Who will be next to speak out about Trump?

[msquared]

Just proves how deep the deep state goes. They will stop at nothing to get someone to bad mouth Trump. Also what do they know about science? <sarcasm>

[TheDeamon]

"They brief him. They tell him the facts. They're telling him the truth. They're telling him things that need to be done," Troye said in an interview with NPR's Ari Shapiro. "And it is a very frustrating environment to work in, when you know that the message that is going to be relayed is counter to what you just told him."

Troye, who worked for Vice President Mike Pence for two years as a special adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism issues, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention often faced two challenges: coping with a massive coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., and navigating political interference as the agency sought to protect the American people.
...
Troye describes herself as a lifelong Republican, but she says she will vote for Democratic candidate Joe Biden this fall, citing what she calls a critical moment in U.S. history.

"I think it's country over party right now for me, and what I've seen in the past two years of my tenure in the White House has been upsetting," she says. "I think that we need to get to a point where we steer our country back to a sense of normalcy, a sense of who we have been in the past."

Trump, she said, "will not lead us in that direction."

How many people leaving his administration saying he isn't fit for office does it take to convince people that he isn't fit for office.

How many times can it also be described as a difference in opinion on which things to prioritize?

Saving lives from covid, or saving lives from economic disruption as a consequence of huge segments of the economy being shutdown?

The Health Officials concerned about Covid are only part of the equation.

[DonaldD]

Not sure how this was missed - maybe there is just such an avalanche of former Trump administration officials, Republican Governors, party heads, and Congress people speaking against Trump now that it is impossible to keep track of them all:  Tom Ridge, former PA governor and first Secretary of DHS endorses Biden; 'time to put country over party'.

Erie native Tom Ridge, a former Republican governor of Pennsylvania and first U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, plans to vote for Trump's Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, he announced on social media Sunday morning.

This also will be the first time Ridge has ever voted Democratic in a U.S. presidential election, he told The Philadelphia Inquirer in an opinion column.

"It's time to put country over party. It's time to dismiss Donald Trump," he posted on Twitter.

There has never been another president running for re-election where so many of his own party, and even his own hires, are telling the country not to vote for the leader of their own party.  At some point, it should become impossible to disbelieve all of them.

[cherrypoptart]

Well the Taliban just spoke out about Trump and he got their ringing endorsement.

https://www.jpost.com/us-elections/the-taliban-officially-endorse-trumps-reelection-bid-645292

I wonder what Biden's plan on Afghanistan is. It seems like at least back in the day he and Trump agreed on more than they didn't.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/us/politics/trump-joe-biden-afghanistan.html

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-biden-afghanistan-policy-090007515.html

To judge from his campaign website, Biden’s approach to Afghanistan has changed little since he argued for the CT-lite option in 2009. “Biden will end the forever wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East, which have cost us untold blood and treasure,” reads the brief reference to Afghanistan on the website. “As he has long argued, Biden will bring the vast majority of our troops home from Afghanistan and narrowly focus our mission on Al-Qaeda and ISIS.”

Trump says much the same thing. “We are ending the era of endless wars,” he told cadets graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in June. “It is not the duty of U.S. troops to solve ancient conflicts in faraway lands that many people have never even heard of.”

It's nice when people can agree on something.

[Wayward Son]

And now Nature magazine speaks out about how Trump has damaged science in our nation. 

[DonaldD]

Republican Senator Ben Sasse:

"I don’t think the way he has led through COVID has been reasonable, or responsible, or right.”
...
“The way [Trump] kisses dictators’ butts.  I mean, the way he ignores that the Uyghurs are in literal concentration camps in Xinjiang right now.  He hasn’t lifted a finger on behalf of the Hong Kongers;
...
It isn’t just that he fails to lead our allies, it’s that the United States now regularly sells out our allies under his leadership.”

“The way he treats women and spends like a drunken sailor”
...
“He mocks evangelicals behind closed doors. His family treats the presidency like a business opportunity."

“He’s flirted with White supremacists.”

Ouch... but tell us what you really think, Senator Sasse…

It certainly sounds like Sasse believes that Trump has become a liability to his electoral chances... could the Republicans' fear of Trump be waning?

