US Politics, May 2020 — I will never lie to you. You have my word on that.

I would think you'd gladly call his bluff. I know a convention, under normal circumstances, is worth tens of millions in tourism, but unless you think all of this is miraculously gone by August, that won't be anywhere near the case this time. I'd jump at any chance to get it moved somewhere else.

Apparently Charlotte was the only city that put in a bid in the first place. So...

Oh I hope he moves it to a state where they let him pack thousands and thousands of republicans in tight to a confined space in August.

and then seal it shut shortly before the end of the convention so they can't get out and infect other people.

Apparently Charlotte was the only city that put in a bid in the first place. So...

If you're a Democratic governor, that might even increase the temptation to call his bluff. If he has nowhere else to go, you'll force him to publically recant (and, no doubt, concoct some preposterous rationale for doing so).

"As we have no intention of easing precautions whatsoever, we understand totally why the president will need to relocate. With all respect to the president and the Republican party, we will not contest this."

bold ignorance

"I love the Great State of North Carolina, so much so that I insisted on having the Republican National Convention in Charlotte at the end of August," Trump said in a series of tweets. "Unfortunately, Democrat Governor, @RoyCooperNC is still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed full attendance in the Arena. In other words, we would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democrat Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space."

shutdown mood

hey cooper why can't you guarantee there will be no virus in two months? why? why?

i mean virus is just gonna have to cooperate, we can't wait forever for it to go away.

issuing Executive Order to order virus out of country in 30 days

In retrospect Trump should have simply built a wall that viruses couldn't get through. On him, really, for failing to do so. Sad!

just wait a few months, he'll start claiming the hurricanes will blow the virus away

"opts for..." Like he had enough self-control to make some other choice?

"disruption strategy..." Yeah. Like the scorpion's strategy is to disrupt the frog.

"Democrats say..." So you don't say it, public health officials don't, but his opponents say: bad choice for a pandemic. pic.twitter.com/FF8E74krcE

— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) May 25, 2020

naglfap

obviously trump will move the convention to one of his own properties

Or Chuck E Cheese

Mar a Cheeso

TOTAL EXONERATION for feinstein and two other assholes

The Justice Department’s investigation into Sen. Richard Burr’s (R-NC) pre-coronavirus stock trading activity continues, despite dropping similar stock sale probes into three other senators.

According to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday, federal prosecutors are informing attorneys who represent Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) that the Justice Department is closing its investigations into their trading that began two months ago.

Figured it'd be hard to prove without a smoking gun (written communication of some sort). Public knew about the virus in January, so they could've sold stocks based on "that" information.

the DOJ investigation, day 1, behind the scenes:

- seems like we're going to have bring Burr down, people are really pissed about what he did.
- maybe we can bring down Feinstein as well? might be a silver lining...
- no, because if we bring her down, we'd have to bring Inhofe and Loeffler down as well.
- ah shit, yeah. that would be bad for the team. ok.
- alright, let's just wait 2 months and then declare the investigations over
- sounds good. btw can you forward me that integrity training link again, i have to take it by the end of the week, bullshit

xpost yeah, i think you're right, not withstanding my DOJ speculative fiction. i'm surprised they were even able to pressure Burr enough to stand down from his committee chair.

sure would be nice if sitting members of congress were barred from owning stocks. seems like a blatant conflict of interest, almost every day

they've been able to get away with this because they're using third parties to handle their portfolios - of course, what's a blind trust, anyway? /axlrose

Long way off--may not even happen--but in a debate, when Biden goes after Trump on the pandemic, he should zero in on Russia's low death total. It'd force Trump to either acknowledge that the Russian number is likely phony, or he'd have to defend the disproportionate comparison.

way to 5D chess for my taste

*too

I'm sure the nuances of the corner he'd been painted into would be wasted on Trump anyway--he'd just make some crazy thing up on the spot.

No one cares about Russia or Russia’s death toll.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-for-some-reason-compares-coronavirus-death-toll-over-98000-to-swine-flu-under-20000-214326646.html

lol bruh

The bar chart in the middle of that article is so bad that it is really good, haha

No one cares about Russia or Russia’s death toll.

That wouldn't be the point. But as KM's link indicates, such a comparison would be wasted on Trump anyway (if you were trying to corner him into an untenable position). And I doubt Biden's the guy to do it anyway. His own words will be enough to worry about.

SHOCKING NEWS: DOJ drops all insider trading investigations into Burr, et.al.

I take that back, Burr still being investigated but Loeffler, Inhofe & Feinstein all dropped.

the defense matt levine makes here for loeffler in particular seems pretty convincing to me fwiw (see under "On the other hand").

