A collection of found items
Trump Chooses His Cabinet
Much of the action has taken place under the chandelier in the tearoom at Mar-a-Lago, where Mr. Trump surveys his potential Cabinet nominees on giant video screens.
He flicks through shortlists that his transition team, led by the billionaire Howard Lutnick, has drafted over the past months. If Mr. Trump shows an interest in a candidate, the presentation is designed to allow him to immediately watch videos of the potential nominee’s TV appearances — essential for any would-be Trump cabinet official.
“Under the Chandelier at Mar-a-Lago, Trump Makes Picks at Breakneck Speed,” The New York Times, November 16, 2024
just as we suspected. Donny’s being shown photos, and making spur-of-the-moment decisions based on his head-trauma notion of central casting. no vetting, no background checks. just Donny being shown a fucking slide show.
that’s how Donny ended up with this dude as his nominee for Secretary of Defense.
Jeff Tiedrich, everyone is entitled to my own opinion, November 17, 2024
By “Economy” the Voters Mean “Consumer Sentiment”
And the Consumer Sentiment poll responses depend on political party and the incumbent President. Political Independents are excluded from the results.
It’s been that way for the last three presidential elections:
“Republicans and Democrats see different recoveries,” Sam Ro, Axios, Jun 28, 2021
So what is this Consumer Sentiment Index that seems to predict election winners? The Index is a product of Morning Consult, an online survey company that contacts “over 30,000 people around the world every day” but somehow “reaches tens of millions of adults globally.”
Axios says
Morning Consult measures [consumer] sentiment by asking people questions about both current economic conditions (good or bad?) and their expectations for the future (better or worse?).
Consumer sentiment used to reflect current economic conditions, but for the past several years it’s grown increasingly political.
Put plainly, when your person is in the White House, or about to be, you feel good and hopeful about the economy. When you’re on the outs, not so much.
Trump Wins
Americans Want Lower Prices
Fewer Americans Want to Vote
10 million fewer votes for the winner, 8 million fewer for the loser.
The Worst Picture Ever
That is not AI by the way, that is a real photo and it may be the worst photo of any human being ever taken.
— Election 2024: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver , Nov 4, 2024
Election Disinformation
Dueling Ads
Trump Loves Puerto Rico
Trump Wants to be Daddy
Trump Wants to be Dictator
Hitler – after he became the chancellor of Germany in 1933 – required the military swear an oath to him personally. The Holocaust Encyclopedia notes this “oath represented the beginning of a process of politicization, or Nazification, of the German military.”
As a reminder, Project 2025 contemplates a federal workforce loyal to Trump.
Dean Obeidallah, Oct 23, 2024
Do You Want Fries with That?
Trump did a photo op at a McDonalds in the swing state of Pennsylvania, where he took prepared fries out of the fryolator. . . it was all staged: the restaurant was closed, the five “customers” were loyalists who had practiced their roles, and when Trump handed food through the drive-through window, he did not take money or make change.
Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American, October 20, 2024
Origin Story
We Created a Monster: Trump Was a TV Fantasy Invented for ‘The Apprentice’
NBC’s former chief marketer regrets selling an illusion that has had dire consequences for the world.
By John D. Miller , U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 16, 2024
I want to apologize to America. I helped create a monster.
For nearly 25 years, I led marketing at NBC and NBCUniversal. I led the team that marketed “The Apprentice,” the reality show that made Donald Trump a household name outside of New York City, where he was better known for overextending his empire and appearing in celebrity gossip columns.
To sell the show, we created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty. That was the conceit of the show. At the very least, it was a substantial exaggeration; at worst, it created a false narrative by making him seem more successful than he was.
In fact, Trump declared business bankruptcy four times before the show went into production, and at least twice more during his 14 seasons hosting. The imposing board room where he famously fired contestants was a set, because his real boardroom was too old and shabby for TV.
Voting advice from Elon’s Mom
In fact, it is illegal. Voter registration forms say so:
Not only that, you do have to be registered to vote. If you are not registered by election day at the polls, you won’t be given a ballot. If Maye has ever voted in the United States I don’t think she was paying attention.
