The Trump Presidency 15

[TragicMonkey]

I had to answer one of those early long form censuses they sent out. It was mandatory. The website said if I didn't answer online, they would send me a hard copy. They did. The website said if I still didn't answer they would send someone out to help me. I didn't get the form done and they sent a guy out. I wrote in 'human' under race. He argued with me. I told him I wasn't going to write something untrue and there were no human races, only one race. I told him he could change it but I wasn't going to. That's how it ended.

Everyone should answer "mixed".

I'm not disagreeing with the philosophy of this but I hope you're more conforming to conventional notions of race when it comes to medical reporting demographics.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

We'll see if Trump snubs the SCOTUS. I doubt he will. However, if he does, it marks the beginning of the end of democracy in the USA.

That ship might have already sailed. Every day I turn on CSPAN and the Senate is confirming another judge. So after refusing to fill any judicial positions during Obama's admin the GOP is now stuffing the benches all over the country.

 

[carlitos]

Do you know that for sure? One unanswered question? I doubt that.

Congress asked about this last year when it first came up.

Skipping The 2020 Census Citizenship Question? You'll Still Be Counted

Incomplete questionnaires for the 2020 census, including those that leave the controversial citizenship question unanswered, will still be included in the upcoming U.S. head count, the Census Bureau's top official confirmed Wednesday to lawmakers.

"We process many surveys with incomplete responses. The census [was] certainly one of those [surveys] in the past. It will be in the future," the bureau's acting director, Ron Jarmin, testified on Capitol Hill during a House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee hearing on the 2020 census.

Asked by Democratic Rep. Grace Meng of New York whether people who don't fill out the citizenship question on the census form would be counted, Jarmin replied, "Yes, but we would definitely encourage people to fill it out as completely as possible."

 

[pgwenthold]

In other 45 news, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed Maryland and D.C.'s emoluments case on the grounds that the State and the District are unable to clearly demonstrate the monies spent by foreign nations at these hotels, and Trump continuing to obtain incomes over and above his salary save those permitted by Congress are solely due to POTUS' and not potentially due to other attractions that they cannot allow the matters to proceed. Oh, and the lack of enforcement mechanism for these clauses of the CONUS also meant that the court can do nothing.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...s-business-emoluments-maryland-dc/1692486001/

In short, the emoluments clause has no teeth, the court won't enforce it anyway and should Saudi Arabia declare 45 a Prince of the Realm and he accepts, there's not a damn thing you can do about it.

Jimmy Carter sold his goddamn peanut farm to become President.

 

[carlitos]

That ship might have already sailed. Every day I turn on CSPAN and the Senate is confirming another judge. So after refusing to fill any judicial positions during Obama's admin the GOP is now stuffing the benches all over the country.

I understand your frustration about Obama's final year in office, but there were literally hundreds of judges and 2 supreme court justices confirmed during Obama's 2 terms.

 

[Segnosaur]

I understand your frustration about Obama's final year in office, but there were literally hundreds of judges

Which may sound impressive, until you consider the total number of openings that needed to be filled.

and 2 supreme court justices confirmed during Obama's 2 terms.

Lets see... Obama gets 2 solid majorities and appoints 2 supreme court judges over 8 years.

Trump wins the election (despite losing the popular vote, and despite election interference by the Russians) and manages to appoint just as many supreme court judges in less than half the time.

That doesn't exactly seem fair to me. Granted, there will always be some randomness in the process (since you can never predict when a judge will die or retire), but the Turtle definitely messed with the fairness of the system.

 

[Trebuchet]

BoingBoing: "Trump Doral resort to host golf tourney run by strip club, dancers auctioned off as 'caddy girls'"
Popehat: "This seems like a very poor choice, to associate yourself with something tawdry, sordid, and widely looked down upon, with a reputation for criminality and grift.

The strip club should really reconsider."

 

[carlitos]

Here's an article on just how bad it was.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

An event at a Trump resort where you can win something of actual value?

What a novel idea.

 

[timhau]

Hey, how are we doing on the cyber. President Trump identified the cyber as being very important back in October 2016.

As far as the cyber, I agree to parts of what Secretary Clinton said. We should be better than anybody else, and perhaps we’re not. I don’t think anybody knows that it was Russia that broke into the DNC. She’s saying Russia, Russia, Russia—I don't, maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, okay?​

Why would anyone want a bed that weighs 400 pounds?

 

[JoeMorgue]

Lets see... Obama gets 2 solid majorities and appoints 2 supreme court judges over 8 years.

