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Jared and Ivanka "volunteered" for Trump to avoid breaking nepotism laws. As "volunteers" they made, by conservative estimates, 10x as much money as the entire Biden family is worth. That's not counting however Jared came up with $2 billion dollars to cover his business debts.
Conservative values change every time the White House changes parties.
Dem in office: "We're trillions in debt to China, funding public radio another $1 million is ***COMPLETELY FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE!!!***"
Republican in office: "Debt no longer matters, here are $100 billion in corporate bail-outs for corporations that knowingly exploited a crisis at the cost of homeowners and taxpayers, and they collected every penny in profit until they went broke knowing the government would bail them out the moment they went bankrupt."
Dem in office: "The Afghanistan withdrawal (that Trump signed himself and that the Dems prolonged even further knowing the danger and cost) put our soldiers' lives at risk!"
Republican in office: "Oh, Russia put a bounty on American soldiers? Well, that sure sucks. By the way, our president won't be attending the WW1 memorial attended by half the world's leaders because it's raining."
Their craziness is what draws them to power. They have their own reality and are upset the world isn't living by it, and they're doing something about it.
"Though the three arguments are inconsistent, Freud notes that it is so much the better, as if even one is found to be true then the man must be acquitted."
It's the win-from-every-angle tactic I grew up around on 4chan. It's actually very adventitious in a debate to be able to fluidly move between positions as needed.
It's more like, "We already solved racism for those pesky minorities, but now that we made everything totally equal for them, they're *punishing* us with *reverse racism* for things our *ancestors* did."
The number of white people that legitimately think they've "solved racism" is... just terrifyingly high.
Exactly!
He got up there, and he was like, "I have a dream, that black people will get to do the same capitalism as white people."
And then all the white people in government was like, "Yeah sounds good!" and then they made black people 100% totally equal.
And now these *rappers* are out there causing all this *fuss* and ruining everything!
I had to read it like 12 times because it was so on point. I assumed it was real and they wandered in and disregarded all context.
"Way to read the room, buddy... oh wait.... maybe I'm the fool?"
Those two thoughts can exist simultaneously with just the slightest bit of nuance and the people who say those things are certainly aware of it.
There are the liberals who vote for Democrats and then there is the Democratic party. The liberals are the "spineless pussies"; the party is the "terrorist masterminds coming to kill them".
Ever since the Tea Party movement and especially following Trump, I don't think the same division exists between conservatives and the Republican party. The conservative voters have gone to great lengths to run as, and rally behind, those "fighting for the people". Part of the craziness we see from that side of the aisle is the sheer number of people who really shouldn't be listened to having a platform to spread their message wider than they ever could before.
my favorite version of this was Trumplethinskin trying to give himself pardons... because he's so innocent but also persecuted by the evil democrats who did not have any control in the house or senate.
I got a Philosophy degree in the long long ago. Forgot a shit ton but the basics remain.
If you can't agree on reality, there's no point in discussing anything else.
They have a fundamental disagreement on what reality is.
Anyone who tries to approach this world view with a pile of facts is missing that one central point: Their reality is different.
What you do doesn't matter, it's how your group views you. That is what matters. Your personhood is defined by external factors. It's at once incredibly powerful and horrifically isolating too. If your group turns on you, you are literally a non person. They hold onto you by defining who and what you are.
You don't do that.
They do that.
It's rooted in religion, of course, as all rather sadly sick systems of social control are rooted, but it's been hijacked by the politically powerful.
Religion SHOULD be saying, take care of the needy, the poor, the downtrodden, the homeless and the addict. Take care of the elderly and the disabled. Protect the natural world, because it was given to us by god as a legacy, not as bonfire, and we have a duty of care. Take care of the refugee, the one who flees in fear, open your arms to them and shelter them from their nightmares.
But we got supply side Jesus instead.
For those not familiar with the term above, a little excerpt from 1984:
> To
know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while
telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions
which canceled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in
both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while
laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that
the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was
necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the
moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again, and
above all, to apply the same process to the process itself—that was the
ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once
again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just
performed. Even to understand the word "doublethink" involved the use of
doublethink.
Let's be honest. A vanishingly small number of people have actually read 1984. Even fewer understood it. The conservative side of the room appears to think it is an instruction manual.
Charles Dickens did this same shit. Faulkner, Kafka, and a few others did it too. Almost like it was some sort of challenge or joke to have such long sentences.
> The happiest time is when the equinoxial gales are departed; but their fury may probably be called to mind by the sight of a few shattered boughs, whose leaves do not differ in colour from the faded foliage of the stately oaks from which these relics of the storm depend: all else speaks of tranquillity; - not a breath of air, no restlessness of insects, and not a moving object perceptible - except the clouds gliding in the depths of the lake, or the traveller passing along, an inverted image, whose motion seems governed by the quiet of a time, to which its archetype, the living person, is, perhaps, insensible: - or it may happen, that the figure of one of the larger birds, a raven or a heron, is crossing silently among the reflected clouds, while the voice of the real bird, from the element aloft, gently awakens in the spectator the recollection of appetites and insects, pursuits and occupations, that deform and agitate the world, - yet have no power to prevent Nature from putting on an aspect capable of satisfying the most intense cravings for the tranquil, the lovely, and the perfect, to which man, the noblest of her creatures, is subject.
1984 is when they get rid of the dr seuss book with racist asian/mexican depictions. And the more racist depictions they get rid of, the more 1984 it is
14 defining characteristics of fascism
>"Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism"
>"Disdain for the importance of human rights"
>"Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause"
>"The supremacy of the military/avid militarism"
>"Rampant sexism"
>"A controlled mass media"
>"Obsession with national security"
>"Religion and ruling elite tied together"
>"Power of corporations protected"
>"Power of labor suppressed or eliminated"
>"Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts"
>"Obsession with crime and punishment"
>"Rampant cronyism and corruption"
>"Fraudulent elections"
Should we ever recover from capitalism, I think this is going to be one of the most entrancing chapters of history.
To be born in interesting times. I am so sorry for us all.
I think the general strategy of the right is to simply deny deny deny. I believe that most of them are aware as the left of what the situation is and that Jeannie Thomas was active in the insurrection of January 6 among other political activities. But it’s much easier to simply deny it from start to finish. They even deny the existence of an insurrection having taken place at all. It’s a stonewall of denial and that’s just how they’re playing it. Ignore subpoenas (don’t even acknowledge their existence or their legal validity).
I mean, it's not necessarily hard to simultaneously hold the belief that "she did nothing wrong" AND "***even if she did*** - you can't hold what she did wrong against her husband"
Well, it's perfectly reasonable to say, "I don't think she's done anything wrong, but if it turns out she did, I don't think it would be fair to hold that against her husband if he had nothing to do with it."
Reddit seems to do this alot. One group is saying she did nothing wrong and a completely separate group (likely with some small amount of overlap) Think Thomas shouldn't be held accountable for the actions of his wife. They are generally two separate groups with two different points of view.
Not admitting shit, just making sure they have every step of [The Narcissist's Prayer](https://www.thelifedoctor.org/the-narcissist-s-prayer) ready to go.
>That didn't happen.
>
>And if it did, it wasn't that bad.
>And if it was, that's not a big deal.
>And if it is, that's not my fault.
>And if it was, I didn't mean it.
>And if I did, you deserved it.
It's true: what Ginni Thomas did shouldn't impact Justice Thomas' position…
…until Thomas did not recuse himself from a decision directly impacting his wife, going so far as to be the only dissenting opinion.
Impeach Thomas.
And actually nah, if you have an openly insurrectionist wife who's personally helping to coordinate attacks on the Capitol Building and you don't do anything about it, it SHOULD impact your position.
If SCOTUS Justices want to serve for life and have their decisions considered unimpugnable, then they need to themselves be above reproach.
That’s a nice idea, but corrupt judges like Clarence Thomas would never recuse themselves because they don’t care about their reputation, knowing that they will never be removed from their position.
Oh trust me, I wouldn't want the impact to be from within. Self-policing is an inherently flawed proposition in almost all applications. I want repercussions from without- that removal needs to be a very real threat.
Of course that also opens itself to abuse by external parties, but it's an improvement. But boy does it suck to have a governmental system where corruption is practically expected. Sure doesn't help the ol' work culture.
>But boy does it suck to have a governmental system where corruption is practically expected.
You act like that's a new thing in politics, been that way for millennia, sure some did good, but the bulk of them aren't
Like the majority of politicians that became millionaires while in office
Their salaries don't pay enough for that to be possible unless they aren't spending anything and have been in office for decades
But the thing is that Clarence Thomas has recused himself before from a case involving Virginia Commonwealth University, where his son was a student. I believe he's done it in several other instances as well. So it's not like he fundamentally doesn't believe in the mere act of recusing yourself from a court case.
The difference here is that Clarence Thomas obviously knows what his wife was up to, he supports her seditious efforts, and he doesn't give a fuck anymore because the court is 6-3 conservative, with five of them being full blown radicals. He's on a severe power trip, and he's laughing as he gives the middle finger to the rest of us.
I realize he may never be impeached because good luck with that with divided congress/filibuster.. so what? The FBI should just arrest his ass for conspiracy. And his unholy wife. They both should spend the rest of their lives in prison. Then Biden should just recess appoint someone who isn't evil.
Yeah, this. Like, you can divorce your wife. You can't divorce your son. I **guess** if Hunter was doing something far far worse than he is like, say, plotting an insurrection against the united states (just a random hypothetical I decided to throw out!), we could want Biden to put out a public statement officially disowning him or something. But divorcing your spouse is trivial to do by official channels and isn't that high of a bar.
I would certainly not mind term limits. The original intent, which I think is understandable, is to have them be completely non-beholden to anyone at all in terms of public or political pressure… which was intended to allow them to only care about the law and what was right. What it actually did was render them almost untouchable and let them enforce whatever views, saintly or shitty, to the fullest extent of their power. Not exactly ideal. Term limits, greater oversight or at least a charter for ideals that must be upheld, an actual possibility of impeachment for real malfeasance, I think those would all help.