[DonaldD]

To follow up on that: McConnell is denying Trump a win on relief funds prior to the election.  Sasse is suddenly pretending that deficits matter, where they haven't for the past 4 years.

It certainly sounds like the Republicans have accepted they are going to lose the presidency at least, and are now retrenching to starve the Democrats of funding for their priorities.  Don't be surprised if suddenly more and more Republicans rediscover their fiscal austerity bona fides.

[DonaldD]

You're the president of the United States - you're not somebody's crazy uncle

Well, technically...

[Wayward Son]

Let's not forget 1000 former CDC officials and Rudy Giuliani's daughter Caroline.

[wmLambert]

What is said here is typical of the defeated MSM and their apologists. I like how Ted Cruz responded to Chris Cuomo's incessant non-interview insults. He said the Left was mad because Trump had broken them.

...Cuomo, whose older brother is New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, told Cruz that it “troubles” him to “watch guys like you stand by and stroke your beard like a wise man instead of telling the president to get on it” about the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 207,000 people in the U.S.

“Chris, how about tell your brother to get on it?” Cruz, 49, replied, referring to how Gov. Cuomo handled the virus in New York state, where more than 32,000 people have died.

Cruz also referenced the governor's controversial decision to allow some coronavirus patients to return to nursing homes, though he has insisted “there were no preventable deaths.”

“My brother will stand for his own record,” Chris, 50, shot back during Wednesday's segment. “Why don’t you talk to the president the way you talk to my brother, Ted? You afraid of him? You think he’ll smack you down at home?”

“Oh yeah, I’m terrified of the Cuomos. You guys are really tough,” Cruz said, shaking his hands in the air, apparently misunderstanding the retort.

“Not the Cuomos, I’m talking about the president,” Chris said, before bringing up how Donald Trump, 74, repeatedly insulted Cruz's family during the 2016 presidential campaign when both men were vying for the Republican nomination.

“I’m talking about the president — the one who called you a liar, the one who said your wife was ugly,” Chris told Cruz. “That guy.”

"You want to insult me. You're perfectly fine to scream and yell," Cruz said later before Chris cut him off: "Oh, but you don't?"

"I'm not yelling at you," Chris had said. "I'm raising my voice to match your own, because you want to play games and people are dying."

"You don't want to discuss the substance," Cruz said.

Go to Comcast TV and push the blue button, and say: "Rudy Giuliani's Common Sense on YouTube episode 78"

There is no Russian smear campaign against Biden, It is all documented and the Piper will get paid on this one. He is refusing to give an answer, and it will cost him. The Post released a news story and Social Media is blocking it. Interesting?
 

[Wayward Son]

Yeah, Chris was being unfair to Ted.  What did he expect?  The entire Republican party kowtows to Trump.  The entire party won't say a bad word about him, because they know he'll attack him and turn a mob against him.  Just look that this shameful display, where his followers chant "LOCK HER UP" about Governor Whitman, a woman who the Trump's own FBI says was threatened with kidnapping or worse for trying to save people's lives?  Have you ever seen a more shameful display in your life?

The entire Republican party has handed over their values, their morals, their entire ideology to his adulterer, liar, con-man and braggart.  Why would Chris expect Ted to have any more integrity than ever single Republican voter in this nation?

It certainly wasn't fair.

[TheDeamon]

You do realize that Governor Whitman in Michigan has gone full-on Andrew Jackson at this stage? "The Court has had it's ruling, now they can try to enforce it."

I know Jackson was a Democrat and all, but he isn't exactly one most people want to see get emulated.

[DonaldD]

Speaking of Whitmer...

You know, it's incredibly disturbing that the President of the United States, 10 days after a plot to kidnap, put me on trial and execute me, 10 days after that was uncovered, the President is at it again and inspiring and incentivizing and inciting this kind of domestic terrorism.

[wmLambert]

Yeah, Chris was being unfair to Ted.  What did he expect?  The entire Republican party kowtows to Trump.  The entire party won't say a bad word about him, because they know he'll attack him and turn a mob against him.  Just look that this shameful display, where his followers chant "LOCK HER UP" about Governor Whitman, a woman who the Trump's own FBI says was threatened with kidnapping or worse for trying to save people's lives?  Have you ever seen a more shameful display in your life?

