The Trump thread: All things Donald

[MissBarbara]

Has anyone else ever noticed that Trump’s facial and body postures imitate Mussilini’s? It’s the same arrogant, bravado posturing.

Oh, God, yes; Katiebee. I noticed that as soon as he started on the campaign trail.

Khrushchev’s Granddaughter, Nina Khrushcheva, has compared Trump to Stalin.  This comparison relies on what Trump has said about revoking media licenses for bias.

“Somewhere on the way to his real estate/reality TV career he forgot his lessons in civics and American democracy from high school. Or maybe he always had an ‘F’ in those subjects; being rich, he didn’t and still doesn’t think they apply to him. For that we are all paying dearly.

And the longer he stays in, offering more and more somewhat Stalinesque amendments to American democracy, the more autocratic erosion to this once wonderful system we will experience.”

A lot of Trump's threats are baseless boasting blather, things he has neither the power nor the authority to follow up on or do anything about, and that are best ignored.

This threat, however, should be taken very seriously, since Trump does, at least in theory, have the power to follow up on.

My personal theory (take it or leave it) is that when it comes to using Twitter, Trump knows exactly what he's doing. Add to that, in his dealings with the mainstream media, Trump isn't shooting from the hip as much as many seem to think he is. Granted, he's still a bully, and a troll, and he has the social grace, tact, and insight of a poorly raised five-year-old, but his Tweets and statements are calculated.

I know I can be naive, but I was genuinely puzzled by Trump's statements in the immediate aftermath of the Charlottesville incident. Every single one of his predecessors, and most people with even half a brain, know what Trump should have said. And, I suspect, even Trump himself knew what he should have said. But Trump deliberately decided to say what he did, knowing full well both the absurdity and the consequences of what he saying it. His statements were deliberately calculated.

To make things worse, despite everything he's done and said, Trump still has staunch allies and supporters across the country (and, of course, on KB) who will defend everything he says, and spin everything he says to serve their own ends.

And, if I'm right, that makes Trump even more dangerous, and even more detrimental to this country, than I previously believed him to be.

[joan1984]

  So far as Charlottesville, and Trump's statement(s), his statement is/was accurate, referring to violence and those who came equipped for violence, the Antifa and their ilk, and Nazi/KKK types alike.

  Without Anifa, there was no violence during the event, no rioting at all. One individual, for whatever reason, decided to mow down people blocking an intersection/street with his car, AFTER the event was shut down. That violence is on that individual, who has been caught, charged, and is awaiting his fate in a trial.

  What the President spoke of was the fact that both/all sides promoted an atmosphere of violence, and he was exactly correct in that regard. That the statement from the White House was not the usual politically correct one, is the reality of 2017, and sometimes 'the truth' is worth hearing.

  The media reported what they wanted to hear, as if there were no Antifa at all, as if the President was addressing the incident with the auto and the death of a person by auto, at the hand of one individual, or whatever political persuasion.

  The fact that controversial people requested a permit and were granted that permit, to peacefully demonstrate, and that their peaceful demonstration was denied them due to leftist antisocial thugs was not fully reported, even to this day. Disruption of a peaceful demonstration was lauded by leftists, politicians, press, all of them.

  Stories were run on broadcast and in print that 'assumed' a lot of violence, with no reason for such assumptions. One Synogogue group, reported on as 'fleeing for their lives', when someone said armed men were on a street corner nearby. It is legal in Virginia for people to be armed, to carry weapons in plain view, and not uncommon for people to carry firearms as a form of demonstration, having nothing to do with threats to the folks on a synogogue.

  Assumptions, presumptions, and full fanning of flames by Terry McAwful, with his representative observing from a sixth floor vantage point that the park and the crowd looked like a hockey game... after police blocked the entrance street where the permitted group was supposed to arrive, behind police lines, and the group of protestors was directed into a mob of thug leftist agitators.

  The President was commenting about the thug agitators of the left, and the supposed "alt-right" who got a permit to be there, when he referred to both sides. He is correct, and 'never had a chance', unless he read from an Obama type script, and ignored the truth about the agitators.

[Northwest]

A lot of Trump's threats are baseless boasting blather, things he has neither the power nor the authority to follow up on or do anything about, and that are best ignored.

