253 Comments
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Karen Hall's avatar

I’m sorry, but Kristin Welker countering Bessent with the lamest rebuttal ever — “there could’ve been asbestos, there could’ve been mold” was a travesty. Seriously?!? That’s all you could think of to say in the hundreds of statements she could’ve said? OMG. Dumbest timeline ever.

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John's avatar

She’s Exhibit A why the MSM is pathetic. It’s all kabuki theater, bullshit, complicity, lame brain go-along to get-along.

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ramona j's avatar

If you open a dictionary to useless, Welkers face should be there.

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Fraser's avatar

Yes, with a puzzled look while reading a coloring book!!

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Merry's avatar

I still miss Tim Russert!

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Robin D's avatar

Me.too. So does my sister.

I can't stand this Kristin Welker. From her first.fawning sycophantic interview.of him calling him "Mr. President" when he was a candidate, and we already had a President, Biden in the WH. What as ass kisser.

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Merry's avatar

Agree. She an amateur and she doesn’t deserve the position.

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D. B. Weatherbee's avatar

useful idiot

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Merry's avatar

Useful to the producers, I guess. But she’s doing viewers no favors.

Rachel Maddow would have sliced n diced Bessent.

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Carl Selfe's avatar

For Whom the Outrages Toll. Let us not forget the Epstein Files, first. I mean we know a pedophile when we see one dodge, duck, shuck, and jive. For some reason we need the files. I rather think we do not, and we already know what is there. The outrages toll for you as a distraction. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/too-much-two-buckets-to-sanity?r=3m1bs

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Leslie Olsen's avatar

I'm not going to click on your link - I LIKED because I'm committed to LIKE every comment I can that mentions Epstein!

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Fraser's avatar

Yup!!

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Purobi Phillips's avatar

I joined your club.

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chev_chelios's avatar

agreed....she has been awful since she took over...always lame interview questions with no follow up or push back.

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Martha Kenne's avatar

Heavy on the lack of push back.

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Marlene Lerner-Bigley (CA)'s avatar

She was an excellent reporter but as a host of what used to be an important and serious show, she has a lot to be desired.

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ramona j's avatar

So annoying as well. The whole vibe she gives off is awful. the poster child for what is wrong with MSM.

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Fraser's avatar

Exactly!

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Merry's avatar

Agree. She an insult to my intelligence!

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Robert Hart's avatar

Absolutely right! Do these people prepare? Pathetic. She has a big job and paycheck and 1000 people could sit in that chair and do better.

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Bob's avatar

To think she’s worse then Chuckles makes it more appalling.

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chev_chelios's avatar

totally agree !

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Karen Hall's avatar

My 10 year old grandson would’ve been able to handle this better, FFS.

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Merry's avatar

😂 And Rachel Maddow would have ripped him to shreds.

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Oaktown's avatar

Agree, but those 1,000 people would all be fired.

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Merry's avatar

I still miss TIM RUSSERT! Meet the Press is now a disgrace.

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Leigh Horne's avatar

Well, yeah, but my husband, an architect reacted to the horror of the demolition with the same concerns. Releasing asbestos and mold in a tear down is a major concern among responsible builders, as both of those compounds can cause serious health concerns among anyone exposed to them. In this case that would include people in the White House, the demo workers, and folks at Treasury, as well as people who live downwind. Kind of a perfect metaphor for how Trump treats us all, don't you think?

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Karen Hall's avatar

Duly noted, and I agree with the concerns to the health and safety of the people involved and in proximity. I mean, those things are “normally” factored into a tear-down. Since there was nothing normal about this demolition, all areas of concern, especially *rump’s lies about it, should be part and parcel of the horror of it.

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Leigh Horne's avatar

Again, yeah. As I'm a retired therapist, not an engineer or architect, my take homes on the demolition are two: first, it's a fast take on Trump's psychopathic total lack of compassion and empathy for anyone other than himself, and second it's an out take on how angry he was about the No Kings rallies. Like any toddler, he had to smash something belonging to the person(s) who made him werry werry mad.

