The 2019 Trump Presidency Thread

[JGrimez]

who decides what's funny?

Definitely not you, or anyone on the Left.

Who's been trying to shut down and sanitize standup comedy recently?

"You can't say that!"

 

[TheLoveBandit]

who decides what's funny? who should reprimand them? what should it be?

it's funny being accused of being humorless by people who are demonstrably humorless

alasdair

Uh...about a dozen folks in the meme thread, it appears.

 

[alasdairm]

^

Definitely not you, or anyone on the Left.

president trump - and you perhaps - not a big fan of the free speech.

trump speaks his mind! he tells it how it is! that's why i support him. what? somebody spoke their mind about president trump? throw them in jail!

it would be absolutely hilarious if it wasn't so fucking tragic.

but let's explore this. now you've created your ministry of humor and staffed it with your right-leaning arbiters of humor, what happens when people are found guilty of being not funny? what happens to them?

alasdair

 

[JGrimez]

This proves my point actually. You can't even detect a joke, so no I don't actually want to silence you (or anyone that tells shitty jokes).

Ironically (I assume that) you are the one who wishes to censor people who tell off-color jokes.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

I just saw the South Park episode with Tweak's song about North Korea. WHY ARE YOU ALL JUST SITTING THERE?

 

[Burnt Offerings]

I believe that we are living history right now (arguably since November 2016). This is truly Watergate 2.0

I swear, some of the details of the Trump story would be considered outlandish for an espionage thriller...or a political satire. It's half dark, underworld themes, with sleazy pay-for-pay schemes w/ a, how shall we say, "unsavoury" international cast of characters (including but definitely not limited to Russia/former USSR Central Asia), and half The Onion.

It's fascinating to me, TBH. There are so many potential avenues for exploration when it comes to Trump and his circle

Lately it seems like everyone, including people who ostensibly support him, have been treating him like he's a crazy person. Literally. Like he's the doddering old racist grandpa who everyone tolerates at Thanksgiving. "Oh gramps is ranting about the blacks again? Oh don't mind him, he doesn't even know what he's saying half the time."

 

[TheLoveBandit]

What I gather from the last two posts is that Trump is a real life South Park character. It makes sense to me, tbh.

 

[JGrimez]

This is truly Watergate 2.0

Sorry I thought you were talking about the FISA abuse scandal where government officials colluded to try and remove Trump who was democratically-elected (in be4 electoral college).

For some reason the MSM isn't interested in that story!

 

[Captain.Heroin]

 

[fairnymph]

They should be reprimanded for not being funny.

LOL. If I can catch this as humour, the rest of you have no excuse.

 

[alasdairm]

This proves my point actually. You can't even detect a joke...

ah! the old "i was only joking and you didn't get it" defense. lol. good one.

...so no I don't actually want to silence you (or anyone that tells shitty jokes).

so you agree with me on this. lovely.

it's pretty pathetic when we have a "national emergency" to which the president responds by going golfing and ragetweeting at a tv comedy show

Ironically (I assume that) you are the one who wishes to censor people who tell off-color jokes.

i have no problem with off-color jokes but keep assuming.

Sorry I thought you were talking about the FISA abuse scandal where government officials colluded to try and remove Trump who was democratically-elected (in be4 electoral college).

For some reason the MSM isn't interested in that story!

2 points deducted for whataboutism. this is the trump thread - please try to stay on topic

alasdair

 

[Burnt Offerings]

Sorry I thought you were talking about the FISA abuse scandal where government officials colluded to try and remove Trump who was democratically-elected (in be4 electoral college).

For some reason the MSM isn't interested in that story!

I mean, he was elected through a legitimate process and he's now our president (a fact we all have to live with). But democratically-elected? That's a bit of a stretch.

As far as this "deep state vs. Trump" thing goes, yes government bureaucrats are sometimes corrupt & abusive with their authority, but comparing the corruption of these people in, say, the intelligence agencies or FBI, with the corruption of Trump and his administration, is like comparing a pea to a basketball IMO. I think that's becoming more apparent with each passing day.

