What's True Pussycat? - Trump Thread #134

[Spandauer]

Non-fake, stable genius thanks to @Crucible for the new thread title.

Seniors' special today.*
They’re eating the dogs!
They’re eating the cats!
They’re eating the pets!...
So do you want fries with that cat? (*Apologies to non-MAGA seniors)

In other news, the swing states continue to be too close to call and it looks like it's going to be a nail-biting, buttock-clenching, hand-wringing 50 days to the election. (or thereabouts)
Increase your anxiety with this handy countdown 😭
https://days.to/until/election-day-in-us

Previous thread here:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5134172-its-not-over-until-the-cat-lady-sings-trump-thread-133

I think it takes a special kind of genius to make a casino go bankrupt for sure!

And regardless of the fact that Trump is a ghastly individual, he has been president and he didn't melt down the US economy. One's record is the best predictor of future action.

One of the main objectives in a 1st presidency is to be elected to a 2nd term. The whole 1st term is a quiet 'reelection campaign'. So a POTUS is more likely to go 'softly softly' with their main agenda in order to keep the votes he has and hopefully expand their voter 'base'. In the 2nd term the gloves can come off, they can't be reelected so have nothing to lose.

In a 'normal' POTUS that means pushing hard for more 'partisan' legislation or legislation that may not be universally popular. For Trump a 2nd term will mean dismantling the Constitution and using the Govt to 'punish' his enemies and exacting revenge on those he perceives have 'wronged' him. He's said that part of it 'out loud' in his many campaign 'speeches'. He also needs the Presidency to dismantle upcoming Federal prosecutions and reverse his Federal convictions. And to do what he can to stop State prosecutions using any (Federal) means possible.

Yes, the best predictor of future behaviour can be past behaviour. But not always. And I'd say Trump would be the exception that proves the rule.

Fart's behaviour has been loathsome since at least the late seventies when I first noticed him, though I understand he was a racist and a bad landlord even before then. Also a tax fraudster. I kept on hoping that each bankruptcy would be his last because nobody would lend him money any more, but he went on being able to borrow from Deutsche Bank, presumably because he had the negatives....

https://x.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1847297687357636808

Judge Tanya Chutkan has just allowed the unsealing of approx. 1900 pages of Jack Smith records in the Trump 2020 election conspiracy case. Heavy, heavy redactions.

Lots to go through. But note that the records include Mike Pence's announcement on Jan 6, 2021 that he would not overturn results

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime
He and his dad never paid their bills in the 70's
I knew people who were pushed to the edge of bankruptcy because they were owed money by him.

What beats me is that people have forgotten what a sleazebag he was then and has been ever since. Maybe they simply never knew, and only think of him as the hyped-up "self made man" (bullshit!) from the second-rate reality tv show. (In that, even his office was fake.)

Hell, he even managed to destroy the TV show! The British Apprentice is still going; the American one ended in 2017...

New Yorkers know.
They loathe him.

He is very good at spiel and relies on people shouting 'Murca' rather than thinking.

He has cashed in on the divisions set up by Newt Gingrich and Mitch McConnell

Hopefully Jack Smith has worked his magic again and it’s written in such a way it’s possible to identify all the redacted names as you read the report.

Mark Kermode has reviewed the new Trump film “The Apprentice”. Safe to say he’s not a fan of the man but gave the film (which is a sort of origin story) a good review.

I want to see this film but waiting for it to be streamed. And I ask myself, do I really need to understand how the monster of the man Trump came to be.....

But of course

https://www.wired.com/story/it-sure-looks-like-trump-watches-are-breaking-copyright-law/

My life: that etched picture makes his skull look a very funny shape, with a spike coming out of it. It's dire. If I were him I wouldn't have okayed it for use.

Hmmmm... it feels a bit harsh to say that you can't use a photo of yourself getting shot (even though that obviously isn't a good legal argument).
But on the legal side - I think you could easily argue it isn't a direct copy of the photo. Its an artists rendering (not a particular good artist but still) of a moment that happened and that the photographer captured. The image has changed though because for example the bodyguards have been removed from the image, the flag isn't there. So I would be surprised really if the copyright suite really went anywhere - its normal for the agency to push it though. But I don't think the watches are going to need to be withdrawn or anything.

He looks like Boris Johnson having a really rough day in the watch picture though. Not the finest product China has ever produced.

New thread title
The Liar, The Watch and the YouTube...

He's not actually using it as he's entered a deal where he's licensed the image as part of it with the weird sleazy company that's making the watches (they're the ones being sued).

