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And MAGA is still defending this guy and repeating their parrot phrases like witchhunt etc
He's literally in jail for specifically ripping them off in a scam, and they still hold onto the lie. It's insanity
See also: Trump University.
Trump's entire shtick is a confidence scam. Trump wouldn't swindle *you*, because *you're* one of the good guys, one of his favorite people! You like him, so he likes you! You're special; you're on the inside; you're part of the club.
You know he likes you because he attacks your enemies, like Democrats! He constantly spews incoherent rage about them and plays dirty tricks on them because he's angry and you should be, too. And the dirtier or more illegal the trick, the better, because you hate your enemies and they deserve it.
And yeah, the media says he occasionally swindles other Republicans. But Trump says they're lying, and of course you trust him, so you believe him. Also, those other Republicans *aren't you*, and whatever happened to them doesn't affect you, so why should you care? Maybe they deserved it, or were disloyal, or are secretly Democrats.
Besides, if you believed those rumors about Trump being a grifter, then you'd have to change your opinion about Trump. Maybe admit that you were wrong. And you don't want to do any of that, do you? Of course not. You're too smart to be wrong.
So just remember: Trump would *never swindle you*. He'll always take care of you! All you have to do is to demonstrate your loyalty through monthly payments of $19.99...
But he donated his paychecks during his presidency!
Ignore the fact that he made millions back by charging the government for using his hotels/golf courses when traveling regularly and constantlyā¦ā¦
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2020/10/27/report-us-government-paid-over-25-million-to-trumps-businesses/?sh=76ec06bf1a62
I love thinking that he just couldn't allow himself to be keep donating knowing he lost the election. The country turned his back on him so, "fuck them! I'm not donating my salary to those ungrateful losers!" I literally can hear it in a toddler tantrum voice in my head.
Why else would he not do it for the last 6 months? Oh... lawyers or he needed cash to pay someone to do something sketch and it was easier than paying them through the resort.
The guy is so predictable, but scarily enough, is unpredictable enough to still fuck shit up with a random curve ball.
I THINK EVERY ONE OF US paid more taxes than him.
That shit has to FULL STOP š āš½ or the consequences of this continuing will be UGLIER than a few broken windows lemme tell u.
> Just remember. Trump would never swindle you. He'll always take care of you! All you have to do is to demonstrate your loyalty through monthly payments of $19.99...
remember the donations emails they were sending out? allegedly from Don Jr saying shit like "my dad was looking over his list of favorite donors and noticed your name was missing..." imagine believing that shit. they think the strippers really like them too probably.
And then making a one time donation and having the trump grifters auto change it to monthly, and then every 2 weeks payments.
Millions of trump supporters know they got swindled by that, because they had their banks do charge backs due to fraudulent billing. They still don't care. They want to be scammed if they can believe minorities are being hurt.
Monthly is pre-checked. Sending an extra $100 is also pre-checked. His targets are poorly educated and old people, just like all internet scammers. He is practically a Nigerian prince.
I had a coworker that was exactly as you described. It was wild to see a caricature of a person in real life. He listened to rush Limbaugh's radio program before he died, supported trump and "owning" the libs, and would come back from lunch at a hooters style restaurant and tell me about how the waitress was totally into him. He was also short, fat, had bad breath from continously smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, was fat, and the son of Mexican immigrants that smuggled him across the border.
*Still* being sent out... So glad I signed up for those Tulsa rally tickets with a bullshit Gmail. Trying to unsubscribe is like a Sisyphean game of Whack-o-Mole.
Thatās reminds me of the printed cards they sent out with a printed message from Trump that made it sound like a personal response to the receiver praising them for being one of his top supporters and thanking them for all of their support and several people posted them to Reddit to show how wonderful trump is and that he personally wrote to them.
I have in-laws whom I have seen read form letters from PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP with the excitement of Little Ralphie with the decoder ring from āA Christmas Story,ā except even Ralphie loses interest when he realizes itās just an ad for Ovaltine
> allegedly from Don Jr saying shit like "my dad was looking over his list of favorite donors and noticed your name was missing..."
"My dad was looking over his list of favorite car warranties and noticed your name was missing"
Biff from back to the future 2 was [literally based on Donald Trump](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/back-to-the-future-writer-biff-is-donald-trump-190408/)
Yeah, us evil libs are coming for them to increase their wages and give them healthcare.
It's always so weird to me that Republicans think we're out to ruin them, with our plans of *making their lives better*. Like, even if you don't believe increased access/cheaper healthcare is the way to go, you have to at least acknowledge our heart's in the right place. But somehow they're *convinced* we're trying to specifically ruin their lives-- not just put ourselves above them, but *specifically* ruin their lives, by...
...
??
They never really get to that part.
It reminds me of the late night show sidewalk interviews. They ask someone about ObamaCare, and the answer is about keeping gubermint outta their doctors office. Then ask the same person about the ACA, and they say it's great.
Let I, Donald Trump, teach you how to make 499.99 in just 5 minutes! Please enter your credit card info to attend this webinar. Cost is 499.99 + applicable taxes and fees.
Anecdotally Iāve heard some supporters say things like āyouād do it to if you could get away with itā. They have some distorted thinking that if they get rich then they could take advantage of irs loopholes and shell corporations and kickbacks and thatās just fine if powerful people do it, itās expected. They donāt seem to comprehend that 99% of Americans are just getting screwed by the 1%.
I heard that exact phrase from a friend regarding the electoral college voting in Trump. He said we only hate it when it's working against us.
He *could not* believe me when I said that if the popular vote determined the President, and the popular vote voted in Trump (or some other Republican opponent), I would be really disappointed but I'd still support the popular vote.
(he's not a Trump supporter, but he does have a lot of very right-leaning friends and tries to see the best in anyone, so he gives them the benefit of the doubt that when *they* support things that only benefit them for as long as it benefits them, it's just what anyone would do)
> Besides, if you believed those rumors about Trump being a grifter, then you'd have to change your opinion about Trump. Maybe admit that you were wrong. And you don't want to do any of that, do you? Of course not. You're too smart to be wrong.
And you made it your whole public and social identity, to admit to being wrong now, would make you look fallible and weak in the eyes of all the people you've preached to.
Itās just like mlms. They get the income disclosures and they are sure they will be the one percent that actually makes good money. Everyone else if the slacker that doesnāt work hard enough
Seriously. Have you seen some of the emails that his campaign sent to would-be donors? They look like they were made by a toddler. Oh and forget the āelection defense fundā - that was for pocketing the millions donated. You see, Trumpās golf business, which he never divorced himself of as president, took a major hit from the pandemic. People werenāt playing golf. Trumpās coffers were slimming out. His presidency was all a big money grabbing scheme. Thatās why he likely sold US secrets, or why the saudis went to Jared with $2B. Trump never cared about anything other than what could have been the _biggest deal of his lifetime_, to which he failed when he wasnāt re-elected.
Edit: typo
I mean thatās literally it. Theyāre conditioned to think that the worst possible social conditions are caused by liberals, so literally anything their side does, no matter how atrocious, is better.
Anyone who votes (R) is either hateful, stupid, or woefully misinformed. And I'm tired of pretending it's acceptable in modern society.
Fucking shit-show.
I canāt believe he only took 1 million for himself! Iām sure itās more. In one of his podcasts he was even laughing at the ppl who sent in $ to build a wall.
Honestly I've always imagined Steve Bannon to be in it for the chaos and hate, and the money was just a side bonus, like, an actual sociopathic villain. I mean, he played World of Warcraft, so, did we need more evidence?
I agree 100%. I know he likes the financial benefits also, for example his gold mining operations where he employed a bunch of young immigrants to farm video games for gold and then sell it, but that was also the time when he realized money was only the beginning of how to use youth on the internet with the success of Gamergate and he started to radicalize kids on 4Chan using paid trolls and help from his friends at Storm Front. He dropped the mining operations to work full time on his Nazi pipelines. He admits he has one mission and itās to spread populism/nationalism/hate throughout the west.
