A little light reading on sleepless nights.  Information that should have been made available ten years ago.

Former President Donald Trump’s financial disclosure

The J.D. Vance Edition!

This is hilarious!

In the "Yeah, no shit!" Department...

RFK Jr. running mate Shanahan says they’re considering endorsing Trump
By Aaron Pellish and Eva McKend, CNN
Updated: 5:18 PM EDT, Tue August 20, 2024
Source: CNN

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate Nicole Shanahan said the Kennedy campaign is considering dropping out of the race and endorsing former President Donald Trump while framing the choice through her hope of reducing “the risk” of Vice President Kamala Harris becoming president.

In an interview with podcast host Tom Bilyeu posted on Tuesday, Shanahan acknowledged the Kennedy campaign’s recent conversations with the Trump campaign, which have centered on the possibility of Kennedy endorsing Trump in exchange for a role in Trump’s administration should he win. She framed the decision on whether to endorse Trump around its impact on Harris’ chances of victory in November, arguing Kennedy pulls more votes from Trump than from Harris.

“There’s two options that we’re looking at, and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris — Kamala Harris and (Tim) Walz presidency. Because we draw votes from Trump, or we draw somehow more votes from Trump,” she said. “Or we walk away right now and join forces with — with Donald Trump.”

Shanahan weighed the choice to stay in the race through a similar framework elsewhere in the podcast, debating whether Trump’s openness to issues core to the Kennedy campaign, particularly vaccine efficacy and safety, make endorsing Trump a more appealing option than “the risk” of Harris winning.

“The question is … is the risk of a Harris-Walz presidency worth us staying in? And that’s the question we have to ask ourselves right now,” she said.

When asked about the role Kennedy could play in a future Trump administration, Shanahan speculated that her running mate may be open to taking a role as secretary of health and human services in a future administration, and said she has “high hopes” he’ll be able to oversee the department.

Trump said Tuesday he would “certainly” be open to Kennedy playing a role in his administration if the independent candidate drops out of the 2024 race and endorses the former president.

“He’s a brilliant guy. He’s a very smart guy. I’ve known him for a very long time,” the Republican presidential nominee told CNN’s Kristen Holmes in an interview after a campaign stop in Michigan. “I didn’t know he was thinking about getting out, but if he is thinking about getting out, certainly I’d be open to it.”

Asked if he would consider appointing Kennedy to a role in his administration if he wins in November, Trump said he “probably would.”

“I like him a lot. I respect him a lot,” Trump said. “I probably would, if something like that would happen. He’s a very different kind of a guy — a very smart guy. And, yeah, I would be honored by that endorsement, certainly.”

He also downplayed the potential for backlash from Republicans for appointing Kennedy, who has taken a number of progressive positions. “I like smart people, and Republicans like me,” Trump said.

The comments come after Kennedy’s conversations with Trump last month raised questions about the future of his campaign after it was reported the two had discussed Kennedy dropping out and endorsing Trump. At the time, Kennedy insisted he was not dropping out of the race.

Yet Kennedy remains far behind Trump and Harris in state and national polls and has failed to gain ground since Harris took over the top of the Democratic ticket in July. A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted earlier this month found Harris at 47% support, Trump at 44% and Kennedy at 5%.

When asked for comment about Shanahan’s remarks, the Kennedy campaign directed CNN to a social media post from Kennedy on Tuesday, which read in part, “As always, I am willing to talk with leaders of any political party to further the goals I have served for 40 years in my career and in this campaign.”

Shanahan noted at multiple points in the interview that Kennedy does not have a clear path to victory, even as she held out hope for “some miracle” that would allow them to qualify for ABC News’ presidential debate on September 10. Shanahan blamed opposition from Democratic groups, including the Democratic National Committee, for undermining their campaign which “turned us into a spoiler.”

While Shanahan denied the Kennedy campaign is having conversations with Harris about the possibility of endorsing her campaign, she appeared to confirm reporting from CNN and other outlets that Kennedy had attempted to meet with Harris. CNN has previously reported the Kennedy campaign had reached out to the Harris campaign to arrange a meeting to discuss the potential for a Kennedy endorsement in exchange for a position in her administration.

“Definitely not in talks with Harris. Definitely never have brought up this idea of an endorsement with Harris. Definitely have never brought up a cabinet position with Harris,” she said. “You know, that being said, we have offered to talk to everybody about what your policies are, who’s going to be in your cabinet. Do you want to hear any of our takes on policy and what might work?”

Shanahan’s comments appeared to shock some Kennedy supporters as clips from the interview circulated on social media. One vocal Kennedy backer, Michigan resident Bryce Lipscomb, said in a social media post he feels “abandoned” by the campaign after volunteering for it earlier this year.

“I have put a great deal of time & money into your campaign,” he wrote in a post that has since been deleted. “Right now I feel taken advantage of.”

DNC communications advisor Lis Smith said Shanahan’s comments lend credence to their claim that Kennedy’s campaign is a spoiler to benefit Trump.

