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A story about a pathetic man's downfall


Francisco 2.0

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-wanted-his-justice-department-to-stop-snl-from-teasing-him

 

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It was the middle of Donald Trump’s presidency, and he was—yet again—mad at Saturday Night Live. And he wanted the federal government to help him settle the score.

In March 2019, the then-president of the United States had just watched an episode of the long-running, liberal-leaning NBC sketch comedy series (it wasn’t even a new episode, it was a rerun), and grew immediately incensed that the show was gently mocking him.

 

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“It’s truly incredible that shows like Saturday Night Live, not funny/no talent, can spend all of their time knocking the same person (me), over & over, without so much of a mention of ‘the other side,’” Trump tweeted, long before he was banned from Twitter for inspiring a violent mob. “Like an advertisement without consequences. Same with Late Night Shows. Should Federal Election Commission and/or FCC look into this?”

 

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t was, on its face, a ridiculous question and threat, as SNL is obviously satire, and therefore a form of protected speech in America that pissed-off commanders-in-chief have no authority to directly subvert. However, then-President Trump went farther than simply tweeting his displeasure with the late-night comedians and SNL writers’ room. The internal discussions that followed, between the former leader of the free world and some of his political and legal advisers, once again underscored just how much Trump wanted to use the full weight and power of the U.S. government to punish his personal enemies.

 

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According to two people familiar with the matter, Trump had asked advisers and lawyers in early 2019 about what the Federal Communications Commission, the courts systems, and—most confusingly to some Trump lieutenants—the Department of Justice could do to probe or mitigate SNL, Jimmy Kimmel, and other late-night comedy mischief-makers.

To those who heard it, Trump’s inquiries into what federal regulations could be used to bust the likes of Kimmel and SNL was more of a nuisance than a constitutional crisis. “It was more annoying than alarming, to be honest with you,” one of these sources recalled. However, the conversations further showed, in the pettiest of ways, how the 45th U.S. president was keen on turning the country’s top law enforcers into something more akin to his own personally retained law firm.

Emails released by the House Oversight committee, first reported by The New York Times, also show how Trump tried to enlist the Justice Department in his attempts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory with demands to investigate a number of wild conspiracy theories.

In one case, Trump tried to spark the Justice Department’s interest in the “ItalyGate” conspiracy theory, which claimed that an Italian defense contractor had somehow used a military satellite to hack voting machines and swing the election for Biden.

In another case, Trump’s assistant emailed acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen a series of talking points intended to defend a bizarre and since-debunked “audit” of Dominion voting machines in Antrim County, Michigan, by the security firm Allied Security Operations Group. The talking points released by the House Oversight committee bore no signs of authorship but on the same day Trump’s assistant sent them to Rosen, conservative outlets ran excerpts from the same document as a release by the “Trump legal team in conjunction with [Allied Security Operations Group].”

And as was the case in his crusade against liberal late-night television, most of these operations fell apart or didn’t provide Trump with his desired result of devastating retribution or the complete subversion of American democratic norms.

In early 2019, Trump had to be repeatedly advised that the “equal-time” rules to which he appeared to refer wouldn’t even apply in this situation, given that late-night shows and NBC sketch comedy are clearly staged satire, and thus not bound by the same requirements of other forms of broadcast TV and radio.

The other source, who has a law degree, said that when they briefly discussed this with Trump more than two years ago, they made a point of saying that the Justice Department, in particular, doesn’t handle these matters, anyway. Trump seemed disappointed to hear that there was no actual legal recourse or anything that the FCC or DOJ could do to punish late-night, anti-Trump comedy.

“Can something else be done about it?” Trump replied, according to this source, to which they responded with some version of “I’ll look into it.” (This person says that to this day, they have not, in fact, “looked into it.”)

Representatives for SNL, Kimmel, and Trump did not provide comment on this story as of Monday evening.

In any case, Trump seems to have confused the FCC rules he was invoking in fury, explains Paul Matzko, a scholar on technology policy at the Cato Institute.