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Veronica's avatar

Did you ever see the unpublished Documentary from the late 80's / 90's of how Trump demolished property where there was asbestos? (I came across it on substack) He allegedly used undocumented labor (Polish immigrants) and then didn't pay them pretending to have no idea there was asbestos. Wonder how many of them got sick. Same stuff different day ..

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Leigh Horne's avatar

It's an old, sad story, isn't it? I lived in West Virginia coal country for a couple of decades. Many people don't realize how many of the coal miners in the 19th and early 20th centuries were immigrants. And how many of them died because the rich bastards who owned and operated the mines exposed them to all sorts of toxic fumes, coal dust, and risk of tunnel collapse, including their children, who rode the mine trains from the depths to the surface, in order to sort through the diggings looking for 'clinkers' along the way. And all so the owners could get richer and fatter, battening on the blood of desperate innocents. Some things never seem to change.

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Kathy's avatar

Actually, I think that was a typo on Ron’s part attributing that quote to Welker and not Bessent. I watched the M+/video this aft with Ben and you gotta love his Bessent imitation! Welker often underwhelms but IMO she held her own…although Bessent makes it easy.

https://www.meidasplus.com/p/breaking-sunday-afternoon-news-updates?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

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Merry's avatar

If you ever watched Tim Russert on Meet the Press, “underwhelms” would be an understatement. Tim would NEVER have let Bessent dodge the question or control the narrative with a prepared BS statement. He would have crawled right up his backside. And rightfully so.

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GREGG PLAPAS's avatar

I did not view this interview but, when I read her rebuttal I was like: JFC!!!!!! That's all you got??? As for the rest of the replies here .... I agree, Welker is not, nor has been good at her job.

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Fraser's avatar

Sychophant playbook!!

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Smedley B's avatar

Agree- Welker is a terrible host of MTP. She doesn't have the chops to get in the guest's face and call them when the feed her a lame bullshit response. I prefer Margaret Brennan on FTN. At least she tries.

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The Peaceful Solution-Plan B's avatar

Spending Strike. Stop spending except on essentials. We, the People, are funding the fascist takeover of America. Please help us Spread the Word!, far, wide, and quickly, before the fascists takedown our means of communication.

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Luz M Cruz's avatar

They have already started that process this is the reason we need to support independent media. I looked into The Sunday Morning shows and the lack of respect from these administration for their constituents how they lie to us with a straight face is beyond comprehension. It really makes you sad to see this beautiful country go down the tubes at the hands of a want to be mafia boss, that’s how Trump wants to run these country.

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The Peaceful Solution-Plan B's avatar

I’m referring specifically to our communication over the internet. The regime will shut down our ability to communicate in this way when they start feeling threatened by it.

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Tigerlilley's avatar

They use it too.

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The Peaceful Solution-Plan B's avatar

It would be selective. Only platforms critical of the regime would be impacted.

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Duhrew's avatar

Martha, in case you don’t know it, I’m actually a soybean farmer, so I have felt this pain too.”… Yeah … and I went to a Bulls game so I play hoops!😂 These guys are full of malarkey and the cultist have no idea…

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Ann Marie's avatar

Full of malarkey is a kind way to put it 🤣

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Jean Muller's avatar

Agree!! Also we need to move more of our 401k out of domestic stocks and into either foreign stocks, bonds or money market. If the stock market corrects, then maybe Republicans & Trump will be blamed.

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Penny Thibeaux's avatar

I completely agree with you.

And

If we were 7 million strong last Saturday

Imagine if everyone

All at once stopped paying their taxes !!!!

And the blue states, stop funding the federal government…???

We must stop buying from these corporations that are controlling our government.

