What are you doing to minimize the Trumpocalypse?

[Max Peck]

Getting ready for our empty chair town hall, since our Rep (Jeff Duncan) won't hold one. One dummy is as good as another.

Did you try to book Clint Eastwood? He's great with empty chairs.

[Zarathud]

About those "open" tax returns.....

[Holman]

That's asinine.

There's no real argument there, but the core point seems to be this: "Trump was out in the open, for all to see."

This seems to say that we should revere an obscenely wealthy man for somehow managing to survive in a city designed to give the rich everything they want. Apparently it's hard out there for a white male billionaire in New York.

Thinking about this "openness," though... Keep that point in mind if it is ever revealed that, oh, say, Trump's schemes, wealth, and success turn out to have depended on details that he would rather not have let the rest of us know.

Wow. Could you and the point me more estranged???

Gutfeld starts by casually dismissing liberal fears (Trump can't really be a misogynist because he loves women), insinuates that Trump is actually moderate (because he's a conservative from New York), lists Trump actions that he claims have done great good (Tomahawks changed Assad forever; Trump's immigration policy is retroactively successful across the whole Obama era), and closes with the claim that Trump's real greatness is in making America more "honest" (because people are no longer embarrassed to be racists).

The overall point is that Trump isn't a monster, and therefore he is a moderate, and therefore liberals (who are all whiny anxious people like Sarah Silverman, but, hey, Gutfeld is here to extend the olive branch) should like him because he is really kind of a liberal, case closed. Which I suppose might stand up to more than a second's scrutiny if it were possible to imagine someone who is both "really a liberal" and capable of, for example, putting Jeff Sessions in charge of civil rights while eliminating the EPA and slashing safety and oversight regulations as fast as industry lobbyists can draft executive orders for him.

[Zarathud]

Now what about the openness of the West Wing visitor logs...or those who Trump meets in Mar A Lago?.

Trump is so open and transparent that he's hiding behind "national security and privacy risks."

Spin it, Rip.

[Rip]

Now what about the openness of the West Wing visitor logs...or those who Trump meets in Mar A Lago?.

Trump is so open and transparent that he's hiding behind "national security and privacy risks."

Spin it, Rip.

So we go from logs of everyone "except people we don't want you to know about and scrub" to not seeing the logs.

*shrug*

[Smoove_B]

So we go from logs of everyone "except people we don't want you to know about and scrub" to not seeing the logs.*shrug*

[hepcat]

[Kurth]

That's asinine.

There's no real argument there, but the core point seems to be this: "Trump was out in the open, for all to see."

This seems to say that we should revere an obscenely wealthy man for somehow managing to survive in a city designed to give the rich everything they want. Apparently it's hard out there for a white male billionaire in New York.

Thinking about this "openness," though... Keep that point in mind if it is ever revealed that, oh, say, Trump's schemes, wealth, and success turn out to have depended on details that he would rather not have let the rest of us know.

Wow. Could you and the point me more estranged???

Gutfeld starts by casually dismissing liberal fears (Trump can't really be a misogynist because he loves women), insinuates that Trump is actually moderate (because he's a conservative from New York), lists Trump actions that he claims have done great good (Tomahawks changed Assad forever; Trump's immigration policy is retroactively successful across the whole Obama era), and closes with the claim that Trump's real greatness is in making America more "honest" (because people are no longer embarrassed to be racists).

The overall point is that Trump isn't a monster, and therefore he is a moderate, and therefore liberals (who are all whiny anxious people like Sarah Silverman, but, hey, Gutfeld is here to extend the olive branch) should like him because he is really kind of a liberal, case closed. Which I suppose might stand up to more than a second's scrutiny if it were possible to imagine someone who is both "really a liberal" and capable of, for example, putting Jeff Sessions in charge of civil rights while eliminating the EPA and slashing safety and oversight regulations as fast as industry lobbyists can draft executive orders for him.

