Donald Trump is my hero

[some seeing eye]

We should be thankful for an opportunity of a week of decommodification.

This is a den of thieves headed by a mob boss of old, or king.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/24/us/t ... =url-share

[Simon of the Playa]

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s 2019 report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election explained that Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager and then conduit to Russian operatives, in summer 2016 “discussed a plan to resolve the ongoing political problems in Ukraine by creating an autonomous republic in its more industrialized eastern region of Donbas, and having [Viktor] Yanukovych, the Ukrainian President ousted in 2014, elected to head that republic.”

Manafort had helped to get the pro-Russian oligarch Yanukovych into office, and when Yanukovych fled to Russia after the Ukrainian people threw him out, Manafort was left unemployed and in debt to other oligarchs. When he went to work for Trump, for free, he promptly wrote to his partner Konstantin Kilimnik, whom the Republican-dominated Senate Intelligence Committee identified in 2020 as a Russian operative, asking how “we” could use the appointment “to get whole,” and made sure that the Russian oligarch to whom he owed the most money knew about his close connection with the Trump campaign (p. 135).

The Mueller Report continued: “That plan, Manafort later acknowledged, constituted a ‘backdoor’ means for Russia to control eastern Ukraine” (p. 140). The region that Putin wanted was the country’s industrial heartland. He was offering a “peace” plan that carved off much of Ukraine and made it subservient to him. This was the dead opposite of U.S. policy for a free and united Ukraine, and there was no chance that former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who was running for the presidency against Trump, would stand for it. But if only Trump were elected….

And, in November 2016, he was.

According to the Republican-dominated Senate Intelligence Committee, Manafort’s partner and Russian operative Kilimnick wrote that "[a]ll that is required to start the process is a very minor 'wink' (or slight push) from D[onald] T[rump] saying 'he wants peace in Ukraine and Donbass back in Ukraine' and a decision to be a 'special representative' and manage this process." Following that, Kilimnik suggested that Manafort ‘could start the process and within 10 days visit Russia ([Yanukovych] guarantees your reception at the very top level, cutting through all the bullsh*t and getting down to business), Ukraine, and key EU capitals.’ The email also suggested that once then–Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko understood this ‘message’ from the United States, the process ‘will go very fast and DT could have peace in Ukraine basically within a few months after inauguration’” (p. 99).

According to the Senate Intelligence Committee, the men continued to work on what they called the “Mariupol Plan” at least until 2018.

In last night’s debate, Trump insisted that Putin never would have invaded Ukraine on his watch (although Putin in fact continued his 2014 assault during Trump’s term, and Trump tried to withhold support for Ukraine).

After Russia invaded Ukraine again in 2022, Jim Rutenberg published a terrific and thorough review of this history in the New York Times Magazine, pointing out that Putin’s attack on Ukraine looked different with this history behind it. Once Biden took office in 2021, the many efforts of the people around Trump, including most obviously Rudy Giuliani, to influence Ukrainian politics through their ties to the White House were over.

“Thirteen months later,” Rutenberg wrote, “Russian tanks crossed the Ukrainian frontier.” Once his troops were there, Putin claimed he had annexed Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, two of which were specifically named in the Mariupol Plan, and instituted martial law in them, claiming that the people there had voted to join Russia.

Last night, Trump claimed that the Ukrainians are losing the war and described how sad it was that their country is being destroyed (without mentioning that it is Putin’s unprovoked war that is doing that damage). He also significantly exaggerated how much money the U.S. has contributed to Ukraine’s defense.

That misrepresentation lines up with Putin’s offer of Friday, June 14, 2024, in a “peace proposal” to Ukraine: Ukraine would give up Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, including far more territory than Putin’s troops occupy, in exchange for a ceasefire. Putin said, “If Kyiv and the Western capitals refuse it, as before, then in the end, that’s their…political and moral responsibility for the continuation of bloodshed.” He also demanded an end to all sanctions and that Ukraine abandon its plan to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). (Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the plan and noted that there is no reason to think Putin will stop his land grab once his forces regroup.)

So when Trump last night said about the 2022 invasion, “Putin saw that, he said, you know what, I think we’re going to go in and maybe take my—this was his dream. I talked to him about it, his dream,” it sounded as if he had been in on the Mariupol Plan. And when he talked about how the war needed to end, especially in light of Putin’s recent “peace” plan, it sounded as if perhaps he still is.

And he promised, yet again, that he and he alone could get Gershkovich released.



https://open.substack.com/pub/heatherco ... ne-28-2024

[lucky420]

Thank you ^^

[Simon of the Playa]

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[Simon of the Playa]

Edward Luce of the Financial Times noted, “Almost any criticism of Trump is already being spun by Maga as an incitement to assassinate him. This is an Orwellian attempt to silence what remains of the effort to stop him from regaining power.” Indeed, MAGA Republicans appear to be trying to stop discussion of their extremist plans— which are enormously unpopular— by claiming that such a discussion is polarizing.

