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Thursday, July 08, 2021

Links - 8th July 2021 (3) (Trump)

Jeff Carlson on Twitter - "The Trump Tax Returns illustrate three primary things:
1) No unreported connections to Russia
2) MSM Journos & DNC Hacks do NOT understand how running a business and managing assets works tax-wise. Or any-wise.
3) Unlike Biden, President Trump didn't profit from his office."

How Trump and other real estate professionals get away with paying 'zero tax' - "“It’s not uncommon for real estate professionals to pay zero tax if they have highly leveraged investments,” E. Martin Davidoff, a CPA who helps wealthy clients with tax strategies and disputes, told Yahoo Finance.The practice is so common, Davidoff said, that there’s even an acronym for it. In certain circles, “ZT,” or zero tax is a goal for filers, he said, and has been especially easy to achieve under the laws that existed for real estate professionals before 1986 and after 1993, and for highly leveraged investors."
Bizarrely, some libertarians say that rich people don't need to pay taxes because they create jobs. Others say that since taxation is theft, anyone paying little or no tax is good. Yet others conflate the legal and moral cases for paying taxes

The NY Times knows tax avoidance and other commentary - "A New York Times “investigation” described how President Trump found ways to avoid taxes — and the Times “ought to know,” snarks Ira Stoll at The New York Sun, because the Gray Lady and “the Ochs-Sulzberger family that control it have done the same thing.” Trump, for instance, used losses in some years to lower his taxes in others. Likewise, in 2008, the Times lost $58 million and then cited a net income-tax “benefit” of nearly $6 million. The paper “complains” of Trump’s foreign investments and payments to his kids to avoid the gift tax. Yet the Times also has foreign business and has paid multiple family members six-figure salaries. The paper is painting “Trump as somehow corrupt for doing things that the Ochs-Sulzberger family has itself been doing for years.”"

Who Dog-Whistled Whom In the Battle of Cleveland? - "Contrary to the headlines, Mr. Trump didn’t refuse to condemn these groups. Although he spoke colloquially, saying, “Sure. I’m willing to do that,” was, in fact, a statement of assent... It’s easy to say Mr. Trump should have given Mr. Wallace what he wanted. But part of the problem here is that Trump knows that he has issued many declarative statements condemning white supremacy throughout his presidency, and it never satisfies those who are eager to pin the label of “extremist” on him. This impels him to petulant defiance that is foolish but not racist.Mr. Trump’s refusal to learn to speak like a politician and issue careful, modulated statements, inevitably invites opponents to both cherry-pick words to suit their preferred interpretation and cause the speaker to be mislabeled and be condemned.As with the Charlottesville statement, it’s the spin of Mr. Trump’s opponents that will dominate the narrative about the debate. An objective look at that transcript shows that the “very fine people” line was about those who objected to the removal of statues, not neo-Nazis. But many will still remember the debate as the time when Trump didn’t condemn racists.As much as this latest blot on his reputation is, in large measure, his own fault, any discussion of this subject must also note that Mr. Trump’s objections about the question were, in large measure, correct. The notion that white supremacists or the Proud Boys, a group that the ADL says numbers no more than several hundred, are the ones who created the urban crisis that has afflicted the United States in the last four months of violence and riots is not so much wrong as it is gas-lighting. Sightings of them at the hundreds of riots that have taken place since the death of George Floyd have been rare.It’s also true that while Mr. Biden condemned violence, like Mr. Trump, when it came to the Proud Boys, he chose not to condemn Antifa and its fellow travelers, as well as the people who have helped fund and foment riots, but somehow that was largely ignored.Mr. Wallace also ignorantly mischaracterized the “white fragility” critical race theory training sessions that have proliferated in both government and industry as unobjectionable “sensitivity training,” and which Mr. Trump has tried to ban. They are driven by a toxic racist and radical theory that is further dividing the nation and fueling violence, rather than quelling it.Nor did he ask Mr. Biden about his refusal or that of his campaign to distance himself from other extremists.For all of his pose of civility and normality, Mr. Biden wasn’t asked why he compared Mr. Trump to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels or why a Jewish Democratic group has published an ad comparing the administration to the Third Reich, egregious and inappropriate Holocaust references that should have been vigorously condemned by the organized Jewish community, but which it has largely winked at because of the political leanings of its leaders.Mr. Wallace didn’t ask Mr. Biden why he and running mate Senator Kamala Harris met with an anti-Semitic supporter of hatemonger Louis Farrakhan whose son had been shot by police, about whom his running mate said she was “proud.”Mr. Biden also wasn’t asked about his campaign’s apology for denouncing the anti-Semitism of former Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour who was granted a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention."

