Stuff I learned over the past few hours:
The shrapnel theory is back.
The FBI has “some question” about whether Trump was struck by a bullet or by shrapnel, says FBI Director Christopher Wray. This is from ABC News:
“With respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,” Wray said in response to a question from Chairman Jim Jordan asking whether the FBI has accounted for all bullets fired by the shooter. “It’s conceivable, although as I sit here right now, I don’t know whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have also landed somewhere else. But I believe we’ve accounted for all the shots in the cartridges.”
I don’t know if a doctor who might have examined the fresh wound would have been able to tell if it had been caused by a bullet or shrapnel, but this is possibly another reason why Trump won’t release the medical reports. And it looks like the FBI hasn’t seen them, either.
I also notice that he wasn’t wearing the stupid bandage or whatever it was at a rally yesterday, and his ear looks completely normal.
It’s way past time for media to start hounding him about releasing medical information, and not just about the ear. And, indeed, Marcy Wheeler says Trump is asking to be hounded.
Trump has posted on the social media site he has propped up by influence laundering, insisting he was hit by a bullet (though mentioning only glass as an alternative), and then making a claim about his hospital diagnosis.
If Trump is going to make claims about what the hospital report says, then by all means he can ask them to release his records, including the CT scan results, and give a press conference.
Perhaps now — almost two weeks after the attack — journalists will start asking him for those records?
J.D. Vance is weird.
“Weird” is the adjective I keep seeing attached to the name “J.D. Vance.” This is true even if you don’t believe he has a thing for sofas. See also J.D. Vance didn’t have sex with a couch. But he’s still extremely weird. at Vox. Also, J.D. Vance’s Sad, Strange Politics of Family at the New Yorker.
And it’s looking like J.D. Vance may be the new Sarah Palin, as in a drag on the ticket. Among other things, Vance is a radical anti-abortionist. If Trump thought his campaign could get away with avoiding the “A” issue, that ain’t gonna happen with Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket. Vance also thinks that adoptive parents are not real parents, and only those who have directly passed on their DNA to their own offspring have a legitimate stake in the future of the country. And in Vance World, the primary function of women is to have children.
Further, the guy is light in the credentials department. The Right keeps calling Kamala a “DEI hire” in spite of her impressive resume. Vance was in the Marines, he wrote a book, he worked for some investment firm for a while, he has been a Senator for two years. Neither he nor Trump are qualified to be president, IMO, even though Trump already held the job for four years. He didn’t actually do the job when he had it.
And so, headlines about Republican “buyer’s remorse” about Vance are blossoming like flowers in the spring. I’m also starting to see headlines asking if Vance will be replaced on the ticket. If — I hope when — Trump starts falling further behind Harris in the polls, I wouldn’t be surprised if Vance is bounced.
Don Jr tanking his dad’s campaign with one of the worst veep choices of all time is delicious pic.twitter.com/SwHhkcfR8J
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 25, 2024
Trump is afraid to debate Kamala Harris.
This isn’t really a surprise, except that it shows that he’s still cognizant enough to recognize she’d clean his clock.
“Given the continued political chaos surrounding Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party, general election debate details cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee,” Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Cheung referenced former president Barack Obama, who has yet to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, and claimed that there “is a strong sense” in the Democrat Party that Harris “cannot beat President Trump, and they are still holding out for someone ‘better.’”
Barack and Michelle Obama have since endorsed Kamala Harris. Next excuse? The second debate was scheduled by September 10, btw, way past the time the Dem ticket will be formalized.
There’s more evidence Bill Barr is a snake.
Yesterday an Inspector General report was released that said while he was Attorney General, Bill Barr used his office to help the Trump campaign claim voter fraud. Josh KOvensky at TPM:
Senior Trump DOJ officials issued multiple statements weeks before the 2020 election suggesting anti-Trump election fraud in a critical swing state, knowing all the while that no crime had likely been committed and that the main suspect faced a severe mental disability, a DOJ Inspector General report found.
You may recall the widely covered story of nine ballots cast by overseas military voters found in the garbage in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. On its face, the initial reporting seemed to affirm the most intense, right-wing fever dreams of widespread voter fraud.
Then-Attorney General Bill Barr directed DOJ officials to take the virtually unheard of step of releasing details about the investigation – including that several of the ballots contained votes for Trump – even though the case “would likely not be criminally charged,” the report found. …
… Per the report, Barr pumped Trump up with the juiciest details from the Luzerne County incident on Sept. 23, 2020. Several ballots had been found in the garbage, Barr told the President. They were military and, in a remark that was like waving red before a bull, they were pro-Trump. That same day, Trump refused to commit to the transfer of power. The next day, Trump went on a radio station and used the details Barr provided him about the investigation to rile up the public and reinforce Barr’s incorrect conclusions: mail-in ballots were a “horror show,” Trump said, and the DOJ would investigate.
There’s more evidence Trump is a cartoon.
At a rally yesterday Trump seriously suggested the U.S. military should be run by NASCAR drivers and football coaches.
I doubt that Hollywood blood squibs create any shrapnel. It's all just showbiz to him.
"I wouldn’t be surprised if Vance is bounced."
I would. After all, a Drumpf decision couldn't be wrong, could it? It would make him look weak and indecisive.
