T2


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The Interlude: December 1, 2024 - January 20, 2024

Presidential:

  • Biden skips the event; Trump speaks with Macron, Zelenskyy at re-opening of Notre Dame
  • Dems concede: Biden, the lamest of lame ducks -- six weeks before swearing in, all agree -- the baton has been passed; Dems are livid.
  • for the press, Trump is accessible; Biden? Not so much.

Kissing the ring:

  • Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau
  • Joe Scarborough and Mika
  • Elon Musk

Pardons:

  • Biden opens the door by pardoning his son, Hunt;

Immigration and Deportation

Questions

  • Can the California bullet train survive four years with no federal money?
  • How fast will Trump end the LNG export pause?

Who Drops Out?

  • Matt Gaetz withdraws his name for consideration for US Attorney General
  • FBI director Christopher Wray to resign before Trump sworn in, announced December 11, 2024. 
  • SEC chairman, Gary Gensler, to resign before Trump sworn in, announced early December, 2024. Paul Atkins, current member of the SEC, will now become chairman. Another billionaire, through his wife.

Geo-politics:

  • Syria. After 50 years of rule by the Assad family, Syria falls. Less than a month after Trump wins the election and makes it clear that things are about to change.
  • Taliban. Top Taliban leader with US bounty on his head killed by suicide bomber, reported December 11, 2024.
  • Germany: government collapses. December 16, 2024.
  • Canada: deputy PM resigns, December 16 2024. Trudeau suggests he is considering the same. December 16, 2024. Source: MSNBC.

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Everything Below This Line Archived

Opinions, hunches, tea leaves, factoids, and facts: not necessarily supported by official sources.

Recent cabinets: thoughts, knee-jerk, off-the-cuff remarks --

  • Reagan cabinet: with some rare exceptions, tried to find the most qualified.
  • George H. W. Bush: for all his years in US government, seemed to have selected a motley group with no real promise.
  • George W. Bush: similar to his dad's; not noteworthy. Some major exceptions.
  • Biden: his cabinet was woke, DEI, unqualified, politicals, mayors, governors.
  • Barack Obama: exemplified by the likes of Hillary Clinton (SecState) and Eric Holder (attorney general). Politicos were the center of his universe.
  • Trump 2.0: will set a completely new standard; a break from the past; all about loyalty and wealth (billionaires); no interest in politicos per se; attack dogs in many cases (retribution); ultra-strong personalities for positions most important to Trump (Tom Homan, border czar); will establish a new precedent -- a "shadow cabinet" made up of czars.

BBC's list: link here. November 10, 2024.

Links:

Trump 2.0: Trump's Second Term

White House

Chief: Susie Wiles.
Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy: Stephen Miller -- The immigration hard-liner and adviser to President-elect Trump is anticipated to have a vast portfolio and influence that exceeds what his eventual title will convey. -- NY Times. This is huge.
White House Counsel: William McGinley. Announced November 12, 2024.
Communications Director: Steven Cheung. Announced November 15, 2024.
Personnel Office Director: Sergio Gor. Announced November 15, 2024.

Pardons

Sanctuary Cities

Czars

Border czar: Tom Homan, announced November 10, 2024. Contributed to Project 2025 -- Forbes.

US economy:

  • less than a czar, more than an advisor: Elon Musk
    • will jawbone monetary policy
    • will remind taxpayers how much interest is being paid on US debt due to high fed rate 
  • presidents are change agents: Trump could pursue another Cabinet-level department, “ government efficiency”
  • could counter other departments in a Democratic administration
  • provide guardrails to out-of-control future administrations; Commerce; DOJ; Interior; etc.

National security advisor: Representative Mike Waltz, R-Florida. Wiki. Announced November 11, 2024.

Director of National Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard. Announced November 13, 2024. Overseas 18 spy agencies. The good news: as well qualified as the current DNI.

Energy policy / oversight: Doug Burgum. Rumored.