Biden says Trump has never condemned white supremacy ... Here are 20 times he did just that

Meme - "WILL TRUMP EVER CONDEMN HATE? 5 MINUTES LATER...... I HOPE HE DIES OF COVID"

Leftists Cheer News Trump, Hope Hicks Infected With COVID-19: ‘I Hope They Both Die’
The left's motto: "When they go 'low', we go lower. Many are blue check marks, of course

Israel demands apology after CNN anchor compares Trump's first term to Nazi Germany's horrific "Night of Broken Glass" - "In the classiest of moves CNN's Christiane Amanpour compared Donald Trump's first term to Kristallnacht, also called the Night of Broken Glass. You know, the two-day pogrom against Jews throughout Nazi Germany in 1938. The event which resulted in 267 synagogues being destroyed, 7,000 Jewish businesses razed, and 30,000 Jewish men being dragged off to concentration camps. To be clear, we're talking about the beginning of the freaking Holocaust here... apparently some people found Amanpour's remarks offensive, namely Jewish people"
Asking us to learn from the lessons of history is only hateful when conservatives like Gina Carano allude to them. But liberals can be as hysterical as they want with their false equivalences and this is justified "resistance"

Fire insurance up to date? Homes with Trump signs being targeted with arson threats - "locals who display Trump signs on their property are receiving menacing letters from anonymous sources, threatening to burn down their homes if Trump is not ousted... Letters have been confirmed in at least two different towns in New Hampshire, and are purportedly popping up elsewhere, including Kansas City and communities in Maryland, as well." Love Trumps Hate

Farmer who had Trump flags flying from his combine finds out his combine, two semis, and a tractor are on fire in his field

Patriot J on Twitter - "If you vote for Donald Trump, you are a racist. You have no wiggle room."
"Blindly labeling 62,984,828 Americans as racist is everything that's wrong with contemporary political discourse."

david surratt on Twitter - "If you vote for Donald Trump, you are a racist. You have no wiggle room."
"The worst thing about this tweet is: When you define racism so loosely and broadly, to include half of America, actual white supremacists benefit. They draw benefit when half the country is framed as being with them. And the charge of racism loses all potency."
That's why nowadays leftists throw around the term "white supremacist""

NinaVee on Twitter - "somehow, not knowing what Trump is up to is more unsettling than knowing"
"I hope he’s walking around a room, having a panic attack,trying to breathe. In other words, I hope he’s going through what he’s put me through the last four years."
"Seek professional treatment, Nina."
"lol imagine being this weak" br>"This is what mental illness looks like"

Gad Saad - Posts | Facebook - "Many people who suffer from Collective Munchausen repeatedly proclaimed that if @realDonaldTrump were to become @POTUS, this would constitute an existential threat to the US, to capitalism, to democracy, to global geopolitics, to the economy.  He is almost done with his 1st term. Ignoring the metrics that arose due to the global pandemic (of which the origin of the virus is unknown and definitely not due to the Chinese government), are those folks feeling justified in their doomsday predictions?"
I saw someone with TDS say it didn't matter that he was the first for a long time to not start any wars since he started a war domestically. Presumably Trump was responsible for the riots on his inauguration day

Kathy Griffin Slams Pro-Trump Video That Shows Her And Others Killed - "Comedian Kathy Griffin, who lost friends and nearly her career for posing with a fake decapitated head of President Donald Trump, lashed out against a fabricated video shown at a Trump resort rally that depicts the president shooting and stabbing members of the media and political foes"
SPOING!

Facebook - "We are beginning to really learn who is genuinely concerned about foreign propaganda campaigns attempting to manipulate our society, and those who are not.  It turns out that for many, concerns about Russian interference were merely a performance. A performance they put on because it hurt Donald Trump, in their eyes... Just look at all the left -wingers and even “centrists” who want to push the undeniable truth about the CCP aside, and look at all the trolls and apologists even here denying the truth on a daily basis, as if to make the story one where Trump was in the wet markets himself buying and selling bats and pangolins.  Look at how rich Chinese companies sponsor panels with woke activists trying to insulate their deadly corruption from criticism underneath a veneer of self-righteousness."

Facebook - "This is why I cannot take pearl clutching over Russian conspiracies seriously.  Newspapers are now painting totally normal online behavior by real people in exactly the same light.  "“Perhaps it’s not surprising that some of the tactics used by Russian actors against American voters in 2016 are now being used by American voters against each other,” said Philip N. Howard, head of Oxford University’s Computational Propaganda Project.""

Facebook - "With the ascension of a far right leader in Brazil, it's time for Democrats to admit to themselves that it wasn't James Comey or Hillary's emails or "Russian hacking" that are really responsible for her downfall.  There was not some special situation in the United States that put Trump in the White House. It is a global wave that has reached everywhere in our interconnected economic order, a response to the global order we instituted decades before.  Someone didn't start putting a love for fascism or racism in the water. We had global events and global trends beginning to cause a global response. The truth is that both Trump and Bernie were in touch with this, and Hillary was so embedded in the old way of thinking she could not see the tsunami coming.  You can pretend all you like that it was only thanks to James Comey. You can also pretend you don't have cancer when you have large tumors already forming. But unless you are willing to see the disease for what it is, and be willing to look for solutions based on that reality, you will never find a cure. A sham doctor refusing to see reality and issuing quack treatments will be banned from practicing medicine. Yet when it comes to our politics it is considered virtuous to be a sham doctor, just as long as your diagnosis and solutions align with the proper ideological Santeria that the powers that be have deemed infallible. And yet then they keep wondering why their liberal patients keep dying."

