A Tweet Too Far ?

[toucana]

"Avast me hearties, prepare to repel all boarders !"

[toucana]

Nice one Donald. But Kansas City was located in the state of Missouri the last time anyone looked.

[TheVat]

Kansas City was my mother's hometown, the first few years of early childhood. If she were still alive, she would be very amused. There is a much smaller city, in Kansas next door, also called Kansas City, but it's not what Americans refer to when they say KC, nor has it ever been home to the Chiefs. In that area, people refer to the smaller Kansas City as KCK. I don't know if this tweet will tip the 2020 electoral votes in Missouri away from Trump, but it's a good start!

[Hendrick Laursen]

Nice one Donald. But Kansas City was located in the state of Missouri the last time anyone looked.

It's a great post!
It's like reading an anti-story, in the sense of experimental literature. We're tempted to go back and doubt every single word this man has ever uttered.

[toucana]

[toucana]

Axl Rose the lead singer of Guns 'N Roses who only rarely uses social media had an entertaining exchange with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

It was prompted in part by the gratuitous use of a Guns 'N Roses track 'Live & Let Die' during a Trump visit to a PPE mask factory, which was followed by an interview with Steven Mnuchin on FOX TV in which he uncritically urged listeners to start doing long road-trips around the USA again.

Stung by Axl Rose's description of him as an 'A**hole', Mnuchin retorted "What have you done for your country lately ?" and attached an emoji of what was meant to be the US flag. Unluckily Steven Mnuchin attached the emoji for the national flag of Liberia by mistake - (It looks very similar but has only one star instead of 50).

[toucana]

Trump’s press conference has ended after a series of falsehoods and misleading claims. At one point he compared the Covid-19 crisis to the “the great pandemic” of 1917, saying it was a “terrible thing” that “probably ended the Second World War, all the soldiers were sick”.

The pandemic occurred in 1918, and World War II ended in 1945.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2020/aug/10/coronavirus-us-covid-19-children-schools-donald-trump-relief-package-joe-biden-live-updates

[charon]

I have not seen a single article anywhere that gives a definite answer as to whether he can be prosecuted after leaving office.

Has anyone?

[toucana]

Trump is already under criminal investigation by a Grand jury appointed under the authority of Cyrus R. Vance Jr. who is the DA of New York County and New York. The DA’s office have made it clear that they are in the process of indicting Trump on charges of bank fraud and income tax fraud.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/10/nyregion/donald-trump-taxes-cyrus-vance.html?referringSource=articleShare&fbclid=IwAR34hRvAYjHcFS8O4spRKyKfa5KsmTGWQ9AHaK67fAvlluq8T-CaBjue2NQ

The DA’s team has been battling to obtain Trump’s tax returns from an accountancy firm called Mazars USA for over a year, and they recently secured an important Supreme Court ruling that favours their subpoenas.

Points of interest here:
i. These are state charges, not federal ones, and as such they cannot be pardoned or dismissed by any president, successor, or corrupt incumbent of the AG’s office in the Justice department.

ii. Neither the president nor the AG can fire the Manhattan DA either. Given that the DA is an elected state official, Donald Trump would have to test out his often touted assertion that he could “shoot a man on 5th Ave. in broad daylight” by shooting the DA in person in order to stop this indictment

iii. Grand juries once appointed to look into financial crimes nearly always return indictments; and once they indict, the courts almost invariably proceed on to successful convictions and sentencing in cases of this kind. This is because financial crimes are usually very well documented. There will probably be an absolute mountain of completely damning evidence against the entire Trump organisation.

Remember - it was tax evasion charges that put Al Capone in prison for life, not the Valentines Day Massacre.

[charon]

Absolutely, Capone and tax, first thing that occurred! But are you saying they CAN indict a sitting president on these charges?

[toucana]

Absolutely, Capone and tax, first thing that occurred! But are you saying they CAN indict a sitting president on these charges?

