Surely the presidential medal of freedom was pretty much already tainted anyway? I mean, Henry Kissinger was awarded one! Like with the Nobel peace prize, once Kissinger has one it’s thoroughly devalued.
@Naglfar – Fascistic, and Mafiaesque. Reward the sycophants, crush the dissenters.
Once Trump is acquitted later today, he’s going to go after his personal enemies with a vengeance. Don’t be surprised if he tries to use Barr and the DOJ to jail Schiff and Pelosi and squash Bolton’s book. Bolton should’ve testified while he had the chance.
Paireon
4 years ago
@Buttercup Q. Skullpants – In all fairness, bolton isn’t exactly on the side of the angels; that’s more of an “Evil vs. Evil” situation going on there.
Naglfar
4 years ago
@Diego Duarte
I would encourage the next president (hopefully Warren or Sanders) to give Obama the Medal of Honor. It would piss soooooo many of them off.
And on top of that, I would encourage them to courtpack the Supreme Court, and nominate Obama as the next Justice.
That would be great. It would also mean that Obama would be the second President ever to be both a president and a SCOTUS justice (Taft was the first).
@Buttercup
Once Trump is acquitted later today, he’s going to go after his personal enemies with a vengeance. Don’t be surprised if he tries to use Barr and the DOJ to jail Schiff and Pelosi and squash Bolton’s book. Bolton should’ve testified while he had the chance.
The scariest part is how Republicans have basically acknowledged he’s doing all this and they don’t care. There’s virtually nothing in place to stop him from declaring himself President for life or something like that, and millions would support him. I wish there could have been witness testimony, but this was a sham trial anyway with acquittal guaranteed, so I’m not sure how much difference it would have made.
Whoops, correction to my earlier post: Medal of Freedom, not Medal of Honor. Medal of Honor is the military one. Rush “Anal Cyst” Limbaugh sure as hell isn’t getting that one.
It’s pretty clear that Trump sees awards as a reflection of power, not achievement.
@Diego – I’d love to see a rash of naming things after Obama: schools, airports, streets, public buildings. That would give Trump apoplexy, especially since his name is starting to get removed from his towers.
Naglfar
4 years ago
@Buttercup
I’d love to see a rash of naming things after Obama: schools, airports, streets, public buildings. That would give Trump apoplexy, especially since his name is starting to get removed from his towers.
What would break him even more would be naming things after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. If she is still alive when a Democrat takes office, she should be among the first to get the Medal of Freedom.
Also, maybe New York City can rename the street that Trump tower is on to “Ocasio-Cortez Street.” Just a thought.
Out of curiosity, can a president give themself a medal of freedom? If they can, I’d be surprised if Trump doesn’t give himself one at some point.
Diego Duarte
4 years ago
@Naglfar and Buttercup
Also, maybe New York City can rename the street that Trump tower is on to “Ocasio-Cortez Street.” Just a thought.
I would go even further. After criminally prosecuting Trump and taking away all of his properties, to pay for all the damages that would likely be awared, I would eminent domain the NY Trump Tower and repurpose it as a government building.
THEN I would rename that building the Barack HUSSEIN Obama building and display it where the name “TRUMP” used to be.
Oh it would give him and the rest of his supporters a fit!
Bonus points if they make it an IRS or Federal Reserve building.
Naglfar
4 years ago
@Diego Duarte
Bonus points if they make it an IRS or Federal Reserve building.
It should be the headquarters for a single payer healthcare system with immigration offices and an abortion clinic on site as well.
Moggie
4 years ago
@Naglfar:
Out of curiosity, can a president give themself a medal of freedom? If they can, I’d be surprised if Trump doesn’t give himself one at some point.
Maybe he’ll go full Idi Amin, and invent new titles and medals to award himself. There’s probably nothing to prevent that. He’s created the Space Force, so maybe he’ll declare himself Commander of Space.
Ohlmann
4 years ago
He can give himself the medal of Distinguished Inventor for the invention of camo pattern that work in space and yet look exactly like earthen one !
Surplus to Requirements, Observer of the Vast Blight-Wing Enstupidation
4 years ago
Limbaugh? The Medal of Freedom? No American has worked more tirelessly to curtail people’s freedoms, especially women’s, in recent memory!
Trump giving one to himself would arguably be even worse, since he’s known for, among other things, having people herded into camps. Ditto Arpaio.
Paireon
4 years ago
@Moggie –
Maybe he’ll go full Idi Amin
I kinda hope not, given that it would entail him keeping the heads of his political opponents (and any others who pissed him off) in his freezer.
Gaebolga
4 years ago
Diego Duarte wrote:
After criminally prosecuting Trump…
I’m hoping that after Trump gets thrown in prison, the DoJ pursues RICO cases against every Rethuglican congressman who held office during Trump’s administration.
Those spineless fucks were integral to him being able to commit his crimes, so they should do the time along with him.
That would be a sight to behold, and would hopefully give lethal heart attacks to a sizable percentage of the Rethug voting base.