The entire Republican party has handed over their values, their morals, their entire ideology to his adulterer, liar, con-man and braggart.  Why would Chris expect Ted to have any more integrity than ever single Republican voter in this nation?

It certainly wasn't fair.

The Republican Party does not kow tow to Trump. That would be the Democrat Party that kow tows to Pelosi and Biden. Since Trump is a good, decent man that the Left has tried unsuccessfully to defame for four years, their values, morals, ideology, and integrity are in the propwer place, gthank you.

As for Whitmer, she lost the court case that said she illegally acted the Gestapo to close down Michigan the way she did. She violated the law, hence the "Lock her up!" chant. Hillary started that meme, you know, when she committed felony after felony, and the Obama Justice Department looked the other way to let her skate. Now, every time the Left commits a crime, we expect them to somehow be allowed to get away with it. We expect the same thing with Biden over the Hunter laptop. Which side are you on?

[wmLambert]

As for Fauci, he is right that he is not allowed total MSM access. All members of Trump's advisors and staff clear when they are speaking so as not to conflict when Trump is speaking. That is just good business practice and good common sense. Fauci has appeared everywhere and almost at anytime with no censorship. I don't think his appearances have been minimized. He is still primarily a Hillary supporter.

[TheDrake]

You do realize that Governor Whitman in Michigan has gone full-on Andrew Jackson at this stage? "The Court has had it's ruling, now they can try to enforce it."

I know Jackson was a Democrat and all, but he isn't exactly one most people want to see get emulated.

That's not the exact quote. Quotation marks matter. It also isn't terribly clear that the quote is from Jackson and not Whitmer (which is also not Whitman, which is a former Governor of New Jersey.

As for the situation, the health department under an entirely different authority than an executive order which was the matter before the court. The statute involved in the ruling won't apply to the new rules. It may quite likely face its own entirely different legal challenges. That is quite a different situation from Jackson and Georgia's decision to ignore the court ruling.

“The department is acting under a different law, enacted in response to the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 and meant to deal with exactly the circumstance we are facing. We are acting under a specific authority granted by the Michigan Legislature to save lives in this very circumstance of a pandemic,” Gordon said.

[Wayward Son]

The Republican Party does not kow tow to Trump.

Really?  Why don't you quote the Republican Party platform for this year?  Come on, it won't take long.  I can summarize it in one line: "Whatever Trump wants it to be." 

Isn't it amazing that the party that 25% of Americans belong to is in 100% in agreement with Trump on...everything! They don't even need to spell out what they believe anymore.  It's just Trump.  Republicans believe in Trump!  If you don't believe in Trump, you're not a Republican.  If Trump doesn't believe in white supremacy, then Republicans don't believe in it either.  If he does, then Republicans do, too.  If Trump doesn't believe the deficit is growing too large, neither does the Republican Party.  If he does believe it is, then Republicans do, too!  The Republican Party believes in evolution, just like Trump does.  It believes in supporting our troops like Trump does.  It believes in cutting Social Security and eliminating protection for pre-existing conditions just like Trump does.  Caging children and separating them from their parents is part of the Republican platform.  Protecting the environment is exactly what Trump wants.  And their plan for replacing the ACA is exactly Trump's plan! 

Tell me, Lambert, how does a party, whose members are the more intelligent then most Americans, who are more independent than most Americans, who are the more independent thinkers of the country, how does that party end up being in total lockstep with a man who can't even think of any white supremacist organizations off the top of his head after living in this country his entire life?  A man who can't remember knowing a woman he slept with and paid $130,000 to keep quiet about it?  A man who had a private investigator find proof that Obama wasn't an American citizen and then suddenly discovered he was wrong?  A man who passes on idiotic conspiracy theories?  How did this man epitomize the Republican Party?

Now tell me again how the Republican Party isn't kowtowing to Trump, unlike those horrible Democrats who kowtow to Biden. 

Now, every time the Left commits a crime, we expect them to somehow be allowed to get away with it. We expect the same thing with Biden over the Hunter laptop.

