trump is serious!!!!!

[Scooter]

Cutting payroll taxes also happens to coincidentally (NOT!!!) save his businesses millions of dollars.

[Econoline]

And of course it also damages Social Security, a perennial long-term Republican goal...but even most Republicans realized that this is not a good time to do that quite so blatantly.

[Big RR]

Of course this is a dangerous course; screwing with social security or medicare could well result in him losing a good portion of his base, the seniors who cheer him at rallies and enjoy medicare while insisting the government has no business in health care. Republicans might want to privatize social security, but those who are on it do not want to see it go away or have its benefits reduced. and seniors, as a group, do tend to vote.

[MGMcAnick]

If you want to think that you have the right to contest the election because not all of YOUR voters had their votes counted, gut the post office. Appoint a big contributor to your campaign to be the postmaster general. It doesn't matter that he has no experience with the USPS. He'll do your bidding. He'll slow the mail down, cancel overtime, mess things up as much as possible.

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. President Drumpf on the other hand...

https://www.reddit.com/r/lastweektonigh ... anagement/

[Bicycle Bill]

The first Postmaster General of the United States was Benjamin Franklin.  He must be spinning in his grave like a turbine to see what has become of the department he once headed.

-"BB"-

[Bicycle Bill]

-"BB"-

[Econoline]

His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.

Sound familiar? The above is a direct, verbatim quote from page 51 of A Psychological Analysis of Adolph Hitler: His Life and Legend, a classified document produced in 1943 for the U.S. Office of Strategic Services by a psychiatrist named Dr. Walter C. Langer.

(When the report was finally declassified in 1973, Dr. Langer said, “I may be naive in diplomatic matters, but I like to believe that if such a study of Hitler had been made years earlier, under less tension, and with more opportunity to gather first‐hand information, there might not have been a Munich; a similar study of Stalin might have produced different Yalta; one of Castro might have prevented the Cuban situation, and one Of President Diem might have avoided our deep involvement in Vietnam.”)

[Burning Petard]

Time to be very afraid.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... hold-clue/

reason to believe the pools are getting wrong again. The polls all have Biden ahead of Trump by 'n' points. Rarely do they convert this to electoral vote predictions.

snailgate.

[Big RR]

I may be naive in diplomatic matters, but I like to believe that if such a study of Hitler had been made years earlier, under less tension, and with more opportunity to gather first‐hand information, there might not have been a Munich; a similar study of Stalin might have produced different Yalta; one of Castro might have prevented the Cuban situation, and one Of President Diem might have avoided our deep involvement in Vietnam

Not sure how he reaches this conclusion; we have had many narcissistic dictators throughout the world since Hitler (including the ones he mentioned), some bad, some more benevolent, and will continue to have them. Knowing their methods doesn't make a bit of difference; it's a lot easier to permit a dictator to take over rather than make your own decisions; freedom is lost not at the point of a gun, but with cheering crowds.

[Bicycle Bill]

Today, the president closed the nation's last remaining submarine base at Groton, Connecticut.  When asked why he had made the startling decision the president responded, "Those funny little black ships just keep sinking anyway."

I stumbled across this quote earlier today.  Don't worry; it's not real — it's actually a line from a cult classic, "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" (and don't ask what I was looking for when I came across this .... I ain't sayin' !)

But when you consider that the current Chief Doofus has already said things like "If we stop testing for the coronavirus we wouldn't have so many cases of the disease" or "If the Post Office doesn't get the funds it needs to deliver mail-in ballots we won't be able to have mail-in voting", it sure sounds like just another absurd proclamation from our wanna-be emperor.

-"BB"-

[BoSoxGal]

I had a sleep apnea retest last week and while the tech was attaching all those leads and wires to me, we chatted about the peculiarity in the human condition that draws some significant portion of the people toward this type of enigmatic dictatorial type leader who pushes all their fear and anger buttons and compels them, even many otherwise intelligent people, even in the face of clear evidence of nonsensical thinking. Definitely a frailty in the human condition that continues repeatedly throughout history to put our species at great risk for self-annihilation. Neurobiology is finding all kinds of evidence that some of us have overactive amygdalae - but if we ever isolated the issue, would any of them take a supplement to ‘fix’ it? They like their toxic world; they thrive on the toxicity.