This threat, however, should be taken very seriously, since Trump does, at least in theory, have the power to follow up on.

My personal theory (take it or leave it) is that when it comes to using Twitter, Trump knows exactly what he's doing. Add to that, in his dealings with the mainstream media, Trump isn't shooting from the hip as much as many seem to think he is. Granted, he's still a bully, and a troll, and he has the social grace, tact, and insight of a poorly raised five-year-old, but his Tweets and statements are calculated.

I know I can be naive, but I was genuinely puzzled by Trump's statements in the immediate aftermath of the Charlottesville incident. Every single one of his predecessors, and most people with even half a brain, know what Trump should have said. And, I suspect, even Trump himself knew what he should have said. But Trump deliberately decided to say what he did, knowing full well both the absurdity and the consequences of what he saying it. His statements were deliberately calculated.

To make things worse, despite everything he's done and said, Trump still has staunch allies and supporters across the country (and, of course, on KB) who will defend everything he says, and spin everything he says to serve their own ends.

And, if I'm right, that makes Trump even more dangerous, and even more detrimental to this country, than I previously believed him to be.

We agree about all of that, MissBarbara. It is not wise to take Trump's Fascistic moves as unserious simply because he has be thwarted in achieving some of them. He has also be successful at achieving some of them, and he has so far completely compromised the only entity with the power to really slow him down -- the Republican party.

Trump is following HItler's playbook to a "T", and it's damn scary, and damn scary that he gets away with as much as he does.

[Northwest]

Only a fool would fail to take this threat seriously. Trump represents an existential danger to the United States, its institutions, its place in the world and its people.

https://vimeo.com/237489146

[Northwest]

 So far as Charlottesville, and Trump's statement(s), his statement is/was accurate, referring to violence and those who came equipped for violence, the Antifa and their ilk, and Nazi/KKK types alike.

  Without Anifa, there was no violence during the event, no rioting at all. One individual, for whatever reason, decided to mow down people blocking an intersection/street with his car, AFTER the event was shut down. That violence is on that individual, who has been caught, charged, and is awaiting his fate in a trial.

  What the President spoke of was the fact that both/all sides promoted an atmosphere of violence, and he was exactly correct in that regard. That the statement from the White House was not the usual politically correct one, is the reality of 2017, and sometimes 'the truth' is worth hearing.

  The media reported what they wanted to hear, as if there were no Antifa at all, as if the President was addressing the incident with the auto and the death of a person by auto, at the hand of one individual, or whatever political persuasion.

  The fact that controversial people requested a permit and were granted that permit, to peacefully demonstrate, and that their peaceful demonstration was denied them due to leftist antisocial thugs was not fully reported, even to this day. Disruption of a peaceful demonstration was lauded by leftists, politicians, press, all of them.

  Stories were run on broadcast and in print that 'assumed' a lot of violence, with no reason for such assumptions. One Synogogue group, reported on as 'fleeing for their lives', when someone said armed men were on a street corner nearby. It is legal in Virginia for people to be armed, to carry weapons in plain view, and not uncommon for people to carry firearms as a form of demonstration, having nothing to do with threats to the folks on a synogogue.

  Assumptions, presumptions, and full fanning of flames by Terry McAwful, with his representative observing from a sixth floor vantage point that the park and the crowd looked like a hockey game... after police blocked the entrance street where the permitted group was supposed to arrive, behind police lines, and the group of protestors was directed into a mob of thug leftist agitators.

  The President was commenting about the thug agitators of the left, and the supposed "alt-right" who got a permit to be there, when he referred to both sides. He is correct, and 'never had a chance', unless he read from an Obama type script, and ignored the truth about the agitators.

As always, thanks for your contributions, Joan.

[joan1984]

Northwest, it is a pity you are so overcome by fear of the President. I watch as he sometimes stumbles, gets off message, is distracted and distracting, and he frustrates me by not moving straight at it to get things accomplished.

I must accept, since he is the only voice taking American voters seriously, his choices on when and how to proceed, or deflect then proceed, however they may be rehashed by the media for click bait, that he will proceed to the goals better than any other elected official with a chance to succeed.

I know you wish to frustrate, or see another, or all others frustrate him, and his goals, and that is I suppose part of our system. We disagree, and you must be overcome, or just run over as will likely be necessary, in one form or another to get things corrected, and make America great again.