 

[alasdairm]

if a liberal deep state is a thing, how did trump get elected in the first place? makes much more sense to ensure he's not elected in the first place than allow him to be elected then sabotage him once in office...

alasdair

 

[JGrimez]

ah! the old "i was only joking and you didn't get it" defense. lol. good one.

Honestly dude if you think I want to punish people under the law for "not being funny" then I don't know what to say to you. How would you even measure something like that?

so you agree with me on this. lovely.

Not sure if you've noticed, but it's your "side" that is against free speech these days. I want anyone to be able to say anything. Political correctness is a cancer ("tyranny with manners"). I actually enjoy watching the Left fail in their attempts at humor and memes, but the censorship is beginning to get really annoying (and blatant).

it's pretty pathetic when we have a "national emergency" to which the president responds by going golfing and ragetweeting at a tv comedy show

I could agree with this, but look at the previous national emergencies and what they were used for. What I find pathetic is the Left ignores child sex trafficking across the border in order to score political points against POTUS. There is a national emergency, depending on whether you consider illegal immigration, cartel activity and sex trafficking as threats to national security. I would. The issue here is that these problems have become the status quo for so long that so many people are like "huh? what problems?"

ii have no problem with off-color jokes but keep assuming.

Now I'm more concerned that you wouldn't be able to recognize that it was a joke.

2 points deducted for whataboutism. this is the trump thread - please try to stay on topic

An attempted coup against Trump - is directly related to Trump.

I mean, he was elected through a legitimate process and he's now our president (a fact we all have to live with). But democratically-elected? That's a bit of a stretch.

The US is a representative democracy. If you consider the electoral process to be legitimate then he was democratically-elected (the irony here is that I consider the electoral system completely fucked - not because of the electoral college but for systemic fraud). Popular vote would a disaster, tyranny of the liberal majority (plus all the illegal votes)

As far as this "deep state vs. Trump" thing goes, yes government bureaucrats are sometimes corrupt & abusive with their authority, but comparing the corruption of these people in, say, the intelligence agencies or FBI, with the corruption of Trump and his administration, is like comparing a pea to a basketball IMO. I think that's becoming more apparent with each passing day.

You are completely wrong and have it reversed. Each passing day... you mean like last week when the Senate Intel Committee stated that after 2 years of intensive investigation that they had found NO EVIDENCE of collusion between Russia and the Trump administration? The more time that passes the more it looks like there haven't been any crimes committed. So really you're lacking evidence, and speculating based on conspiracy theories. On the other hand, there is direct evidence of what happened with Comey and others abusing the FISA courts to get an illegal wiretap on Carter Page and the entire Trump administration. I feel that most people here willingly choose not to look into the actual and provable corruption here because it shows Trump's opponents to be criminals and Trump to be innocent. But this will eventually come out, be undeniable, the MSM will report on it and then it will be upgraded from "conspiracy theory" to a scandal worthy of discussion on BL (FAR worse than Watergate btw - wiretapping a sitting president??)

if a liberal deep state is a thing, how did trump get elected in the first place? makes much more sense to ensure he's not elected in the first place than allow him to be elected then sabotage him once in office...

Good question and that goes back to my earlier point about electoral fraud. They thought that Clinton had the win in the bag. I don't know what they had planned, whether it was (most likely) widespread electoral fraud, but you can tell by their words, actions and attitudes before the voting - they thought they were definitely going to win. The polls were obviously fake (98% Hillary to win), but Clinton's camp must have known that Trump was a threat. Still, Clinton didn't even campaign in the Rust Belt - now that is either the stupidest campaign decision ever made, or she thought she already had it in the bag.

Also Trump/Clinton were both asked if they would accept the results of the upcoming election. Trump said "we'll see" because he was suss on the electoral process and expected mass fuckery. Clinton (and the entire on MSM) on the other hand got extremely hysterical and BLASTED Trump for not vowing to instantly accept the results of the election.

Anyone who doesn't accept the results of an election is a threat to democracy

Oh, then how come Clinton didn't accept the results? Didn't go to plan after she lost?

There is no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you could even - you could even rig America's elections, in part, because they are so decentralized and the numbers of votes involved. There is no evidence that that has happened in the past or that there are instances in which that will happen this time. And so I'd invite Mr. Trump to stop whining and go try to make his case to get votes.

