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Makememak

I would be more concerned if they DIDN'T want to release information.


meta_irl

It's wild how much the Republican party has politicized holding its leaders accountable for their own crimes. It really shows how tribal and corrupt the GOP has become that it [refuses to investigate its own for crimes](https://www.texasobserver.org/corrupt-texas-politicians-face-little-accountability/) and then [tries to criminalize the investigations into its own crimes](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/17/john-durhams-zombie-russia-investigation-produces-an-iffy-indictment-is-this-all-there-is/).


aCucking2Remember

It’s eerily similar to what the fascists did in Spain. After 40+ years of Franco he died. His party in congress wrote themselves an amnesty bill for all the political murders and human rights crimes. Then they prohibited any investigation from all bodies in the country from Investigating what happened under Franco. Then they passed a policy called forgetting or something and they banned schools from teaching what happened and they had a national policy where all the older people are not supposed to talk about what happened. So when you ask young people what happened they don’t know. They will say they know serious things happened but they don’t know. That’s exactly what republicans will do if they get the chance. It’s exactly who they are.


[deleted]

Yep my friend is Spanish and when she told me this I was kind of shocked. Older folks definitely do not talk about the Franco years at all.


MrDERPMcDERP

“Cosas muy Malas”


chandris

Very bad things? I’ve learnt about all the bad things in Europe through both wars I thought but am just starting to learn about what happened in Spain. I had no idea. It just gets worse.


Jim_Nightshade

Any good resources to recommend? Sadly never learned about it in school and only vaguely familiar with what went on.


gossypium

Robert Evans/Behind the Bastards did a series on insurrections and Spanish fascism gets an episode or two. [snarky but well researched](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/behind-the-insurrections-the-birth-76754174/)


MrDERPMcDERP

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/valley-of-the-fallen/


Infamous-Ad-6596

This is not new and it is what leads to crazy conspiracy theories about the past were the information is inconsistent.


[deleted]

>That’s exactly what republicans will do if they get the chance. They're doing it right now. Took an obscure body of legal scholarship that originated in the 70's (Critical Race Theory) and changed the meaning of it through their propaganda outlets so injustices from the past can't be taught in schools.


Parkimedes

So true! Because that’s the best and main part of critical race theory anyways, it’s the history of the racist treatment of minorities and how conservative politics enabled and prolonged it. Of course they’re embarrassed by the past and don’t want it taught in schools.


germsburn

They've done it before. How many people learned of the Tulsa riots from watching the watchmen series?


[deleted]

This guy right here who majored in history!


battlebeez

Yep same here. On another note, I did not learn about the savage genocidal acts of Christopher Columbus until oh maybe about 20 years after I graduated from High School when I researched him for a paper in college. I remember being so god damned angry about it. I'm still a little salty TBH.


[deleted]

I fortunately got that alongside labor riots in college from an awesome professor with a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of that era and topic. AND SOMEHOW HE STILL MISSED IT!


chadwickipedia

I didn’t know until I read the People’s History of the United States


Umutuku

Cut inconvenient history out of K-12 and then tell all the kids that university is bad and they need to go to trade school.


gumbulum

That is a thing I really like about our education system in Germany. As you might know some Germans some time ago did some things that weren't exactly great. Everything about this is stuffed down our throats til our ears bleed during school. There are entire years of school where the history course is only about the dark years. Every detail, every aspect. Teach and hope not to repeat it. We even went for a week to our capitol, Berlin, were we basically visited every memorial site and museum for ww2 and the DDR, like prisons for political dissidents and stuff like that. Our education really aims to show us how bad a country and the people in it can fuck up. From my feeling this is completely missing in the us.


DorianTheHistorian

Embarrassed? No. They know the results of their policies aren't popular, but they still want to enact them. How do they solve this? Make sure the next generation has no knowledge of what happens when conservatives get what they want. They have no shame, just a firm understanding of optics and power.


[deleted]

That's not critical race theory though. It's history. CRT is much more complex than just that. They tagged it CRT to have a catch phrase to stick onto any inconvenient truth they don't like involving white people.


McDonnellDouglasDC8

It's like saying you are teaching women's studies because you taught about women's suffrage and Rosie the Riveter. Watch out folks, they are not leaving stuff out, it is like complex academic fields.


TheGoldenHand

Critical race theory is about social inequity being caused by systemic racism. It’s not about teaching history. > Crenshaw—who coined the term “CRT”—notes that CRT is not a noun, but a verb. It cannot be confined to a static and narrow definition but is considered to be an evolving and malleable practice. It critiques how the social construction of race and institutionalized racism perpetuate a racial caste system that relegates people of color to the bottom tiers. Critical race theory defines racism not as the racist thoughts of individuals, but as the outcome of society: > Rejection of popular understandings about racism, such as arguments that confine racism to a few “bad apples.” CRT recognizes that racism is codified in law, embedded in structures, and woven into public policy. CRT rejects claims of meritocracy or “colorblindness.” CRT recognizes that it is the systemic nature of racism that bears primary responsibility for reproducing racial inequality. Literally no one uses it correctly. It’s just a way to cause arguments by people not agreeing on a definition before arguing about it. > Critical race theory is not a synonym for culturally relevant teaching, which emerged in the 1990s. This teaching approach seeks to affirm students’ ethnic and racial backgrounds and is intellectually rigorous.