The idea that Democratic opposition to authoritarian plans like those outlined in Project 2025 caused violence might convince MAGA Republicans, but it will likely be a hard sell for Americans who remember things like:

•Trump’s own suggestion in 2016 that “Second Amendment people” could solve the problem of Hillary Clinton picking judges; or his 2020 attacks on Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, who became the target of a kidnapping plot; or election workers bombarded with death threats as Trump lied that the 2020 election was stolen;

•the October 2022 tweet by Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. mocking then–House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul after a home intruder hit him in the head with a hammer; or Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s 2022 campaign video in which she promised to “blow away the Democrats’ socialist agenda” as she took aim with a rifle;

•in 2023, House Republicans wearing AR-15 lapel pins on the floor of Congress; Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) saying his wife slept with a loaded gun after he voted against Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) for House speaker; or Republican representatives sending Christmas cards showing the whole family toting guns;

•in 2024, the Kansas Republican Party’s March fundraiser where attendees could donate to kick and punch an effigy of President Biden; or Don Jr.’s reposting an image of Biden bound and gagged in the back of a pickup truck;

•or Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson of North Carolina, who is running for the governorship and who is scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention starting tomorrow, saying just two weeks ago: “Some folks need killing! It’s time for somebody to say it.”

Indeed, in March 2024, in Vance’s home state, Trump said: if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole…country,” and a 2022 campaign ad by Representative Collins himself showed him shooting a rifle at Nancy Pelosi’s “agenda” and at a cardboard rhinoceros he says is a “RINO,” a Republican in Name Only.

Republicans under Trump have increasingly advocated violence as a way to gain power because they know their unpopular positions cannot lead their candidates to victory in free and fair elections. In this moment, when there is still little evidence about yesterday’s tragedy, it appears they are projecting their own behavior onto Biden and the Democrats, blaming them for advocating violence when in fact, Biden and the Democrats have tried hard to enact commonsense gun safety laws and have consistently condemned the violent language and normalizing of political violence by Republicans.

Republicans’ embrace of violence is a hallmark of authoritarian leaders; by definition it undermines democracy. In Nashville, Tennessee, today, neo-Nazis shouting “Hitler was right!” were involved in fights in the streets. Ending that resort to violence, which never advances society and always injures it, is key to restoring the guardrails of democracy.

https://open.substack.com/pub/heatherco ... ly-14-2024

[Simon of the Playa]

and just like that, High Treason disappears...


https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/07/15 ... -dismissed

[Simon of the Playa]

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[lucky420]

When I was a child, before I was close to puberty and all the good stuff, I thought Kotex/menstrual pads were actually big bandages for chin and ear injuries Turns out I was right

[Patsh]

When I was a child, before I was close to puberty and all the good stuff, I thought Kotex/menstrual pads were actually big bandages for chin and ear injuries Turns out I was right

Now, that's appropriate!

[Simon of the Playa]

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes watched the unhinged speech and concluded: "This is not a colossus, this is not the big bad wolf, this is not a vigorous and incredibly deft political communicator. This is an old man in decline who's been doing the same schtick for a very long time and it's really wearing thin."

The point, though, as Trump meandered through attacks on immigrants and a diatribe about the fictional character cannibal Hannibal Lecter—who he might think was real—as it always has been, was to present a picture of the U.S. under siege by enemies who are persecuting him because he represents true Americans and that he must be returned to office because only he can vanquish those enemies. Greg Sargent of The New Republic noted that Trump cannot offer a “unity” message because “Trump himself knows the MAGA masses will not be satiated without expansive displays of rage, cruelty and sadism directed at hated out groups and designated enemies of MAGA.”


https://open.substack.com/pub/heatherco ... ly-19-2024

[Popeye]

There seems to be a lot of agreement that Trump is in decline, maybe deeply. Wheat happens when he obviously cannot perform, cannot do the job as president?
Do we really want JD Vance as president?

[some seeing eye]

Yikes

Inside the ‘Gangster’ Image of Donald Trump

Former President Donald J. Trump has an aggressive — and some argue offensive — campaign using hip-hop and rap to reach young Black and Latino voters.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/21/us/p ... =url-share

[some seeing eye]

Corruption begins...

Trump says crypto will save the fossil fuel industry. Spoiler alert: It's magical thinking

Donald Trump and the Bitcoin crowd have teamed up, and both expect significant rewards from their alliance.

Trump is slated to deliver the keynote speech at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference on July 27 in Nashville, where he will also host a lavish fundraiser. Top-tier tickets are going for $844,600.

But it’s important to remember that Trump was against cryptocurrency before he was for it. In 2019, he said he was “not a fan” and in 2021 said, “Bitcoin, it just seems like a scam." However, similar to how he abruptly overcame his disdain for electric vehicles, he changed his mind on bitcoin once the cryptocurrency industry began donating millions to his campaign.

https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2024/0 ... ick-hewett

[Simon of the Playa]

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[some seeing eye]

Daddy Problems

Trump was never able to win the approval of his father and his older brother's death didn't help. With his narcissistic personality he has been easy to manipulate by puti, xi, kim, bibi, and he has a bromance with orban.

