Right! Trump is wondering: How could my hack be beaten except by an even larger hack by Democrats. And besides Putin promised him another victory. Projection indeed! Funny how the crimes Trump and his cronies accuse others of doing are the very crimes they are doing or have done themselves.
yep. unbelievably so. and DT Jr is showing a genuine aptitude for it as well. but, in terms of discovering and mastering self-destructive behaviors, DT Jr seems like some sort of prodigy. did anyone else see those slurring, jaw-grinding video tweets he was stupid and drunk enough to send into the viral ether?
Once again, you get right to the heart of the matter, thank you.
Although poodles across the nation are taking exception... they are much smarter and have higher moral standards than any of #45's henchpeople. They will accept treats in lieu of an apology.
I was thinking the same thing. Poodles are smart. Lucian may have been thinking of golden retrievers (says she who lives with a malamute who would never put up with this stuff).
yes, the poodle thing was something I forgot to mention. one would not wish to libel poodles. poodles are vastly superior to ANYONE in TFF's immediate vicinity.
Can you also imagine the chaos at the county level had all those machines been hauled away? What about all the down ballot folks who were newly elected? Did they show up to be sworn in? Did they dare to show up for work? Did they even HAVE a job?
The many tell-all books that have emerged in the last couple of years describe a completely chaotic White House in which heads rolled as frequently as eyeballs rolled, where up was down and down was up and no one had a clue what the crisis du jour might be. I recall feeling a personal angst each morning when the daily batch of overnight tweets greeted the sun and sent us all in a spin, much like the old merry-go-rounds of childhood. It was exhausting. Chaos does that. And it leaves the person who spins in control as everyone else is spun off.
I think about this a lot. I'm still wondering how many of the victorious down-ballot Republican candidates realize that this was an attack on *their* wins.
Come to think of it, it reminds me of bygone days when funny stories started with "Remember the night we all got stoned/drunk and . . ." (Not that I ever did anything like that. ;-) )
TRump —part of his mental disease(s) includes PARANOID ruminating—specifically—on personal slights and threats. Couple that with poor self-restraint and a LOW IQ, and you get a loose cannon. He pays a lot of lawyers a lot of money to clean up after him.
Why so many see themselves in him and identify with his angry rants is a bigger symptom of the US culture. What was he up to? CHEATING, CORRUPTION and TREASON. The Republican Party certainly embraces all of that, so let us not be shocked at this point. Disgusted and angry, but not shocked.
What you left out Lucien was in the midst of all this chaos there would have been one tightly organized and 100% focused group added to the mix. All but two of the Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. They would have known exactly what their role was and how to do it. And, yes, that was part of the plan also. To, amidst chaos, confusion and misdirection to be 100% focused on overturning a fairly held and accurately counted election.
They would not actually count votes. Too time consuming and it would not produce the desired result anyway They would simply sieze a few machines in a few districts and, within a few hours, just declare the fraud. They could argue that if a small "random" sample of machines had been tampered with (wink, wink) then the election had indeed been stolen from Trump.
I take this to mean that the trumpsters were the ones tampering with the machines. Or not, and they would just announce they were tampered with without even examining them.
Want to know what my #1 takeaway is here? "If you live in a bubble and only communicate with your bubble friends, your plans will be bubble-headed." Diversity matters. The right thinks it's all cosmetic -- this number of female faces, that number of faces of color, and bingo if you get a few who are both -- but it's not. Seriously: think about any civic group you've been part of. Can you imagine these hare-brained schemes surviving the (polite, maybe) laughter that would have greeted them when they were floated? Coming to consensus on a plan can be frustrating as hell, and plenty of grumbling may result, but (no question in my mind) the resulting plan will be more workable in the real world than anything any single participants could come up with.
Agree. And this should worry the coup caucus: Pence got a standing O at the Federalist meeting yesterday. And they are basically affirmative action for GOP Supreme Court picks.
I'm keeping an eye on stories like this. The cracks that Lucian was talking about are real. How deep and how long-lasting are they? That remains to be seen, but they're still encouraging.
