US Politics, October 2019 — I guess statement you could say with thread. I made a thread. The thread was PERFECT.

tombot otm the notion that congressional appropriations can be treated as extensions of personal largesse by an executive officeholder is so deeply offensive to the assumptions of the us constitution that i struggle for language

Why, when I try to picture Trump being firm with an incalcitrant world leader, do I picture MacGruber's stock reaction when he finds himself in hot water?

― Furter-Bursting Tater Squirter (Old Lunch), Thursday, October 17, 2019 2:05 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

FP'd Old Lunch for making me imagine Trump prancing around with a stick of celery sticking out of his butt

off topic...I understand the desire to prevent Trump henchmen from avoiding legal consequences, but this strikes me as a dangerous road to start going down, one that might have some really terrible unintended consequences

do we have an borad lawyers who could weigh in (or really anyone who knows more than me which is most of you)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/10/16/trump-pardons-new-york-gov-andrew-cuomo-enacts-double-jeopardy-law/3998466002/

eh doesn't worry me too much, Presidential pardon power has always struck me as bullshit tbh

yeah like i said i don't know, i just worry it could be more broadly interpreted in some way to undermine actual double jeopardy

it's partially this weird thing that's developed where libs are like praising the CIA and stuff and saying what kind of man says the CIA isn't trustworthy or doesn't believe in the FBI, like just falling in line with these horrible authoritarian orgs just because they are a stick to beat Trump with

or just the idea of undermining things just to combat trump in the short term that could be later exploited in all kinds of bad ways

I think Trump genuinely believes that things which personally enrich him are by definition good for the country. Viewed through that lens his actions make more sense, although it's a fundamentally corrupt worldview and demands impeachment.

xp

insert A Man For All Seasons clip here

the notion that congressional appropriations can be treated as extensions of personal largesse by an executive officeholder is so deeply offensive to the assumptions of the us constitution

Trump has never read, does not know anything about, and cares even less about the US Consitution

I think Trump genuinely believes that things which personally enrich him are by definition good for the country.

Trump does not have a comprehension of what a country is, and barely even believes his children are people.

make them vote to acquit

One of those rare swing state polls with a competitive senate race shows Hickenlooper beating incumbent GOP Sen Gardner 53-42%, which resembles support for impeachment (54-43%), with unaffiliated voters backing it 61-34%.

Trump’s fav/unfav: 38-60%https://t.co/6lvJ0dilDj

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) October 18, 2019

Nice

OMG...what if the GOP backs President Dumpsterjuice all the way down the line and winds up losing both the WH and a shitload of Senate seats?

why doesn't the house (if pelosi's refusal to hold a vote means she doesn't have the votes) support it, then? you'd think that since districts are much more polarized than states, it would be even more advantageous to support it.

That’s the dream

Xp

Give it a day or two KM

I really doubt they don't have the votes.

They just want to maximize the damage first and also don't want to appear as if they were bullied into it by the White House.

I think the whip count established more than the needed number appear to support the inquiry at least

Yeah but they dont have to vote for that

Trump calls Rep. Louie Gohmert "a man who is smart as hell."

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 18, 2019

Takes one to know one

They just want to maximize the damage first and also don't want to appear as if they were bullied into it by the White House.

but that's also kind of weird, right? if it's advantageous to get republican senators on the record as supporting (or opposing!) trump on an impeachment inquiry, wouldn't it also be useful to have house republicans on the record, since it's even more difficult to flip those districts? if it's obviously heading toward impeachment, why not do it now?

hopefully it will just be two days, but the window might be closing if it becomes so obvious that even safe house republicans realize they're supporting an ongoing criminal presidency

One of those rare swing state polls with a competitive senate race shows Hickenlooper beating incumbent GOP Sen Gardner 53-42%, which resembles support for impeachment (54-43%), with unaffiliated voters backing it 61-34%.

Trump’s fav/unfav: 38-60%https://t.co/6lvJ0dilDj

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) October 18, 2019

Keep up dude

you expect me to bookmark a thread sober?