That remains moot. Recent SCOTUS rulings seem to favour a view that no one, not even a president, is above the law. Arguments to the contrary normally cite an internal Justice department memorandum by the OLC (Office of Legal Counsel) that says prosecuting a sitting president would be inconsistent with Article II of the constitution.

https://www.lawfareblog.com/yes-constitution-allows-indictment-president

The excellent Lawfare article cited above was written by Laurence H. Tribe who is a Harvard legal scholar and constitutional ethics adviser who has often appeared on MSNBC. He summarises the arguments for and against the OLC memorandum and concludes (inter alia):

Nothing in the Constitution supports treating amenability to the criminal process as something that kicks in only after a civil officer has been impeached and removed. To treat a sitting president as immune to that process until his presidency ends is to superimpose upon the impeachment framework—a framework designed as the way to remove a president who commits an impeachable offense that might or might not also be a federal crime—something quite extraordinary in a system priding itself on the axiom that no one is above the law.

A more practical consideration is that there are only 84 days remaining until the 2020 US presidential election in November. Trump and his legal team can probably run the clock down, and block any criminal indictments before then with tendentious appeals to appellate courts over the discovery subpoenas.

But once the election falls due, all arguments over the OLC guidance are void, and there will be nothing to protect Trump from indictment and prosecution thereafter on state charges if he fails to win or subvert the election.

[charon]

But once the election falls due, all arguments over the OLC guidance are void, and there will be nothing to protect Trump from indictment and prosecution thereafter on state charges if he fails to win or subvert the election.

Or subvert... I liked that :-)

Thanks. Next question: will they actually lock up an-ex president?

[toucana]

This tweet attracted considerable attention recently, not just because it trivialized COVID-19 and spread a false conspiracy theory, but also because of its provenance. It was posted on the account of Herman Cain, a prominent GOP donor and former 2012 presidential candidate who died recently in July 2020 - From the effects of COVID-19.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/herman-cain-coronavirus-not-as-deadly_n_5f4ca08fc5b64f17e13fc8b4?ri18n=true

Herman Cain was taken ill two weeks after attending president Trump’s disastrous campaign rally at Tulsa Oklahoma on 20 June. Cain, who co-chaired Black Voices for Trump, tweeted a photo of himself without a mask at the event, which was attended by several thousand people.

His latest messaging from beyond the grave on the subject of COVID-19 drew a mixed response:

This is the sassiest, “Surprise! I’m a zombie now!” announcement ever..

Can we dig Herman up and have independent doctors confirm this?…

UPDATE: Herman has caught the virus in Hell and died from it, again. He is now in SUPERHELL …

Herman Cain being killed by a pandemic and then later tweeting that the pandemic isn't really that deadly isn't the most important thing to happen in 2020 but it is by far the craziest..

Did Christopher Nolan direct this tweet?

Does Herman Cain, who died a month ago of covid-19, still tweeting that covid-19 is a hoax, count as a "zombie apocalypse?" Asking for my bingo card.

The tweet has since been deleted.

[toucana]

If u lost ur pet pidgin /it’s dead in front yard my Iowa farm JUST DISCOVERED here r identifiers Right leg Blue 2020/3089/AU2020/SHE ///LEFT LEG GREEN BAND NO PRINTED INFO. Sorry for bad news

https://twitter.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1307421592411156482

The west coast may be on fire, the southern seaboard may be underwater and the rest of the country may be in the combined grip of a pandemic, a constitutional crisis, and a presidential election - but Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) who is the president pro-tempore of the US Senate apparently has weightier things on his mind, according to his Twitter feed.

Received wisdom is that ‘pidgin’ is probably a mutated spelling of ‘pigeon’ - but don’t be be fooled !

There is an army of QAnon devotees out there who obssessively read every last syllable of each deranged Tweet uttered by their Great Leader and his acolytes, and these disciples can understand every last hidden meaning of each odd syllable and apparent typo.

The true initiates know that “Right leg Blue 2020/3089/AU2020/SHE“ really means ”operational units in DC metropolitan districts prepare to retrieve your ammunition and activate ‘Boogaloo’ on the 30th..”

[toucana]

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was apparently talking about Iran when he published this comment just 13 hours ago.

https://twitter.com/StateDept/status/1309938304268279811

As one commenter put it - "Is there a projectionist in the theatre ?"

