Tawdry Mr Trump

[lizkat]

Amused myself this morning remembering the old tradition (or threat) of parents warning Santa might bring nothing but lumps of coal to Christmas stockings if the kids misbehaved as winter weather set in and they were underfoot more often... thinking about how Mitch McConnell would doubtless like to have a bunch of his mostly unemployed coal miners fetch Donald Trump a couple hundred tons of coal over to Mar a Lago this morning, just dump it on his lawns and his golf course a few feet deep.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Amused myself this morning remembering the old tradition (or threat) of parents warning Santa might bring nothing but lumps of coal to Christmas stockings if the kids misbehaved as winter weather set in and they were underfoot more often... thinking about how Mitch McConnell would doubtless like to have a bunch of his mostly unemployed coal miners fetch Donald Trump a couple hundred tons of coal over to Mar a Lago this morning, just dump it on his lawns and his golf course a few feet deep.

View attachment 2094

As far as I know, from what my German sister-in-law says, that idea (coal for the naughty or misbehaving) comes from an old German Christmas/Yuletide tradition.

 

[lizkat]

As far as I know, from what my German sister-in-law says, that idea (coal for the naughty or misbehaving) comes from an old German Christmas/Yuletide tradition.

I have no idea, although I bumped into a collection of references to it on this side of the pond from the late 1800s. For awhile of course in hard times, no reason a bit of coal for one's stove wouldn't have been quite welcome! It took better times for it to become a joke gift or a suggestion that one didn't warrant a proper present from Santa...

Why Coal Symbolizes Naughtiness

And how it should be used instead

www.theatlantic.com

 

[lizkat]

The outgoing prez is now being admonished even by Murdoch's NY Post in an editorial. They stopped short of calling him tawdry but did throw in some wakeup terms like "your own grievances" and "burn it all down" and "anarchist holding the match".

New York Post editorial board calls on Trump to ‘start thinking’ about Georgia runoffs instead of overturning election

The New York Post’s editorial board called on President Trump to “start thinking” about the Georgia runoff races and to “stop thinking” about overturning the election results. The Post promote…

thehill.com

“Securing the Senate means securing your legacy,” the editorial board wrote. “You should use your considerable charm and influence to support the Georgia candidates, mobilizing your voters for them. Focus on their success, not your own grievances, as we head into the final week.”

“If you insist on spending your final days in office threatening to burn it all down, that will be how you are remembered,” it concluded. “Not as a revolutionary, but as the anarchist holding the match.”

 

[SuperMatt]

The outgoing prez is now being admonished even by Murdoch's NY Post in an editorial. They stopped short of calling him tawdry but did throw in some wakeup terms like "your own grievances" and "burn it all down" and "anarchist holding the match".

New York Post editorial board calls on Trump to ‘start thinking’ about Georgia runoffs instead of overturning election

The New York Post’s editorial board called on President Trump to “start thinking” about the Georgia runoff races and to “stop thinking” about overturning the election results. The Post promote…

thehill.com

Oh, NOW they’re mad at him. I don’t recall any of them speaking up the last 4 years. They hitched their wagon to this horse; they’re stuck with it.

 

[lizkat]

Oh, NOW they’re mad at him. I don’t recall any of them speaking up the last 4 years. They hitched their wagon to this horse; they’re stuck with it.

Yeah they realize the Senate might actually flip. Duh. This guy Trump was always an anarchist but it didn't bother the right wing rags while Trump was only trying to burn Democrats.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Yes, it is a rather funny (and not funny "ha-ha") time to discover that you may yet have something vaguely resembling a spine.

 

[lizkat]

Yes, it is a rather funny (and not funny "ha-ha") time to discover that you may yet have something vaguely resembling a spine.

Yes it's not just the whole GOP but their erstwhile eggers-on in right wing media outlets that are suddenly realizing the bubble they've managed to create and snuggle "conservative" audiences into has developed some serious reality-based leaks in the past few months despite efforts to engage those folks in the surreal "overturn the election" scenario.

So now all of a sudden (and predictably enough even with this gaslighting oaf Trump at the helm) the right-leaning "influencers" with enough dough to own newspapers and online media outlets are rounding on the guy.

