Election 2024

[sear]

#200 - Trump entitled to immunity ?

Seems like a sharp point to me.

Meanwhile Carl Rove says Biden won't be the Dem. nominee in 2024, and
separate reports indicate Michelle Obama may drop her bonnet into the ring.

Here to fore I got the impression Michelle wasn't interested. Different story now that the Obama's are empty nesters?

----------------------------

I can't help feeling embarrassed that out of a national population of hundreds of millions, the best we can do, Trump & Biden (& Ambassador Haley).
Even if the Michelle rumor is true, Fred Thompson tried to drop in at the last minute, & fizzled. Whether Michelle would a) try, & b) succeed, who knows?

 

[sear]

James Carville says Biden skipping Super Bowl interview is a 'sign': 'No other way to read this'​

Carville posited that the White House 'doesn't have much confidence' in Biden​

By Andrea Vacchiano Fox News / February 10, 2024 8:26pm EST

James Carville warns media against treating Trump like 'normal candidate' or he could win​

James Carville told the media not to treat former President Trump like a regular candidate because that might help him win the presidential election.
Legendary political strategist James Carville argued Saturday that the White House has little confidence in President Biden after he turned down a Super Bowl Sunday interview.
Biden recently declined to take part in the Super Bowl Sunday interview for the second year in a row. The interview is a tradition that began in 2009 with President Obama.
The interview is generally seen as a way for the president to connect with a massive audience that doesn't usually tune into political conferences. Last year, the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles saw 115 million viewers.

'BIDENOMICS' FALLS FLAT WITH VOTERS AS TRUMP TAKES HUGE LEAD IN NEW POLL
Legendary political strategist James Carville said that President Biden's decision to turn down a Super Bowl Sunday interview was telling.
"It’s the biggest television audience, not even close, and you get a chance to do a 20-, 25-minute interview on that day," Carville began.
"And you don’t do it? That’s a kind of sign that the staff or yourself doesn’t have much confidence in you," Carville continued. "There’s no other way to read this."
Biden is not the first president to turn down the chance to speak to Super Bowl audiences. In 2018, President Trump declined to sit down with NBC for a Super Bowl interview.

James Carville says Biden skipping Super Bowl interview is a 'sign': 'No other way to read this'

James Carville said that President Biden's decision to turn down a Super Bowl Sunday interview was telling, arguing that it would have given him a massive audience.

www.foxnews.com

- and -
Biden the candidate / poll underdog seems to reject the opportunity to debate Trump.
Presidential debate prep can be quite an ordeal, even for a sitting president.
It's possible Biden has pure & legitimate reason for not leaping at this opportunity, this Winter.

But if Biden refused to debate Trump at all before November?

 

[Shiftless2]

Continuing on #175

Trump told NRA Friday his mass deportation program would begin "within moments" of taking office. To do at scale would likely require 150-200k law enforcement officers, including a private army of red state ntl guard he'd deploy into blue states

Trump’s ‘Knock on the Door’

The former president and his aides are formulating plans to deport millions of migrants.

www.theatlantic.com

 

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https://twitter.com/x/status/1756488933951860836

==============================================================

Montage of 33 clips of the stupidest, most vile, insane, weirdest, addled dementia-ridden, psychotic statements made by Trump over the past two weeks.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1708102400668561890

 

[Shiftless2]

Trump Says Taylor Swift Won’t Endorse Biden Because ‘I Made Her So Much Money’​

The former president said there is "no way" the pop superstar will "be disloyal" to him because he signed the Music Modernization Act. She endorsed Biden in 2020
BY PETER WADE

Donald Trump insisted there isn’t any bad blood between him and Taylor Swift, claiming there is “no way” the pop megastar will endorse Joe Biden.

Why did Trump say Swift would prefer him over Biden, even though she endorsed Biden in 2020 and has repeatedly criticized the former president? Trump claimed she won’t be “disloyal” because he “made her so much money,” referring to when he signed copyright reform legislation that streamlined how rights-holders get paid when their music plays on streaming services.

