[Continuation] The Trump Presidency (XXX)

[Armitage72]

Just read about Trump GOlden Ticket stunt at CPAC.
So now he is doing bad Willy Wonka imitations.

He's already been doing an impression of an Oompa Loompa for years.

 

[Norman Alexander]

Oh FFS...

Singin’ the coups: Donald Trump releases single with January 6 prisoners

Former president drops charity song on streaming sites recorded with men imprisoned for their role in attack on US Capitol.

On Friday, Justice for All by Donald J Trump and the J6 Prison Choir was available on streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.

The move is the latest in a growing trend by Trump and others on the far right of US politics to embrace the January 6 attack on the Capitol as a political cause and portray many of those who carried it out as protesters being persecuted by the state.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/03/donald-trump-song-charity-single-january-6-prisoners

Btw, I absolutely refuse to link to YT for this, and recommend nobody else does.

 

[KDLarsen]

Over an ambient backing, the song features Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, interspersed with a male voice choir singing The Star-Spangled Banner. The song lasts for about two and a half minutes and ends with a chant of “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!” Forbes said it was “produced by a major recording artist who was not identified”.

To quote Stephen Fry: "Sometimes there just isn't enough vomit in the world..."

 

[Armitage72]

“produced by a major recording artist who was not identified”

If that's true, it was probably produced by a one-hit-wonder from several decades ago who had bills piling up but wanted to retain some dignity by keeping their name out of it.

 

[Craig4]

“produced by a major recording artist who was not identified”

If that's true, it was probably produced by a one-hit-wonder from several decades ago who had bills piling up but wanted to retain some dignity by keeping their name out of it.

My guess is Ted Nugent.

 

[Mike!]

“produced by a major recording artist who was not identified”

If that's true, it was probably produced by a one-hit-wonder from several decades ago who had bills piling up but wanted to retain some dignity by keeping their name out of it.

I don't know... Maybe this guy?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanye_West

 

[bruto]

“produced by a major recording artist who was not identified”

If that's true, it was probably produced by a one-hit-wonder from several decades ago who had bills piling up but wanted to retain some dignity by keeping their name out of it.

Either that or they stole it.

 

[newyorkguy]

I know who it wasn't.

Nov. 16, 2022 - Memphis songwriter David Porter says he’s considering legal action against Former President Donald Trump for using the hit soul song “Hold on, I’m Coming” in Tuesday night’s announcement for his third presidential run. Porter co-wrote the song with the late-musician Isaac Hayes in 1966. “I woke up this morning and I received several text messages about it,” said Veronica Hayes, Isaac Hayes’ daughter. Hayes said she was frustrated because her family has asked the Trump camp repeatedly not to use the song. Link to Memphis TV station report

Other musicians who have requested trump not use their songs, threatened legal action or actually sued, include:

• Adele
• Aerosmith
• Bruce Springsteen
• Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Eddy Grant
• Elton John
• Everlast
• George Harrison estate
• Guns N' Roses
• Leonard Cohen
• Linkin Park
• Luciano Pavarotti family
• Neil Young
• Nickelback
• Nico Vega
• Panic! at the Disco
• Pharrell Williams
• Phil Collins
• Prince estate
• Queen
• R.E.M.
• Rihanna
• Rolling Stones
• Tom Petty estate
• Village People
• White Stripes

 

[Craig4]

Just looking at the freaking swamp people who come to the rallies, why the **** would anyone think they're Elton John people?

I get Nickleback, Trump sucks, Trump supporters suck, Nickleback sucks. No brainer there.

 

[newyorkguy]

In 2016 campaign rallies trump was using Elton John's "Rocket Man" and "Tiny Dancer." John's publicist said at the time that the trump campaign had not asked permission and that use of John's songs "should not be seen as an endorsement." John, who performed at a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in March 2016, had made it clear he was against donald trump's candidacy, telling one interviewer that a potential trump presidency made him "fear for the world."

 

[dudalb]

Oh FFS...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/03/donald-trump-song-charity-single-january-6-prisoners

Btw, I absolutely refuse to link to YT for this, and recommend nobody else does.