Escape The Echo Chamber - Posts | Facebook - "Yes, I’m grumbly about the press this morning. I watched four straight days of facts being distorted by a press trying to create a soap opera plot line suitable for sweeps week.  The facts are rather tame. Trump was showing signs of an illness and tested positive for Covid. He had mild symptoms and spent three precautionary days in the hospital. He was ambulatory, tweeted, recorded videos, and took a drive around the facility. If he wasn’t the president it’s doubtful he would have been hospitalized. Now he’s going to get better care in his residence than most people get in the hospital."

Escape The Echo Chamber - Posts | Facebook - "Former CIA director’s notes on 7/26/16 reveal that the intelligence community knew then that Hillary Clinton planned to vilify Donald Trump by claiming he was entangled with Russian intelligence.  They also believed that Russia was aware of this plan and was a threat to feed false information to the Clinton campaign (via Christopher Steele and his dossier). As it turned out the most outrageous (and false) elements of the Steele dossier came from a suspected Russian agent by the name of Igor Danshenko."

Escape The Echo Chamber - Posts | Facebook - "Lately it’s been brutal to watch the daily White House press briefings, particularly when Trump takes questions. Trump dominates the news by putting on a political wrestling match/morality play where he presents the press as the ‘heel’. Many members of the press corps, for their part, want sparks to fly with the president so they have something to draw the attention of viewers. Trump needs the likes of Peter Alexander and Jim Acosta; and vice versa.  But if you’re watching the briefings to gain information and not for a pro wrestling match then they can be drudgery. Not all White House correspondents are the same. Some, such as Jonathon Karl, will ask tough but usually fair questions.  He understands the game and isn’t blind to it.  There seem to always be a couple of airheads and Trump can sniff them out and embarrass them. Yesterday one started asking about oil prices and when Trump asked what the current price of oil was she had no clue. Last week a reporter asked about ventilator inventories and didn’t know if the number she gave was a differential or the total inventory — a near six-fold difference.  The worst to watch are the second tier reporters who want to be the next Acosta. They merely rephrase previous contentious questions and never get the desired reaction — like an inexperienced comic on open mic night. "

Meme - "Leftists laughing at the billionaire pedophilia-ring conspiracy in 2016"
"Leftists trying to connect Trump to the pedophilia ring they' ve laughed at since 2016"

Meme - Stone @stonecold2050 - "Oh look at Melania's renovated rose garden at the White House. Does anyone else see how the small bushes spell KKK in rows?"
No, the White House Rose Garden Doesn't Spell Out 'KKK' - "The same hedges, in the diamond configuration, can be seen in this 2015 image of U.S. President Donald Trump’s predecessor, President Barack Obama, walking in the Rose Garden."

Facebook - "The fools who think that so-called Trumpism is just as dangerous as the idea pathogens inherent to Wokeism are utter fools, blinded by the cork effect that I've so often explained. Trump is now gone with nearly ZERO long-term effects. The changes unfolding in the West due to the attacks on science, reason, logic, and common sense stemming from the Leftist fascists is astoundingly more egregious.  The traditions of freedom of speech on which EVERYTHING is built are being dismantled by people who define themselves as anti-Trumpists.  Remember my words. My stating so HAS NOTHING to do with supporting or hating Trump.  I don't care about Trump one way or the other. I deeply care about the values on which the West was built and that are being extinguished before our eyes."

Fauci says Trump did not 'distort' impact of the pandemic - "Fauci said Trump's public press conferences in the early spring mostly echoed what members of the White House coronavirus task force were telling him in private.  "I didn't see any discrepancies between what he told us and what we told him and what he ultimately came out publicly and said," Fauci, the country's top infectious diseases expert and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said.  "He really didn't say anything different than we discussed when we were with him"... Fauci was responding to a new book written by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward in which Trump went on the record to say he publicly downplayed the threat of the emerging coronavirus pandemic despite knowing its actual danger."
When Orange Man Bad clashes with Science Man Good

Fauci denies hearing Trump distort facts on coronavirus - "Fauci also challenged Woodward’s account that he had said the president was on “a separate channel” and had an attention span that was “like a minus number.” According to Woodward’s account, Fauci said Trump’s “sole purpose is to get reelected.”  Fauci disputed the quotes, saying they were from second-hand sources and not from him"
What happens when Fauci good conflicts with Orange Man bad? One way is to say Fauci was lying - but for the greater good

James Lindsay - Posts | Facebook - "One problem I think is transparently clear having been on both sides of it is that the way Trump speaks is itself a problem. It's almost like you have to relax to listen to him, or you will hear things as being far worse than they really are. People who "support" him, or who really support him, see this and think he's funny, though they wish he were a bit better spoken (usually) and more clear. Some few might, in the present insanity, need a LOT of calming down, which he never provides, but most don't. Most get it. On the other hand, since all of the left thinks he's literally a tyrant or a Nazi and have done since they just made it up out of thin air in 2015, they hear that every time and have worked themselves up into a self-congratulatory tizzy for believing it instead of the opposite. I don't know if Trump is neurotypical enough to be let off the hook for how he speaks. I don't know why he does it. No one does. Maybe it's something he picked up. Maybe it's a disorder. Maybe it's something else. The left never once tried to cool that fire, though. For whatever reason, whether conspiratorial, psychological, sociological, or something even more basic, the left has done nothing for 5 years except congratulate itself for wrongly believing the man is a tyrant and then finding "evidence" of it out of mere suggestions."