“Clusterfuck” certainly describes several levels of chaos we have seen in our chosen professions. It is appropriately used in this discussion of the former president’s attempt to perform a coup. Thank you.
"Are you getting the picture? Does the word clusterfuck come to mind?" Actually the words "criminal conspiracy" come to mind. Where is Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice? They are prosecuting the foot soldiers and unit commanders of the insurrection but they appear to not be investigating the generals and strategists. What is wrong with them? Are they really too timid to investigate and prosecute treason? And you KNOW they are not investigating Trump, Rudy, Stone, Bannon, et. al. because if they were these clowns would know about it and would be screaming their heads off and raising money because of it.
The DOJ et al are, of course, investigating the big guys, via flipping the little guys. And the big guys are already screaming foul on Faux news. This take down has to be so carefully orchestrated it is good news that we don't know more. As TCinLA said - we only get one chance to kill the king. One
Here's an exercise for you: Flip the scenario. What if, say, the Barr-run DoJ were going after, say, BLM or pro-choice demonstrators who hadn't broken any laws? Some people would surely be screaming "Where is Bill Barr and the Department of Justice?" The rule of law and due process, flawed as they are, really do matter. Listen to the people who've been on the receiving end when they break down.
trump predicted as early as June 2020 that the election would be the most corrupt election' in US history while making false claims about mail-in voting. Was this laying the ground for things to come anticipating his defeat or self fulfilling prophesy.
He knew he couldn't win. He did the same thing in 2016 in Iowa when Cruz won, and was surprised to win the next primary. And then the elections weren't rigged after all!
He said elections were bogus for years. That filled the void between the Obama birther nonsense and his actual election which was, miraculously, not bogus. Even he lost track.
Super article. Thank you. The thought of any politician attempting to tamper with voting, should universally make Americans outraged. I hope, the fact that it didn’t or hasn’t, will be pointed to in the future as a defining point where where polarization led our country to insanity.
Always chaos with that guy. On some level, he knew he lost the election. His narcissism would not let him ever admit defeat, so he, as they say, threw a bunch of shit against the wall to see what would stick.
He is not intelligent but he has the instincts of a Mafia boss. Get lackeys to commit the crimes. Maintain plausible deniability. Repeat the Big Lie ad infinitum. Incite actual violence. Change the story to avoid self incrimination. And on and on.... Chaos.
Okay…I’m really spinning. You take all of the “puzzle pieces” and make them fit. You don’t even have to cut off a stupid corner to shove it in the space. Washington Post just reported that the RNC voted to condemn Cheney and Kinzinger. I surmise for being the only Repugnicans in Congress with any morality. Thank god Name We Will Not Utter’s ideas were so outrageous that the chaos patrol stopped him…at least THEN. Do they have the strength to lower the boom?
your earlier posting, in which you broke down what would have been involved in counting votes from all the necessary counties, etc. quite beautifully demonstrated that the time limit they were proposing was--cutting to the chase--impossible. "wildly optimistic" is being very, very kind, and these folks have not demonstrated any significant entitlement to kindness; at least not MINE. dealing with TFF and his entourage, whenever the impossibility of this or that ploy comes up, my first question is always something like "are they attempting to achieve this particular clusterfuck by design or are they really that fucking stupid?" the question, I have been coming to realize, is an entirely academic one. one way or another, I have also been coming to realize (and the above entry brings me closer to some sort of internal agreement on this point), the object really IS to create chaos. TFF's plan is ALWAYS to create chaos, because it's the best possible cover for some sort of planned nefarious conduct. what he (and, I suppose, THEY) don't understand about chaos is that it's CHAOTIC. when things are chaotic, one is well advised to assume that plans might well not go as planned. this is why, when big things are planned, we learn that it's good to have OTHER plans, just in case. it's in this matter of allowing for the unexpected that these idiots come into their full idiotic glory, their Platonic idiot-ness. I don't mean to understate how stupid they are on every level and at EVERY stage of "planning." I'm just noticing this particular area of particular stupidity because it so much confirms the fact (as if it needed confirming) that TFF operates very purely on the level of his pathetic, tantrum-inclined eight-year-old self. and, since he feels no reason to be anything but that, the people around him are forced to operate at that same level themselves. so yeah, a clusterfuck is inevitable. this "clusterfuck to chaos to whatever happens" path is what he knows and it's "sort of managed" to work for him (denial being a primitive defense mechanism but also a very effective one if it works for someone) in the context of a secretive private company. once upon a time, I was probably certain (I say "probably" because I had no real need to think about it until pretty recently) that this sort of casual, "transactional" approach to reality wouldn't be at all effective in the context of the huge government of a large, wealthy country that's inextricably tied to the governments of other large, wealthy countries. once upon that very same time, I was very, very naive. I think that, to some degree, we ALL were. and to that extent, I suppose we were unprepared.