I stopped using Amazon

Stopped watching CBS, ABC, NBC

all sellout to the demented, mentally deranged orange asshole

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The Peaceful Solution-Plan B's avatar

Bring His Royal Heinous to Heel

This could be the Mother of All Spending Strikes. The government shutdown is an opportunity to hold His Royal Heinous accountable and stop his atrocities, and the fascist takeover of the country. We, the People cannot easily withhold our tax dollars from HRH, but the Dems in the Senate have that opportunity. Do not fund the government until His Royal Heinous is brought to heel.

A U.S. president cannot spend money without an appropriation from Congress, which holds the "power of the purse".

Direct spending is prohibited.

Constitutional power: The Constitution's Appropriations Clause states, "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law".

The Dems in the Senate must have a list of demands under which they would vote to keep the government running. Such as, the Congress sets tariffs, ICE only goes after violent convicted felons, no one is deported to a third party country, and so forth. And that willingness to fund the government would be on a week to week basis, to prevent HRH from going back on his commitment.

If congress refuses to authorize appropriations, HRH will not have money to operate his corrupt, inept, sadistic government. A chance for the Dems to prove they’re not the feckless cowards they’ve been up until now.

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Oaktown's avatar

Cheers for Sen. Ruben Gallego: “To really mess with him, just name it the Barack Obama Ballroom, and I think that will take care of half the problem.”

And Rep. Eric Swalwell: “Don’t even think of seeking the Democratic nomination for president unless you pledge to take a wrecking ball to the Trump Ballroom on DAY ONE. a Trump monument to corruption will not stand.”

Here's another enticing suggestion I saw from Joe Walsh on Jim Acosta's podcast: open the demolition of the ballroom to the public; let them take a whack with sledge hammers.

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ramona j's avatar

It could be re purposed. If of course he doesn't build it shitty and cheap. I'm sure if normal people gave it some thought. A art gallery, museum, learning spot for visitors. A library. You know all the smart stuff Trumpthuglicans hate.

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Oaktown's avatar

Good ideas, in which case they should follow Gallego's suggestion and name it the Barack Hussein Obama Visitor Center.

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olderwoman's avatar

i am quite certain he is going to name something after Melania.

Worst First Lady ever.

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Smedley B's avatar

She has the personality of a turnip.

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Eric Glover's avatar

I'm really surprised Trump isn't selling pieces of the East Wing on his merch site? Sort of like what happened with the Berlin Wall. Take a 1" by 1" square of stone or plaster, put it inside a hard clear plastic box along with a C of A note about it being a verified piece of White House history.

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Oaktown's avatar

No doubt he'll get to that very soon. He already sold pieces of the suit he wore when his ear got nicked (though I'm sure they were NOT from his suit).

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ramona j's avatar

We need the focus on that perfect ear on the FIRST cover of Time that he just had them redo .

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Jeri's avatar

I read all the debris was used to make mounds at a gold course.

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Jeri's avatar

I meant golf course.

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Oaktown's avatar

Hard to believe he'd pass up another opportunity to grift off his office. There must be more than enough debris to sell AND mound up his golf course. Thanks for the info; remember where you read it?

(Your typo was perfect, since that's the thing he loves the most.)

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Jeri's avatar

No, I don't remember, but a quick online search brought back many articles and videos. Here's a short 2 minute video

https://youtu.be/t3994nVhHSo?si=ROMmMZUvGtvvO6ME

Thanks for liking my typo. 😂

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Smedley B's avatar

Lol- Goodwill has plenty of cheap blue suits to cut up. The rubes, of course, got their piece and are worshipping it like it's the Shroud of Turin.

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LHS's avatar

Ewww.

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Martha Kenne's avatar

A great idea. LOVE Swallwell!

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Robert Hart's avatar

The felon and his people have gotten so arrogant with "victory disease" and that means they will make a big mistake, and soon. Maybe they have already. Destroying the WH. Dumping on the farmers that make up his base. The over the top corruption, with pictures from Air Force 1! Of Arabs. Protectors of Hamas and God knows how many other jihadists. Publicly ridiculing Little Mikey. Man up, Mr. Johnson? Or go down like Little Marco?