I'm on the side of truth and justice.  And from what I've seen so far, "Hunter's laptop" is another Conservative lie.  Apparently, it isn't ever a good forgery.  This is just another  faux scandal like Obama's birth certificate or the whole Benghazi B.S.  (Four years Republicans have been in control--two years in total control of the Presidency and Congress.  And in all that time they never got around to charging Hillary with any of those horrible felonies.  Why is that?  Is it because Republicans are impotent clowns who can't punish criminals?  Is it because they are so stupid that they don't know how to charge criminal with crimes?  Or is it because they never had enough evidence to actually charge anyone with anything, and they just like repeating an obvious lie that Hillary, et al, are all criminals?)(I vote for the last explanation. )

This I can say, though.  The Left has a better chance of being charged and convicted of crimes under a Democratic Administration than under your Republican clowns.    After all, at least Democrats have been trying to charge people for crimes! 

[wmLambert]

On election day, you don't want to be caught sitting on your glutens.  The saying goes that this election is the most important one of your lifetime, and as is always the case, it's true.

Democrats had the chance to put forward a progressive candidate with integrity, they blew it. Maybe four more years of Trump will be what they need to get it together.

Perhaps it is not Biden who is in play, but Pelosi. Get rid of the Democrat majority in the House, with a pro-Trump leader (unlike Ryan) and Trump may create a successful nation that the Democrats can never overthrow.

[TheDeamon]

The Corporate GOP was the biggest thing holding the Republican party back from doing anything previously, now it's Trump's mouth. But if they're given a chance, I have no doubt the Corporatists will find ways to screw things up further, considering they're still in Washington for the most part.

[DonaldD]

Retired Navy Adm. William McRaven, the former head of US Special Operations Command who oversaw both the successful raid that killed Osama bin Laden and the capture of Saddam Hussein:

Obviously, you know, as a senior retired military officer, these are challenging times, and there’s a little bit of an unwritten rule that senior officers don’t come out and endorse a candidate.  However, I felt that the direction of the country was heading in such a bad direction that we needed new leadership and that Joe Biden will be a much, much better leader than Donald Trump.

The one thing I know about leadership, Jake, is that if you are going to lead in challenging times, you have to build alliances; you have to build coalitions; you have to have friends and allies. And we’ve got a lot of challenges ahead of us: we’ve got a rising China; we’ve got an aggressive Russia; we’ve got North Korea with ICBMs that may be nuclear-tipped soon. And of course we’ve got the second wave of the pandemic.

You cannot confront those challenges unless you have alliances.  And this president has proven that he doesn’t want alliances domestically, and he doesn’t want alliances internationally.

[TheDeamon]

He's actually been doing a fairly decent job internationally.

As to the domestic side of things? It isn't so much that he doesn't want alliances with the Dems, it's that the Dems have been very clear they don't want to give Trump any wins to brag about unless they're able to burry it with other things in the news cycle.

[DonaldD]

Internationally... we'll just have to agree to disagree, unless the goal is to blow up international treaties with allies, reduce the country's stature, facilitate, even encourage, Iran's nuclear ambitions not to mention that complete mess he made with China and North Korea.  Let's not even start on Russia.

His only bright spot were the two recent Israel/Arab peace deals.

[TheDeamon]

Holding allies accountable to agreements they made previously is not "blowing up international treaties" that's pointing out the other side is not holding up their side of the deal.

The WHO is a quagmire, most of the UN in general is a quagmire, but its a reflection of the world we live in where most countries are hopelessly corrupt, self-serving, and barely even pretending to care about democratic systems.

[TheDrake]

You can hold allies accountable without destroying the relationships with personal attacks and belligerence. As far as I can tell, the only countries with improved relationships are Israel, Brazil, UK, and Russia.

Meanwhile, not holding Saudi Arabia accountable for killing a journalist, which seems a lot more important than how much of your GDP is being spent on defense.

Interesting to call other countries self-serving when that's the definition of Trump's foreign policy - what's in it for the US?

Also interesting to say Trump isn't blowing up international treaties, considering he's withdrawn the US from multiple treaties the US made. What about holding our side of those deals up? You can say those were bad treaties and they deserved to be blown up, but they were blown up.