“From the beginning of this race, we’ve said that RFK Jr. is nothing more than a spoiler for Donald Trump, and we’re glad that his running mate is finally admitting it,” she said.

This story has been updated with additional details.

"I just don't understand a person in American politics in 2024 who's whining about what happened to them instead of using their leadership and using their influence to make the lives of American citizens better."

-Republican Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance, who has apparently never listed to his running mate talk.

Baywolfe wrote:

Or anyone else in the GOP.  I can't remember the last time they introduced a bill that actually benefitted the 98%.

It's a new kind of winning!

Maybe we need the transmutation of Donald Trump?

The end bit is the best.

"Prepare to go to delusional speed."

RFK Jr. suspends presidential campaign and endorses Trump
By Aaron Pellish and Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN
Updated: 7:24 PM EDT, Fri August 23, 2024
Source: CNN

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced at a news conference in Phoenix Friday that he is suspending his campaign and endorsing Trump.

“In my heart, I no longer believe that I have a realistic path of electoral victory in the face of this relentless, systematic censorship and media control. So I cannot, in good conscience, ask my staff and volunteers to keep working their long hours, or ask my donors to keep giving when I cannot honestly tell them that I have a real path to the White House,” he said.

Kennedy then said he will now “throw my support to President Trump.”

“Three great causes drove me to enter this race in the first place, primarily, and these are the principal causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to throw my support to President Trump,” he said.

Kennedy insisted that he was not ending his campaign, but he noted that he will withdraw his name from appearing on ballots in swing states.

“My name will remain on the ballot in most states. If you live in a blue state, you can vote for me without harming — or helping — President Trump or Vice President Harris. In red states, the same will apply,” he said. “… But, in about 10 battleground states, where my presence would be a spoiler, I’m going to remove my name, and I’ve already started that process and urge voters not to vote for me.”

He also said that he believed he could end up in the White House if there is a contingent election, which would take place if neither of the major party candidates received the 270 votes necessary to win the election.

Kennedy running mate Nicole Shanahan praised him following his announcement and urged him to “save our children” in a social media post.

Shanahan, who was not in attendance at the Phoenix event, thanked Kennedy for running and called being a part of his campaign “one of my greatest honors.“

“You sparked a movement that millions of Americans had been longing for. It has been one of my greatest honors to run this race with you,” she said. “It has been awe-inspiring to witness the fearlessness you showed in the face of censorship, blatant lies about your character, and even threats against your life. Save our children, Bobby.”

Her statement comes after Kennedy said that Trump offered him a role in his administration and suggested the role would oversee a health care portfolio.

Kennedy said the offer came in two meetings with Trump, first in the days after the assassination attempt on the former president in July, and a second meeting weeks later.

“In those meetings, he suggested that we join forces as a unity party. We talked about Abraham Lincoln’s team of rivals, that arrangement would allow us to disagree publicly and privately and furiously, if need be on issues over which we differ, while working together on the existential issues upon which we are in concordance,” he said.

Kennedy’s announcement came shortly after a court filing in Pennsylvania said he was withdrawing from a ballot access challenge in the state “as a result of today’s endorsement” of former President Donald Trump.

Earlier Friday, Kennedy’s campaign said he hadn’t endorsed Trump, and the attorney who made the filing, Paul Rossi, said that he had “misstated” the candidate’s plans and then filed an amended notice.

But Kennedy’s support for Trump was clear Friday afternoon. He noted during his Friday remarks that the former president had asked to “enlist him in his administration.”

Trump is also holding a rally in Arizona on Friday, where the campaign has teased the appearance of a “special guest.”

Dicky Barrett, a musician from Massachusetts and avid Kennedy backer, expressed some disappointment that Kennedy will not see his campaign all the way through to November.

“Is there another candidate that I feel remotely as excited about? No,” he said.

Casey Westerman, an Arizona-based Kennedy supporter who has previously voted for Trump, told CNN before Kennedy’s announcement she would happily vote for the former president again if Kennedy endorsed him.

“I mean, if he does, that would be fantastic,” she said.

Democratic National Committee senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill called Kennedy a “failed fringe candidate” and suggested his endorsement of Trump won’t benefit his campaign.

“The more voters learned about RFK Jr. the less they liked him. Donald Trump isn’t earning an endorsement that’s going to help build support, he’s inheriting the baggage of a failed fringe candidate. Good riddance,” she said.

Members of Kennedy’s family who criticized his presidential campaign and endorsed Harris condemned Kennedy’s endorsement of Trump.

Kennedy’s siblings Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Chris Kennedy and Rory Kennedy said in a statement the endorsement marked “a sad ending to a sad story.”

“We want an America filled with hope and bound together by a shared vision of a brighter future, a future defined by individual freedom, economic promise and national pride. We believe in Harris and Walz. Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story,” the statement said.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

Last edited by Baywolfe (2024-08-23 19:51:02)

BorderCount wrote:

RFK, Jr. wrote:

“In my heart, I no longer believe that I have a realistic path of electoral victory..."