This is why I predcit if somehow Trump is elected, within a year we will have a second Civil war in the US.

 

[Stacyhs]

Like that's the only lie Fox spouted because it was in the testimony? How about the lot of them telling each other how much they really hated Trump while they pretended to like and praise him on their shows?

It's pretty safe to extrapolate that Ingraham didn't really believe Trump was hard working.

And McIninny couldn't possibly believe Trump was not the liar in chief.


Or did I miss your sarcasm alert?

No, you didn't miss it because it wasn't sarcasm. You specifically said "the SAME lies":

Not so sure about that, it hasn't seemed to affect them given they continue to repeat the same lies.

They were not the same lies as I pointed out and I was clearly referring to the Dominion lawsuit when I said:
"Fox is learning the hard way that when they lay down with the dog, they got up with 1.6 Billion fleas."

Dominion is not suing Fox for repeating election lies in general, but specifically for pushing the lie that Dominion voting machines were rigged to change votes. Did Fox continue to push that specific lie after the lawsuit was filed in March 2021?

You then introduced 'new' lies:

Laura Ingraham recently Tweeted Trump worked hard every day at his oval desk. People would bring him proposals then he'd listen to the pros and cons and make a decision.

This is what she actually said: "Ingraham: Contrast Biden with Trump. The staff brought proposals to him. He considered them. He brought in opposing points of view. He was in the Oval Office pretty much all day…"

How about the lot of them telling each other how much they really hated Trump while they pretended to like and praise him on their shows?

I have seen no such texts between them. They admitted Trump's claims of the 'stolen' election were nuts and unfounded, but I've seen no evidence of them admitting to hating Trump or to pretending to like him. Can you give a link to those because I can find no such 'admissions'.
The worst thing I can find was what Carlson said on Jan. 6: “Trump is a demonic force, a destroyer. But he’s not going to destroy us.” Even that is not saying what you have claimed.

It's pretty safe to extrapolate that Ingraham didn't really believe Trump was hard working.

And McIninny couldn't possibly believe Trump was not the liar in chief.

No, it's not safe to extrapolate that all. Ingraham doesn't believe his election lies but those have nothing to do with how she sees his work before then.

As for McEnany, you can't possibly know what she thinks. Look at all the millions of people who still believe Trump isn't a lying psycho and support him.

 

[Mike!]

They played a little piece on the news the other day, the guys singing, then Trump saying, "I pledge allegiance, to the flag..."
Thankfully it was cut short about there, I can't even say if he said what flag he's pledging that allegiance to or not.
Anyway, from the short sound of it, were I the "major recording artist" that produced it, well, I can very much understand remaining nameless.
It's the Trump NFT of recordings, calling it music would be too generous.

 

[Norman Alexander]

Oh FFS...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/03/donald-trump-song-charity-single-january-6-prisoners

Btw, I absolutely refuse to link to YT for this, and recommend nobody else does.

They played a little piece on the news the other day, the guys singing, then Trump saying, "I pledge allegiance, to the flag..."
Thankfully it was cut short about there, I can't even say if he said what flag he's pledging that allegiance to or not.
Anyway, from the short sound of it, were I the "major recording artist" that produced it, well, I can very much understand remaining nameless.
It's the Trump NFT of recordings, calling it music would be too generous.

The night-show TV comics are going to have a field day with this one! That's my only comfort from this - they are usually pretty good at skewering this sort of nonsense.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

No, you didn't miss it because it wasn't sarcasm. You specifically said "the SAME lies":

They were not the same lies as I pointed out and I was clearly referring to the Dominion lawsuit when I said:
"Fox is learning the hard way that when they lay down with the dog, they got up with 1.6 Billion fleas."

Dominion is not suing Fox for repeating election lies in general, but specifically for pushing the lie that Dominion voting machines were rigged to change votes. Did Fox continue to push that specific lie after the lawsuit was filed in March 2021?