[oldbrian]

Although, there is a difference between not holding to your side of the deal while staying in the agreement; and telling your partner that you want out, and won't hold to your side anymore.

[rightleft22]

Holding allies accountable to agreements they made previously is not "blowing up international treaties" that's pointing out the other side is not holding up their side of the deal.

The WHO is a quagmire, most of the UN in general is a quagmire, but its a reflection of the world we live in where most countries are hopelessly corrupt, self-serving, and barely even pretending to care about democratic systems.

John Oliver did a interesting piece on the the WHO. WHO has its problems but it also had done a lot of good work. And the US has us worked through the WHO to do some good work as well. It is unlikely that the US could have completed that work on its own (Trump claim) as many countries don't trust the US.

Its unfortunate that a nuanced relationship as it concerns WHO is overly simplified to all or nothing and that Trump needs something to blame for his own lack of leadership

[DonaldD]

It's impressive the number of editorial boards that have rarely if ever backed a candidate before, but who are now either encouraging voters to oppose Trump's re-election (I see you Science, The Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine) or have gone so far as to actually endorse Biden (Scientific American and Nature).

In that vein... The New Hampshire Union Leader, a conservative-leaning Newspaper that has not supported a Democratic presidential candidate in over 100 years, has come out and endorsed Joe Biden for President.

[DonaldD]

From the Twitter feed of the American Medical Association:

AMA @AmerMedicalAssn

Let’s be clear, physicians are not inflating the number of #COVID19 patients. spr.ly/6008G7ex0

"At a time when physicians and other health care professionals are providing care to a record number of COVID-19 patients amidst a third wave, there is misinformation about how patients are counted.  Let’s be clear physicians are not inflating the number of COVID-19 patients.  Research published in JAMA and in CDC reports indicate the US had significantly more deaths in 2020 than in previous years (excess deaths). Physicians and patients are making remarkable sacrifices and we continue urging all to wear a mask, physical distance and wash your hands to reduce suffering, illness and death."

And by "there is misinformation", what they mean is "Trump is lying to you."

[wmLambert]

Talking about "lying to you," Breitbart fact-checked the Obama rally for Biden.

President Barack Obama delivered a speech in Florida on behalf of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign on Saturday, in the course of which he stated at least nineteen false claims about President Donald Trump and his record.

1. “He doesn’t have a plan” for coronavirus. Obama cited the presidential debate on Thursday. However, the president did, in fact, specifically mention Operation Warp Speed, his plan to develop and distribute a coronavirus vaccine quickly.

2. Trump couldn’t answer Leslie Stahl of 60 Minutes when she asked, “What’s your priority in your second term?” In fact, Trump answered her: “The priority now is to get back to normal, get back to where we were, to have the economy rage and be great with jobs and everybody be happy. And that’s where we’re going and that’s where we’re heading.”

3. “He doesn’t even acknowledge that there’s a problem” (i.e. coronavirus).  This is obviously not true, and provably so. Trump even talked about coronavirus in his State of the Union address, which Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) ripped in two.

4. Trump said “if you put some bleach in you, that might clean things up.” Trump never said that. He mentioned new, experimental technologies in UV light, and also specifically said he was not talking about putting bleach inside anyone.

5. “America created 1.5 million more jobs in the last year of the Obama-Biden administration than in the first three years of the Trump-Pence administration.” Obama seems to be saying that more jobs were created in 2016 than in 2017, 2018, and 2019 combined, which is demonstrably untrue. New revisions earlier this year indicated that slightly more jobs were created in 2016 than in any particular subsequent year. However, seasonally adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that more people were employed in each of the first three years of Trump’s presidency than in Obama’s last. In addition, Trump faced a different task. It is arguably easier to add jobs in the early stages of a recovery than it is to add jobs during a recovery already eight years old. The Obama-Biden recovery was the slowest since the Second World War.

6. Black unemployment went down, but “not because Donald Trump did anything.” It is possible to credit several Trump policies with lowering black unemployment, especially immigration enforcement. A 2007 paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research noted: “immigration has more far-reaching consequences than merely depressing wages and lowering employment rates of low-skilled African-American males: its effects also appear to push some would-be workers into crime and, later, into prison.” Trump’s focus on domestic manufacturing capacity also arguably played a role.

