General Political Discussion

[Orema]

"I never said there was no collusion between the campaign or between people in the campaign... I have not. I said the President of the United States ..." Pres. Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani to Chris Cuomo in televised interview.

Of course this is a lie, but I also thinks it’s the first step in Trump throwing his family, particularly Don Jr., under the bus. I don’t think it will be an effective tactic, but it will help Trump deflect for awhile.

I’m looking forward to seeing Trump’s downfall, but not this. Regardless of how complicit a child may be, I don’t like watching a parent throw their children to the “wolves” especially when it’s to deflect a spotlight, but I guess it’s unavoidable with this family.

[dark_crystal]

Originally Posted by Orema

"I never said there was no collusion between the campaign or between people in the campaign... I have not. I said the President of the United States ..." Pres. Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani to Chris Cuomo in televised interview.

Of course this is a lie, but I also thinks it’s the first step in Trump throwing his family, particularly Don Jr., under the bus. I don’t think it will be an effective tactic, but it will help Trump deflect for awhile.

I’m looking forward to seeing Trump’s downfall, but not this. Regardless of how complicit a child may be, I don’t like watching a parent throw their children to the “wolves” especially when it’s to deflect a spotlight, but I guess it’s unavoidable with this family.

There was a long Julia Ioffe article about Don, Jr. in GQ last year. I am sure it was slanted to make him appear sympathetic, but if it is all true, i feel kinda bad for him:

[The] evening he was born, little Don was left by his parents to the care of the hospital's nursery. His father headed home to celebrate New Year's Eve, while Ivana put a boa and a mink over her hospital gown and went to visit a girlfriend recovering from back surgery on another floor of the hospital.

Don had little luck with the first of his nannies, under whose watch he both broke his leg and nearly drowned. From there, a succession of caregivers followed, though Ivana was also active in her three children's upbringing.

Largely absent from childhood tales is the father. “He would love them, but he did not know how to speak to them in the children's way of thinking,” Ivana said of her ex-husband on The Wendy Williams Show last year. “He was able to speak to them only when they came from university, when eventually he was able to speak business to them.

When divorce proceedings began and the paparazzi set up camp outside Trump Tower and Don's school, Ivana decided to explain the situation to her children. Ivanka, 8, and Eric, 6, got the sanitized version. Twelve-year-old Don, Ivana concluded, “could handle hearing the truth.” After being told about his father's mistress and the fact that his parents would never live together again, Don stopped speaking to his father.

Soon after that, as Trump engaged Ivana in an epic public feud, he dispatched a bodyguard to his triplex apartment with instructions to bring his elder boy down to his office. Don, still not talking to his father, descended with the bodyguard to the 28th floor, and a few minutes later, Ivana, who described all this in her book, got a phone call. It was Trump, looking for some leverage by announcing that he was going to keep Don and raise him alone.

“Okay, keep him,” Ivana said she told him. “I have two other kids to raise.”

A few minutes later—his bluff out-bluffed—Trump ordered his boy to be taken back upstairs.

According to his first wife, Ivana, Donald Trump was never keen on bequeathing his name to anybody. It was Ivana who wanted to call their newborn Donald junior. “You can't do that!” Trump is quoted as saying in Ivana's memoir, Raising Trump. “What if he's a loser?”

Don tells his own story about coming into the world on December 31, 1977. “I like to joke that my dad wanted to be able to claim me as a dependent on his taxes for 1977,” he once told Forbes, “so he told my mom she had to have me before midnight and, if she didn't, he'd make her take a cab home.” (Ivana wrote about her labor being induced by doctors.)

So began the difficult, defining struggle of Donald Trump Jr.'s life—to make himself useful while carrying a name so beloved by the man who bestowed it that he put it in gold letters on buildings all over the world. When he was growing up, his dad called him Donny—a moniker the elder Trump would never go by. “[It's] a name I hate,” he explained in The Art of the Deal.

Don has lately found improbable purpose and renown as a savage defender of his father. His once private desires to win his father's approval now come packaged as angry tweets and memes tearing down his dad's opponents as illogical, histrionic socialists.

To the president's most ardent supporters, Don is venerated as a natural incarnation of everything the MAGA brand stands for: transgressive and defiant white, rural masculinity. “He's a fighter,” says one Breitbart editor. “The stuff he's focused on is the stuff the conservative movement is focused on. It's not an act. With him, I think it's genuine.”