Trump Says To Drink Lots Of Water, Media Reports He Told Everyone To Drown Themselves | The Babylon Bee - ""Trump says water is good -- but this is very misleading," said Rachel Maddow. "Did you know that water kills many people every year? These dangerous, unhinged remarks from the president could cause many to drown themselves. Plus, do you know what's hidden in water? Sharks. This president wants you to die from a shark attack!""

Trump keeps claiming that the most dangerous cities in America are all run by Democrats. They aren’t. - The Washington Post - "Most of the current mayors of these cities are Democrats. Two of the mayors of cities with the most reported violent crimes overall, though, are independents and one, the mayor of Jacksonville, Fla., is a Republican. Among the 20 cities with the most violent crime per capita, one isn’t a Democrat: the independent mayor of Springfield, Mo."
This is Snopes level "fact checking"

Donald Trump: 'I was right' about COVID, Hunter Biden, Lafayette Square, other issues - "Former President Donald Trump has offered a handy summary of recent political developments, investigations and media coverage which suggests his perceptions about certain matters were correct. Mr. Trump suggests that analysts and rivals are changing their tune about his time in office.  “Have you noticed that they are now admitting I was right about everything they lied about before the election?” he asked in a statement issued Saturday. And here are his answers, verbatim:  “Hydroxychloroquine works. The virus came from a Chinese lab. Hunter Biden’s laptop was real. Lafayette Square was not cleared for a photo op. The ‘Russian Bounties’ story was fake. We did produce vaccines before the end of 2020, in record time. Blue state lockdowns didn’t work. Schools should be opened. Critical Race Theory is a disaster for our schools and our Country. Our Southern Border security program was unprecedentedly successful”"

'Proven right': Trump savors post-presidency vindication streak - "5. Washington Post corrects report Trump urged election official to "find the fraud": The claim that Trump pressured Georgia's top elections investigator to "find the fraud" in the state's 2020 presidential vote was explosive enough to have made it into the 2021 impeachment memorandum of House Democrats. In its correction two months after the story was first published, the Post admitted that it had "misquoted Trump's comments on the call, based on information provided by a source." Trump in a statement at the time of the correction sharply criticized what he said was the politicized state of current U.S. media. "A strong democracy requires a fair and honest press," he said. "This latest media travesty underscores that legacy media outlets should be regarded as political entities — not journalistic enterprises." "In any event, I thank the Washington Post for the correction," he added."

Colbert Mocks Bill Clinton For Criticizing Trump Behavior in White House
Trump should just have gotten a blowjob

Boston Anti-Trump Rally Involves Flag Burning and Blood Drinking

Tim Pool on Twitter - "Demi Lovato on criticizing Trump: "I literally don't care if this ruins my career""
"At great personal risk Demi Lovato bravely announced her perfectly acceptable mainstream opinion about the orange man being bad"

ASSANGE is a #1A Hero ️🧢 on Twitter - "In an unprecedented public attack by a sitting US president on the leadership of the US military, President Trump has accused US military leaders of seeking to start wars to boost the profits of defense contractors"
"Precedent: President Eisenhower on January 17, 1961 "Eisenhower Farewell Address - 'Military Industrial Complex' WARNING" https://t.co/Mx53PruQfW" / Twitter - ""Precedent: President Eisenhower on January 17, 1961 "Eisenhower Farewell Address - 'Military Industrial Complex' WARNING""
How to get liberals to support the military-industrial complex

Kayleigh McEnany – the 'acceptable' face of Trumpism who infuriates liberals - "It was a mic drop designed to thrill conservatives and infuriate liberals and the media.Kayleigh McEnany, the latest White House press secretary aiming to become the acceptable face of Trumpism, had been asked if she wanted to take back a bold prediction in February that “we will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here”. “I guess I would turn the question back on the media, and ask similar questions,” McEnany said on Wednesday. Consulting her briefing book, she reeled off a list of outlets and articles she said had downplayed the threat.“I’ll leave you with those questions,” she said, “and maybe you’ll have some answers in a few days.”"