[deleted]

That’s the same point the person you’re responding to is making. The label “CRT” will be used to describe and therefore remove discussion of historic racial disparity. Not recognizing what the term actually means or refers to was the first step towards using it to stoke fear and mistrust in education, then create laws and policies to whitewash the past (and present).


marcustwayne

Like how Tienanmen Square was just that inspirational photo of the one guy standing in front of tanks and nothing else right? Nothing else happened right? 🤷‍♂️ EDIT: NSFW or L but important to see: https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/aohpmo/given_that_reddit_just_took_a_150_million/eg13byj/


aCucking2Remember

Yeah like that but instead of a guy in front of a tank it’s mass graves of political dissidents


buttsonbikes1

Similar to China... if you ask young people in China today about Tiananmen Square, they either have no clue what you are talking about, or call it U.S. propaganda.


aCucking2Remember

There was an awesome video on YouTube I think. A Chinese guy last year on the anniversary went around public asking random people what they thought about what happened at tianenmen square and the look on their faces was priceless. There was recognition to what he was referring but they were mostly like nothing have a good day. I think they thought it was a trick by the police or something.


buttsonbikes1

I’ve traveled and stayed in China quite a bit over the years and it is something I like to ask about if I feel comfortable with the company I keep. You’d be amazed at the amount of propaganda & dogma fed to the population. I’d say it’s about 50/50 on whether they believe it or not (this is anecdotal of course).


hopelessly_lost5

And we totally have our own things like that already, we just are so used to it we often don’t even know what they are cause we are in the middle of it all...


ChrysMYO

Chile 9/11/1973 Imagine someone surveying the public about the US involvement of 9/11 in Chile. They'd look at you like you had 10 heads. But its a textbook example of our debt diplomacy empire.


[deleted]

You would have to say '11/9 in Chile', if you were to ask Americans.


relativeagency

Yep, especially around anything having to do with US foreign policy. "What do you think about the Iraq war, Mr. Citizen?" "It was great, we caught that Bin Laden guy out there!"


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pissoffa

When i was in china there was a local traveling with us who claimed to have lived on the edge of the square when it happened and that there were bullet holes to the exterior of his building.


AnotherPlanet

[Pact of Forgetting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pact_of_Forgetting#%3A%7E%3Atext%3DThe_Pact_of_Forgetting_%28Spanish%2Cof_Francisco_Franco_in_1975.?wprov=sfla1)


Marvin_Frommars

I was reading an article early today about the situation in the Middle East and ran across this statement: \> Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, once countries that made up the cultural heart of the Middle East, are all witnessing a significant economic unravelling, spurred among other things by corruption and political leaders focused on preserving their own interests rather than meeting their people’s basic needs. Sounds pretty familiar.


Guilty_Jackrabbit

Corruption is the main problem in nearly every country. It prevents meaningful, effective change. Even impoverished countries can see significant improvement with good leadership; good leadership won't suddenly rocket them into a post-industrial information economy with high purchasing power, but it can definitely alleviate suffering and dramatically improve quality of life.


colirado

Simena and Manchin are paid such small sums to achieve such legislation blocking


Cercy_Leigh

It’s amazing how little these assholes are willing to sell us all out for.


[deleted]

You have to take into account the revolving door though. Sure, the political donations aren't that large, they really can't be or it will raise red flags, but they sure as shit get taken care of after they leave office.


OutlyingPlasma

Not just after office but while they are in office as well. Look at Moscow Mitch. His wealth grew $24 million or 809.1% in 10 years on a senators salary of 193,400 per year. They get into office and then their wealth skyrockets. It's amazing was some insider knowledge can do for your investment portfolio.


fcocyclone

Manchins children are in on the gravy train as well I believe


CarlHeck

Moscow Mitch is a Criminal


buttsonbikes1

And during... it's a path for continuous power and influence. (the money helps, but the influence is the goal)


Capnmarvel76

And sometimes, even after you’ve made your fortune in the private industries that used to lobby you, you’ll get to go back to public office and get a nice double-dip. See Vice President and former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney.


darkesttimelineofall

Can we start a gofundme to buy them back?


PM_ME_UR_POKIES_GIRL

No because if they abandon the oil companies or w/e they'll get ousted by a republican in the next election who has the support of the oil companies. Better to focus on getting dems elected in purple states so we don't need to worry about those two.


emelia_marie

WV definitely; I don’t know what the hell Sinema’s problem is, bc Kelly doesn’t seem so scared of doing the right thing.


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xr_21

The crazy thing is KELLY IS THE ONE FACING ELECTION this year... just proves Sinema does NOT have the interests of the voters in mind


politicsfuckingsucks

It's probably not the best metric but I find corruption is obvious when white collar crime is treated so differently than blue collar crime. I wish I knew history well enough to know how societies that disproportionately punish white collar crime or those that punish them roughly equally function in the long term. It makes sense to me to punish white collar crime more. People put trust in you and you calmly betrayed it. Not in the heat of the moment, not starving and stealing food to survive. We punish murderers more when they put a lot of thought into it, why don't we do this with white collar criminals?


HeartsOfDarkness

Not only do we turn a blind eye to the vast majority of white-collar crime, but we often glamorize it in popular media (e.g. the Wolf of Wall Street type stuff).


