FBI vetting Guard troops in DC amid fears of insider attack

[Burnt Reynolds 5,058]

5 minutes ago, moxy said:

• Called the free press "enemies of the people.
• Literally had peaceful protesters teargassed so he could pose with an upside-down bible in front of a church.
• Attempted to undermine and overturn the results of the election. Fomented and instigated a coup when the election results were being certified by his own Vice President. (watched the riots and destruction of the capitol with glee.)
• Praised and admired actual fascists and dictators (even saluted a North Korean general)
• Pressured (and threatened) political leaders to change the results of free and fair elections in their states
• Trusted the word of Putin over his own intelligence agency
• Denied press access to the White House of reporters who had been critical of him (and allowed conspiracy theory laden favorable organizations access)
• The Muslim Ban
• Firing civil servants for insufficient loyalty. (firing and/or smearing anyone who wasn't sufficiently loyal)
• False charges and claims ("lock her up!" etc) against his political enemies
• Separating illegal immigrant parents from their children in order to terrorize asylum seekers into not coming to the US

These are off the top of my head. I'm sure the list goes on and on and on. Trump was a wannabe authoritarian who admired other authoritarians, and attempted to descend the US into authoritarian rule.

 

 

TIL that everything I disagree with someone on (with loads of hyperbole) is authoritarian.

[B_J 2,752]

17 minutes ago, Burnt Reynolds said:

TIL that everything I disagree with someone on (with loads of hyperbole) is authoritarian.

Bingo!

[Steeleballz 7,550]

1 hour ago, moxy said:

• Called the free press "enemies of the people.
• Literally had peaceful protesters teargassed so he could pose with an upside-down bible in front of a church.
• Attempted to undermine and overturn the results of the election. Fomented and instigated a coup when the election results were being certified by his own Vice President. (watched the riots and destruction of the capitol with glee.)
• Praised and admired actual fascists and dictators (even saluted a North Korean general)
• Pressured (and threatened) political leaders to change the results of free and fair elections in their states
• Trusted the word of Putin over his own intelligence agency
• Denied press access to the White House of reporters who had been critical of him (and allowed conspiracy theory laden favorable organizations access)
• The Muslim Ban
• Firing civil servants for insufficient loyalty. (firing and/or smearing anyone who wasn't sufficiently loyal)
• False charges and claims ("lock her up!" etc) against his political enemies
• Separating illegal immigrant parents from their children in order to terrorize asylum seekers into not coming to the US

These are off the top of my head. I'm sure the list goes on and on and on. Trump was a wannabe authoritarian who admired other authoritarians, and attempted to descend the US into authoritarian rule.

 

 

 

   Worth noting that of the hundreds he pardoned yesterday including rappers, career criminals and corrupt politicians, none of the people he instigated to protest and riot on behalf of his stolen election hoax actually got one. He also revoked the executive order against lobbying by former politicians on his last day, ostensibly to keep that avenue open.

 

   Trump didn't drain the swamp. He is the swamp. I'm not sure why people can't see through this guy, but anyone still drinking the Kool Aid at this point is not getting out of the cult.

Edited January 20, 2021 by Steeleballz

[moxy 1,051]

2 minutes ago, Steeleballz said:

 

   Worth noting that of the hundreds he pardoned yesterday including rappers, career criminals and corrupt politicians, none of the people he instigated to protest and riot on behalf of his stolen election hoax actually got one. He also revoked the executive order against lobbying by former politicians on his last day, ostensibly to keep that avenue open.

 

   Trump didn't drain the swamp. He is the swamp. I'm not sure why people can't see through this guy, but anyone still drinking the Kool Aid at this point is not getting out of the cult.

This is really what I never understood. We can agree or disagree on policy, Dems have a vision, Republicans have a vision, etc ... but anyone who calls themselves a conservative or a Republican ought to be able to see that Trump was/is a grifter, a con artist, and an emotionally crippled man-baby. He represents no core conservative values, and is an embarrassment to the Republican party. He would throw (and has thrown) his most ardent supporter under the bus if it meant one tiny little advantage for him, or if it just satisfied his mean little mind at the moment. It's a complete cult of personality, and I hope those who support him eventually see him for the maniac he truly is.

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,378]

30 minutes ago, Steeleballz said:

 

   Worth noting that of the hundreds he pardoned yesterday including rappers, career criminals and corrupt politicians, none of the people he instigated to protest and riot on behalf of his stolen election hoax actually got one. He also revoked the executive order against lobbying by former politicians on his last day, ostensibly to keep that avenue open.

 

   Trump didn't drain the swamp. He is the swamp. I'm not sure why people can't see through this guy, but anyone still drinking the Kool Aid at this point is not getting out of the cult.

trump pardoned less people than any President in history. More hyperbole

 

Although disappointed he didn't pardon the Tiger King

[moxy 1,051]

3 minutes ago, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

trump pardoned less people than any President in history. More hyperbole

Steeleballz's post addressed the quality of the pardonees, not the number of them.

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,378]

7 minutes ago, moxy said:

Steeleballz's post addressed the quality of the pardonees, not the number of them.

As opposed to Clinton who pardoned his brother for cocaine trafficking and Linda Evans who bombed the Capitol building among others. 

[B_J 2,752]

Well, when it comes to pardoning people, you can pretty much assume that they're going to be criminals of some type.  It's not like he pardoned mother rapers and father stabbers.

 

Bonus points to anybody who gets the mother raper and father stabber reference.