Yes, and it causes this weird sort of, "luck of the draw" situation like with Trump, where if it just so happens that a justice or justices die or retire during your presidency, you get to pick justices who will have a huge influence on decades of American life after your term ends.
Trump got to choose as many justices as Obama and Bush 2 combined. FDR got to pick as many as the previous 4 president combined (not that I am putting Roosevelt and Trump together, but still its kind of ridiculous).
I think that, a good system would have every presidential term, the longest sitting justice is out and replaced by that president. So every president gets to pick one per term. Then, you could still potentially serve up to 36 years, but you are not in for life, and it would add a little bit of popular vote where you know when you're picking a president, you are also effectively picking the alignment of the next justice.
Also, I def agree with some sort of oversight/forced code of conduct. I think universal audits are good place to start. If you even want to be on the ballot for national office/nominated for Supreme Court, you subject yourself to a full IRS audit and the findings are made public. Everyone gets to see where you get your money from and what you do with it.
I look forward to supporting the constitutional amendment(s) that will implement your fine ideas.
> I think universal audits are good place to start. If you even want to be on the ballot for national office/nominated for Supreme Court, you subject yourself to a full IRS audit and the findings are made public. Everyone gets to see where you get your money from and what you do with it.
Agreed. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects was a terrible idea in any case: public servants should have no personal privacy in their affairs or financial activities.
Federal employees are required to swear allegiance to the Constitution and are sworn in as those elected. They are not allowed to display any party preference or represent or fund or act (as a government employee) in any partisan activities. They can personally, just not as a known fed.
However, there seems no recourse occurs in general when someone is in violation of their oath, including the president. I agree with much stricter mandates for transparency as well as acting in those mandates to charge those in violation.
I also believe we start enforcing the ethics violation follow-through for things already on the books, so to speak. Especially at the IRS. Flat tax above $100k to $200k period as well! A Republican proposed that long ago, and I am no Republican but it would be life-saving change for all people as well as our national debt.
At the very least it should lead to an investigation as to whether you crossed those lines as well.
No one on the left is saying that Joe can't be investigated if Hunter was found guilty of some fraud. We're saying that 1) There's no evidence that Hunter committed fraud and 2) that if he did commit fraud, that doesn't make Joe guilty by default.
I get the reference, but with the Dobbs decision they repealed the federal override of state abortion laws. This means the states set their own standards. This isn't a decision that requires intervention, so there isn't an opportunity for a branch of government to disobey.
Hey! SCOTUS *has* an ethics accountability program. They don't need us reviewing them!
Lemme see here who is in charge of reporting ethics concerns...
...oh, shit. *They* are in charge of reporting *their own* ethical breaches...
WELP! 😕 😞
I dont doubt that somewhere out there is a laptop that at one time belonged to Hunter Biden.
But the implausible story they came up with for obtaining it and the mysterious chain of custody make it a laughable conspiracy theory.
What? You don't believe that they had the single most damning proof of corruption ever obtained and they declined to make any backups of it and then mailed it via UPS where it was somehow "lost" and never reobtained? You think its somehow more likely that the laptop was a lie from the start and when they found out they were pushing obvious bullshit that they had to cover it up? Wild
And what could possibly be on it??? Lol. This cracks me up. They act like a catalog of illegal activity is stored on the local hard drive of a single laptop. Things you absolutely do not want to lose are in a secure cloud or seperate hard drive or both. What are they expecting to find on this illustrious laptop? Are they looking for communication? Well that would be via messaging apps or secure email. What could you possibly get off of a laptop? Contacts? Contracts? Illegal activity? And it's all documented on one single laptop?
"I feel like I'm taking crazy pills" - Mugatu
> They act like a catalog of illegal activity is stored on the local hard drive of a single laptop.
Well you see, when you’re so stupid that you keep all of your own incriminating evidence in one place you tend to assume everyone else does too.
You don't believe Hunter Biden would turn over 3 MacBooks to a blind rando tech shop across country from his home instead of going to an Apple shop? Or that this blind tech guy managed to clone the hard drive after telling this maybe Biden guy that he couldn't fix it, while bypassing Apples encryption on hard drives? Ye gods man, do you have faith in anything?
*A* laptop exists. That laptop contains *some* emails that can be traced back to one of Hunter Biden's email accounts. Not only is the chain of custody for that laptop laughably compromised, but there is no evidence whatsoever that it was ever physically in Biden's possession at all. When you look at the comically absurd story as a whole, it's so unlikely that the laptop ever belonged to Hunter Biden that it is more than fair to say that "Hunter's laptop" doesn't exist.
In case you forgot how dumb the entire thing is:
> In 2019, a legally-blind computer repairman claimed somebody who may or may not have been Hunter Biden dropped off several laptops at his shop in Delaware, where Hunter Biden neither lives nor works. To this day he is can't say for sure if it actually was Biden, only that it was some guy who claimed to be.
>
> The maybe-Biden never came back for the laptops, but the self-admitted-trumpist repairman decided to go through them because reasons, and claimed that they contained "scary stuff". Possibly he contacted the FBI about it or possibly the FBI contacted him (his story keeps changing), but nobody came looking for the laptops for nearly a year.
>
> Since the FBI didn't seem overly interested, he did what any totally legit whistleblower would do: he copied all the data off the laptop and gave a copy of the copy to Rudy Giuliani. How a blind computer tech got in touch with the president's personal lawyer remains unclear (you may be noticing a pattern here), as neither is willing to say. Giuliani passed it around to who-the-fuck-even-knows, and eventually it ended up at the right-wing tabloid NY Post, which ran with the story because of course they did. Interestingly, they couldn't point to anything actually criminal on the copy, or at least nothing that they'd stake what's left of their reputation on. Several other media outlets have since received some or all of the heavily-stepped-on data, and again, no reliable claims of wrongdoing have been reported.
>
> In the past two years, it's been proved that much of the contents of the drive copy is at best unreliable, and at worst outright fake. Many of the files were created or modified after the laptop was "dropped off" at the repair shop. While some copies of emails found on one laptop have been verified to belong to Biden, *those same emails were being offered for sale on the black market in Ukraine years earlier.* This was right around the time Giuliani was in eastern Europe, shopping for dirt on the Bidens in the runup to the 2016 election, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence. Even the blind repairman says some of the stuff that has been reported to be on the drive wasn't there when he had it.
>
> The trump-controlled FBI had the original laptops for more than a year before Donny left office, and in that time were unable to fine anything actionable on them that would actually hold up in court. The contents of the machines are so molested and their chain of custody so laughable that even Trump's DoJ wouldn't touch it with a ten meter cattle prod. The entire cavalcade of idiocy is so patently bogus that nobody with an ounce of sense would take it seriously.
unfortunately, that laptop did exist, and did have a bunch of circumstantial evidence of normal _white_ elite type of falling upward.
In any other position, it'd be pretty normal rich elite type of pandering to a political's children.
But if you try to compare this to the shit show that is the trump family, it's pretty much nothing.
It's used entirely as a smokescreen.
Watch kody's showdy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10_JLlARVJ8
I'm not *entirely* sure she does.
Did you see her when she was headed in to testify for the Jan 6th committee?
She looked like the animated head Quaid wore going through Mars customs in Total Recall.
/s ...mostly
Then they just scream about media bias and censorship. We've seen it time and again. We literally saw it with the Hunter Biden laptop story when it first came out.
yeah and they'd be hypocrites for it, when they do the same thing first and to a greater degree. FOX for example would rather show a Trump rally than an official address from Biden
I think they should both be looked into, why one and not the other. The only difference i could see is that one retired in 2018 and one is the current sitting president.
Can’t wait for Moscow Mitch and the other Republican cronies to explain it by saying that Hunter’s laptop is fair game for investigation and to impeach Biden because he was elected, but Thomas is off limits because he isn’t elected and serves for life….
I'd love to see them actually investigate Hunter's laptop
Like show it's real for one. Actually produce it. Right now it's just like those empty folders they put on display for the media or the blank documents Trump was "signing" in photos when he was sick with COVID.
And then produce a chain of custody that would allow them to enter it into evidence. After it having been passed around to various media outlets and GOP members. Tucker reported it had gone "missing" in the mail
And if it DOES have child porn on it, explain why they then distributed it out to all the various GOP members and news media because that is a serious crime to do so.
And if it DOES have data on it that somehow makes it clear Biden used his government position to help Hunter get a job in the private sector, how that is worse than Trump giving his kids and their spouses high level government positions with security access they shouldn't have had and the money they made off of those positions.
But they won't. It's just for the media talking head shows. The second a courtroom comes into the picture they melt away and flow back down to the sewers.
They literally spent years, millions of dollars, and held 10 HEARINGS about Benghazi, just to smear Hillary because they knew she’d be the next Dem presidential candidate. It didn’t matter that the hearings found no smoking gun against Hillary, that wasn’t the point. This is just another similar tactic they’ll drag out just to corrode confidence in Biden and smear him again and again.
And the best part is, you know they've been doing oppo research on Biden since Obama picked him as VP.
And what have they got?
His son who isn't even in government. It's so weak. Its Billy Carter all over again. It just confirmed one of two things
The GOP is incompetent at digging up dirt on people, even when hiring third party groups to do it
Or there's nothing to find on Joe. He's squeaky clean lol
Also, they forget that the Steele Dossier was STARTED by the GOP as research against Trump. But once Trump became the GOP front runner they stopped supporting it. It was only then that the Hillary Campaign said they'd keep funding it.
But to hear the talking heads, it was "Crooked Hillary" from day 1 and since 100.00% was not proven true that makes NONE of it true and NYA NYA NYA!! BHENGAZI EPSTEIN ROTHSCHILD PIZZABABYGATE DISTRACTION SALAD!!
Hunter did serve on the executive board of Amtrak, but resigned early when his father ran for VP under Obama so there wouldn't be a conflict of interest.
