God bless all of you who are paying attention to all of the political crises unfolding this week. It’s a lot, and it’s like the perfect storm of terrible anti-Christmas bullsh-t. Donald Trump has spent this week careening from one self-made disaster to another, threatening to (vaguely) veto the stimulus bill, actually vetoing a military spending bill, and pardoning a slew of henchmen, traitors, idiots and fascists. All of that, and the Trumps have finally flown to Mar-a-Lago:
With a wave to the cameras and reporters outside the White House, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump set out Wednesday afternoon for a Christmas vacation at their Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida. It was, as on so many other occasions in the Trump administration, a split-screen moment.
Earlier that same day, the president vetoed the annual military funding bill over complaints that it did not repeal a law protecting technology companies and would remove Confederate names from military bases. (Congress is likely to override his objections and pass the bill anyway.) And as the president and the first lady walked to Marine One to head to the airport, a reporter shouted out a question about whether he would also veto the recently passed pandemic relief bill, as he had suggested the night before.
The New York Times reports that he told the House minority leader that he has not made up his mind, though the clock is ticking: The relief bill was tied to a larger government funding deal to avert a shutdown before Monday. Less than 24 hours before departing Washington, D.C., the president surprisingly spoke out in opposition to the latest stimulus legislation amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. In a speech Tuesday night, he called the $900 billion bill, which was joined with a $1.4 trillion funding agreement — and approved by both the Republican-led Senate and the Democratic-led House of Representatives late Monday — a “disgrace.” He demanded Congress send $2,000 to Americans rather than the expected $600 lawmakers ultimately agreed upon for pandemic aid, after months of gridlock and stalled negotiations between Congress and the White House.
Yeah, Trump did call the $600 payments to taxpayers a disgrace, but he also said that he was going to have a second term in the same speech, which is why people weren’t really quoting him that much, because that entire video was f–king bonkers. As for his veto of the military spending bill – he was literally defunding the Pentagon because he’s trying to set fire to everything on his way out the door. So much for Republicans being the party of a “strong military.” Trump is all “if you won’t do a coup for ME, then you won’t get any money!!”
As for the latest round of pardons… Charles Kushner, father of Jared Kushner, got a pardon. So did Paul Manafort (everyone knew that would happen) and Roger Stone. He pardoned Margaret Hunter, the wife of Rep. Duncan Hunter, after both the Hunters misused campaign funds for personal use (they were like throwing parties and buying cars and sh-t). Trump is going Full Sh-tbird.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
And yet people still support him….pathetic.
Boggles the freaking mind!!
Of course Jared wanted a pardon for Daddy, am still waiting on his kids getting ones.
He is going full of crazy in order to buy support for not only his future run but also for all the indictments coming his way. Its going to get worse the close to the 20th Jan it gets.
Daddy’s pardon is worthless since he already served his time. A pardon doesn’t wipe away the crime. It is a big fu to Christie.
Kaiser, I posted in another story that you will be busy this Christmas season with the bonkers stories of Trump.
I hope he does try to set fire to everything on his way out. Let him continue to act a fool. I want him to piss off so many voters that Georgia goes blue in January. THAT would be WONDERFUL, to see some good come from his lunacy.
This has put a big spotlight on the senate situation. No matter what happens it looks bad for Republicans. If the Senate refuses than they’ll look bad to the cult and they lose his supporters, If the house and Senate are able to push through the original just to get something out than Trump will looks weak, and either way it shows Georgia Democrats how critical it is for them to vote. I’ve also heard that at least a portion of the cult is loyal only to Trump. This situation could cause them not to vote because now they can’t trust either side. So, I hate that it’s delaying much needed aid, but it might be better long term. I don’t see any more relief bills making it past the Senate after Biden is president if the Republicans are still in charge. We will see another if Democrats get the Senate that does more than throw people a little money.
I saw an article that said it was the actually the Republicans who were defunding police by not including money in the bill for states when their budgets were hit hard. People should bring that up.
Stacey Abrams tweeted out a day or so ago that ALREADY 2 MILLION early votes have been cast. Early voters, in the Nov. election were overwhelming Dem. THE BLUE WAVE IS CRESTING….GET READY FOR IT TO COME CRASHING DOWN ON THE GOP!
@(TheOG) Jan, I pray that is exactly what happens.
We’ve donated what we could to Ossoff and Warnock personally and from my partner’s small business. They are incredibly decent men and Georgians would be lucky to be represented by people who would actually care for them.
This is expected but still gross. He will try preemptive pardons for his oldest children and himself. Will it hold up? Nixon was given a preemptive pardon, so there’s precedent, but that pardon was never tested in court.
Am pretty sure the self pardon, preemptive or not, will not hold up.
Oooohh…I just thought: what if Trump doesn’t pardon the kids cause he knows he can’t pardon himself? I’m pretty sure Trump is shameless enough to not care how the pardons make him and the kids look guilty, but I’m also pretty sure he won’t want his kids to escape punishment if he can’t.