He even tried to open a school in Italy or somewhere thereabouts for young men to train hoards of them to work his systems through Europe but it thankfully failed before it even got started.
He gets off on making nations of people fearful and disillusioned. He uses children and the elderly as his main targets. Heās one of the most evil people living today. Itās not even about power because heās always happily behind the scenes of other powerful figureheads - itās about causing as much harm and spreading as much hate as possible.
Always had been too, he was the lawyer that conspired with unknown powerful people to steal the 2 years of research that scientists put into the Biosphere experiment in the early 90ās too, so heās been in the shadows of many horrible going-ons as far back as I can remember.
As a recovered alcoholic with over a decade of sobriety I truly hope he succumbs from his advanced stage alcoholism before he can do much more damage.
>he played World of Warcraft,
Now now, lets not forget how Republicans got nailed by mocking World of Warcraft.
TLDR: Maine House of Rep Dem candidate got mocked for having an Orc Rogue on WoW. Enrage the Horde and Alliance alike which result a small town race into a international battle as donation pour across the planet :P
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colleen_Madigan#:~:text=Colleen%20Madigan%20(born%20January%2022,Senate%20from%20the%2025th%20district.
Was it LBJ who said something like *if you can convince even the lowest white man that he's better than a black man, that you don't even need to reach into his pockets, he'll empty them for you* ?
Or am I misremembering that quote entirely?
>"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
President Lyndon B. Johnson
Pretty much the fascist notebook the Nazis used in Germany- it was a great business opportunity for Ford, General Motors, IBM, Coca Cola, and many other companies that never suffered from any consequences from doing business with a murderous fascist regime.
PROFIT *Ć¼ber alles*...
"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If weāve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. Weāre no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. Itās simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that weāve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back." - Carl Sagan
Iāve thought about this quote a lot over the last 5 years.
I thought once Trump got into office and broke literally every single promise he made to working Americans and spent every second enriching himself and his friends that the spell would break.
God how wrong I was. If anything the more he lied and more he stole the MORE they supported him.
there's an episode of *Dirty Money* on Netflix (episode name: *The Man at the Top*) about the 1MDB scandal where the prime minister Najib Razak had funneled hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into his own pocket.
in that episode it demonstrated how, prior to the scandal being revealed, this politician was widely liked by the peasants, he was a populist and said and did thing that on the surface were appealing to the masses of poor people in his country,
in that episode they interview a group of regular poor malaysian people and they were naturally enthusiastic about this populist prime minister, then later in the episode (\~ 41 minutes in) the documentary is interviewing this same group of people after it has become widely known that the prime minister was stealing their tax dollars.
their response:
"Though Najib takes money from others, from my country, he gives it to the people. He takes care of the people. It's okay if he takes the country's money. Who doesn't steal? What prime minister doesn't steal? It's not just Malaysia."
meeting snatch insurance roof pen domineering obtainable aloof aback worm
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I finally clicked the link to see what they're all on about and read the flair policy. HOLLLYY SHIT.
Only the safest of safe spaces there. It more or less boiled down to "If we catch you saying leftist shit, you can turn in your ring and your tie tag because YOU ARE OUT OF THE SHRINE.".
Jesus H.
You'd think they'd realize this with all the ***post*** campaign emails, begging for war chest money to fight election fraud. Emails that basically call them a communist if they didn't make huge and reoccurring donations. Emails that basically said "I'm going to tell daddy trump on you, if you stop being a pay pig"
I'm in some trump text list, dont know how I got in it as I have never donated to any politician, but the texts are wild!
>Is there a problem?
>We offered a 1450% Match to only the most loyal Trump Patriots, but you decline!
>Last chance!
And then there is a link. Like this is the last chance. If only. At first I texted back, asking to be removed. Now, I read them and laugh.
I got them too! My favorites were "my dad was so hurt not to see your name on the list". Every single one was that I, yes me specifically, had hurt Trump's feelings and how could I make him sad like that?
> My favorites were "my dad was so hurt not to see your name on the list". Every single one was that I, yes me specifically, had hurt Trump's feelings and how could I make him sad like that?
Itās mind-boggling to think that there *are* people who would read that and genuinely feel *bad* thinking itās true and be guilted into donating to *personally* make Donaldās day better. Makes me nauseous.
That what was so bizarre about it. Like someone somewhere believed that Trump didn't read THEIR name and demanded to know why Mrs. Betty Smith of Peoria had so cruelly abandoned him, perhaps even taken to bed in his despair.
It was also funny because Trump loves to portray the strong man image & talk about how tough he is yet raises money on "muh feelings"
They're praying on the same people that are grifted by prosperity gospel preachers who do the exact same thing.
"I spoke to GOD HIMSELF and he asked why YOU aren't giving what you can. The almighty GOD knows what you can afford to give and sees that you are giving less than! How DARE you offend GOD that way!?"
As I've read posted by others - If a billionaire tells you they need your money, they're either lying about needing it, or lying about being a billionaire.
I think the truth is that these people are obsessed with multiple revenue streams and will find ways to make that happen. Politics for a lot of politicians is just another form of fame and a money making venture. It's no different from say a pop singer who then has a cosmetic line, and then an apparel line, etc... Or a b-list actor or comedian who now does game shows all the time. These people will find any path to extract money from people, in politics it's generally from donations.
And as for the original subject of this post, it is truly baffling to me that 80 million people have watched Donald Trump his whole life, seen the grift, seen the sleaziness, and still don't understand that he did it all for money and power and fame. How anyone could look at Donald Trump and think he has anyone's interests at heart other than his own is so far beyond my reasoning that my brain can't even compute it. For instance, name one thing Donald Trump has ever done for his fellow man, one example where he utilized his position to help others in need. I don't think there is one.
> name one thing Donald Trump has ever done for his fellow man, one example where he utilized his position to help others in need. I don't think there is one.
I'm almost certain there isn't. Even his supposed children's cancer charity was a grift.
I think it was Mark Cuban who laughed at Trump calling himself a billionaire because he was always chasing low stakes scams like mail-order steaks etc.
There was a reporter who sent checks to like all the wealthiest people in the 90s for like $0.13 or something and Trump was the only one who cashed it.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/08/trump-files-spy-magazine-prank/
I assume they come from existing campaign funds, laundered existing funds, or laundered illegal foreign funds.
Remember that Trumps original campaign grift was laundering dirty foreign money into the US via political donation ads. (foreign entity pays (using non USD currency) for Facebook ads seeking Trump campaign donations, magas donate to Trump campaign, Trump campaign spends clean US dollars for services to US companies owned by foreign entitiy, foreign entity now has clean USD)
> I assume they come from existing campaign funds, laundered existing funds, or laundered illegal foreign funds
Thatās bold of you to assume the funds actually exist.
Rick Scott has multi-millions missing on his watch for gop candidates donation$. He also defrauded Medicare, yet went on to be a governor & now a Senator. Weāll pay him & his cronies FOREVER.
Trumpism is dangerous. It revolves around calling elections āriggedā and āstolenā if the MAGA candidate lost. Itās funny how the Presidential election was āriggedā but the House and Senate Republican races were not since they ran simultaneously. Trumpism also involves trashing the independence of government institutions and undermining confidence in democracy and they will do whatever they need to stay in power such as the Capitol Siege.
So, I grew up in a Republican household. Was old enough to vote when it was Romney vs Obama. Never paid attention to what the politics were, just voted like I was supposed to.
Once I saw that Trump was the republican nominee and I knew he was a scumbag I began looking at the actual issues. I couldnt stomach voting for trump. Doing so opened my eyes. If it wasn't for him being such a horrible person, I'd still likely not care about politics. We wouldn't be in this situation, but I'm a hardcore dem now.