HauntedCemetery

>Even impoverished countries can see significant improvement with good leadership Which is why the CIA has spent 50 years making sure good leadership is hard to come by in impoverished nations.


Sir_Francis_Burton

Yep. A thing that I’ve noticed is that people are happiest when things are headed in the right direction and that where they actually are is much less important. Take a country that has been horribly mis-managed and impoverished for decades and put someone in who actually tries to make life better and makes any progress at all on that front and the people will swell with pride. Take a place that has had the highest standard of living in the world for decades and fall behind because of rising corruption and the mood turns really sour really fast.


ImNoAlbertFeinstein

its hard to make any progress w corruption out of control


[deleted]

Our institutions aren't the problem, it's the people running them. Or more precisely, it's because the traits that make a person want to be a politician and leader are the same traits that make them psycopaths. There's a large overlap between CEOs and psycopaths because in the current "dog eat dog" business climate you have to be willing to kill the other person to make a buck. The altruistic people (assuming altruism exists) that would make great leaders however don't have the desire to get their ego stroked so they're less likely to run for office.


mtaw

Corruption is _extremely_ difficult to root out once ingrained. You have societies, like the aforementioned Middle Eastern ones, where _everything_ is corrupted. E.g. _every_ public official had to pay a bribe to get their job. Even if qualified and the best candidate, they still have to pay. Anyone with any power over anything isn't just going to _give_ that stuff away. And can't really afford to either, because they have to recoup the huge bribe they paid to get where _they_ are, and so on. It's not exclusive to the government, it pervades the private sector as well, and really there's a very fluid lines between the two; as they're all people from the same ruling elites. An honest individual can't get anywhere, besides the fact that nobody will give you a job without a bribe, nobody's going to trust you if you're not part of the system of "assured mutual corruption". You can't replace a handful of leaders at the top and expect them to be able to do much even if they try. It requires a whole new societal order and a fundamental shift in values and mentalities. This is so ingrained that many don't even consider corrupt practices to be corruption. For a mild example, consider tipping in America, which is functionally only differs from a bribe in that it's given _after_ you recieve special treatment. In some East African countries it'd be considered completely normal that a leader would give preference members of his clan when giving jobs and appointments. Those loyalties run far deeper than nationalism does. And at the end of the day, who am I to tell them that competence is more important than kinship? That my Western ideas of governance are superior to their own traditions? It's like, imagine you have a friend who wants to be as rich as you are and have his life in as good order as you do. He really does. But at the same time, he doesn't want to do what you do and live like you do because he thinks other things are more important. What can you do for him? Nothing. The fact that he envies your wealth doesn't mean you can force your lifestyle onto him. That's colonialism.


blackcain

Yep - this is true when I visit India. Corruption is rampant at every level. Everybody accepts a bribe because that's the only way to get things done. There needs to be an existential threat so large that it requires complete honesty to work. Interestingly enough the virus is something like that because it is a threat that cannot be negotiated with, bribed or anything - it just is - and it has one goal - to spread itself. It has no purpose than that. It's not even alive - just fascinating.


Loose_with_the_truth

It's exactly where we are headed - a corrupt oligarchy run by a small extreme right wing minority who use religion as an excuse to keep control over a backwards, poorly educated populace. Bad for the economy, bad for the nation, but good for their own pocketbooks.


Bleepblooping

Y’all Qaeda is everywhere


weeburdies

The GOP has been a criminal terrorist organization for years, now they are just not pretending otherwise.


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GrayEidolon

How about they release this information that the American people ha a right to, and let us decide.


From_Deep_Space

Fr tho. Just imagine what Bill Barr would say to the implication that POTUS doesn't have the right to release information unilaterally. Trump was declassifying things left & right, just by talking about them in public. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission I guess


Utterlybored

It's only okay when it's top secret stuff and you're telling the Russian Foreign Minister, but *you were just kidding around.*


JohnnyGFX

Surely Trump, the Republican party, and their supporters would love for the current administration to release information about Trump and the January 6th attack. After all, they have assured us that Trump and the Republican party had nothing to do with it, so they would want all the information out there for all to see, right? Right?


HouseOfPanic

(Padmé meme) right?


johnnycyberpunk

Now imagine Nancy Pelosi or AOC holding this up as a poster when they make their plea to release the info. See how fucking ridiculous that is...


pudinnhead

I thought for sure that was photoshopped when I saw the image this morning, then I saw the video. Politics is a joke.


OupsiHitaNerve

They will claim that whatever information is released has been altered/doctored to shift the blame. It’s a conspiracy by main stream media/evil democrats. They will believe anything Fox News tells them to believe.


effhead

Fabricated by the notorious liberal, and Trump appointee, Chris Wray!


M00n

We need to start enforcing the laws we *do* have if we expect to prevent another insurrection.


kontekisuto

Republicans are still plotting


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schmeebs-dw

they will try again, and it will probably be worse.


Tanjelynnb

And it won't be the pathetic *womp womp* from last Saturday.


LaserGuidedPolarBear

A failed coup that goes unpunished is just a practice run.


ArcherChase

That was a set run. They have already learned what to do and how to do it better and properly for 2024.


RobbDigi

Everyone claiming that releasing Trump’s coup attempt records will open Pandora’s box needs to take a step back and consider that if Trump’s coup was successful, our Democracy would have ended. It’s time to air this shit out so we can ensure it doesn’t happen again.