I’m not sure the world supply of popcorn is enough for this potential Trump v Trump drama
It wouldn’t surprise one bit if he didn’t pardon his kids, especially Jr and Eric. That would be too funny.
I can see the dog-fight now: the Orange, Traitorous Sh!t Stain will pardon Daughter-Wife and Dead-Eyed-Doll-Boy, and let Coke-head and Bubba-Gums (and partner/wife) fend for themselves. Oh boy… get the popcorn for the fireworks!
I don’t believe a federal pardon would apply to state offenses so SDNY is sharpening the knives and playing out the nice placemats in anticipation
((((SDNY is federal))))
New York State and letitia James are waiting. So is. NYC. Michael Cohen was interviewed today. He has been providing info to both state and city. Rump can’t escape that. He will be nailed for financial crimes.
This might be a stupid question, but can any pardon be repealed or rescinded or whatever by the incoming president or supreme court or something? It’s so open to abuse.
It’s been suggested that the new AG charge the credit with something (there’s a lot) then the challenge to the pardons can be litigated.
Colin Powell also called for Flynn to be court martialed. That’s another way pardons won’t work. Someone said all the military has to do is recall Flynn to active duty and then they can nail him.
I know we all want to see the magick of this man being dragged out of the White House, but just putting it out there that I’m fine with his staying at Mar-a-Lago. Methinks Melania will not come back to DC to subject herself to humiliation.
It’s a pleasure to open the paper and see news of government and world affairs pressing forward, with now only the odd one or two articles about the antics of this walking disgrace.
Barron is supposedly finishing the school year in Florida, so agree that she is not coming back to DC.
Coming back? She’s already gone! That is the body double in those photos. Not Melania.
I would be okay with that, too. Just having him physically gone from the White House is a psychological relief,
I’m so tired of all the political games. The world will be a better place without Trump and his pose in charge. 2,000 is certainly better than 600 and we all could use it, but it’s not going to pass.. The current bill is not good, but it’s SOMETHING for people who desperately need it. Sign it and hopefully Biden and Georgia will correct the many, many mistakes that have been made in regards to COVID relief.
I hate these presidential pardons. I hate the concept of presidential pardons in general. I hate that the justice system is so imperfect to need pardons, and, more tangentially and only because I watch too much Netflix, I hate that innocent people feel pressure to accept plea deals.
I’m heartbroken about what the war and terror has done to iraq, Yemen and Syria
It’s unlikely that he’ll be able to pardon himself. The Constitution states that “ The President shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of impeachment.” For one thing, he’s been impeached. So, he can’t pardon anything to do with that. Also, people aren’t allowed to act as their own judge and giving pardons is acting as a judge. They could pull some shenanigans and get Pence to do it by Trump resigning. In his current state, I don’t think he would be able to do that. So, hopefully he will likely leave without a pardon.
He’s made himself a lot easier to convict with all these pardons. Everyone he pardoned can no longer plead the 5th. You can only be pardoned for things that you did and not things you are going to do. Any lies to the court would be considered new crimes not covered by the pardon. It’s in all their best interests to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So, fingers crossed that Trump is too delusional to get Pence to pardon him.
Either way, it doesn’t pardon him on a state level. So, depending on what NY finds, it could potentially trigger investigations in up to 8 other states. So, he’s likely to see consequences for some of his crimes.
Your President is a King.
In his own demented mind.
in his dreams, not ours
…the one-eyed man is king.
My favourite pardon so far: the two Border Patrol officers who shot and wounded an undocumented person, and then lied their faces off to try and cover it up.
Why is it my favourite? Well, because the law and order president pardons law enforcement officers who are not law and order types in that they broke the law, and who are in fact among the few law enforcement officers who are actually convicted by law and order courts.
Confused yet? Yeah, me too, which is why this is my favourite pardon – it perfectly captures the demented nature of the man and the year.
But of course there are more to come – there are surely more random GOP criminals, and then just when we are all tired of being outraged at how unjust these pardons are, he will slip in the preemptive pardons of himself, his spawn, his sister, Bannon, Giuliani, Snowden, Assange , the McCloskeys, Kyle Rittenhouse, and George Floyd’s killers.
Interesting list of names noted in your last sentence. I hadn’t thought of some of them but it would not surprise me if Trump did pardon some of them. Of course it would no doubt cause riots if some of those individuals were pardoned but Trump would love that. Then he could walk away leaving utter chaos for Biden to deal with. Perfect ending for Trump.
My list could be subtitled ‘scummiest newsmakers of 2020’.
Although Trump has pardoned dead people before, I hesitated about Epstein, but I would also like to add Ghislaine Maxwell and Weinstein to the list – but not Bill Cosby (for obvious reasons!) .
