US Politics

The turn definitely tabled for Mr. Lock her up.

the people who built his persona studied the evangelical playbooks

Did they though? I'm leaning more towards those who claim he just stumbled into the presidential role by sheer luck. His inner circle seems to consist of the densest idiots imaginable, not sure Ivanka, the MyPillow guy or Guliani are capable of studying anything.

Isn't anyone with a recognisable name just a marzipan ball on the Simnel cake of 'Team Trump'?
Think of the 'no names' that slowly came to light as the auditors refused to sign off the accounts prepared by Weissenberg.
Someone put enough together to convince other credulous marks to sign up for 'Trump University'.

This is conspiracy theory. The Evangelicals love him because he is, like them, a fascist. It doesn't run much deeper than that.

Yeah those folks aren’t scientists but they’re al least smart enough to realise what sticks with an audience and sell that.

More than that lot I’d suggest people like Roger stone (whose importance is likely also overstated), and crucially the TV and marketing folks who were paid specifically to turn trump into a brand that stood a political snowflake’s chance in hell.

I’m not saying they’re playing 4d chess, just that the proven strategies that work for mega churches, for example, have also been employed by trump’s campaigners and handlers post the apprentice. By many accounts his way of presenting himself had to be edited into a leader archetype for the show, so he’s definitely been coached.

It could absolutely be coincidence regarding that large constituency, but I suspect there’s a degree of calculation there, particularly factoring in their susceptibility to grift.

This is conspiracy theory.

+1 to this.

Apart from Roger Stone that you* mention, who are all these geniuses you speak of? Where do they work? How are they paid? It's easy to point towards some faceless someones in Trump's circle and suggest some opaque and nefarious plot, but in doing so you're straying into conspiracy territory. To my knowledge Stone, Manafort and Bannon did help a lot before and immediately after the 2016 election. But the more recent wave of Q anon and evangelical support seems to mostly be Trump himself throwing shit at the wall and figuring out what sticks.

*answering Leschaches, not Eejit

Points taken, thanks folks.

"Trump's WWE theory of politics"

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/03/how-wrestling-made-trump/673597/

Clarence Thomas might have been ignoring disclosure requirements and basic ethics for decades and had $milllions of holidays and travel as gifts.

https://twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1643950302847016961?t=sv2D84QTj2Sz0eZJ2LCxOg&s=19

Why could that be, huh, Clarence?

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This is being picked up by AOC and no other fucker because the SC seems to exist on an invisible code of honour, clearly established by people who had no idea what Republicans are.

lol so it turns out that Clarence Thomas’ billionaire benefactor has a major collection of nazi memorabilia, and now all these Republican chuds are like “Harlan Crow abhors tyranny, he only has a signed copy of Mein Kampf because he hates evil”. Which is highly plausible, of course.

Harlan Crow bought Clarence Thomas's mum's house from Clarence and refurbed it, which he obviously should have declared but didn't.

And this Trump attack ad on De Santis delivers in truly disturbing fashion

https://twitter.com/MAGAIncWarRoom/status/1646839424460771329?t=aNXOHSApnNeOhf4hGvFlNw&s=19

Harlan Crow bought Clarence Thomas's mum's house from Clarence and refurbed it, which he obviously should have declared but didn't.

That feels slightly dodgy

Wait till you hear the price might have been nowhere near market value.

Shocked.

Crow’s company is paying her property taxes.

There are lots of rumours about Clarence Thomas sleeping whilst court is in session.

I went to the Supreme Court in 1998 and Thomas slept through 20 minutes of the respondent's argument. It was a super boring case about whether severely disabled children are entitled to a free and public education, so you can understand why he wasn't particularly interested.

#csb

Not that I'm looking to defend Thomas, but my (no doubt limited) understanding is that by the time the oral arguments are being presented, there is no actual new information being presented - they are to clarify any questions that are raised in response to the briefs that the judges have already seen*.

* but yeah - my guess is that Thomas just leaves that all to his clerks, and does fuck all real work himself. Unless he's paid to, obvs.

that by the time the oral arguments are being presented, there is no actual new information being presented - they are to clarify any questions that are raised in response to the briefs that the judges have already seen*.

• but yeah - my guess is that Thomas just leaves that all to his clerks, and does fuck all real work himself. Unless he's paid to, obvs.
  

Yeah, that is true. Also, the founding fathers didn't intend for him to stay awake at work.

Also, the founding fathers didn't intend for him to stay awake at work.

Well, the founding fathers would have had him whipped by their overseers for falling asleep at work.

Harlan Crow bought Clarence Thomas

Didn't he just!

Jfc what a sad state of affairs the gun lobby has wrought upon the US.