“I signed and was responsible for the Music Modernization Act for Taylor Swift and all other Musical Artists,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday. “Joe Biden didn’t do anything for Taylor, and never will. There’s no way she could endorse Crooked Joe Biden, the worst and most corrupt President in the History of our Country, and be disloyal to the man who made her so much money.”

Trump’s claim is all the more absurd considering ...

CONTINUED

 

[Shiftless2]

Taylor Swift Chugs Beer on Super Bowl Jumbotron to Fans’ Delight​

Her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs were losing at the time, so she probably needed it

Taylor Swift Chugs Beer on Super Bowl Jumbotron to Fans' Delight

Her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs were losing at the time, so she probably needed it.

www.rollingstone.com

==========================================================​

If you're having trouble with the vid you can find it here

https://twitter.com/x/status/1756841836713476406

 

[sear]

"33 clips of the stupidest, most vile, insane, weirdest, addled dementia-ridden, psychotic statements made by Trump over the past two weeks." #204

I can't be the only one that's doubted Trump's sanity.

Taylor chug? From a plastic cup? She deserves a metal. [you're welcome, bad propeller fans]

Super bowl:
49ers favored to win.
KC takes the lead, not yet in 4Q.

Not sure what happened. 49ers were on fire in first quarter. KC steal their mojo?

 

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Putin says he wants Biden to win US election​

Rozina Sabur Wed, February 14, 2024 at 7:18 PM EST·3
Vladimir Putin said he would like to see Joe Biden re-elected for a second term ...
Asked who Russia would like to see win in the likely contest between the pair, Putin replied: “Biden, he’s more experienced. He’s predictable, he’s an old school politician.”
The Russian leader went on to dismiss concerns over the 81-year-old Mr Biden’s age and mental acuity.
“When I met Mr Biden three years ago, it’s true, people were already talking about his inabilities, but I saw nothing of the sort,” said Putin.

Putin says he wants Biden to win US election

Vladimir Putin said he would like to see Joe Biden re-elected for a second term, in the Russian president’s first comments on November’s US elections.

news.yahoo.com

piffle
I suspect former KGB Putin believes his own unpopularity in the U.S. would render Putin's endorsement of Biden a net detriment to Biden, thus one way for Putin to help produce a Trump win this November.

Worth considering, this may not be the first U.S. presidential election Putin interfered with. Numerous reports indicated Putin might have helped Trump to beat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

 

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Numerous reports indicated Putin might have helped Trump to beat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

Those reports pretty much eliminate the word "may" from that sentence.

 

[sear]

Those reports pretty much eliminate the word "may" from that sentence.

BUT !
I don't recall any authoritative report that Putin's election interference was decisive, determinative. Would Hillary have won if Putin hadn't interfered?
Perhaps Putin's interference was determinative. Do we have irrefutable proof of it?

It seems Putin remains real bad news. The Ukraine thing, not good.
Not likely Putin would back off in 2024, if he perceives gain from his 2016 electoral shenanigans. And with the AI threat emerging, with enormous electoral implications, can we even trust video of this campaign?
And now there are reports that Russia is deploying into orbit nuclear satellite killers. *

Contemplating whether your neighbor will fill the fuel tank on the lawn mower before he returns it provides room for concern.
But a bloodthirsty madman like Putin has the capacity to terminate humanity, civilization.

* We rely on Earth-orbiting artificial satellites daily. They enable our economy by transmitting banking data.
Satellites help provide meteorologists with information used in weather forecasts.
Internet access in some cases includes satellites.
And satellites are powerful observation platforms for U.S. military and intelligence.

If Russia or China undertakes a large-scale attack on the U.S. / West, disabling satellites would be a predictable first step.
Our satellites in orbit have virtually zero defensive capability, apart perhaps from limited maneuverability. That consumes fuel, in extremely limited supply in orbit.