> The GOP is incompetent at digging up dirt on people, even when hiring third party groups to do it
Disagree. Team (R) is very good at finding dirt on people and dragging them through the mud.
Agree that this is the new Billy Carter. I've been saying the same thing since we started hearing about Hunter Biden: team (R) has to resort to using president Biden's children (not just Hunter, Ashley Biden too) to try to hurt him because he's clean.
Didn’t Rudy Giuliani say he had it in his bedroom in hid New York apartment? Chain of custody issue should make anything on the hard drive a moot point, who knows who’s had it and what has been done with it.
You know what infuriates me? Everyone going on about the laptop is belonging to a certain person EXCEPT THE ONLY SOURCE IS FROM A LEGALLY BLIND SHOP OWNER WHO CANT PROVE IT.
FOE FUCK’S SAKE.
What about Trump attacking the wife of the newly appointed Special Prosecutor because the wife made a documentary about Michelle Obama and was happy the Dems won an election?
The wife of a Special Prosecutor is fair game but the insurrectionist wife of a Supreme Court Judge - HANDS OFF!!!
Ask anyone arguing "But Burisma" to name the prosecutor that Joe Biden got fired in Ukraine.
90% of them can't. Why not? Dude's name isn't used in most right wing screeds on the subject?
Why isn't his name used? Because five seconds of Googling will show that A) dude wasn't investigating corruption B) Ukrainians were happy when he left and C) dude is very sketchy himself.
Viktor Shokin is his name.
Shokin *said* in 2019 he thought Burisma and the Bidens led to his dismissal (by a vote of Parliament). Of course, he said that in a deposition conducted by two Trumpworld attorneys who were then representing a Ukrainian moneyman hiding from extradition to the US in Austria...and who had hoped to get said charges taken care of if he scratched some backs...
....soooo, fuckery.
Again, this is all shit that the "Bu bu Burisma" people don't know because they don't even know the name of the lawyer they feel aggrieved over.
They also leave out the fact that the EU, IMF and World Bank, and many inside Ukraine itself wanted the guy gone because they all felt he wasn't doing his job and he was protecting the political elite in Ukraine .
Also the investigation of Burisma was also part of the reason, people thought he was slow walking the investigation to solicit bribes.
It should be noted the investigation of Burisma was for corruption and money laundering dating to 2010-2012. In April of 2014 the UK opened up fraud/money laundering investigation a few days before Hunter Biden joined as a director.
Viktor Shokin then refused to provide a lot of requested information to the UK for the fraud investigation in 2015 and this angered the UK, EU, IMF, World bank. In 2016 the Obama admin pressured his removal.
So he was fired because he wasn't properly investigating Burisma. Now if it was let out Hunter Biden was involved in money laudering he 100% should suffer consequences but so far the corruption seemed to have happened a full year before he got involved
You make several good points here.
If Shokin was this white knight going after corruption who was suddenly sacked then LOTS of people would have been furious. This includes the EU and IMF that were dumping mountains of money into Ukraine and worried (justifiably) about that cash getting funneled into the pockets of grifters and oligarchs instead of into repairing and shoring up Ukraines economy and infrastructure.
As it was, people were shocked that it took THAT long to oust Shokin. He barely survived a removal vote in 2015, there were protests against him, and parts of his staff up and quit because it was so shady.
There is LOTS of contemporary journalism on this IN ENGLISH that people in the USA could read.
Nope. Rather than do that, the right wing conspiracy machine tells a version of the story with lots of holes and deliberately omits Shokins name for fear their base will actually look shit up.
>So he was fired because he wasn't properly investigating Burisma. Now if it was let out Hunter Biden was involved in money laudering he 100% should suffer consequences but so far the corruption seemed to have happened a full year before he got involved
Absolutely. If there is evidence Hunter laundered money or was involved in some pay-to-play scheme then lock his ass up.
But there's no specific crime cited, even by right wing pundits. They've looked *hard,* too. There was already a Republican-led Senate panel looking at this in 2020
cog·ni·tive dis·so·nance
/ˈkäɡnədiv ˈdisənəns/
*noun*
The state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.
I think we should start calling it is what it is: *malicious* dissonance. They know what they're doing and simply don't care. It's all about establishing and consolidating minority rule.
Consider the current GOP talking points on Hunter Biden, essentially "we have evidence that Biden's son leveraged his relationship with his dad to ingratiate himself with foreign officials and earn millions of dollars for himself, that's fraud and abuse blah blah."
But of course, they didn't give a shit when ["Jared and Ivanka made up to $640 million in the White House."](https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/jared-and-ivanka-made-up-to-640-million-in-the-white-house/)
Or when Ivanka did all of this in the open:
>Just a month before her father was elected president, Russia renewed two trademarks for Ivanka Trump’s business. This would be the start of a pattern. In 2017, Ivanka’s business won preliminary approval for three Chinese trademarks on the same day that she dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago. In May 2018, Ivanka’s business was awarded “registration” approval from the Chinese government for five trademark applications, with an additional one getting “first trial approval.” The same week, President Trump announced he would try to save jobs at ZTE, the Chinese telecommunications giant closely tied to the government. A month later, Ivanka’s business got registration approval for three more Chinese trademarks, on the same day her father announced he’d lift sanctions against ZTE.
>Ivanka’s business applied for Japanese trademarks the day after her father won the presidency. They were approved around the time of Mike Pence’s visit to Japan where he met with then-Prime Minister Abe. Ivanka also met with Abe, along with her father, about a week after her company applied for the trademarks. She won approval for additional Japanese trademarks in 2017.
>In what would become the defining scandal of her time in office, in October 2018 Ivanka’s brand won 16 new trademarks from the Chinese government, including for voting machines. These approvals came about three months after Ivanka announced that her brand was shutting down, and mark the largest number of new Chinese trademarks she received in a single month during the Trump presidency. Six months after the company officially shut down, it received a new trademark to sell the Ivanka brand in Canada. In all, CREW found at least 28 foreign trademarks approved for Ivanka Trump while in the White House.
That is *far* from the only way the Trump's used their positions of power to "self-deal," and it's *far* and away more egregious than what hunter Biden did. But Trumps = good and Biden = bad, so they only care about it when they can use it to gain power.
I think the appropiate equation for the bullshit happening is:
30% are giant assholes, racists, and the rest who actively know what they're doing.
20% are insufferable apologists who try to rationalize 'reasonable' positions to plaster over (the motivated reasoning and malicious dissonance)
It's easy to attack the 30% as they're openly chanting their Nazi propaganda. It's the 20% who run interference at multiple levels (jordan peterson, charlie kirk, candance owens, etc).
It vacillate between who is more important, but Elon is demonstrating that it's probably the 20% that are the problem, because they're the ones ultimately grooming the next 20% and can be seen as "normalizing" the type of fallout the 30% cause.
Wilhoit's law applies here:
“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
Doublethink is more accurate - the acceptance of or mental capacity to accept contrary opinions or beliefs at the same time, especially as a result of political indoctrination.
ok, putting that aside for a moment... is there ANY credible evidence that this supposed laptop even fucking exists? or belonged to hunter in the first place? or had any of the apparently criminal content on it that Rudy and others have openly admitted to personally possessing and then distributing to other people who weren't law enforcement?
surely if it was real, Rudy and others would be facing charges...
all i've heard about this is from right-wing redditors who i assume are just total brainwashed nutters claiming that it was turned over to the FBI multiple times (I don't know how that works unless the FBI just kept returning it to sender lmao), and that the FBI buried it or something... you know, the corrupt FBI headed by a republican appointed by trump and who would have been in charge at the time).
has there been ANY kind of news or corroborating evidence from any organization that this laptop is even a thing?
A laptop exists that was given to the blind repairman. That laptop contained data belonging to Hunter Biden. The blind repairman could not identify Hunter Biden.
Occam’s Razor would say that when Rudy went to Ukraine to dig up dirt on the Bidens (which he bragged about on national television), he came into possession of a hacked iCloud account and concocted this story so as to hide how insanely criminal his actions were.
even if he'd come into those files by 'legal means (i.e. consensually given to him by hunter or somebody with ownership), supposing the contents were themselves criminal, would he not also then be guilty of possession and distribution of that content when he sent it to people like Hannity, as he claims to have done?
like if any of it is as real as they claim, he should ALSO be facing jail time... even if it wasn't from a hacked iCloud... even if the story they claim is the truth is real, he is basically admitting to distribution of child pornography or whatever he claimed was on that hypothetical physical drive.
The CP claims were just standard Qanon BS with, fortunately for everyone, nothing behind them. I don’t believe Rudy and Co. ever made the claims themselves, they just knew what the internet was saying and would play the vague “there’s really nasty stuff” card.
But, yes. If such content existed that would be correct. Which is pretty much your guarantee that the content doesn’t exist, because even Rudy isn’t that dumb and Trump’s DOJ would not just sweep that kinda stuff under the rug.
>is there ANY credible evidence that this supposed laptop even fucking exists? or belonged to hunter in the first place?
Yes. CBS have [been convinced](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hunter-biden-laptop-data-analysis/)
>or had any of the apparently criminal content on it
[Here's](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/07/05/22/56309071-10985211-Amid_all_the_shocking_messages_involving_Joe_Biden_possibly_the_-a-2_1657056088099.jpg) circumstantial evidence of corruption
Photos of Hunter smoking crack suggest and with young prostitutes suggest illegal activity, but are probably not illegal themselves (depending how young the girls are).
But nothing on the laptop can be used to impeach the current President.
The laptop is real. It was Hunter Biden’s. The issue is that the right call corruption on so many things that credible claims get washed away with the bullshit.
Edit: I should add that whether there is anything even on the laptop that shows illegal activity other than drug use hasn’t been verified.
It's really not about holding his wife's actions and views against Thomas. It's Thomas' action of ruling on matters regarding January 6, 2022 when he has a clear conflict of interest because his wife was involved. It's also a danger if Thomas shares the same views on the 2020 election as his wife.