CNN mocked for glorifying JFKs ‘legendary’ infidelity after harping on sex allegations against Trump - "Respected DePauw University professor Jeffrey McCall penned an op-ed for The Hill Friday headlined, “CNN lost its way in struggle to find an audience,” slamming the CNN Worldwide Jeff Zucker’s network’s obsession with women who have been friendly with Trump.  “CNN’s warped obsession with reporting about supposed adultery demonstrates a larger problem at the once-proud and groundbreaking channel,” McCall wrote.  McCall also noted that CNN mentioned McDougal and Daniels more often than the recently passed government spending bill, adding that the bill “isn’t photogenic,” and therefore not as critical to the Zucker’s vision for the network as Playmates and porn stars. “But was JFK’s love life really legendary? In actuality, JFK was an awful person in the bedroom who certainly would have been labeled a sexual predator in this #MeToo moment,” Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro wrote, linking to a 2012 Daily Mail story detailing the time Kennedy forced an intern to publicly perform oral sex on his assistant in the White House pool."

Jonathan Schanzer: Even Democrats agree with much of Trump's foreign policy legacy - "When asked whether he thought it was a bad idea for the Trump administration to cajole America’s NATO allies to spend more on defence, Blinken replied: “I do not.” On the Trump administration’s targeted killing of Iranian arch-terrorist Qasem Soleimani in January 2020, Blinken said, “When I was last in office, I saw first-hand the blood that he had on his hands. So, no one regrets the fact that he is no longer there.” After four years of pro-Israel policies under Trump, Blinken showed no intention of changing that. He affirmed that, “Our commitment to Israel’s security is sacrosanct.” He further acknowledged the benefits of Trump’s landmark peace deals inked between Israel and four Arab states: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.  Blinken called China the “most significant challenge of any nation state to the United States,” echoing the two of the most important documents issued by the Trump administration: the “National Security Strategy” and “National Defense Strategy.”   Even the Trump administration’s decision on its final day to call the Chinese treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang a “genocide” did not seem to bother Blinken... even Trump’s inconsistencies may ultimately be viewed by historians as strengths. The inability to predict the behaviour of the American president likely curbed some of China’s predatory behaviour. It likely hindered the Iranians from engaging in more brazen violence. It pushed NATO countries to pony up more for defence. And it certainly seemed to prompt our southern neighbours to get a better handle on illegal immigration before it reached America’s borders."

Woke Liberal Chelsea Handler Responds to 50 Cent Supporting Trump With Straight Up Racism: “I Had to Remind Him That He’s Black”

Opinion | They Are Not the Resistance. They Are Not a Cabal. They Are Public Servants. - The New York Times - "President Trump is right: The deep state is alive and well. But it is not the sinister, antidemocratic cabal of his fever dreams. It is, rather, a collection of patriotic public servants — career diplomats, scientists, intelligence officers and others — who, from within the bowels of this corrupt and corrupting administration, have somehow remembered that their duty is to protect the interests, not of a particular leader, but of the American people."
The "deep state" went from a far right conspiracy theory to a good thing really quickly
I like how subverting a democratically elected leader is a good thing. This from the same people who claim the popular will is thwarted by a corrupt political system

Escape The Echo Chamber - Posts - "Taibbi is acknowledging that Trump is a flawed President, at least by conventional standards, but is warning about the danger to the republic when the intelligence community actively works to remove the president from office.Just as unsympathetic defendants lead to bad case law, an unsympathetic President can lead to a corruption of the system that has kept this country vibrant for over 200 years.The country will survive the Trump presidency just as it has survived dozens of other presidents. It might not survive if unelected bureaucrats work to disrupt the political system."

Escape The Echo Chamber - Posts - "The country will survive Trump. While his words and behavior shock many, the system is operating. The courts have overruled and accepted administrative decisions. The loyal opposition is loud and powerful. The voters are as informed as they want to be. The courts are independent, the press is free, and the next president will reverse many Trump decisions.I’m far more concerned about how the reaction to Trump is destabilizing the country. For many, the solution to Trump is to change a system that has kept the country stable for centuries. Administrative departments are leaking and defying established processes. There is a push to end the electoral system. The House appears set to impeach the president without a high crime or misdemeanor. There is talk of packing the courts.Trump will be gone next year or in a few years. But are we going to enter an era where an opposition House will always be searching for a narrative to impeach? Is every President now going to be faced with a barrage of lawsuits, further forcing the game to the wealthy? Will the electoral system be upended, reducing the voice of rural states? Will corporate censorship further increase in the name of removing the bad (along with the good)? Will unelected Bureaucrats be further emboldened to undermine the voter’s choice?"

Escape The Echo Chamber - Posts - "When Trump entered the race for president he stood out for his insults and unpresidential comments. What continues to surprise me is how his opponents are willing get down in the mud and try to out wrestle him. It’s four years later and Trump doesn’t stand out for his behavior anymore.Last night, after Trump refused to shake Pelosi’s hand, several Democrats made a noisy show of leaving the speech, a guest of Pelosi’s started yelling and had to be removed, and Pelosi tore up the constitutionally required State of the Union document that Trump delivered to her...  What I’m seeing is congressional Democrats making a big mistake in the lead up to 2020 elections. They are pandering to the base by trying to “out Trump” Trump, but they are alienating the middle. Meanwhile Trump is carefully packaging messages to key voting blocks while presenting a positive message about how the country is improving and what more it can become. It’s a coherent strategy that has worked for other two-term Presidents.Last night the Democrats didn’t look like the adults in the room and that benefits Trump."