[Burnt Reynolds 5,058]

54 minutes ago, Steeleballz said:

 

   Worth noting that of the hundreds he pardoned yesterday including rappers, career criminals and corrupt politicians, none of the people he instigated to protest and riot on behalf of his stolen election hoax actually got one. He also revoked the executive order against lobbying by former politicians on his last day, ostensibly to keep that avenue open.

 

   Trump didn't drain the swamp. He is the swamp. I'm not sure why people can't see through this guy, but anyone still drinking the Kool Aid at this point is not getting out of the cult.

He'd be an idiot to pardon rioters, and anyone rioting expecting one would equally be. Wonder if the BLM people rioting at the Capitol like Sullivan asked for one.

 

Regardless, there's no mincing words, this pardon issue was a slap in the face to supporters, and this will affect my decision in 2024 if he runs again. I saw people trying to justify it and even blame others (e.g. McConnell/GOP for threatening removal, Pat for not "letting" him which is just comical) and come up with any excuse.. this is squarely on Trump. He had all term to do it, people even filled out the paperwork and it only needed his signature. He can't market himself as draining the swamp when he's busy pardoning it while siding with the "swamp" trying to overthrow him. Then pardoning that rapper's buddy, the same guy trashing him and making videos of shooting him? What the hell? And I didn't even get to his neocon cabinet choices. This was absolutely wretched. I have no idea how he could possibly go into 2024 and utter a word about the swamp. 

Edited January 20, 2021 by Burnt Reynolds

[moxy 1,051]

10 minutes ago, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

As opposed to Clinton who pardoned his brother for cocaine trafficking and Linda Evans who bombed the Capitol building among others. 

I don't believe either I nor Steelballz expressed an opinion on Clinton's pardons. We stuck to the subject at hand.

[Steeleballz 7,550]

38 minutes ago, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

trump pardoned less people than any President in history. More hyperbole

 

Although disappointed he didn't pardon the Tiger King

 

    I think you missed the point, I was not contrasting the number of people pardoned, I was pointing out that after all was said and done Trump was very comfortable in the swamp. Since you wanted to go down that road though, you are incorrect. GHWB pardoned 77 people in 4 years. Trump pardoned 140 people yesterday.

 

 

[moxy 1,051]

4 minutes ago, Steeleballz said:

 

    I think you missed the point, I was not contrasting the number of people pardoned, I was pointing out that after all was said and done Trump was very comfortable in the swamp. Since you wanted to go down that road though, you are incorrect. GHWB pardoned 77 people in 4 years. Trump pardoned 140 people yesterday.

 

 

And has pardoned a total of 237. There are 15 presidents with fewer pardons, including Bush Sr. and Jr.

[yuna628 9,700]

46 minutes ago, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

trump pardoned less people than any President in history. More hyperbole

 

Although disappointed he didn't pardon the Tiger King

I think if pardoning is a thing that Presidents can do, one should be mindful of the quality of the persons they seek to pardon. To accept a pardon is to admit guilt, but are any of the persons pardoned truly sorry or paid for the crimes they have done?

 

I honestly have no idea who Tiger King is. I know he (and his whole associated crew) are some really creepy/shady dudes on Netflix documentary nothing more. I enjoyed the McMillion$ documentary, and I actually felt for some of the people that got wrapped up into that scheme. But that doesn't mean that they should be deserving of a pardon. The people pardoned yesterday were nothing but swampy grifters that are not deserving of praise, but I am confident that there are actually people in prison right now that have tried to do all they can to change their lives and pay for their crimes that are deserving. Those people are left behind.

[moxy 1,051]

11 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

I think if pardoning is a thing that Presidents can do, one should be mindful of the quality of the persons they seek to pardon. To accept a pardon is to admit guilt, but are any of the persons pardoned truly sorry or paid for the crimes they have done?

I think the whole pardon system needs to be reworked to have some checks and balances. I don't know what that would look like. It would take a Constitutional amendment though, which would be really tough to get done. But I think it's safe to say that just about every modern president has made some pretty terrible pardons. Having some guard rails would imho be a good thing.

[Steeleballz 7,550]

52 minutes ago, Burnt Reynolds said:

He'd be an idiot to pardon rioters, and anyone rioting expecting one would equally be. Wonder if the BLM people rioting at the Capitol like Sullivan asked for one.

 

Regardless, there's no mincing words, this pardon issue was a slap in the face to supporters, and this will affect my decision in 2024 if he runs again. I saw people trying to justify it and even blame others (e.g. McConnell/GOP for threatening removal, Pat for not "letting" him which is just comical) and come up with any excuse.. this is squarely on Trump. He had all term to do it, people even filled out the paperwork and it only needed his signature. He can't market himself as draining the swamp when he's busy pardoning it while siding with the "swamp" trying to overthrow him. Then pardoning that rapper's buddy, the same guy trashing him and making videos of shooting him? What the hell? And I didn't even get to his neocon cabinet choices. This was absolutely wretched. I have no idea how he could possibly go into 2024 and utter a word about the swamp. 

 

   I'm glad he didn't pardon rioters but I do think some of them were expecting it. I'm not against clemency, but I never liked the idea/custom of pardoning people on the last day(s) of a term. It's a tacit acknowledgement that it's not the right thing to do and being done for the wrong reasons. If someone legitimately deserves a pardon, it could be done at any time. Granted Trump pardoned less people than most presidents, but yeah the issue was he always portrayed himself as different from other politians - the guy who wouldn't be doing those kind of things.