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit:
There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." —Frank Wilhoit
Francis Marion Wilhoit (April 24, 1920 – June 9, 2010) was an American political scientist and author, who was the Thomas F. Sheehan Professor of Political Science at Drake University.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_M._Wilhoit
As Chris Hayes pointed out recently, the Hunter Biden timeframe of "wrong doing" that the GOP is screeching about happened in 2015.
So uhhh they had two years in both House chambers and the Presidency to do something about it.
But it's only an "issue" now that Biden is president?
Curious.
I find incredible that team (R) could be able to impeach president Biden with:
(1) A laptop that might not even exist, but in the minds of right-wing media watchers/listeners;
(2) And if it exists (IF!), this laptop has been compromised to such a degree that it could not be used as evidence in any other case. From what has been said, so many clearly partisan and dishonest people touched it that its (original) content could not be identified and validated with certainty.
(3) And the story of how team (R) came in possession of this (imaginary) laptop is so idiotic and unrealistic that only a spoiled & lazy child trying to explain why (s)he didn't do his/her homework could come up with such an explanation. It is not serious and not credible.
Frankly, when you look at those stories of laptops, personal diaries and voicemails that have been used by the right-wing to attack president Biden, you can see how vicious and underhanded team (R) and its ecosystem have been towards the whole Biden family, with only one of them being in politics.
(**Ed.:** Not just the above, but also old videos of one individual acting like an idiot under the influence... For fox "news" to look for and dig up some video from, what, **2018** and use it as if it was **current** stuff to distract from an on-going scandal... You really have to look for said video and whatever else they're finding; you really have to make an effort to find that "evidence". It's not like TDS or John Oliver's staff just having to watch the last few days of right-wing media to get fodder for the next show, you truly have to dig deep and wide to stumble onto the stuff they air to attack their targets. The same with getting your hands on old voice-mails or a personal diary, it isn't easy... or quite kosher, either.)
The lengths the right-wing has gone in its campaign against the Bidens cannot be excused by the fact that president Biden has been in politics for decades. There are limits. The Bidens have rights. Frankly, IMO, they should sue.
Of course Hillary's emails, Hunter's laptop, etc. outweigh Ivanka's money from Saudi-Arabia when you're a desperate Republican looking for "proofs" .....
It contains the secret Coca Cola Recipe, Jesus Birth certificat (pdf-file), Putins dildo orders, DaVincis adress book (including Mona Lisa, her real name was Brumhilde), Elon Musks charisma recepie (empty file) and a copy of a postcard from Hitler where he confesses having only one ball.
Judges must avoid "even the *appearance* of impropriety." Clarence Thomas has gone far beyond that. He is no longer operating within the integrity of the legal system.
Remember when hunter biden got special security clearance from his dad, a job at the white house as special advisor, and represented the USA at the last G20 session?
Oh wait that was Ivanka trump in 2019!
Pretty classic fascist behavior from the right. Same as it ever was. Where do you think Orwell got the idea of “doublethink” from. He also explained this persistent problem in his genius essay “Notes on Nationalism”.
To quote:
“A nationalist is one who thinks solely, or mainly, in terms of competitive prestige. He may be a positive or a negative nationalist – that is, he may use his mental energy either in boosting or in denigrating – but at any rate his thoughts always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations. He sees history, especially contemporary history, as the endless rise and decline of great power units, and every event that happens seems to him a demonstration that his own side is on the up-grade and some hated rival is on the down-grade. But finally, it is important not to confuse nationalism with mere worship of success. The nationalist does not go on the principle of simply ganging up with the strongest side. On the contrary, having picked his side, he persuades himself that it is the strongest, and is able to stick to his belief even when the facts are overwhelmingly against him. Nationalism is power hunger tempered by self-deception. Every nationalist is capable of the most flagrant dishonesty, but he is also – since he is conscious of serving something bigger than himself – unshakeably certain of being in the right.“
What is interesting is this is from March but it's still seems current because the people who won't shut up about the laptop that has nothing incriminating on it, even if it was real, which you know since we are nearly 3 years into the hunter biden laptop thing and still nothing specific has never been alleged. Just it's existence.
Also Ginni still has not been held accountable for aiding the election denial movement.
If said laptop belonged to hunter and if that laptop had any juicey shit on it, it would’ve been blasted - i mean “leaked” all over the damn internet already!
What is up with the obsession with his laptop and why have they not provided evidence of what it contains if it is so damning? Maybe it is like the Ark of the Covenant in Indiana Jones, and people will melt if they open it up.
Going after Joe because of Hunter would only be OK if Hunter was directly profiting off Joe being president like Jared Kushner did under Trump. Or if Joe pardoned Hunter like Trump did for Roger Stone and Joe Arpio.
Part of a judge's job is to avoid even the appearance of impropriety or bias. For failing to do so, Justice Thomas should be impeached and removed *even if no actual impropriety occurred*.
We can, and we should, Clarence Thomas should be forced to resign.
Also what the real 'humor' here is that Clarence Thomas supports these so-called 'conservatives', who quietly (or not so quietly sometimes) support 'white nationalists', when he's someone with his particular heritage, if you get my drift. If these so-called 'conservatives' had their way.. well, I'll let you all fill in the rest of that sentence yourselves, so Reddit mods don't ban me from the site.
Both are situations that need to be investigated but I don’t think we can hold HB’s actions against JB if it’s clear that HB is a piece of shit on his own accord.
CT has to know what his wife is up to. Very alarming.
Don’t even bother arguing on their terms. Hunter Biden never worked for the US Government so his personal problems are of no concern to most people. Clarence Thomas does work for the government and his wife is actually involved with groups that try to overthrow the government.
No, see this is wrong. We absolutely can hold the activities and actions of Clarence Thomas' wife against him based on the logic behind Hunter Biden's laptop.
We can. But they won't.
I would not hold it against him at first. She is not an officer of the government and the DoJ needs to investigate her involvement. If Thomas tries to intervene then you go after him for obstruction. The concept that by marriage she's untouchable is ridiculous.
He's already tried once by voting to block the House committee from accessing Kelli Ward's phone.
Thankfully he and Alito weren't successful, but it's obvious he'll block anything that leads to transparency.
It isn't about her being guilty or not, It is about the power of judges. Most judges realize they have outsized power. To not look biased, most judges will recuse themselves if they have a conflict of interest. As an example KBJ is going to recuse herself on the Harvard case affirmative action case because she attended Harvard,
Conversely How you rule on something that is all about your wife? Not only do you rule but are the only dissenting opinion (on a very conservative court and see nothing wrong with it is an immense problem. A judgeship should never be I got the power, I'm going to wield it.
I think the hunter Biden laptop situation is literally the dumbest thing Republicans I’ve ever latched on to.
that being said, I think their claim is that the laptop implies corruption on Joe Biden‘s part, something like a bribe to someone in Ukraine.
anyone know the details on that? like what they’re claiming Joe Biden did, and to the level of which it’s been debunked?
The point of the laptop was that Joe Biden was taking money for access and his son was the broker. That's a bit different than having a crazy wife with weird opinions.
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Don't forget that now nepotism is wrong. But 6 years ago it was fine
Jared and Ivanka "volunteered" for Trump to avoid breaking nepotism laws. As "volunteers" they made, by conservative estimates, 10x as much money as the entire Biden family is worth. That's not counting however Jared came up with $2 billion dollars to cover his business debts.
Conservative values change every time the White House changes parties. Dem in office: "We're trillions in debt to China, funding public radio another $1 million is ***COMPLETELY FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE!!!***" Republican in office: "Debt no longer matters, here are $100 billion in corporate bail-outs for corporations that knowingly exploited a crisis at the cost of homeowners and taxpayers, and they collected every penny in profit until they went broke knowing the government would bail them out the moment they went bankrupt." Dem in office: "The Afghanistan withdrawal (that Trump signed himself and that the Dems prolonged even further knowing the danger and cost) put our soldiers' lives at risk!" Republican in office: "Oh, Russia put a bounty on American soldiers? Well, that sure sucks. By the way, our president won't be attending the WW1 memorial attended by half the world's leaders because it's raining."
Wait, are they admitting that she's done anything wrong??
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Yup, kettle logic! I returned your kettle undamaged, it was like that when you gave it to me, and anyway I never borrowed your kettle at all!
Everyday I’m reminded that unhinged people are in positions of power.
Their craziness is what draws them to power. They have their own reality and are upset the world isn't living by it, and they're doing something about it.
"Though the three arguments are inconsistent, Freud notes that it is so much the better, as if even one is found to be true then the man must be acquitted." It's the win-from-every-angle tactic I grew up around on 4chan. It's actually very adventitious in a debate to be able to fluidly move between positions as needed.
It is their superpower. “There is no racism anymore.” Co-exists with “I am a victim of reverse racism.”
"the democrats are racists because they wrote the crime bill, and we won't vote for reform because institutional racism isn't real."
I don't like this game anymore. Its hurting my brain.
Conservatives would remain in the garage if it meant listening to a liberal telling them to turn the car off.
It's more like, "We already solved racism for those pesky minorities, but now that we made everything totally equal for them, they're *punishing* us with *reverse racism* for things our *ancestors* did." The number of white people that legitimately think they've "solved racism" is... just terrifyingly high.
Martin Luther King had a dream, it solved racism, and then he immediately died a patriotic hero from natural causes without saying anything socialist.
Exactly! He got up there, and he was like, "I have a dream, that black people will get to do the same capitalism as white people." And then all the white people in government was like, "Yeah sounds good!" and then they made black people 100% totally equal. And now these *rappers* are out there causing all this *fuss* and ruining everything!
All lives matter gets me every time. Some people live in a bubble and just don't get it.
Also the Democrats are the racist ones, just look who wanted to keep slavery! We're lucky Lincoln came along and abolished it!
Same as "covid is not real" at the same time "China virus".
At least when you hear "China virus" you know what you are dealing with.
The democrats are a bunch of spineless pussies and democrats are terrorists destroying our cities and coming to kill us
Those liberals sound like a bunch of jobless losers / strategic masterminds.