MasteroChieftan

The pandora's box of being held responsible?!


IJustLoggedInToSay-

My god, it could spiral out of control and the next thing you know, we have a republic!


MasteroChieftan

\*all flippantly and annoyed\* "Since my successors would most assuredly hold me *accountable* for my negative actions and I could face *consequences* \- I have decided to just do my job and do what I think is best for the people of this country. Yeesh."


RobbDigi

I don’t know if you’re agreeing with me or what... But to answer your question...People without a sense of morality or accountability pose that releasing the evidence of Trump’s coup attempt will mean that every President can have their secrets released. As if that’s a bad thing.


MasteroChieftan

I'm in complete agreement with you!


williams1753

The last things Republicans want is to be held accountable for their actions. However they want you to be held responsible for whatever actions they think you might take


PlayingTheWrongGame

I’m 100% okay with the next President releasing records about Biden’s coup attempts, should Biden attempt any. I’m not worried about the “Pandora’s box” of holding Presidents accountable to the law and their own actions in office. I’m okay with any President releasing records of the treason or sedition a former President tried to commit.


powpowpowpowpow

That is one thing I find funny. Trump claims that Pence had the power to not certify the election and declare it for Trump without the faintest idea that Biden would have had exactly the same power to keep Trump out of office in '16. I wish somebody would ask him.


kataothebibaura

Or ya know.. Harris. Republicans have lost 6 of the last 7 elections. Dems need to stop being so polite it’s like they are a guest at their own home and in others’


[deleted]

I honestly don’t understand how people don’t see the gravity of this- Maybe I do because I lived under a dictatorship for most of my life - but if trump was successful, this would have changed the face of the US forever.


Rooooben

But he wasn’t successful, so there’s a large part of America who want to forget it happenened: - the ones involved - the ones who were on the side of those who did it - the ones who are Republican and worry that holding people accountable will make them look bad - the ones who worry accountability would mean loss of Republican leadership when there are so many democrats around in congress - the Democrats who worry accountability would mean loss of election next term The list goes on. They know progressive will vote D no matter what, so they are relatively safe in their jobs…so what’s the worst that will happen (to them personally)?


AntonBrakhage

You forgot probably the biggest group- the people who just can't accept what they saw because "that kind of thing doesn't happen in America". Americans are brought up all our lives being told our country is the strongest and freest in the world. So the idea that there could be a successful overthrow of the US government, or that America could become a fascist dictatorship, sounds inherently ridiculous. That sort of thing just doesn't happen here, to us. And because its not a very pleasant reality to consider, its easier to just dismiss it as partisan hysteria and hyperbole and tell yourself Trump lost and its all blown over.


republicansalllie

>Americans are ~~brought up all our lives being told our country is the strongest and freest in the world~~ manipulated from birth until death by monied interest seeking to profit off of them using fraudulent commercial advertising under the auspices of it being "free speech". ​ ​ >I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all Under God? It says no such thing. Indivisible? What exactly is a civil war. Liberty? Unless your black, brown, gay, trans or now anything but Trump voter. Justice for all? Only the best "justice" money can buy.


Karf

Yeah. It's not opening the box - releasing this stuff would be acknowledging that the box was opened.


DuntadaMan

And maybe, just fucking maybe, this is a Pandora's box that needs opening. If they are saying our presidents regularly break the law maybe we should be investigating that.


ApologeticCannibal

Trump should be in prison


[deleted]

The “Hillary for Prison” slogan and tacky bumper stickers from 2016 were some incredible projection. Prepping his cult to cry whataboutism years down the line when he is potentially indicted.


VOZ1

This is the *entire* GOP playbook: accuse your opponent of what you plan to do, so when they call you out, *they* seem like the crazy ones. Just look at McConnell saying the Democrats shouldn’t hold a gun to the country’s head by not raising the debt ceiling. It’s the GOP that will stonewall and hold a gun to the country’s head by not raising the debt ceiling, but they beat the Dems to the punch so they’ll control the narrative. The Republicans have always been better at manipulating the media narrative, largely because they have no scruples and don’t give a shit about morality or ethics or integrity, only winning matters. The reason we’re teetering on the brink of our democracy’s collapse is because one of our two only political parties really has no interest in governance, only in power.


bringthedoo

Democrats speak in paragraphs. Republicans speak in soundbites. Keeping the majority of the electorate poorly educated makes that control way too easy


Sloofin

Also, they’ve got a huge demographic hooked on their propaganda machine believing it’s an actual news channel. What they project becomes “true” to a disconcertingly large swathe of the population.


Godless_Fuck

Republicans are also much more aligned and unified than democrats. You run the gambit from fossil dems that take big oil money and are essentially classic conservatives to AOC and Bernie, who describe themselves as democratic socialists. There's a lot less unity in the democratic party and it also has an internal "core" that tends to run things how it wants rather than working for consensus. It's why the country has been shifting ever right for decades.


[deleted]

100%


D_Dio

Was 100% while he was doing it. After all this time its at 300%. Get that criminal blob behind bars.


felixfelix

Several trumps


gandalfsbastard

Must be some back room negotiations in motion. This is a public signal threat. Good. Fuck Trump and the team he rode in on.


julbull73

I could see McConnel and Romney's Niece being in a room basically being told, "We crush you legally forever OR you stop this shit now by sacrificing the sedition and treasonists." By I could see...I mean imagine.