so yeah, the chaos may well be the whole point and the carrot those idiot bunnies are chasing may well be the old "power and money" thing. but the possession of neither one is especially useful for very long without also possessing some sense of what to do with them.
whew.
"rotting timbers of this listing vessel" is a really EXCELLENT phrase; I'm a little envious, but it'll pass.
One has to wonder if they were SO CERTAIN the machines had been hacked because they maybe did a little hacking in 2016? Just enough to “win”?
Trump is one huge blob of projection.
Right! Trump is wondering: How could my hack be beaten except by an even larger hack by Democrats. And besides Putin promised him another victory. Projection indeed! Funny how the crimes Trump and his cronies accuse others of doing are the very crimes they are doing or have done themselves.
It's the one thing he's been consistent about. You can figure out a lot of what he wants to do by what he accuses others of.
And this is how conspiracy theories get started😂
Criminal masturbation.
yep. unbelievably so. and DT Jr is showing a genuine aptitude for it as well. but, in terms of discovering and mastering self-destructive behaviors, DT Jr seems like some sort of prodigy. did anyone else see those slurring, jaw-grinding video tweets he was stupid and drunk enough to send into the viral ether?
No wonder dad won’t hug him.
Or projectile vomit.
Once again, you get right to the heart of the matter, thank you.
Although poodles across the nation are taking exception... they are much smarter and have higher moral standards than any of #45's henchpeople. They will accept treats in lieu of an apology.
I was thinking the same thing. Poodles are smart. Lucian may have been thinking of golden retrievers (says she who lives with a malamute who would never put up with this stuff).
yes, the poodle thing was something I forgot to mention. one would not wish to libel poodles. poodles are vastly superior to ANYONE in TFF's immediate vicinity.
Can you also imagine the chaos at the county level had all those machines been hauled away? What about all the down ballot folks who were newly elected? Did they show up to be sworn in? Did they dare to show up for work? Did they even HAVE a job?
The many tell-all books that have emerged in the last couple of years describe a completely chaotic White House in which heads rolled as frequently as eyeballs rolled, where up was down and down was up and no one had a clue what the crisis du jour might be. I recall feeling a personal angst each morning when the daily batch of overnight tweets greeted the sun and sent us all in a spin, much like the old merry-go-rounds of childhood. It was exhausting. Chaos does that. And it leaves the person who spins in control as everyone else is spun off.
I think about this a lot. I'm still wondering how many of the victorious down-ballot Republican candidates realize that this was an attack on *their* wins.
It's mind bogglingly stupid. GOP candidates did pretty well outside of Trump's race.
How they square this circle is logic defying.
Come to think of it, it reminds me of bygone days when funny stories started with "Remember the night we all got stoned/drunk and . . ." (Not that I ever did anything like that. ;-) )
TRump —part of his mental disease(s) includes PARANOID ruminating—specifically—on personal slights and threats. Couple that with poor self-restraint and a LOW IQ, and you get a loose cannon. He pays a lot of lawyers a lot of money to clean up after him.