Moggie
4 years ago
@Surplus, you know that “freedom” is one of those words which the American right uses for its emotional impact, without regard to accuracy. Much like “family” and “patriot”. Perhaps the definitions go something like this:
freedom: the state of being allowed to do anything I tell you to do.
family: people you can hurt with impunity.
patriot: someone whose love for their country is exceeded only by their hatred for most of its people.
Naglfar
4 years ago
Did Idi Amin* actually eat people or was that just a racist myth?
*by which I mean His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular**
**Also claimed King of Scotland
@Moggie
More like:
Freedom: the right to kill/lock up people you don’t like
Patriot: someone who wants to impose their culture and country’s supremacy over all others
An Impish Pepper
4 years ago
Now I’m imagining a building with HUSSEIN written large enough to be seen from long distances, but the rest of the name has to be read up close.
But also, I feel like as long as we’re naming buildings after people Trump doesn’t like, we could do with more people than just Obama and Ginsburg, who perhaps deserve it more than they do.
Allandrel
4 years ago
It is only a matter of time until Trump starts ordering the arrest of his political opponents.
And conservatives across the country will cheer.
Surplus to Requirements, Observer of the Vast Blight-Wing Enstupidation
4 years ago
@An Impish Pepper:
But also, I feel like as long as we’re naming buildings after people Trump doesn’t like, we could do with more people than just Obama and Ginsburg, who perhaps deserve it more than they do.
We can start with the Thunberg Institute for Climate Science.
Surplus to Requirements, Observer of the Vast Blight-Wing Enstupidation
4 years ago
Early numbers out of Iowa are indicating that Sanders has edged out fauxgressive Buttigieg, and that Biden was trounced. Though since it’s a proportional system, rather than winner-take-all, Sanders and Buttigieg will get nearly the same number of delegates once the dust settles, and Biden won’t get none.
Snowberry
4 years ago
Early numbers out of Iowa are indicating that Sanders has edged out fauxgressive Buttigieg, and that Biden was trounced.
Something I wondered awhile back, but forgot about. A chunk of Biden’s popularity comes from independents and moderate conservatives who are disgusted with Trump. I don’t know how big that chunk is. In states without open primaries, those people won’t be able to vote for him unless they change their party affiliation to “Democrat”. So it’s entirely possible that Biden could remain the most popular choice yet perform poorly in the primaries and caucuses as a whole, because his voters didn’t vote for him.
We should name them after Maxine Waters. That would really get him. Plus she’s deserving.
Ohlmann
4 years ago
@Snowberry : insofar as I want Bernie above Biden, that’s a good news. The bad one being that it increase the odds of Buttigieg, which is probably the worse of the bunch.
Of course, if a non-Biden candidate lose to Trump, people will say that Biden would have won. They might even be right, but thoses day I am burned deep by fauxgressistes that want to be the last recourse against far right.
(in France, Macron is probably better than Le Pen, our Trump equivalent, but he work hard to make sure he is only very slightly better. I fear Butt-gig or Biden to do the same)
Paireon
4 years ago
@Allandrel- This is how democracies die, and yet they’re too far up their own posteriors to see it.
Oh well, the US had a good run… Let’s hope the next hegemon of the free world is a bit more far-sighted (but don’t hold your breath).
Naglfar
4 years ago
@Paireon
This is how democracies die, and yet they’re too far up their own posteriors to see it.
I think it’s more that they actually want an end to democracy. They want authoritarian fascism. Maybe some are simply blind, but I think many actively want this.
Ohlmann
4 years ago
@Naglfar : the ancient greeks nailed it, by saying that Democracy is basically the form of government with the lowest ceiling but highest floor. An exceptional ruler can be handed absolute power and be able to do better than any democracy ; a bad ruler can crash and burn a country much more easily if he have absolute power.
Of course, starting a dictature with a visibly incompetent ruler is a strange way to do that. Maybe they hope a litteral angel will come from the sky to replace Trump ?
We Hunted The Mammoth
Surely the presidential medal of freedom was pretty much already tainted anyway? I mean, Henry Kissinger was awarded one! Like with the Nobel peace prize, once Kissinger has one it’s thoroughly devalued.
@Naglfar – Fascistic, and Mafiaesque. Reward the sycophants, crush the dissenters.
Once Trump is acquitted later today, he’s going to go after his personal enemies with a vengeance. Don’t be surprised if he tries to use Barr and the DOJ to jail Schiff and Pelosi and squash Bolton’s book. Bolton should’ve testified while he had the chance.
@Buttercup Q. Skullpants – In all fairness, bolton isn’t exactly on the side of the angels; that’s more of an “Evil vs. Evil” situation going on there.
@Diego Duarte
That would be great. It would also mean that Obama would be the second President ever to be both a president and a SCOTUS justice (Taft was the first).
@Buttercup
The scariest part is how Republicans have basically acknowledged he’s doing all this and they don’t care. There’s virtually nothing in place to stop him from declaring himself President for life or something like that, and millions would support him. I wish there could have been witness testimony, but this was a sham trial anyway with acquittal guaranteed, so I’m not sure how much difference it would have made.