JD Vance has some problems.

China and the bear will unleash their internet misinformation machine to win the election so they can manipulate this clown show to destroy the US.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/26/opin ... =url-share

[Simon of the Playa]

Tonight, speaking to Christians at the Turning Point Action Believers’ Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump made his plans to become a strongman clear: “Get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what: it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians…. Get out, you’ve got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/heatherco ... ly-26-2024

[some seeing eye]

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) acknowledged — but did not condemn — white supremacist attacks aimed at his wife, Usha Vance, over her Indian descent on Friday.

The plot thickens:

Vance benefitted from DEI

"Usha and J.D. Vance would be prime candidates for mentorship from Chua—as the Times story notes, “Neither of them enjoyed the kind of generational privilege or insider advantage that marked the elite set within that elite school.” That mentorship clearly paid off—not only did Chua encourage J.D. Vance to write his bestselling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, Usha Vance also secured some of those coveted clerkships, first for Brett Kavanaugh when he was still on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and then for Chief Justice John Roberts, at the Supreme Court."

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/202 ... -chua.html

[Simon of the Playa]

[lucky420]

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) acknowledged — but did not condemn — white supremacist attacks aimed at his wife, Usha Vance, over her Indian descent on Friday.

The plot thickens:

Vance benefitted from DEI

"Usha and J.D. Vance would be prime candidates for mentorship from Chua—as the Times story notes, “Neither of them enjoyed the kind of generational privilege or insider advantage that marked the elite set within that elite school.” That mentorship clearly paid off—not only did Chua encourage J.D. Vance to write his bestselling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, Usha Vance also secured some of those coveted clerkships, first for Brett Kavanaugh when he was still on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and then for Chief Justice John Roberts, at the Supreme Court."

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/202 ... -chua.html

Disgusting couch boy.doesnt even defend his wife

[Simon of the Playa]

https://hartmannreport.com/p/trumps-pol ... he-fat-244

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[Simon of the Playa]

487D618C-8269-45DE-B41C-13F392AEDDC7.jpeg

[FIGJAM]

Why Donald doesn't laugh.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 6912000864

Another way to put the matter is that humor deals with the absurdities of life. The less you are in tune with reality the less likely you are to see the absurdities. Rational thought often involves viewing a person or situation from multiple angles, the better to get an unbiased overview. Humor also often involves seeing something from a novel angle, with surprising and pleasing effects. But if you are practicing self-deception and blocking out certain angles, you will, when these angles are exposed, fail to see the absurdity and fail to enjoy the humor. George Meyer, a lead writer for the Simpson’s, says of comedy, “It’s like seeing in two dimensions and then opening the other eye or looking through a View-Master and suddenly seeing in three” (Owen, 2000). If this argument is true, then less laughter may signal higher self-deception, a fact that may be worth noting by others.

[Simon of the Playa]

[burner von braun]

[Simon of the Playa]

D2560BEE-A2F3-4A65-BA7C-858EF01C8AEF.jpeg

[Simon of the Playa]

"I better win or you're gonna have problems like we've never had. We may have no country left. This may be our last election. You want to know the truth? People have said that. This may be our last election…. It’ll all be over, and you gotta remember…. Trump is always right. I hate to be right. I’m always right.”

Trump's hellscape is only in his mind: crime is sharply down in the U.S. since he left office, migrant crossings have plunged, and the economy is the strongest in the world.

Then, tonight, Trump posted on his social media site a rant asserting that he will win the 2024 election but that he expects Democrats to cheat, and “WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again. We cannot let our Country further devolve into a Third World Nation, AND WE WON’T! Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.”

Is it the Justice Department indictments that showed Russia is working to get him reelected? Is it the rising popularity of Democratic nominees Kamala Harris and Tim Walz? Is it fury at the new grand jury’s indicting him for his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election and install himself in power? Is it fear of Tuesday’s debate with Harris? Is it a declining ability to grapple with reality?

Whatever has caused it, Trump seems utterly off his pins, embracing wild conspiracy theories and, as his hopes of winning the election appear to be crumbling, threatening vengeance with a dogged fury that he used to be able to hide.


https://open.substack.com/pub/heatherco ... ber-7-2024

[Simon of the Playa]

IMG_6505.jpeg

[FIGJAM]

Tuning into Fox News following Tuesday’s presidential debate, it was hard to describe the mood. Somber comes to mind—a little like you might find at a funeral, perhaps for a beloved cat consumed by a political boogeyman.

Damn those fact checkers anyway!!! 8) 8) 8)

[Simon of the Playa]

IMG_6507.jpeg

[some seeing eye]

Germany hammers Trump over debate barbs about Berlin’s energy transition
“P.S. We also don’t eat cats and dogs,” Berlin’s foreign ministry taunts Republican presidential candidate.

https://www.politico.eu/article/germany ... sil-fuels/