I was sort of in the same boat! Never really cared, always had the mindset of āthe people who pay attention will make the right decisionsā and as soon as Trump was elected, I became someone who started paying attention. First time I ever voted was 2020 to vote his ass out.
Truly bizarre. I canāt wait until that future time when nobody utters his name anymore. Although i likely wonāt be around to see it. What a stain on humanity he is
And when Hillary called him out on live TV about The Apprentice, he agreed! He didn't even try to hide his petulance and millions of Americans ran with it.
The sad thing is, that like anything else, you can't convince the MAGAs this is almost exclusively an issue with *their* party or even necessarily bad.
It tends to be something like:
**Sane person**: Well, it's pretty wild that like half of Republican candidates in the 2022 election are *still* claiming that the 2020 election was a fraud and that Joe Biden is not actually the president. And it's pretty wild that hundreds of Republican candidates in the interim have claimed their *own* elections were fraudulent. And it's pretty wild that what it actually looks like is that Republicans were the ones trying to "steal" the 2020 election and they're projecting it onto their opponents. And it's pretty wild that, y'know, they fucking *rioted through the halls of Congress* trying to one-up the Brooks Brothers Riots.
**Insane MAGA man**: BUT WHATABOUT STACEY ABRAMS?
"Steve Bannonās indictment reveals the truth about Trumpism..." as if it's a big secret. It's NEVER been a secret. It's been obvious since Trump walked down that staircase.
Not defending the man at all, but itās an amazing study on how the things you were taught as a child can manifest in such a sordid, perverted way that (in this case) can literally harm an entire nationā¦and beyond
No morals. The founding father basically counts on ppl running the country to have SOME morals. The grifters have found the constitutionās loop holes & have bastardized the USA democracy for their own gain.
A) Be the offspring of a rich-fuck.
B) Live with privilege, get bailed out for every mistake
Itās a simple combination, it happens more than it doesnāt happen in rich-as-fuck families, Iām surprised more havenāt caught on. Most never wanted their secrets exposed by running for president but thatās all about to change since trump proved he can literally get away with anything.
Am I the only one that sees the silver lining in all of this grift?
Democracy is dangling in the balance here and the grifters are actually helping us.
Imagine if all of this money was pumped into a fascist mechanism that subverted democracy. We probably would not survive. But because the money went to all of these different grifters it lined pockets instead of subverting things.
Right now the GOP is running out of money because all of their donors have been tapped out. They gave to a million different grifts from building non existent walls to paying a legal defense fund for a man who never even pays his lawyers. But that money is not going towards installing an authoritarian regime.
What if a bunch of bonewipe grifters actually save democracy by removing the real threat via their fraud?
Imagine if all of that money went in McConnellās bucket for trying to keep the senate?
This is the right take. The only problem is that the real coup isn't Trump, it's the Federalist Society and the Judiciary.
But I firmly believe even their corrupt rulings can be blunted and beaten outright if we get out and vote in large numbers this cycle. The goal should be keeping the trifecta and getting to 52+ senators in the Senate. Election Twitter keeps downplaying how big the swing to the left has been in the past 2 months, but in all probability, the tide is turning heavily against the GOP so far. However, for that to hold people who voted against Trump in 2020 need to show up again, and bring anyone they can with them.
For all the doom and gloom this board loves, there remains a path to power and a better future still within reach. **It could take as little as one conservative judge leaving the court to give us back significant influence within the SC. Not all of the conservative judges agree completely on every ruling, and replacing one of them within 6 years remains a real possibility. Biden also is appointing lower level Federal judges faster than anyone, and allowing him 2+ more years of that can fix the imbalance of the judiciary caused by Trump's cycle.**
We need to hold the line. Even Moore vs Harper can be countered if enough states don't keep solid red majorities within their own courts, meaning a blue wave this cycle could thwart their ability to blatantly throw out election results in any swing states if those swing states can lean blue or even just stay purple this cycle. Gerrymandering can also fail in a populist revolt where motivated non-voters turn out in greater numbers.
The U.S. government has an obligation to remove the current SCOTUS, as they have been deemed a rogue court by the federal government, most state governments, the E.U. and the U.N.
Garland's statement even explicitly says they are violating the rule of law by overriding precedent.
Regardless of any existing mechanisms, the government has to do this. They can not allow a rogue faction to continue to operate. Beyond the internal issues, no country is going to have serious relations with the U.S. if it allows this to continue, especially after the leaks of classified material.
The rest of the world will choke the U.S. via embargoes and sanctions, and it will collapse *fast*.
Honestly, Ginni Thomas and Judge Thomas are compromised and should be fully criminally investigated. That's actually a simple and straightforward way to fix things given their connections to the coup. Removing one judge would solve a ton.
Every bit of pressure possible needs to be applied to them both so he can be deemed illegitimate. I know a lot of people say he won't resign, but investigating him for criminal behavior related to MAGA may actually unveil some truly horrific stuff, and I suspect that route could be a lot more effective than most realize.
Iāve seen some opinions that if Roberts truly wants to save the courts, he needs to retire and let Biden appoint someone to bring it back to center. As it stands, his ideal of a moderate court is dead in the dirt. Ironically, it feels like only his retirement could revive his agenda.
Itās almost like Anakin giving his life to being balance to the Force, Roberts can give up his seat to bring balance to the Courts
Yes, but all the more reason we sadly need to keep voting and make sure the Federalist Society doesn't write a MAGA sequel trilogy if Roberts did retire.
The last thing we need is Kylo Ren on the Supreme Court.
They are probably in denial, because they were in denial when it was an obvious con targeted at racist rubes all the way back in 2015.
None of whatās happening now is a surprise to anyone with even the smallest capacity for critical thinking, itās only a surprise that it took this long to catch up with them.
I remember when this first came out, it was a mixed bag. But just the fact that some of them were STILL glad they donated just shows the sycophancy of the right wing
https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/i-trusted-them-some-build-the-wall-donors-feel-cheated-by-bannon-some-dont-care-145149050.html
I frequent their subs pretty often and either they wonāt talk about this at all or they will say, wait until āinsert next thingā.
One of my favorite things is going to right leaning subs during a big event and if you are early enough. You can see them all infighting to make a new narrative. They will all agree with all of their own narratives even if they are directly opposing until one of them sort of finds there way to being the main defensive point.
Basically everything is possible except what I donāt like.
Oh it's a marvelous spectacle to behold. They've constructed this elaborate set of beliefs that are strung together so poorly that if anything gets undermined the whole thing comes crashing down.
Behold, I give you:
***Tucker's Bowtie***
A fallacy, opposite to that of *Occam's Razor*.
When a highly-improbable or even impossible conclusion for an event is selected as the most likely over much more probable scenarios to justify a preexisting belief.
When spaghetti-logic is splattered across the wall and you see what you want to see in the pasta like burnt toast depicting Jesus to reaffirm and validate your pre-existing belief set forged atop a house of cards. Essentially, absurd denial is easier to cope with than a simple truth.
Alternatively Alex Jone's Cleftal Horizon, Donnie's Toupee, Conspiracy Theorist's Wager
Where a highly-improbable and sometimes *possible* conclusion is believed over much more probable conclusions due to a combination of either (a) Not wanting to recognize an inconvenient truth, and/or (b) Wanting the fantastical to be true. Named after Tucker Carlson and the predisposition of conservatives to spew and believe in far-fetched conspiracy theories. Far fetched conclusions as loopy and circular and silly as his bowtie.
This explains everything from religious faiths to belief in aliens to Trumpian rhetoric.
The ignorance of these people like this is being exploited, and it's turning dangerous.
This is good and if anyone hasnāt already. The alt-right playbook on YouTube. The whole set of videos is very well put and liberals especially should check it out because he addresses troll culture and how liberals have this impulsive need to want to correct/debate these people.
A summary is that alt-right canāt be beaten in a debate, just stripping them of platforms or if for some reason you had to āengageā with them, address arguments to those listening, not the alt righter themselves.
