2024 Election

[Michchamp]

it's olaf scholz now; merkel retired a couple years ago

 

[Spartanmack]

it's olaf scholz now; merkel retired a couple years ago

Yes, my bad. That should have said “then current” not “the current” Chancellor. The meeting Biden is referring to took place in 2021. Markel was still Chancellor.

The old battle axe resigned to avoid a humiliating defeat after her disastrous mass migration policy so thoroughly changed Germany for the worse that it could no longer be denied. Her almost equally disastrous measures to keep the EU from dissolving probably didn’t hurt so much as they mostly screwed over southern Europe and benefited Germany.

 

[byco42]

As Biden's gaffes and senility gain exposure (several concerning examples yesterday for all to see who have eyes) look for a "not seeking a second term" speech by the end of March. I think he was showcased yesterday to illustrate and soften the landing of his defacto resignation. The poor guy clearly isn't mentally competent to run a 31 Flavors let alone a 50-state nation.

 

[tigermud]

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/08/trump-supreme-court-key-moments-00140538

 

[tinselwolverine]

it's olaf scholz now; merkel retired a couple years ago

They resigned their duties and relocated Santa Barbara by Oprah after the now King expressed concerns about what complexion what his not yet born turned out to be very ginger grandson would be.

Ironically Harry showed at some Super Bowl event to present the Walter Payton award last night.

 

[Michchamp]

As Biden's gaffes and senility gain exposure (several concerning examples yesterday for all to see who have eyes) look for a "not seeking a second term" speech by the end of March. I think he was showcased yesterday to illustrate and soften the landing of his defacto resignation. The poor guy clearly isn't mentally competent to run a 31 Flavors let alone a 50-state nation.

I think it's pretty clear now that the president doesn't actually run the country, and that's how a lot of powerful people want it. Probably also why you only see dementia patients like Biden, Megalomaniac buffoons like Trump or desperate cases & social climbers like Nicki Haley running. Everyone with any common sense knows it's a figurehead job, unless you want to end up like JFK.

I'm sure the president can still make some decisions and affect some areas, but foreign policy and control over the military seems outside his purview. They pretty much do what they want.

And you look at the revenues of large corporations and compare them to the budgets of the federal agencies that are supposed to regulate them and enforce the laws against them... yeah right.

I just hope people can start putting all this together mentally. You see them come to correct conclusions in the domestic context, i.e. "the election is rigged" or "our government is corrupt"... but then as soon as there's a chance to, say, bomb some non-white people in a far off land, "we're the good guys" and "the indispensable nation"

Okay, which one is it?

 

[tigermud]

Trump could win NY

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/b...stephen-smith-rips-apart-dems-insane-economic

 

[Michchamp]

I'm reading more about the Hur report on Biden... I haven't watched the press conference yet. On one hand, it's not surprising, I suppose, given how Biden has clearly been a dementia case since 2020 if not earlier, judging from his rambling and incoherent speeches from time to time. But this is beyond the pale.

I also like that the guy's name is "Hur"... "Hurr!" is one of my favorite exclamations when making fun of someone's dumb joke.

 

[Spartanmack]

anyone keeping track of the Biden spin on his involvement with his crackhead son's businesses? It started out as Joe has nothing to do with and no knowledge of Hunter's business dealing to Joe never spoke with any of Hunter's business associates, to Joe got on the phone to say hello to star-struck admirers who happen to being doing business with his son. I wonder how they're going to spin this...

It's getting harder and harder to just ignore it or explain it away like they did with Tony Bobulinski, another former associate of Hunter (and Joe's) who also said Joe was at business meetings with them and was directly involved in these ventures.

Maybe he should hire the Clintons' team and have them suicided.

 

[sggatecl]

anyone keeping track of the Biden spin on his involvement with his crackhead son's businesses? It started out as Joe has nothing to do with and no knowledge of Hunter's business dealing to Joe never spoke with any of Hunter's business associates, to Joe got on the phone to say hello to star-struck admirers who happen to being doing business with his son. I wonder how they're going to spin this...

It's getting harder and harder to just ignore it or explain it away like they did with Tony Bobulinski, another former associate of Hunter (and Joe's) who also said Joe was at business meetings with them and was directly involved in these ventures.

Maybe he should hire the Clintons' team and have them suicided.

8 years ago, this would've been a big deal (to me). But after all the norms that were broken during the Trump presidency involving his businesses and kids, it just seems to be the new way of things.

 

[Spartanmack]

8 years ago, this would've been a big deal (to me). But after all the norms that were broken during the Trump presidency involving his businesses and kids, it just seems to be the new way of things.

Which norms are those? This seems like a much bigger deal than Ivanka getting a license to sell baby clothes in China.

And there was no denial or dozens of shell companies set up to hide payments…

 

[Mitchrapp]

Why doesn't our country have someone who can be presidential, and can get things done, that's not a bafoon. So tired of the Trump-Biden stuff. 8 fkn years.

 

[Cam]

Why doesn't our country have someone who can be presidential, and can get things done, that's not a bafoon. So tired of the Trump-Biden stuff. 8 fkn years.