Foreign policy:

  • Iran: increased sanctions; 
  • Israel:
    • carte blanche on neutralizing Iran's nuclear program
    • carte blanche on taking out Hamas, Hezbollah
  • Ukraine: NATO peacekeeping force between Russian / Ukraine forces along current "front lines." 
    • Russia gets slightly more than it hoped for; Ukraine gets significantly less than it hoped for
    • "everybody" wins: shooting war is over
    • EU doesn't have the will or the resources to not support Trump
      • quid pro quo:
        • end shooting war in Ukraine
        • Russia hands off Mideast (particularly Iran) 
  • NATO: US won’t exit, but there will be “a come-to-Jesus” meeting. Belgium: grifters at US expense.

Public health: RFK, Jr. Without "any" qualifications, not likely to be named SecHHS but would certainly unsettle the Deep State. 

CIA: John Ratcliffe. Announced / reported November 12, 2024.

Emissaries, Ambassadors

UN: Elise Stefanik, NY rep, social media, November 11, 2024. Previously held by Nikki Haley.

To Israel: Mike Huckabee. Announced November 12, 2024.

Middle East envoy: Steven Witkoff. Announced / reported November 12, 2024..

To NATO: former acting attorney general Matthew White as NATO ambassador. Announced November 20, 2024.

Loyalty rewards:

  • Kari Lake?

US trade representative: Robert Lighthizer, in same role as Trump 1.0. President has asked (November 10, 2024).

  • tariffs: not necessarily inflationary; targeted tariffs might de-risk inflationary risk
  • incredible leverage
  • corporate profits: impact of tariffs offset by lower corporate tax

Executive Orders 

Trump's administration: the four-legged stool --

  • mass deportation
  • immigration
    • a "real" border czar, air, ground and sea: Tom Homan
    • the southern surge / deportation: Kristi Noem
    • sanctuary cities
  • retribution
    • the generals -- Pete Hegseth
    • board to purge generals (link to WSJ)
    • the intel community -- Tulsi Gabbard
    • the DOJ -- Matt Kaetz
  • the economy
    • the Fed -- issue of independence -- replacing JPow
    • deregulation -- the President's perogative
    • anti-trust in context of US economy -- SecCommerce
    • tariffs -- Robert Lighthizer 
    • climate -- Michael Zeldin
    • energy -- EPA -- SecEnergy
      • California's Diablo Canyon given new lease on life with AI; link to Power Engineering.
      • US: global leader in oil and natural gas
  • government efficiency
    • Musk and Ramaswamy
    • downsizing -- all department secretaries; marginal agencies (think NASA) at greatest risk
    • elimination -- some department secretaries -- 
      • could "Education" be eliminated outright or subsumed by "HHS"?
      • DOJ: if Kaetz not confirmed, could DOJ be left to swing / twist in the wind?

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Everything Below The Line: Original Post


EVs.

  • 2024: the day the music died;
  • under Trump: the end of tax credits?

Immigration.

Paris Agreement.

Transgenders in sports. This was the #1 issue across all demographics in every swing state. Trump won every swing state.

Cabinet And Related Positions

The names:

  • Defense: Pete Hegseth. Announced / reported November 12, 2024.Consensus: likelihood he won't get confirmed. December 4, 2024: Hegspeth likely to withdraw; replaced by Rubio.
  • State: Marco Rubio, senator, Florida -- NY Times, November 11, 2024. Official November 13.
  • Treasury: as of November 15, these are two left standing -- Scott Bessent, founder of Key Square Group, and Howard Lutnick, chair and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald. See Commerce, Lutnick out of the running for Treasury. As of November 21, 2024, mainstream media has no clue: now there are four in the running. Credible source, November 22, 2024, after news cycle: Scott Bessent.
  • National Economic Council: Larry Kudlow? Benizinga suggestion.
  • Office of Management and Budget: Russell Vought, announced November 22, 2024, after news cycle, Project 2025.
  • Attorney general: Matt Gaetz. "A stunning and provocative move" -- NYT. If you thought Pete Hegseth for Defense was a bridge too far -- now, Matt Gaetz for attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard for DNI. Wow. Another Floridian. Grandson of North Dakota politician Jerry Gaetz. Consensus: won't get confirmed. Later: November 21, 2024: Gaetz withdraws as nominee. Pat Bondi is nominated for attorney general after Matt Gaetz withdraws; former Florida attorney general.
  • Deputy attorney general: Todd Blanche, announced, November 14, 2024.