Must be a massive internet failure, because when I follow that link, I get a completely different article. The Gutfeld piece I read doesn't say 25% of what you say the one you read says. Strange.

[PLW]

Some of us. We got about 50. It was fun!

[PLW]

And we made the news.

[Defiant]

I think now is an opportune time to *bump* up this thread, and point out that you can call your Senator about the next Supreme Court nominee.

You can also see about donating or volunteering to swing district campaigns for the midterm.

[Isgrimnur]

I live in Texas.

[Zarathud]

My oldest daughter is excited about protesting this weekend. My youngest daughter is staying home unless Kidz Bop is playing.

[Holman]

An organizing meeting for volunteer canvassers starts in our house in half an hour. About 15 people coming.

[RunningMn9]

To answer the question of the thread, basically just giving up.

[Holman]

To answer the question of the thread, basically just giving up.

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. #goodtrouble

Listen to John Lewis. We can't give up. People before our time died in this same fight.

[RunningMn9]

Yeah, like I hear that, but I'm not at all hopeful. Trump has created a consequence-free environment for himself, literally no matter what he does, nothing happens. Nothing at all.

[Combustible Lemur]

I live in Texas.

Canvas for Beto?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Kraken]

Yeah, like I hear that, but I'm not at all hopeful. Trump has created a consequence-free environment for himself, literally no matter what he does, nothing happens. Nothing at all.

And now that the last institutional check on his ambitions has fallen, nothing ever will.

I have decided to get a passport just in case it becomes necessary to leave the country in a hurry. Then I will start ingratiating myself to our Canadian friends.

[tjg_marantz]

Yeah, like I hear that, but I'm not at all hopeful. Trump has created a consequence-free environment for himself, literally no matter what he does, nothing happens. Nothing at all.

And now that the last institutional check on his ambitions has fallen, nothing ever will.

I have decided to get a passport just in case it becomes necessary to leave the country in a hurry. Then I will start ingratiating myself to our Canadian friends.

Free shipping? That would help.

[GreenGoo]

[LawBeefaroni]

Canada is on the list. Bug-out bag has passport cards (always get these when you get your regular passports). Safe has regular passports, US cash, and Canadian currency (both types: cash and PSA Gretzky rookie cards).

[Blackhawk]

Given that I'm on disability, no other country would want (allow) me. I'm in it for the duration.

[Kraken]

Yeah, like I hear that, but I'm not at all hopeful. Trump has created a consequence-free environment for himself, literally no matter what he does, nothing happens. Nothing at all.

And now that the last institutional check on his ambitions has fallen, nothing ever will.

I have decided to get a passport just in case it becomes necessary to leave the country in a hurry. Then I will start ingratiating myself to our Canadian friends.

Free shipping? That would help.

I LOL'd.

Not going to pack a bug-out bag until they actually start rounding up the resistance, though, and it won't come to that. They don't have to eliminate the resistance, just lock us out of power, and they're already 3/4 of the way there.

[El Guapo]

Yeah, like I hear that, but I'm not at all hopeful. Trump has created a consequence-free environment for himself, literally no matter what he does, nothing happens. Nothing at all.

And now that the last institutional check on his ambitions has fallen, nothing ever will.

I have decided to get a passport just in case it becomes necessary to leave the country in a hurry. Then I will start ingratiating myself to our Canadian friends.

Well, this is overstating the impact of Kennedy getting replaced. It's not like he was Thurgood Marshall or anything. His being replaced is problematic in areas like gay rights and abortion rights, but otherwise his replacement is likely to vote conservative the strong majority of the time, just like Kennedy did.

The remaining checks are really the 2018 elections (the main one) and Mueller. If both of those come up snake eyes, THEN we're borked.

[Captain Caveman]

Yeah, like I hear that, but I'm not at all hopeful. Trump has created a consequence-free environment for himself, literally no matter what he does, nothing happens. Nothing at all.

And now that the last institutional check on his ambitions has fallen, nothing ever will.