[Northwest]

Northwest, it is a pity you are so overcome by fear of the President. I watch as he sometimes stumbles, gets off message, is distracted and distracting, and he frustrates me by not moving straight at it to get things accomplished.

I must accept, since he is the only voice taking American voters seriously, his choices on when and how to proceed, or deflect then proceed, however they may be rehashed by the media for click bait, that he will proceed to the goals better than any other elected official with a chance to succeed.

I know you wish to frustrate, or see another, or all others frustrate him, and his goals, and that is I suppose part of our system. We disagree, and you must be overcome, or just run over as will likely be necessary, in one form or another to get things corrected, and make America great again.

Joan, you have completely misunderstood the key concepts, values and principals upon which the nation was founded and has prospered under since its founding. But you are completely blinded by an idealogical framework which distorts your view. You, essentially, are not living in reality.

Obviously, you aren't going to believe me about this. But consider the fact that MOST of the nation would agree with me on this (see my last thousand posts for backup) and virtually ALL OF THE WORLD OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES would agree too, and you realize that it's only a tiny group of...why mince words...Fascists who fail to recognize what's going on.

You've drunk the Koolaid, Joan, and you can't see what's right in front of your face.

[watcher1]

My personal theory (take it or leave it) is that when it comes to using Twitter, Trump knows exactly what he's doing. Add to that, in his dealings with the mainstream media, Trump isn't shooting from the hip as much as many seem to think he is. Granted, he's still a bully, and a troll, and he has the social grace, tact, and insight of a poorly raised five-year-old, but his Tweets and statements are calculated.

As for Twitter, sadly it is the wave of the future for political candidates to reach the people. Obama used it successfully but unlike other forms of media messaging, Twitter is just someone's thoughts, unproven as to facts that may be stated in the message. And, as shown many times by our current President, Tweets can be inflammatory, crude, etc.  Is this the way to have elected officials speak to their citizens?  Ugh.

[Lois]

   Without Anifa, there was no violence during the event, no rioting at all. One individual, for whatever reason, decided to mow down people blocking an intersection/street with his car, AFTER the event was shut down. That violence is on that individual, who has been caught, charged, and is awaiting his fate in a trial.

WTF are you smoking Joan?  The violence started before Antifa even showed up on the scene when the white supremacists nearly beat a black man to death in a parking garage.



The victim, DeAndre Harris was not Antifa, but a resident of Charlottesville who had every right to protest the racists that poured into his community from across the county to provoke violence.

As Arnold Schwarzenegger said:  There are not two sides to hatred and bigotry.

Hatred and bigotry are simply wrong.  This is not hard.

All good Americans are against fascists.  Are you a good American, Joan?

[Athos_131]

Twitter is just someone's thoughts, unproven as to facts that may be stated in the message.

This is wrong.

#Resist

[Elizabeth]

Twitter is just someone's thoughts, unproven as to facts that may be stated in the message.

This is wrong.

#Resist

How can it be wrong....??
Look at the stuff Trump posts on Twitter......

Love,
Liz

[Athos_131]

Twitter is just someone's thoughts, unproven as to facts that may be stated in the message.

This is wrong.

#Resist

How can it be wrong....??
Look at the stuff Trump posts on Twitter......

Love,
Liz

There are tons of credible sources on Twitter.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

#Resist

[MissBarbara]

Twitter is just someone's thoughts, unproven as to facts that may be stated in the message.

This is wrong.

#Resist

How can it be wrong....??
Look at the stuff Trump posts on Twitter......

Love,
Liz

There are tons of credible sources on Twitter.

#Resist

Exactly.

Like every single information source, it's the content, not the medium.

[MissBarbara]

One individual, for whatever reason, decided to mow down people blocking an intersection/street with his car, AFTER the event was shut down. That violence is on that individual, who has been caught, charged, and is awaiting his fate in a trial.

That might be the most disingenuous thing you've ever written on this Board.

Which side was that "one individual" on? Was he there to support the neo-Nazis, White Supremacists, Anti-Semites, White Nationalists, and other fascists? Or was he there to protest the neo-Nazis, White Supremacists, Anti-Semites, White Nationalists, and other fascists?

Does it really matter at which point in the demonstration this "one individual" murdered that innocent young woman?