Escape The Echo Chamber - Posts - "If you’ve been following the Trump/Russia arguments the last three years, there was a belief that Trump will not support Ukraine to curry favor with Putin. That has turned out to not be the case. Instead, support for Ukraine has increased, including weapons that the previous administration did not want to release to the country."

Escape The Echo Chamber - Posts - "Four Democrat Senators sent a letter to Ukraine in 2018 asking the country to keep investigating Trump or their support for Ukrainian aid may end."

Escape The Echo Chamber - Posts - "Yesterday Justice Roberts publicly criticized Sen. Schumer for threatening two Supreme Court justices. Three weeks ago, Schumer was calling for Roberts to defend the Supreme Court from criticism by President Trump.Both sides of the political divide are using the same tactics to both defend and attack each other. Perhaps it’s time to stop pretending that one side is more virtuous than the other."

SNL's Michael Che: 'I Wouldn't Mind' if Trump Were Innocent But Went to Jail Anyway

Trump gives $35 million to aid human trafficking victims - "President Trump has sought to elevate the fight against human trafficking since taking office. In January, he appointed a special adviser for the issue."
Naturally there are people bashing him for this, saying it's a diversion

Newt Gingrich warns making Trump a martyr will divide America even more

Michael Tracey on Twitter - "You can tell this impeachment trial is extremely important because it seems to largely consist of carefully analyzing tweets"
On Trump's second impeachment

Reckless rhetoric is a reckless standard in this impeachment - "In 2020, his conduct when it came to Ukraine turned on his words alone. This time, a vote to convict could be seen as implicating a host of others in using similarly reckless rhetoric, including some of these Senate jurors.  The search for moral clarity will be lost if Americans cannot distinguish between the behavior of the accused and that of his jury. Polls show half the country favors conviction, so this trial could end up as an indictment of both sides for fueling our divisions. Impeachment was intended to be used in the clearest cases to secure a supermajority vote for conviction. However, Congress itself could wind up appearing like an unimpeached conspirator, not in the riots, but with our national discord... While the House frames these words in the most perilous light, it barely mentions other words that reinforce nonviolence. Trump told the crowd that “everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” He said the reason for the march was that “we are going to cheer on our brave” members of Congress... Cheering on your allies is an act of free speech rather than insurrection. Yet the House impeached Trump for inciting an insurrection or rebellion. Its article does not charge him with recklessly causing riots or threats to Congress. It alleges an effort to overthrow our government, which is the deepest hole to dig in the House and then fill in the Senate. The Supreme Court has rejected fluid standards to criminalize speech. Cases based on these remarks would likely fail. In Brandenburg versus Ohio, the Supreme Court refused to allow the government to criminalize speech which calls for “the use of force or of law violation” unless it is imminent. Lawyers for Trump will likely play similar language used by Democrats in both chambers to “fight” for the country and “retake” Congress. During the inauguration of Trump, Democrats denounced his legitimacy as riots broke out in Washington involving several violent groups. Maxine Waters later called on people to confront Republicans in public. Ayanna Pressley also insisted during the violent marches last year that “there needs to be unrest in the streets.” Kamala Harris claimed “protesters should not let up” even as many of them became violent. Nancy Pelosi has condemned her fellow lawmakers as effectively traitors and the “enemy within.”... Such reckless rhetoric reflects our age of rage. Charles Schumer stood in front of the Supreme Court and, citing two justices by name, he declared rather menacingly, “Hey, Gorsuch. Hey, Kavanaugh. You have unleashed a whirlwind and you are going to pay the price.” Further, Cori Bush seemed to defend that recent takeover of a Saint Louis prison in a tweet with the words of Martin Luther King that riots are “the language of the unheard.” Gretchen Whitmer defended state lawmaker Cynthia Johnson for calling for “soldiers” to make Trump supporters “pay” for harassing her. James Comey used such rhetoric when he said, “The Republican Party needs to be burned down. It is just not a healthy political organization.” Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin likewise claimed, “We have to collectively in essence burn down the Republican Party. We should level them because if there are survivors, if there are people who weather the storm, they will do it again.” Though the Republican National Committee was targeted with the pipe bomb, would that constitute incitement? Not under Brandenburg. Such rhetoric extends to academics who regularly abhor violence. Professor Erik Loomis said he saw “nothing wrong” with the killing of a conservative protester from a “moral perspective.” While they are not the president, lawmakers and pundits often engage in more violent speech than what Trump said. While clearly not responsible for the disgraceful riots at the Capitol, many of them remain accessories to stoking our politics of hate and division. Many of their claims are being defended as appropriate calls to action to combat greater social injustice. The issue is whether we want shifting majorities to decide whether words are inciteful or insightful. That is a dangerously fluid standard."