He never had a realistic pathway, and if he ever actually thought he did he's insane.

It's that pesky brain worm again.

There is such an elegant inevitability to this slide and, even though they've tried to buy it back up, it's utterly tied to a single person's fate and not his fortune.  And he ain't having too many good days lately.

Well, if that stock price doesn't suit you, maybe a a piece of the suit will.
Get 'em while they're hot!!


The announcement was made on Tuesday in a video posted on Truth Social.

The cards, named the America First collection, features 50 new images of Trump, including him dancing, holding bitcoins and more.

The digital cards cost $99 each, he said, and supporters who purchase 15 or more (at a cost of $1,485 or more) will receive the physical card.

“People are calling it the knock-out suit,” Trump said in the video, adding: “I don’t know about that but that’s what they’re calling it.”

He continued: “We’ll cut up the knock-out suit, and you’re going to get a piece of it and we’ll be randomly autographing five of them, a true collector’s item, this is something to give your family, your kids, your grandchildren.”

Supporters who buy 75 digital cards, at a cost $7,425, will get to attend a gala dinner with the former president at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, Trump said.

“You know they call me the crypto-president,” Trump said. “I don’t know if that’s true or not but a lot of people are saying that, so don’t miss out, go to collecttrumpcards.com … and collect your piece of American history.”

Last edited by Johnny_Rotten (2024-08-27 22:17:23)

I love that every single time he says, "People say..." he's the only people saying it.

Bonus Points: Trump was so hell-bent on violating federal law for his photo op that someone on his team apparently assaulted (for a given definition of assault) an Arlington employee.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opi … rcna168767

https://x.com/votevets/status/182929350 … ad63ei%3D4

I'd rather just set the cash on fire. That, at least, could be entertaining.

You're not wrong, they gave him 60% of the shares so, if the value remains about the same until he sells, he gets around 2 billion.  His partners, however, are contractually allowed to sell their shares before he does (and yes Donald sued to prevent this happening) so some of this downturn may be due to them doing just that.

It's a paper company, I'm not sure they even have an office anywhere.  There is almost no financial information available after 2022 at which time they has a deferred income (IOU) of 10 billion and total liabilities of, I kid you not, 23.5 billion and total Shareholders Equity at 267 billion.  At this point, I'm not even sure why the NASDAQ is putting up with it, some good-old-boy-ism?  This stock goes up and down in complete disregard of profit/loss or even other market trends.

Considering how little cash is actually in this company the sellout will cause it to collapse.  At which point the SEC issues a margin call and sells it to Elon Musk or Google, I guess.  Unless the billionaires bail Donald out yet again.

Make 2024 be 1924 Great Again

In the first and, possibly, last debate, Kamala Harris mopped the floor with the Donald.  She goaded the pig into ignoring her position on issues and instead replied to her comments on his rallies and how all the other world leaders think he's weak.

Let me give you an example. Early on in the debate, the moderators tried to press Harris on President Joe Biden’s unpopular immigration record, asking her if she would have done anything differently from her current boss — a topic favorable for Trump.

Harris answered the question — but then took a seemingly unrelated shot at Trump’s rallies.

“I’m going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump’s rallies because it’s a really interesting thing to watch. You will see during the course of his rallies he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about [how] windmills cause cancer. And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom,” the vice president said.

This gave Trump a choice; either prosecute Harris on immigration, an issue where she’s weak, or go on a rant in defense of his vaunted rallies. You can guess what he chose.

“Let me respond as to the rallies,” Trump said. “She said people start leaving. People don’t go to her rallies. There’s no reason to go. And the people that do go, she’s busing them in and paying them to be there.”

That began a tailspin: a series of weird tangents, including a humiliating rant about the completely fake problem of Haitian migrants supposedly eating dogs in Springfield, Ohio, punctuated by immense concern about the honor of Trump rallies. He never really got back to what he should have been doing — attacking Harris on migration across the southern border.

DmtDusty wrote:

I didn't watch it, but I did watch one of the sites where his supporters congregate and boy, a bunch of them were really unhappy. Of course this will not change their vote, they'll vote for him when he is pushing up daisies me thinks.

It was amazing to watch. Harris did her job, and she did it well. She was calm and collected the whole way through. Trump looked like, well, Trump: a crazy old man who's really just trying to stay out of jail. She also showed that however good Trump looked against Biden in June, it was really just winning by default.

The split-screen was fabulous, especially when he shouted, "THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS!"

Welcome To Tucson!

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4876 … arris/amp/

Last edited by DmtDusty (2024-09-13 01:36:05)

BorderCount wrote:

Imagine being considered too crazy even for MTG. Although, I'm suddenly leaning towards the idea that MTG is just jealous.

Also? Five bucks says Trump and Loomer are having an affair.

Ewww. I need mind bleach now just thinking about it.