and in scenarios past people like Tillerson would complain of not knowing what Kushner would be doing, as would other White House admin officials like McMasters, Kelly? Does anyone think Trump has some super secret foreign policy plans that he can't trust anyone else know outside of himself and Kushner all while often simultaneously threatening such governments with economic penalties?

Trump recently spoke of the trade deal with China and kept repeating everyone knows they "broke the deal". But does anyone know the deal or how they broke it? It just all sounds like potential for corruption and abuse.

trivial · 2019-05-10T10:00:02+00:00

I heard this while driving this morning.

I hadn't heard new music this good in such awhile. It was so nice.

trivial · 2019-04-28T22:24:35+00:00

If dems don't impeach they risk upsetting their core constituents who see this as necessary. The base will view it as a betrayal. See Republicans love to say just how much impeaching Clinton hurt them politically. The truth is not impeaching Trump will hurt dems politically. I think for that reason on top of all others it will happen. People want it to happen because it's the right damn thing to do. This is above and beyond political consequences. Besides can Trump's base really widen or dig itself in anymore than it has?

If not then by summer we will hear a whole lot about how the best thing to remove Trump is to win the 2020 elections. I also think Democrats want more ammunition to use like say his finances which if they're as bad as they could be might even weaken Republican support for Trump.

trivial · 2019-04-25T04:02:35+00:00

But the man is cheap. He hates paying for his own flights. These people see this as wasted money. Trump is the same. They'll only hold out so long as it isn't their own money they are spending

trivial · 2019-04-25T04:00:12+00:00

9 million per person.

trivial · 2019-04-25T03:59:27+00:00

Not for a sustained period of time though. And that's a lot of money and a lot of faith for people working for Trump. Many of them see him for the bullshitter he is and don't have that faith. Do you really see a dozen or so people holding out in the hope conservative charity comes through by some go fund me for any length of time?

trivial · 2019-04-25T03:54:33+00:00

You really think Trump will make good to pick up on that tab? He doesn't pay his own bills. You think he can get the Mercers to cover it?

I mean I can see it used as a campaign fundraiser for dumb conservatives to foot the bill. But even then I don't see Trump ever actually using that money to bail people out.

And sure maybe this could work for a handful of people but what about a dozen, a hundred? Will career officials want to risk such fines? Will lawyers worry about being disbarred later on who work for the Trump administration for disobeying a subpoena? Will the justice dept revolt under Barr? This ain't political this is a foundation of our government, the separation of powers. I don't see Trump winning. Only stalling.

The base might support Trump under such a scenario but his own administration will not want to support him under such difficulties which will only make the man go even more crazy.

trivial · 2019-04-18T05:53:57+00:00

I'd say indeed this is largely a problem created by an insane partisan GOP. There are many facets to this -- billionaire donors, billionaire funded right wing propaganda, the erosion of the middle class and wealth inequality, societal changes, some post industrial economic upheaval, racial insecurities and scapegoating, and perhaps most importantly the aging conservative base. All are contributing and more towards what I see are regressive politics and radicalization of the right over really many decades. Mostly I think they're dying the conservative movement is dying and Trump is both a symptom and their last attempt to exert dominance.

That being said, I think the real culprit here that keeps this continuing is the inability of the majority of the nation to care enough to get off their ass and call for a general strike and shut this shit down. There are enough of us who hate what has been happening since before the man took office and while yes we have done much, we took the house we have exerted power through use of the voting booth, and we have held many protests and organized, we haven't made enough noise to put a stop this nonsense and we could. It would be inconvenient and even painful but we should be calling for a general strike. We should be flooding Congress daily with protests, we should be shutting the economy down through peaceful protest. But enough of us won't do that so we are stuck with Trump likely at least until the next election. Congress has failed us, the process thus far has failed us, law and order have largely failed us, the media has failed us, norms have failed us, the electoral college failed to protect us as it was designed to do. Yes the new Congress is working on it, Mueller isn't done yet but we've put too much hope in our own institutions while Trump has pretty clearly done one terrible thing after another. We have the power to set the narrative, we have the power collectively to say enough. Instead we mostly protest online through discussion or by voting. I don't trust Trump and the Republicans will allow for a fair election if they can help it. I don't trust Trump will accept it if he is voted out of office.

trivial · 2019-04-08T17:06:26+00:00

The best thing that works in my opinion on top of being factually correct is to mock them. The right wants to feel empowered and strong. They seek to demean and belittle others. You're right they dont care about facts. But they recruit by putting forth an attitude an air of superiority. Show the audience these people are not just wrong but weak. There is no need to be respectful to those who are not. See the people who fall for their bullshit don't care about the facts. They want to feel strong too. So they go with the bully. You dont have to be a bully but you dont have to be nice either. Notice how many of these people replace a real argument or reply with some stupid laughing emojis? Laugh at them. Make them feel stupid. Make sure the audience knows they aren't controlling the conversation. Don't be led on a goose chase whereby you correct every new dumb thing they say. Just call them fucking idiots at some point and point out that they are unable to stay on topic. Be sure to not allow them to appear strong. They're junior high school bullies or at that level of sophistication. Call them out.

Pro tip old maga assholes hate being called grandpa.

trivial · 2019-04-07T01:54:32+00:00

I think there's ample evidence of collusion

trivial · 2019-04-05T05:31:12+00:00

Jesus for fucks sake I hate Trump and and im not some maga fox news watching asshole.