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-20/senators-picked-a-good-time-to-sell-stocks

Liz Cheney = still a cunt

https://prospect.org/coronavirus/how-fed-bailed-out-the-investor-class-corporate-america/

The Federal Reserve announced on March 23 that it would start direct purchases of corporate debt—an unprecedented rescue of corporate America.
Since then, the stock market has risen over 30 percent, corporate bond funds have recovered, and companies have saved tens of billions in borrowing costs.
Thanks to this massive government subsidy, large companies like Boeing and Carnival Cruises were able to avoid taking money directly—and sidestep requirements to keep employees on—by instead issuing bonds.
The Intercept and The American Prospect have identified 49 companies that issued corporate debt since March 23, adding up to hundreds of billions they otherwise couldn’t have secured so cheaply—providing a safety net to the investor class and making a mockery of the alleged virtues of free-market capitalism.
This sets the stage for companies with functionally no revenue path in the near future to take on mounds of additional debt—and could set the stage for a series of defaults.

Yes, we’ll be eating shit again soon enough, and it’ll be the government’s fault. The companies, after all, are just trying to survive.

https://pressthink.org/2020/05/you-cannot-keep-from-getting-swept-up-in-trumps-agenda-without-a-firm-grasp-on-your-own/

Today my case to American journalists is this: You cannot keep from getting swept up in Trump’s agenda without a firm grasp on your own. I am quite aware that journalists are taught not to let their political preferences, party membership, or personal ideology shape their reporting, and I have no quarrel with that restriction. But it does not end the discussion.

...My point is that journalists need to know what they’re trying to accomplish with their election coverage. Covering the campaign the way campaigns in the U.S. are covered — which, as far as I can tell, is the current “agenda” at CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS, NPR — does not provide a sense of mission strong enough to prevent a repeat of the debacle in 2016. Nor does vowing not to make the same mistakes. Something stronger is required.

They know what’s coming, I said about the campaign press. What they don’t know is how to avoid capture. Donald Trump is going to campaign the same way he “governs.” By flooding the zone with shit, and making so much news that no single revelation matters much. By accusing opponents of the very things he is manifestly guilty of. By giving his supporters license to deny: “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” By persuading the uncommitted that it’s useless to pay attention because you will never get the story straight. By leveraging his weirdness as a human being, like the fact that he lacks the gene for feeling shame. By lowering all of us. By manufacturing confusion. By calling himself the victim of journalists who point these things out. By warring against the press.

These methods — but they’re not methodical, just compulsive — exploit errors in the journalist’s code. Among them are:

What the president says is news.
Issues are boring. Controversy is good.
Conflict makes news, attacks are exciting.
Doesn’t matter if it’s true. If it could become a factor in the election, it’s worth reporting.
In theory, sources that flood the zone with shit should be dropped. In practice, we need them.
More information is better than less.
Meeting traffic goals means you’re winning at this.

These are propositions set too deep. There is zero chance of removing them in time for 2020. Each one opens the press to manipulation by Trump and his campaign. Which is part of why I say: You can’t keep from getting sucked into his agenda without a firm grasp on your own. Only a strong sense of mission will prevent a repeat of 2016. But I am not optimistic. It is so much easier to go with the flow.

A final thought: Campaign professionals speak of “earned” vs. “paid” media. Earned means news coverage. Paid means political ads. What if earned media really had to be earned? That might help a bit.

in the part i snipped is a bunch of stuff about distinguishing between press coverage being political vs politicized

Two weeks ago tomorrow, reactionary Republicans on the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the stay-at-home order and people started flocking to bars, restaurants, and spots. A full COVID incubation period later, today Wisconsin set new records for new reported cases and deaths. pic.twitter.com/g7cNGWpQN2

— Simon Balto is keeping his ass at home (@SimonBalto) May 28, 2020

Two weeks ago tomorrow, reactionary Republicans on the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the stay-at-home order and people started flocking to bars, restaurants, and spots. A full COVID incubation period later, today Wisconsin set new records for new reported cases and deaths. pic.twitter.com/g7cNGWpQN2

— Simon Balto is keeping his ass at home (@SimonBalto) May 28, 2020

oops

well now there's TWO tweets for Silby to not read

so THERE.

trumpco, where if you document every atrocity, you die from exhaustion before getting him or anyone in the dock.

i went out trying to find more info on deaths/cases/tests post the opening, and it's all both sides claiming victory, such as
https://www.maciverinstitute.com/2020/05/the-two-weeks-that-didnt-kill-wisconsin/

"the free market voice for wisconsin"

How the hell could either side claim victory? It takes 17 or more days to die from it. Two weeks of data would barely capture everyone who got infected during this timeframe, esp those who became newly exposed at the end of the two week reopen period.

There's no way the "deaths due to reopening" data is remotely complete unless people think that those that die of COVID-19 simply drop dead the moment they catch it.

my post was really quickndirty, should have been more like "i'm seeing claims in both directions." agree that the only way to show the effect of opening there is gonna be with a little more time and validated #s and informed eval. (i regret invoking the term both sides here btw)

i knew what you meant, no worries :)

Executive Order Re: Social Media TODAY!

let him enforce it

I hereby order Social Media to stop