US Politics, March 2020 — There’s a very good chance you’re not going to die.

And not counting Manson, Jones, etc.

Koresh for Prez

There was definitely a smell in the air towards the end of Obama's presidency. People were rallying around bullshit folk hero types like Cliven Bundy, Kim Davis, and Ron Paul.

There was definite unrest after same-sex marriage ban was lifted, and ACA was upheld by SCOTUS.and well also after a Black president got elected twice, of course.

Trump road a convenient current of fear that came about in the wake of several, high profile terrorist attacks/spree shootings in the US that all occurred in a short window.

Boston Marathon bombings stirred up racist, anti-Islam sentiment, as did Pulse (even though that guy's connections to Islamic terror were questionable). He just said the racist thing the other candidates were thinking but wouldn't say.

Definitely following in Reagan's footsteps re: ignoring an epidemic

maaaaaaybe it’s Too Soon, but I feel like an effective opposition front-runner would be making hay right now. Instead we have a guy who in normal circumstances would have his keys taken away

We have a candidate eating hay rn

The opposition front-runner is demanding that companies pledge not to blow their profits on stock buyback to reward rich investors as a condition of getting bailed out, that is a certain amount of hay

Re: approval rating. People seem to actually think Trump is doing a good job/not doing a stinker re this virus (see also thraed of controv opinions). I can't get my head around this.

The US hasn't been that badly hit. Yet. If that changes, his numbers should come down.

I want someone to describe to me a hypothetical scenario that would be politically good for Democrats. Because everything, literally everything, from the most grotesque Republican scandals to major Democratic victories, end up being evidence Democrats suck. https://t.co/eM3U8H6MK2

— Staying inside to own the virus (@agraybee) March 20, 2020

murc’s law remains a brilliant insight into how we create and process narrative in this country

fighting terrorism? why are they even asking that anymore?

Because Guatemalan 9-year-olds are basically terrorists donchaknow

lmao of course they'd use this framing

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ETjuU4TUwAAS_1q?format=png&name=large

The NYT made sure to mention Feinstein as well. It seems she sold when the stock was unusually low. Murc.

btw it is ridiculously irresponsible for the news networks to air these press conferences

So there was a flurry of reports last night based on cursory reviews of senators who, it appeared, may have engaged in suspect stock transactions similar to Burr and Loeffler. I don't think the ones that I've seen hold up. I'll take them one by one

— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) March 20, 2020

Can we all shut up about his Burr story until such time as he is in handcuffs and/or has resigned (neither of which will ever happen)? This is the dumbest story, goes on all the time in congress (with members of both parties I'm sure), and is a waste of fucking breath given the general climate of white collar legal enforcement.

it "goes on all the time in Congress" because for a while it wasn't actually illegally.

have you forgotten Chris Collins already?

*illegal

The Burr story is incredibly abhorrent and not at all what goes on all the time.

It's not the stock sale that makes this so terrible, it's doing it while willfully misleading the public about the immanent danger that puts it on a whole other level.

Can we all shut up about his Burr story until such time as he is in handcuffs and/or has resigned (neither of which will ever happen)? This is the dumbest story, goes on all the time in congress (with members of both parties I'm sure), and is a waste of fucking breath given the general climate of white collar legal enforcement.

This is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever read on one of these politics threads.

He realized something horrible was going to happen. That people would die. That the market would crash. He told people behind closed doors. He sold his stock. But he kept on saying things were going great in public, because Trump was saying so. That is so horrifying.

This is a great example how 'they are all monsters!' mostly helps hide what is actually monstrous.

reposting an agraybee tweet well-actuallying jamelle freaking bouie. a new level of resistanceholing, even for alfred

xxxxxp Ahem, I had in fact forgotten about Chris Collins. Still skeptical anything is going to happen to the Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

It's not the stock sale that makes this so terrible, it's doing it while willfully misleading the public about the immanent danger that puts it on a whole other level.

― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Friday, March 20, 2020 11:17 AM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

^^^^^^^

I don't care about a Senator getting rich by unethical means because that's been a longstanding tradition in American politics, on both sides of the aisle I might add. But we are increasingly finding out that taking this seriously in January as opposed to now (when it's totally out of control) may have wound up potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives & millions of jobs, and if the people in charge took the opportunity to make themselves rich instead then it should quite literally be treated as a crime against humanity

This is kinda besides the point, but I don't think it made them rich, right? They just avoided a loss, they didn't short the stock? It doesn't make it any less horrifying in my book, though

The right thing would be for them to donate any realized gains (which I am sure they have) from each of those sales. This is what most financial institutions make employees do when some violates a trade rule for their personal accounts. But also, they should never have been able to trade single name stocks in their accounts if they had the ability to direct trades.

petty bitch time. Trump just wants to mention DIane Feinstein.

going to to never stop loling when she’s the only one who gets shit for this

Her sale looks somewhat more innocuous

all while Loeffler’s notoriety will just to skyrocket her to 2024 GOP candidate short list

Her sale looks somewhat more innocuous

A blind trust, you won't even get confirmations about the transactions or statements. You have no clue what is in it.

I’m laughably ignorant when it comes to these matters. Is it a legal designation?

And I take it that the Trump Org declined to do so?

My experience with blind trusts, albeit indirect, is that the trustee is usually someone with whom the grantor has a longstanding personal/professional relationship. So if you get together with the trustee for other purposes it is not that hard to have an in-person conversation (if they are smart) and make any necessary decisions regarding the trust assets. ,Not to mention the possible use of intermediaries known to both parties. It might not be as seamless or provide as quick response to market changes, but I am highly skeptical that the grantor has no ability to transmit decisions that need to be made.

And my indirect experience is with a blind trust involving a politician.

The Burr story is incredibly abhorrent and not at all what goes on all the time.
― Frederik B, Friday, March 20, 2020 12:15 PM (one hour ago)

It's not the stock sale that makes this so terrible, it's doing it while willfully misleading the public about the immanent danger that puts it on a whole other level.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Friday, March 20, 2020 12:17 PM (one hour ago)

This also seems beyond the pale to me.

Like if the assets in the blind trust were owned by you immediately prior to taking office, and the invested assets were managed (both before and after the trust) by someone you have known for 30 years, and the trustee is someone both you and your investment manager have known for 30 years, do I have to connect the dots . . .

serious question: why isn't Joe Biden holding daily press conferences to establish himself as an executive option, correcting WH narrative, etc.?

Are they legit hiding him for fear of gaffes? This seems like the most softball move imaginable. It's sitting there on a plate.

Senators should be forced to move all their assets into Vanguard Target Retirement funds

xp Hadrian he's got a bad brain

lol xpost

Sad lol.

OK but can't they plug him in for 20 mins at a time? what the fuck is he doing right now? Trump was just on TV talking about how he inhereited an obsolete, broken pandemic response system, but now he's FIXED it

Maybe get out in front of this NOW so this guy can't get away w/ actually campaigning on this shitshow?

In a lot of investment banks they make rules, like those who work in Research cannot trade in single name stocks or can have fully managed accounts but no sector based funds or stocks in the sector you write about. And you are allowed to have blind trusts but there is a lot of documentation involved about setting it up and who gets confirmations and statements. And there is explicit instructions about what is able to be communicated. But if you are shady it doesn't matter.

Missed the briefing today. CNN is using words like "shameful" and "reprehensible," especially pertaining to one reporter he attacked.

But if you are shady it doesn't matter.

Yeah, my sense is that they only really stop people that wouldn't trade on inside info anyway.

and in this case, i didn't see exactly what they learned in that meeting, but I think you would have a hard time proving it was material non-public information when it generally was in the news every day. It's just ethically terrible that they downplayed it while preparing for the worst. And you would have to look for their trading patterns over the last several years to really make a case. But still I vote for ....guillotines.