The all-new "US Politics and coronavirus" thread

[Meadmaker]

According to this link, it was originally created in 1946 and run by the Secret Service Uniformed Division Benefit Fund. The Fund was shut down in 2013 and ownership of the shop was transferred to a private company.

Thank you.

It's sad that I even had to doubt, but I didn't think even the Trump White House would stoop as low as that.

 

[newyorkguy]

A gentleman named Tony Giannini is the owner of White House Gift Shop. When the original went broke in 2013 he bought out the stock and moved it to Lititz, Pa. a small town a few miles north of Lancaster. Sounds like he's doing okay with the shop. In the 'busy' season he claims he employs up to twenty people.

The Covid-19 commemorative coins are not his first brush with controversy. Below is a quote from Lancaster Online:

After a summit was announced for early in 2018 between President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un, the White House Gift Shop unveiled plans for a commemorative coin to mark the event. When the summit was postponed and looked like it wouldn’t happen, the White House Gift Shop continued to accept orders for the coin. The idea of a White House Gift Shop coin to commemorate an event that might not take place prompted widespread media interest, as well as some ridicule. Link

But all the publicity generated interest in the coins, priced at $100 a piece (same price as the Covid-19 commemorative coins). Eventually two meetings were held in February and June 2019 and Giannini claims to have sold about 100,000 of the coins.

He also operates a pizza place in Lititz.

 

[Meadmaker]

Eventually two meetings were held in February and June 2019 and Giannini claims to have sold about 100,000 of the coins.

I do so hope he's lying, but if he isn't, that would sure explain some election results.

 

[Safe-Keeper]

I dunno whether this has been posted, but it is pure gold, and not even fake: Covid Medallions with Trump and Pence's names on them!

Buy now!

https://www.whitehousegiftshop.com/product-p/covid-heroes.htm

That's... the dumbest, saddest thing I've ever seen.

 

[The Atheist]

But all the publicity generated interest in the coins, priced at $100 a piece (same price as the Covid-19 commemorative coins). Eventually two meetings were held in February and June 2019 and Giannini claims to have sold about 100,000 of the coins.

He also operates a pizza place in Lititz.

That's ok, then. As long as it's just some guy cashing in, more power to him, I say.

 

[Resume]

If this moron call the current situation a success . . .

President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, praised the administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic as a "great success story" on Wednesday -- less than a day after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States topped 1 million.

Kushner painted a rosy picture for "Fox and Friends" Wednesday morning, saying that "the federal government rose to the challenge and this is a great success story and I think that that's really what needs to be told."

When he was pressed on coronavirus testing levels in the US, Kushner said the question shouldn't be why did it take so long, but, "How did we do this so quickly?"

 

[Trebuchet]

He also operates a pizza place in Lititz.

Does it have a basement?

 

[Emily's Cat]

That's how I read it, too. I've started using whenever I'm being sarcastic as I've been misread a few times myself.

I find the different cultural adaptations of different discussion boards to be pretty interesting. We've all got similar types of challenges to be overcome, and every board I've participated in has come up with a different solution to those common problems.

Sarcasm is always a challenge when there's not non-verbal cues to accompany it. Some boards really put in effort to include other indicators, like eye-rolling smileys or other emoticons that are commonly used to indicate sarcasm. One was really good about always adding [/sarcasm]. One of them had a convention where sarcasm was written in red text... which was great once I figured out why people thought my angry comment was funny...

 

[Regnad Kcin]

That's... the dumbest, saddest thing I've ever seen.

There's some lovely items on that page.

 

[Regnad Kcin]

Another:

 

[Regnad Kcin]

And:

 

[Regnad Kcin]

But wait, there's more!

 

[Regnad Kcin]

Act before midnight tonight!

 

[Regnad Kcin]

Operators are standing by!

 

[Trebuchet]

Bet you a dollar to a donut those are made in China!

 

[Safe-Keeper]

That WWI commemoration medallion monstrosity... he found a way to put his name on the first world war? Which happened before he was even born? That's... I'm at a loss for words. Just... wow.

And as has been said: the site looks like one of those websites everyone made around the turn of the millenium.

 

[Safe-Keeper]

Bet you a dollar to a donut those are made in China!

"Be bold, face fear, think big" sounds like a variety of Chinglish, but also like something out of Trump's confused mind.

 

[bruto]

Operators are standing by!

Wow. Mumbles' avatar has competition at last!

 

[pgwenthold]

OK, Mike Pence was largely criticized the other day for wandering around the Mayo Clinic without a mask. The Mayo clinic says he was informed of the policy and ask him why he didn't wear one.

He says he didn't wear one because he wanted to be able to look the others in the eyes (to which the response was, "if that is how he wears a mask, he is doing it wrong")

Well his wife went on TV this morning and claimed the reason he didn't wear a mask is because he didn't know about the policy.

A lot of criticism of her for this, but a lot of it more complicated than need be.

Yes, given that everyone else was wearing a mask and he should have figured it out, and yes, the Mayo clinic says they told of the policy, but that is an issue of his word against theirs.

BUT the answer is, either the VP or his wife is lying. It's not that they contradict the statement of the Mayo Clinic, it is that they contradict each other.

That's the problem with lying - it can be hard to keep your story straight. A lot easier if you just tell the truth.

 

[TragicMonkey]

That's the problem with lying - it can be hard to keep your story straight.

Oh, sweetie, Pence has always had trouble keeping straight. I'm not one of those people who assumes every homophobe is necessarily a closet case, but with Pence I'll just say that my gaydar is stuck at cock o'clock.