The 2k thing was a way of throwing Mitch under the bus for not supporting his coup when he recognized Biden as president elect. Another act to disrupt and to stop the stimulus checks, we know $600 is pathetic but $0 is even worse. This will hopefully backfire on the R’s as they will never pass it and Trump knows that.
As for the pardons, only a criminal needs a pardon (it’s an admission of guilt) and it will not protect them from the states. Every state where an election lawsuit has taken place should sue the Trump and the “krakens” for election interference. Also I predict that Trump will resign at the 11th hour and have Pence pardon him ala’ Nixon/Ford because he wants this to end as the “it’s all about me” s* show that it is. Pence can pardon him but NY is waiting and she’s been waiting for a very long time.
I would love to see the States sue for election interference considering it was based on unproven claims of fraud.
Will be watching with great interest the lawsuits filed by Smartmatic and the Dominion employee. Assuming Dominion Inc lawsuit will be forthcoming. I would take great pleasure in seeing the Plaintiffs win and obtaining large settlements that will financially ruin Rudy and Powell and the rest of the individuals who tried so hard to please a sick demented man like Trump while tearing the country apart.
Is that Melania or Fauxlania? She’s got very high heels on, so I can’t tell. The mouth looks like Fauxlania’s to me.
I thought it was Fauxlania, too.
Yes, that is the stand-in.
She is far too happy, and her hair looks better.
Yup.. the mouth and the teeth are different.
Totally looks like the Fauxlania. The original model is not affectionate, acts more icily regal and resigned to her fate. The fake one is strictly choreographed by Trump so we get a happy smiley affectionate model.
Totally fake. She’s too thin to be the real thing.
My first thought to 🙂 Definitely faux. But that coat is beautiful.
Did you know that President Jimmy Carter pardoned thousands of Vietnam draft evaders?
In 1915, the Supreme Court wrote in Burdick v. United States that a pardon “carries an imputation of guilt; acceptance a confession of it.” However, that was not the holding, it was just an aside. Presidential pardons have no formal, legal effect of declaring guilt and can be used to exonerate someone.
Trump is tarnishing everything he does in connection with the presidency including the presidential pardon.
Yes, I read today that Carter pardoned the Vietnam draft evaders. Considering the circumstances of the Vietnam War and the tragic consequences to the US soldiers who were sent there (not to mention the suffering of Vietnamese people), I am glad Carter pardoned the draft evaders.
At least Trump will have exposed the dangers of the presidential pardon and something can be done about it in future.
I wasn’t born when Carter was President, but it seems like there’s a prevailing narrative that his presidency was a joke. I feel like the world would be a much better place if he’d won his second term.
His presidency was no joke. As an honors history major who was alive then and as a constant reader now I have never hear that narrative. His presidency was crippled by a few things: the oil and gas shortage, Iran taking 52 US hostages and unfortunately a lack of charisma. He was the moral and “outsider” alternative to Gerald Ford (lifetime House member) who had pardoned Nixon. He was also frugal & urged Americans to do likewise, like keeping the thermostats dialed down to 68 in the winter.That was hard to sell. He achieved the Camp David Accords during his tenure and the Nobel Peace prize afterwards. Had he been more telegenic and persuasive it might have been different.
Is that fake Melania?
I think it is. The very first thing I noticed is the body language. The real Melanie would never get that close to him. LOL!
Also, this woman is way too happy. Arguably, the real one is probably thrilled to be leaving the WH but this is overly happy even for the real one.
This defense bill veto is screwing up tuition assistance approval for service members who are enrolled in school. It’s happening to my husband’s colleagues. Luckily my husband’s TA was approved and fully paid before all this. For this and countless other reasons, Trump is a piece of garbage.
Everything he’s done since the election just shows that a second term would have been even more unbearable than the first, if it were possible. I find it strange that Barron isn’t with them.
Barron already in Florida with his grandparents.
The house republicans have stopped the 2k bill out of pure selfishness.
How do they think people are supposed to live?
What utter lunacy. While he’s gone from the White House, you guys should go in, pack up all their shit and stack it outside for them. Place guards where needed to prevent them reentering the place. Arrest them if they cause any problems. How long are they expected to be in Florida? All those criminals get off scot-free, then? Corruption and criminality. His supporters are wilful dumbarses who can’t distinguish chicanery from truth. I’ve decided I don’t care what happens to them.
*🎄🎅 Wishing you all a Christmas Day filled with joy and peace. Look after each other. Stay safe. Stay well. 🎅🎄
Would it be illegal for the American people to rush the White House and take out all of the Grifter-in-Chief’s belongings and put them in the trash. He’s a traitor and has done nothing but ruin our country. He has no business running a country, he couldn’t run a McDonald’s properly. Probably would eat them out of business. What a f*cking mess. We could at least grab some food for people to get a decent Christmas dinner.
I kind of like the idea of Champ and Major Biden escorting Trump out of the White House