This was always going to happen. When an administration changes hands, the movers and shakers want to at least stage some kind of honeymoon... one that may not last long and that is largely insincere... but one that is very real and diverges from that of last-ditch Trump sycophants and own-agenda artists like Flynn and some GOP Senators (including the majority leader).

Those guys are still trying to thread the needle, not because Trump has any political capital left with them (he does not!) but because he may have some potential for it in future thanks to his most vocal and unsavory-fringe followers. But the conservative media moguls are turning the page. They do see the danger in Trump still melting down and pulling stupid stuff like delaying the relief bill while moaning about his election loss: the guy could still cause the GOP to lose the Senate even though there's no way in hell he can retrieve the keys to the White House for 2021-24.

 

[SuperMatt]

I hadn’t heard about this pardon. Why does it not surprise me that Trump pardoned somebody abused her position as a police officer to get her dog accustomed to the taste of human flesh by having the dog attack homeless people?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/29/trump-pardons-stephanie-mohr-prince-georges/

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The outgoing president has cut short his Christmas/Yuletide holiday in Mar-a-Lago, even foregoing his traditional white tie dinner at New Year's Eve, in order to return - early, and unexpectedly - to Washington.

Psychologically, I suspect that he cannot envisage the idea that he is a "loser", and the fact that power is visibly seeping away from him (witness tonight's bpartisan and almost unprecedented New Year's Day vote which overrode his veto on the Defence Budget) must be driving him wild with frustrated rage.

Nevertheless, I still expect him to try to do something crazy, or deranged, (and attention seeking) of the burn-the-house-down variety (perhaps, a nuclear bomb dropped on Iran, if he can find anyone mad enough or sufficiently insane to obey such an illegal order) before he leaves office.

Interesting story also on how Mr Biden felt the need to request that some of the SS personnel who had been assigned to him were changed; it seems that some were briefing against masks.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Yeah, heard that too. Also that there was some concern about some of them being loyal Trumpers. Would you trust your life to them?

 

[DT]

Holy hell, the insanity coming out of Lin Wood's mouth, I just can't ... I mean, shouldn't the Secret Service show up at his door??

 

[lizkat]

Well at least a Texas judge appointed by Trump threw out Louis Gohmert's lawsuit against MIke Pence, which bizarrely enough asserted that Pence has the right to overturn an election by selecting the slate of electors he prefers from a given state. Yeah. Well, Louis Gohmert has more than a tooth loose upstairs.

(Meanwhile Pence says uh... I just open the envelopes, baby.)​

Anyway the judge has tossed this one out as politely as he could, adding that “A suit to establish that the Vice President has discretion over the count, filed against the Vice President, is a walking legal contradiction."

Texas judge dismisses suit aimed at overturning election

A federal judge has dismissed a last-gasp lawsuit led by a House Republican that seeks to give Vice President Mike Pence the power to overturn the results of the presidential election won by Joe Biden when Congress formally counts the Electoral College votes next week.

apnews.com

Remains to be seen if the case will be appealed. There is not much time left between now and January 6th, not that that means anything to the GOP which has appealed cases on an emergency basis before.

Personally though I regard this as a promising start to 2021. About all of the play-acting that's left now is Missouri's GOP Senator Josh Hawley's absurd plan to challenge the count on January 6th, which will only take up hours of pointless debate and then force the GOP Senators to go on record as supporting the election of Joe Biden, something McConnell had warned against in a conference call that Hawley skipped.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Pence’s job is basically the same as that of an awards show host, i.e. opening up an envelope, reading the contents and then announcing, “And the winner is...”. It is not his duty to lead an insurrection, and that a significant number of our elected officials think so is shocking.

 

[Huntn]

Well at least a Texas judge appointed by Trump threw out Louis Gohmert's lawsuit against MIke Pence, which bizarrely enough asserted that Pence has the right to overturn an election by selecting the slate of electors he prefers from a given state. Yeah. Well, Louis Gohmert has more than a tooth loose upstairs.

(Meanwhile Pence says uh... I just open the envelopes, baby.)​

Anyway the judge has tossed this one out as politely as he could, adding that “A suit to establish that the Vice President has discretion over the count, filed against the Vice President, is a walking legal contradiction."