So hang on, they said that they knew about Russian influence at this point? Why so calm Obama? No such thing as electoral fraud?

So let's say that's true, and they had it rigged, how did Trump win? Well no plan is foolproof. Thankfully the system is still working up to a point. So it's possible that they actually underestimated just how much support and votes Trump would receive, and that screwed their plans.

Oops, "what do we do now? Let's say that the Russians got him elected!! Call Bob"

 

[alasdairm]

Honestly dude if you think I want to punish people under the law for "not being funny" then I don't know what to say to you.

the president of the u.s. wants to! really, just think about that for a second. it's absolutely fucking insane. and people agree with him. is it so crazy to imagine one of his supporters on bl might also agree? indeed, the very fact that i even considered the possibility it wasn't a joke speaks hugely of the utter fucking joke president trump has become.

How would you even measure something like that?

lol. exactly

I could agree with this, but look at the previous national emergencies and what they were used for.

but what about? what about?

The US is a representative democracy. If you consider the electoral process to be legitimate then he was democratically-elected (the irony here is that I consider the electoral system completely fucked - not because of the electoral college but for systemic fraud). Popular vote would a disaster, tyranny of the liberal majority (plus all the illegal votes)

i think the electoral college is a flawed system but i accept that, even after trump's evidence-free claims of voter fraud, he is the democratically-elected president.

even trump agrees with me on the electoral college. look at this!

finally! trump and i agree on something!

phew. that's that then. wait. what?

what's this - trump is talking about the electoral college again? i need to listen to this because we agree right? and that all everybody in the world except you knows how to do

now i am confused. one of the great things about trump is he's a real straight-shooter. you always know what he thinks on a subject. but here he is saying the exact opposite because it worked for him this time. d'oh! now i don't know what to think...

talking of election fraud, as we were, today: North Carolina's elections director says there is evidence of significant voter fraud that helped a GOP candidate win

A Republican operative, who last year rounded up votes for a GOP candidate running for Congress, conducted an illegal and well-funded ballot-harvesting operation, North Carolina's elections director said on Monday.

The director's testimony came on the first day of a hearing into whether mail-in ballots were tampered with a in race for the state's 9th congressional district seat that saw Republican Mark Harris narrowly defeat Democrat Dan McCready.

The race wasn't certified, leaving the country's only congressional election without a declared winner. The elections board is expected to either declare a winner or order a new election after the hearing.

"The evidence that we will provide today will show that a coordinated, unlawful and substantially resourced absentee ballot scheme operated in the 2018 general election" in rural Bladen and Robeson counties, which are part of North Carolina's 9th congressional district, state elections director Kim Strach said at the start of a state elections board hearing.

i'll set the over/under for somebody declaring this fake news at about 5 minutes

alasdair

 

[Burnt Offerings]

Lol dude you know as well as I do that if you gave a serious look at the Trump family's business interests, the potential conflicts of interest would make the Clinton Foundation look like a lemonade stand by comparison. I don't have to prove that he's a corrupt public servant, as there is ample evidence of everyone from the Chinese to the Saudis to Paul LePage funneling him money through his real estate & business interests since he became president. The fake news media has been doing good coverage on this topic recently, Saudis alone put over a quarter million through Trump's hotels) Everyone took Trump as the kind of guy who'd put a thumb on the scale for varying amounts of money (and that was probably an accurate assessment on their part!)

But, beyond the most vulgar of the ethical breaches, I just find Trump to be poison in the body politic, TBH. His presidency has actually made me more optimistic about our political system, though, which has (so far...) reigned him in. I believe that, in his utopia, there'd be a military parade every other day and everyone would be lining up to kiss his ass.

The Russia thing...that's more just like a really interesting sideshow IMO

 

[JGrimez]

the president of the u.s. wants to! really, just think about that for a second. it's absolutely fucking insane. and people agree with him. is it so crazy to imagine one of his supporters on bl might also agree? indeed, the very fact that i even considered the possibility it wasn't a joke speaks hugely of the utter fucking joke president trump has become.