 

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4th gen farmer blasts Biden admin for sending billions to Ukraine as US farmers suffer: 'Facing extinction' ​

John Boyd Jr. says the Biden administration has not fulfilled a promise to meet with him on farming issues​

By Andrew Mark Miller Fox News / Published February 18, 2024 4:00am EST

I'm sympathetic to the food producers of the world.

The oldest Homo sapiens remains date from 315,000 years ago, and until12,000 years ago all humans lived as hunter-gatherers.
https://aeon.co/essays/we-will-never-be-able-to-live-on-another-planet-heres-why

Those that help fill our larder with high quality, low cost food have well earned our appreciation and respect for the comfort, convenience, the safety, the luxury they provide billions.
If today's Americans had to revert to hunter-gathering to survive, our attrition rate would skyrocket.

- however -

It is a mistake to conflate low market prices self-induced by low cost, efficient, industrialized production, with U.S. national security.
If U.S. national security is not maintained, U.S. farm profits are in lethal jeopardy. Retail food prices are powerfully influenced by wholesale (farm) prices. Is there a law preventing farmers from charging $more?

Those providing reflexive critical political criticism are often long on condemnation, and short on legitimacy.
Anyone can attribute U.S. / Western military support for Ukraine against militaristic, conquest committed Russia to simple humanitarianism, defending those fine upstanding Ukrainians against the vicious Russian aggressors.
3rd Millennium global realities are more stark than that. Our choice is relatively simple:
- help Ukraine defeat Russia with Ukrainian blood and U.S. / Western treasure,
- or sit by passively as we did when Hitler encroached, allow Russia to get bigger and $stronger, and then only after our choice is fight, or exchange our dollars for rubles, finally resist.

Again, my sympathies to those with self-perceived need.
But it's a mistake, a blunder to believe there's a higher policy priority than U.S. national security.
So much for such criticism, in an election year.

Are disapproving hog farmers "disgruntled"?

 

[sear]

There are 3 separate topics the following might mesh with:

Just a little humor

HEADLINES: 2024

Election 2024

I'll post it at Election 2024 snicker all you wish. [that's what I'd do, if I had that long]

Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump has launched a line of his own Trump-branded sneakers. Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Trump launches gold high top sneaker line a day after $350m court ruling​

‘Never Surrender High-Tops’ cost $399 and arrive on the market just after judge hands former US president huge penalty
Guardian staff and agencies / Sat 17 Feb 2024 22.13 EST Last modified on Sun 18 Feb 2024 23.06 EST

Donald Trump has launched his own sneaker brand, a day after a New York judge ordered him to pay $354.9m in penalties for fraudulently overstating his net worth to dupe lenders.
“I’ve wanted to do this a long time,” the former US president said, as he unveiled what he called the first official Trump footwear at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia, a gathering that bills itself as the “The Greatest Sneaker Show on Earth.”

He was met with loud boos as well as cheers, Associated Press reported, adding that as he spoke, the smell of weed occasionally wafted through the room. Attendees skewed younger and more diverse than Trump’s usual rally crowds, the news wire wrote.

Trump’s legal woes have now set him back by more than $500m – how will he pay?

The shoes, shiny, gold high tops with an American flag detail on the back, are being sold as Never Surrender High-Tops for $399 on a new website that also sells Trump-branded Victory47 cologne and perfume for $99 a bottle. Trump would be the 47th president if elected again.
The website says it has no connection to Trump’s campaign, though Trump campaign officials promoted the appearance in online posts.
Trump later lashed out at Justice Arthur Engoron, who on Friday ordered him as well as his eldest sons and associates to pay over $354.9m plus pre-judgment interest after finding them guilty of intentionally committing financial fraud over the course of a decade.