I think you left out some big news. Vought has prohibited DOA from funding SNAP with the Department's reserves, which are set up to fund SNAP in the event of a shutdown. By doing this latest illegality, Vought is adding to his crimes against the Constitution and humanity. He clearly doesn't care who he hurts, unless they are Democrats. And that is point: to have Democratic constituencies panic and put on the pressure to end the filibuster, and thus the shutdown without getting anything.

Everyone has to contact their Democratic legislators and tell them not to cave. Meanwhile support your neighbors and your local food pantries as best you can and as best as you can afford.

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Teach84's avatar

It’s beyond my understanding why states have not begun filing suit against Vought for illegally preventing the funding of SNAP. People are going to die.

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Richard Forester's avatar

It's the red states that are going to feel it the most.

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Eric Glover's avatar

Not sure about that? Vought is targeting Dems and Blue States coming out of the gate and everyone is hurting. I would say MAGA is getting its share, but not sure if Trump even cares about MAGA as a whole anymore?

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ramona j's avatar

The blue states carry the red states. All hell will bust loose of the blue states get shut down and stop paying taxes. Hum 🤔

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olderwoman's avatar

I would not put it past Governor Kathy Heckle of New York to not transmit revenue the State Collects for the Federal Government and use the money for SNAP recipients. It would not surprise me at all if she did this.

Congress technically has the power of the purse, but what if there was no purse? The States withhold.

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Richard Forester's avatar

He doesn't care about MAGA!

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ramona j's avatar

He only cares about himself and revenge. He is demented and dangerous.

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Ann Marie's avatar

They’d vote for him again if they had the opportunity. They whine about their plight, especially farmers but we’ll see what happens with the midterms.

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Carol Jelinek's avatar

Well said!

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John's avatar

So the filthy rich fucks who “paid’ for the that piece of shit ballroom get to deduct that from their taxes? Then tell me again why I need to pay mine.

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Oaktown's avatar

Because they're not paying theirs. They're a bunch of corrupt thieves and we are their marks. TAX THE RICH!!!

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Dr. Patricia Morton's avatar

As a Canadian I was fortunate to be at the Charlie Angus Resistance Tour in Peterborough, Ontario, and the room was overflowing with proud but angry Canadians who are furious with Donald Trump for his constant attacks on democracy in America and his obsession with making our Canada America’s 51st state 🇨🇦 . And that was before this despicable POTUS imposed a 10% tariff on all Canadian imports to America just because my province’s Premier Doug Ford stood up to the bully by putting out a short video featuring the former POTUS Ronald Reagan just stating that tariffs are bad for everyone.

Wow, now we Canadians —— polite as we are —- are actually cursing Trump! 🇨🇦

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Suzie Doherty's avatar

Trumps actions in relation to Doug Fords tv ad was just another excuse to stop negotiating. He was angry because Canadian negotiators are outplaying American ones. Time for Ford to cut off electricity or put a 60% surcharge on everything exported to the US by Ontario.

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Oaktown's avatar

Cheers!! Curse away in harmony with us. I swear at the maggots here every single day. I loved Ford's truthful and on target ad and if anyone is "annexed" I want CA to join Canada, not the other way around. Get me outta here if these Nazis steal the next election.

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Eric Glover's avatar

It's like a disease. Anything concerning Trump comes with a bout of hatred and anger.

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Marlene Lerner-Bigley (CA)'s avatar

BRAVA!! We LOVE Canadians!🥰🥰🇨🇦

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William MacKenzie's avatar

You go Sam O'Hara. The stormtroopers and I are with you.

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Mike Hammer's avatar

They have Mellon and they’re still going after Soros?

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Steve's avatar

They have Bezos, Zuckerberg, Musk....

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ramona j's avatar

The hypocrisy is astounding.

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JavaJunkyMonkey's avatar

Lol@bessent feels the pain. Maybe magas can send him money. 😂😂😂😂 the poor thing.