FBI: Kash Patel. Wiki.

HHS: RFK, Jr. Announced November 14, 2024.

  • health care policy: to nominate three physicians to steer health policy; link to WSJ.
  • FDA commissioner: Marty Makary, announced November 23, 2024.
  • Commerce: Linda McMahon. Howard Lutnick, announced November 19, 2024.
  • Interior: Doug Burgum.
  • EPA: Michael Zeldin, wiki. Announced November 11, 2024. To ensure US is global leader in AI.
  • Energy: Liberty Energy, CEO, Chris Wright; announced November 16 ,2024.
  • Homeland Security Secretary: Kristi Noem. Announced / reported November 12, 2024.
  • Secretary of Education: Tiffany Justice. Rumored November 12, 2024. Linda McMahon, announced November 19, 2024.
  • Secretary, Dept of Veterans Affairs: Doug Collins. Announced November 18, 2024.
  • Secretary, DOT: Sean Duffy. Announced November 19, 2024.
  • Secretary, Commerce: Lori Chavez-DeRemer, announced Friday, November 22, 2024, after news cycle.
  • US solicitor general: Dean John Sauer, posted November 15, 2024.
  • White House counsel: William McGinley, posted November 15, 2024.
  • National Economic Council: Larry Kudlow, rumored, November 15, 2024. Possibly Treasury but unlikely now that two men left standing, see above, did not include Larry Kudlow. With all the squabbling, could Kudlow get Treasury?
  • Federal Communications Commission, chairman: Brendan Carr. Announced Sunday, November 17, 2024. Opposes net neutrality protections. Predecessor strongly supported net neutrality. This might help. Or this.

Others

Massad Boulos, link here. To join Cabinet as senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. 

Boulos is no stranger to politics having previously ran for a parliamentary seat in Lebanon in 2009. He reportedly maintains connections with influential Lebanese figures, including Christian politician Sleiman Frangieh, an ally of Hezbollah.

Administrators

Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: Dr Mehmet Oz. Announced November 19, 2024.

Press Secretary

Karoline Leavitt. Wow, she will be a welcome change from smug, lying, evasive Karine Jean-Pierre, affectionately referred to as KJP.

Tax Policies

Cut corporate tax rate to 15%. 

Days Are Numbered

Fed chair JPow. Says he won't resign before his term is up, 2026.

SEC, Chairperson of the SEC Commission: Gary Gensler. Later: agrees to resign on January 20, 2024. Hangs on to the very last minute. Trump's nominee: Paul Atkins. Forbes. Wiki simply states he is married with three sons. In fact, his wife is the lone heir to one of the richest men in the US.

FBI: Christopher Wray. 

Taiwan? Posted December 1, 2024.

Updates

December 16, 2024: Softbank CEO to make a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago. Will commit to $100 billion in US investment. Link here. 

December 11, 2024: FBI Director Christopher Wray says he will "step down" before Trump is sworn in.

December 6, 2024: a reminder. Trump said he would do more between November 5th (2024) and January 20th (2025) than Biden did in 3 1/2 years. Most recent poll: Biden will leave office polling as the worst president ever in the history of the US.

December 6, 2024: Jesse Watters. Must watch.

December 4, 2024: the pardon, of course, has been overtaken by other events (as expected, of course) but the fact remains: that will be Biden's lasting legacy; and, it will come back to haunt the Dems when Trump starts issuing pardons.

December 4, 2024: Hegspeth is likely out; Rubio is likely "in" as the new Secretary, DOD.