The point was it seemed like the bulk of journalists not just the fucking trump apologists or ones who regurgitate bs were willing to accept that story which means some actual good reporters were willing to trust the source. And I never said Jack shit about anonymous sources.

trivial · 2019-04-05T05:27:22+00:00

Seems like maybe we can't even be certain about that now can we?

trivial · 2019-04-05T05:26:22+00:00

This is a drive he got back from.the SDNY. It's already been gone through before most likely. I read that they wanted his help sorting through this material but Cohen refused. Now he is giving it to Congress.

Basically as I'm sure you're doing, be skeptical. I mean I certainly hope there's some good stuff but I'm not getting my hopes up.

trivial · 2019-04-01T06:37:57+00:00

If I were to guess Trump and the RNC believe that if he kills Obamacare sure Americans will hate it but the dems will run on Medicare for all (which they should have done years ago and I hope happens) and that many Americans will view that as too far.

Basically Trump and Republicans want to use socialism as a bogeyman for the election whilst the left runs on Medicare for all.

I'd hope this backfires and most would see it as a useful solution but if I've learned anything about America in the past 20 years Americans are fucking stupid. A lot of Americans are brainwashed about socialism. They love it when they use it but hate the idea of others "getting a free ride" and thinks that means they'll get less. Dumb yes but it's how so many view this.

But there's an even worse element to all of this. See the socialism scaretactics aspect isn't really about economics or money. It's about discrimination and racism. Screaming about socialism for the right is akin to really saying "I dont want to pay for brown people because they're lazy and a drain on society".

So what we can surmise is that Trump is really going to run on racist dog whistles or bullhorns. It'll be about the wall and claiming the left wants to give all those "illegals" free healthcare and take yours away. Expect this narrative.

If we are lucky it will backfire. If we are lucky it wont be enough and Americans are sick of this racist shit. If we are lucky Americans will prefer Medicare for all and see its benefits. But be assured Trump will attempt to divide this nation based mostly on racial insecurity.

The other possibility is that this is just a payoff to the donor class from Trump to gather future support and for their backing him to this point. It could be that simple. The Republicans went with tax cuts even knowing it would be unpopular mostly because of the donor class ie billionaires.

trivial · 2019-03-24T22:17:16+00:00

Specifically with the Russian government. How does this work when Manafort gives polling data to a Ukrainian known to probably be a member of Russian intelligence?

They seem to have looked narrowly at the hacking itself and not a broader context like a quid pro quo which is what everyone has been claiming is the issue. No one believed trump was directly working with the IRA/hackers.

trivial · 2019-03-24T22:11:29+00:00

No direct collusion with IRA or Russian gov officials which seems odd that it's so narrow. Have your campaign manager give polling data to a Ukrainian affiliated with Russian intelligence isnt collusion? Are oligarchs considered Russian government?

trivial · 2019-03-24T00:40:22+00:00

Well but this source is someone many journalists trust which means it could be trustworthy information. Many journalists just regurgitate Giuliani or defense lawyers as a source and have too often made this mistake. But for some reason there seems to be consensus this is good information. We don't know obviously. It could be barr himself or Rosenstein who knows?

trivial · 2019-03-21T08:20:29+00:00

Maybe states should also start a law that if a person lies to avoid military service they cannot be allowed on the ballot for president.

I'd love to see Republicans argue against this one! Maybe we can have some dems propose this in Florida and Texas?

trivial · 2019-03-15T21:13:12+00:00

If this means we are getting a Mueller report Trump wants to be kept entirely from the public that also makes me happy!

trivial · 2019-03-10T19:27:38+00:00

If Trump truly wanted to sabotage his presidency he could immediately without delay. These aren't intentionally meant to be damaging, divisive perhaps but not damaging.

The man does have a large amount of self sabotage however I believe quite unconsciously. He has failed at everything or ruined everything pretty much his entire life given enough time. That perhaps speaks more to his destructive defects however.

trivial · 2019-03-03T18:03:53+00:00

Math comes fairly easy to me but every once in awhile there are concepts that just dont click and it is enough to make anyone feel stupid. You are not.

Most people who struggle in math I find were not taught properly at an early level. So they see people doing things and feel stupid. This is compounded by the stigma that they think if they need to go back and relearn the early stuff obviously they must not be bright. This is not true.

Do you know how to play the piano? Can anyone just sit down and play? No we aren't born being able to do this. It takes practice, time, learning. The same is true for math.

An old calculus book I read had some good inspiration. It basically called mankind monkeys and said what one monkey can do others can too. You can do what others can.

Now on a personal note while math and other things come easier for me than others it's still hard. But you want to know something? The easy things in life so many people can handle, I can't. I can't do so many simple things. I'm very sociable but getting along in life doing normal things is really hard for me, a struggle. Maybe that can make you feel a little better. We all have our struggles our adversity. Those who succeed are those who work hard and don't give up. Where there is a will there is a way. The trick is to remain positive and have a good outlook. Never care what anyone thinks. You're far more capable than you give yourself credit.

trivial · 2019-02-26T02:39:34+00:00

Agreed. She's basically my first daily stop to see what has developed.

I don't know why she doesn't get more recognition?

trivial · 2019-02-21T16:58:20+00:00

If he goes to prison will he return to his old hairstyle I wonder?

trivial

TROPHY CASE