No, that's just you completely misreading a situation. I've seen so many people take Trump's jokes seriously, it has led to many facepalms. Remember when he joked that the Russians should find the subpoena'd evidence that was deleted by Hillary? People actually took that as evidence of collusion. So, go ahead please show me where Trump has stated that he wants to prosecute people for telling jokes. Purposefully spreading fake news and propaganda, maybe..

(btw whataboutism is a term used to deflect or hide from hypocrisy. It was concocted by the Left when people were showing that Clinton et al. had colluded with Russians during the Uranium One scandal, at the same time that she and others were accusing Trump of Russian collusion. So yea, sometimes "what about" is important for context, comparisons and exposure of hypocrisy).

As for the electoral college. I personally think it's a good idea (if everything runs above board). In regards to Trump's comment, have you ever changed your opinion on something in the space of 4 years? I have, many times. And it's not like his supporters are forgiving him for wearing blackface in the past or being a Grand Wizard in the KKK (like Hillary's mentor, Byrd), he seems to have changed his opinion on the electoral college. OMG THAT MAKES HIM EVIL RACIST NAZI.

one of the great things about trump is he's a real straight-shooter. you always know what he thinks on a subject.

Why do you keep saying this all the time? I've never said that, who exactly are you quoting here? The most I've said is probably that Trump is much more honest than the average politician, and even though he makes mistakes and makes "political" statements, many of his supporters consider him relatively honest. Honest enough that they would forgive any of his "lies" because they're either white lies or they do not actually matter in regards to policy or national security (like Obama's and Clinton's lies).

i'll set the over/under for somebody declaring this fake news at about 5 minutes

Au contraire, I want to hear stories like this. All of them. I don't care who it is, I am by no means a staunch Republican and there are many corrupt assholes in the GOP. Expose ALL the voter and electoral fraud ASAP. My suspicions lead me to believe that the Democrats are the ones who are benefiting the most from fraud. It's amusing that for the past couple years the Left would say to me that "THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF FRAUD" - yet there is quite a bit. That also confused me because they would simultaneously tell me that Russia "interfered" or "influenced" the election..... but there was zero fraud. So how did they do that? Hypnotize people through FB ads? $4,700 worth? Anyway thankfully, FINALLY, it seems that all that Russia bullshit is starting to die down a little.

Lol dude you know as well as I do that if you gave a serious look at the Trump family's business interests, the potential conflicts of interest would make the Clinton Foundation look like a lemonade stand by comparison.

No chance in hell. I might have believed this during the election, but if there was serious criminality there then that would have been used to smear, indict, charge, impeach, remove and jail POTUS. So far he hasn't even been accused of a specific crime, so as of this moment you are spouting conspiracy theories (Clinton's Foundation on the other hand I've got some pretty compelling evidence of dodgy dealings).

I don't have to prove that he's a corrupt public servant

Yeah, you kinda do if you wish to make these type of accusations.

as there is ample evidence of everyone from the Chinese to the Saudis to Paul LePage funneling him money through his real estate & business interests since he became president. The fake news media has been doing good coverage on this topic recently, Saudis alone put over a quarter million through Trump's hotels) Everyone took Trump as the kind of guy who'd put a thumb on the scale for varying amounts of money (and that was probably an accurate assessment on their part!)

You realize that it's not actually illegal to do business with foreigners? Trump was a businessman before politics, so I would actually be surprised if he didn't have dealings overseas. The questions are: was any of it illegal, is he engaging in pay for play, is it influencing his policy decisions etc. If you have evidence I'd love to see it - but the problem here is, even if Trump was guilty of some of this stuff, the media and the Left have shown that they actually do not care. People were screaming about Clinton receiving tens of millions of dollars from Saudi & Qatar governments while they were still decapitating gay people and stoning rape victims - and nobody cared! They still supported her. So again, I'd like to see the evidence of Trump doing anything illegal

The Russia thing...that's more just like a really interesting sideshow IMO

Not sure what that means as the Russia conspiracy theory was actually part of an attempted coup, but it seems like you should really look into the presidential wiretapping scandal. Here's a nice summary (virtually all of this has been proven or is official btw):
Obama, Mueller and the Biggest Scam in American History

 

[cduggles]

The Trump Administration has thin skin regarding humor about it. Always has. FCC opens investigation into Stephen Colbert?s controversial Trump insult/Over potential obscenity violation

___________


Remember when Trump was going to get one of these for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula?