December 2, 2024: cognitive dissonance. Morning Joe avoids the biggest story over the weekend and spends the first hour of his show on Trump's pick for FBI director and on an old "taken-out-of-context" memo on Hegspeth, his pick for secretary, DOD. Wow. Wow, Morning Joe unable to take on the biggest story of the week -- the story that will be Joe Biden's legacy.

November 30, 2024: news reports / headlines about Hegspeth e-mail from mother to son. Fails to report that the e-mail was written in 2018; mom admits she was emotional, and wishes she had never written it.

November 26, 2024: fight's on. Link here. 

November 25, 2024: judge agrees. All federal charges again Trump dropped. 

November 25, 2024:


Trump appointees: journalists reporting on Trump's nomination process seem not to have ever watched The Apprentice. 

La Familia: from an earlier post at T2:  

November 6, 2024: one of the smoothest transitions in modern presidential elections? Trump will hit the ground running. Trump has four adult children (two sons, one daughter, one son-in-law) who can oversee cabinet-level departments until official secretaries sworn in. In addition, Trump can appoint czars to oversee government functions if there are delays in getting his folks sworn in. In addition to his four adult children, he has a very young, active vice president. Trump knows the clock starts ticking January 20th, 2025, and he can't run for a second term. This is it.

La Familia: 

  • Biden surrounded himself with politicos. Democratic politicos. Obama, Pelosi, etc.
  • Trump surrounds himself with billionaires. This is not trivial. 

Proof? Link here.


Does one really think Trump is swayed by American faux journalists?

Yasir Al-Rumayyan. Link here.

Seriously, journalists do not know this man?

November 16, 2024:

November 16, 2024: I can't watch much of her in one setting, but clearly the one I prefer to check out first every day: Megyn Kelly.

November 16, 2024: pics of the day.


November 16, 2024: clip of the day.

November 10, 2024: seven contenders for the Trump cabinet. Link here.

November 9, 2024: this should end all discussions regarding reparations (at least until the next election cycle).

November 9, 2024: for the archives -- a look at the election.

November 9, 2024: Biden administration rushing to send arms to Ukraine -- arms the administration has held up for months.

November 8, 2024: Jess Watters Primetime --

November 7, 2024:

  • White House, US president's chief of staff: first female for this post ever in the history of the US; appointed by President-elect Trump. Susie Wiles with an incredible resume. Probably the second most important position in the US, after POTUS.
  • "Fed chair": can only be removed "for cause." A bit unclear who can remove the "Fed chair" "for cause." So, already that's an issue for the press. Current "Fed chair" was originally appointed by President-elect Trump.  
  • The first "influencer" election: won by Trump. Perhaps most powerful, Joe Rogan. As folks may remember, Kamala Harris unable to fit a 3-hour podcast into her busy schedule. Link here.

November 6, 2024: one can assume the "executive orders" will come fast and furious once he is sworn in. 

November 6, 2024: one of the smoothest transitions in modern presidential elections? Trump will hit the ground running. Trump has four adult children (two sons, one daughter, one son-in-law) who can oversee cabinet-level departments until official secretaries sworn in. In addition, Trump can appoint czars to oversee government functions if there are delays in getting his folks sworn in. In addition to his four adult children, he has a very young, active vice president. Trump knows the clock starts ticking January 20th, 2025, and he can't run for a second term. This is it.

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Everything Below This Line: Archived

Links:

 Trump Re-Election

November 15, 2024:

November 15, 2024: these were some of Biden's appointees for whose who think Trump's choices are "shocking":

November 11, 2024: assuming no shenanigans (a big assumption), the GOP will take the US House; a majority requires 218 representatives. As it stands today, there are 214 GOP representatives. Eighteen races are too close to call and vote counting continues. Of those eighteen races, eight will almost surely go to the GOP but only four of those eight are actually needed. Status is tracked here.