To people who have known Don for decades, this identity is jarring. He had always loved the outdoors. But the use of the Pepe the Frog meme and tweeting about taking away half his daughter's Halloween candy “because it's never too early to teach her about socialism”—that isn't the Don they recognize. “I don't remember him having political views,” says a friend of Don's from college. “You've been hearing his dad for a long time,” but as for Don's views, “I didn't see anything emerge until the campaign.”

For years, Don seemed contentedly inattentive to politics. “He probably had the opinion that most New Yorkers have of politicians—they're full of shit,” says sometime Trump business partner Felix Sater, who worked with Don on the ill-fated Trump SoHo project in Manhattan. “He wasn't political. He didn't like politics.”

So old friends were shocked by the demagogic fury he unleashed. “What's surprising is that the tone and the rhetoric are so”—the college friend grasped for a term—“so Fox News-ish. The anger is surprising. None of us would've guessed that he would've been so outspoken in either direction. It hit me strange to see this guy that was a friend in college all over the news in this way.”

Those who have seen the political transformation from hunting-businessman father to the most prominent MAGA troll explain it as a simple, sporting calculation. The snarling political persona, the friend contends, is a show for an audience of one.

He's going to jail for trying to make his dad happy, and his Dad is putting him there.

[Orema]

Originally Posted by dark_crystal

There was a long Julia Ioffe article about Don, Jr. in GQ last year. I am sure it was slanted to make him appear sympathetic, but if it is all true, i feel kinda bad for him: .

Edits for brevity...

He's going to jail for trying to make his dad happy, and his Dad is putting him there.

”Even the wicked get more than they deserve.” —Willa Cather

[dark_crystal]

Originally Posted by Orema

Edits for brevity...



”Even the wicked get more than they deserve.” —Willa Cather

i feel bad for Melania, too. She's probably not that nice of a person but her options may never have been great.

i am ready to adopt Barron and raise him as my own

[Orema]

Originally Posted by dark_crystal

i feel bad for Melania, too. She's probably not that nice of a person but her options may never have been great.

i am ready to adopt Barron and raise him as my own

You can have the lot of them—especially Melania. Her options are good enough for her to have made better decisions.

[charley]

I don't feel anything for the lot of them trumpsters, I don't feel anything for bad people...

There Melania is with her jacket, sporting the words:

'I really don't care. Do U?'

So, why on earth does anyone give a flying fig what happens to people like that? She's not mentally handicapped, and knows perfectly well the kind of man she married. And, Don Jr. knows who is father is, and nobody in that family dares say anything, because of $$$$ and the fact that they are all corrupt and rotten to the core, and none of them give a d*** about anything but themselves.

[dark_crystal]

Originally Posted by charley

I don't feel anything for the lot of them trumpsters, I don't feel anything for bad people...

There Melania is with her jacket, sporting the words:

'I really don't care. Do U?'

So, why on earth does anyone give a flying fig what happens to people like that? She's not mentally handicapped, and knows perfectly well the kind of man she married. And, Don Jr. knows who is father is, and nobody in that family dares say anything, because of $$$$ and the fact that they are all corrupt and rotten to the core, and none of them give a d*** about anything but themselves.

i also feel bad for sex offenders and i think Lucifer was just asking questions so

[WheatToast]

Originally Posted by Orema

"I never said there was no collusion between the campaign or between people in the campaign... I have not. I said the President of the United States ..." Pres. Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani to Chris Cuomo in televised interview.

Of course this is a lie, but I also thinks it’s the first step in Trump throwing his family, particularly Don Jr., under the bus. I don’t think it will be an effective tactic, but it will help Trump deflect for awhile.

I’m looking forward to seeing Trump’s downfall, but not this. Regardless of how complicit a child may be, I don’t like watching a parent throw their children to the “wolves” especially when it’s to deflect a spotlight, but I guess it’s unavoidable with this family.

I heard some MSNBC pundit say that Trump doesn't fire Rudy because when Rudy goes on TV and plays the buffoon, the media talks about Rudy, not Trump. In Trump's insane world, I guess it makes sense. Any diversion makes sense to him, it seems.

Speaking of insane diversions, this shutdown has entered month two and effected civil servants have lost another paycheck. The economy is already starting to suffer over Trump's stubbornness. But when one considers the enormous ramifications of the shutdown extending into another month, I'm starting to think Putin saw what was happening and ordered his minion Donald to continue the shutdown. Does anyone agree?

[kittygrrl]

Originally Posted by WheatToast

I heard some MSNBC pundit say that Trump doesn't fire Rudy because when Rudy goes on TV and plays the buffoon, the media talks about Rudy, not Trump. In Trump's insane world, I guess it makes sense. Any diversion makes sense to him, it seems.