I have decided to get a passport just in case it becomes necessary to leave the country in a hurry. Then I will start ingratiating myself to our Canadian friends.

Well, this is overstating the impact of Kennedy getting replaced. It's not like he was Thurgood Marshall or anything. His being replaced is problematic in areas like gay rights and abortion rights, but otherwise his replacement is likely to vote conservative the strong majority of the time, just like Kennedy did.

The remaining checks are really the 2018 elections (the main one) and Mueller. If both of those come up snake eyes, THEN we're borked.

Seating a handpicked SCOTUS justice helps stack the deck against any consequences of Mueller's findings.

[Carpet_pissr]

Picked by the Federalist Society, not Trump. Not sure which is worse, considering those dudes are some hard core right wing lawyers.

[Fitzy]

I’m voting for an incumbent Democrat instead of voting for, donating to and volunteering for my dream moderate independent. The sacrifice is real.

[El Guapo]

Yeah, like I hear that, but I'm not at all hopeful. Trump has created a consequence-free environment for himself, literally no matter what he does, nothing happens. Nothing at all.

And now that the last institutional check on his ambitions has fallen, nothing ever will.

I have decided to get a passport just in case it becomes necessary to leave the country in a hurry. Then I will start ingratiating myself to our Canadian friends.

Well, this is overstating the impact of Kennedy getting replaced. It's not like he was Thurgood Marshall or anything. His being replaced is problematic in areas like gay rights and abortion rights, but otherwise his replacement is likely to vote conservative the strong majority of the time, just like Kennedy did.

The remaining checks are really the 2018 elections (the main one) and Mueller. If both of those come up snake eyes, THEN we're borked.

Seating a handpicked SCOTUS justice helps stack the deck against any consequences of Mueller's findings.

I get that, and it's definitely unsettling. But the SCOTUS is fairly far down the chain of consequences on this - I think it's unlikely that Mueller will charge Trump directly while in office, which would trigger the self-pardon issue that could hit the SCOTUS. And I'm inclined to think that by the time this reaches the SCOTUS, Trump will either have neutralized Mueller or will have been undone / forced to resign. And even then I'm not sure that Kennedy's replacment (likely to be a conservative circuit court judge) will be much different in terms of getting their vote.

Not that it's good, but it's a ways away from "Trump controls the SCOTUS"

[El Guapo]

I've decided to canvass in NH in favor of the democratic house nominee in the NH-01 district. NH has their primary weirdly late (September 11th), so it will be awhile before there is a democratic nominee. Not totally sure what to do before then (other than rage and donate money).

Speaking of which, I threw some scratch to Nunes's November opponent. Would be great to get Nunes out of office.

[LordMortis]

I’m voting for an incumbent Democrat instead of voting for, donating to and volunteering for my dream moderate independent. The sacrifice is real.

Truedat. It's going to gall me to vote for the some of the people I'll have to vote for but I've changed my tune sort of. I'm not a democrat but I've been voting democrat primaries for a while now. Essentially I'm "caucausing" with them. I am forced to treat the Dem primary as my general election where I actually get to choose the best I can and then get stuck with the results.

I don't like it but it's the best I got. The only alternatives I see are bleaker.

[LawBeefaroni]

Yeah, like I hear that, but I'm not at all hopeful. Trump has created a consequence-free environment for himself, literally no matter what he does, nothing happens. Nothing at all.

And now that the last institutional check on his ambitions has fallen, nothing ever will.

I have decided to get a passport just in case it becomes necessary to leave the country in a hurry. Then I will start ingratiating myself to our Canadian friends.

Free shipping? That would help.

I LOL'd.

Not going to pack a bug-out bag until they actually start rounding up the resistance, though, and it won't come to that. They don't have to eliminate the resistance, just lock us out of power, and they're already 3/4 of the way there.

When the administration flips on gun control, that's when you know it's too late. Of course by that point, the militarized ICE won't let you leave anyway.