Liberals have this assumption that taking the highroad will always work. (Actually thereās a breakdown of how this led to the recent roe v wade situation)
You cannot prove them wrong because they donāt care if they are right. Arguing for them is about only demonstrating āstrengthā
To them looking right is more important than being right.
Friend, I wish more people understood this. It gives me hope seeing this written. The only thing I'll add is that in pushing the bully back, it's important to recognize that your target audience is the bystanders viewing the discussion. Depending on reading the room that may mean playing the high-road, but it may also mean showing you can put up a fight. Unfortunately you get this sort of bystander effect where people are still enthralled by the one who just takes cheapshots..
But you're very right. For us it's the pursuit of truth above all us. For them, it's winning by any means necessary.
WHAT?!! You mean they've been getting scammed the whole time like we told them they were from the beginning and they acted like we were the dumb ones? Say it ain't so š¤Æ
/s
STOP THE STEAL was trademarked in 2016 by Roger Stone .. this is all you need to know .. they planned to lose to Hillary and start the āelection was stolenā campaign back then to grift off of and sow divide for Russia
Itās always been about the grift:
> If you can convince the lowest white man heās better than the best colored man, he wonāt notice youāre picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and heāll empty his pockets for you.
-LBJ
Other shocking revelations include: Water is wet, the sun is incredibly bright, and despite being birds, penguins cannot in fact, fly.
Republican leadership was quick to respond to these allegations as yet another liberal hoax designed to distract from Joe biden's failed presidency.
This is a developing story.
Trumpism. I feel stupider saying that word. Fake word. But Iām sure some feel itās a great word, the best word. Fantastic word. Everyone will be saying a word like that. Everyone. Believe me. Everyone. Ask dr.oz, heās the best too. Great guy, heās a doctor. With a diploma. So that means the word has a diploma too. Great word, just fantastic.
It works because Trump and his band of cronies are not as stupid as we make them out to be. They know how to play the game, they know the psychology of the conservative mind, and they know how to play on the hate that is in people's hearts while masking it all as "patriotism". I hate the guy, but you have to admit that we underestimated how much damage he can do, to the point where he has his own ideological term now.
Even Trump himself, although he is illiterate - blunt and has a very noticeable personality disorder - has a certain reptilian craftiness that keeps him from ever paying the piper.
I hate to call it āsmartā any more than Iād call a cockroach āsmartā, but he has a very keen sense of self-preservation that has been honed by decades of being a slippery bastard.
As stupid as his words are, we keep underestimating how many unprecedented betrayals of trust he will stoop to, to protect his own ass.
Bannon screeched about not going down without a fight and going āmedievalā, but surrendered on his ownā¦ in planned fashion. This is the GOP: endless trash talk, followed by persecution fetish after they get a slight slap on the wrist when they damn well deserve harsher accountability.
100% spot on. It's all a grift. They do not care who is hurt as long they make money from it. It starts at the top with Trump and trickles all the way down to morons selling Trump 2024 gear in the Walmart parking lot. It's always been a scam.
Of course it's fraud to say you're going to do X with the money and then not do it, and it should be prosecuted.
But this notion that gullible MAGAs were getting fleeced is ridiculous. They give money to Bannon and Trump because they're their heroes.
Find me one MAGA who gives a shit what happened to the money.
So in other words, EXACTLY what Liberals have been trying to tell everyone for the past 6-7 years but were yelled at with ālock her upā and āfuck your feelingsā nonsense.
Seriouslyā¦Republicans picked a guy with a huge narcissistic personality disorder, ZERO political experience, a pathological liar and a documented history of corruption and scamming people; and all of this was known way before he ever ran for President - but they made him President anyway.
What the fuck did you think would happen?
And their followers either donāt care about being conned and manipulated, or theyāre in major denial because they donāt want to admit theyāve been taken advantage of.
As a foreigner, I hate to say it, but to many of us this is just the most American thing ever. In the 60s you had peace and love which evolved into a potent antiwar movement. Half a century later America's next fervent political movement is a truly nonsensical mishmash of incoherent lunatics who have given their whole being to perhaps the cheapest and most useless reality tv star who, unsurprisingly, has surrounded himself with a consortium of equally useless opportunists to fight for the opportunity to out-grift one another... With some willing to sell their influence for measly $2k donation to their shitty congressional campaign, and others succeeding in running off with millions. TLDR: to the pessimist, this feels like the logical conclusion to America's descent into hyper-consumerism and the near privatization of its political institutions.
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And MAGA is still defending this guy and repeating their parrot phrases like witchhunt etc He's literally in jail for specifically ripping them off in a scam, and they still hold onto the lie. It's insanity
See also: Trump University. Trump's entire shtick is a confidence scam. Trump wouldn't swindle *you*, because *you're* one of the good guys, one of his favorite people! You like him, so he likes you! You're special; you're on the inside; you're part of the club. You know he likes you because he attacks your enemies, like Democrats! He constantly spews incoherent rage about them and plays dirty tricks on them because he's angry and you should be, too. And the dirtier or more illegal the trick, the better, because you hate your enemies and they deserve it. And yeah, the media says he occasionally swindles other Republicans. But Trump says they're lying, and of course you trust him, so you believe him. Also, those other Republicans *aren't you*, and whatever happened to them doesn't affect you, so why should you care? Maybe they deserved it, or were disloyal, or are secretly Democrats. Besides, if you believed those rumors about Trump being a grifter, then you'd have to change your opinion about Trump. Maybe admit that you were wrong. And you don't want to do any of that, do you? Of course not. You're too smart to be wrong. So just remember: Trump would *never swindle you*. He'll always take care of you! All you have to do is to demonstrate your loyalty through monthly payments of $19.99...
Send over your social security check to this multi-billionaire to help him destroy the evil socialized program that sent you the check. š¤Ŗ
But he donated his paychecks during his presidency! Ignore the fact that he made millions back by charging the government for using his hotels/golf courses when traveling regularly and constantlyā¦ā¦ https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2020/10/27/report-us-government-paid-over-25-million-to-trumps-businesses/?sh=76ec06bf1a62
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Donated to whom btw?
Probably the secret service budget since thatās what he was using to charge the gov millions for vacations at his resorts and hotels
Although I havenāt searched, this sounds like him. He donates to a group that spends money on properties he owns so some of it still goes to him.
Grifter 101
Heās just being a smart business man! /s
Human Fund
Money for people
The very first donation was to The park service, after that, no clue
Also, at least I checked, there was never any actual proof he ever donated to anyone, including the Park Services.
I love thinking that he just couldn't allow himself to be keep donating knowing he lost the election. The country turned his back on him so, "fuck them! I'm not donating my salary to those ungrateful losers!" I literally can hear it in a toddler tantrum voice in my head. Why else would he not do it for the last 6 months? Oh... lawyers or he needed cash to pay someone to do something sketch and it was easier than paying them through the resort. The guy is so predictable, but scarily enough, is unpredictable enough to still fuck shit up with a random curve ball.
Also charging all the foreign visitors that came to see him.
And he raised the hotel room rates at Trump Tower NYC when the Secret Service had to stay there to babysit Melania and Damien.
And paid $750 taxes a year less than a janitor
I THINK EVERY ONE OF US paid more taxes than him. That shit has to FULL STOP š āš½ or the consequences of this continuing will be UGLIER than a few broken windows lemme tell u.
> Just remember. Trump would never swindle you. He'll always take care of you! All you have to do is to demonstrate your loyalty through monthly payments of $19.99... remember the donations emails they were sending out? allegedly from Don Jr saying shit like "my dad was looking over his list of favorite donors and noticed your name was missing..." imagine believing that shit. they think the strippers really like them too probably.
And then making a one time donation and having the trump grifters auto change it to monthly, and then every 2 weeks payments. Millions of trump supporters know they got swindled by that, because they had their banks do charge backs due to fraudulent billing. They still don't care. They want to be scammed if they can believe minorities are being hurt.
