trump (convicted felon, defamer, insurrectionist, contemnor, and rapist - $537M)

[Foggy]

Stolen from Shizzle Popped in the Toons thread.

5qf60fsv5ul91.jpeg

[RVInit]

Trump told the Zuckerberg lie for the same reason he told everyone that he could shoot a man on 5th Avenue and not lose a single voter.

he's testing whether his cult is still his cult. Only members of a cult will still vote for someone after a statements such as "I could shoot a man on 5th Avenue and not lose a single supporter". And a cult is the only group of people who will stand there and listen to a lie that obvious and applaud the liar after he says it. Trump is just soothing himself in the knowledge that yes, the cult is still a cult. His cult.

[Slarti the White]

And it's stupid to tell a really blatantly obvious lie, because you get caught, and you look bad.

I think this statement, at least in reference to Trump, is completely false. I will bet that there are exactly zero people who watched that speech and changed their minds about Trump because of that story. He is not trying to convince people to believe him, he is telling the people who already trust him what they should believe -- we have always been at war with Eurasia. Propaganda is not about spinning the truth, it's about creating your own "truth" that binds your targets together and to you. I see this as having three main effects: (1) creating shibboleths -- the "in" group can identify other members by vetting them using this piece of information; (2) identifying who is (or is not) currently the enemy -- can't have the masses riot against the wrong boogeymen; and (3) destroying your targets' ability to think rationally -- the more contradictions that lie in our base assumptions, the more cognitive dissonance we have when we attempt to reason based on those assumptions and the more strongly motivated we are to cherry pick arguments to justify our existing beliefs.

All of our knowledge is based on some combination of authority (trust in someone else), faith (trust in our own beliefs), and empiricism (trust in the evidence). Since our own personal expertise and experience cannot possibly cover more than a very small fraction of the knowledge we need to function in our daily lives, we've all got information that we perceive as justified true belief in our heads that doesn't have strong object support. For the most part, the people who believe Trump aren't bad people -- they've just been fed (and addicted to) a raft of assumptions that has left them vulnerable to the propaganda he's pushing. The question, to me, is not "how can we convince them that they are wrong?", but, rather, "how can we all develop the ability to convince ourselves about what we are wrong about?"

I can't say that I have the answer to this (although I do think it is important that we all try to find the errors in our own beliefs -- or at least that I do), but I think it is instructive to try our best to figure out what Trump is trying to accomplish with stories like this and how the people in the crowd perceive it. Neither of these things is easy or comfortable, but if we can understand why we would believe the same things they do if we were in their place, then we can start to build bridges -- after all, the only way to counter the politics of divisiveness is to find a way to unite people.

Besides, everyone knows that we have always been at war with East Asia and always will be...

until we're not.

[Slarti the White]

Trump told the Zuckerberg lie for the same reason he told everyone that he could shoot a man on 5th Avenue and not lose a single voter.

he's testing whether his cult is still his cult. Only members of a cult will still vote for someone after a statements such as "I could shoot a man on 5th Avenue and not lose a single supporter". And a cult is the only group of people who will stand there and listen to a lie that obvious and applaud the liar after he says it. Trump is just soothing himself in the knowledge that yes, the cult is still a cult. His cult.

I wouldn't say he's testing whether his cult is still a cult (although he is certainly feeding his need for adulation), I would say he's continuing to put out the kind of propaganda that reinforces his cult -- if he stopped using his bully pulpit, the cult would start to weaken and drift apart because they would have to depend on other sources for what they believe is true.

[Suranis]

I think he is just saying what gets him applause because he needs that applause

[Kendra]

Cynthia Hughes, who runs a support group for J6ers, spoke at tonight's Trump rally. She told the story of her nephew Tim Cusanelli, a convicted Capitol rioter — and Nazi sympathizer, who said "Hitler should've finished the job." This is their poster child for J6 "injustice." /1

[Foggy]

Obviously someone with a deep understanding of Adolf Hitler.

[RVInit]

[johnpcapitalist]

A while bunch of excellent wisdom.

Brilliantly said. Bravo!

[raison de arizona]

Well this is striking.

[much ado]

Well this is striking.

Yes, it is.

[RTH10260]

Trump claims the FBI searched 16-year-old Barron's room in Mar-a-Lago. Former prosecutor says that's unlikely, unless he stored government docs there.

Sophia Ankel
2 hours ago

• Trump claimed that the FBI searched his son's room during the Mar-a-Lago raid.
  But a former federal prosecutor dismissed Trump's claim, telling MSNBC that this seemed unlikely.
  Renato Mariotti said the FBI would only enter a room if they had "any reason to look for records there."

