Former President Trump Thread

The mental gymnastics of the same crowd who is STILL chanting "Lock her up" and "but her e-mails" going "looking into his lack of proper handing over of documents and putting secret documents on non-secure servers and in non-secure facilities is a disastrous and tyrannical overreach of the government" are truly of a level even Simone Biles can only dream of.
There are no gymnastics, though. The people saying those things don't believe any of it, and they're not trying to represent their actual view of the world in what they say. They're just spewing out whatever they think will win them points and get their team elected.

None of it's in good faith, and reacting to it like it is just lets them bog everything down in arguments they don't care about while also providing external validation that all their bullshit is important enough to need to be argued with.
 
There are no gymnastics, though. The people saying those things don't believe any of it, and they're not trying to represent their actual view of the world in what they say. They're just spewing out whatever they think will win them points and get their team elected.

None of it's in good faith, and reacting to it like it is just lets them bog everything down in arguments they don't care about while also providing external validation that all their bullshit is important enough to need to be argued with.
I absolutely believe that about the main characters. Most of the politicians and media figures involved.
But the regular people for many of whom the words "mental gymnastics" would require a few minutes to work out, who vote for these people, also manage to hold these...opposing points in their head at one time. It's just really weird. Sure, some are just plain ole racists who use whatever they can think of, or whatever. But surely not all. 35% or so of the USA is not made up of trolls, panhandlers, bullies, pedophiles and racists.
 
35% or so of the USA is not made up of trolls, panhandlers, bullies, pedophiles and racists.
Sure. But then add the people who are unable or unwilling to critically think about their position, the people who really strongly believe in one aspect of their party's platform and are willing to say/do whatever they need to for them to win the election...

Either way though, the people showing up online to talk about "her emails!" and "my constitution!" and such? They're the trolls and the pedophiles and the racists and the grifters.
 
I hate that you're right. I also hate that tribalism and fear mean HCGLNS is also right. And that there's literally no good way of "opening their eyes" or whatever.
 

figmentPez

Staff member
There are no gymnastics, though. The people saying those things don't believe any of it, and they're not trying to represent their actual view of the world in what they say. They're just spewing out whatever they think will win them points and get their team elected.

None of it's in good faith, and reacting to it like it is just lets them bog everything down in arguments they don't care about while also providing external validation that all their bullshit is important enough to need to be argued with.
The big names saying it don't believe it, but there are a lot of followers who repeat it, and have bought into the lies whole heartedly. There are people who think that Trump is innocent, Hillary's emails are a huge threat, it was a perfect phone call, the election was stolen, etc. Some of them are otherwise fairly normal people, who just happen to listen to nutjobs when it comes to politics, and I cannot fathom how it happens.
 
It's funny how the same people who think it's an injustice that the FBI raided Trump will go on and on and on about Hunter Biden. And they'll scream "I bet you don't think he should be investigated, too! Something something laptop!"

Uh, sure, why not? If there's a legitimate reason to investigate him, then by all means. That's the whole point of an EQUAL justice system. There's no favourites just because it's coming from the other party. If they did something wrong, then go ahead.

Of course, I don't understand the point of the "Hunter Biden's laptop" nonsense in the first place and it always sounded like conspiratorial nonsense to me.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
It's funny how the same people who think it's an injustice that the FBI raided Trump will go on and on and on about Hunter Biden. And they'll scream "I bet you don't think he should be investigated, too! Something something laptop!"

Uh, sure, why not? If there's a legitimate reason to investigate him, then by all means. That's the whole point of an EQUAL justice system. There's no favourites just because it's coming from the other party. If they did something wrong, then go ahead.

Of course, I don't understand the point of the "Hunter Biden's laptop" nonsense in the first place and it always sounded like conspiratorial nonsense to me.
That's the thing about conspiracy nuts. Any evidence that contradicts them, or lack of evidence to support them, is itself further evidence of the conspiracy.
 
Honestly I think even using the term mental gymnastics is giving too much credit. Most people who support Republicans are not thinking that far ahead. To them the policies are secondary to the team.

Think of the person you know that seems really into sports. You go to a game together with his favorite team, the one his father loved, and his grandfather loved, and he is decked out in merch. An hour later, one of the referees makes a call that negatively effects the team, "That ref is blind!" "Terrible call!" "Are you stupid ref?" is all you hear for a few minutes. Another hour passes, and now that same referee makes another call, but this time it supports his team, "Great call!" "Hell yeah!" "It's about time!"

It didn't matter that this guy thought the referees judgement was terrible the hour prior, because his mind isn't thinking that far ahead. It's basically "Does the action support the team for which I support? Then action good. Does same action act negative to my team? Then action bad." That is as far as the brain is actually working, no gymnastics required.

Have said it before and will say it again, but too many people treat politics like sports. Trump basically became Tom Brady to conservatives and even has his own foam fingers and jerseys. It's the same shit that got many athletes a pass on sexual assault or violence, because he was the star running back or the biggest hitter, and his loss would negatively hurt the team, thus "That girl is a fucking whore who was asking for it." The next week another star athelete of the rival team gets caught with the same shit and it's now "Lock him up! That poor woman didn't ask for that!" not because they actually care about the woman, but only about hurting the other team so their own chances of winning go up. That is the core of their ideology.
 
Now remember, taking the 5th is a right guaranteed to all Americans and can not be used to infer guilt in any criminal proceeding. But this is a civil matter and the 5th does not protect you that way, you absolutely can and the judge will tell the jury that they can infer wrongdoing from those that plead the 5th. Pleading the 5th in Canada will naturally get you some weird looks as your are essentially declaring that you want to be formally renamed The Constitution Act.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Also, way to invite more Hillary comparisons.

Hillary - grilled for 11 hours, never takes the 5th
Trump - immediately takes the 5th, shuts up for the first time in his entire attention-seeking life
 

figmentPez

Staff member
The government tried to get Trump to give back the documents he stole, well before the FBI went in and took them with a warrant:

 
From what I read when he got the subpoena he gave over 15 of the boxes implying that was all he had. However an insider spilled the beans on him having much more stashed away at his house in Mar-a-Lago. That was when they decided to bring in the FBI to get the rest of it back.
 
Well well well, Ze Trapstaire (Merrick Garland) has filed a motion to unseal the warrant and the receipts. Due to the overwhelming negative statements concerning the raid. The only way it will not be unsealed would be if cheeto itself objects.

Interesting to note, one of the signatories to the motion is the guy in charge of military technologies and secrets at the DOJ
 
One of the big rumors I didn't believe was that much of the classified information was from the military, because Trump was hoping to sell the information to other countries that desired it including Saudi Arabia and Russia.

That felt a little bit too conspiratorial for my blood but now I'm starting to wonder...
 
“Look, having nuclear—my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart —you know, if you’re a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, OK, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I’m one of the smartest people anywhere in the world—it’s true!—but when you’re a conservative Republican they try—oh, do they do a number—that’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune—you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged—but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me—it would have been so easy, and it’s not as important as these lives are (nuclear is powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what’s going to happen and he was right—who would have thought?), but when you look at what’s going on with the four prisoners—now it used to be three, now it’s four—but when it was three and even now, I would have said it’s all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don’t, they haven’t figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it’s gonna take them about another 150 years—but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us.”
 
Didn't a whistleblower reveal that fat bastard was trying to give away nuclear technology to the Saudis during its time as president? Congress had a report on it.
 
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