The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making

[Son_of_a_Rich]

I could understand her wanting to disinfect her archives.

[Eonwe]

@ThelmaLou

The headline I’ve been longing to see. Thank you Atlantic. For God’s sake, time to take off the gloves and call it what it is.

The President’s Lies

President Trump’s low regard for the truth is, by now, well established. Yet his penchant for lying, about matters large and small, seems to be intensifying on the eve of a crucial election.

The Washington Post’s fact-checkers published their latest compilation two days ago, tallying 6,420 false or misleading claims in 649 days in office. That works out to almost 10 falsehoods a day. The president went into overdrive at his latest mega-rally, achieving in minutes what it normally takes him a full day to do.

In Chattanooga, before a packed stadium of hooting supporters, he began an animated, 45-minute oration this way: “This is one of the most important elections of our time. This is a big one. It will decide whether we build on the extraordinary prosperity that we’ve achieved for our nation or whether we let the radical Democrats take control of Congress and take a giant wrecking ball to our economy and our future.” And then came the misinformation:

1. “They want to raise your taxes by double and even by triple;”

2. “They want to take away your health care [and] they want to impose socialism on our country;”

3. “They want to erase America’s borders;”

4. “Democrats want to invite caravan after caravan of illegal aliens to pour into our country;”

5. “That’s an invasion of our country;”
   (Here, the crowd in excess of 10,000 people in the McKenzie Arena at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga began chanting: “Build that wall, build that wall…”)

6. “The Democrats want to abolish ICE and turn America into a giant sanctuary city for gang members and MS-13 killers.”

7. “If Democrats gain power on Tuesday, they will try to raid your Medicare to fund socialism, you know that.”

8. “The Democrat health care plan would obliterate Medicare and eliminate Medicare Advantage for more than half a million Tennessee seniors.”

9.“The Democrats’ plan to destroy health care also includes giving away your benefits to illegal immigrants, you know that.”

10. “As we speak, Democrats are openly encouraging millions of illegal aliens to break our laws, violate our borders, and destroy our nation in so many ways, and they want to sign them up for free welfare, free health care, free education and, most importantly, the right to vote. They want them to vote. Come on in and vote. They love them voting.”

11. “And Republicans will always protect patients with pre-existing conditions. Please remember that.”
    None of those claims is hard to debunk—but the last one, about Republicans always protecting pre-existing conditions, speaks to a president and many other Republicans running for Congress who have simply become unmoored from the truth on health care, which polling shows is by far the number one issue among voters.
    …

As unbelievable as it is that the so-called president of the United States would spout this bullshit, it is even more insane that so many people actually buy it. And I personally know some of them. :smack: What the fuck is wrong with them? “Take away your health benefits and give them to illegal aliens”?? Are you shitting me?

And if this man (so-called) were running for re-election tomorrow, I firmly believe he would get re-elected, and I also believe he will get re-elected in 2020. There’s just too much stupid around.

But, but, but . . .

@Scylla

If you want to be a good guy, if you want to be a good citizen, than you need to lower the temperature. You need to think and say nice things about people you disagree with and force yourself to see them as worthy equals, especially when the disagreement is severe fundamental and felt deeply.

As a whole we are acting like those two monkey tribes, howling and jeering within our respective groups to build ourselves up and make our opponents look small.
This is supposed to be a message board of critical thinkers. Your just acting like monkeys. Stop it. Rise above your primate instincts. You are not better, more righteous, less violent or anything else. You are just more jabbering monkeys adding to the noise, raising the temperature.

Lower the temperature.
It’s important. These things get out of hand really fast. A lot of people could get killed.

In this respect, do not be on the side of the right or the left. Be on the side of those who are trying to focus on the bonds of commslity and who are lowering the temperature of the overheated hyperbole and political rhetoric.

[CalMeacham]

Interesting piece that showed up today at HuffPo:

As Trump Spreads A Fog Of Falsehoods, His Fans Believe Them And Make Excuses...

As Trump Spreads A Fog Of Falsehoods, His Fans Believe Them And Make Excuses For Him

…

Tom Nichols, a professor at the Naval War College and the author of the recent book, “The Death of Expertise,” said the Trump supporters’ response does not surprise him in the least.
“There are a lot of scientific explanations for it, but most of them boil down to ‘shooting the messenger.’ Deep down, they know that these things are false. They don’t care,” Nichols said. “What they object to is the sense of inferiority created when someone tells them that the things they know to be false are actually false.”

…

While Trump typically has been putting out many dozens of falsehoods and exaggerations per hour-long rally, HuffPost curated five with which to interview rally-goers: 1) Trump has received nearly $5 billion already to build his wall; 2) military veterans got the ability to see private doctors in the event of long waiting lists thanks to Trump; 3) his recent $716 billion military budget is the largest ever; 4) U.S. Steel is opening as many as eight new plants thanks to Trump’s tariffs; 5) and the real name of the Democratic Party is the “Democrat” Party.
All five are flatly untrue and easily disproven. In reality, Trump has received zero funding from Congress for wall construction; veterans received that choice under President Obama; the largest recent military budget was also under Obama; U.S. Steel is opening zero new plants; and the real name of the Democratic Party is, in fact, the Democratic Party.
“Why should I believe you?” Alonso said. “I don’t believe you.”
Others near the entrance doors who had likewise spent a chilly night and then a steamy, hot afternoon outside so that they could get in first were similarly outraged by HuffPost’s list.
“He doesn’t like fake news. Why would he say things that are not true?” asked Barbara Guzman, who owns a label-making business in nearby Cape Coral. “Most of the things he says I agree with, and I believe.”
Further back in line, even those who had invested far less of their time to see Trump were just as defensive.