What about the "Mooch"? Ten days as WH Director of Communications.
"Ten days"
No shit Stump fired his entire staff a couple maybe three times. He's not worried about looking bad, his entire life has been a fucking mess. it's a feature not a bug and knowone has held him to account yet so why worry! He's going to hang with JD because he's a low brow racsict piece of shit, Stump see's him as a protege. Also I'm sure JD agreed to break any law Stump wants him to break, like the election certification should Stump win in November and decide he's going to rig the election in 2028 and install himself again or maybe Barron!
"It would make him look weak and indecisive." Yes. And he is. But if Trump starts to fall behind in the polls, someone will have to be blamed. At some point it may be too late to switch, of course, but I'm not sure when that would be. Back in 1972 Tom Eagleton was dropped from George McGovern's ticket on August 1. I'm not sure when Sargent Shriver replaced him, but as I remember it wasn't very long.
It's roughly the same time that Joe Biden wouldn't have been able to rely on the fix, modulo ("given") that this time, a Republican might be harmed.
In August, there's a doughnut hole that doesn't need to exist, but it's pretty clear the hole would be filled if Trump needed it, and wouldn't give rise to a challenge against Trump, in any event.
That said, there might be different rules that apply, because Vance wasn't merely *selected* – he was selected *and nominated*.
The reason for the Ohio doughnut hole was ballot access for party nominees by X_Date, and the Dems might not hit it. Okay, but now, the Repubs have a nominee for VP. Is this another Eagleton, or have the rules changed since then? I don't know.
It's interesting how sensitive the WH is to any narrative that strays from Trump's. Today we had Ronny Jackson put out a letter Trump may have dictated about the bullet. Miss Lindsey had the vapors and fainted. The FBI is right but they backed down under pressure.
The House voted unanimously to form a committee in the shooting – seven Democrats will be on the committee. The Republicans undoubtedly intend to canonize Trump as a saint but I'm hoping Democrats will actually pursue loose ends. Like: how did the kid come by the explosives to make a couple of bombs and the expertise to to build them. It wasn't a class when I went to High School.
Kooks are trying to say they have access to the shooters whereabouts through the last year by tracing his cell phone. Naturally, they tied him to the FBI and DOJ. Because those agencies never heard of cell phones and GPS. I'd like the FBI to pursue a genuine investigation of the kid's travels and meetings. Private investigations are worth toilet paper IMO.
The big news seems to be a trial balloon by the Trump press office to get Trump out of debating Harris. I predict Trump will do a wrestling stunt swearing up and down he can't wait to confront Harris while the press office makes excuses why he can't make it except on the sixth Thursday of December. Harris and surrogates are on it.
The strategy for dealing with Kamala seems to be forming up. 1) They are discounting any bump in the polls as temporary. 2) If they can do it, Trump wants to stay out of the ring (debates). 3) They want to run out the clock with the lead they have and hope it's enough. 4) Lasr, if they lose the election, claim it's fraud and demand MAGA rise up and overthrow the government.
I'm not saying this will stay the permanent strategy. Trump is testing how MAGA will respond to him turning chicken and running from a girl.
"Trump seriously suggested the U.S. military should be run by NASCAR drivers and football coaches"
Stump has never seriously suggested one thing, it's all an act he's a used car salesman whose Daddy left him half a billion dollars! I went to that link (2 months old by the way), what a horribly written article, I got 30% in and realized it must have been generated by some Shylock's AI machine, this was a clue:"While Trump has immense respect for the U.S. soldiers and veterans, he hasn't always seen eye-to-eye with some military generals". TRump, respect, Give me a break? I'm not sure why what he said 2 months ago is relevant, though what he says on any given day is the same garbage so why even discuss it. It's pastime to start promoting what will work in this country, we are not going to win by getting in the mud with Stump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_Pn37MP56U
Were's Swami, twit filtered?
Swami hasn't commented for about a month, and the email address I have for him is invalid. So I don't know how to reach him to see if he's all right.
Something new is good. Something different is good sometimes. Sometimes too different is something new to ridicule. That is good, when it throws shade on Trump who withers in the shade. Trump likes all the light and near misses by bullets and not fragments. How dare the FBI treat him like collateral damage. How dare J. D. to upstage him all the time of late.
We have a Theological issue brewing here. We all know God saved Trump from the bullet by getting him to move his head at the last moment. A fragment or some flying shard would just be a bit of bad luck and not normally considered something of miracle status. Hence, not eligible evidence to support his elevation to a sainthood status when he becomes eligible for such a determination. So, what was it? Is a statue of Trump coming to a church near you soon or not? Is your megachurch of the gospel of greed going to be the first to get one? Enquiring minds have a constitutional right to know and we are entitled to all medical information and reports. We may even need a complete psychiatric evaluation to work with. Is Trump just be faking a miracle? We need all the evidence we can get on this one. Who would be brave enough to explore the twisted paths of Trump's mind? Is it even possible for a human to survive such an expedition much less return with any sanity? I would have them evaluate Rudy first, just to see if they were up for the task. He is not even on the list for consideration for sainthood anymore if he ever was.
So many questions, so little transparency, such a flood of Russian misinformation. How are we ever going to find out what really happened with J.D. and that sofa? I'll settle for TMI on that one. I'd like some good straight answers to the others.