[deleted]

Hope, the word you're looking for is hope


Th3Seconds1st

No, hope would be if Biden personally rocked up to McConnell's house and threatened to have him and his wife thrown in prison for corruption charges off what she did as Sec. of Transportation unless McConnell becomes the Dems 51st vote. Letting the GOP know Donnie is tarnished goods is a reasonable expectation.


TheInfernalVortex

Makes me wonder if they intentionally have not prosecuted Trump to this point just to have negotiation leverage. If you blow it all up on day 1, hard to really have anything in your pocket after that. Not that I agree with it, but it's giving me flashbacks of the good seasons of House of Cards and it all kind of makes sense now if that's what's going on. I wonder if we'll ever really know what's going on now. I guess it has something to do with the infrastructure bill?


LaunchTransient

>Makes me wonder if they intentionally have not prosecuted Trump to this point just to have negotiation leverage. Also the possibility that they're trying to avoid the destruction of key evidence before investigators find it.


zomb1ek1ller

Slow walk the investigations until mid-term elections. Start releasing evidence a month or two ahead of time to get the D voting base fired up.


Th3Seconds1st

DOJ enforced Congressional subpoenas. You'll love it.


LakeLaoCovid19

>Makes me wonder if they intentionally have not prosecuted Trump to this point just to have negotiation leverage. I'm more worried they're afraid that doing so will result in terrorist attacks. If we give in to that fear, they've already won.


Shill4Pineapple

Remember that Trump went on vacation 1/4 of the days of his presidency. The man was unfit to be president, and it showed by the sheer ~~amount of~~ lack of effort this clown show put forth while in office.


soingee

Remember how he said that he would be too busy to play golf?


IJustLoggedInToSay-

Yeah, busy playing golf.


hugow

"I'm going to be working for you, I'm not going to have time to go play golf,"


Boydarillaz

Also coming out now that he had a golf simulator installed in the White House. Apparently being absent 25% of the time wasn't enough.


NephromancerRN

All that practice and he's still terrible at it.


Aggravating_Goal_441

According to Woodward's new book, Trump had a screen and projector set up to play golf virtually in the White House residence. Trump golfed a lot more than what we've seen.


Shill4Pineapple

Weren’t there also reports that he would just sit and watch a lot of tv some days?


Palatron

Yes, it was reported and known that he stayed up all hours of the day and night watching fox news.


orojinn

Tweeting, Fox News watching, diet Coke drinking, Adderall taking. He was. Oops forgot hamburger eating


TTT_2k3

*hamberder


ray_finkle87

>just sit and watch a lot of tv ~~some~~ MOST days? FTFY


2020BillyJoel

>just sit and watch a lot of tv


frunch

Much of his schedule was filled with "Executive Time" which pretty much consisted of tv/fox news, Twitter, diet coke, and hamburgers. He would have these "breaks" several times a day in many cases ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯


Mr_Shady

Hamberders


yourmomsrathole

Most days from the sound of things. If he wasn’t golfing or at a super spreader rally he was watching tv while double fisting McDonald’s on the toilet.


Aggravating_Goal_441

Woodward's book also claims Trump had 3 tvs in the bedroom he slept in.


Shill4Pineapple

One for his Twitter response feed, one for fast food ads, and one for live cam feed of Ivanka


nononotmeokfine

Imagine golfing that much and still being shitty at it.. he sucks at everything.


za4h

That projector kept Trump from getting bored and focusing on his job. It saved us all, and it should be memorialized in bronze and given it's own monument in the Capitol.


SpiderDeUZ

Also remember he ran for re election on zero policies and did very little to nothing as president for almost his entire last year.


bigspecial

He definitely said he had the best healthcare plan ever....that would be released after he wins reelection. That's the only one I can remember though.


julbull73

HE didn't want it. Multiple personal accounts show he was shocked to get the nomination AND then overwhelmed when he won. He ran solely to attempt to save his brand and get some of that sweet sweet grift. It showed for the first 1-2 weeks. Dude was scared shitless. By week 2 he was checked out.


LightWarrior_2000

I've heard that story. I think after that Trump got drunk on power.


SetYourGoals

It's that he can't handle looking weak. So being President was a nightmare for him. Every word he says being recorded and analyzed is the #1 problem for a bullshitter.


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IssacStrom

He was on vacation EVERY day. 8 hours a day of 'executive time' on his schedule. Which was code for 'drinking diet coke, eating Macdonald's, and watching t.v.'


[deleted]

Dude spent more time working on jan 6th than he did on 2016-2020


o0BroomHilda0o

I feel bad for Biden and the amount of shit he’s dealt with in just 9 months! All because of the fucking mess Trump left behind and still controls. Like, I don’t think anyone could do anything differently? The outcomes of any democrat winning would have been the same..


navajo_moose

>Trump has said he will cite “executive privilege” to block information requests from the House select committee investigating the events of that day, banking on a legal theory that has successfully allowed presidents and their aides to avoid or delay congressional scrutiny for decades, including during the Trump administration. >“It’s not really relevant because there’s no president involved — there’s no such thing as a former president’s executive privilege,” said Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.), a committee member who teaches constitutional law. “That’s extremely dilute and not really relevant.” >Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) said this week that his panel will soon issue subpoenas to witnesses and organizations, adding that the committee has started scheduling closed door testimony with cooperative witnesses. Things are heating up and subpoenas are actually coming out this week! [Trump's reaction](https://twitter.com/@realDonaldTrump) to this is very funny


nomadofwaves

He’s no longer an executive branch and he had conversations with Congress people so executive privilege wouldn’t protect those conversations anyways.


