no, i didn't know that the June 2019 US Politics thread was nasty

I know armchair psychoanalyzing Trump is no fun anymore, but him tweeting this is pretty funny: "Happy Father’s Day to all, including my worst and most vicious critics"

― rob, Monday, June 17, 2019 9:33 AM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

come on, this is playing the hits--wishing happy memorial day to the haters and losers, etc.

I think he means the thought of Fred Trump gives rise to some feelings of persecution

Nice to see the president adhering to the historical sense of "fantastic" as "having the nature of fantasy"

― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Monday, June 17, 2019 6:45 AM (six hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

reminds me of this martin amis anecdote about his dad. no doubt trump is familiar.

Has your enormity in the Observer been pointed out to you?" he asked with enthusiasm over breakfast one Sunday morning (I had left home by then, but I still spent about every other weekend at his house). "My enormity?" I knew he was applying the word in its proper sense – "something very bad", and not "something very big i nsize". And my mistake was certainly atrocious: I had used martial as a verb.

Shanahan Defense nomination pulled

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/06/18/patrick-shanahan-acting-defense-secretary-full-statement-domestic-violence-case/1486878001/

Trump says Shanahan withdrew to spend more time with his family. Shanahan was divorced after a domestic violence incident 10 years ago. His children are grown. He hasn't remarried.

— Jeffrey St. Clair (@JSCCounterPunch) June 18, 2019

Maybe he's moving back in with his folks.

why is it not surprising that Trump doesn’t know what “spending time with your family” means

I think he does, he's just using "family" as in crime family

Tons upon tons of empty seats at arena Trump rally in my hometown tonight. Can't wait to see what he lies the attendance up to

Is that right? The nyt coverage of it suggests a huge crowd, lots of people lining up many hours in advance

People too busy working their second and third jobs to go to rallies.

i was told ppl had been waiting up to 40 hours to attend the hatefest

"Lots of empty seats" is not incompatible with "some people showed up a day early "

Trump stages his greatest show yet
The president’s elaborate reelection rally in Florida featured thousands of adoring supporters.

By GABBY ORR 06/18/2019 07:21 PM EDT Updated 06/18/2019 10:39 PM EDT

^the Politico headline

why would this be his greatest show yet? it seems like it was the same old schtick.

just confirms to me that politico is a trash website

i watched a bit. not a great show.

melania is not a good hype man. don jr is worse. if trump really knew how to work a crowd he wouldn't have these two speak before him.

wait malaria was the hype man for trump i thought she really dint care

she seemed pretty indifferent but idk how much that was an effect of her accent.

not compelling imo.

I just dont get it. A man so conspicously show-offy rich he has GOLD FUCKING TOILETS, and a foreign snoooty wife, and kids with trust funds and snooty handed-on-a-platter jobs, and fucking country clubs.

And this is the man white, working class, hardscrabble americans think is on their side?

i know. it's fucking weird.

he's a weird dude. why is he so comfortable giving 86 minute speeches when he can't read a page of text?

Supposedly the arena did eventually fill up. They allocated more tickets than seats largely because of no-shows and protest ticket claims.

Also the people who lined up days in advance were like less than 100 people lol. Some friends snapped pics of the losers

not really the "white working class" tbh

It isn't socioeconomic status that binds them but rather an ill-defined and unending sense of grievance, of something having been taken from them or tarnished, probably by someone(s) brown. America has been whipped up into an incoherent froth and some people really dig a dude who'll keep up the whipping instead of calmly explaining that we should maybe just chill and appreciate that we don't have all that much to grouse about. Or didn't have, anyway.

I just dont get it. A man so conspicously show-offy rich he has GOLD FUCKING TOILETS, and a foreign snoooty wife, and kids with trust funds and snooty handed-on-a-platter jobs, and fucking country clubs.

And this is the man white, working class, hardscrabble americans think is on their side?

― Stoop Crone (Trayce)

the money isn't the problem -- FDR and JFK had dough. It's, as OL said, the sense of grievance.

I have friends and family members who are sensitive to trump news and have learned to avoid too much exposure or talking about it and I know there are ILXors who feel the same. But I haven't really felt that way...my feeling has been that's it is the (perversely compelling) reality, you can't just hide from it.

But I just saw clips from last night's rally and really don't think I'm cut out for this all over again.

This situation is sickening.