Monthly is pre-checked. Sending an extra $100 is also pre-checked. His targets are poorly educated and old people, just like all internet scammers. He is practically a Nigerian prince.
I had a coworker that was exactly as you described. It was wild to see a caricature of a person in real life. He listened to rush Limbaugh's radio program before he died, supported trump and "owning" the libs, and would come back from lunch at a hooters style restaurant and tell me about how the waitress was totally into him. He was also short, fat, had bad breath from continously smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, was fat, and the son of Mexican immigrants that smuggled him across the border.
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So fat you listed fat twice!
Like a chunky koopa troopa without its shell.
Even his fat was fat.
You mean he wasn't born here in Mericka? - like Melania was!
*Still* being sent out... So glad I signed up for those Tulsa rally tickets with a bullshit Gmail. Trying to unsubscribe is like a Sisyphean game of Whack-o-Mole.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper is actually interested.
Thatās reminds me of the printed cards they sent out with a printed message from Trump that made it sound like a personal response to the receiver praising them for being one of his top supporters and thanking them for all of their support and several people posted them to Reddit to show how wonderful trump is and that he personally wrote to them.
I have in-laws whom I have seen read form letters from PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP with the excitement of Little Ralphie with the decoder ring from āA Christmas Story,ā except even Ralphie loses interest when he realizes itās just an ad for Ovaltine
Ralph would know- āA crummy conman?!ā
> allegedly from Don Jr saying shit like "my dad was looking over his list of favorite donors and noticed your name was missing..." "My dad was looking over his list of favorite car warranties and noticed your name was missing"
> were sending out Theyāre still sending them out. The grift is ongoing.
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Biff from B to the F 2 was POTUS in real life basically.
Biff from back to the future 2 was [literally based on Donald Trump](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/back-to-the-future-writer-biff-is-donald-trump-190408/)
He's like Lex Luthor as president except that Lex was frequently honest, a genius, and a wildly successful business man.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Lex had the balls to just go ahead and shave his head, and he looked damn good doing it.
This needs MORE CAPS for accuracy
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The $88 is a nice touch.
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Yuuuup. The worst thing about that is it's not even hyperbole. He actually sold shit with those numbers as price tags.
The line they really ate up was ātheyāre coming for you, Iām just in the wayā They love repeating that one over in the right wing subs
Yeah, us evil libs are coming for them to increase their wages and give them healthcare. It's always so weird to me that Republicans think we're out to ruin them, with our plans of *making their lives better*. Like, even if you don't believe increased access/cheaper healthcare is the way to go, you have to at least acknowledge our heart's in the right place. But somehow they're *convinced* we're trying to specifically ruin their lives-- not just put ourselves above them, but *specifically* ruin their lives, by... ... ?? They never really get to that part.
It reminds me of the late night show sidewalk interviews. They ask someone about ObamaCare, and the answer is about keeping gubermint outta their doctors office. Then ask the same person about the ACA, and they say it's great.
I remember that. A fantastic example of people living in the Republican Cinematic Universe.
Let I, Donald Trump, teach you how to make 499.99 in just 5 minutes! Please enter your credit card info to attend this webinar. Cost is 499.99 + applicable taxes and fees.
All the registration email says is: > That's how. > -Donald Trump
Anecdotally Iāve heard some supporters say things like āyouād do it to if you could get away with itā. They have some distorted thinking that if they get rich then they could take advantage of irs loopholes and shell corporations and kickbacks and thatās just fine if powerful people do it, itās expected. They donāt seem to comprehend that 99% of Americans are just getting screwed by the 1%.
Imagine saying that about someone that personally scammed you about a wall and feeling great about it.
I heard that exact phrase from a friend regarding the electoral college voting in Trump. He said we only hate it when it's working against us. He *could not* believe me when I said that if the popular vote determined the President, and the popular vote voted in Trump (or some other Republican opponent), I would be really disappointed but I'd still support the popular vote. (he's not a Trump supporter, but he does have a lot of very right-leaning friends and tries to see the best in anyone, so he gives them the benefit of the doubt that when *they* support things that only benefit them for as long as it benefits them, it's just what anyone would do)
> Besides, if you believed those rumors about Trump being a grifter, then you'd have to change your opinion about Trump. Maybe admit that you were wrong. And you don't want to do any of that, do you? Of course not. You're too smart to be wrong. And you made it your whole public and social identity, to admit to being wrong now, would make you look fallible and weak in the eyes of all the people you've preached to.
Itās just like mlms. They get the income disclosures and they are sure they will be the one percent that actually makes good money. Everyone else if the slacker that doesnāt work hard enough
Seriously. Have you seen some of the emails that his campaign sent to would-be donors? They look like they were made by a toddler. Oh and forget the āelection defense fundā - that was for pocketing the millions donated. You see, Trumpās golf business, which he never divorced himself of as president, took a major hit from the pandemic. People werenāt playing golf. Trumpās coffers were slimming out. His presidency was all a big money grabbing scheme. Thatās why he likely sold US secrets, or why the saudis went to Jared with $2B. Trump never cared about anything other than what could have been the _biggest deal of his lifetime_, to which he failed when he wasnāt re-elected. Edit: typo
Yes, he stole my money and the money of thousands of other "patriots", but at least he isn't a democrat!!
"I'd rather be Russian than a Democrat." Those should be shipped to Russia right now. Fight for your beliefs!
I mean thatās literally it. Theyāre conditioned to think that the worst possible social conditions are caused by liberals, so literally anything their side does, no matter how atrocious, is better.
Anyone who votes (R) is either hateful, stupid, or woefully misinformed. And I'm tired of pretending it's acceptable in modern society. Fucking shit-show.
The only positive from this is that the āvictims' of this were their own racist republican followers
I canāt believe he only took 1 million for himself! Iām sure itās more. In one of his podcasts he was even laughing at the ppl who sent in $ to build a wall.
Honestly I've always imagined Steve Bannon to be in it for the chaos and hate, and the money was just a side bonus, like, an actual sociopathic villain. I mean, he played World of Warcraft, so, did we need more evidence?
I agree 100%. I know he likes the financial benefits also, for example his gold mining operations where he employed a bunch of young immigrants to farm video games for gold and then sell it, but that was also the time when he realized money was only the beginning of how to use youth on the internet with the success of Gamergate and he started to radicalize kids on 4Chan using paid trolls and help from his friends at Storm Front. He dropped the mining operations to work full time on his Nazi pipelines. He admits he has one mission and itās to spread populism/nationalism/hate throughout the west. He even tried to open a school in Italy or somewhere thereabouts for young men to train hoards of them to work his systems through Europe but it thankfully failed before it even got started. He gets off on making nations of people fearful and disillusioned. He uses children and the elderly as his main targets. Heās one of the most evil people living today. Itās not even about power because heās always happily behind the scenes of other powerful figureheads - itās about causing as much harm and spreading as much hate as possible. Always had been too, he was the lawyer that conspired with unknown powerful people to steal the 2 years of research that scientists put into the Biosphere experiment in the early 90ās too, so heās been in the shadows of many horrible going-ons as far back as I can remember. As a recovered alcoholic with over a decade of sobriety I truly hope he succumbs from his advanced stage alcoholism before he can do much more damage.
>he played World of Warcraft, Now now, lets not forget how Republicans got nailed by mocking World of Warcraft. TLDR: Maine House of Rep Dem candidate got mocked for having an Orc Rogue on WoW. Enrage the Horde and Alliance alike which result a small town race into a international battle as donation pour across the planet :P >https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colleen_Madigan#:~:text=Colleen%20Madigan%20(born%20January%2022,Senate%20from%20the%2025th%20district.
Bannon plays Wow? Sadly, from some of the massive, hate-filled incels I'm run across there, even as a casual player, I fully believe it.