Texas judge dismisses suit aimed at overturning election

A federal judge has dismissed a last-gasp lawsuit led by a House Republican that seeks to give Vice President Mike Pence the power to overturn the results of the presidential election won by Joe Biden when Congress formally counts the Electoral College votes next week.

apnews.com

Remains to be seen if the case will be appealed. There is not much time left between now and January 6th, not that that means anything to the GOP which has appealed cases on an emergency basis before.

Personally though I regard this as a promising start to 2021. About all of the play-acting that's left now is Missouri's GOP Senator Josh Hawley's absurd plan to challenge the count on January 6th, which will only take up hours of pointless debate and then force the GOP Senators to go on record as supporting the election of Joe Biden, something McConnell had warned against in a conference call that Hawley skipped.

This shit is scary as hell. As Practical Mac’s thread in PRSI says, this is actually coup attempts to over throw the election using all “legal” tactics, that relied on corruption to succeed. No success, thank goodness. There is zero regard for the rules, laws, standards, nothing but throw any and all shit against the wall and hope it sticks, the desire to get my way!! Fuck the law, fuck the Constitution, fuck the Citizens who voted for the winner, fuck this idiotic Democracy (the deficient mind of Donny the Head Crook).

There are enough Fuck Democracy Trump agents floating around, that the Country is in the most danger of any time in the 20th Century on. I’m referencing internal threat.

I guess we can be thankful there is no physical action being take, but that is only because Trump’s corrupt reach was not far reaching enough, specifically the military who told him to fuck the hell off. If you remember he changed out the Sec of Defense just before the election, and I’m certain, there was an angle there.

 

[DT]

@Huntn Right on. I know in PRSI there's a couple of mouth-breathers that keep carping about "It's not a coup until I see tanks ...", but that's such an idiotic, limited application of the idea.

In this modern world where we fight wars with computers, of course a coup can be attempted through "legal" machinations.

 

[Huntn]

@Huntn Right on. I know in PRSI there's a couple of mouth-breathers that keep carping about "It's not a coup until I see tanks ...", but that's such an idiotic, limited application of the idea.

In this modern world where we fight wars with computers, of course a coup can be attempted through "legal" machinations.

There are Republicans in Congress getting ready to try to shoot down Biden‘s win this week when the Congress certifies the election. You know Republicans if you elect immoral people to lead, you have just destroyed your system of government along with everything you say you stand for.

 

[lizkat]

This shit is scary as hell. As Practical Mac’s thread in PRSI says, this is actually coup attempts to over throw the election using all “legal” tactics, that relied on corruption to succeed. No success, thank goodness. There is zero regard for the rules, laws, standards, nothing but throw any and all shit against the wall and hope it sticks, the desire to get my way!! Fuck the law, fuck the Constitution, fuck the Citizens who voted for the winner, fuck this idiotic Democracy (the deficient mind of Donny the Head Crook).

There are enough Fuck Democracy Trump agents floating around, that the Country is in the most danger of any time in the 20th Century on. I’m referencing internal threat.

I guess we can be thankful there is no physical action being take, but that is only because Trump’s corrupt reach was not far reaching enough, specifically the military who told him to fuck the hell off. If you remember he changed out the Sec of Defense just before the election, and I’m certain, there was an angle there.

Louis Gohmert and any who follow along with his last gasp legal effort to overturn a lawful election don't really get the message the judge handed down, and of course Gohmert has filed an appeal. That is his perfect right but what alarmed me was his remark that the dismissal of his lawsuit could leave "no remedy" short of street violence.

Gohmert neglected to state publicly that one's usual recourse in a certified election under our rule of law is to accept the certified outcome. All 50 states have certified their results and Joe Biden won the 2020 election, and after any sort of sideshow the likes of Josh Hawley might insist on during the January 6th proceedings, VP Pence will have put the formal stamp on Biden's accession to our highest elective office on January 20, 2021.

Federal appeals court tosses Gohmert suit aimed at overturning 2020 election results

It was the second legal ruling against Gohmert in two days.

www.politico.com

Late Friday, Gohmert and the Arizona plaintiffs notified Kernodle they were appealing to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and Gohmert told Newsmax he expected the court would act ahead of Jan. 6.