There's always the Madonna album.

if it comes to that okay fine

My parents, on the verge of their ninth decade, have begun to say that they'll emigrate from the USA if the current president wins a second term. Given the heat I've gotten from them for quitting the country, I've been struck by that. The lack of seriousness of USA politics juxtaposed with their daily experiences with USA healthcare, have tipped them into despair. Obviously they're resorting to cliché, but I'm surprised to hear it from people as old and settled as they are.

I just dont get it. A man so conspicously show-offy rich he has GOLD FUCKING TOILETS, and a foreign snoooty wife, and kids with trust funds and snooty handed-on-a-platter jobs, and fucking country clubs.

And this is the man white, working class, hardscrabble americans think is on their side?

well, yeah...he's just like them isn't he? whines about everything, desperate for approval, scared of dark-skinned people...yeah, he lives a lavish lifestyle, but isn't that exactly how these folks would live if they had megarich dads?

It's also aspirational. If a bloviating, spasmic blob of fetid flesh can coast to worldwide fame and the highest office of the land with no demonstrable skillset and an overinflated sense of his worth (both personal and financial), why, anybody can! USA! USA!

he lack of seriousness of USA politics juxtaposed with their daily experiences with USA healthcare, have tipped them into despair.

feel this. the stupidity is part of what is so horrifying.

I think it's because a lot of the unserious people don't yet have first-hand experience of the consequences of their lack of seriousness. Or, having experienced it, lack an understanding of causation sufficient to grasp that their persistent black eyes are a consequence of continually punching themselves in the face.

"I just dont get it. A man so conspicously show-offy rich he has GOLD FUCKING TOILETS, and a foreign snoooty wife, and kids with trust funds and snooty handed-on-a-platter jobs, and fucking country clubs.
And this is the man white, working class, hardscrabble americans think is on their side?"

He represents the most easily imaginable rich guy fantasy for lots of (not all!!!) lower middle class suburbanites; in particular those who don't fantasize about winning the lottery and investing in stocks and art, instead fantasize about excessive gaudy vegas trophy shit like GOLD FUCKING TOILETS and buying toys.

xpost woke up, sheeple!

the information age and social media have mainly empowered moron-americans by constantly stimulating them into persistent and effective political action let’s deal with it.

He represents the most easily imaginable rich guy fantasy for lots of (not all!!!) lower middle class suburbanites; in particular those who don't fantasize about winning the lottery and investing in stocks and art, instead fantasize about excessive gaudy vegas trophy shit like GOLD FUCKING TOILETS and buying toys.

I think they just vote for him because he's a white supremacist. I can't think of a single Republican belief that doesn't ultimately boil down to "if it helps minorities or immigrants, I'm against it".

xpost If by 'deal with it' you mean 'start snatching smartphones from everyone I encounter and chucking them into the nearest storm drain or garbage disposal' I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

Idiot Schumer Part 9637

Ask your local Death Squad... https://t.co/YbB9QeUsaZ

— Jeffrey St. Clair (@JSCCounterPunch) June 19, 2019

Normally the idea is that they would ask at embassies, no?

I mean, that is the idea when it's proposed by the left in Europe.

He is "smart" and "educated" and "successful" and "cosmopolitan" yet has the same boorishness, same Dunning-Krugerness, same facile solutions to complex problems, same prejudices as they do

The lesson being that, for some, the loud + persistent repetition of utter bullshit trumps (pardon the pun) readily-observable reality.

He represents the most easily imaginable rich guy fantasy for lots of (not all!!!) lower middle class suburbanites; in particular those who don't fantasize about winning the lottery and investing in stocks and art, instead fantasize about excessive gaudy vegas trophy shit like GOLD FUCKING TOILETS and buying toys

i def think this extends beyond "lower middle class suburbanites"-- there are extremely comfortable upper-middle class ppl ) who feel this way. so many shitbags who inherited their dad's chevy dealership who think their imagined travails would be lessened by getting rid of the minimum wage and getting to say the "n" word with impunity.

Petit bourgeoisie, basically.

Roy Moore is running for senator in Alabama again, in 2020

Asked what he'll do differently now versus his 2017 Senate bid, Roy Moore says: "I would like to make more personal contact with people."

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) June 20, 2019

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DEPwn47XkAMHMUa.jpg

ts: roy moore vs todd t. squirrel