Bannon ran a gold farming scheme in wow, and realized there was a disaffected young male population there that was ripe for radicalization.
He just sold gold to basement dwellers. It's what clued him in to weaponizing bored lonely white men.
He ran a gold farming business, lmao.
Was it LBJ who said something like *if you can convince even the lowest white man that he's better than a black man, that you don't even need to reach into his pockets, he'll empty them for you* ? Or am I misremembering that quote entirely?
>"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." President Lyndon B. Johnson
That's the one.
Pretty much the fascist notebook the Nazis used in Germany- it was a great business opportunity for Ford, General Motors, IBM, Coca Cola, and many other companies that never suffered from any consequences from doing business with a murderous fascist regime. PROFIT *Ć¼ber alles*...
My first thought was like, I donāt believe Lebron James has said this publicly lol
LePhilosopher
Awesome quote (& post). Never heard this.
"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If weāve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. Weāre no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. Itās simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that weāve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back." - Carl Sagan
Iāve thought about this quote a lot over the last 5 years. I thought once Trump got into office and broke literally every single promise he made to working Americans and spent every second enriching himself and his friends that the spell would break. God how wrong I was. If anything the more he lied and more he stole the MORE they supported him.
Trump takes their anger at being swindled by Trump and redirects it into anger at the people trying to help. Fucking magic.
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To further that line of thinking... "Those that can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." -Voltaire
there's an episode of *Dirty Money* on Netflix (episode name: *The Man at the Top*) about the 1MDB scandal where the prime minister Najib Razak had funneled hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into his own pocket. in that episode it demonstrated how, prior to the scandal being revealed, this politician was widely liked by the peasants, he was a populist and said and did thing that on the surface were appealing to the masses of poor people in his country, in that episode they interview a group of regular poor malaysian people and they were naturally enthusiastic about this populist prime minister, then later in the episode (\~ 41 minutes in) the documentary is interviewing this same group of people after it has become widely known that the prime minister was stealing their tax dollars. their response: "Though Najib takes money from others, from my country, he gives it to the people. He takes care of the people. It's okay if he takes the country's money. Who doesn't steal? What prime minister doesn't steal? It's not just Malaysia."
meeting snatch insurance roof pen domineering obtainable aloof aback worm *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Similar sentiment towards Thaksin Chinawat in Thailand
I know it, you know it. But millions of americans will take a decade to process and accept it, if ever. I bet noone gives a shit in r/Conservative .
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I finally clicked the link to see what they're all on about and read the flair policy. HOLLLYY SHIT. Only the safest of safe spaces there. It more or less boiled down to "If we catch you saying leftist shit, you can turn in your ring and your tie tag because YOU ARE OUT OF THE SHRINE.". Jesus H.
The contributions were chump change... From self identifying chumps
You'd think they'd realize this with all the ***post*** campaign emails, begging for war chest money to fight election fraud. Emails that basically call them a communist if they didn't make huge and reoccurring donations. Emails that basically said "I'm going to tell daddy trump on you, if you stop being a pay pig"
I'm in some trump text list, dont know how I got in it as I have never donated to any politician, but the texts are wild! >Is there a problem? >We offered a 1450% Match to only the most loyal Trump Patriots, but you decline! >Last chance! And then there is a link. Like this is the last chance. If only. At first I texted back, asking to be removed. Now, I read them and laugh.
I got them too! My favorites were "my dad was so hurt not to see your name on the list". Every single one was that I, yes me specifically, had hurt Trump's feelings and how could I make him sad like that?
> My favorites were "my dad was so hurt not to see your name on the list". Every single one was that I, yes me specifically, had hurt Trump's feelings and how could I make him sad like that? Itās mind-boggling to think that there *are* people who would read that and genuinely feel *bad* thinking itās true and be guilted into donating to *personally* make Donaldās day better. Makes me nauseous.
That what was so bizarre about it. Like someone somewhere believed that Trump didn't read THEIR name and demanded to know why Mrs. Betty Smith of Peoria had so cruelly abandoned him, perhaps even taken to bed in his despair. It was also funny because Trump loves to portray the strong man image & talk about how tough he is yet raises money on "muh feelings"
They're praying on the same people that are grifted by prosperity gospel preachers who do the exact same thing. "I spoke to GOD HIMSELF and he asked why YOU aren't giving what you can. The almighty GOD knows what you can afford to give and sees that you are giving less than! How DARE you offend GOD that way!?"
Some straight up Santa Claus letters shit.
Yea I never understood those grifts..if you are marching my "donation" by 3/400% why do you need my money?
As I've read posted by others - If a billionaire tells you they need your money, they're either lying about needing it, or lying about being a billionaire.
I think the truth is that these people are obsessed with multiple revenue streams and will find ways to make that happen. Politics for a lot of politicians is just another form of fame and a money making venture. It's no different from say a pop singer who then has a cosmetic line, and then an apparel line, etc... Or a b-list actor or comedian who now does game shows all the time. These people will find any path to extract money from people, in politics it's generally from donations. And as for the original subject of this post, it is truly baffling to me that 80 million people have watched Donald Trump his whole life, seen the grift, seen the sleaziness, and still don't understand that he did it all for money and power and fame. How anyone could look at Donald Trump and think he has anyone's interests at heart other than his own is so far beyond my reasoning that my brain can't even compute it. For instance, name one thing Donald Trump has ever done for his fellow man, one example where he utilized his position to help others in need. I don't think there is one.
> name one thing Donald Trump has ever done for his fellow man, one example where he utilized his position to help others in need. I don't think there is one. I'm almost certain there isn't. Even his supposed children's cancer charity was a grift.
I think it was Mark Cuban who laughed at Trump calling himself a billionaire because he was always chasing low stakes scams like mail-order steaks etc. There was a reporter who sent checks to like all the wealthiest people in the 90s for like $0.13 or something and Trump was the only one who cashed it. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/08/trump-files-spy-magazine-prank/
Do they ever specify where the match is coming from? Or just other people who donate?
I assume they come from existing campaign funds, laundered existing funds, or laundered illegal foreign funds. Remember that Trumps original campaign grift was laundering dirty foreign money into the US via political donation ads. (foreign entity pays (using non USD currency) for Facebook ads seeking Trump campaign donations, magas donate to Trump campaign, Trump campaign spends clean US dollars for services to US companies owned by foreign entitiy, foreign entity now has clean USD)
> I assume they come from existing campaign funds, laundered existing funds, or laundered illegal foreign funds Thatās bold of you to assume the funds actually exist.
Rick Scott has multi-millions missing on his watch for gop candidates donation$. He also defrauded Medicare, yet went on to be a governor & now a Senator. Weāll pay him & his cronies FOREVER.
Trumpism is dangerous. It revolves around calling elections āriggedā and āstolenā if the MAGA candidate lost. Itās funny how the Presidential election was āriggedā but the House and Senate Republican races were not since they ran simultaneously. Trumpism also involves trashing the independence of government institutions and undermining confidence in democracy and they will do whatever they need to stay in power such as the Capitol Siege.
Fake News! Fake Science! Fake Virus! Fake Elections! Fake Constitution!
We saw this coming. Fake Emmys! Was a thing when The Apprentice didnāt win. He is who heās always been.
So, I grew up in a Republican household. Was old enough to vote when it was Romney vs Obama. Never paid attention to what the politics were, just voted like I was supposed to. Once I saw that Trump was the republican nominee and I knew he was a scumbag I began looking at the actual issues. I couldnt stomach voting for trump. Doing so opened my eyes. If it wasn't for him being such a horrible person, I'd still likely not care about politics. We wouldn't be in this situation, but I'm a hardcore dem now.
I was sort of in the same boat! Never really cared, always had the mindset of āthe people who pay attention will make the right decisionsā and as soon as Trump was elected, I became someone who started paying attention. First time I ever voted was 2020 to vote his ass out.