Agreed. I don't care which political party it is, I just don't want either of them. I think people would feel better about Biden if his VP was somewhat likeable, because there's a pretty big question mark on if Biden would even live through a second term.

 

[sggatecl]

Which norms are those? This seems like a much bigger deal than Ivanka getting a license to sell baby clothes in China.

And there was no denial or dozens of shell companies set up to hide payments…

Not divesting himself from his businesses led to massive conflicts of interest, too many to list here and too many for even his most ardent supporters to deny.

The $2 billion investment Kushner got after the Trump administration not only turned a blind eye to MBS's bullshit but also attacked our own intelligence agencies in the process.

As far as Ivanka and China go, it's much more nuanced than what you're potraying. Something like 20 trademarks approved in 2 months and 40+ overall when most companies weren't getting close to that amount, that quickly.

At this point after Trump and now Biden, the next time the president doesn't have a clear conflict of interest will surprise me more than if they do.

 

[Spartanmack]

Not divesting himself from his businesses led to massive conflicts of interest, too many to list here and too many for even his most ardent supporters to deny.

The $2 billion investment Kushner got after the Trump administration not only turned a blind eye to MBS's bullshit but also attacked our own intelligence agencies in the process.

As far as Ivanka and China go, it's much more nuanced than what you're potraying. Something like 20 trademarks approved in 2 months and 40+ overall when most companies weren't getting close to that amount, that quickly.

At this point after Trump and now Biden, the next time the president doesn't have a clear conflict of interest will surprise me more than if they do.

Kushner got that deal after Trump left office - and he has experience running a hedge fund, albeit not the best track record. And Ivanka got some trademarks, OK.

more than 6 years before that, Biden flew his son all over the world on Air Force 2, introducing him to CCP officials and Chinese oligarchs (not to mention Ukrainian, Russian and central Asian oligarchs) and Hunter, who was addicted to crack and had no experience running money or any other businesses, beat out the top investment firms in the US if not the world for a $1.2B investment from China and got a $1mm/yr spot on the board of a Ukranian gas company.

The idea that it was the Trump family that "destroyed the norms" so you can turn a blind eye/dismiss whatever the Bidens doesn't really fit the timeline. And the "the Trumps did it too" or "Trump was worse" doesn't really hold up either.

 

[sggatecl]

Kushner got that deal after Trump left office - and he has experience running a hedge fund, albeit not the best track record. And Ivanka got some trademarks, OK.

more than 6 years before that, Biden flew his son all over the world on Air Force 2, introducing him to CCP officials and Chinese oligarchs (not to mention Ukrainian, Russian and central Asian oligarchs) and Hunter, who was addicted to crack and had no experience running money or any other businesses, beat out the top investment firms in the US if not the world for a $1.2B investment from China and got a $1mm/yr spot on the board of a Ukranian gas company.

The idea that it was the Trump family that "destroyed the norms" so you can turn a blind eye/dismiss whatever the Bidens doesn't really fit the timeline. And the "the Trumps did it too" or "Trump was worse" doesn't really hold up either.

I wouldn't say that I'm dismissive of what Biden's family does. Just that the shock value is gone. There's no pretending the Trump administration wasn't unique in how greedy and gritty they were. It's over and done, just find it funny how you and others didn't have this same energy back then.

I watched Ivanka go sit at a table with other world leaders like she belonged. You talk about how under qualified Hunter is, but he was given a fraction of the power that Trump's kids were given.

It seems like you're fine with nepotism, as long as it's for the right side. There are much, much bigger problems than Hunter and Trump Jr's crack addiction. I don't understand how this consistently makes the top of the list of voter's grievances.

 

[Spartanmack]

I wouldn't say that I'm dismissive of what Biden's family does. Just that the shock value is gone. There's no pretending the Trump administration wasn't unique in how greedy and gritty they were. It's over and done, just find it funny how you and others didn't have this same energy back then.

I watched Ivanka go sit at a table with other world leaders like she belonged. You talk about how under qualified Hunter is, but he was given a fraction of the power that Trump's kids were given.

It seems like you're fine with nepotism, as long as it's for the right side. There are much, much bigger problems than Hunter and Trump Jr's crack addiction. I don't understand how this consistently makes the top of the list of voter's grievances.

Somebody is pretending it's unique. What's truly funny is that Biden's corruption is obviously far worse and it happened before Trump was in office and you're blaming Trump for destroying the norms.

Ivanka was one of Trump's advisors and what she was doing was legitimate and out in the open. It's more than fair to question her qualifications for the role but Trump wasn't hiding anything. To say that's no different than Biden shuttling his crackhead son who had no official position and no experience running an investment company (and is also a drug addict) all over the world on tax payer funded jets, setting him up with business meetings in secret to sell out American interests to enrich himself, is just beyond absurd. But you're not even saying it was no different, you're saying Trump giving Ivanka a role in his administration is worse - that's ridiculous. The idea that I'm the one with the partisan blinders on here is laughable.

 

[Mitchrapp]

So who's winning this thing?

 

[tigermud]

So who's winning this thing?

Nobody, everyone loses

 

[Mitchrapp]

Nobody, everyone loses

Dang it all. Oh well, at least it's a beautiful 70+ and Sunny.