Anyone who thinks immigration laws and travel bans can't be pointed inwards is dreaming.

[Rip]

Yeah, like I hear that, but I'm not at all hopeful. Trump has created a consequence-free environment for himself, literally no matter what he does, nothing happens. Nothing at all.

And now that the last institutional check on his ambitions has fallen, nothing ever will.

I have decided to get a passport just in case it becomes necessary to leave the country in a hurry. Then I will start ingratiating myself to our Canadian friends.

Well, this is overstating the impact of Kennedy getting replaced. It's not like he was Thurgood Marshall or anything. His being replaced is problematic in areas like gay rights and abortion rights, but otherwise his replacement is likely to vote conservative the strong majority of the time, just like Kennedy did.

The remaining checks are really the 2018 elections (the main one) and Mueller. If both of those come up snake eyes, THEN we're borked.

Seating a handpicked SCOTUS justice helps stack the deck against any consequences of Mueller's findings.

I get that, and it's definitely unsettling. But the SCOTUS is fairly far down the chain of consequences on this - I think it's unlikely that Mueller will charge Trump directly while in office, which would trigger the self-pardon issue that could hit the SCOTUS. And I'm inclined to think that by the time this reaches the SCOTUS, Trump will either have neutralized Mueller or will have been undone / forced to resign. And even then I'm not sure that Kennedy's replacment (likely to be a conservative circuit court judge) will be much different in terms of getting their vote.

Not that it's good, but it's a ways away from "Trump controls the SCOTUS"

I'm thinking more along the lines of harshly criticizing Trump but saying no evidence of wrongdoing by him personally that would hold up in court. A reverse Hillary with the infractions being far more damaging. Setting up Congress to decide whether to impeach and so on. Not sure SCOTUS would play into that very much if any at all. Congress is the point of critical mass on that. I would suspect Mueller being the capable political operator he is will time the release to ensure that any decision on whether to impeach or not would fall to the next Congress, since they will likely be more likely to do so.

I still don't think they will lose the house or the senate but no one knows at this point. Certainly this will be the most important midterm in recent memory. Turnout is going to be imperative. Let the hyperbole begin......

[Kraken]

Yeah, like I hear that, but I'm not at all hopeful. Trump has created a consequence-free environment for himself, literally no matter what he does, nothing happens. Nothing at all.

And now that the last institutional check on his ambitions has fallen, nothing ever will.

I have decided to get a passport just in case it becomes necessary to leave the country in a hurry. Then I will start ingratiating myself to our Canadian friends.

Well, this is overstating the impact of Kennedy getting replaced. It's not like he was Thurgood Marshall or anything. His being replaced is problematic in areas like gay rights and abortion rights, but otherwise his replacement is likely to vote conservative the strong majority of the time, just like Kennedy did.

The remaining checks are really the 2018 elections (the main one) and Mueller. If both of those come up snake eyes, THEN we're borked.

Seating a handpicked SCOTUS justice helps stack the deck against any consequences of Mueller's findings.

The #1 criterion for any Trump appointment is loyalty. If it comes to it, the SC will decide that presidents cannot obstruct justice, and can pardon themselves in any case. This appointment is Trump's get-out-of-jail free card.

[ImLawBoy]

Yeah, like I hear that, but I'm not at all hopeful. Trump has created a consequence-free environment for himself, literally no matter what he does, nothing happens. Nothing at all.

And now that the last institutional check on his ambitions has fallen, nothing ever will.

I have decided to get a passport just in case it becomes necessary to leave the country in a hurry. Then I will start ingratiating myself to our Canadian friends.

Well, this is overstating the impact of Kennedy getting replaced. It's not like he was Thurgood Marshall or anything. His being replaced is problematic in areas like gay rights and abortion rights, but otherwise his replacement is likely to vote conservative the strong majority of the time, just like Kennedy did.

The remaining checks are really the 2018 elections (the main one) and Mueller. If both of those come up snake eyes, THEN we're borked.