The “equal time” rule refers to a specific FCC that wouldn’t apply to SNL. “Equal time meant that if a radio or TV station offered time to one political candidate they had to offer comparable time on the same terms to an opposing candidate,” later broadened to “not only to candidates themselves and their campaigns directly but any kind of allied group,” says Matzko.

Instead, Matzko says Trump is likely confusing the equal time rule with the “fairness doctrine,” a practice which demanded that broadcasters provide “fair and balanced” coverage of controversial issues of public importance. The FCC, however, stopped enforcing the doctrine in 1987 and formally revoked it in 2011.

And in the years since 2019, Trump has not lost his interest in casually monitoring or denouncing the American late-night comics who he feels have been mean to him. Trump will take the time to do this even when he’s consumed with following the ongoing, conspiracy-theory-fueled efforts to show that Trump won the 2020 election that he clearly lost to Joe Biden. In an interview early this month, MyPillow CEO and diehard Trump ally Mike Lindell told The Daily Beast that the ex-president recently called the MAGA pillow magnate to congratulate him forappearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and for sticking it to the anti-Trump talk show host.

In the past, Trump made no secret of his distaste for SNL or Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of him (“unwatchable,” “stinks,” and “not funny”) during his time in office. Throughout a series of thumb-launched missives at the show on Twitter, Trump appeared to have convinced himself that SNL writers were legally obligated to distribute their satirical barbs with “equal time” to both Democrats and Republicans.

The show amounted to “nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials,” Trump tweeted in 2018, and wondered if that observation “should be tested in courts, can’t be legal?”

The relationship between Trump and NBC, in particular, soured early on in his presidential campaign when the channel dropped his beauty pageants following racist remarks by the then-candidate calling Mexican immigrants “rapists.”

Through his administration, the specific flashpoints for Trump’s ire with NBC shifted—SNL, MSNBC (“Comcast slime”), NBC news, and NBC chairman Andy Lack—but the threats against the channel remained focused on Comcast’s acquisition of the company, a regulatory chokepoint that gave the Trump administration at least theoretical leverage over the channel. Comcast acquired a majority stake in NBC during a deal approved under the Obama administration. Like his threats against tech companies for their moderation of election misinformation, Trump used the guise of consumer protection and antitrust enforcement to register his displeasure with the channel’s programming.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump enjoyed much-criticized softball appearances on major NBC shows like SNL and Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show. Despite the olive branches, then-candidate Trump still held a grudge against the channel and its parent company.

Comcast’s purchase of NBC “concentrates far too much power in one massive entity that is trying to tell the voters what to think and what to do,” Trump said during an October 2016 policy speech threatening media conglomerates with antitrust action. Deals like Comcast’s acquisition of NBC “destroy democracy” and “poison the mind of the American voter,” Trump complained.

In 2018, Trump caused a brief panic in trading of Comcast shares when he fired off a tweet warning that the “American Cable Association has big problems with Comcast. They say that Comcast routinely violates Antitrust Laws.”

But like his constant threats to break up Big Tech, they were nothing more than rage-tweets.

By 2020, when Trump threatened to “do everything possible to destroy [Comcast’s] image because they are terrible” during a rally in South Carolina, the markets barely noticed.

 

Edited by Francisco 2.0
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I will never understand how so many people never saw him for the incompetent moron that he is. My only guess is that we’re a nation of idiots who can’t tell the difference between reality tv and reality, who think that wealth means you’re smart, and who are racist assholes who absolutely freaked out over eight years of having a black President.

I’ll also never understand how any non-white or non-Christian or non-straight American could have ever voted for him. Maybe they made a mistake once. But twice? Something is seriously wrong with anyone who voted for him twice. 

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7 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I will never understand how so many people never saw him for the incompetent moron that he is. My only guess is that we’re a nation of idiots who can’t tell the difference between reality tv and reality, who think that wealth means you’re smart, and who are racist assholes who absolutely freaked out over eight years of having a black President.

You must not have been paying attention, because you're describing the republican electorate to a tee, with some exceptions around the (explicit) racism. Conservative values align pretty closely to the gospel of wealth, it's why so many of them fall for grifters wearing gold

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15 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

will never understand how so many people never saw him for the incompetent moron that he is. My only guess is that we’re a nation of idiots who can’t tell the difference between reality tv and reality, who think that wealth means you’re smart, and who are racist assholes who absolutely freaked out over eight years of having a black President.