Speaking of insane diversions, this shutdown has entered month two and effected civil servants have lost another paycheck. The economy is already starting to suffer over Trump's stubbornness. But when one considers the enormous ramifications of the shutdown extending into another month, I'm starting to think Putin saw what was happening and ordered his minion Donald to continue the shutdown. Does anyone agree?

Wheat, you are wise beyond your years-
on a happier note..Pete Buttigieg is interested in exploring possibly running-i like him
facts about him-
37 years old
Mayor of South Bend Indiana
Harvard Grad
Rhodes Scholar
Vet
Gay (out 2015)

-enjoyed his introduction on msnbc
he will be interviewed by Chris Hayes tonight (i think) stay tuned

[homoe]

Originally Posted by kittygrrl

Wheat, you are wise beyond your years-
on a happier note..Pete Buttigieg is interested in exploring possibly running-i like him
facts about him-
37 years old
Mayor of South Bend Indiana
Harvard Grad
Rhodes Scholar
Vet
Gay (out 2015)

-enjoyed his introduction on msnbc
he will be interviewed by Chris Hayes tonight (i think) stay tuned

Yes, this too is correct! He will be on Chris Hayes tonight......

[Martina]

Money alone will not get you through Penn. It means you don't have to work. But you still have to take the same classes as any other undergraduate and pass them. Lots of people with the ability and opportunity to go to college don't finish. I don't care if you are privileged. An undergraduate degree means something. Research shows that finishing a degree in anything other than business actually changes your brain. Probably the Trump offspring majored in business. But the youngest, Marla Maples' daughter, is in law school at Georgetown. You can't buy your way through that.

[Martina]

I looked it up. The three oldest Trump children majored in business, but Tiffany graduated from Penn in Sociology. I am sorry, but they did not give her that degree. She earned it.

[dark_crystal]

Originally Posted by Martina

I looked it up. The three oldest Trump children majored in business, but Tiffany graduated from Penn in Sociology. I am sorry, but they did not give her that degree. She earned it.

I had an ex point to my degrees one time and declare them worthless because i did not earn them, they were given to me because of my privilege.

I am aware that privilege played a role in making college accessible to me, and in creating a home environment where NOT attending college was unthinkable, but privilege did not write all of those papers. Otherwise i would have finished my Bachelor's in 4 years instead of nine

However, a dumber-but-richer girl than me would have done a lot better, because she would not have had to work retail (or at all) during half of her study time. So in that way privilege can buy half of a degree maybe.

Although my biggest barrier was not my four-evenings-per-week work schedule, but my five-evening clubbing schedule. Who knows how much clubbing a rich girl might have to do

[WheatToast]

Originally Posted by Martina

Money alone will not get you through Penn. It means you don't have to work. But you still have to take the same classes as any other undergraduate and pass them. Lots of people with the ability and opportunity to go to college don't finish. I don't care if you are privileged. An undergraduate degree means something. Research shows that finishing a degree in anything other than business actually changes your brain. Probably the Trump offspring majored in business. But the youngest, Marla Maples' daughter, is in law school at Georgetown. You can't buy your way through that.

True enough, in most cases. I suspect Trump's CV, but I have no proof.
Funny thing, George W. Bush applied to the University of Texas and was rejected because of his grades. His father had to get him into Yale as a legacy admission.

[Orema]

Originally Posted by WheatToast

I heard some MSNBC pundit say that Trump doesn't fire Rudy because when Rudy goes on TV and plays the buffoon, the media talks about Rudy, not Trump. In Trump's insane world, I guess it makes sense. Any diversion makes sense to him, it seems.

Speaking of insane diversions, this shutdown has entered month two and effected civil servants have lost another paycheck. The economy is already starting to suffer over Trump's stubbornness. But when one considers the enormous ramifications of the shutdown extending into another month, I'm starting to think Putin saw what was happening and ordered his minion Donald to continue the shutdown. Does anyone agree?

I'm thinkin' Stephen Miller (the alt right asses) and Mike Pence (religious zealots) are the forces keeping the government shut. I don't underestimate Putin's influence on this administration, but I think it's Miller and Pence who are keeping it shut down.

[Orema]

I watched Rachel Maddow yesterday and I'm certain she said Senator Kamala Harris will be on her show this evening.

Rachel is on at 6pm Pacific Time on MSNBC.

[homoe]

Originally Posted by Orema

I watched Rachel Maddow yesterday and I'm certain she said Senator Kamala Harris will be on her show this evening.

Rachel is on at 6pm Pacific Time on MSNBC.

Yes this is correct! I've watch MSNBC most of the day (in the background) and they are promoting the hell out of this...........