Whew. That was brutal. But fair.
Uncategorized
This spoiled narcissist who had everything handed to him on silver platter by his rich father (after which he lost most of it because of his terrible business judgment) has always told people that he made it on his own. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve mentioned it before but once again, if you want to read one more book about this miscreant make it “Lucky Loser” by the NY Times reporters Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig. It shows the scope of Trump’s failures and how he was really rescued by reality TV which created the persona that brought him to the White House. He’s no more authentic than a Real Housewife of New York. Here’s the publisher’s note: Soon after announcing his first campaign for the US presidency, Donald J. Trump told a national television audience that life “has not been easy for me. It has not been easy for me.” Building on a narrative he had been telling for decades, he spun a hardscrabble fable of how he parlayed a small loan from his father into a multi-billion-dollar business and real estate empire.
He always lies and when caught just doubles down: After Donald Trump was asked in a Monday interview about the future prospects of Gaza, the former president made a curious claim: “You know, I’ve been there, and it’s rough.” There is no public evidence of Trump ever having been to Gaza, which has been governed by militant group Hamas since 2007. He certainly didn’t go to Gaza as president, and CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post have all found no proof he made a prior visit. Perhaps he merely meant he has been to Palestinian territory, since he did visit the West Bank in 2017? Or maybe he was just talking about having been to the broader region? Nope. Trump’s campaign said Monday night that he meant what he said about having been to Gaza in particular – and the campaign insisted the claim is true. “President Trump has been to Gaza previously and has always worked to ensure peace in the Middle East,” campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told CNN. Leavitt, though, did not provide a single detail about Trump’s supposed trip to Gaza.
As Tom mentioned this morning, Bob Woodward has a new book out and its full of juicy revelations as usual. CNN reports that there’s some good stuff about Biden in it — he calls Netanyahu a “son of a bitch” and a “bad fucking guy” which is actually a relief. At least the “unwavering” support for Israel’s ongoing ultraviolence isn’t based upon Biden’s inexplicable regard for Bibi. Biden has also reportedly said that he regrets naming Garland as AG because of the persecution of Hunter which I think is fair enough (although there are other reasons for wishing there had been a different AG during this period as well.) But it’s the Trump stuff that really grabs: The book also contains new details about Trump’s relationship with the Russian president. In 2020, Woodward writes, Trump had “secretly sent Putin a bunch of Abbott Point of Care Covid test machines for his personal use.” During the height of the pandemic, Russia and the United States did exchange medical equipment such as ventilators.
Meidas Touch reports: After his VP debate, JD Vance went fishing with a pro-Trump trophy hunter group that publishes kills of endangered animals including pygmy hippos like Moo Deng, the adorable and feisty pygmy hippo baby that has gone viral across the internet. The pro-trophy hunting group, Safari Club International (SCI), organized a fishing trip for Vance in Michigan before recording an interview for the MAGA Republican Ruthless podcast. Phony weirdoJD had this to say about the group: “I think something that people don’t fully appreciate, especially far lefties who pretend to care about the environment, is they assume that these guys just want to take, take, take from the environment. Like they want to kill every animal. They want to get every fish out of the lake and they want to take them home and they don’t think about conservation. When in reality the people who are hunting and fishing they care the most about conservation. They care about the balance I think more than people who never spend any real time in the environment.” He is lying.
Oh look. Here’s Ron DeSantis’s hardcore MAGA spokeswoman discovering that the disinformation culture she has cultivated for years now may not be such a great idea: That stuff is clogging the Twitter sewer right now and the Republican leaders in these disaster area are starting to realize that it’s affecting their own voters. If they’d understood this during COVID, studies show that many lives could have been spared. This is the result of the MAGA death cult exploiting conspiracy theories for their own ends and killing people in the process. For the sake of Florida citizens I hope this time they do not listen.
Did you know it’s illegal to knowingly broadcast false information about a catastrophe, especially if such communications may cause substantial “public harm?” Public harm includes direct & actual damages to people or property & the diversion of law enforcement or public health & safety authorities from their duties. Link to FCC rules on FALSE INFORMATION/BROADCAST HOAXES https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/guides/hoaxes But Elon Musk & X are not regulated by the FCC. So, HOW DO WE STOP THIS? Make it illegal, just like we did for broadcast TV and radio. I know that the internet is not subject to the same laws as broadcast radio & TV. But we can create them. We can use the same criteria that the FCC uses, which will protect people who spread the false information unintentionally. But to just ignore it is to abdicate the need to protect people during this vulnerable time. Dash, on Mastodon pointed out some of the reasons why Musk is getting away with this. He also understood that this is a call for a change @CatDragon @spocko because the internet isn’t subject to the same laws as broadcast tv (so he isn’t breaking the law).
It never was Kamala Harris’s communications team is top notch. Tuesday’s headlines about Donald Trump secretly sending COVID-19 testing equipment to Russian President Vladimir Putin for his personal use (amidst test shortages here) became an attack ad before Harris appeared last night with Stephen Colbert. For those not glued to social media, Harris herself drove home the message on “The Late Show.” Trump thinks Putin is his friend. “What about the American people? They should be your first friend.” Harris responded. Trump has not had a good week. Little Lord Flauntleroy has gotten away his entire life with spouting bald-faced lies. A conman at heart, he trades in bullshit in place of facts he’s never possessed the bandwidth to master. Sychophants — people like Speaker Mike Johnson even — smile and nod and parrot what he says without blinking. But now there’s blood in the water. Even Laura Ingraham of Fox News is fact-checking Trump to his face. He cannot abide being called out for his lies. Unfair. UNFAIR!
Are you Dad enough? To support a woman for president? To choose your own daughter over a felon and adjudged rapist? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jacob Reed (@typographynerd) The Lincoln Project asks the latter question: Are you Dad enough to choose your own daughter’s safety over a felon and adjudged rapist? Especially if you did in 2016 and 2020? Will you once again vote with a political party that’s made obvious lying company policy? Ugh. After that vid, perhaps a lighter chaser. And finally, a philosophical tool custom-made for the disaster in North Carolina and the one coming to Florida (checks watch) about 2 p.m. CT today. By that, I mean the disinformation maelstrom. Hanlon’s razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. What prompts this citation is an incident a couple of days ago in Burnsville, NC. A North Carolina National Guard (NCNG) Black Hawk helicopter looking to deliver generators could not spy a space large enough and safe enough to set down in the Sav-Mor Foods parking lot.
A standing ovation for this: Trump on how his mass deportation will impact other countries: “We’re bringing them back, and we’re gonna shove them right down their throats.” Trump on how his mass deportation will impact other countries: "We're bringing them back, and we're gonna shove them right down their throat." pic.twitter.com/Zg6FoMrZcP — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 6, 2024 Heil Trump. Do all those Hispanic men who love his guy think they are are immune from this? I don’t think Trump’s cult makes many distinctions when it comes to someone with brown skin and a Latino last name. I hope they watch their backs. If he wins they’re in for a rude surprise.