Out-Of-Work Waitress Excited To See Congress Spend Time Impeaching Trump Again | The Babylon Bee

Democrats Claim Real Impeachment Has Never Been Tried | The Babylon Bee - "After suffering defeat in their bid to impeach President Trump, Democrats in Washington are making the claim that real impeachment has never been tried."

Experts at Trump impeachment hearing outline 'serious abuse of power' - "Turley also seemed to question whether Democrats are actually aiming to build a successful impeachment case for a Senate trial. "Fast is not good for impeachment. Narrow, fast impeachments have failed, just ask Johnson," he said. "This is the narrowest impeachment in history... Turley calls the current legal case for impeachment not just “woefully inadequate, but in some respects, dangerous, as the basis for the impeachment of an American president.”  “I am concerned about lowering impeachment standards to fit a paucity of evidence and an abundance of anger. If the House proceeds solely on the Ukrainian allegations, this impeachment would stand out among modern impeachments as the shortest proceeding, with the thinnest evidentiary record, and the narrowest grounds ever used to impeach a president.,” Turley says in his opening statement.  “That does not bode well for future presidents who are working in a country often sharply and, at times, bitterly divided,” he says."
On the first attempt

Can President Trump be Impeached and Removed on the Grounds of Incitement? - "If Trump’s speech is protected by the First Amendment, then incitement cannot be grounds for impeachment...   Lawyers, and even judges, often misread Trump's speeches. But the task of fairly parsing a politician's speech, including a Trump speech, is not novel. It is traditional. Blackman engaged in such a parsing of Trump's remarks prior to his signing Travel Ban 1.0. Many people, including Justice Sotomayor, took out of context Trump's remark, "We all know what that means." Facts matter when prosecuting or removing a President—even one who has otherwise failed to reach the traditional aspirational norms of high office.   Do these remarks meet the Brandenburg standard? Blackman's co-blogger, Professor Eugene Volokh, suggests that the answer is no... Professor Howard Wasserman reached a similar conclusion.  The Supreme Court's caselaw is very protective of free speech. If Trump's speech was protected by the First Amendment, he could not be prosecuted for criminal incitement—regardless of whether he is President. Presidents do not surrender their free speech rights. This analysis should resolve the question faced by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia... We have consistently taken the position that the Constitution imposes limits on the impeachment process...   In 2017, Blackman offered another example to illustrate this dynamic based on the Constitution's Religious Test Clause. That clause provides that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." This clause applies to all appointed and elected federal officials. If the Constitution does not restrict the impeachment process, then Congress could impeach the President for adhering to an unpopular religion...   In his classic book about presidential impeachments, Grand Inquests, Chief Justice Rehnquist observed that, during times of conflict, "[p]rovisions in the Constitution for judicial independence, or provisions guaranteeing freedom of speech to the President as well as others, suddenly appear as obstacles to the accomplishment of the greater good." The Chief Justice was right. We should pause before setting a precedent where the President is impeached, removed, sued, or criminally tried for speech urging political action by supporters or by other third parties, unless such speech is clearly not protected by the Constitution."
Naturally, these 2 credentialed legal scholars were treated with contempt by the TDS crowd

Trump Impeachment Was The Revenge Of The Political Establishment - "With Pelosi and her caucus’ help, the establishment is exploiting last week’s invasion of the Capitol, which Trump didn’t incite. They achieved their purpose, which was to kick Trump and policies’ supporters in the ass as he leaves office... the same Democrats who delayed passing a COVID relief bill for months because they didn’t want to give Trump a victory was able to rush through a bill of impeachment in less than a week"

Former Democratic Leader Daschle Warns Against Trump Impeachment - Bloomberg - "  Daschle called impeachment at a moment that party control of the Senate is so tenuous a “mistake,” saying it would first “galvanize” Trump’s supporters and then delay work on crucial issues"

Senate Republican threatens impeachments of past Democratic presidents - "“If it is a good idea to impeach and try former presidents, what about former Democratic presidents when Republicans get the majority in 2022?”

Rand Paul ACTIVATED – the senator lays out all the times leftists have recently incited violence as Impeachment 2.0 continues - ""No Democrat will honestly ask whether Bernie Sanders incited the shooter that nearly killed Steve Scalise and a volunteer coach. The shooter nearly pulled off a massacre."
"No Democrat will ask whether Cory Booker incited violence when he called for his supporters to 'get up in their face' of congresspeople, a very visual and specific incitement."
"No Democrat will ask whether Maxine Waters incited violence when she literally told her supporters and I quote, 'If you see a member of the Trump administration... any place, you create a crowd and you push back on them.' Is that not incitement?"
"Kamala Harris famously offered to pay the bill for those who were arrested [in the BLM riots]. I wonder if she will be brought up on charges of inciting violence for that now that she's Vice President? Should Kamala Harris be impeached for offering to pay for violent people to get out of jail who've been burning our cities down?"
"The mayor of Seattle, who incited and condoned violence by calling the armed takeover of part of her city 'a summer of love.'"
"On June 8th, the New York Post, citing U.S. Department of Justice statistics, reported that more than 700 law enforcement officers were injured during the Antifa/Black Lives Matter riots. There were at least 19 murders, including 77-year-old retired police officer David Dorn."
Paul pointed out how he and his wife were threatened by a violent mob last summer. He also noted that GOP legislators have never called to impeach those who used heated political rhetoric or even promoted violence, despite these examples over the past few years.
"Shame on these angry, unhinged partisans putting forth this sham impeachment, deranged by their hatred of the former president.""

