18 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread”

1. National Coffee Day

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2. Tune: Skip a rope

   -0-

   Listen to the Trumpers as they play

   Ain’t it kind of funny what the Trumpers say.

   Skip a rope

   Trump’s a dope.

   Cheat on your taxes

   Don’t be a fool.

   No Trumper believes in a golden rule.

   Never mind the rules just play to win

   And hate your neighbor for the shade of his skin.

   Skip a rope

   Trump’s a dope.

   He went for years hiding all his crimes

   But now they are in the New York Times

   He hates taxes but oh shucks

   One year he paid 700 bucks.

   Skip a rope 

   Trump’s a dope.

   A teacher or a nurse paid thousands more.

   But Trump spent billions and was short of cash.

   He spent it all on porn stars and whores

   Now all that’s left is this embarrassing rash.

   Skip a rope

   Trump’s a dope.

   Cheat on your taxes 

   Don’t be a fool.

   Trump don’t believe in no golden rule.

   Never mind the rules just play to win.

   Thank God in 35 days we’re done with him.

    

    

    

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   1. "Skip a Rope."   Wasn't that originally done in the mid-1960s by country music star Henson Cargill? I still remember his version as it was a cross-over hit on the local rock stations in Indianapolis.

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      1. I'd like to see V. put words to Lou Reed's Take A Walk on the Wild tomorrow.

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         1. Not tomorrow but the existing lyrics, 

             "Hey, Joe, take a walk on the wild side"

            Do beckon seductively!

             

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3. Cpt. Sully has a message for America: Vote. Him. Out. 

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   1. Outstanding ad.

      Sully is literally everyone's hero with a ton of positive, referent power. He's better than a dozen football quarterbacks.

      Everyone wants to be like Sully so having his encouragement to vote Dump out will work.

      Fire the Liar

       

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4. Elizabeth Warren lays it all out on the table.

   Sen. Elizabeth Warren SLAMS GOP over Amy Coney Barrett: "This kind of sleazy double-dealing is the last gasp of a desperate party that is undemocratically overrepresented in Congress and in the halls of power." pic.twitter.com/JIvMO6KNLd

   — The Hill (@thehill) September 28, 2020

    

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5. Got a nauseatingly smarmy constituent letter from Gardner about his plans for vetting SCOTUS pick:

   When a President exercises constitutional authority to nominate a judge for the Supreme Court vacancy, the Senate must decide how to best fulfill its constitutional duty of advice and consent. I have and will continue to support judicial nominees who will protect our Constitution, not legislate from the bench, and uphold the law. I look forward to meeting with Judge Amy Coney Barrett and thoroughly examining her judicial record in the days and weeks ahead as I fulfill my constitutional duty.

   This is a new thing for our Cory, “fulfilling constitutional duty”. He seems quite taken with himself about it.

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   1. Yeah, where was that fulfilling constitutional duty thing back in 2016, or is the duty to advise and consent only triggered when it's his party making the nomination?  Yes, that's a rhetorical question

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   2. " I have and will continue to support judicial nominees who will protect our Constitution, not legislate from the bench, and uphold the law. "

      1.  On the immediate question of ACB .. You'll notice he says nothing about the power of stare decisis, nothing about endorsing or denying "legislation" and nothing about what happens with laws that are stricken down.

      2.  On the broader issue of how he approaches judicial nominees, he says nothing about those who have never tried cases, never been a judge, don't at the time of their nomination actually know the law or court procedures, and are considered "unqualified" by the lax standards of the ABA. 

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6. Bigger than Colorado.

   Fredo comes out of the closet.
   Eric Trump: "The LGBT community, they are incredible. …. I'm part of that community"

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   1. Must be the herd mentality:

      Eric Trump: "The LGBT community, they are incredible. And you should see how they come out in full force for my father every single day. I'm part of that community, and we love the man." pic.twitter.com/hl51ftW8l2

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      1. Do you think he and his friends will appropriate the Proud Boys tradename?

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         1. If it's not trademarked already

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7. WOTD from Mark Sumner at Kos: “Buried in Trump’s taxes, what’s going on at his golf resorts makes no sense.“

   … This unwarranted fame generated more money than Trump had ever made from his real estate deals: a sweet $427 million in direct payments from MGM and in sponsorships of everything from pizza to detergent. 

   Trump then took this injection of cash and spent it on high-end golf resorts and vacation properties—an investment that is extremely shaky under the best of circumstances. The financial reports from those clubs show just what might be expected: Trump is losing money in Scotland. He’s losing money in Florida. He’s even losing money at Mar-a-Lago.

   But something even more peculiar has happened. As these properties have been consistently bleeding cash, Trump has been reporting that their worth is skyrocketing. Then he has used these ever increasing valuations to borrow still more money. And he borrowed that money from himself … or so he claims. 

   As author and podcaster Adam Davidson points out, this process has been going on for years. Trump reports a loss, inflates the value, and borrows money. Strangest of all, in many cases Trump reports that he sometimes fills every role in this little play: He’s the stockholder losing cash, he’s the property owner reporting a growing investment, he’s the borrower accepting a loan, and he’s the lender forking over the money. And in many years, he supposedly takes that money and invests it into the same property he just “borrowed” from.

   Shifting income from profits to assets – which depreciate. It’s a mix of money laundering and tax fraud

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   1. Man. Sorry to continue, but I hadn't even read this part:

      But if Trump was getting this money from someone else, then it does make sense. Because in that case, this becomes … a cover for money laundering. As Davidson notes: “These financials are clear: this is not a golf business, it's a money disappearing business.” Trump’s golf resorts aren’t making money. They’re not even designed to make money. They’re meant to lose money, and constructed so that they can make larger amounts of money vanish every year. 

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   2. @ParkHill: more reason to understand why virtually no US banks are willing to loan him money.

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