7. “The only people truly better off than they were four years ago are the billionaires who got Trump tax cuts.” A Gallup poll recently found that 56% of registered voters said they were better off than they were four years ago, which is a record high. (That’s a lot of billionaires.) In fact, a majority of Americans received a tax cut from Trump’s 2017 tax law.

8. “He barely pays income taxes.” In fact, Trump pays tens of millions of dollars in taxes, despite losses in some years.

9. Trump has “secret Chinese bank accounts.” The Trump hotel chain used a legal bank account to pay taxes in China when it made licensing deals. It is not a personal account and the account has reportedly been inactive for five years.

10. “His first year in the White House he only paid $750 in federal income tax.” Trump paid over seven million dollars in taxes in 2017, but used a tax credit from an earlier year to pay it. Also, he donated his entire salary to the government.

11. Trump has no plan “when it comes to preexisting conditions.” The president has constantly promised to provide health insurance for people with pre-existing conditions; he issued an executive order laying out his plan in September.

12. Trump “drove up costs” under Obamacare. Actually, Obamacare premiums have been falling under Trump.

13. Trump said: “We hope the Supreme Court takes your health insurance away.” Trump never said that. He said he hoped the Supreme Court would end Obamacare (“I hope that they end it”), noting his desire to replace it with a better plan.

14. Trump is “MIA” when “Russia puts bounties on the heads of our brave soldiers in Afghanistan.” The Pentagon said that there was never “corroborating evidence” of a supposed Russian program to pay bounties for killing U.S. soldiers.

15. “Joe Biden would never call the men and women of our military suckers and losers.” Neither would Trump, because it never happened. Biden did call U.S. troops “stupid bastards,” however. (He claimed that he had been joking.)

16. Trump asked if we could “nuke hurricanes.” Even Snopes.com regards this claim as “unproven.” Obama also claimed that Trump had suggested selling Puerto Rico, which even the source for that claim says was never seriously considered.

17. Trump “cannot call out or even criticize white supremacists.” This divisive, false claim is also easily disproven.

18. Trump “threatens people with jail for just criticizing him.” This does not appear to have ever happened. Trump did threaten a reporter with prison time — after he defied instructions not to photograph a classified letter from Jim Kong-un. It was the Obama administration, that tried to prosecute journalist James Risen of the New York Times, and which jailed an obscure filmmaker after it blamed an obscure anti-Islamic YouTube video for the Benghazi terror attack in September 2012.

19. The EPA is “giving polluters free reign to dump unlimited poison into our air and water.” Demonstrably untrue. Obama delivered several other attacks on members of Trump’s Cabinet in the same vein (“declared war on workers” etc.).

[cherrypoptart]

Just watched a movie called Steel Rain 2 which had a depiction of the President that I would classify as speaking out about Trump. It wasn't entirely flattering but perhaps it was to an extent accurate if a bit hyperbolic but it was definitely amusing. Perhaps it offers some insight into how Trump is perceived by some people internationally and in South Korea.

[wmLambert]

Just watched a movie called Steel Rain 2 which had a depiction of the President that I would classify as speaking out about Trump. It wasn't entirely flattering but perhaps it was to an extent accurate if a bit hyperbolic but it was definitely amusing. Perhaps it offers some insight into how Trump is perceived by some people internationally and in South Korea.

The portrayal of the US President by some short actor didn't look or act at all like Trump. the beard and black hair were kind of a giveaway. But if you want a North Korean film to shape your knowledge base, then go right ahead.

[DonaldD]

Trump appointee Ronald Sanders resigns instead of being a party to Trump's attempts to politicize the whole federal civil service.

On its surface, the President's Executive Order purports to serve a legitimate and laudable purpose ... that is, to hold career Federal employees 'more accountable' for their performance. However, it is clear that its stated purpose notwithstanding, the Executive Order is nothing more than a smokescreen for what is clearly an attempt to require the political loyalty of those who advise the President, or failing that, to enable their removal with little if any due process.

...

[The order] seeks to make loyalty to (the President) the litmus test for many thousands of career civil servants, and that is something I cannot be part of.