You then introduced 'new' lies:

This is what she actually said: "Ingraham: Contrast Biden with Trump. The staff brought proposals to him. He considered them. He brought in opposing points of view. He was in the Oval Office pretty much all day…"

I have seen no such texts between them. They admitted Trump's claims of the 'stolen' election were nuts and unfounded, but I've seen no evidence of them admitting to hating Trump or to pretending to like him. Can you give a link to those because I can find no such 'admissions'.
The worst thing I can find was what Carlson said on Jan. 6: “Trump is a demonic force, a destroyer. But he’s not going to destroy us.” Even that is not saying what you have claimed.

No, it's not safe to extrapolate that all. Ingraham doesn't believe his election lies but those have nothing to do with how she sees his work before then.

As for McEnany, you can't possibly know what she thinks. Look at all the millions of people who still believe Trump isn't a lying psycho and support him.

So all this is about is a pedantic concern of yours?

I think my conclusions are not that far off the mark that they deserve a page-post response.

Re McIninny:
Guardian: Kayleigh McEnany a ‘liar and opportunist’, says former Trump aide

Griffin now works for ABC. She also said McEnany was “a smart woman” and “not an idiot”.

“She knew we lost the election, but she made a calculation that she wanted to have a certain life post-Trump that required staying in his good graces. And that was more important to her than telling the truth to the American public.”

Vox: Minutes after pledging to not lie, the new White House press secretary lied a whole bunch
Kayleigh McEnany’s first press briefing got off to a promising start. It lasted all of 15 minutes.


I'm comfortable with my assumptions and don't think it's worth a pages long debate. There are more important things IMO here to spend time on.

 

[Stacyhs]

So all this is about is a pedantic concern of yours?

No. It's about your post not being accurate. You're resorting to the "pedantic' strawman. That's a common defense tactic when someone points out an inaccuracy.

I think my conclusions are not that far off the mark that they deserve a page-post response.

Re McIninny:
Guardian: Kayleigh McEnany a ‘liar and opportunist’, says former Trump aide

Your link is Alyssa Griffin's opinion on McEneny's motives and what she knew: “She knew we lost the election, but she made a calculation that she wanted to have a certain life post-Trump that required staying in his good graces. And that was more important to her than telling the truth to the American public," and “I think she saw that as a moment to kind of, like, if I do this one last public-facing stand for Trump, I’m going to be set,” she said. “And I mean, it did. She got her Fox News gig. It worked out precisely how she’d always planned it to, but she knew better.”

Griffin, who resigned from Trump's administration a month after the election, never says McEneny even spoke to her about the election. As I said, it's her opinion only.

I personally think that McEnany knew Trump lost, but you stated it as a fact that "she couldn't possibly believe Trump was not the liar in chief."

Am I being pedantic again?

Vox: Minutes after pledging to not lie, the new White House press secretary lied a whole bunch
Kayleigh McEnany’s first press briefing got off to a promising start. It lasted all of 15 minutes.

This article from six months before the election only proves that McEnany is a liar. It has nothing to do with what she believes about Trump being a liar...which is what you claimed.

I'm comfortable with my assumptions and don't think it's worth a pages long debate. There are more important things IMO here to spend time on.

Great. But I do notice that you did not provide any of the requested links supporting your claim, "How about the lot of them telling each other how much they really hated Trump while they pretended to like and praise him on their shows?" Was I being 'pedantic' for wanting a citation for that claim, too?

 

[newyorkguy]

Saturday morning, hours from his CPAC appearance, trump launched a rant on Truth Social, aimed at Special Counsel Jack Smith. Smith was named several months ago to head federal DOJ investigations into trump’s efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss and his handling of the classified documents that were found in Mar-a-Lago.

trump don't like him!

[IMGW=500]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1457&pictureid=13347[/IMGW]

trump calls Smith an "Animal." "Torture?" The classified documents are now the "Boxes Hoax." Democrats are "Marxist pigs." Yet people can seriously consider this man qualified to even run for president?

Can someone please give me a ringy-dingy when this nightmare is finally over?