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LHS's avatar

And Trump is a "Master Builder". 🤮

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WJB Motown's avatar

Cankles Masterbater

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Marlene Lerner-Bigley (CA)'s avatar

That girlfriend is a very pathetic figure, don’tcha think?

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Deborah Alecson's avatar

Right off the bat - Scott Bessent needs to go fuck himself.

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John's avatar

Right on, Deborah, they all need to go fuck themselves.

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Deborah Alecson's avatar

John, it feels so cathartic to say it. And yes, they all need to go fuck themselves.

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Robin D's avatar

Oh goodie. A new like-minded friend here 😂. Are you also at Jeff Tiedrich?

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Marlene Lerner-Bigley (CA)'s avatar

I certainly am!!

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Robin D's avatar

I know you are Marlene. Your name always stands out to me! (I'm laughing with everyone saying to go fuck themselves. It's like being on Jeff T. 😂

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Sarah's avatar

They can all go fuck themselves. And no one says it better than Jon Stewart:

https://youtu.be/TwOLo_U6bTw

The whole show is worth watching (it’s a joy to hear him call Trump “pube-doodler) but go to the last 4 minutes (24:25) and watch defiance, and Jon, unleashed. With backup singers :-D

(I watch this a few times a month, it feeds my fury at Trump et al. when I feel depleted).

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ramona j's avatar

I agree, but he would probably love to ,if he could. So conceited and snarky.

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Robyn Marcus's avatar

Thank You for naming MAGA and Trump’s behavior for what it is, corruption, greed, and Murder! How wonderful you cited his art of making a deal with the most violent and vindictive pattern of fawning to dictators and building a new golden calf in America! I hope the new trillionaires in America who have cursed our earth look deeply into their poor children they have damed to hell!

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Linda Silfven's avatar

All this is fucking infuriating. I agree that the Idiot in Chief trades Taiwan for soybeans. And is it customary to have foreigners aboard Air Force One? What if they plant bugs?

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Oaktown's avatar

Nvidia will not be happy; Taiwan is making their computer chips and graphics cards. Donnie is, as usual, painting himself into a corner because he can't control his impulses. Xi will eat him for lunch. Sad!!!

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Robin D's avatar

Nvidia should have thought of that before they decided to sell 18,000 of their top AI chips to Saudi Arabia, who is then going to sell them to the Chinese, copy it, and bye Nvidia and Taiwan.

And I say this as a loyal Nvida customer who has never had any other video card in my PC since I started building my own in the late 1990s up until now (built by my tech cause I can't deal with it anymore).

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Oaktown's avatar

Totally agree. Not to mention making circular investment deals with LLM boosters like Sam Altman.

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Martha Kenne's avatar

That was my thought, too.

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Elizabeth Wolf's avatar

from Scott Dworkin. This is gold: This week, we touched on a story about Sam O’Hara—who was wrongfully arrested by the regime for peacefully protesting earlier this year. Now, not only is O’Hara suing over the ordeal, but a group of Veterans aren’t taking kindly to the arrest either.

The Veterans, who have been relentlessly protesting in DC, said “challenge accepted,” and started following around members of the National Guard while blasting “The Imperial March” from Star Wars—just like O’Hara did.

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LHS's avatar

I posted a link earlier to their video. It's pretty epic. It had me laughing until I cried. https://www.facebook.com/reel/2031511857685447

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Nori's avatar

Thank you Ron for your incredible work and really liked your conversation with Jo from Jerz.

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Jeri's avatar

I agree. And I like Jo's ideas for the ballroom and that Ron was open to her thoughts.

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noeire's avatar

You are right: he's offering up Taiwan. He would give up anything, anyone, wouldn't he-?

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Steve's avatar

He would pimp his own daughter.

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noeire's avatar

YUP.

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ramona j's avatar

That's his big Shart of the deal.

His whole life is lying, grifting and cheating

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Angela Mastriano's avatar

Tell Bessent to forgive the rent our lease on those farmers. He's crazy to think the American people will think he is a farmer.

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