[kidv]

Since Trump is a good, decent man that the Left has tried unsuccessfully to defame for four years, their values, morals, ideology, and integrity are in the propwer place, gthank you.

Mr. Lambert, if I'm not mistaken you're a functional elder in your church?  I know different branches have different adherence to biblical standards.  Does your sect view adultery as a serious transgression, or is sexual misconduct not a big deal? 

Without contradicting your support of Trump's political accomplishments, which may support your religious goals, I'm puzzled by a declaration of Trump as a good, decent man.  Most people who believe Trump's actions support their religious goals don't appear to attempt to defend Trump's personal failings as those of a righteous man.  cf. Christian Science Monitor. et. al.

[kidv]

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/december-web-only/trump-should-be-removed-from-office.html

Sorry I was thinking of Christianity Today, not Christian Science Monitor above.

[DonaldD]

Overheard at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania: "Say what you will about the Biden socially-distanced car rallies... at least his supporters have a ride home."

[DonaldD]

Yup, we read 'em all - from the Ayrshire Daily News:

South Ayrshire Golf club owner loses 2020 presidential election

Donald Trump, a South Ayrshire golf club owner has lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, after running again to be re-elected for a second presidential term.

Gotta love the Scots.

[DonaldD]

“It began, as all good 2020 capers do, with a tweet from the president of the United States. It ended with his personal lawyer in the parking lot of a landscaping company, struggling to be heard over a man in his underpants shouting about George Soros....”

[msquared]

Will Melania trade silence for money in the divorce?

[yossarian22c]

Richard Pilger, head of the DOJ's election crimes branch, stepped down from that role in protest over Barr's memo. He announced the departure to colleagues this evening:

[DonaldD]

So much winning... Trump loses another case in Federal court: Federal judge says new DACA rules are invalid

Chad Wolf was not legally serving as acting Homeland Security secretary when he signed rules limiting DACA applications and renewals, and those rules are now invalid, a federal judge ruled Saturday.

Wolf in July issued a memo saying that new applications for DACA, the Obama-era program that shields certain undocumented immigrants from deportation, would not be accepted and renewals would be limited to one year instead of two amid an ongoing review.

[DonaldD]

This seems normal...

Rep. Paul Mitchell's letter quitting the GOP, fearing 'long-term harm to our democracy' with its support for Trump's actions

It is unacceptable for political candidates to treat our election system as though we are a third- world nation and incite distrust of something so basic as the sanctity of our vote. Further, it is unacceptable for the president to attack the Supreme Court of the United States because its judges, both liberal and conservative, did not rule with his side or that "the Court failed him." It was our Founding Fathers' objective to insulate the Supreme Court from such blatant political motivations.

If Republican leaders collectively sit back and tolerate unfounded conspiracy theories and "stop the steal" rallies without speaking out for our electoral process, which the Department of Homeland Security said was "the most secure in American history," our nation will be damaged. I have spoken out clearly and forcefully in opposition to these messages. However, with the leadership of the Republican Party and our Republican Conference in the House actively participating in at least some of those efforts, I fear long-term harm to our democracy.

The stability and strength of our democracy has been an ongoing concern for me. I expressed strong concerns about the president's response to Charlottesville, the anti-immigrant "send them back" rhetoric, and even the racist comments of my own colleagues in the House.

I believe that raw political considerations, not constitutional or voting integrity concerns, motivate many in party leadership to support the "stop the steal" efforts, which is extremely disappointing to me. As elected members of Congress, we take an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States," not to preserve and protect the political interests of any individual, be it the president or anyone else, to the detriment of our cherished nation.

As a result, I am writing to advise you both that I am withdrawing from my engagement and association with the Republican Party at both the national and state level.

[DonaldD]

A bon mot from Garry Kasparov:

Garry Kasparov
_@Kasparov63

The best confirmation that Putin is responsible for this hacking attack on the United States is that Trump hasn’t said anything.

[yossarian22c]

List is pretty long post Trump inciting a riot. But here's Republican senator Ben Sasse.