 

[Stacyhs]

Saturday morning, hours from his CPAC appearance, trump launched a rant on Truth Social, aimed at Special Counsel Jack Smith. Smith was named several months ago to head federal DOJ investigations into trump’s efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss and his handling of the classified documents that were found in Mar-a-Lago.

trump don't like him!

[IMGW=500]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1457&pictureid=13347[/IMGW]

trump calls Smith an "Animal." "Torture?" The classified documents are now the "Boxes Hoax." Democrats are "Marxist pigs." Yet people can seriously consider this man qualified to even run for president?

Can someone please give me a ringy-dingy when this nightmare is finally over?

I hear ya. The truly pathetic and equally scary part is that this is exactly what engenders such blind loyalty from millions of Americans. They love him for it. They remind me of women who seek out romantic relationships with, even marriage to, horrific criminals... murderers... who are in prison. It's just sick. There is certainly no shortage of idiots in this country.

 

[Jim_MDP]

I suppose this might end up in a couple of other threads.
It's a detailed fact check of much of Donnie's latest annual CPAC stroll through fantasyland...


https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/05/politics/fact-check-trump-cpac/index.html

 

[Stacyhs]

I suppose this might end up in a couple of other threads.
It's a detailed fact check of much of Donnie's latest annual CPAC stroll through fantasyland...


https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/05/politics/fact-check-trump-cpac/index.html

An almost 2 hour Trump 'speech' fact checked? Hmmm...there's another good two plus hours.

 

[newyorkguy]

Most of what trump told the CPAC meeting was false or exaggerated. But that is exactly why someone like Steve Bannon values trump.

Bannon reportedly said in 2018. “The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with ****.” Vox report link

The CNN report -- rebutting much of what trump said at the Saturday CPAC convention -- is almost 4,000 words long. Most news outlets can't commit that much space to countering trump's lies and exaggerations. Which is what Bannon is counting on.

Bannon said at the 2017 CPAC, he sees Trump as "a stick of dynamite" with which to blow up the status quo. What he doesn't say is what he would replace it with. Maybe Stevo hasn't figured that out yet?

 

[Norman Alexander]

An almost 2 hour Trump 'speech' fact checked? Hmmm...there's another good two plus hours.

Nope. About 5 seconds should do it.

"Donny is all bull-**** all the time."

There - all done.

 

[Stacyhs]

Nope. About 5 seconds should do it.

"Donny is all bull-**** all the time."

There - all done.

Ya gotta point there, son, ya gotta point.

 

[Ladewig]

Saturday morning, hours from his CPAC appearance, trump launched a rant on Truth Social, aimed at Special Counsel Jack Smith. Smith was named several months ago to head federal DOJ investigations into trump’s efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss and his handling of the classified documents that were found in Mar-a-Lago.

trump don't like him!

[IMGW=500]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1457&pictureid=13347[/IMGW]

trump calls Smith an "Animal." "Torture?" The classified documents are now the "Boxes Hoax." Democrats are "Marxist pigs." Yet people can seriously consider this man qualified to even run for president?

Can someone please give me a ringy-dingy when this nightmare is finally over?

Yes, #45, I imagine your people are confused and scared when asked to tell the truth.

Of, course, when good leaders see that their people are confused and scared, they talk to their people and give them accurate information to reduce their confusion. A concept far beyond the abilities of DJT.

 

[Segnosaur]

Particular when you consider what most of the public lands are like.....people are not going to want to go live in the middle of the Mojave desert.

Now don't be so quick to dismiss the idea. We can work it to our advantage.

We can send all the MAGAchud out to live in the desert and tell them to start building Trumptopia right away! And being the self-reliant types that they are (can't have government doing anything useful!), they won't ask for any help.

With a little luck they will start dying off in a few days. Problem solved.

 

[Aridas]

Now don't be so quick to dismiss the idea. We can work it to our advantage.

We can send all the MAGAchud out to live in the desert and tell them to start building Trumptopia right away! And being the self-reliant types that they are (can't have government doing anything useful!), they won't ask for any help.

With a little luck they will start dying off in a few days. Problem solved.