Why so many see themselves in him and identify with his angry rants is a bigger symptom of the US culture. What was he up to? CHEATING, CORRUPTION and TREASON. The Republican Party certainly embraces all of that, so let us not be shocked at this point. Disgusted and angry, but not shocked.
What you left out Lucien was in the midst of all this chaos there would have been one tightly organized and 100% focused group added to the mix. All but two of the Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. They would have known exactly what their role was and how to do it. And, yes, that was part of the plan also. To, amidst chaos, confusion and misdirection to be 100% focused on overturning a fairly held and accurately counted election.
They would not actually count votes. Too time consuming and it would not produce the desired result anyway They would simply sieze a few machines in a few districts and, within a few hours, just declare the fraud. They could argue that if a small "random" sample of machines had been tampered with (wink, wink) then the election had indeed been stolen from Trump.
I take this to mean that the trumpsters were the ones tampering with the machines. Or not, and they would just announce they were tampered with without even examining them.
The Big Lie squared.
Dear friends I submit that a six pack of standard poodles would have produced a better plan.
Totally agree. And six malamutes would have blocked this half-assery long enough for them to do it.
😁😀😁😀😁😀😁😀😁😀
How about some Tik Tok talking Huskies?
The coup attempt was real and it was spectacular…a full frontal assault on democracy. Stand back and standby for version 2.0.
Not according to the RNC. Just today they declared it "legitimate political discourse".
You’re right…this position fits the Big Lie so much better though.
Hilarious!
As Teri Hatcher once said...
Too many Seinfeld lines not to use.
Exactly
Want to know what my #1 takeaway is here? "If you live in a bubble and only communicate with your bubble friends, your plans will be bubble-headed." Diversity matters. The right thinks it's all cosmetic -- this number of female faces, that number of faces of color, and bingo if you get a few who are both -- but it's not. Seriously: think about any civic group you've been part of. Can you imagine these hare-brained schemes surviving the (polite, maybe) laughter that would have greeted them when they were floated? Coming to consensus on a plan can be frustrating as hell, and plenty of grumbling may result, but (no question in my mind) the resulting plan will be more workable in the real world than anything any single participants could come up with.
Agree. And this should worry the coup caucus: Pence got a standing O at the Federalist meeting yesterday. And they are basically affirmative action for GOP Supreme Court picks.
I'm keeping an eye on stories like this. The cracks that Lucian was talking about are real. How deep and how long-lasting are they? That remains to be seen, but they're still encouraging.
“Clusterfuck” certainly describes several levels of chaos we have seen in our chosen professions. It is appropriately used in this discussion of the former president’s attempt to perform a coup. Thank you.
"Are you getting the picture? Does the word clusterfuck come to mind?" Actually the words "criminal conspiracy" come to mind. Where is Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice? They are prosecuting the foot soldiers and unit commanders of the insurrection but they appear to not be investigating the generals and strategists. What is wrong with them? Are they really too timid to investigate and prosecute treason? And you KNOW they are not investigating Trump, Rudy, Stone, Bannon, et. al. because if they were these clowns would know about it and would be screaming their heads off and raising money because of it.
The DOJ et al are, of course, investigating the big guys, via flipping the little guys. And the big guys are already screaming foul on Faux news. This take down has to be so carefully orchestrated it is good news that we don't know more. As TCinLA said - we only get one chance to kill the king. One
Exactly right. And if you've studied how effective prosecution works, you already know this.
Here's an exercise for you: Flip the scenario. What if, say, the Barr-run DoJ were going after, say, BLM or pro-choice demonstrators who hadn't broken any laws? Some people would surely be screaming "Where is Bill Barr and the Department of Justice?" The rule of law and due process, flawed as they are, really do matter. Listen to the people who've been on the receiving end when they break down.
trump predicted as early as June 2020 that the election would be the most corrupt election' in US history while making false claims about mail-in voting. Was this laying the ground for things to come anticipating his defeat or self fulfilling prophesy.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/23/politics/donald-trump-mail-voter-fraud-most-corrupt-election/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3nB3W0gYCsGqIOnkRRbEhdQc3fwh67G1JN49Cn3PPnCVkEhNed4_YsdJU
He knew he couldn't win. He did the same thing in 2016 in Iowa when Cruz won, and was surprised to win the next primary. And then the elections weren't rigged after all!