"For whatever reason"? Really? You've outdone yourself in your mendacity.

[Athos_131]

Meanwhile in Puerto Rico people are starting to die from lack of potable water, and Trump is saying it's time to withdraw federal aid in a series of tweets.

U.S. warns Puerto Rico against tapping water at toxic waste sites

#Resist

[Athos_131]

One individual, for whatever reason, decided to mow down people blocking an intersection/street with his car, AFTER the event was shut down. That violence is on that individual, who has been caught, charged, and is awaiting his fate in a trial.

That might be the most disingenuous thing you've ever written on this Board.

Which side was that "one individual" on? Was he there to support the neo-Nazis, White Supremacists, Anti-Semites, White Nationalists, and other fascists? Or was he there to protest the neo-Nazis, White Supremacists, Anti-Semites, White Nationalists, and other fascists?

Does it really matter at which point in the demonstration this "one individual" murdered that innocent young woman?

"For whatever reason"? Really? You've outdone yourself in your mendacity.

Finding the white supremacists who beat a black man in Charlottesville

The videos show how the beating unfolded, revealing its brutality and shocking speed from multiple perspectives.

On Aug. 12, white supremacists at the “Unite the Right” rally in downtown Charlottesville converged on counterprotesters outside the Market Street parking garage — a facility right next to the Charlottesville Police Department.

First, a white supremacist attempted to spear a counterprotester with the pole of a Confederate flag. Then, DeAndre Harris, a former special-education instructional assistant, swung a flashlight at the man, possibly striking him.

Then, the skirmish erupted into a full-throttle attack on Harris. Six white supremacists rushed the 20-year-old African American who had fled into the parking garage, kicking him to the ground and pummeling him with what appeared to be wooden sticks and a large board. Harris sustained a spinal injury and a deep head laceration that required 10 staples, according to his Philadelphia-based attorney, S. Lee Merritt.

Over the next few days, as people uploaded videos of the fight, a Black Lives Matter activist took it upon himself to do what law enforcement agencies apparently weren’t doing: trying to identify the six attackers so they could be arrested. Shaun King, who at the time was a New York Daily News columnist and is now a writer in residence at a project at Harvard Law School, scoured the Web to match old photos of the attackers with images from the Charlottesville fight. He bore down deep into Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere, looking for associates of the men who could confirm first and last names.

As of Thursday, King was credited with identifying two of the alleged assailants: Daniel P. Borden, 18, of Ohio and Alex Michael Ramos, 33, of Georgia. Both were arrested in their home states and charged with malicious wounding. The other four men haven’t been officially named, but King said he hasn’t stopped trying

“I spoke to the Charlottesville Police Department, two FBI agents, and the state police. It was surreal. The only thing they knew about the attackers was stuff they got from my [social media] timelines!” King said in an interview. “Something had me thinking that the FBI was so sophisticated, that they were running these photos through databases. But they openly said that the only guys they knew were the two guys I had identified. My thought was, ‘This can’t be real.’ ”

Dennette Rybiski, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s office in Richmond, declined to be interviewed. After the rally, four days passed before the bureau posted on Twitter links to a tip line and a website where people could share information about the violence in Charlottesville.

The Washington Post made multiple requests to speak with members of the Charlottesville Police Department. Neither Chief Al S. Thomas Jr. nor a department spokesman returned messages. The city manager, Maurice Jones, did not respond to interview requests left with his spokeswoman.

The attack on Harris was just one of the stains left by the “Unite the Right” rally. A Nazi sympathizer, James Alex Fields Jr., allegedly plowed through a crowd in his car, killing counterprotester Heather Heyer and injuring more than a dozen others. Fields Jr., 20, who had stood with white supremacists hours before the crash, was charged with second-degree murder. At least a dozen others got into other brawls and were also treated for injuries.

In the aftermath of the violence, Charlottesville has been riven by recrimination and ­second-guessing: Why didn’t the police intervene to halt the multiple altercations? Why were police standing off to the sides and behind the two opposing groups — and not in between them?

Merritt, Harris’s attorney, said local police “share in some liability” for his client’s injuries. He accused the police of passivity in their efforts to identify and arrest Harris’s assailants because “if you have six arrests after the fact — from an incident that was feet away from law enforcement — it makes them appear more culpable,” he said.