WATCH: Sen. Rand Paul calls for the impeachment of Sen. Chuck Schumer - ""He went to the Supreme Court, stood in front of the Supreme Court, and said specifically, 'hey Gorsuch, hey Kavanaugh, you've unleashed a whirlwind, and you're gonna pay the price. You won't know what hit you if you continue with these awful decisions.  "This inflammatory wording, this violent rhetoric from Chuck Schumer was so bad that the Chief Justice, who rarely says anything publicly, said 'this kind of language is dangerous' as a mob tried to invade the Supreme Court."

AP on Twitter - "Im old enough to remember when the left said Trump was going to start ww3. Couldn't be further from the truth as to the peace he's actually brought around the world."

Donald Trump nominated for Nobel Peace Prize - "“For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other Peace Prize nominees”...   "The people who have received the Peace Prize in recent years have done much less than Donald Trump. For example, Barack Obama did nothing.”"

James Lindsay - Posts | Facebook - "Put the two China stories out today together  Corporate elites, media, and politicians who weaponized Russiagate and the Fine People Hoax   Their target was the one president they couldn't control  To take him out"
"I've been of this mind for a few months. The Trump hysteria, if you ask me, was a little to do with Trump himself (obviously, lol) and mostly to do with the fact that he was outside of their control. When you adopt this view, a lot of cognitive dissonance falls away. Try it."

The American Independent on Twitter - "Praising his own virus response as deaths near 200,000, Trump says, "if you take the blue states out, we're at a level I don't think anybody in the world would be at."
The outrage comes from the same people who mock flyover country as a land of deplorables, say land doesn't vote and tell red states to secede because they'll die without the blue ones

DrJai 🦺 on Twitter - "Democrats: "Donald Trump will destroy democracy as we know it"
Also Democrats:
- Steal nomination from Bernie in 2016
- Steal nomination from Bernie in 2020
- Blocking Green Party access in 2020
Which democracy are you trying to save from DJT?"

Kambree on Twitter - "Find someone who looks at you the way Al Sharpton looked at Trump before he became president."

Razor on Twitter - "Pres. Donald Trump pushes racial division, flouts virus rules at the foot of Mount Rushmore."
"@ABC President quotes MLK, encourages equal justice, calls America great, and you call it pushing racial division. It’s almost as if you didn’t read the speech and are the hateful ones deceptively pushing racial division for clicks."

Trump Has Condemned White Supremacists - FactCheck.org - "Former Vice President Joe Biden wrongly claimed President Donald Trump has “yet once to condemn white supremacy, the neo-Nazis.”... contrary to Biden’s claim that Trump has “yet once to condemn white supremacy, the neo-Nazis,” in the course of two days, Trump did it twice. Nor was that the last time Trump condemned white supremacy by name."

Fact check: Coronavirus vaccine could come this year, Trump says. Experts say he needs a 'miracle' to be right.
Miracles do happen after all. And not just one vaccine, nor two, but even three (if you count Astrazeneca - approved in the UK on 30 Dec 2020). Or maybe "fact checkers'" biases blinded them

PolitiFact | No, Trump didn’t tell Americans infected with the coronavirus to drink bleach
I still see people with TDS repeating this lie, together with the covid hoax one

Escape The Echo Chamber - "A former FBI assistant director explains the absurdities of the document that created the failed Russian collusion investigation. Peter Strzok approved his own investigation, that was based on supposition, then expanded the investigation without supporting evidence."
Article: New FBI document confirms the Trump campaign was investigated without justification

David Hogg on Twitter - "Imagine calling the immigrant parents that bring their children to the United States for a better life “Coyotes” The level of xenophobia is sickening."
FAIL

Meme - "Woke v. Never Trump is perfection."
"The Lincoln Project: Donald Trump is the most racist president in American history."
"Ida Bae Wells: ...
10 of the first 12 presidents enslaved Black people."
"When the woman who kicked off the 1619 project has to correct you...."

James Lindsay - Posts | Facebook - "Maybe—and just hear me out here—a Trump rally is also the voice of the unheard. And no buildings or police cars get set on fire in the process."

Hundreds of writers and book agents sign joint letter demanding publishing industry bans Trump memoir - "The letter, titled "No Book Deals for Traitors,” was signed by more than 250 editors, authors and publishing agents last week... “No participant in an administration that caged children, performed involuntary surgeries on captive women, and scoffed at science as millions were infected with a deadly virus should be enriched by the almost rote largesse of a big book deal.”"
When people in the books industry want books to be banned
Of course, Biden's kids in cages won't count. Nor will the fact that the mass hysterectomies are just rumours

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