The US Hamster Wheel

[brickhistory]

So about those Reading stabbings?

Also Trump's fault?

Convenient.

And so not Hillary in the White House...

[FD2]

So are you suggesting anyone would be stupid enough to think he's controlling ISIS as well?

Coming to a street near you soon as well pal, and it's nothing to do with who's in the White House unless you get the Ayatollah to do the job.

[TheGreenGoblin]

The event in Oklahoma is unbelievable,” he boasted. “The crowds are unbelievable. They haven’t seen anything like it. And we will go there now. We’ll give a, hopefully, good speech. We’re going to see a lot of great people, a lot of great friends. And pretty much, that’s it. OK?”

Well, if greeting serried ranks of empty seats is anything to go by, then the Trump "crowd" truly was unbelievable!

Even if Trump is as popular as he claims, which he is not, this lacklustre rally may prove one thing, and that is that some of Trump's supporters are not the fools he takes them for!

Who turns out to listen to an Orange, lying, windbag in the teeth of a growing viral pandemic? Tulsa alone saw another 300 new cases yesterday!

I expect he will blame everybody but himself and we can expect to see further campaign team firings.

Twas highly amusing to see the stand erected to take the ‘overflow’ of believers hastily dismantled for want of ‘overflow’. Not so "grate" after all Senor Orange but great to see!

[FD2]

I felt like having a good laugh so have ordered a kindle copy of Bolton’s book now that Big Orange has failed to get the sale stopped. How the insults will fly. Reporter asked him why he kept hiring such ‘useless’ and ‘stupid’ people but an answer was not forthcoming.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Meanwhile Captain Brett Crozier has not been reinstated..!

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 76676.html

[Boac]

I think the 'Stable Jenius' has the answer - stop testing completely and there will be no more cases of C19 - it's sheer brilliance!

The message on 'Social Distancing' finally gets through to millions of Republicans.

[prospector]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aoc-gl ... -on-tiktok

Enough said???

[Undried Plum]

Chump's response to Bolton's indiscretions is so funny.

First he did the Teenager Defence: I didn't do it and anyway you can't prove it.

Then he says that what Bolton says is not true and that it discloses Top Secrets.

I look forward to reading the book for myself. No doubt there'll very soon be a free online copy, such as happened with Fire And Fury.

[TheGreenGoblin]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aoc-gl ... -on-tiktok

Enough said???

And so the excuses begin...

If that Tik Tok ruse is the case, even more fool Trump and his organisers, however I still credit the overall low turnout out to a modicum of sense on the part of Trump's supporters in avoiding an event with such a high risk of viral contagion!

[barkingmad]

Re the Tulsa Covid-1984 cases is there a perception amongst Chump’s supporters that a MAGA hat qualifies as a face-covering?
Stranger things have happened in the US if the Darwin thread is indicative!

[PHXPhlyer]

Did the Tulsa new infection numbers include the six Trump campaign staffers and two Secret Service agents who were diagnosed there yesterday?

PP

[TheGreenGoblin]

The family of Tom Petty has issued a formal cease and desist letter to the Donald Trump campaign over its use of his song I Won’t Back Down at a rally in Tulsa on 20 June.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Adria, Annakim, Dana and Jane Petty said the US president was “in no way authorised to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense left behind”.

They said the late musician and his family “firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind. Tom Petty would not want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. he liked to bring people together”.

Petty’s family declared their support for America and for democracy, but said “Donald Trump is not representing the noble ideals of either. We would hate for fans that are marginalised by this administration to think we were complicit in this usage”.

I preferred this track...



https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/ ... se-of-song

[brickhistory]

I felt like having a good laugh so have ordered a kindle copy of Bolton’s book now that Big Orange has failed to get the sale stopped. How the insults will fly. Reporter asked him why he kept hiring such ‘useless’ and ‘stupid’ people but an answer was not forthcoming.

You put money in Bolton's pocket.

For him, I'd say "mission accomplished."

[TheGreenGoblin]

I felt like having a good laugh so have ordered a kindle copy of Bolton’s book now that Big Orange has failed to get the sale stopped. How the insults will fly. Reporter asked him why he kept hiring such ‘useless’ and ‘stupid’ people but an answer was not forthcoming.

