Exactly what I thought, so much so that I said so in the comments section of the media website covering it at the time. He’ll take whatever he can get out of it - a bump in the polls - donations. He’s a snake oil sales man.
I asked ChatGPT for synonyms of ‘snake oil salesman’ in my description of Trump, and I think they all tick the box.
Charlatan
Con artist
Fraudster
Swindler
Quack
Scammer
Huckster
Grifter
Shyster
Phony
Confidence trickster
Hoaxer
Impostor
Deceiver
Racketeer
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Like a dog, you mean?
One notes that the golf course rifleman has only been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm so far.
The fellow didn’t fire the weapon at all, not even when he himself was being shot at by the Secret Service.
It is said that the rifle was recovered, together with two backpacks and a camera. One notes there is no comment as to the content of the backpacks, no comment as to whether there was ammunition for the weapon in said backpacks, in the offenders vehicle, or about his person, and no comment as to whether the weapon was actually loaded or not.
It will be interesting to see if the chap ends up being charged with a more serious crime.
And of course if he is convicted a successful Trump could pardon him. On the other hand I doubt he could keep his mouth shut about such an arrangement.
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Perhaps the chap could be pardoned on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to the balance of his mind being disturbed. After all, it is said that ‘It takes one to know one’.
Oy!
Dogs do not have the very human characteristic of deviousness.
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I saw a report that they had refractory tiles in them for some reason. The only reason they could come up with as to why was to wear the backpacks front and back as a sort of bullet proof vest, but I can’t see that working, and damned heavy as well.
I don’t subscribe to The New York Times, but get newsletter headings, such as this one today.
Americans have long assumed that the Constitution could save us. A growing chorus now wonders whether we need to be saved from it, our book critic writes.
Could one of the biggest threats to America’s politics be the country’s founding document? →
For me, it’s looking that way. There’s something fundamentally wrong somewhere that can allow the current position to get to where it is!
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I think the biggest issues with the US constitution, and particularly the typical American view of it is that it’s all about rights, but doesn’t say much about responsibility. I suppose that feeds into the American Dream of grabbing whatever you can get your hands on and bugger anyone else.
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It was observed during the last election that the founding fathers were wise enough to make it difficult for a rogue president to do extensive damage but failed to do enough to prevent a rogue party from enabling such an individual.
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Food as well. He did spend around 12 hours on and around the golf course according to phone data.
The problem this time around is the trifecta of a rogue president, a rogue party, and a rogue Supreme Court.
The constitutional checks and balances assume just one of the three going awry. That’s the biggest danger of a second Trump presidency. He (or those backing him) would be enabled to change the rules, just as a certain Austrian gentleman did in 1933.
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I usually fall asleep at night to voices on LBC radio, but last night I switched to C-Span radio from Washington, and listened to Trump speaking to a New York audience. I heard him talk about young girls being raped and sliced up by immigrants and a promise of mass deportation of immigrants, followed by huge cheers from the audience. Unbelievable!
There are some very sick people in the USA!
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There are - but probably not, for the main part, in the audience.
There are a lot of people of low intellect and lower education in the 'States who are easily manipulated by the likes of Trump, who will twist perfectly reasonable sentiment (being aghast at rape for instance) to their own ends.
That’s the problem.
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Unfortunately, the answer is not through education of the manipulated, those lacking education and those of low intellect, so where does the answer lie?
A clear win by Harris and successfully overcoming Trump’s promised claims of fraudulent election results, is one answer. The Democrats are preparing and will be ready for those claims, but Roberts & Co are waiting behind the scenes.
I sometimes think that a civil war of some kind is looming.
Quite possible. If Trump looses he will probably try to whip up his support base to at least civil disobedience, if not outright war.
If Trump wins civil war might be the only way to ultimately restore order (or some semblance of it) but it will be ugly (and I suspect that Democrat supporters are less given to violence).
That is for sure, under normal circumstances, but I think other circumstances may be too much of a stretch. That superhuman physical strength that some individuals develop out of sheer unadulterated necessity may come into play. The restained Democratic balloon will burst.
I disagree - but you are right that there is little to be gained from persuading those already down the rabbit hole to climb back out.
Education needs to start early and equip people with the ability to recognise horse shit when they are being fed it.
Unfortunately those afflicted with low intellect, low self-esteem, and few opportunities in life tend to have a poor view of anyone trying to educate their kids out of the quagmire (the “my lift is shit so yours better be as well” attitude is prevalent, even if not articulated explicitly).
Educating a large number of people before the election won’t happen, but in the long term obviously could, if efforts were made to do so. Maybe in time, if necessary, if Trump loses.
What I found interesting are the MAGA members who have been ‘helped’ rather than educated, who are intelligent and managed to help themselves, as these two men did, to get free of the MAGA movement.