4:31 a.m. CDT, November 6, 2024: Wisconsin votes all counted ... the margin has narrowed to 30,000. And now, the Democrat is leading the US Senate race. Trump has won! Wisconsin put him over the top. MSNBC has just gone nuts! Wow! Trump, 276; Harris 219. A few states yet to be called. MSNBC has absolutely gone nuts. More and more it looks like Biden might have won had he stayed on the ticket. There's going to be a lot of soul-searching with regard to this. "That Iowa poll" -- completely fraudulent. Trump took Iowa by an even larger margin.

4:07 a.m. CT, November 6, 2024: it's very possible that Harris could win Wisconsin when the Milwaukee absentee votes are counted. It's always amazing how these late votes can dramatically change things.

3:55 a.m. CT, November 6, 2024: with 86% of votes counted nationally, Trump with 70 million votes, and Harris with 64 million voltes. Trump wins the popular vote --- despite California, New York, and New Jersey.

3:53 a.m. CT, November 6, 2024: Kamala Harris did not win one battleground state. Possibly one exception, Virginia, but Virginia was not considered a battleground state by most folks.

3:51 a.m. CT, November 6, 2024: it's very possible Biden would have won! Wow, you know that Biden will believe that, whether it's true or not. But comparing how Biden did against Trump four years ago and how Harris did this year ... it's incredible. Those numbers alone, Biden would likely have won this year.That's how badly Harris did compared to Biden four years ago.

3:43 a.m. CT, November 6, 2024: it is expected that the final votes will finally be counted in Milwaukee within the next hour. It's almost impossible for Trump to lose even when the Milwaukee votes come in, but this is the really, really bad news -- it's likely that the Republican candidate for US Senate will lose and the GOP won't hold an absolute majority in the US Senate. There's about 100,000 votes from Milwaukee -- "all" votes are counted except for Milwaukee's 100,000 votes --


54,769 votes separated Hovde from Baldwin. Can Baldwin take 60% of the Milwaukee votes?

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Original Post

8:42 p.m. CT:

Betting: 64% chance that Trump declares victory before midnight. Hannity has already called it on Fox. Hannity's argument is fairly sound. 

9:27 p.m. CT:

2:12 a.m., CT, November 6, 2024: when will Kamala Harris concede?

2:16 a.m. CT, November 6, 2024:


2:42 a.m. CT, November 6, 2024:

3:22 a.m. CT, November 6, 2024:

Observations:

  • Reminder: IRA was all about green energy. 
  • Nancy Pelosi lived long enough to see Trump be re-elected.  
  • the future of those non-MAGA Republicans are now in limbo. They belong to no party.
  • Democrat leadership? Name current leadership. Biden, Harris, Clinton, Obama out. 
  • Clinton: Americans like "strong though wrong"; not "weak but right."
  • all those concerns about a contested election.
  • time for lots of folks to reflect
  • EVs
  • DEI
  • the woke culture
  • big loser: Michael Moore. James Cargill.
  • the legacy news networks
  • when will ABC News officially call "it" for Trump? 
  • two biggest issues: the southern border and immigration
    • did Kamala Harris ever visit the border?
  • Donna Brazile: Democratic Party strategist -- sort of encapsulates the problem.
  • the pollsters; perhaps it wasn't the pollsters but rather how the elites interpreted the polls?
  • Trump won the popular vote; forget the electoral college; he won the popular vote! 
    • 69 million vs 65 million
  • Fox News
  • Kamala Harris gets to certify Trump's win in  US Congress
  • teachable moment for the Dems to move back to the center
  • it was Kamala Harris' race to lose; had she been able to articulate her position on almost any issue, the race might have been different
  • how many US Supreme Court justices might he nominate?
  • JD Vance is 39 years old
  • Harris not picking a Pennsylvania running mate
  • legacy news networks concerned MAGA folks wouldn't accept a Harris win; now, will the Dems accept a MAGA win?
  • the number of false stories presented night-after-night on national news for the past year; 
  • the race not nearly as close as pollsters suggested;
  • wow, the analysts on ABC News simply don't get it
  • Montana: how can it take so long to count votes in a state like Montana?
  • considering how close so many races were, almost any mainstream Democrat could have done better than Harris; what were the Dems thinking? An open primary now looks pretty important.
  • of the four major legacy news networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox) only Fox has called the race with 277 electoral votes for Trump; the others still have Trump four electoral votes short at 266 at 4:10 a.m. November 6, 2024. 
  • a lot of folks will watch The View today.
  • a year from now, where will Kamala Harris be?
  • did Trump win every swing state?
  • most incredible comeback in political history?