FEMA Funds and Projection
“Trump has a habit of assuming other politicians act in the same way as he would,” [Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post] wrote. So he looked into why Trump would have accused Biden “of raiding the FEMA disaster fund to handle undocumented migrants. It turns out that’s because he did this.”
In the middle of hurricane season in 2019, Kessler explains, Trump took $155 million from the FEMA disaster fund and redirected it to pay for detention space and temporary hearing locations for immigrants seeking asylum. “No, Biden didn’t take FEMA relief money to use on migrants,” the article title reads, “but Trump did.”
Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American, October 4, 2024
Election Interference
Trump Watches
September 27, 2024
The Return of Four Seasons Landscaping
Trump Too Old to Campaign
“People in Trump’s camp give three primary reasons he’s hitting the road less this time, Axios’ Sophia Cai reports:
- He’s a known quantity. The campaign feels less need to define him or his candidacy for voters this time around.
- Rallies are expensive. Trump’s campaign managers this cycle are keeping a closer hold on the purse strings.
- He’s older, and more inclined to spend his time at Mar-a-Lago.”
— “Trump holding far fewer rallies than in past runs,” Dave Lawler, Axios, September 22, 2024
Mark Robinson
“Like their unwavering support for Donald Trump, nothing seems to faze MAGA voters about Robinson. As Raw Story summarized, several MAGA supporters of Robinson interviewed by CNN are standing by their man. Here is a smattering of what Trump-rally goers said when asked about them:”
70-year-old Bob Judson explained, “I didn’t put much credence in it. We’ve all done things in our past that we’re sorry for. Some of the things are crazy,” before adding, “I mean if we just went on that, we wouldn’t be here for Trump, would we?”
— Jay Kuo, The Status Kuo, September 23, 2024
Promise Them Anything
Donny has reached the promise them anything stage of his campaign.
Trump … has recently tossed off promises to abolish taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security; make in-vitro fertilization free to patients; cap credit card interest rates; cut car insurance rates and restore the state and local tax deduction.
It’s been three weeks since Donny promised free IVF and there’s still not one word about it on his campaign website. Remember Donny’s wackadoodle plan for flying cars? That’s still up on his site — but not free IVF.
— Jeff Tiedrich from Everyone is Entitled to My Own Opinion, September 22, 2024
Official Trump Coins!
Making Women Great Again
“Donald Trump complains that Kamala Harris is too joyful, that she laughs too much. Trump thrives on a dark vision of America in chaos, casting himself in the role of faux superhero coming to save us all. He benefits from fearmongering. Trump made the deliberate choice to talk about “American carnage” in his inaugural address in 2020. As he loses votes among women, Trump resorts to telling us what to think and how to feel. It has nothing to do with our well-being and everything to do with helping him win the election. Sorry Donald. We are not going back.”
— Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse, September 22, 2024
Rigging the Election
The New Yorker’s Philip Gourevitch noted that “Trump has been begging officials worldwide not to do the right thing for years to help rig the election for him—no deal in Gaza, no defense of Ukraine, no Kremlin hostages release, no border deal, no continuing resolution, no interest rate cuts, etc. — just sabotage & subterfuge.”
— Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American, September 18, 2024
Normalizing Violence
“Vance declared it is far too inflammatory to call Trump a fascist, forgetting that Trump called Harris a fascist twice just in the last week.
— LISA NEEDHAM, SEP 19, 2024
Haitian Terror Threats
Eating Dogs and Cats
Harris-Trump Debate
Trump Platform
Tim Walz
Arlington National Cemetery
Campaign Collectibles
Republican Racism
Trump’s Project 2025
Trump and the Media
Why was Trump gifted such a massive amount of free corporate media coverage? The then head of CBS Les Moonves candidly answered that during the 2016 campaign, telling us Trump “may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.” Moonves continued, “The money’s rolling in, this is fun…I’ve never seen anything like this and this is going to be a very good year for us.” The former CBS head honcho added, “It’s a terrible thing to say, but bring it on, Donald, go ahead, keep going.”
Dean Obeidallah, The Dean’s Report, Sep 25, 2024
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