…

Rick Wilson, the author of the recent “Everything Trump Touches Dies” and a longtime GOP consultant in Florida who opposed Trump from the start, said the president’s supporters are the victims of a con artist.
“Once a con man cons somebody, there is a bias among the marks not to admit that they’re that stupid,” he said. “In this particular one, they want it to go on and on. They love it.”
Nichols, also a Trump critic, said that the gulf between what supporters believed Trump would bring and what he has actually delivered is clearly causing mental anguish for them. “When you start from the assumption that they know they’re wrong, and how the immensity of the cognitive dissonance makes them deeply uncomfortable, the rest of their reactions start to make a lot more sense,” he said.

[ThelmaLou]

In this respect, do not be on the side of the right or the left. Be on the side of those who are trying to focus on the bonds of commslity and who are lowering the temperature of the overheated hyperbole and political rhetoric.

WTF is commslity?

[Anny_Middon]

@Fiveyearlurker

Great title for an article:

Trump Accuses Oprah of Burning Tapes That Don’t Exist to Hide Interview That Never Happened

In short, Trump claims he was on Oprah’s show during the last week it was on (he wasn’t), and that they may have burned the fictional tapes.

I have a brother-in-law with Alzheimer’s. Once he was absolutely convinced that at a funeral he attended, the pallbearers dropped the casket and the body rolled out. No one could convince him that this had not happened.

[Anny_Middon]

I miss an awful lot around here. Has anyone posted about the $95,000 hotel bill Melania racked up in Cairo at the end of her African trip? The hotel visit lasted about 6 hours.

I’m having trouble coming up with a plausible reason the bill should be so high. Even if there were 50 people in her entourage and the average room rate was $500, it would come to only $25k. Add in another $500 per person for meals and drinks, and it’s still only about half of what was spent.

[Crotalus]

@Anny_Middon

I miss an awful lot around here. Has anyone posted about the $95,000 hotel bill Melania racked up in Cairo at the end of her African trip? The hotel visit lasted about 6 hours.

I’m having trouble coming up with a plausible reason the bill should be so high. Even if there were 50 people in her entourage and the average room rate was $500, it would come to only $25k. Add in another $500 per person for meals and drinks, and it’s still only about half of what was spent.

I think you are ignoring the $50K kickback that goes to the Trump Organization.

[carnivorousplant]

@Anny_Middon

I miss an awful lot around here. Has anyone posted about the $95,000 hotel bill Melania racked up in Cairo at the end of her African trip? The hotel visit lasted about 6 hours.

I think that is exaggerated.

[Grey]

https://www.usaspending.gov/#/award/69579622

This contract was awarded to Semiramis Intercontinental Cairo with a potential award amount of $95,050. Of this amount, 100% ($95,050) has been obligated.

$95k associated to travel/lodging for a single day.

[ThelmaLou]

@carnivorousplant

I think that is exaggerated.

You *think *it is? What do you *know *about it?

Ninja’d beautifully by Grey

[carnivorousplant]

@ThelmaLou

You *think *it is? What do you *know *about it?

Ninja’d beautifully by Grey

I know that is a heck of a lot of money; I don’t see how that much can be spent at a hotel.

[simster]

@carnivorousplant

I know that is a heck of a lot of money; I don’t see how that much can be spent at a hotel.

Trump spent 130k for a night - once.

[Grey]

Well assume $500 a night for a person with an entourage of 50 that’s $25,000 and assume $100 dollars each for dinner ($5,000) and you get $30,000.

Those are all guesses for costs but I agree that >$90,000 is weird.

[Typo_Negative]

@Anny_Middon

I miss an awful lot around here. Has anyone posted about the $95,000 hotel bill Melania racked up in Cairo at the end of her African trip? The hotel visit lasted about 6 hours.

I’m having trouble coming up with a plausible reason the bill should be so high. Even if there were 50 people in her entourage and the average room rate was $500, it would come to only $25k. Add in another $500 per person for meals and drinks, and it’s still only about half of what was spent.

I have no idea, but but this cover security requirements? Does the Secret Service insist on an entire floor or floors for security?

[Max_Torque]

@Grey

Well assume $500 a night for a person with an entourage of 50 that’s $25,000 and assume $100 dollars each for dinner ($5,000) and you get $30,000.

Those are all guesses for costs but I agree that >$90,000 is weird.

She got a bottle of water and a Toblerone from the minibar.

[Rick_Kitchen]

@Max_Torque

She got a bottle of water and a Toblerone from the minibar.

Ah. That explains it. Never use the minibar.

[eschereal]

Does Semiramis Int’l Cairo have a guest laundromat? You know, like, to put money into?

[Monty]

@Buck_Godot

Sometimes I think Trump sprinkles these sorts of inconsequential lies into his speeches as test cases just to see how far he can go and still have people believe him.

@enipla

George Costanza “It’s not a lie if YOU believe it”.

Sometimes I wonder if he’s gone so round the bend that he himself believes whatever spills out of his mouth. Maybe he dreams this shit and thinks it’s true.

Neither is the case. The Hued Hitler does not use words to convey ifomation.Words are just weapons for him. That’s why he doesn’t bother with such niceties as grammar, syntax, and logic. He just shoots off his mouth.

[Monty]

@Monty

Neither is the case. The Hued Hitler does not use words to convey ifomation.Words are just weapons for him. That’s why he doesn’t bother with such niceties as grammar, syntax, and logic. He just shoots off his mouth.

And his supporters love it because he targets the same people they hate for the same nonsensical reasons.

[Monty]

That should read information in post #26866.