He's certainly used the likeness for his own reasons - quite a lot in his campaign and fundraising material and not been sued by the AP. Agreed it's a pretty crap rendering, but US copyright law is pretty extensive in what you can't do, and iirc includes creating derivatives of the copyrighted image, which this would seem to fit. The AP has very good lawyers who wouldn't have filed a frivolous lawsuit. My guess is this will settle out of court with that particular watch possibly being withdrawn.

Memories of Ivanka settling out of court for not copying Aquazzura (IP is harder to prove than copyright).

Thanks @TomPinch

My favorite bit of the quoted article...
Like the just announced “First Lady” piece, an exclusive watch (100 were offered for sale, limit of three per purchase) that is also now elusive—it quickly sold out. With the tagline “Buy one to wear daily … or give one to all the women in your life,”
^^
Limit of 3 per purchase... One for each Mrs Trump? He can drop Ivana's off next time he slices his tee shot into the rough near her grave

The SOLD OUT banner is very Trump

😂

Also, I keep seeing 'get rump watches.com' when I look quickly at the url

Personally, I think this Opinion piece from the NYT Editorial Board today is spot on, but how many voters in the US will agree with me and save their democracy? (Apologies for the hyperbole, but I feel this deeply, despite not having US voting skin in the game.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/19/opinion/trump-business-economy.html?unlocked_article_code=1.TU4.phqE.UCEFnDiVwYAv&smid=url-share

@Jaichangecentfoisdenom
Agree with the article except:
"Some prominent corporate leaders — including Elon Musk, a founder of Tesla; the investors David Sacks and Bill Ackman; and the financier Stephen Schwarzman — have been supportive of Mr. Trump’s candidacy. Beyond pure cynicism, it’s nearly impossible to understand why."

It really isn't. Chaos is bad for businesses in the general sense but there is always money to be made from chaos if you position yourself right. See disaster capitalism, or the rise of the oligarchs in 90s Russia following the whole "shock therapy" in the 90s. And that worked out great. And all the Tech bros see themselves as "disrupters" (which is basically the same thing as disaster capitalism but dressed up to meet the instigators own sense of self importance).

Edited to say: Ah, he says beyond pure cyncism right. My mistake :)

Trump will be bad for the UK

Britain will face a bigger economic hit than Brexit if Donald Trump wins the United States presidential election and embarks on a trade war with China, security officials have warned

The Times has been told that security officials have privately raised concerns about the economic impact of an American trade war with China There are concerns the UK could end up as ‘collateral damage’,hit by tariffs imposed by both economic superpowers. It would also come under significant pressure to follow any US tariffs on China

A Whitehall source said: ‘There are significant concerns in the security services about the economic impact of a full-blown trade war with China. We could end up as collateral damage. It could have a huge impact on supply chains to western countries. The worry is that it will be a bigger hit to GDP than Brexit was’

Officials believe there is a ‘sliding scale’ of risk, ranging from rhetoric only through to targeted tariffs to a full attempt by both Washington and Beijing to disentangle their economies

‘All of them are bad for us but the worst case is catastrophic. The thing with Trump is that you can never tell what he will do, so we have to plan for everything,’ a government source said

https://x.com/Steven_Swinford/status/1847568736481329181

@DuncinToffee Also NATO. What pisses me of a bit is that Article 5 (the mutual defense agreement) has only ever been triggered once in its entire history, and that was when America was attacked in September 11 and Britain and other countries duly joined in with America's (in retrospect completely pointless) mission in Afghanistan. Yes, of course, the existence of the treaty itself was protection and that's partly the point of it. But that is completely negated when the fat orange twat said that not only should America not come to other allies aid but that he encourages attacks on them. I genuinely can't imagine any politician in the UK getting away with saying something like that about America/that they would encourage another attack like 9/11. Regardless of how positively people felt about America, it would be universally seen as disgraceful and the end of that persons political career. But Trump says it and half of America applauds him because of a self imagined victim mentality that "other countries are double crossing America by not paying their share". We paid in blood (547 British soldiers dead in Afghanistan) you pricks. Again, the ONLY time And there is a discussion to be had about NATO spending commitments. But not openly boasting about betraying your allies to Russia.

I do find it hard to be objective about this because I saw the impact losing a loved one in Afghanistan had on a family I knew. But I guess that pales into insignificance in comparison to Trump's need to look like a tough guy. Rant over.

Because he really is every bit as bad, ridiculous, and dangerous as they say. There's never a lack of outrageously nasty and buffoonish lies from the man and his equally ridiculous admitted-liar partner.

I live in the US and I dread the election and it's aftermath. Either way, it won't be pretty.

The man is his own walking late show comedy. Or would be if it wasn't so tragic he's still here.

I'm with you on dreading the election and aftermath.

https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1847766955299569961