On some level, I think many people knew exactly what he was and wanted him as sort of a “fuck you” to the system. Like, “we know he’s not going to do anything for us but just maybe he won’t do anything for you either.”  

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7 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

On some level, I think many people knew exactly what he was and wanted him as sort of a “fuck you” to the system. Like, “we know he’s not going to do anything for us but just maybe he won’t do anything for you either.”  

This can't be overstated. Trump was never about accomplishing anything; he was a pure "fuck you" from the emotionally abused far right. The fact that they were lashing out at those who had nothing to do with their abuse is irrelevant to them. They are like unreformed, unrepentant alcoholics.

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11 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

 

Then around 2024 the lead prosecutor in US v Donald J Trump…

“I’d like to cite the precedent of Trump Organization V NYC which clearly established public officials are not protected when their actions are based on a pre-existing, politically-based predisposition that results in harm to the claimant.   I submit the following quote into evidence.”

Pointing also to comments de Blasio had made earlier in his term in which he threated to end the city's Trump-related contracts, the company said in the lawsuit that "Mayor de Blasio had a pre-existing, politically-based predisposition to terminate Trump-related contracts, and the City used the events of January 6, 2021 as a pretext to do so."

 

 

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50 minutes ago, Captainant said:

You must not have been paying attention, because you're describing the republican electorate to a tee, with some exceptions around the (explicit) racism. Conservative values align pretty closely to the gospel of wealth, it's why so many of them fall for grifters wearing gold

That doesn’t explain why they all hate Warren Buffett and Bill Gates and George Soros. 

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On some level, I think many people knew exactly what he was and wanted him as sort of a “fuck you” to the system. Like, “we know he’s not going to do anything for us but just maybe he won’t do anything for you either.”  

A lot of this. A whoooooole lot. The politics of spite and division were fertile ground for him.
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1 hour ago, Walden Ponderer said:

This can't be overstated. Trump was never about accomplishing anything; he was a pure "fuck you" from the emotionally abused far right. The fact that they were lashing out at those who had nothing to do with their abuse is irrelevant to them. They are like unreformed, unrepentant alcoholics.

I don't think the phenomenon was limited to the "abused far right."  Anyone, of any prior political beliefs, but with some kind of grievance, seemed susceptible to this.

I think some more rational people also were seduced by the idea of an "outsider," even if it was an incompetent one.  The Ross Perot phenomenon.

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Trump became King Dipshit because he did exactly what your typical dipshit would do if president. All his buffoonery, dumbfuckery, and pettiness is exactly how any member of his base would act in his position.

The trumpkins will do stupid shit that endangers their lives (not getting vaccinated, or wearing masks) simply because a person of education told them to. The stupid cunts will die to own the libs.

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16 minutes ago, Lobo said:

You think Ross Perot was incompetent?  

csb 

Years ago I had the opportunity to see him in a completely unguarded context.  For all of his foibles, to me he appeared to be absolutely sincere in his desire to be of service to the country (rather than, e.g., on a power trip).  Completely changed my opinion on him.

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1 hour ago, brown water said:

Then around 2024 the lead prosecutor in US v Donald J Trump…

“I’d like to cite the precedent of Trump Organization V NYC which clearly established public officials are not protected when their actions are based on a pre-existing, politically-based predisposition that results in harm to the claimant.   I submit the following quote into evidence.”

Pointing also to comments de Blasio had made earlier in his term in which he threated to end the city's Trump-related contracts, the company said in the lawsuit that "Mayor de Blasio had a pre-existing, politically-based predisposition to terminate Trump-related contracts, and the City used the events of January 6, 2021 as a pretext to do so."

 

 

I wonder how much Trump owes NYC for security details, like he does El Paso and others.  

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41 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

I checked three times to make sure this wasn't satire. I mean the picture, the name, everything. You couldn't invent something this cliched and ridiculous. 

His nickname gotta be "Mikey Squids" right?