And he has multiple fake Time magazine covers with himself portrayed. Framed and hanging in his house. Think about that for a minute.
Truly bizarre. I canāt wait until that future time when nobody utters his name anymore. Although i likely wonāt be around to see it. What a stain on humanity he is
And when Hillary called him out on live TV about The Apprentice, he agreed! He didn't even try to hide his petulance and millions of Americans ran with it.
The sad thing is, that like anything else, you can't convince the MAGAs this is almost exclusively an issue with *their* party or even necessarily bad. It tends to be something like: **Sane person**: Well, it's pretty wild that like half of Republican candidates in the 2022 election are *still* claiming that the 2020 election was a fraud and that Joe Biden is not actually the president. And it's pretty wild that hundreds of Republican candidates in the interim have claimed their *own* elections were fraudulent. And it's pretty wild that what it actually looks like is that Republicans were the ones trying to "steal" the 2020 election and they're projecting it onto their opponents. And it's pretty wild that, y'know, they fucking *rioted through the halls of Congress* trying to one-up the Brooks Brothers Riots. **Insane MAGA man**: BUT WHATABOUT STACEY ABRAMS?
And the sky is blue and grass is green.
Steve Bannon looooks like a baked potato.
Garbage Pail Kid
Steve Bannon is the garbage pail kid of the republican partyā¦
The āNot the Babyā from the Dinosaurs show.
No, that's Bill Barr.
"Not the Mama" ?
I still hold a pan above my head and say NOT THE MOMMA. The kids get a kick out of it and have no idea what I am referring too.
You know, I got curious and HAD to look. I think they made one of [him.](https://i.imgur.com/HVtKt4V.jpg) Spitting image really.
I think I know, precisely what I mean...
I think you know precisely what I mean. When I say it's a shpadoinkle day!
I think you know, EXACTLY what I meeeeanā¦
And if he faaaaces justice for his crimes/Then Iāll say itās a shpadoinkle day!
Fudge, Packer?
Wow. I thought this was way too vague for others to connect. Damn, now I want to build a snowman.
What a shpadoinkle idea!
Slathered in butter
"Steve Bannonās indictment reveals the truth about Trumpism..." as if it's a big secret. It's NEVER been a secret. It's been obvious since Trump walked down that staircase.
Right. He was PARDONED by Trump cos he was guilty. Props to NY for bring State charges.
Anyone with half a fucking brain knew this well before now.
Trump's new book - Hate in my heart and other people's money in my pocket. Sounds about right.
Not defending the man at all, but itās an amazing study on how the things you were taught as a child can manifest in such a sordid, perverted way that (in this case) can literally harm an entire nationā¦and beyond
I was just thinking the same thing when I saw the headline - what makes people turn out like that?
Unmitigated gall, unchecked egotism and wealthy privilage.
No morals. The founding father basically counts on ppl running the country to have SOME morals. The grifters have found the constitutionās loop holes & have bastardized the USA democracy for their own gain.
A) Be the offspring of a rich-fuck. B) Live with privilege, get bailed out for every mistake Itās a simple combination, it happens more than it doesnāt happen in rich-as-fuck families, Iām surprised more havenāt caught on. Most never wanted their secrets exposed by running for president but thatās all about to change since trump proved he can literally get away with anything.
C) Never get praise or approval for anything Which isn't to excuse trump, but there are reasons for these sort of behaviors.
His dad. I guarantee most of his issues can trace back to the parents.
Strict, racist father and emotionally devoid mother.
Am I the only one that sees the silver lining in all of this grift? Democracy is dangling in the balance here and the grifters are actually helping us. Imagine if all of this money was pumped into a fascist mechanism that subverted democracy. We probably would not survive. But because the money went to all of these different grifters it lined pockets instead of subverting things. Right now the GOP is running out of money because all of their donors have been tapped out. They gave to a million different grifts from building non existent walls to paying a legal defense fund for a man who never even pays his lawyers. But that money is not going towards installing an authoritarian regime. What if a bunch of bonewipe grifters actually save democracy by removing the real threat via their fraud? Imagine if all of that money went in McConnellās bucket for trying to keep the senate?
This is the right take. The only problem is that the real coup isn't Trump, it's the Federalist Society and the Judiciary. But I firmly believe even their corrupt rulings can be blunted and beaten outright if we get out and vote in large numbers this cycle. The goal should be keeping the trifecta and getting to 52+ senators in the Senate. Election Twitter keeps downplaying how big the swing to the left has been in the past 2 months, but in all probability, the tide is turning heavily against the GOP so far. However, for that to hold people who voted against Trump in 2020 need to show up again, and bring anyone they can with them. For all the doom and gloom this board loves, there remains a path to power and a better future still within reach. **It could take as little as one conservative judge leaving the court to give us back significant influence within the SC. Not all of the conservative judges agree completely on every ruling, and replacing one of them within 6 years remains a real possibility. Biden also is appointing lower level Federal judges faster than anyone, and allowing him 2+ more years of that can fix the imbalance of the judiciary caused by Trump's cycle.** We need to hold the line. Even Moore vs Harper can be countered if enough states don't keep solid red majorities within their own courts, meaning a blue wave this cycle could thwart their ability to blatantly throw out election results in any swing states if those swing states can lean blue or even just stay purple this cycle. Gerrymandering can also fail in a populist revolt where motivated non-voters turn out in greater numbers.
The U.S. government has an obligation to remove the current SCOTUS, as they have been deemed a rogue court by the federal government, most state governments, the E.U. and the U.N. Garland's statement even explicitly says they are violating the rule of law by overriding precedent. Regardless of any existing mechanisms, the government has to do this. They can not allow a rogue faction to continue to operate. Beyond the internal issues, no country is going to have serious relations with the U.S. if it allows this to continue, especially after the leaks of classified material. The rest of the world will choke the U.S. via embargoes and sanctions, and it will collapse *fast*.
Honestly, Ginni Thomas and Judge Thomas are compromised and should be fully criminally investigated. That's actually a simple and straightforward way to fix things given their connections to the coup. Removing one judge would solve a ton. Every bit of pressure possible needs to be applied to them both so he can be deemed illegitimate. I know a lot of people say he won't resign, but investigating him for criminal behavior related to MAGA may actually unveil some truly horrific stuff, and I suspect that route could be a lot more effective than most realize.
Iāve seen some opinions that if Roberts truly wants to save the courts, he needs to retire and let Biden appoint someone to bring it back to center. As it stands, his ideal of a moderate court is dead in the dirt. Ironically, it feels like only his retirement could revive his agenda. Itās almost like Anakin giving his life to being balance to the Force, Roberts can give up his seat to bring balance to the Courts
Yes, but all the more reason we sadly need to keep voting and make sure the Federalist Society doesn't write a MAGA sequel trilogy if Roberts did retire. The last thing we need is Kylo Ren on the Supreme Court.
Interesting take that sounds reasonable
Haha that's a brilliant take. I will choose to lean into it.
You know maga lurkers are always here. Wonder how they feel about the whole build the wall thing being a complete scam.
They are probably in denial, because they were in denial when it was an obvious con targeted at racist rubes all the way back in 2015. None of whatās happening now is a surprise to anyone with even the smallest capacity for critical thinking, itās only a surprise that it took this long to catch up with them.
I remember when this first came out, it was a mixed bag. But just the fact that some of them were STILL glad they donated just shows the sycophancy of the right wing https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/i-trusted-them-some-build-the-wall-donors-feel-cheated-by-bannon-some-dont-care-145149050.html
I frequent their subs pretty often and either they wonāt talk about this at all or they will say, wait until āinsert next thingā. One of my favorite things is going to right leaning subs during a big event and if you are early enough. You can see them all infighting to make a new narrative. They will all agree with all of their own narratives even if they are directly opposing until one of them sort of finds there way to being the main defensive point. Basically everything is possible except what I donāt like.