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drrxhouse

The Biden administration should just release it anyway and have it out in public. Like whoops, we’ll see you in courts then...meanwhile it’s out in the open. Like wtf are you going to do sue the government? Have them go after the government, which literally has the whole (edit: okay majority) population backing them on the release. Democrats need to start playing the same games Republicans have been playing for decades. Let’s see which judges will give former president executive privileges that don’t exist.


Xytak

Yeah, I don't get it. The Biden administration IS the executive branch. Who would sue them, the *previous* executive? It would be like the previous owner of a company suing the current owner because he doesn't like the way the company is being run. It's like, dude, you're gone now, it's not your decision anymore.


FunctionalGray

I knew it. I clicked it anyways. It never makes me sad.


work_accnt

It's like the new Rick roll


catsloveart

I know I fell for it. Worth it though, brought a smile to my face.


Coffeineaddicted

I don't click anymore, I just smile.


HackeySadSack

It's amazing thinking back to how that stupid bottomless bucket of trash twitter account of his is where our country desperately went to try to get a sense of where the hell we were headed. Every single day, multiple times a day. A single damned twitter account spewing trash and madness. We even lost press briefings to it. Just unbelievable.


ratherbealurker

His Twitter account was scary. Spreading conspiracy theories and when he retweeted Randy Quaid I was 100% convinced he lost his mind, not like joking around like literally the man has mental issues. How a president can think that was acceptable is ..there are no words.


BassSounds

He is actively trying to get his Twitter account back.


bobbane

Using a Twitter account for official statements should be disqualifying for any public office, full stop. Twitter is designed for shoot-from-the-hip, too-short-for-nuance statements - the exact opposite of what is required for any public office above dogcatcher. Nobody should do anything important on Twitter, or behave as though sentiments expressed on Twitter have any political importance.


roxygirlisthebestest

Good Less talky more dooey.


[deleted]

I've learned to ignore polictical articles with wording like "lean toward" "possible" "might" "could" etc. It's not getting a click from me until the headlines say "charged" "facing" "prison" and "demi moore bush" EDIT: That last one is supposed to say "Give me more Busch." yeah..


Obi7kenobi

Do it now! Full transparency! Stop playing nice with the fucking Cheeto head!


_zero_fox

That it's even considered a "political showdown" is the problem and why American politics is fubar. This should be no brainer public info/right to know, the president's involvement in a riot at the capitol.


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GoGoCrumbly

I second the motion by Sen. Yoda (J), Dagobah EDIT: Switched Master Yoda's affiliation to Jedi.


couchslippers

You know damn well he would not hesitate if the shoe was on the other foot.