The White House asked Japan?s prime minister to nominate Trump for a Nobel prize

Donald Trump?s rambling press conference Feb. 15 to announce a ?national emergency? on the US?s southern border touched on everything from the stock market to his relationship with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator.

One of the most surprising claims Trump made, however, was that Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize:In fact, I think I can say this: Prime Minister Abe of Japan gave me the most beautiful copy of a letter that he sent to the people who give out a thing called the Nobel Prize. He said, ?I have nominated you?? or ?Respectfully, on behalf of Japan, I am asking them to give you the Nobel Peace Prize.? I said, ?Thank you.? Many other people feel that way too. I?ll probably never get it, but that?s okay.

They gave it to Obama. He didn?t even know what he got it for. He was there for about 15 seconds and he got the Nobel Prize. He said, ?Oh, what did I get it for?? With me, I probably will never get it.

Abe did indeed nominate Trump, Japan?s Asahi Shimbun newspaper reports, but there was a twist: The Japanese leader did it at the request of the White House. ?The U.S. government ?informally? asked Tokyo to nominate Trump after he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June,? the paper reported, citing unnamed Japanese government sources. Abe was ?acceding to a request from Washington? when he made the nomination last autumn, the paper said.

The list of people who can submit nominations for the Nobel Prize include current heads of state. ?A nomination for yourself will not be taken into consideration,? the Nobel committee states.

That's such a sad man-child...

 

[alasdairm]

^ man, that is just lame. what a tool bag.

So, go ahead please show me where Trump has stated that he wants to prosecute people for telling jokes.

you're twisting words now. his exact words were that snl was "deserving of 'retribution'" after poking fun at him. i don't know what that retribution looks like but it's troubling that a president should float the idea of punishing constitutionally-protected free speech in this country - something you and i agree on. the president seems to have a pretty poor grasp of the constitution...

(btw whataboutism is a term used to deflect or hide from hypocrisy.

right. you do it a fair bit.

Why do you keep saying this all the time?

because many, many trump supporters say that's why they support him and there are new examples every day of why it's not true.

if i knew somebody who went on an on and on about what a patriot he is and usa #1 and how american cars are the best etc. and he showed up one day in a new toyota truck, i'd think "hmm. this guy is full of shit". it's kind of like that.

I've never said that...

i don't believe i said or implied that you did. it's not always about you.

alasdair

 

[JGrimez]

If he had anything to do with the Korea turnaround then he should get a Nobel Peace Prize (I actually predicted the day after he won the election that he would win a Nobel Prize but I thought it would be for improving relations with Russia lol)

you're twisting words now. his exact words were that snl was "deserving of 'retribution'" after poking fun at him. i don't know what that retribution looks like but it's troubling that a president should float the idea of punishing constitutionally-protected free speech in this country - something you and i agree on. the president seems to have a pretty poor grasp of the constitution...

Well I don't believe that you genuinely approve of free speech but that's another issue. And regarding all this, you're really reaching. You'd also agree that freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences. Retribution could be fucking anything, it could mean lower ratings. Do you have a source for that quote? I'd like to see how out of context you took it.

right. you do it a fair bit.

If I ever use that term it's ironically, and I'm saying it back to someone who likes to use it i.e clowning them.

because many, many trump supporters say that's why they support him and there are new examples every day of why it's not true.

Well I've never said this so you can stop directing this at me because you've said it probably 50 times. Hella redundant.

if i knew somebody who went on an on and on about what a patriot he is and usa #1 and how american cars are the best etc. and he showed up one day in a new toyota truck, i'd think "hmm. this guy is full of shit". it's kind of like that.

It's funny the things that some people choose to criticize Trump over, and what they ignore or don't know about.

i don't believe i said or implied that you did. it's not always about you.

OK well you realize in that case if nobody has stated what you're arguing against then you're really talking to yourself.