You put money in Bolton's pocket.

For him, I'd say "mission accomplished."

Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a sign that he expects to be paid for it.

H. L. Mencken

[brickhistory]

Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a sign that he expects to be paid for it.

H. L. Mencken

Unexpected reference from you. I'll have to look for that winery.


But Bolton still got paid.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a sign that he expects to be paid for it.

H. L. Mencken

Unexpected reference from you. I'll have to look for that winery.


But Bolton still got paid.

I am apt to buy Bolton's book, thereby enriching him further, despite the fact that he is a chicken hawk blowhard with a silly walrus moustache. It is a sign of the deranged nature of the Trump administration that Bolton appears almost moderate in comparison to some of those bozos. Whatever he is, Bolton is no fool though!

Maybe this Mencken aphorism is more apposite "if you're going to sell your soul, make sure you get a good price. "...

As for the wine, it is a cheeky little Sauvignon Blanc purchased in Cave Vino Sapiens in Paris before the contagion. Chin Chin...!

[PHXPhlyer]

Unfortunately, you my enrichen the U.S. Treasury rather than Bolton.

PP

[TheGreenGoblin]

Unfortunately, you my enrichen the U.S. Treasury rather than Bolton.

PP

I tend to enrich them with the withholding tax on my Chase stock at the moment! Death, Bolton and taxes...

[PHXPhlyer]

Missed it by "That much!"
Less than 6,200 vs. 19,000 inside and 40,000 outside forecasted.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5 ... about-6200

Tulsa Fire Department says Trump rally attendance was about 6,200
BY JUSTIN WISE - 06/21/20 11:03 AM EDT 1,539
18,503

Fewer than 6,200 people attended President Trump's campaign rally at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday night, the Tulsa Fire Department said.

Andrew Little, the public information officer for the city fire department, told Forbes that a fire marshal recorded the tally, which indicated that the event fell far short of reaching the arena's full capacity of 19,000.

The Tulsa Fire Department and the Trump campaign did not immediately return a request for further comment from The Hill.

Trump's rally in Tulsa marked the first large campaign event he's held since the coronavirus outbreak upended everyday life in the U.S. in early March. Ahead of the event, Trump campaign officials said that hundreds of thousands of people had registered for tickets, boasting that it represented massive enthusiasm from his supporters.

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said that the sign-ups marked the "biggest data haul and rally signup of all time by 10x," adding that "Saturday is going to be amazing!" Trump had also hyped the event by tweeting that "almost One Million people" had requested tickets.

But observers noted that large swaths of seats remained empty in the upper levels as Trump took the stage to speak. The campaign also scrapped planned outdoor speeches from Trump and Vice President Pence after turnout appeared to miss expectations.

Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh blamed the lower than expected turnout on the press and protesters, saying in a statement that they "attempted to frighten off the president's supporters." He also claimed that protesters blocked "access to metal detectors" at one point, "which prevented people from entering the rally."

Others, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), gave partial credit to teenage TikTok users and fans of Korean pop for the light turnout.

TikTok users and K-pop fans launched a coordinated effort to to get people with no intention of attending the event to sign up for it anyway, according to The New York Times. The push resulted in thousands of users reportedly spreading the message through tweets and TikTok videos.

"You just got ROCKED by teens on TikTok who flooded the Trump campaign w/ fake ticket reservations & tricked you into believing a million people wanted your white supremacist open mic enough to pack an arena during COVID," Ocasio-Cortez said on Twitter in response to a tweet from Parscale about the rally.

Trump mocked for low attendance at rally
Trump campaign touts 4M online viewers for Tulsa rally
"Shout out to Zoomers. Y’all make me so proud," she added.

A Trump campaign official pushed back on the idea that TikTok users played a role in the low turnout in comments to CNN, saying, "We had legitimate 300k signups of Republicans who voted in the last four elections."

"Those are not [TikTok] kids. It was fear of violent protests," the official said. "This is obvious with the lack of families and children at the rally. We normally have thousands of families."

PP

[G-CPTN]

This low turnout for Trump is fake news.
The participants were socially distancing.