Alternatively, on a similar front... Russia's apparently trying to attract about 7 million of the delusion pushing authoritarians they've been cultivating by offering chunks of land. I have doubts that such land will have much access to such luxuries as water or electricity, but I find myself willing to let Russia take 7 million of such out of the hands of Europe and the US even so.

 

[newyorkguy]

No smoking gun yet, but the Associated Press reports:

Over the past 11 months, someone created thousands of fake, automated Twitter accounts — perhaps hundreds of thousands of them — to offer a stream of praise for Donald Trump. Besides posting adoring words about the former president, the fake accounts ridiculed Trump's critics from both parties and attacked Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador who is challenging her onetime boss for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. When it came to Ron DeSantis, the bots aggressively suggested that the Florida governor couldn't beat Trump, but would be a great running mate.

“One account will say, ‘Biden is trying to take our guns; Trump was the best,’ and another will say, ‘Jan. 6 was a lie and Trump was innocent,'" said Jules Gross, the Cyabra engineer who first discovered the network. "Those voices are not people. For the sake of democracy I want people to know this is happening.” AP link via Buffalo (NY) News

Or as Steve Bannon once advised, "Flood the zone with ****." It's a popular technique in Russia, too.

 

[Stacyhs]

No smoking gun yet, but the Associated Press reports:


Or as Steve Bannon once advised, "Flood the zone with ****." It's a popular technique in Russia, too.

I can't open the article; did it say where these thousands of bot are coming from?

 

[Bob001]

Conservative commentator complains that that the media isn't really reporting how crazy Trump is.

Apparently, neither the media nor supposedly sober Republicans have learned anything from the past. Trump gave a bonkers speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, musing about Russia blowing up NATO headquarters, claiming President Biden had taken the border wall and “put it in a hiding area,” and telling the crowd, “I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution.”

We do not get headlines acknowledging this is unhinged. Instead, we get from the New York Times: “Trump Says He Would Stay in 2024 Race if Indicted.” And a similar angle from CNN. ABC started its website report this way: “Former President Donald Trump continues to reign supreme over the conservative wing of the Republican Party.” From The Washington Post: “Trump takes victory lap at conservative conference.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/06/trump-cpac-media-gop-failure/


And a Huffpost report:

Trump, within minutes of taking the stage at the Gaylord National Resort, went into his typical remarks, disparaging the United States as a “filthy communist country” and attacking Democrats and the news media.

“They’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you. I’m just standing in their way,” he said. “We will drive out the globalists. We will kick out the communists.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-cpac-return_n_640262fce4b0e45e2f8e7346

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

I can't open the article; did it say where these thousands of bot are coming from?

From the link:

The sprawling bot network was uncovered by researchers at Cyabra, an Israeli tech firm that shared its findings with The Associated Press. While the identity of those behind the network of fake accounts is unknown, Cyabra's analysts determined that it was likely created within the U.S.

Here's the msn link to the same story.

The new pro-Trump network is actually three different networks of Twitter accounts, all created in huge batches in April, October and November 2022. In all, researchers believe hundreds of thousands of accounts could be involved.

The accounts all feature personal photos of the alleged account holder as well as a name. Some of the accounts posted their own content, often in reply to real users, while others reposted content from real users, helping to amplify it further.

How do they know they are bots is explained:

Gross analyzed Tweets about different national political figures and noticed that many of the accounts posting the content were created on the same day. Most of the accounts remain active, though they have relatively modest numbers of followers.

How they function:

Most bots aren't designed to persuade people, but to amplify certain content so more people see it, according to Samuel Woolley, a professor and misinformation researcher at the University of Texas whose most recent book focuses on automated propaganda.

When a human user sees a hashtag or piece of content from a bot and reposts it, they're doing the network's job for it, and also sending a signal to Twitter's algorithms to boost the spread of the content further.

Bots can also succeed in convincing people that a candidate or idea is more or less popular than the reality, he said. More pro-Trump bots can lead to people overstating his popularity overall, for example.

“Bots absolutely do impact the flow of information,” Woolley said. “They're built to manufacture the illusion of popularity. Repetition is the core weapon of propaganda and bots are really good at repetition. They're really good at getting information in front of people's eyeballs."

