Trump 2.0

With these mid term elections coming up in USA politics, what is the best scenario decent USA citizens can hope for? Can trump be made ineffectual? Or simply somewhat contained at best.
 
Best scenario would be that Democrats take control of both the House and Senate.
 
Going to be very close. Many crosscurrents - GOP is pulling ahead on gerrymandering and tightening mail-in ballot window, but GOP/MAGA brand is hurting from the inflation, war that few approve of, Truth Social dementia rants, immigrant abuses, etc. And there's also now more grassroots money - a plucky challenger in Texas has raised more in small donations than his maga-machine backed opponent. And there are massive GOTV campaigns sweeping gerrymandered areas in the South, which if they work could cut some GOP margins to very slim.

Also, and I'm not seeing this talked about in media, but restrictions on mail-in voting may not be the benefit the GOP thinks it is. A lot of older voters, who skew Republican, have mobility/transportation issues and use mail-in. Also a lot of rural voters in more remote areas, who also skew Republican, depend on mail-in.
 
President Trump said Tuesday he was appointing Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence to replace Tulsi Gabbard.

Pulte currently serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, which supports mortgage markets. His biography on the FHFA site lists career experience in housing and philanthropy, but none in intelligence.
Kakistocracy.
 
The meltdown over the "Freedom 250" event is worth noting.

Trump proposed this as a massive bipartisan event to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States. But he failed to mention that it was really to support himself, and when groups found out, they began to cancel. At one point they had about a dozen groups, but are now down to 3. One is Vanilla Ice, a performer who has a personal relationship with Trump, and has performed at Mar-A-Lago before.

Another is Freedom Williams, a singer who recently posted a speech (recorded while he was literally taking a dump in his bathroom) in which he said he'd do whatever people paid him to do - including doing "the motherfucking show in North Korea, pissing on a fucking American flag. Smoking a Cuban cigar. Drinking Venezuelan wine. Playing golf with motherfucking Kim El-Jun. With an Iranian bitch on my lap. While Trump's standing there with his dick in his hand." Americans, he said, "don't give a fuck about 250 years of motherfucking capitalism and death. It's 250 years of straight murder."

Trump may feel differently about his inclusion now. In fact, he called them all "highly paid, Third Rate 'Artists.' "

A reporter delved into this, and tried to find out who went out and found these groups - and apparently lied to them about what the concert was. He discovered the talent agency that Trump used was Universal Attractions Agency, which is led by (and this is true) Jeffery Epstein. No relation.

Trying to figure out whether this was due to a Trump lackey actually thinking to himself "yeah this is a good idea, to get someone named Jeff Epstein to find more talent for Trump" - or whether it is a subtle FU to Trump from another disgruntled supporter.

Now Trump is saying he will cancel all the performers and instead headline a different event himself, since he's more popular than Elvis Presley.

I would love to see Donald Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho Trump headline a rally in which he sings old Elvis Presley songs and does his little dance. He could have Kid Rock and Vanilla Ice backing him, and have random Elon Musk children behind him in a chorus. His supporters will flock to it, balancing their disillusionment and poverty against their desires to not be seen as backing a loser, and to "own the libs."
 
Seems that the $1.8bn slush fund has been dropped by the DoJ.

So seems like there are lines in the sand that the Republicans, at least at the moment, will not cross. Whether because they believe it wrong or simply that they see that supporting it would harm their re-election chances, who knows. But there's some noise that at least a few oppose it on ethical grounds.
 
Meanwhile, Turnip can rest easy knowing that Bari Weiss is running CBS like a dictatorship, and one that bends the knee to His Orangeness. The latest purge includes Scott Pelley, a longtime 60 Minutes stalwart.


Then, on Tuesday evening, the network terminated veteran Scott Pelley, telling him in a legalistic email message that he was being fired for “cause” because of his conduct in an explosive meeting a day earlier with new executive producer Nick Bilton and the network’s managing editor, Charles Forelle.

During the meeting, Pelley criticized Bari Weiss, the former opinion commentator who became the network’s editor-in-chief – an appointment which has sparked backlash among numerous CBS employees who raised concerns about impartiality.

“She’s murdering 60 Minutes,” Pelley said of Weiss. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.”
 
Site traffic seems slow even for here. Anyway, while I'm looking in...I consulted both a dictionary and an encyclopedia and concluded that the word for a ceasefire where both parties keep shooting at each other is "war."
 
Two things worth noting...
One: the Reflecting Pool, supposedly "fixed" by Trump, has been refilled and is already suffering from algae blooms. The administration mouthpieces are claiming it is "residual algae" from the pipes when filling the pool, but it seems there may be someone hired to just walk up and down it's length cleaning the pool of algae.

Two: every time I read it listen to Trump and his admin, and their antics, the more I pine to rewatch "The West Wing". So I have been. Thank you, DJT!! Yes, it's a fantasy of how we all wish the White House be run and the people employed therein, but, boy, is it a damn fine but of television. The writing, the acting, the wit, just... everything. Certainly worthy of consideration for best TV ever... along with "Band of Brothers". :)
 
One: the Reflecting Pool, supposedly "fixed" by Trump, has been refilled and is already suffering from algae blooms. The administration mouthpieces are claiming it is "residual algae" from the pipes
Pond scum in the White House --> pond scum in the reflecting pool.

Spouse and I watched The WW for the first time a couple years ago, and agreed it was almost political porn, and good stuff. Jed Bartlett has sadly gone missing from American politics. It's impossible for me to see Allison Janney or Bradley Whitford in anything now and not cry, "It's CJ! It's Josh!"
 
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