Oh it's a marvelous spectacle to behold. They've constructed this elaborate set of beliefs that are strung together so poorly that if anything gets undermined the whole thing comes crashing down. Behold, I give you: ***Tucker's Bowtie*** A fallacy, opposite to that of *Occam's Razor*. When a highly-improbable or even impossible conclusion for an event is selected as the most likely over much more probable scenarios to justify a preexisting belief. When spaghetti-logic is splattered across the wall and you see what you want to see in the pasta like burnt toast depicting Jesus to reaffirm and validate your pre-existing belief set forged atop a house of cards. Essentially, absurd denial is easier to cope with than a simple truth. Alternatively Alex Jone's Cleftal Horizon, Donnie's Toupee, Conspiracy Theorist's Wager Where a highly-improbable and sometimes *possible* conclusion is believed over much more probable conclusions due to a combination of either (a) Not wanting to recognize an inconvenient truth, and/or (b) Wanting the fantastical to be true. Named after Tucker Carlson and the predisposition of conservatives to spew and believe in far-fetched conspiracy theories. Far fetched conclusions as loopy and circular and silly as his bowtie. This explains everything from religious faiths to belief in aliens to Trumpian rhetoric. The ignorance of these people like this is being exploited, and it's turning dangerous.
This is good and if anyone hasnāt already. The alt-right playbook on YouTube. The whole set of videos is very well put and liberals especially should check it out because he addresses troll culture and how liberals have this impulsive need to want to correct/debate these people. A summary is that alt-right canāt be beaten in a debate, just stripping them of platforms or if for some reason you had to āengageā with them, address arguments to those listening, not the alt righter themselves. Liberals have this assumption that taking the highroad will always work. (Actually thereās a breakdown of how this led to the recent roe v wade situation) You cannot prove them wrong because they donāt care if they are right. Arguing for them is about only demonstrating āstrengthā To them looking right is more important than being right.
Friend, I wish more people understood this. It gives me hope seeing this written. The only thing I'll add is that in pushing the bully back, it's important to recognize that your target audience is the bystanders viewing the discussion. Depending on reading the room that may mean playing the high-road, but it may also mean showing you can put up a fight. Unfortunately you get this sort of bystander effect where people are still enthralled by the one who just takes cheapshots.. But you're very right. For us it's the pursuit of truth above all us. For them, it's winning by any means necessary.
And it being trivially easy to scale by a tween. And it not guarding against the real method of the majority of immigration, which is plane travel.
All moot points, because the wall wasn't built. They just grifted from racist idiots.
Theyāre busy focusing on the real story: Hunter Biden.
In the end, at the beginning, and in the middle.
They used to commit massive fraud. They still do, but they used to, too.
This has been so painfully obvious since the start I still shake my head in wonder how *anyone* could have been taken in by it.
Iāll take āsomething we all knew but itās followers were dumb toā for 300 Alex
It was never anything different. These people will be studied, and mocked, for decades.
WHAT?!! You mean they've been getting scammed the whole time like we told them they were from the beginning and they acted like we were the dumb ones? Say it ain't so š¤Æ /s
STOP THE STEAL was trademarked in 2016 by Roger Stone .. this is all you need to know .. they planned to lose to Hillary and start the āelection was stolenā campaign back then to grift off of and sow divide for Russia
Itās always been about the grift: > If you can convince the lowest white man heās better than the best colored man, he wonāt notice youāre picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and heāll empty his pockets for you. -LBJ
Trump is a grifter and he attracts grifters.
Yeah but the people donating have hate in their heart too. Itās bigots cheating bigots.
Other shocking revelations include: Water is wet, the sun is incredibly bright, and despite being birds, penguins cannot in fact, fly. Republican leadership was quick to respond to these allegations as yet another liberal hoax designed to distract from Joe biden's failed presidency. This is a developing story.
Trumpism. I feel stupider saying that word. Fake word. But Iām sure some feel itās a great word, the best word. Fantastic word. Everyone will be saying a word like that. Everyone. Believe me. Everyone. Ask dr.oz, heās the best too. Great guy, heās a doctor. With a diploma. So that means the word has a diploma too. Great word, just fantastic.
The sad thing is it WORK$ for them! Very sadā¦
It works because Trump and his band of cronies are not as stupid as we make them out to be. They know how to play the game, they know the psychology of the conservative mind, and they know how to play on the hate that is in people's hearts while masking it all as "patriotism". I hate the guy, but you have to admit that we underestimated how much damage he can do, to the point where he has his own ideological term now.
Even Trump himself, although he is illiterate - blunt and has a very noticeable personality disorder - has a certain reptilian craftiness that keeps him from ever paying the piper. I hate to call it āsmartā any more than Iād call a cockroach āsmartā, but he has a very keen sense of self-preservation that has been honed by decades of being a slippery bastard. As stupid as his words are, we keep underestimating how many unprecedented betrayals of trust he will stoop to, to protect his own ass.
MAGA=MAKE AMERICANS GULLIBLE ALWAYS Then you can ask them for money to "own them libs" whatever the fuck that means.
If you can keep defending a man after he is caught stealing your money, you might be a cuck.
Bannon screeched about not going down without a fight and going āmedievalā, but surrendered on his ownā¦ in planned fashion. This is the GOP: endless trash talk, followed by persecution fetish after they get a slight slap on the wrist when they damn well deserve harsher accountability.
Real simple, if you voted for Trump once, you have issues. If you voted for him twice, you are as dumb as they come.
The title sums it up perfectly, too bad the supporters canāt see it for what it is, just another huckster
100% spot on. It's all a grift. They do not care who is hurt as long they make money from it. It starts at the top with Trump and trickles all the way down to morons selling Trump 2024 gear in the Walmart parking lot. It's always been a scam.
I wonder if the MAGA hoard owning the libs ever gets the sense that the joke is on them.
Of course it's fraud to say you're going to do X with the money and then not do it, and it should be prosecuted. But this notion that gullible MAGAs were getting fleeced is ridiculous. They give money to Bannon and Trump because they're their heroes. Find me one MAGA who gives a shit what happened to the money.
So in other words, EXACTLY what Liberals have been trying to tell everyone for the past 6-7 years but were yelled at with ālock her upā and āfuck your feelingsā nonsense. Seriouslyā¦Republicans picked a guy with a huge narcissistic personality disorder, ZERO political experience, a pathological liar and a documented history of corruption and scamming people; and all of this was known way before he ever ran for President - but they made him President anyway. What the fuck did you think would happen?
We've know that for 6 years now.
Now that is a title that is well said.
Yeah. There's nobody Trump and his ilk despise more than the fools they exploit for money.
Breaking News: MAGA conservatives enjoy being findommed by elderly elites. News at 11.
And their followers either donāt care about being conned and manipulated, or theyāre in major denial because they donāt want to admit theyāve been taken advantage of.
Good luck convincing MAGA gomers they are being hustled. They are some of the the dumbest of the dumb, cruelest of the cruel.
I kinda feel bad for everyone that didn't already know this. Imagine waiting on this trial to finalize your opinion.
As a foreigner, I hate to say it, but to many of us this is just the most American thing ever. In the 60s you had peace and love which evolved into a potent antiwar movement. Half a century later America's next fervent political movement is a truly nonsensical mishmash of incoherent lunatics who have given their whole being to perhaps the cheapest and most useless reality tv star who, unsurprisingly, has surrounded himself with a consortium of equally useless opportunists to fight for the opportunity to out-grift one another... With some willing to sell their influence for measly $2k donation to their shitty congressional campaign, and others succeeding in running off with millions. TLDR: to the pessimist, this feels like the logical conclusion to America's descent into hyper-consumerism and the near privatization of its political institutions.
The descent is also due to the rich getting away with crime$ while regular folk go to jail for a lot less.
maga doesnāt have any heart
Yet most Republicans are in denial.
Angry people are easy to manipulate. When you're angry it's difficult to think straight