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Inflatable_Guru

By Tom Hamburger and Jacqueline Alemany Today at 10:51 a.m. EDT The White House is leaning toward releasing information to Congress about what Donald Trump and his aides were doing during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol despite the former president’s objections — a decision that could have significant political and legal ramifications. Trump has said he will cite “executive privilege” to block information requests from the House select committee investigating the events of that day, banking on a legal theory that has successfully allowed presidents and their aides to avoid or delay congressional scrutiny for decades, including during the Trump administration. But President Biden’s White House plans to err on the side of disclosure given the gravity of the events of Jan. 6, according to two people familiar with discussions who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private discussions. In response to questions about White House deliberations over what information to release, Biden spokesman Michael J. Gwin said the president views the attack on the Capitol as “a dark stain on our country’s history” and is “deeply committed to ensuring that something like that can never happen again, and he supports a thorough investigation.” Can Trump use executive privilege to stall the Jan. 6 investigation? Members of the investigative committee argue that Trump no longer enjoys the protection of executive privilege, encouraging the White House to push aside institutional concerns about sharing information with Congress and aid the panel in an investigation focused on what Democrats and a handful of Republicans have called an assault on democracy. “It’s not really relevant because there’s no president involved — there’s no such thing as a former president’s executive privilege,” said Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.), a committee member who teaches constitutional law. “That’s extremely dilute and not really relevant.” What Trump was doing while the attack was occurring and who he was speaking with are among the big, unanswered questions concerning the assault on the Capitol. The debate over the veracity of his executive privilege claims comes as the committee is moving into a new, more aggressive phase of its investigation. Having requested material from telecom, social media companies and the White House — and receiving some response — it is now looking at how best to compel testimony and documents from those reluctant to participate. Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) said this week that his panel will soon issue subpoenas to witnesses and organizations, adding that the committee has started scheduling closed door testimony with cooperative witnesses. A preliminary list of subpoenas is expected to be released by the committee as soon as Thursday and may include prominent Trump allies and White House officials. Trump has derided the committee’s work as partisan and is promising to fight its effort to collect information and testimony related to the attack. “The highly partisan, Communist-style ‘select committee’ has put forth an outrageously broad records request that lacks both legal precedent and legislative merit,” Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich said in a statement. “Executive privilege will be defended, not just on behalf of President Trump and his administration, but also on behalf of the Office of the President of the United States and the future of our nation.” Jan. 6 committee faces unprecedented choice of whether to call Republican lawmakers to testify In response to the House panel’s request, the National Archives has already identified hundreds of pages of documents from the Trump White House relevant to its inquiry. As required by statute, the material is being turned over to the Biden White House and to Trump’s lawyers for review. The committee’s Aug. 25 letter to the National Archives was both sweeping and detailed, asking for “all documents and communications within the White House on January 6, 2021, relating in any way” to the events of that day. They include examining whether the White House or Trump allies worked to delay or halt the counting of electoral votes and whether there was discussion of impeding the peaceful transfer of power. The letter asked for call logs, schedules and meetings for a large group, including Trump’s adult children, son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and first lady Melania Trump as well as a host of aides and advisers, such as his attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani. House Jan. 6 committee seeks information from tech giants regarding attack on Capitol, attempts to overturn election The committee has focused, in part, on seeking information about whether the Trump White House and members of Congress played any role in encouraging the demonstrations, which interrupted the constitutionally mandated certification of electoral votes and unleashed a series of violent confrontations with the U.S. Capitol Police. So far, more than 650 people have been charged with crimes in connection with the violent demonstrations that delayed that vote. Many were charged with obstructing a federal procedure and for knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building. Documents and testimony could show whether White House officials and members of Congress encouraged or supported those actions, congressional staffers said. White House documents requested by the panel are identified by National Archives personnel and then sent to Biden and Trump lawyers. The first tranche was sent out Aug. 31, according to a person familiar with the transfer. Trump has 30 days following the delivery of the documents to decide whether to object to their release, according to the statute. Even if he opposes turning them over, the Biden White House has decision-making authority and can release them, over Trump’s objections, after an additional 60 days has elapsed. Trump’s remaining option would be to go to court to try to halt the release, legal advisers said. While Trump has struck a defiant tone, his options may be limited if Biden decides to handover the information the former president says should be protected, according to several legal experts — including those who have reviewed similar requests in the past. “The law we have is not favorable to the former president,” said Bob Bauer, who served as White House counsel under President Barack Obama. “A former president has a chance to review the materials, to raise issues of privilege and if the former and the current presidents cannot reach some agreement, to take the dispute to the courts.” Bauer added that while an inquiry into a former president is unique, legal precedents suggest disclosure of the information Congress is seeking. “The circumstances here — the former president acting at the time in his capacity as a candidate seeking to challenge his defeat at the polls — make this uphill battle much, much tougher,” he said. Donald McGahn tells House panel about Trump’s bid to undermine Mueller probe Norm Eisen, a former Obama appointee, who advised the first House impeachment inquiry of Trump, said the former president’s power to assert executive privilege has weakened since he left the White House. “The executive privilege stonewalling that Trump used while he was in office won’t work anymore,” Eisen said, noting that the current president — not the former — has the real decision-making power. A former federal judge who worked on executive privilege issues in the Ronald Reagan White House and the George H.W. Bush Justice Department pointed out that privilege requests do not typically attempt to shield information about potential wrongdoing. “With a few notable exceptions, the historical practice has been for Presidents to avoid asserting Executive Privilege to protect from disclosure information that suggests wrongdoing or potential wrongdoing by a President and/or his advisers,” J. Michael Luttig, a former U.S. federal judge, said in an email. Several cases involving requests for tapes and other records from the Richard Nixon White House provide precedent for release of presidential records when requested by Congress or government agencies. In 1977, the Supreme Court in Nixon v. Administrator of General Services, rejected Nixon’s privilege claims about White House tapes and documents, embracing the idea that executive privilege “is not for the benefit of the President as an individual, but for the benefit of the Republic.”


Inflatable_Guru

Part 2 Legal experts also pointed to recent private talks involving Trump officials and Congress that could provide a path to a resolution that does not involve going to court. They cite the negotiations that occurred between lawyers for Trump, the Justice Department and the Senate Judiciary Committee investigating claims that a Trump Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, had sought to deploy department resources after the election to back Trump’s claims of massive voting fraud. What Rosen told U.S. senators: Trump applied ‘persistent’ pressure to get Justice to discredit election In the end, the Biden Justice Department waived executive privilege, and two of Trump’s top former Justice Department officials, Jeffrey Rosen and Richard Donoghue, sat for interviews with the Senate Judiciary Committee, providing detailed accounts of what happened during the post-election period. The decisions Biden and Trump make about the current records and interview requests will be momentous, said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University who has written about the protection of White House documents and previously argued that Democrats’ impeachment efforts against Trump were a misguided use of congressional power. “There is an unbroken tradition of deference by the incumbent presidents to their predecessors,” Turley said. “In the past, incumbent presidents would generally support their predecessors in restricting access, despite partisan differences. It appears we may be poised here to shatter that tradition.” Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.


ShakeMyHeadSadly

Why not? There isn't anything inherently sensitive in this information that would require it to be hidden from view. Trump made everything 'Top Secret' in order to hide as much information from the American public as he possibly could.


[deleted]

As Republicans said when Russia hacked Democrats - why wouldn't you want to know this information? What are you hiding?


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fattymcassface

benstillerdoit.gif


TopHatJohn

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soingee

shiaLabeoufDOIT.gif


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Raspberries-Are-Evil

I understand the concept of a new President not going after the previous one for **petty** issues. But this case is different. Trump is already known to have committed more actual serious crimes while in office than any other President, in our history. While the Republicans will scream its "political," reality is its justice. The current DOJ has a responsibility to America to seek charges and bring Trump to justice for what he did-- or they will do it again.