 

[Stacyhs]

From the link:



Here's the msn link to thhe same story.

Thanks. As it's likely coming from inside the US and pro-Trump, the source is most likely right-wing.


I found this part interesting:

Most bots aren't designed to persuade people, but to amplify certain content so more people see it, according to Samuel Woolley, a professor and misinformation researcher at the University of Texas whose most recent book focuses on automated propaganda.

When a human user sees a hashtag or piece of content from a bot and reposts it, they're doing the network's job for it, and also sending a signal to Twitter's algorithms to boost the spread of the content further.

Bots can also succeed in convincing people that a candidate or idea is more or less popular than the reality, he said. More pro-Trump bots can lead to people overstating his popularity overall, for example.
“Bots absolutely do impact the flow of information,” Woolley said. “They're built to manufacture the illusion of popularity. Repetition is the core weapon of propaganda and bots are really good at repetition. They're really good at getting information in front of people's eyeballs."

Since these bots are likely being created by a pro-Trump right-wing source, I can infer that they are more than a bit worried about Trump not appearing as popular as he was before. If Republicans believe that, they may be more inclined to vote for someone else like DeSantis.

 

[newyorkguy]

After press reports appeared, George and Kellyanne Conway announced they are in the final stages of an "amicable divorce," that they will remain "united parents" for their four children. When the always classy donald trump heard the news, Saturday, he lost no time posting to Truth Social.

[IMGW=500]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1457&pictureid=13349[/IMGW]

George Conway, who also has a Truth Social account, replied:

"Looking forward to seeing you in New York at E. Jean's trial next month! Hugs and kisses "

Their daughter Claudia 'tweeted,' "Y'all need to shut up."

 

[Stacyhs]

After press reports appeared, George and Kellyanne Conway announced they are in the final stages of an "amicable divorce," that they will remain "united parents" for their four children. When the always classy donald trump heard the news, Saturday, he lost no time posting to Truth Social.

[IMGW=500]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1457&pictureid=13349[/IMGW]

George Conway, who also has a Truth Social account, replied:


Their daughter Claudia 'tweeted,' "Y'all need to shut up."

Claudia is right.

 

[Norman Alexander]

Claudia is right.

And if she succeeds, it will be the first time ever that a woman has succeeded in making Donny shut his yap about anything.

 

[Stacyhs]

And if she succeeds, it will be the first time ever that a woman anyone has succeeded in making Donny shut his yap about anything.

FTFY

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

... Since these bots are likely being created by a pro-Trump right-wing source, I can infer that they are more than a bit worried about Trump not appearing as popular as he was before. If Republicans believe that, they may be more inclined to vote for someone else like DeSantis.

I totally agree with this but we shouldn't forget what roll the Putin troll farms did leading up to Trump's election in 2016. Perhaps the Trump supporters have simply taken their training wheels off.

 

[Darat]

From the link:



Here's the msn link to the same story.



How do they know they are bots is explained:


How they function:

And sadly because of how much "journalism" these days is commenting on stuff journalists see on Twitter it's become a perfect feedback system.

 

[Darat]

After press reports appeared, George and Kellyanne Conway announced they are in the final stages of an "amicable divorce," that they will remain "united parents" for their four children. When the always classy donald trump heard the news, Saturday, he lost no time posting to Truth Social.

[IMGW=500]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1457&pictureid=13349[/IMGW]

George Conway, who also has a Truth Social account, replied:


Their daughter Claudia 'tweeted,' "Y'all need to shut up."

Unusual to see Trump being so honest about how she will now be free of the unattractive loser at her side....

 

[Darat]

Claudia is right.

How does Trump rate her?

 

[newyorkguy]

What baffles me is, can you imagine a former president expressing themselves this way? Can you imagine anyone expressing themselves this way?

[IMGW=500]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1457&pictureid=13349[/IMGW]

Steve Bannon called trump a "stick of dynamite." Tucker Carlson called him the "undisputed world champion" for "destroying things." Those are some wonderful endorsements.