Trump wins the election (despite losing the popular vote, and despite election interference by the Russians) and manages to appoint just as many supreme court judges in less than half the time.

That doesn't exactly seem fair to me. Granted, there will always be some randomness in the process (since you can never predict when a judge will die or retire), but the Turtle definitely messed with the fairness of the system.

Let me put it this way.

Right now there are 9 Justices on the Supreme Court. Of those 9.

4 were nominated by Republican Presidents who did not win the popular vote* (Alito, Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavanuagh)

1 was nominated by Republican Presidents who did win the popular vote. (Thomas)

4 were nominated by Democratic Presidents who did win the popular vote. (Ginsburg, Sotomeyer, Bryer, Kagen)

If the people who the majority wanted to be President had actually been President, Sanity would have a 8-1 majority in the highest court of the land instead of a 5-4 minority.

* "Well acchsauslayyy..." No... shut up. George W Bush winning the popular vote the second time around doesn't count.

 

[Segnosaur]

Right now there are 9 Justices on the Supreme Court. Of those 9.

4 were nominated by Republican Presidents who did not win the popular vote* (Alito, Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavanuagh)
...
4 were nominated by Democratic Presidents who did not win the popular vote. (Ginsburg, Sotomeyer, Bryer, Kagen)

Think you made a mistake...

The Democratic presidents who made those appointments DID win the popular vote.

Now, its true that Clinton (who appointed Ginsberg) didn't get a majority (there was a 3 way split, thanks to Perot), but he still beat the Republican nominee by over 4 million votes.)

If the people who the majority wanted to be President had actually been President, Sanity would have a 8-1 majority in the highest court of the land instead of a 5-4 minority.

* "Well acchsauslayyy..." No... shut up. George W Bush winning the popular vote the second time around doesn't count.

Even if you give the republicans the GW Bush nomination done after he won the popular vote, the Democrats would still have a majority of Supreme court justices.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Every once in a while, I wonder who's being retweeted by the President.

I clicked Mr. Brown's LinkedIn profile. Apparently this is a very small business with less than 10 employees. Maybe as low as 1-3. The company website listed and linked from their LinkedIn redirects to a spoof / spam link that offers "Get Free Hack, Generator and Cheat Tool" in the Czech Republic. Their only product appears to be a lot of PR News, claims of technology, website hits and patents. They were ready for "beta testing" back in 2012. Maybe someone else can find a SafeMate Hybrid-Electric Clothes Dryer™ for sale anywhere?

The timeline on Mr. Brown's company reminds me a lot of the science threads on Brilliant Light Power and other energy scams. Lots of claims. No product. He even has similar youtube videos testing the product.

Mr. Brown doesn't appear to have even manufactured his primary product, let alone manufactured any jobs.

Thanks for this.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

When I Googled the name, I found a company that makes, among other things, sewage pumps, which I found amusingly appropriate. I guess it was a different company with the same name. I should have included his name in the search.

Needs clarifying.

Could you post a link?

 

[JoeMorgue]

Think you made a mistake...

The Democratic presidents who made those appointments DID win the popular vote.

I did, brain fart.

I'll correct it.

 

[carlitos]

Let me put it this way.

Right now there are 9 Justices on the Supreme Court. Of those 9.

4 were nominated by Republican Presidents who did not win the popular vote* (Alito, Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavanuagh)

1 was nominated by Republican Presidents who did win the popular vote. (Thomas)

4 were nominated by Democratic Presidents who did win the popular vote. (Ginsburg, Sotomeyer, Bryer, Kagen)

If the people who the majority wanted to be President had actually been President, Sanity would have a 8-1 majority in the highest court of the land instead of a 5-4 minority.

* "Well acchsauslayyy..." No... shut up. George W Bush winning the popular vote the second time around doesn't count.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Needs clarifying.

Could you post a link?

When I search DuckDuck for Michael Brown, CEO, Hydromatic Tech all the hits are the same nebulous business, claims Brown is some fantastic inventor. If this were a legit business with employees one would expect a web page to come up. It doesn't.

 

[jimbob]

But look at these fantastic testimonials. Oh, wait...

And the Blog entries

https://www.safestdryer.com/blog

 

[JoeMorgue]

You can't get relected if you're never elected. If Gore had gotten the Presidency in 2000, the chances of Bush being elected in 2004 were statistically nil.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

But look at these fantastic testimonials. Oh, wait...

WTF is that? Shiny website, stock pics, no testimonials?


OK, I think I get it now. This is some kind of stock website that Brown maybe signed up for or paid for but hasn't filled in the blanks.

Anyone else think that?