[toucana]

Donald Trump has tweeted a link to a satirical news article claiming Twitter's chief executive personally shut down the social media site to limit the spread of negative stories about Joe Biden.

https://news.sky.com/story/donald-trump-shares-link-to-satirical-article-claiming-twitter-was-shut-down-to-slow-spread-of-negative-stories-about-joe-biden-12105615

The US commander-in-chief shared the article from The Babylon Bee with his 87 million followers with the tweet: "Wow, this has never been done in history. This includes his really bad interview last night. Why is Twitter doing this. Bringing more attention to Sleepy Joe & Big T."

The Babylon Bee is a satirical news website which has a Twitter bio reading "Fake news you can trust" and, on its website, describes itself as "the world's best satire site".

The article shared by Mr Trump alleges that after seeing negative stories about Democratic presidential candidate Mr Biden, Twitter boss Jack Dorsey "smashed a glass box in his office reading 'Break In Case Of Bad Publicity For Democrats'. Inside the case was a sledgehammer for smashing Twitter's servers".

The article goes on to say Mr Dorsey then smashed "as many computers as he could" with the help of a robot programmed to use a sledgehammer.

The article ends by saying that "after hearing the Twitter employees talk about critical theory, the robot got woke and began attacking all the cis white males".

As the president says, this has never been done in history.

[charon]

It's probably never been necessary in history. Still, a bit of humor is a nice change for once.

When he's out of the White House, if he escapes jail, maybe he should take up comedy. He'd probably be quite good at it. In fact, he's doing pretty well at the moment :-)

[toucana]

A Dutch security researcher claims that he logged into President Trump’s Twitter account last week by guessing the password - it was “maga2020!” - and then alerted the US government that Trump needed to upgrade his Twitter security practices.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/10/hacker-says-he-correctly-guessed-trumps-twitter-password-it-was-maga2020/

Security researcher Victor Gevers reportedly gained access to Trump's Twitter account on Friday last week. He says he tried passwords such as "MakeAmericaGreatAgain" and "Maga2020" before hitting on the correct password of "maga2020!" 

He has allegedly hacked Donald Trump’s account once before back in 2016, using the password “yourefired” on that occasion.

"I expected to be blocked after four failed attempts" or at least be "asked to provide additional information," Gevers said, according to de Volkskrant the Dutch newspaper which broke the story.

White House sources have denied Gever’s claim and Twitter said it has seen no evidence to support it. But another Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland which also interviewed Gevers has published a screenshot that Gevers says he took when he had access to the @realdonaldtrump account.



On the same day Gevers allegedly hacked into Trump's Twitter account, the account tweeted a satirical article by the Babylon Bee titled, "Twitter Shuts Down Entire Network To Slow Spread Of Negative Biden News." Trump was seemingly fooled by the satirical news site, but the Vrij Nederland article suggests the tweet might have been sent by Gevers when he had access to Trump's profile.

"I am not saying I did it," Gevers said, according to Vrij Nederland. "But what if I was the one to post the tweet? Then Trump will need to either admit to never having read the Babylon Bee article and posting this bullshit tweet, OR he will need to acknowledge that someone else posted the tweet." The tweet still has not been deleted.

[toucana]

He promised to run the country like he ran his business. It ended with Rudy Giuliani outside Four Season Total Landscaping next to a dildo shop, after a staffer mistakenly thought the empty parking lot was a Four Seasons hotel.

https://twitter.com/morten/status/1325205001287823361/photo/1

[TheVat]

Rudy has always been a world-class prick, so I'm sure he felt right at home next to the dildo shop.

[toucana]

A fuller account of this remarkable press conference in Philadelphia as it unfolded on Twitter can be found here:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/11/7/1993842/-trump-s-last-stand-at-the-Four-Seasons-Total-Landscaping-Company

Suffice to say that Rudy Giuliani found himself mounting his righteous last stand in the parking lot of a landscaping business overlooked by the Fantasy Island Adult Books store (Video, Novelties, Books), and just across the road from the Delaware Valley Cremation Centre, in an industrial estate on the edge of Philadelphia.