UPDATES

November 5, 2024: from October 16, 2024.

November 5, 2024: still reports today -- date of the election -- that Trump wants to give RFK, Jr, a prominent role in his administration with regard to health and human resources. A reminder: it was Trump who completely bungled the handling of the Covid-19 lockdown. One of many things RFK, Jr wants to do is remove fluoride from public water supplies. He will, also, no doubt, "dial back" all mandatory childhood immunizations.

November 4, 2024: prediction — blowout win for Harris. JD Vance fades into obscurity. Trump becomes a parody of himself. Americans are so “over” Trump. Trump fatigue. A lot of MAGA electors are going to be slinking home Tuesday night. If the Dems take the US House and the US Senate, there’s going to be a lot of soul-searching. Trump will become the goat, and not in a good way.

November 3, 2024: with less than a week to go, the polls suddenly show Harris surging, even leading in Iowa. If the polls are correct, it will be a blow out WIN for Harris. If that occurs, it will not be surprising: the undecided folks have finally had enough of Trump's vulgarity and self-righteousness. For me it comes down to this: do I want an angry-81-year-old back in the White House ... and a vice-president that is so much worse?

October 17, 2024: biggest "tells" in the past 365 days suggesting Kamala Harris was on the wrong side of history: three Ivy League presidents were ousted because of their support for the Hamas (aka, the Palestinians); "every" major US corporation distanced themselves from DEI as fast as they could; and, the degree to which the US is now supporting Israel (sending US troops to Israel).

October 17, 2024: some suggest that Kamala lost ground following the Fox interview, but there's a bigger question. Why in the world did she ever agree to do an interview with Fox? Remember, she doesn't do interview and this late in the campaign, she's not out to practice. There are only two reasons why she did the interview: internal polling showed that the race was closer than the NYTimes is making it out to be or internal polling shows she has absolutely no chance to win the race as it stands now, and it's time for her to pull out all the stops, including an interview with Fox. Making the decision to do an interview with Fox came down to this: internal polling suggested that doing the interview was her only chance.

October 17, 2024: if you look at the electoral college as it "stands" today -- unless it's very, very close in a couple of the following states, we will probably know the outcome by 8:01 p.m. CDT. Right now it hinges on these three states, and for good measure, throw in the fourth: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, and Wisconsin.

October 12, 2024: "The Moment of Truth," Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, November, 2024. The reelection of Donald Trump would mark the end of George Washington’s vision for the presidency—and the United States.

September 28, 2024: The New Yorker, "Talk of the Town," how Trump hopes to exploit the myth of voter fraud in November.

September 28, 2024: it's easy to forget that Kamala Harris was one of 35 contenders for the Democratic Party's nomination for president. Link here.

September 15 2024: SCOTUS, Chief Justice Roberts, President Trump -- an analysis -- The New York Times.

September 14, 2024: Trump humiliated by a woman of color. The Atlantic.

September 4, 2024: a lot of Republicans feel they need to have Trump lose if they want the party to survive. Link here.

September 1, 2024: it's now Kamala's race to lose. Ironically, I think the "Arlington" incident changed everything as far as I'm concerned. I might talk about this later, but bottom line: Trump "in the right; Biden-Kamala "in the wrong" on that one -- the Arlington incident. And in my mind, that means I no longer have a favorite; I no longer favor one or the other. But now, it's Kamala's race to lose.