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4 hours ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

On some level, I think many people knew exactly what he was and wanted him as sort of a “fuck you” to the system. Like, “we know he’s not going to do anything for us but just maybe he won’t do anything for you either.”  

Yep.  There are a lot of relatively poor, working class folks that have become painfully aware of exactly how one-sided their social contract is.  That’s legit. Trump just has a way of connecting to them with wrestling heel theatrics to direct their ire at those who are his vs their enemy.  He was pretty masterful at turning the people exploited by the aristocracy and those who would dismantle it against each other.

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6 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

People are calling him the most unamerican snowflake in the country. 

6 hours ago, Bookman said:

Still can't believe how many people in this country seem to have respect for him.

Yeah, he's no alpha male, and actual alpha males would have picked up on that.

 

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Thoughts and prayers to the family of the punisher of “patriot takes” on his upcoming suicide.  I assure you, our laughter is a sign of solidarity and so forth.  But yeah, his method of self murder will be rather curious.  Godspeed.  

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2 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

Is the base starting to wake up?

 

Ah, the Q movement walls are unfolding and it's now boiling down to the last shred of faith being an option between this fantastical comedy still being part of "the plan" or the personal character and altruistic integrity of ... Donald Trump.  Just as his last gasping foray into history ends with a sideshow event tour with a disgraced and irrelevant buffoon like Bill O'Reilly.  The legacy being a man who barked until the last cheap ticket could be sold.  All of their willful delusions are now nothing more significant than whatever might be dripping off of some random ape's chapped ass.    

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4 hours ago, BrickHorn said:

You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched conspiracy theories when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the epic backfires - the most famous of which is "never get involved in a sweetheart condo deal with Russian oligarchs" - but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go in against an online moron when logic is on the line"! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha...

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You mean...you mean...no happily ever after for our fairy tale? What about our feelings?

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Goddamn dumbasses immune to irony, rational argument, and self-awareness. 

You know which world I'm talkin' about.

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4 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Wait, who is running the multi billion dollar international Trump empire?  That is, unless.....

Laughing GIFs | Tenor

Also empire is being very generous.  Criminal racketeer is more accurate. 

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5 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

Not gonna happen.

5 hours ago, aggie08 said:

Sure, sure.....until one of them wants to run for office or needs another grift to pay the bills. Then the fealty tests resume.

5 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Wait, who is running the multi billion dollar international Trump empire?  That is, unless.....

I could actually believe it if Trump is trying to drag Jared more fully into Trump Co. or whatever, like leaning on Jared to help with the finances, loans, etc. and I could absolutely see Trump thinking that since Jared married into the family, Jared's finances should co-mingle with Trump's.

 

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On 6/23/2021 at 11:57 AM, aggie08 said:

Sure, sure.....until one of them wants to run for office or needs another grift to pay the bills. Then the fealty tests resume.

They have a cottage next door to him in New Jersey, they aren't distancing themselves from him-- they're putting lipstick on the old "Him? I don't know him, never met him" play that seemed to work for four years.

 

In other news, Trump is speaking at a rally/signing event in Ohio this weekend. He's to be there in support of the Republican trying to primary the rep (Gonzalez) that was one of the GOP congresspersons who voted to impeach Trump. Around the holiday Trump will be hosting an appearance in Florida (Save America Rally) and cosponsored by the Republican Party of Florida. We'll see if the governor joins in the festivities in Sarasota.

 

 

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Sigh. I know some of y'all don't want to hear about the former guy, but as long as he's still shilling, a modicum of attention ought to be given just to track trends and patterns. The real deal will be how many non devotees (these two guys are hardcore rally goers) show up at the rally. How many paid operatives (probably not by Trump but the RNC or another donor) to pad numbers and try and gain traction in the leadup to 2022 for the GOP? Doesn't matter if Trump runs, he's still in charge apparently.

 

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34 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

nsiap. holy shit

 

I realize he got the best of care, but how many 75 year old men get a severe case of covid and fully recover without lingering issues?

 

another way to say it is I’d love to see covid listed as a contributing cause of death on his officia death certificate, whenever that document is generated. 

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  • Bozo_Casanova changed the title to Poll: President Trump's Major Announcement


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