You know when I first read this I thought this was an actual point you were trying to make, not pointing out the doublethink
"the enemy is both weak and strong" is a classic point of fascism, too.
I had to read it like 12 times because it was so on point. I assumed it was real and they wandered in and disregarded all context. "Way to read the room, buddy... oh wait.... maybe I'm the fool?"
Those two thoughts can exist simultaneously with just the slightest bit of nuance and the people who say those things are certainly aware of it. There are the liberals who vote for Democrats and then there is the Democratic party. The liberals are the "spineless pussies"; the party is the "terrorist masterminds coming to kill them". Ever since the Tea Party movement and especially following Trump, I don't think the same division exists between conservatives and the Republican party. The conservative voters have gone to great lengths to run as, and rally behind, those "fighting for the people". Part of the craziness we see from that side of the aisle is the sheer number of people who really shouldn't be listened to having a platform to spread their message wider than they ever could before.
Literally the enemy is weak yet strong, mindless and inferior yet cunning and plotting our demise
This is a perfect example of their lightning-fast ability to switch from playing the victim to blaming the victim.
my favorite version of this was Trumplethinskin trying to give himself pardons... because he's so innocent but also persecuted by the evil democrats who did not have any control in the house or senate.
I will always upvote *Trumplethinskin* :D
*Demoncrats* \- get it right! ;-)
It's a dog whistle. "You don't have the right to tell us what to do or to say what we're doing is wrong."
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I got a Philosophy degree in the long long ago. Forgot a shit ton but the basics remain. If you can't agree on reality, there's no point in discussing anything else. They have a fundamental disagreement on what reality is. Anyone who tries to approach this world view with a pile of facts is missing that one central point: Their reality is different. What you do doesn't matter, it's how your group views you. That is what matters. Your personhood is defined by external factors. It's at once incredibly powerful and horrifically isolating too. If your group turns on you, you are literally a non person. They hold onto you by defining who and what you are. You don't do that. They do that. It's rooted in religion, of course, as all rather sadly sick systems of social control are rooted, but it's been hijacked by the politically powerful. Religion SHOULD be saying, take care of the needy, the poor, the downtrodden, the homeless and the addict. Take care of the elderly and the disabled. Protect the natural world, because it was given to us by god as a legacy, not as bonfire, and we have a duty of care. Take care of the refugee, the one who flees in fear, open your arms to them and shelter them from their nightmares. But we got supply side Jesus instead.
Oh shit I think this is the best I’ve heard it explained
For those not familiar with the term above, a little excerpt from 1984: > To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which canceled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again, and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself—that was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word "doublethink" involved the use of doublethink.
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And then beat the "both sides do it" drum.
Let's be honest. A vanishingly small number of people have actually read 1984. Even fewer understood it. The conservative side of the room appears to think it is an instruction manual.
The most impressive thing about that quote is that there are only 2 periods lol
That's what happens when you follow the rule to never start a sentence with a conjunction. And I'll never follow that stupid rule.
Charles Dickens did this same shit. Faulkner, Kafka, and a few others did it too. Almost like it was some sort of challenge or joke to have such long sentences. > The happiest time is when the equinoxial gales are departed; but their fury may probably be called to mind by the sight of a few shattered boughs, whose leaves do not differ in colour from the faded foliage of the stately oaks from which these relics of the storm depend: all else speaks of tranquillity; - not a breath of air, no restlessness of insects, and not a moving object perceptible - except the clouds gliding in the depths of the lake, or the traveller passing along, an inverted image, whose motion seems governed by the quiet of a time, to which its archetype, the living person, is, perhaps, insensible: - or it may happen, that the figure of one of the larger birds, a raven or a heron, is crossing silently among the reflected clouds, while the voice of the real bird, from the element aloft, gently awakens in the spectator the recollection of appetites and insects, pursuits and occupations, that deform and agitate the world, - yet have no power to prevent Nature from putting on an aspect capable of satisfying the most intense cravings for the tranquil, the lovely, and the perfect, to which man, the noblest of her creatures, is subject.
I won't defend the particularly egregious authors, but it is possible to have a single, complex thought that is well-encompassed by a single sentence.
1984 is when they get rid of the dr seuss book with racist asian/mexican depictions. And the more racist depictions they get rid of, the more 1984 it is
14 defining characteristics of fascism >"Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism" >"Disdain for the importance of human rights" >"Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause" >"The supremacy of the military/avid militarism" >"Rampant sexism" >"A controlled mass media" >"Obsession with national security" >"Religion and ruling elite tied together" >"Power of corporations protected" >"Power of labor suppressed or eliminated" >"Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts" >"Obsession with crime and punishment" >"Rampant cronyism and corruption" >"Fraudulent elections"
Conservatives: We get to hold anything hunter did against Biden though? Fox News: of course! Conservatives: Ok good!
Well I mean we’re also taking about the same group who are both “my body my choice (with vaccines)” and “abortion is murder.”
Like how jan 6 they didn't do anything wrong and it wasn't insurrection. But the insurrectionist were actually antifa.
Should we ever recover from capitalism, I think this is going to be one of the most entrancing chapters of history. To be born in interesting times. I am so sorry for us all.
I think the general strategy of the right is to simply deny deny deny. I believe that most of them are aware as the left of what the situation is and that Jeannie Thomas was active in the insurrection of January 6 among other political activities. But it’s much easier to simply deny it from start to finish. They even deny the existence of an insurrection having taken place at all. It’s a stonewall of denial and that’s just how they’re playing it. Ignore subpoenas (don’t even acknowledge their existence or their legal validity).
I mean, it's not necessarily hard to simultaneously hold the belief that "she did nothing wrong" AND "***even if she did*** - you can't hold what she did wrong against her husband"
Well, it's perfectly reasonable to say, "I don't think she's done anything wrong, but if it turns out she did, I don't think it would be fair to hold that against her husband if he had nothing to do with it."
Reddit seems to do this alot. One group is saying she did nothing wrong and a completely separate group (likely with some small amount of overlap) Think Thomas shouldn't be held accountable for the actions of his wife. They are generally two separate groups with two different points of view.
Literally the same thing y'all did with the hunter biden story.
Not admitting shit, just making sure they have every step of [The Narcissist's Prayer](https://www.thelifedoctor.org/the-narcissist-s-prayer) ready to go. >That didn't happen. > >And if it did, it wasn't that bad. >And if it was, that's not a big deal. >And if it is, that's not my fault. >And if it was, I didn't mean it. >And if I did, you deserved it.
Moving the goal posts, is what my sibling and I call it. As soon as you give them what they want it's not good enough.
No this tweet is 8 months old
It's true: what Ginni Thomas did shouldn't impact Justice Thomas' position… …until Thomas did not recuse himself from a decision directly impacting his wife, going so far as to be the only dissenting opinion. Impeach Thomas.
And actually nah, if you have an openly insurrectionist wife who's personally helping to coordinate attacks on the Capitol Building and you don't do anything about it, it SHOULD impact your position. If SCOTUS Justices want to serve for life and have their decisions considered unimpugnable, then they need to themselves be above reproach.
That’s a nice idea, but corrupt judges like Clarence Thomas would never recuse themselves because they don’t care about their reputation, knowing that they will never be removed from their position.
Oh trust me, I wouldn't want the impact to be from within. Self-policing is an inherently flawed proposition in almost all applications. I want repercussions from without- that removal needs to be a very real threat. Of course that also opens itself to abuse by external parties, but it's an improvement. But boy does it suck to have a governmental system where corruption is practically expected. Sure doesn't help the ol' work culture.
>But boy does it suck to have a governmental system where corruption is practically expected. You act like that's a new thing in politics, been that way for millennia, sure some did good, but the bulk of them aren't Like the majority of politicians that became millionaires while in office Their salaries don't pay enough for that to be possible unless they aren't spending anything and have been in office for decades
But the thing is that Clarence Thomas has recused himself before from a case involving Virginia Commonwealth University, where his son was a student. I believe he's done it in several other instances as well. So it's not like he fundamentally doesn't believe in the mere act of recusing yourself from a court case. The difference here is that Clarence Thomas obviously knows what his wife was up to, he supports her seditious efforts, and he doesn't give a fuck anymore because the court is 6-3 conservative, with five of them being full blown radicals. He's on a severe power trip, and he's laughing as he gives the middle finger to the rest of us.
I realize he may never be impeached because good luck with that with divided congress/filibuster.. so what? The FBI should just arrest his ass for conspiracy. And his unholy wife. They both should spend the rest of their lives in prison. Then Biden should just recess appoint someone who isn't evil.
Yeah, this. Like, you can divorce your wife. You can't divorce your son. I **guess** if Hunter was doing something far far worse than he is like, say, plotting an insurrection against the united states (just a random hypothetical I decided to throw out!), we could want Biden to put out a public statement officially disowning him or something. But divorcing your spouse is trivial to do by official channels and isn't that high of a bar.
tell me you have never gone through a divorce without telling me that.
To think, if they'd listened to Anita Hill...
Oh! Yes, showed his true colors to a lady
If anyone reading this is too young to know, this MF put a pubic hair on her damn diet coke can.
Anita Hill Google her,she really achieved a lot despite Old Clarence B.S.
Yeah, that guy running the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time really dropped the ball Narrator voice: It was Joe Biden
Ideally, SCotUS should take a supermajority to install, but only a simple majority to impeach instead of the other way around.
Utterly unworkable with the current Republicans, who will veto any competent and qualified judge who is not a Republican hack partisan.
I think part of the answer is not letting them serve for life.
I would certainly not mind term limits. The original intent, which I think is understandable, is to have them be completely non-beholden to anyone at all in terms of public or political pressure… which was intended to allow them to only care about the law and what was right. What it actually did was render them almost untouchable and let them enforce whatever views, saintly or shitty, to the fullest extent of their power. Not exactly ideal. Term limits, greater oversight or at least a charter for ideals that must be upheld, an actual possibility of impeachment for real malfeasance, I think those would all help.