Unforced error.
He said elections were bogus for years. That filled the void between the Obama birther nonsense and his actual election which was, miraculously, not bogus. Even he lost track.
Super article. Thank you. The thought of any politician attempting to tamper with voting, should universally make Americans outraged. I hope, the fact that it didn’t or hasn’t, will be pointed to in the future as a defining point where where polarization led our country to insanity.
Chaos
Always chaos with that guy. On some level, he knew he lost the election. His narcissism would not let him ever admit defeat, so he, as they say, threw a bunch of shit against the wall to see what would stick.
He is not intelligent but he has the instincts of a Mafia boss. Get lackeys to commit the crimes. Maintain plausible deniability. Repeat the Big Lie ad infinitum. Incite actual violence. Change the story to avoid self incrimination. And on and on.... Chaos.
Okay…I’m really spinning. You take all of the “puzzle pieces” and make them fit. You don’t even have to cut off a stupid corner to shove it in the space. Washington Post just reported that the RNC voted to condemn Cheney and Kinzinger. I surmise for being the only Repugnicans in Congress with any morality. Thank god Name We Will Not Utter’s ideas were so outrageous that the chaos patrol stopped him…at least THEN. Do they have the strength to lower the boom?
your earlier posting, in which you broke down what would have been involved in counting votes from all the necessary counties, etc. quite beautifully demonstrated that the time limit they were proposing was--cutting to the chase--impossible. "wildly optimistic" is being very, very kind, and these folks have not demonstrated any significant entitlement to kindness; at least not MINE. dealing with TFF and his entourage, whenever the impossibility of this or that ploy comes up, my first question is always something like "are they attempting to achieve this particular clusterfuck by design or are they really that fucking stupid?" the question, I have been coming to realize, is an entirely academic one. one way or another, I have also been coming to realize (and the above entry brings me closer to some sort of internal agreement on this point), the object really IS to create chaos. TFF's plan is ALWAYS to create chaos, because it's the best possible cover for some sort of planned nefarious conduct. what he (and, I suppose, THEY) don't understand about chaos is that it's CHAOTIC. when things are chaotic, one is well advised to assume that plans might well not go as planned. this is why, when big things are planned, we learn that it's good to have OTHER plans, just in case. it's in this matter of allowing for the unexpected that these idiots come into their full idiotic glory, their Platonic idiot-ness. I don't mean to understate how stupid they are on every level and at EVERY stage of "planning." I'm just noticing this particular area of particular stupidity because it so much confirms the fact (as if it needed confirming) that TFF operates very purely on the level of his pathetic, tantrum-inclined eight-year-old self. and, since he feels no reason to be anything but that, the people around him are forced to operate at that same level themselves. so yeah, a clusterfuck is inevitable. this "clusterfuck to chaos to whatever happens" path is what he knows and it's "sort of managed" to work for him (denial being a primitive defense mechanism but also a very effective one if it works for someone) in the context of a secretive private company. once upon a time, I was probably certain (I say "probably" because I had no real need to think about it until pretty recently) that this sort of casual, "transactional" approach to reality wouldn't be at all effective in the context of the huge government of a large, wealthy country that's inextricably tied to the governments of other large, wealthy countries. once upon that very same time, I was very, very naive. I think that, to some degree, we ALL were. and to that extent, I suppose we were unprepared.
so yeah, the chaos may well be the whole point and the carrot those idiot bunnies are chasing may well be the old "power and money" thing. but the possession of neither one is especially useful for very long without also possessing some sense of what to do with them.
whew.
"rotting timbers of this listing vessel" is a really EXCELLENT phrase; I'm a little envious, but it'll pass.