One explanation mooted for this bizarre turn of events is that team Trump prematurely announced an event at the Four Seasons hotel in Philadelphia before actually booking the venue - only to discover that the hotel wanted nothing to do with them and refused to accept the booking. Which meant the Trumpistas had to hurriedly find another location with a similar name, and hope that no-one would notice the switcherooo.

[toucana]

Four Seasons Landscaping have not been slow to spot a commercial opportunity from their unexpected celebrity. You can now buy special 'Lawn & Order' and 'Make America Rake Again' merchandise.

https://www.fstl1992.com/fstlmerch?page=2

Meanwhile the phone has apparently been ringing off the the hook at the nearby Fantasy Island Adult Books sex-shop, with people enquiring if Rudy Giuliani is still on the premises.

[toucana]

“We're losing. Not sure I trust the plan anymore. Not sure there even is a plan” ….

“Have we all been conned?”..

“HOW CAN I SPEAK TO Q???? MY FAITH IS SHAKEN. I FOLLOWED THE PLAN. TRUMP LOST!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT NOW?????? WHERE IS THE PLAN???”

QAnon appears to have fallen silent on Twitter in the wake of the 2020 US elections. After predicting a landslide win for Trump that never materialised, their great Deus ex machina Q has now apparently become what theologians would call a Deus absconditus who has departed from human ken into an uknown dimension, and speaks to us no more.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/qanon-donald-trump-2020-us-election-b1721362.html

Uncertainty has also risen among supporters of the right-wing conspiracy theory, after Ron Watkins, the administrator of Q’s message board on 8kun, resigned last week.

Others have linked the Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference held by Rudolph W. Giuliani to a Q post in which he discussed landscaping last year. 

Deus absconditus (Lat., 'hidden God'). The apparent absence of God from those who seek him, or from circumstances where the godly are in extreme trouble.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/deus-absconditus

[toucana]

For readers who can access the online BBC Radio 4 archive:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000p8yf

Comedian Marcus Brigstocke's hliarious re-imagination of the sequence of phone calls that might have preceded Rudy Giuliani's bizarre press conference in the car park of Four Seasons Total Landscaping on Saturday 7th November.

"Hello - This is Tom Foolery at Four Seasons Total Landscaping - How can I help you"

[toucana]

The Four Seasons Total Landscaping parking lot has now been immortalised as a custom Lego set called All The Networks designed by artist Ochre Jelly.

https://boingboing.net/2020/11/16/the-four-seasons-landscaping-press-conference-in-lego.html

Meanwhile, over 2,500 people have signed a Change.org petition trying to get the site recognized for its small part in this historic election.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/11/18/1996665/-Petition-wants-to-put-Giuliani-s-Four-Seasons-Total-Landscaping-on-national-historic-place-register

The petition calls for the U.S. to “Add Four Seasons Total Landscaping to the national register of historic places.”

[toucana]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BVfBhOwlfo

Four Seasons Total Landscaping has also been recreated as a Virtual Reality hangout for Furries in this VRChat World.

In a follow-up post the Furries did the Fantasy Island book store as well :-)

[toucana]

United States Space Force
@SpaceForceDoD

Today, after a yearlong process that produced hundreds of submissions and research involving space professionals and members of the general public, we can finally share with you the name by which we will be known: Guardians.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/space-force-guardians-twitter-snark_n_5fdd2e35c5b6a7df666476d0?ri18n=true

Some Twitter users seem to be confused however as to whether the name refers to the Guardians of the Marvel universe:



Or the Enforcers from Maragret Atwoods's The Handmaid's Tale

[TheVat]

Haha. Also could be a misconception that the space force could really succeed as guardians against ETs capable of crossing the mind-numbing distances of interstellar space. I can easily imagine we would be like ants under the bored gaze of a child with a magnifying glass on a sunny day. Our only guardians would be some more benevolent faction among the ETs, if we were in luck.

[toucana]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51245262

"To Boldly Go Where No Logo Has Gone Before"

[Serpent]

They get an 0 for originality.
?and a lawsuit?