© 2024 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (dcr)

Trump launches gold high top sneaker line a day after $350m court ruling

‘Never Surrender High-Tops’ cost $399 and arrive on the market just after judge hands former US president huge penalty

www.theguardian.com

The criminal in chief, the leader in the 2024 U.S. presidential race is combining his political election campaigns with merchandising, the current headline: gaudy gold-colored sneakers.

note:
Trump's been wearing his own MAGA hats for years. Do you suppose Trump will as frequently and for as many years be seen in public wearing his "Never Surrender High-Tops" for $399?

The "snake oil" salesman metaphor too obvious to require further comment. $400 for sneaks? What do you suppose Trump's $mark-up is?

btw: Trump is also selling Victory47 cologne and perfume for $99 a bottle. ["Victory47" alludes to the next election. If Trump wins he'll count himself the 47th US president.]

 

[Shiftless2]

This actually relates to the 2020 election and Trump's lawyers but I don't want to start a new thread

Supreme Court declines to undo sanctions on pro-Trump 2020 campaign lawyers​

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to undo sanctions against several lawyers allied with former President Trump for filing a meritless lawsuit challenging Michigan’s 2020 presidential election results.

Lawyers Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and others brought the lawsuit against Michigan state officials and Detroit in November 2020, one of dozens of suits filed in an attempt to prove election results were illegitimate in states where Trump had lost. The efforts failed across the board and no evidence of widespread fraud was uncovered.

After dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Linda Parker, of the Eastern District of Michigan, ordered sanctions for the Trump-aligned lawyers, describing the lawsuit as a “historic and profound abuse of the judicial process.”

“Sanctions are required to deter the filing of future frivolous lawsuits designed primarily to spread the narrative that ...

CONTINUED

 

[Shiftless2]

A number of Republican and MAGA figures have reacted angrily after The Houston Chronicle, one of the biggest newspapers in Texas, endorsed President Joe Biden.

The Houston Chronicle's editorial board said they would be backing Biden in the Democratic primary and for re-election so he can "make life better" for the American people as well as prevent the "chaos, corruption and danger to the nation" that would accompany his presumed 2024 Republican challenger Donald Trump returning to the White House.

The Houston Chronicle's praise for Biden will be a boost for the Democrat as he seeks re-election in November. It remains to be seen how much of a difference the endorsement will make, seeing as Texas has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate for nearly 50 years, with Trump beating Biden in 2020 by six points in the red state.

In their editorial, the paper's board admit that Biden "has his shortcomings," but what his administration has achieved during his time in office is a "potent reminder to his fellow Democrats, to independents and to those Republicans who have somehow resisted Trump's cultish appeal that the nation has a viable alternative."

Major Texas newspaper endorses Joe Biden

The Houston Chronicle is backing Biden for re-election to prevent the "chaos, corruption and danger" of Donald Trump.

www.newsweek.com

 

[sear]

"one of the biggest newspapers in Texas, endorsed President Joe Biden." #214

I'll be darned. I would not have predicted that.

NBC Nightly News reports Haley said: "I'm not going anywhere." Ambassador Nikki Haley
Surprising she's willing to admit it.

 

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Not sure where to put this but since it reflects the views of part of Trump's base ...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1761556751814398062

 

[sear]

"It’s funny, until you realize how tragic and ghastly it really is" Nichols #216

Perhaps we might better understand this monstrous betrayal if we knew those party to it are simply ignorant of the sacrifices made by the forebears that Founded US, the Constitution.

That they are eager to trade it away, or dispose of it is beyond denial.
What they hope will replace it is anyone's guess. It's a bell that can't be unrung boys.

 

[Shiftless2]

Re the hightops in #212

 

[sear]

- alright -
Trump may have promised the moon.
What Trump has accomplished is to degrade the reputation of snake-oil salesmen. - and -

The donations continue to $roll in ...

note:
Back in ~2015 or so, from the campaign podium Trump said: "I'm really rich."
a) No. You're really not.
b) Bloomberg is really rich, and he ended up buying the NYC mayoralty.
So D.J., if you're "really rich" why are you soliciting $donations, hawking non-existent gaudy footwear, etc? Gold sneakers?

 

[Shiftless2]