  • Arlington: Trump and party laying a wreath at the request of certain Gold Star families.
  • on the beach: President Joe Biden (two week Beach vacation)
  • in her mansion: Kamala Harris

September 1, 2024: looking back on why Hillary lost -- two quotes --

  • "deplorables"
  • "stand by my man" -- intern affair, Epstein

August 31, 2024:


Fox News reaction? Crickets.

My hunch: Trump's internal polling shows he's lost the "women's vote."

Along with the "childless cat ladies" vote. And the military vote. 

As far as I know, Trump's VP running mate still wants to criminalize abortion for any reason; codify it nationally.

August 31, 2024:

  • Vance, women without children struggle to fine "meaning."Link here.
  • Vance, women who think that truly the liberationist path is to spend 90 hours a week working in a cubicle at Mckinsey instead of starting a family and having children. Link here.

August 28, 2024: Literary Hub, JD Vance, not from Appalachia.

August 28, 2024: from The Atlantic this date.

August 19, 2024: crazy talk.

August 18, 2024: if Harris were to win, we will see op-eds saying how brilliant Biden was to walk-away in the manner he did. In so many ways, it was brilliant. But most of all, the manner in which Biden walked away absolutely discombobulated Trump. Today:

August 18, 2024: choosing to lose; Harris; Adelson.

August 16, 2024: link here.

August 14, 2024: feeling cheated, or suffering PTSD -- Vanity Fair.

August 6, 2024: headline -- second squad member to be defeated by pro-Israeli Pac -- whom do you think the pro-Israeli Pac will support in November? Trump or Harris? With regard to Cori Bush, "actions/speeches have consequences.

August 1, 2024: the break is official. I have had more than enough of Trump / Vance. The tipping point was Trump's pettiness in his interview yesterday (?) at the conference for African-Americans. I tried moving on, but then today: 

Massive prisoner swap announced: international --

  • US, Russia and other countries
  • Evan (WSJ) and Paul Whelan to be released.
  • former president Trump's immediate response: 
    • unable to be congratulatory
    • unable to be gracious
    • unable to show any warmth in his remarks 
    • Trump is a hater, narcissistic, delusional, insecure, and a small man by any measure

At a time when all Americans should have been united in welcoming these American prisoners home, Trump was a pathetic ignoramus. It is amazing what Trump can say that will not upset his MAGA supporters. He could say these things about the prison swap because it is likely that the majority of MAGA supporters do not read for themselves.

July 28, 2024: JD Vance is truly starting to look the Sarah Palin of Dan Quayles (while Kamala Harris has a deep bench to choose from)

July 27, 2024: JD Vance — for Trump, the optics are not good. 

July 26, 2024: JD Vance -- cringeworthy -- link here.

July 25, 2024:

July 25, 2024: 48 - 47, Trump by one. Link here.

  • new event(s) since last poll: Biden's Oval Office speech, stepping aside
  • next: Kamala to pick VP

July 25, 2024: over-played his hand? Vance made the hard-right MAGA folks happy but didn't do anything for the independents who tend not to be tribal.


July 24, 2024: Duped. Trump's initial instincts were correct; unfortunately he didn't follow those instincts.

Link here. 

More and more it's looking like Vance was absolutely the wrong choice. Link here.

Top of the list on Kamala Harris' short list: a US Senator from Arizona. And that guy can take on both Trump and Vance. 

New York Times, link here. How does one say Vance was the wrong choice without saying Vance was the wrong choice. Meanwhile, all of a sudden Trump's candidacy is looking old (haven't we seen this twice before?) and all of a sudden Trump looks like he may have Bidenitis.

July 21, 2024: Biden out!

July 19, 2024: it appears that perhaps the majority of Dems n the US House or Representatives want Joe Biden to drop out; in the US Senate the two most influential Dems and now two more Dems have asked Joe Biden to step down, and yet he hasn't. This was as of Friday, July 19, 2024. Biden said he would be back on the campaign trail next week. If it appears "push is coming to shove" and Biden still refuses to drop out, one then has to ask the awkward question: is he able to make rational decisions any more? When something doesn't make sense, one has to start asking the hard questions. Have we missed this all along?