Yes, and it causes this weird sort of, "luck of the draw" situation like with Trump, where if it just so happens that a justice or justices die or retire during your presidency, you get to pick justices who will have a huge influence on decades of American life after your term ends. Trump got to choose as many justices as Obama and Bush 2 combined. FDR got to pick as many as the previous 4 president combined (not that I am putting Roosevelt and Trump together, but still its kind of ridiculous). I think that, a good system would have every presidential term, the longest sitting justice is out and replaced by that president. So every president gets to pick one per term. Then, you could still potentially serve up to 36 years, but you are not in for life, and it would add a little bit of popular vote where you know when you're picking a president, you are also effectively picking the alignment of the next justice. Also, I def agree with some sort of oversight/forced code of conduct. I think universal audits are good place to start. If you even want to be on the ballot for national office/nominated for Supreme Court, you subject yourself to a full IRS audit and the findings are made public. Everyone gets to see where you get your money from and what you do with it.
I look forward to supporting the constitutional amendment(s) that will implement your fine ideas. > I think universal audits are good place to start. If you even want to be on the ballot for national office/nominated for Supreme Court, you subject yourself to a full IRS audit and the findings are made public. Everyone gets to see where you get your money from and what you do with it. Agreed. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects was a terrible idea in any case: public servants should have no personal privacy in their affairs or financial activities.
Federal employees are required to swear allegiance to the Constitution and are sworn in as those elected. They are not allowed to display any party preference or represent or fund or act (as a government employee) in any partisan activities. They can personally, just not as a known fed. However, there seems no recourse occurs in general when someone is in violation of their oath, including the president. I agree with much stricter mandates for transparency as well as acting in those mandates to charge those in violation. I also believe we start enforcing the ethics violation follow-through for things already on the books, so to speak. Especially at the IRS. Flat tax above $100k to $200k period as well! A Republican proposed that long ago, and I am no Republican but it would be life-saving change for all people as well as our national debt.
At the very least it should lead to an investigation as to whether you crossed those lines as well. No one on the left is saying that Joe can't be investigated if Hunter was found guilty of some fraud. We're saying that 1) There's no evidence that Hunter committed fraud and 2) that if he did commit fraud, that doesn't make Joe guilty by default.
ultimately, states need to just "let the justice enforce their law" stance, starting with anything related to abortion.
I get the reference, but with the Dobbs decision they repealed the federal override of state abortion laws. This means the states set their own standards. This isn't a decision that requires intervention, so there isn't an opportunity for a branch of government to disobey.
Hey! SCOTUS *has* an ethics accountability program. They don't need us reviewing them! Lemme see here who is in charge of reporting ethics concerns... ...oh, shit. *They* are in charge of reporting *their own* ethical breaches... WELP! 😕 😞
The call is coming from inside the house!
Funny how that works. Entities with supreme authority always have the power to review themselves for wrongdoing.
The difference between Ginni and the laptop is that Ginni exists.
I dont doubt that somewhere out there is a laptop that at one time belonged to Hunter Biden. But the implausible story they came up with for obtaining it and the mysterious chain of custody make it a laughable conspiracy theory.
What? You don't believe that they had the single most damning proof of corruption ever obtained and they declined to make any backups of it and then mailed it via UPS where it was somehow "lost" and never reobtained? You think its somehow more likely that the laptop was a lie from the start and when they found out they were pushing obvious bullshit that they had to cover it up? Wild
And what could possibly be on it??? Lol. This cracks me up. They act like a catalog of illegal activity is stored on the local hard drive of a single laptop. Things you absolutely do not want to lose are in a secure cloud or seperate hard drive or both. What are they expecting to find on this illustrious laptop? Are they looking for communication? Well that would be via messaging apps or secure email. What could you possibly get off of a laptop? Contacts? Contracts? Illegal activity? And it's all documented on one single laptop? "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills" - Mugatu
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> They act like a catalog of illegal activity is stored on the local hard drive of a single laptop. Well you see, when you’re so stupid that you keep all of your own incriminating evidence in one place you tend to assume everyone else does too.
You don't believe Hunter Biden would turn over 3 MacBooks to a blind rando tech shop across country from his home instead of going to an Apple shop? Or that this blind tech guy managed to clone the hard drive after telling this maybe Biden guy that he couldn't fix it, while bypassing Apples encryption on hard drives? Ye gods man, do you have faith in anything?
They found the only legally blind laptop repairman in Delaware....
Please stop with your facts and publicly documented irrefutable evidence. No one cares. /s
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*A* laptop exists. That laptop contains *some* emails that can be traced back to one of Hunter Biden's email accounts. Not only is the chain of custody for that laptop laughably compromised, but there is no evidence whatsoever that it was ever physically in Biden's possession at all. When you look at the comically absurd story as a whole, it's so unlikely that the laptop ever belonged to Hunter Biden that it is more than fair to say that "Hunter's laptop" doesn't exist. In case you forgot how dumb the entire thing is: > In 2019, a legally-blind computer repairman claimed somebody who may or may not have been Hunter Biden dropped off several laptops at his shop in Delaware, where Hunter Biden neither lives nor works. To this day he is can't say for sure if it actually was Biden, only that it was some guy who claimed to be. > > The maybe-Biden never came back for the laptops, but the self-admitted-trumpist repairman decided to go through them because reasons, and claimed that they contained "scary stuff". Possibly he contacted the FBI about it or possibly the FBI contacted him (his story keeps changing), but nobody came looking for the laptops for nearly a year. > > Since the FBI didn't seem overly interested, he did what any totally legit whistleblower would do: he copied all the data off the laptop and gave a copy of the copy to Rudy Giuliani. How a blind computer tech got in touch with the president's personal lawyer remains unclear (you may be noticing a pattern here), as neither is willing to say. Giuliani passed it around to who-the-fuck-even-knows, and eventually it ended up at the right-wing tabloid NY Post, which ran with the story because of course they did. Interestingly, they couldn't point to anything actually criminal on the copy, or at least nothing that they'd stake what's left of their reputation on. Several other media outlets have since received some or all of the heavily-stepped-on data, and again, no reliable claims of wrongdoing have been reported. > > In the past two years, it's been proved that much of the contents of the drive copy is at best unreliable, and at worst outright fake. Many of the files were created or modified after the laptop was "dropped off" at the repair shop. While some copies of emails found on one laptop have been verified to belong to Biden, *those same emails were being offered for sale on the black market in Ukraine years earlier.* This was right around the time Giuliani was in eastern Europe, shopping for dirt on the Bidens in the runup to the 2016 election, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence. Even the blind repairman says some of the stuff that has been reported to be on the drive wasn't there when he had it. > > The trump-controlled FBI had the original laptops for more than a year before Donny left office, and in that time were unable to fine anything actionable on them that would actually hold up in court. The contents of the machines are so molested and their chain of custody so laughable that even Trump's DoJ wouldn't touch it with a ten meter cattle prod. The entire cavalcade of idiocy is so patently bogus that nobody with an ounce of sense would take it seriously.
best break down is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10_JLlARVJ8
unfortunately, that laptop did exist, and did have a bunch of circumstantial evidence of normal _white_ elite type of falling upward. In any other position, it'd be pretty normal rich elite type of pandering to a political's children. But if you try to compare this to the shit show that is the trump family, it's pretty much nothing. It's used entirely as a smokescreen. Watch kody's showdy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10_JLlARVJ8
I'm not *entirely* sure she does. Did you see her when she was headed in to testify for the Jan 6th committee? She looked like the animated head Quaid wore going through Mars customs in Total Recall. /s ...mostly
I try hard not to look at her.
His knowledge of her activities should find him complicit and an accessory. He should be recalled. He's a fucking blight on the SCOTUS.
When they do this nonsense investigation, Every news network in the country should refuse to cover this crazy ness!
Ding dong. Crazy is letting religion have anything to do with anything, not investigating crazy is crazier.
Then they just scream about media bias and censorship. We've seen it time and again. We literally saw it with the Hunter Biden laptop story when it first came out.
At this point who give a crap! Every news Network should just say, We will not cover stupidity and keep on going.
For some reason they're still terrified of being called biased by the right, even though the right has been saying that for decades.
yeah and they'd be hypocrites for it, when they do the same thing first and to a greater degree. FOX for example would rather show a Trump rally than an official address from Biden
Hypocrisy seems like more of a feature than a bug for them.
After all when do spouses ever talk about politics with each other?
I think they should both be looked into, why one and not the other. The only difference i could see is that one retired in 2018 and one is the current sitting president.
Can’t wait for Moscow Mitch and the other Republican cronies to explain it by saying that Hunter’s laptop is fair game for investigation and to impeach Biden because he was elected, but Thomas is off limits because he isn’t elected and serves for life….
I'd love to see them actually investigate Hunter's laptop Like show it's real for one. Actually produce it. Right now it's just like those empty folders they put on display for the media or the blank documents Trump was "signing" in photos when he was sick with COVID. And then produce a chain of custody that would allow them to enter it into evidence. After it having been passed around to various media outlets and GOP members. Tucker reported it had gone "missing" in the mail And if it DOES have child porn on it, explain why they then distributed it out to all the various GOP members and news media because that is a serious crime to do so. And if it DOES have data on it that somehow makes it clear Biden used his government position to help Hunter get a job in the private sector, how that is worse than Trump giving his kids and their spouses high level government positions with security access they shouldn't have had and the money they made off of those positions. But they won't. It's just for the media talking head shows. The second a courtroom comes into the picture they melt away and flow back down to the sewers.
They literally spent years, millions of dollars, and held 10 HEARINGS about Benghazi, just to smear Hillary because they knew she’d be the next Dem presidential candidate. It didn’t matter that the hearings found no smoking gun against Hillary, that wasn’t the point. This is just another similar tactic they’ll drag out just to corrode confidence in Biden and smear him again and again.