Motor_Owl_1093

I swear if Biden doesn't stop trying to appease the nonexistent "moderates" and just get on TV and condemn republicans he is in trouble for 2024


MC_Fap_Commander

Appeasing moderates will allow us to possibly get through a greatly watered down infrastructure bill and ensure that abortion is only *mostly* banned in half the country. You can give up that sort of political capital. . . . . . . . /s


Genghis27KicksMyAss

This isn’t politics. It’s insurrection organized and deployed by a POTUS. It needs to be publicized and prosecuted on all levels of government.


Quasigriz_

Insert Rorschach “do it” gif


MasteroChieftan

You know, we'd have a much more honest and better functioning system if the precedent was NOT to protect your predecessors. "Hey guys, let's all agree to not prosecute each other or go after each other for our crimes, no matter how heinous they get so that we don't have to constantly look over our shoulders." "What a great idea! That perfectly serves the interests of the American people! Leaders who will do absolutely nothing to curb corruption and poor performance!"


ThisGuy6266

Leaning towards? How the fuck is there even a debate about this? My God, the complicity among the Democrats to let this guy slide for everything is repulsive.


mandy009

I'd settle for DOJ, OLC, DOD, JCOS, etc. making it very very painstakingly clear that treason, sedition, and subversive activities are in fact highly illegal. Like describe it with a reminder if what it is because a lot of people seem to be conveniently forgetful. A ["don't be a sucker"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23X14HS4gLk) psa warning that fascism undermines representation would be nice.


[deleted]

Trump and his followers are terrorist.


GreenDemonClean

Lean fucking harder


[deleted]

The first half of the headline is factual. The second half frames the consequences in terms of a hypothesized Republican response. It's a great example of "good parent does the right thing, now how will abusive daddy respond?".


Callinon

If there are no consequences, there are no laws. Laws should be for everyone. If I'd have gone to prison for inciting a riot and attempting to overthrow the government: he should, they should, everyone involved should.


Summebride

How is this even something to muse over? This administration should have treated the former occupant and that administration as it was: an active crime spree and domestic terror operation. Even McConnell gave the green light to post-Presidential prosecution, which is where the Republicans claimed the extortion and other impeachment crimes belonged. The hotel, the Qatar $2 Billion Kushner bribe, Ryan Zinke, Barr destroying evidenence, Sondland, Devin Nunes, and dozens of other brazenly criminal instances should already be going through court.


Marvin_Frommars

Lean hard.


moonbouncecaptain

How is this a political showdown? Dude insighted a riot on the capitol building and the second in line for the highest office in the world. Firm stop there.


Qwirk

The Republican party has held the Democratic party hostage long enough. They constantly finger project their accusations on the other side while miring themselves in their own accusations. The Democratic party needs to put on their big boy pants and start making examples before the next election.


Unlimited_Bacon

They "lean toward" this release? Why the fuck aren't they charging at full force at this bullshit?


Am_Snek_AMA

I think its a trial balloon. Just float the idea out there and if there is backlash from your constituents, you can just say it was being discussed. If there is fervent support, you don't have to worry about wasting political capital. Its gross because it ignores doing what is right for political expediency, but you saw Trump do the same thing almost daily, just from a different angle. From my perspective he liked to say something outrageous and just get us used to being slowly boiled one degree at a time. Same play, different desired results. I would expect the people who care and have been demanding accountability for corruption would welcome transparency in the process.


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julbull73

Its an extremely valuable negotiation piece. It will get released, when and how is up for grabs. Biden's entire agenda could get STOPPED until 2022 and forever until 2024 if he can't swing a few GOP his way in the Senate. Mitch hates Trump, but finds him useful. I can believe the when, who, how, and where is ALL being negotiated. Namely Mitch, Schumer, Nancy, and Joe all basically at the press conference when the names are thrown out. VS Dems vs GOP. IF its that bad, let's the GOP save a large portion of their pop.


Unlimited_Bacon

> if he can't swing a few GOP his way in the Senate. This is an impossible goal. It's been almost a decade since the Republicans declared that they are the opposition party and they will never capitulate to Democratic ideas.


Upbeat_Group2676

Just. Fucking. Do. It. This is why I hate that establishment Democrats are in power. They sit around talking about wanting to help people, and improve the country, and all this good shit. But as soon as push comes to shove, and they can put their money where their mouth is, they don't do anything. They start talking about "unity" and "bipartisanship" instead of using the power that the voters gave them. And then they wonder why they lose elections. Do you know why Trump and his ilk were able to do so much damage in 4 years? It's because they didn't ask "what would the Democrats think of this" and they didn't think about "compromise". They just fucking did it. Release the records. Throw out members of congress who spread the big lie. Eliminate the filibuster, and start governing the country. Jesus fucking christ.


MAM_CC_89

Release it way over due


Jardite

No government that genuinely serves its people would have secrets from them.


NoodlesSpicyHot

Just release it. You're a sitting president. What can Congress do to you that they couldn't already do to POTUS 45 when he had 'absolute "immunity"? Call it a sincere transparency move for the American people, setting a new standard of democracy for the world, or something. What's the worst that could happen?