July 18, 2024: I didn't get around to this article until now. It's a real eye-opener. Really sad on so many levels. If one reads the article, be sure to read the comments. All the signs of Alzheimer's.

July 17, 2024: wow, you can see the train wreck in real time.

July 14, 2024: how the Brits see this -- 

July 10, 2024:

July 8, 2024: Joe Biden says he won't drop out. More adamant than ever. The White House has always had two political wings: the presidential wing and the vice-presidential wing. One can bet the vice-presidential wing is working overtime to prevent Newsom from swooping in with the nomination.

July 8, 2024: specialist in Parkinson’s Disease, WH visits. 

July 7, 2024: Joe Biden was able to speak for seven minutes at a “Black” church in Philadelphia this morning.

*************

The 2024 campaign began, the day after Super Tuesday, March 4, 2023.

1. March 11, 2024. Insurrectionists; prison time for aide.

2. May 8, 2024. US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and her handful of village idiots are beginning to become tiresome. She loses (again) 359 - 43 in latest attempt to oust Mike Johnson as US House speaker.

3. May 11, 2024. US debt amnesia.

4. June 3, 2024: a travesty, Congressional hearings, Fauci, GOP attack. I'm outta here. Fauci saved lives.

5. June 3, 2024: last week, former President Trump convicted of 34 felonies; jury wrestled with decision for less than two hours -- 34 counts -- appearance of a "kangaroo court." Bottom line: he didn't argue he didn't cheat on his wife; he only argued the money paid to his lawyer around that time was not hush money, but simply unrelated legal expenses. A true statesman.

6.  June 4, 2024: GOP in the US House votes to defund NATO. And "they" say Maxine Waters is nuts. LOL. Maxine Waters is starting to look like a statesman (stateswoman). I can no longer defend the GOP. And we haven't even gotten to women's rights. 

7. June 5, 2024: John Fetterman -- 


June 17, 2024: except for the Trump / MAGA cult and the haters, I really sense no interest in this election by anyone. We'll see if the turnout is the poorest it's ever been across the country except perhaps in swing states (a couple of swing states in the north / midwest / rust belt / Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan); maybe North Carolina; Florida; New Mexico / Arizona. And that's about it.

June 18, 2024: Statesman -- this is currently the "top story" over at Drudge right now.

The Drudge headline takes you to this story / headline over at Rolling Stone:

  • there are so many ways to parse this headline / story --
    • first, the former president is telling us he doesn't know how to prevent a stock market crash if he knows it is coming;
    • second, he is more concerned about his legacy than he is about the American people;
      • he wants the market to crash on somebody's else's watch so it won't happen on his watch;
      • he's more worried about his legacy if the crash falls on his watch than he is about the American people;
    • third, he is incredibly delusional, taking credit for the market rally four years after he destroyed the US economy.

June 24, 2024: how "pro-life" lost all its meaning. 

June 26, 2024: I can't believe it's come to this. 

June 28, 2024: first debate -- an absolute debacle for the Biden administration. Headlines not strong enough by any stretch of the imagination how badly Biden did. Senile dementia if not outright Altz. 

June 28, 2024: Biden has no choice but to participate in the second debate. Great article in today's WSJ on the Biden's mental fitness for "duty." Later: I’m not sure there will even be a second debate. Donald Trump needs to take advantage of this possibility.

June 29, 2024: James Carville and The Atlantic after the first debate. For the record, at the end of the day, I felt much better about Joe Biden than Donald Trump after the debate. Joe Biden remains a statesman and a sympathetic figure who carries a huge stick. Is it worse to have a delusional president who has his wits about him or a kind-hearted old man who well ... acts like many older men ... and which we all knew going into the debate?

July 5, 2024: conspiracy of silence. Pressure builds. Jill Biden remains dug in.

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