Gohmert said in the interview that he still believed in the court system and was hopeful for his appeal, but that the rejection of his suit amounted to leaving those upset about the election with no recourse but street violence.

"Bottom line is, the court is saying, ‘we’re not going to touch this, you have no remedy,’" Gohmert said. "Basically, in effect, the ruling would be that you’ve got to go to the streets and be as violent as antifa and BLM."

Leaving aside allegations about other groups and his own near incitement to violence, Gohmert seems to be living in a world dissociated from the USA's rule of law. We are, do and say a lot of strange things in the USA, but we are not yet the country Gohmert now conjures up for the die-hard Trump followers to imagine they live in. I can see why Trump's followers think he must have won because Trump never pretended to govern for all of America to begin with, and even said he'd not accept the 2020 results unless he won. But that irrelevancy to the facts of our electoral system is not America's problem. Most of us get it that Joe Biden will lead the incoming administration. It's a mental health issue for the right wing.

It's time for Trump followers to realize that Trump's Presidency was an anomaly in its narcissistic entirety, and certainly so has been his monstrous suggestion that mere disappointment in an election outcome in the USA means it's okay to try to overthrow an incoming government. I'm not holding my breath that Trump's fans will ever accept that he lost the election. It probably means that right wing media will hammer forever on Biden's presidency as other than properly constituted. I just hope the Democrats and mainstream media will leave that whole crowd to their own echo chambers. Not holding my breath there either.

 

[SuperMatt]

Louis Gohmert and any who follow along with his last gasp legal effort to overturn a lawful election don't really get the message the judge handed down, and of course Gohmert has filed an appeal. That is his perfect right but what alarmed me was his remark that the dismissal of his lawsuit could leave "no remedy" short of street violence.

Gohmert neglected to state publicly that one's usual recourse in a certified election under our rule of law is to accept the certified outcome. All 50 states have certified their results and Joe Biden won the 2020 election, and after any sort of sideshow the likes of Josh Hawley might insist on during the January 6th proceedings, VP Pence will have put the formal stamp on Biden's accession to our highest elective office on January 20, 2021.

Federal appeals court tosses Gohmert suit aimed at overturning 2020 election results

It was the second legal ruling against Gohmert in two days.

www.politico.com

Leaving aside allegations about other groups and his own near incitement to violence, Gohmert seems to be living in a world dissociated from the USA's rule of law. We are, do and say a lot of strange things in the USA, but we are not yet the country Gohmert now conjures up for the die-hard Trump followers to imagine they live in. I can see why Trump's followers think he must have won because Trump never pretended to govern for all of America to begin with, and even said he'd not accept the 2020 results unless he won. But that irrelevancy to the facts of our electoral system is not America's problem. Most of us get it that Joe Biden will lead the incoming administration. It's a mental health issue for the right wing.

It's time for Trump followers to realize that Trump's Presidency was an anomaly in its narcissistic entirety, and certainly so has been his monstrous suggestion that mere disappointment in an election outcome in the USA means it's okay to try to overthrow an incoming government. I'm not holding my breath that Trump's fans will ever accept that he lost the election. It probably means that right wing media will hammer forever on Biden's presidency as other than properly constituted. I just hope the Democrats and mainstream media will leave that whole crowd to their own echo chambers. Not holding my breath there either.

The problem is that people are parroting their leaders. I’ve seen Gohmert’s exact phrase about “be as violent as Antifa...” on Twitter and other message boards... not credited to him, but as if they thought of it themselves. The utter shite that supposedly Antifa and BLM are so violent, which is plainly false, piled on top of the dung that the election is invalid just because the orange racist dirtbag lost, leads to a massive conglomeration of BS piled miles high and stinking up the entire country.

This is what fascism looks like. A majority of our country opposed it... this time. Actively inciting violence on a mass scale is a serious crime - lock some of these folks up if they want to try and start a civil war.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

And - I smiled with both appreciation and delighted pleasure this morning - the adjective that Mary Trump, (Mr Trump's niece) has used in a piece in The Observer (the Sunday companion paper to The Guardian) to describe her awful uncle is "tawdry".