"OMG...what if the GOP backs President Dumpsterjuice all the way down the line and winds up losing both the WH and a shitload of Senate seats?"

that's the hope

sounds cool except there will probably be some massive new recession to deal with

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8c/Debbie_Downer.PNG/215px-Debbie_Downer.PNG

At this point in our politics, a massive new recession and a landslide win in 2020 for Democrats, especially with Bernie or Warren at the top of the ticket, would be FAR preferable to eking out the WH and not taking the Senate. Among other things, a massive new recession will bite the south and southwest hard enough they might form some new local majorities in favor of M4A, debt forgiveness, and strengthening some other basic social programs.

oh, I forgot the Green New Deal on that list.

Crises beget opportunities

the more things change

https://i.imgur.com/qPeHZSF.jpg

I'm wary of engaging in preemptive schadenfreude but it really would be a beautiful self-own if the GOP wound up sowing the seeds of their own destruction because they bet all their chips on Donald fucking Trump.

A hell of a lot of voters voted for Donald fucking Trump in 2016 I just hope to god about 10% of them are feeling heavy remorse about now. The polls indicate that at least 85% of Republicans are willing to go down with the ship, even if DJT is steering the country straight at every iceberg in sight.

Trump can dominate the Republican vote and get his ass kicked. The key is turnout for Dems and converting indie voters.

Indie voters largely disapprove of Trump now...but that doesn't mean they'll vote against him. Or at all.

how are the dems are going to ensure turnout though, even with all of this criminality I'm not sure I see it

They did in 2018.

In 2016, many foolishly assumed a Clinton thrashing and stayed home because they "couldn't bring themselves to vote Clinton".

They won't do that in 2020.

definitely heard a lot of "oh shit, I probably should've voted" on Nov 10 2016

How long did the repubs have to trash Hillary? It’s going to take Fox News / Republicans a solid decade of smearing to come anywhere close to the volume of work they put towards Clinton.

you're right they smeared her for 24 years straight before the 2016 election

The only way the Dems could run someone less popular is a Weiner candidacy.

Feel the wein

Weinmentum

Weiner takes all

It's Weiner O'Clock Somewhere

Weiner: Because Americans love pricks.

Morning Consult finds that “Republicans representing Colorado, Arizona, North Carolina, Maine and Iowa all saw their net approval — the share of voters who approve of a senator’s job performance minus the share who disapprove — decline between the second and third quarters of 2019.” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who could not manage to tell us whether it is wrong for the president to enlist a foreign government to influence our elections, are down 9 points and 3 points, respectively.

Ernst is in particular trouble. “The slide places her underwater with Iowa voters (39 percent approve and 43 percent disapprove) for the first time and among the 10 most unpopular senators in the country,” the polls found. “Iowa voters of all partisan leanings soured on the first-term senator, but GOP voters were most likely to take a dimmer view of her job performance. Her net approval dropped by 13 points among Republicans, compared with respective 9- and 7-point drops among Democrats and independents.” Uh-oh.

Ernst is not alone. “Ernst is not the only Republican up for re-election next year with a home-state approval below 40 percent: Among the vulnerable incumbents, Martha McSally of Arizona, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Thom Tillis of North Carolina are all below that threshold following a quarter where each saw little movement.”

Meanwhile, vulnerable Democratic incumbents are rising in polls. Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Doug Jones (D-Ala.) are up 1 points and 3 points, respectively. If these sort of numbers persist, or get even worse for Republicans, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will lose his majority.

would've assumed Doug Jones was toast tbh

let me just check the nypost weiner pun log (https://nypost.com/tag/anthony-weiner/)...somehow prick isn't on there! nice :)

xp

Prick up your ears! Weiner's coming!

-three dog night

Luckily for those republicans whose Trump support is causing their approval to tank, those two weeks before the election when they abruptly turn on the dude should be enough time for voters to forget all about their former complicity.