Well, let's begin by laying the blame first and foremost on those who actually committed the acts of violence at the Capitol and then on the president of the United States as well, because he was the one pouring gasoline on these fires of division.
...
So Sen. Hawley was doing something that was really dumbass. And I have been clear about that in public and in private since long before he announced that he was going to do this. This was a stunt. It was a terrible, terrible idea. And you don't lie to the American people. And that's what's been going on. The American people have been lied to chiefly by Donald Trump. And lies have consequences. And those consequences are now found in five dead Americans in a Capitol building that's in shambles.
...
I think that the less the president does over the next 12 days, the better. Mike Pence fulfilled his obligations on Wednesday while blood was being shed at the people's Capitol. The president was actively rage-tweeting against his vice president because the vice president was fulfilling his oath of office to the Constitution to affirm the fact that Joe Biden won. ... We were in the Senate chamber and the Secret Service had to rush in and grab the vice president from the dais and rush him out of the room and the president of the United States was rage tweeting against him at the same time.

So, frankly, I think it's obvious that the president's conduct wasn't merely reckless and destructive. It was a flagrant dereliction of his duty to uphold and defend the Constitution. And we need to know more about why the National Guard wasn't deployed when calls were sent out for it.

[yossarian22c]

Liz Cheney speaks out:

Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing.
...
None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.

Emphasis mine.

https://www.npr.org/sections/trump-impeachment-effort-live-updates/2021/01/12/956192433/cheney-will-vote-to-impeach-there-has-never-been-a-greater-betrayal-by-a-preside

[msquared]

Ultra liberal and Never Trumper Geraldo Rivera thinks Trump should be impeached.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/fox-personality-geraldo-rivera-personal-102836210.html

[yossarian22c]

Ed Stetzer, head of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College

Part of this reckoning is: How did we get here? How were we so easily fooled by conspiracy theories? We need to make clear who we are.
...
So I think we just need to be honest. A big part of this evangelical reckoning is a lot of people sold out their beliefs.
...
I think as this presidency is ending in tatters as it is, hopefully more and more evangelicals will say, "You know, we should have seen earlier, we should have known better, we should have honored the Lord more in our actions these last four years.

https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/13/955801878/how-did-we-get-here-a-call-for-an-evangelical-reckoning-on-trump

[DonaldD]

So I think we just need to be honest. A big part of this evangelical reckoning is a lot of people sold out their beliefs.
...
I think as this presidency is ending in tatters as it is, hopefully more and more evangelicals will say, "You know, we should have seen earlier, we should have known better, we should have honored the Lord more in our actions these last four years.

I guess he could add to that "as people were literally screaming at us that we were selling out our principles, why did we so adamantly not just ignore them, but demonize them?"

[rightleft22]

So I think we just need to be honest. A big part of this evangelical reckoning is a lot of people sold out their beliefs.
...
I think as this presidency is ending in tatters as it is, hopefully more and more evangelicals will say, "You know, we should have seen earlier, we should have known better, we should have honored the Lord more in our actions these last four years.

I guess he could add to that "as people were literally screaming at us that we were selling out our principles, why did we so adamantly not just ignore them, but demonize them?"

I see no indication within the Evangelical movement towards discernment and taking a hard look at themselves. I suspect that Ed Stetzer will be out of a job soon.

[yossarian22c]

So I think we just need to be honest. A big part of this evangelical reckoning is a lot of people sold out their beliefs.
...
I think as this presidency is ending in tatters as it is, hopefully more and more evangelicals will say, "You know, we should have seen earlier, we should have known better, we should have honored the Lord more in our actions these last four years.

I guess he could add to that "as people were literally screaming at us that we were selling out our principles, why did we so adamantly not just ignore them, but demonize them?"

I see no indication within the Evangelical movement towards discernment and taking a hard look at themselves. I suspect that Ed Stetzer will be out of a job soon.

I doubt it, Wheaton isn't Liberty. They are evangelical but more mainstream conservative. The full interview stated that this isn't the first time Stetzer has been critical of Trump's character.

[msquared]

Well Trump is refusing to pay Guliani's legal fees.

https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/trump-wont-pay-rudy-giuliani-election-legal-work-032513094.html

I wonder that if Guliani gets disbarred, is there anything keeping him from telling all about Trump?