Harris declined to comment through his attorney. He set up a GoFundMe Web page, with the goal of raising $50,000. He’s gotten more than $166,000.

“If it was not for my friends that I came with I would have been beaten to a pulp,” Harris wrote on the page.

Merritt said the FBI questioned them about why Harris had kept the GoFundMe page active even though he’d reached his goal. It is no longer accepting donations.

“They were responding to Internet claims that DeAndre was manipulating the public for financial gain. It’s a red herring,” Merritt said. “It’s great the community wanted to support him, but it had nothing to do with the incident, and doesn’t explain why he was attacked and doesn’t help track down the people who attacked him.”

If one person has been pushing for justice the most, it’s King, the former Daily News writer. He has 1.5 million Facebook followers and more than 760,000 on Twitter.

The night of the rally, King launched a public investigation, posting a photo of the white supremacists beating Harris in the parking garage.

“America. 2017. Arrest these men. All of them. Right now. What are their names?” he wrote on Facebook. “Economics my ass. This is violent white supremacy plain and simple.”

The next day, he posted photos of one of the attackers — one who has still not been named.

“SHARE THIS. All hands on deck. WHO IS THIS MAN with the red beard?” King wrote on Facebook, attaching photos of the man standing idly at the rally and then another of him at the attack.

An hour later, he posted photos of a young man with moles on his neck, two from the rally and one from the garage clash.

“OK Everybody! ALL HANDS ON DECK. SHARE!!! Here is white supremacist #2 that we MUST identify. WHO IS HE?” King wrote at 4:37 p.m. on Aug. 13.

Less than three hours later, at 7:04 p.m., King had one of the alleged assailants:

“Daniel (Dan) Borden — we found you. Your classmates turned you in,” King wrote, posting photos from the white supremacist’s now-shuttered Facebook account. “They said this doesn’t surprise them. And your neck moles gave it away.”

About two weeks later, Borden was arrested in Ohio, where he grew up. The Post left a message for his attorney, Greg Berberich, but it was not returned. According to the Associated Press, the attorney said that Borden had been hit in the head and tear-gassed several times and that he asked police for protection. He also said Borden’s family believes he will be proved innocent. The Post could not reach his parents for comment.

Three days after the rally, King found another alleged attacker.

“Dear Michael A. Ramos, We caught you. Your Facebook friends reported you to me,” King wrote, posting photos of Ramos in the assault next to other ­images of him.

“We downloaded all of the content off of your Facebook page before you deleted it — including your video and comments bragging about the assault.”

Ramos turned himself in to officials in Georgia and is expected to be transferred to Virginia authorities in the next week.

Now King is trying to get full names for the remaining alleged assailants, especially the man with the red beard who was wearing dark pants and a hat during the attack.

“That guy looks so distinct,” King said, frustrated. “But he’s a ghost. I think he’s deleted any trace of himself online.”

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Sen. Ben Sasse asks if President Trump is 'recanting' his oath of office

Following President Trump's apparent threat of the freedom of the press, Sen. Ben Sasse asked if the president was "recanting" his oath to protect the First Amendment.

"Mr. President: Words spoken by the president of the United States matter," the Nebraska Republican said in a Wednesday night statement. "Are you tonight recanting the oath you took on Jan. 20 to preserve, protect and defend the First Amendment?"

Sasse's response came after Trump, angry over a report that he had called for an increase in the U.C. nuclear arsenal, seemed to challenge the freedom of the press.

"It’s frankly disgusting the press is able to write whatever they want," he said.

And while the president wondered whether networks' licenses should be challenged and revoked, he said he wasn't asking for the restrictions on the press.

"I've seen tremendously dishonest press," he said.

Sasse isn't the only lawmaker to stand up for the First Amendment after Trump's comments.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, when asked about Trump's interpretation, replied that he was "for the First Amendment."

" I don’t always agree and like what you guys write, but you have a right to do it. And I’m a constitutional conservative, and I’m just going to leave it at that," he told reporters on Thursday.

#Resist

[Katiebee]

My father commented to me the other day that he separated better men than Trump from military service for unsuitability and unfitness.

[Athos_131]

Trump rips the NFL for disrespecting the flag. Then he jokes about a military flag ceremony.

#Resist