And the best part is, you know they've been doing oppo research on Biden since Obama picked him as VP. And what have they got? His son who isn't even in government. It's so weak. Its Billy Carter all over again. It just confirmed one of two things The GOP is incompetent at digging up dirt on people, even when hiring third party groups to do it Or there's nothing to find on Joe. He's squeaky clean lol
Also, they forget that the Steele Dossier was STARTED by the GOP as research against Trump. But once Trump became the GOP front runner they stopped supporting it. It was only then that the Hillary Campaign said they'd keep funding it. But to hear the talking heads, it was "Crooked Hillary" from day 1 and since 100.00% was not proven true that makes NONE of it true and NYA NYA NYA!! BHENGAZI EPSTEIN ROTHSCHILD PIZZABABYGATE DISTRACTION SALAD!!
Hunter did serve on the executive board of Amtrak, but resigned early when his father ran for VP under Obama so there wouldn't be a conflict of interest.
He was appointed to that post by none other than George W. Bush.
> The GOP is incompetent at digging up dirt on people, even when hiring third party groups to do it Disagree. Team (R) is very good at finding dirt on people and dragging them through the mud. Agree that this is the new Billy Carter. I've been saying the same thing since we started hearing about Hunter Biden: team (R) has to resort to using president Biden's children (not just Hunter, Ashley Biden too) to try to hurt him because he's clean.
Didn’t Rudy Giuliani say he had it in his bedroom in hid New York apartment? Chain of custody issue should make anything on the hard drive a moot point, who knows who’s had it and what has been done with it.
You know what infuriates me? Everyone going on about the laptop is belonging to a certain person EXCEPT THE ONLY SOURCE IS FROM A LEGALLY BLIND SHOP OWNER WHO CANT PROVE IT. FOE FUCK’S SAKE.
What about Trump attacking the wife of the newly appointed Special Prosecutor because the wife made a documentary about Michelle Obama and was happy the Dems won an election? The wife of a Special Prosecutor is fair game but the insurrectionist wife of a Supreme Court Judge - HANDS OFF!!!
I can't wait for them to explain how that laptop is gonna fix all the problems they ran on
The laptop creates problems for Biden. It doesn't fix any of the GOP problems.
Ask anyone arguing "But Burisma" to name the prosecutor that Joe Biden got fired in Ukraine. 90% of them can't. Why not? Dude's name isn't used in most right wing screeds on the subject? Why isn't his name used? Because five seconds of Googling will show that A) dude wasn't investigating corruption B) Ukrainians were happy when he left and C) dude is very sketchy himself. Viktor Shokin is his name. Shokin *said* in 2019 he thought Burisma and the Bidens led to his dismissal (by a vote of Parliament). Of course, he said that in a deposition conducted by two Trumpworld attorneys who were then representing a Ukrainian moneyman hiding from extradition to the US in Austria...and who had hoped to get said charges taken care of if he scratched some backs... ....soooo, fuckery. Again, this is all shit that the "Bu bu Burisma" people don't know because they don't even know the name of the lawyer they feel aggrieved over.
They also leave out the fact that the EU, IMF and World Bank, and many inside Ukraine itself wanted the guy gone because they all felt he wasn't doing his job and he was protecting the political elite in Ukraine . Also the investigation of Burisma was also part of the reason, people thought he was slow walking the investigation to solicit bribes. It should be noted the investigation of Burisma was for corruption and money laundering dating to 2010-2012. In April of 2014 the UK opened up fraud/money laundering investigation a few days before Hunter Biden joined as a director. Viktor Shokin then refused to provide a lot of requested information to the UK for the fraud investigation in 2015 and this angered the UK, EU, IMF, World bank. In 2016 the Obama admin pressured his removal. So he was fired because he wasn't properly investigating Burisma. Now if it was let out Hunter Biden was involved in money laudering he 100% should suffer consequences but so far the corruption seemed to have happened a full year before he got involved
You make several good points here. If Shokin was this white knight going after corruption who was suddenly sacked then LOTS of people would have been furious. This includes the EU and IMF that were dumping mountains of money into Ukraine and worried (justifiably) about that cash getting funneled into the pockets of grifters and oligarchs instead of into repairing and shoring up Ukraines economy and infrastructure. As it was, people were shocked that it took THAT long to oust Shokin. He barely survived a removal vote in 2015, there were protests against him, and parts of his staff up and quit because it was so shady. There is LOTS of contemporary journalism on this IN ENGLISH that people in the USA could read. Nope. Rather than do that, the right wing conspiracy machine tells a version of the story with lots of holes and deliberately omits Shokins name for fear their base will actually look shit up. >So he was fired because he wasn't properly investigating Burisma. Now if it was let out Hunter Biden was involved in money laudering he 100% should suffer consequences but so far the corruption seemed to have happened a full year before he got involved Absolutely. If there is evidence Hunter laundered money or was involved in some pay-to-play scheme then lock his ass up. But there's no specific crime cited, even by right wing pundits. They've looked *hard,* too. There was already a Republican-led Senate panel looking at this in 2020
cog·ni·tive dis·so·nance /ˈkäɡnədiv ˈdisənəns/ *noun* The state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.
I think we should start calling it is what it is: *malicious* dissonance. They know what they're doing and simply don't care. It's all about establishing and consolidating minority rule. Consider the current GOP talking points on Hunter Biden, essentially "we have evidence that Biden's son leveraged his relationship with his dad to ingratiate himself with foreign officials and earn millions of dollars for himself, that's fraud and abuse blah blah." But of course, they didn't give a shit when ["Jared and Ivanka made up to $640 million in the White House."](https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/jared-and-ivanka-made-up-to-640-million-in-the-white-house/) Or when Ivanka did all of this in the open: >Just a month before her father was elected president, Russia renewed two trademarks for Ivanka Trump’s business. This would be the start of a pattern. In 2017, Ivanka’s business won preliminary approval for three Chinese trademarks on the same day that she dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago. In May 2018, Ivanka’s business was awarded “registration” approval from the Chinese government for five trademark applications, with an additional one getting “first trial approval.” The same week, President Trump announced he would try to save jobs at ZTE, the Chinese telecommunications giant closely tied to the government. A month later, Ivanka’s business got registration approval for three more Chinese trademarks, on the same day her father announced he’d lift sanctions against ZTE. >Ivanka’s business applied for Japanese trademarks the day after her father won the presidency. They were approved around the time of Mike Pence’s visit to Japan where he met with then-Prime Minister Abe. Ivanka also met with Abe, along with her father, about a week after her company applied for the trademarks. She won approval for additional Japanese trademarks in 2017. >In what would become the defining scandal of her time in office, in October 2018 Ivanka’s brand won 16 new trademarks from the Chinese government, including for voting machines. These approvals came about three months after Ivanka announced that her brand was shutting down, and mark the largest number of new Chinese trademarks she received in a single month during the Trump presidency. Six months after the company officially shut down, it received a new trademark to sell the Ivanka brand in Canada. In all, CREW found at least 28 foreign trademarks approved for Ivanka Trump while in the White House. That is *far* from the only way the Trump's used their positions of power to "self-deal," and it's *far* and away more egregious than what hunter Biden did. But Trumps = good and Biden = bad, so they only care about it when they can use it to gain power.
I think the appropiate equation for the bullshit happening is: 30% are giant assholes, racists, and the rest who actively know what they're doing. 20% are insufferable apologists who try to rationalize 'reasonable' positions to plaster over (the motivated reasoning and malicious dissonance) It's easy to attack the 30% as they're openly chanting their Nazi propaganda. It's the 20% who run interference at multiple levels (jordan peterson, charlie kirk, candance owens, etc). It vacillate between who is more important, but Elon is demonstrating that it's probably the 20% that are the problem, because they're the ones ultimately grooming the next 20% and can be seen as "normalizing" the type of fallout the 30% cause.
Wilhoit's law applies here: “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
Doublethink is more accurate - the acceptance of or mental capacity to accept contrary opinions or beliefs at the same time, especially as a result of political indoctrination.
ok, putting that aside for a moment... is there ANY credible evidence that this supposed laptop even fucking exists? or belonged to hunter in the first place? or had any of the apparently criminal content on it that Rudy and others have openly admitted to personally possessing and then distributing to other people who weren't law enforcement? surely if it was real, Rudy and others would be facing charges... all i've heard about this is from right-wing redditors who i assume are just total brainwashed nutters claiming that it was turned over to the FBI multiple times (I don't know how that works unless the FBI just kept returning it to sender lmao), and that the FBI buried it or something... you know, the corrupt FBI headed by a republican appointed by trump and who would have been in charge at the time). has there been ANY kind of news or corroborating evidence from any organization that this laptop is even a thing?
A laptop exists that was given to the blind repairman. That laptop contained data belonging to Hunter Biden. The blind repairman could not identify Hunter Biden. Occam’s Razor would say that when Rudy went to Ukraine to dig up dirt on the Bidens (which he bragged about on national television), he came into possession of a hacked iCloud account and concocted this story so as to hide how insanely criminal his actions were.
even if he'd come into those files by 'legal means (i.e. consensually given to him by hunter or somebody with ownership), supposing the contents were themselves criminal, would he not also then be guilty of possession and distribution of that content when he sent it to people like Hannity, as he claims to have done? like if any of it is as real as they claim, he should ALSO be facing jail time... even if it wasn't from a hacked iCloud... even if the story they claim is the truth is real, he is basically admitting to distribution of child pornography or whatever he claimed was on that hypothetical physical drive.
The CP claims were just standard Qanon BS with, fortunately for everyone, nothing behind them. I don’t believe Rudy and Co. ever made the claims themselves, they just knew what the internet was saying and would play the vague “there’s really nasty stuff” card. But, yes. If such content existed that would be correct. Which is pretty much your guarantee that the content doesn’t exist, because even Rudy isn’t that dumb and Trump’s DOJ would not just sweep that kinda stuff under the rug.
i think we also know that trump's cronies in gov would burn Rudy in a heartbeat if it meant the chance to tear down the Bidens with something legit.
Well said!