Former President Donald Trump claimed on Saturday that the FBI searched his 16-year-old son Barron's room at Mar-a-Lago last month.

In his first political rally since the August 8 raid, Trump attacked both the FBI and Justice Department, describing them as "vicious monsters" controlled by "radical left scoundrels, lawyers, and the media."

"They rifled through the first lady's closet drawers, and everything else," Trump told supporters in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

"And even did a deep and ugly search of the room of my 16-year-old son — leaving everything they touched in far different condition than it was when they started. Can you believe it?"

A source close to Melania Trump said last month that the FBI had rifled through the former first lady's bedroom and closet at Mar-a-Lago, which "annoyed her" because she viewed it as a breach of privacy.

"She's private, and she's protective of her son and her home," an unnamed source told CNN. There have been no reports about the FBI searching Barron's room.



https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-c ... ely-2022-9

[bill_g]

Even if they did, the warrant was for the entire property, wasn't it?

[Suranis]

on;y tool him a month to say it. chances are its BS, and would not be a scandal if hey did.

[pipistrelle]

He remembers Barron when he can score political points with him.

As for Melanie, if you wanted privacy, you'd have married a poor non-criminal.

[Fiascoist]

If he is claiming Barron's room was searched, I see that as a tell. Documents are in that/those rooms. So, I hope they did search and if they conduct another search, they conduct a search of those particular rooms because documents will be found there. (Excuse will be Barron needed those documents for a school project).
Trump has no concept of what happens in real searches. They treated his place like the Sistine Chapel. I would love to see axes being taken to walls, you know, a real search.

[RTH10260]

then they'd find DonJr's cocaine

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

RV -

Thanks so much for posting that interview with Dr. Steve Hassan! Much of my pre-retirement law work was with domestic abuse victims who are basically a cult of one. I had read Dr. Hassan's Freedom of Mind which described his cult life, his cult exit, and his strategy of respect for helping family members.

It's interesting to listen to him offer steps for the government to take to EDUCATE the public about the mind control techniques being used.

[chancery]

Even if they did, the warrant was for the entire property, wasn't it?

Not the entire property, but all parts of it available to Trump. The search warrant is posted here: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap ... 7.0_31.pdf

The locations to be searched include the "45 Office," all storage rooms, and all
other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by FPOTUS and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate. It does not include areas currently (i.e., at the time of the search) being occupied, rented, or used by third parties (such as Mar-a-Largo Members) and not otherwise used or available to be used by FPOTUS and his staff, such as private guest suites.

It might be considered a bit ambiguous whether Baron's room would be deemed a room "available to be used by" the former president. But since the core example of a third party room is a guest room, I would conclude that Baron's room was within the scope of the search. And Melania's room. As someone posted on twitter a while back, crooks have been known to hide contraband in their consorts' underwear drawers.

[bill_g]

Not the entire property, but all parts of it available to Trump. The search warrant is posted here: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap ... 7.0_31.pdf

The locations to be searched include the "45 Office," all storage rooms, and all
other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by FPOTUS and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate. It does not include areas currently (i.e., at the time of the search) being occupied, rented, or used by third parties (such as Mar-a-Largo Members) and not otherwise used or available to be used by FPOTUS and his staff, such as private guest suites.

It might be considered a bit ambiguous whether Baron's room would be deemed a room "available to be used by" the former president. But since the core example of a third party room is a guest room, I would conclude that Baron's room was within the scope of the search. And Melania's room. As someone posted on twitter a while back, crooks have been known to hide contraband in their consorts' underwear drawers.

Thank you!

[Reddog]

Semi related, wasn’t there “an item of clothing “ in one of the containers?

[Slim Cognito]

It wasn't Barron's! He was just holding (classified documents) for a friend.

[Flatpoint High]

If he is claiming Barron's room was searched, I see that as a tell. Documents are in that/those rooms. So, I hope they did search and if they conduct another search, they conduct a search of those particular rooms because documents will be found there. (Excuse will be Barron needed those documents for a school project).
Trump has no concept of what happens in real searches. They treated his place like the Sistine Chapel. I would love to see axes being taken to walls, you know, a real search.

well, the MAGA Republicans have stated that MaL IS "Sacred Space"

[pipistrelle]

Yeah, to me that looks like "residence ok, guest rooms not ok," which is what you'd expect. Although at this point half the guests are probably buyers.

[noblepa]

unless he is calling is properties the "WH'

He probably figures its like Air Force One. Anywhere he lives (since he's really still the president) is the White House.