I am trying SO hard to keep my head above water and believe this will all be on the road to repair in just a few more months, if I can just keep my fingers from letting go of the cliff edge before then. But part of me is just fucking terrified of what happens if he manages to steal the election - I think we will see the Trump he warned us all about a long time ago when he admitted in a TV interview that he obsessed over revenge whenever he’d felt let down or betrayed by a business associate. The wrath of a second Trump term will be horrific, as he will clearly never start feeling empathy and will likely take deep pleasure in wounding the liberal cities and states just as he is currently celebrating and promoting the decline of NYC.

Anyway, here’s a gem:

[Econoline]

[Econoline]

[ex-khobar Andy]

Snopes says not so fast; it's not company policy. However it is government policy that MAGA is a political slogan - preferential to one party - while BLM is not. So a fed employee with a MAGA hat is violating the Hatch act while a BLM hat is not. Trump's own Office of Special Counsel says so.

Nonetheless, I'll buy Japanese tires from now on. I don't want to upset Trumplestitlkskin. Yokohamas have never let me down.

[Econoline]

[Joe Guy]

It would be fun to see Goodyear suddenly have a large increase in tire sales.

[ex-khobar Andy]

From the Office of Special Counsel site: (my emphasis in red)

OSC Issues Updated Hatch Act Guidance for Federal Employees After President Trump Becomes Candidate for Reelection
3/5/2018
HATCH ACT
​​The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) today issued updated Hatch Act guidance​ for federal employees now that President Trump has officially announced his candidacy for reelection in 2020.

The guidance reminds federal employees that the Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activity while on duty or in a federal room or building. For purposes of the Hatch Act, political activity is defined as activity directed at the success or failure of a political party, partisan political group, or candidate for partisan political office.

The guidance states that “the prohibition is broad and encompasses more than displays or communications (including in-person and via email or social media) that expressly advocate for or against President Trump’s reelection. For example, while on duty or in the workplace, employees may not: wear, display, or distribute items with the slogan ‘Make America Great Again’ or any other materials from President Trump’s 2016 or 2020 campaigns; use hashtags such as #MAGA or #ResistTrump in social media posts or other forums; or display non-official pictures of President Trump.”

For specific questions concerning social media and how it applies to communications about candidates for partisan political office, including the President, the guidance refers to OSC’s recently issued social media guidance under the Hatch Act, which can be found here.

The guidance also states that OSC is available to answer any questions on Hatch Act compliance. In addition to offering broad guidance, OSC issues numerous written and verbal advisory opinions on specific Hatch Act questions. Past written advisory opinions are available here​. FAQs on the Hatch Act are available here.

Penalties for Hatch Act violations range from reprimand or suspension to removal and debarment from federal employment and may include a civil fine.

Some of the OSC 'clarifications' on this subject return a 404 error. I'm curious how long this page will survive. Of course the Hatch Act does not apply to Goodyear employees but I think that following federal guidance is a good defense.

[BoSoxGal]

Lots of workplaces have prohibitions against any kind of electioneering including attire; it’s just good workplace policy.

[Big RR]

Abdolutely; indeed, many places I have worked ban any sort of political identftication regardless of whether they are issue or candidate based; it is applied even handedly so one may not wear a BLM or confederate flag hat, e.g. when I was on a committee handling these sort of issues a number of years ago we did exempt the lapel ribbons so long as they did not include any written message that would make the meaning clear.

[ex-khobar Andy]

I recall KellyAnne was 'counseled' by the WH for endorsing Ivanka's clothing line; and of course Ivanka and Trump 45 took some ehtical heat for endorsing Goya products. I think this is the same thing, where he is dissing a specific product.

We need a referee.