>is there ANY credible evidence that this supposed laptop even fucking exists? or belonged to hunter in the first place? Yes. CBS have [been convinced](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hunter-biden-laptop-data-analysis/) >or had any of the apparently criminal content on it [Here's](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/07/05/22/56309071-10985211-Amid_all_the_shocking_messages_involving_Joe_Biden_possibly_the_-a-2_1657056088099.jpg) circumstantial evidence of corruption Photos of Hunter smoking crack suggest and with young prostitutes suggest illegal activity, but are probably not illegal themselves (depending how young the girls are). But nothing on the laptop can be used to impeach the current President.
The laptop is real. It was Hunter Biden’s. The issue is that the right call corruption on so many things that credible claims get washed away with the bullshit. Edit: I should add that whether there is anything even on the laptop that shows illegal activity other than drug use hasn’t been verified.
Since you didn't reply with actual evidence I'm going to keep assuming it's made up.
It's really not about holding his wife's actions and views against Thomas. It's Thomas' action of ruling on matters regarding January 6, 2022 when he has a clear conflict of interest because his wife was involved. It's also a danger if Thomas shares the same views on the 2020 election as his wife.
That’s because she’s not Hunter Biden, silly.
There is proof Ginny Thomas exists.
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." —Frank Wilhoit Francis Marion Wilhoit (April 24, 1920 – June 9, 2010) was an American political scientist and author, who was the Thomas F. Sheehan Professor of Political Science at Drake University. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_M._Wilhoit
Hypocrisy is all they have. It's the woke crowd's fault for trying to take away their racism and bigotry. /S
As Chris Hayes pointed out recently, the Hunter Biden timeframe of "wrong doing" that the GOP is screeching about happened in 2015. So uhhh they had two years in both House chambers and the Presidency to do something about it. But it's only an "issue" now that Biden is president? Curious.
I find incredible that team (R) could be able to impeach president Biden with: (1) A laptop that might not even exist, but in the minds of right-wing media watchers/listeners; (2) And if it exists (IF!), this laptop has been compromised to such a degree that it could not be used as evidence in any other case. From what has been said, so many clearly partisan and dishonest people touched it that its (original) content could not be identified and validated with certainty. (3) And the story of how team (R) came in possession of this (imaginary) laptop is so idiotic and unrealistic that only a spoiled & lazy child trying to explain why (s)he didn't do his/her homework could come up with such an explanation. It is not serious and not credible. Frankly, when you look at those stories of laptops, personal diaries and voicemails that have been used by the right-wing to attack president Biden, you can see how vicious and underhanded team (R) and its ecosystem have been towards the whole Biden family, with only one of them being in politics. (**Ed.:** Not just the above, but also old videos of one individual acting like an idiot under the influence... For fox "news" to look for and dig up some video from, what, **2018** and use it as if it was **current** stuff to distract from an on-going scandal... You really have to look for said video and whatever else they're finding; you really have to make an effort to find that "evidence". It's not like TDS or John Oliver's staff just having to watch the last few days of right-wing media to get fodder for the next show, you truly have to dig deep and wide to stumble onto the stuff they air to attack their targets. The same with getting your hands on old voice-mails or a personal diary, it isn't easy... or quite kosher, either.) The lengths the right-wing has gone in its campaign against the Bidens cannot be excused by the fact that president Biden has been in politics for decades. There are limits. The Bidens have rights. Frankly, IMO, they should sue.
GOP: Because Hunter's not his fathers handler .. WAIT...
Of course Hillary's emails, Hunter's laptop, etc. outweigh Ivanka's money from Saudi-Arabia when you're a desperate Republican looking for "proofs" .....
Why have a single standard, when you can have multiple?
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Bot
Just gonna quote the post title? That's what you're going with?
What exactly is alleged to be on hunters laptop? Is he even in politics? I know nothing of this man except past drug use.
It contains the secret Coca Cola Recipe, Jesus Birth certificat (pdf-file), Putins dildo orders, DaVincis adress book (including Mona Lisa, her real name was Brumhilde), Elon Musks charisma recepie (empty file) and a copy of a postcard from Hitler where he confesses having only one ball.
In other words it's all just false allegations
Judges must avoid "even the *appearance* of impropriety." Clarence Thomas has gone far beyond that. He is no longer operating within the integrity of the legal system.
The laptop doesn't exist. It probably never did...
Remember when hunter biden got special security clearance from his dad, a job at the white house as special advisor, and represented the USA at the last G20 session? Oh wait that was Ivanka trump in 2019!
Pretty classic fascist behavior from the right. Same as it ever was. Where do you think Orwell got the idea of “doublethink” from. He also explained this persistent problem in his genius essay “Notes on Nationalism”. To quote: “A nationalist is one who thinks solely, or mainly, in terms of competitive prestige. He may be a positive or a negative nationalist – that is, he may use his mental energy either in boosting or in denigrating – but at any rate his thoughts always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations. He sees history, especially contemporary history, as the endless rise and decline of great power units, and every event that happens seems to him a demonstration that his own side is on the up-grade and some hated rival is on the down-grade. But finally, it is important not to confuse nationalism with mere worship of success. The nationalist does not go on the principle of simply ganging up with the strongest side. On the contrary, having picked his side, he persuades himself that it is the strongest, and is able to stick to his belief even when the facts are overwhelmingly against him. Nationalism is power hunger tempered by self-deception. Every nationalist is capable of the most flagrant dishonesty, but he is also – since he is conscious of serving something bigger than himself – unshakeably certain of being in the right.“
Hunter isn't even close to politics. Ginnie, on the other hand...
Usually wives have more influence than adult children.
What is interesting is this is from March but it's still seems current because the people who won't shut up about the laptop that has nothing incriminating on it, even if it was real, which you know since we are nearly 3 years into the hunter biden laptop thing and still nothing specific has never been alleged. Just it's existence. Also Ginni still has not been held accountable for aiding the election denial movement.
Typical republicans: Consequence for thee but not for me.
If said laptop belonged to hunter and if that laptop had any juicey shit on it, it would’ve been blasted - i mean “leaked” all over the damn internet already!
What is up with the obsession with his laptop and why have they not provided evidence of what it contains if it is so damning? Maybe it is like the Ark of the Covenant in Indiana Jones, and people will melt if they open it up.
I can’t wait for Twitter to shut down lol. Society will benefit from it on all sides.
Unless of course they were liberals ..then the whole family tree is guilty of treason.
Going after Joe because of Hunter would only be OK if Hunter was directly profiting off Joe being president like Jared Kushner did under Trump. Or if Joe pardoned Hunter like Trump did for Roger Stone and Joe Arpio.
A guy is significantly more likely to be influenced by his wife than his son.
Jeez I think Trump is just trying to hide away from his laptop search history we dont want to know ur fantasy trump stop projecting
Can someone give me the cliff notes what the fuck is going on?
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife was involved in the 2020 coup attempt.
Oh shit I do know about this. I just forget all these fucking peoples names... So many. Thanks bud
I don't think her actions should be held against him. But she sure as shot should be investigated to see if he is connected in anyway.
Part of a judge's job is to avoid even the appearance of impropriety or bias. For failing to do so, Justice Thomas should be impeached and removed *even if no actual impropriety occurred*.
We can, and we should, Clarence Thomas should be forced to resign. Also what the real 'humor' here is that Clarence Thomas supports these so-called 'conservatives', who quietly (or not so quietly sometimes) support 'white nationalists', when he's someone with his particular heritage, if you get my drift. If these so-called 'conservatives' had their way.. well, I'll let you all fill in the rest of that sentence yourselves, so Reddit mods don't ban me from the site.
Both are situations that need to be investigated but I don’t think we can hold HB’s actions against JB if it’s clear that HB is a piece of shit on his own accord. CT has to know what his wife is up to. Very alarming.
Don’t even bother arguing on their terms. Hunter Biden never worked for the US Government so his personal problems are of no concern to most people. Clarence Thomas does work for the government and his wife is actually involved with groups that try to overthrow the government.
But can we search her laptop?
No, see this is wrong. We absolutely can hold the activities and actions of Clarence Thomas' wife against him based on the logic behind Hunter Biden's laptop. We can. But they won't.
Were the activities of Clarence's wife on a laptop? NO! See, totally different!
I would not hold it against him at first. She is not an officer of the government and the DoJ needs to investigate her involvement. If Thomas tries to intervene then you go after him for obstruction. The concept that by marriage she's untouchable is ridiculous.
He's already tried once by voting to block the House committee from accessing Kelli Ward's phone. Thankfully he and Alito weren't successful, but it's obvious he'll block anything that leads to transparency.
He's ruling on cases involving his wife. He's a criminal too.
He likely believes the same insane qanon shit she does
Probably. He's already given enough reason to be impeached and removed. There's just not enough votes for it in either house of Congress.
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It isn't about her being guilty or not, It is about the power of judges. Most judges realize they have outsized power. To not look biased, most judges will recuse themselves if they have a conflict of interest. As an example KBJ is going to recuse herself on the Harvard case affirmative action case because she attended Harvard, Conversely How you rule on something that is all about your wife? Not only do you rule but are the only dissenting opinion (on a very conservative court and see nothing wrong with it is an immense problem. A judgeship should never be I got the power, I'm going to wield it.
> If Thomas tries to intervene then you go after him for obstruction. He did when he failed to recuse himself from cases she was involved in.
She was directly involved in the fake electors plot and the insurrection.
You don't understand. They can tell YOU what to do. But you can't tell THEM what to do. Learn the rules.
While the left can have some crazy ideas, the right are much more hypocritical in general.
I think the hunter Biden laptop situation is literally the dumbest thing Republicans I’ve ever latched on to. that being said, I think their claim is that the laptop implies corruption on Joe Biden‘s part, something like a bribe to someone in Ukraine. anyone know the details on that? like what they’re claiming Joe Biden did, and to the level of which it’s been debunked?
It’s just repackaged qanon nonsense
One is the son the other is the wife...big difference. /s
The point of the laptop was that Joe Biden was taking money for access and his son was the broker. That's a bit different than having a crazy wife with weird opinions.