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

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

trump otm shut it all down

yeah my idea of regulation on social media is clearly different than his. surprise.

imo nuke technology so that the internet no longer works

I'll miss you all, but it's the only way to be sure

https://medium.com/@tony_schwartz/the-psychopath-in-chief-aa10ab2165d9

"CEO, The Energy Project. Author. The Art of the Deal ghostwriter now speaking out. Passionate about transforming the way the world works. Craves depth"

nothing new, and yet, still pretty good. if a friend emerged from a cave for the first time since 2014 and wanted a quick summary of wtf is going on with the trump and the world, it would be a good intro

so that's a whole Medium post just saying "GO BACK TO YR CAVE"

so this executive order, isn't this just more likely to get Twitter to ban people for posting mis-info rather than just fact-checking them?

maybe we'll get Trump ban!

that's assuming the twitter dudes have spines/aren't generally fine with the trump project overall

lol yes I should specify that in my mind the percent chance rose from 0.0000000000003% to 0.014%

All over the World the CoronaVirus, a very bad “gift” from China, marches on. Not good!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2020

The President's take on the virus that's killed 100,000 Americans and counting: Not good!!

Pennsylvania House Democrats are in an uproar after finding out that state Rep. Andrew Lewis (R) only told the Republican caucus about his positive COVID-19 diagnosis.

No members of Republican leadership filled them in either.

Lewis announced on Wednesday that he had made a full recovery from a mild case of the novel coronavirus.

“I immediately began self-isolation protocol and contacted the House of Representatives, and our caucus Human Resources department,” he said in a Facebook post. “My last day in the Capitol was Thursday, May 14.”

He said that every staffer and lawmaker who had possibly been exposed was informed and told to self-isolate for two weeks.

Democrats say that was not the case.

“That Democrats who had contact with him were not notified is not just a political stunt – this is beyond the fkn pale!” wrote Rep. Summer Lee (D) on Twitter. She said that some of Lewis’ Republican colleagues refused to wear masks on the floor for the week between when the GOP caucus found out and the Democrats did.

“From day one we had Republican colleagues unapologetically trivializing and politicizing this pandemic,” she added. “They have shown a callous disregard for the lives of people in my community.”

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/pennsylvania-house-democrats-andrew-lewis-keeping-covid-diagnosis-a-secret

After leaving office Trump should launch a Twitter alternative that is fair to him, and boost OANN or whatever news outlet he feels is fair to him, and all his disciples can confine themselves to those channels and leave the rest of us in peace.

brb, gonna see if I can register TweetRump.com and OANalNews.com

last 4 approval polls that have come in have been sharply swung in the "disapprove" direction, including Rasmussen....

he seems to teeter between 44% - 46% approval the last few weeks, like he's ping-ponging based on the news cycle

This is pretty thoroughly depressing.

he seems to teeter between 44% - 46% approval the last few weeks, like he's ping-ponging based on the news cycle

I'm not talking about per poll, I'm saying his AVERAGE teeters between teh two.

i know how fucking polls work

I look at the weighted poll averages every few days, and every time I think it's FINALLY going in the right direction, I end up disappointed.

There are fluctuations, but the overall pattern has been one of stagnation: locked-in tribal trench warfare.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html

https://i.ibb.co/tZyPvvp/poll.jpg

xpost