Seating a handpicked SCOTUS justice helps stack the deck against any consequences of Mueller's findings.

The #1 criterion for any Trump appointment is loyalty. If it comes to it, the SC will decide that presidents cannot obstruct justice, and can pardon themselves in any case. This appointment is Trump's get-out-of-jail free card.

But there's nothing that Trump can do to the justice once he's in his seat. Unless Trump only nominates someone who Trump has dirt against, the justice is given a lifetime appointment that frees him or her from having to worry about political matters. It appears that the list of potential justices we've seen generally contains capable lawyers/jurists (although I admit to not having looked into this too deeply). I'm still holding out hope that the Supreme Court justices will do their duty appropriately and not just rule along partisan lines, particularly on an issue that is not inherently political. (I know - I'm an incurable optimist.)

[Kraken]

You must be new here.

[El Guapo]

Yeah, like I hear that, but I'm not at all hopeful. Trump has created a consequence-free environment for himself, literally no matter what he does, nothing happens. Nothing at all.

And now that the last institutional check on his ambitions has fallen, nothing ever will.

I have decided to get a passport just in case it becomes necessary to leave the country in a hurry. Then I will start ingratiating myself to our Canadian friends.

Well, this is overstating the impact of Kennedy getting replaced. It's not like he was Thurgood Marshall or anything. His being replaced is problematic in areas like gay rights and abortion rights, but otherwise his replacement is likely to vote conservative the strong majority of the time, just like Kennedy did.

The remaining checks are really the 2018 elections (the main one) and Mueller. If both of those come up snake eyes, THEN we're borked.

Seating a handpicked SCOTUS justice helps stack the deck against any consequences of Mueller's findings.

The #1 criterion for any Trump appointment is loyalty. If it comes to it, the SC will decide that presidents cannot obstruct justice, and can pardon themselves in any case. This appointment is Trump's get-out-of-jail free card.

I know that that's Trump's most important thing, but whether it's ignorance or indifference or whatever, that's not always what he gets. Remember that Trump (or his team) nominated Rosenstein and Wray for their current posts. And Trump's announced list of justices (from the Gorsuch nomination, which he has said he'll reuse) doesn't have any hacks on it (no Pirros or Cohens or Guilianis). Maybe X circuit judge will be more likely than Kennedy to rule in Trump's favor on this stuff, but that's not obviously so.

But anyway, the main thing is that the SCOTUS isn't really the main line of defense anyway. It's the 2018 elections (and also the Mueller investigation). If Trump has 2+ more years of tearing down the system without anyone in Congress impeding him, I'm not sure that the Supreme Court is going to be able to do much regardless.

[ImLawBoy]

You must be new here.

I know it seems naive, but there is literally no leverage that a president has against a sitting Supreme Court justice. Loyalty means squat. This isn't like a Cabinet appointment where the president can cut loose someone who isn't toeing the line. You can only get rid of one via impeachment or death. And the issues we're talking about here are not typically split on liberal/conservative lines (at least I don't think they are, but I'm not a Constitutional scholar [although I did get an A in a Con Law class ~25 years ago!]). The question of whether a sitting President can pardon himself, for example, is not a right/left issue.

That's not to say that it won't end up a conservative/liberal issue after all the arguments are said, but that's hardly a guarantee. And these Justices are smart people. I can't imagine even the most conservative of them think that Trump is actually good for the country. They don't have to put up with him for political reasons like the members of Congress do.

[Defiant]

Much as I *am* worried about this Supreme Court nomination, I am more worried that they will have loyalty to the Republican party than that they will have loyalty to Trump (unless he nominates someone he's personally known for a long time).

And even if he does have loyalty to Trump, that still leaves seven justices that can uphold law and order and not let the court go off the deep end.

[Isgrimnur]

I'm not a Constitutional scholar [although I did get an A in a Con Law class ~25 years ago!]

The Constitution ain't what it used to be, kid.