Whoops, correction to my earlier post: Medal of Freedom, not Medal of Honor. Medal of Honor is the military one. Rush “Anal Cyst” Limbaugh sure as hell isn’t getting that one.
It’s pretty clear that Trump sees awards as a reflection of power, not achievement.
@Diego – I’d love to see a rash of naming things after Obama: schools, airports, streets, public buildings. That would give Trump apoplexy, especially since his name is starting to get removed from his towers.
@Buttercup
What would break him even more would be naming things after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. If she is still alive when a Democrat takes office, she should be among the first to get the Medal of Freedom.
Also, maybe New York City can rename the street that Trump tower is on to “Ocasio-Cortez Street.” Just a thought.
Out of curiosity, can a president give themself a medal of freedom? If they can, I’d be surprised if Trump doesn’t give himself one at some point.
@Naglfar and Buttercup
I would go even further. After criminally prosecuting Trump and taking away all of his properties, to pay for all the damages that would likely be awared, I would eminent domain the NY Trump Tower and repurpose it as a government building.
THEN I would rename that building the Barack HUSSEIN Obama building and display it where the name “TRUMP” used to be.
Oh it would give him and the rest of his supporters a fit!
Bonus points if they make it an IRS or Federal Reserve building.
@Diego Duarte
It should be the headquarters for a single payer healthcare system with immigration offices and an abortion clinic on site as well.
@Naglfar:
Maybe he’ll go full Idi Amin, and invent new titles and medals to award himself. There’s probably nothing to prevent that. He’s created the Space Force, so maybe he’ll declare himself Commander of Space.
He can give himself the medal of Distinguished Inventor for the invention of camo pattern that work in space and yet look exactly like earthen one !
Limbaugh? The Medal of Freedom? No American has worked more tirelessly to curtail people’s freedoms, especially women’s, in recent memory!
Trump giving one to himself would arguably be even worse, since he’s known for, among other things, having people herded into camps. Ditto Arpaio.
@Moggie –
I kinda hope not, given that it would entail him keeping the heads of his political opponents (and any others who pissed him off) in his freezer.
I’m hoping that after Trump gets thrown in prison, the DoJ pursues RICO cases against every Rethuglican congressman who held office during Trump’s administration.
Those spineless fucks were integral to him being able to commit his crimes, so they should do the time along with him.
That would be a sight to behold, and would hopefully give lethal heart attacks to a sizable percentage of the Rethug voting base.
@Surplus, you know that “freedom” is one of those words which the American right uses for its emotional impact, without regard to accuracy. Much like “family” and “patriot”. Perhaps the definitions go something like this:
freedom: the state of being allowed to do anything I tell you to do.
family: people you can hurt with impunity.
patriot: someone whose love for their country is exceeded only by their hatred for most of its people.
Did Idi Amin* actually eat people or was that just a racist myth?
*by which I mean His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular**
**Also claimed King of Scotland
@Moggie
More like:
Freedom: the right to kill/lock up people you don’t like
Patriot: someone who wants to impose their culture and country’s supremacy over all others
Now I’m imagining a building with HUSSEIN written large enough to be seen from long distances, but the rest of the name has to be read up close.
But also, I feel like as long as we’re naming buildings after people Trump doesn’t like, we could do with more people than just Obama and Ginsburg, who perhaps deserve it more than they do.
It is only a matter of time until Trump starts ordering the arrest of his political opponents.
And conservatives across the country will cheer.
@An Impish Pepper:
We can start with the Thunberg Institute for Climate Science.
Early numbers out of Iowa are indicating that Sanders has edged out fauxgressive Buttigieg, and that Biden was trounced. Though since it’s a proportional system, rather than winner-take-all, Sanders and Buttigieg will get nearly the same number of delegates once the dust settles, and Biden won’t get none.
Something I wondered awhile back, but forgot about. A chunk of Biden’s popularity comes from independents and moderate conservatives who are disgusted with Trump. I don’t know how big that chunk is. In states without open primaries, those people won’t be able to vote for him unless they change their party affiliation to “Democrat”. So it’s entirely possible that Biden could remain the most popular choice yet perform poorly in the primaries and caucuses as a whole, because his voters didn’t vote for him.
An Impish Pepper,
We should name them after Maxine Waters. That would really get him. Plus she’s deserving.
@Snowberry : insofar as I want Bernie above Biden, that’s a good news. The bad one being that it increase the odds of Buttigieg, which is probably the worse of the bunch.
Of course, if a non-Biden candidate lose to Trump, people will say that Biden would have won. They might even be right, but thoses day I am burned deep by fauxgressistes that want to be the last recourse against far right.
(in France, Macron is probably better than Le Pen, our Trump equivalent, but he work hard to make sure he is only very slightly better. I fear Butt-gig or Biden to do the same)
@Allandrel- This is how democracies die, and yet they’re too far up their own posteriors to see it.
Oh well, the US had a good run… Let’s hope the next hegemon of the free world is a bit more far-sighted (but don’t hold your breath).
@Paireon
I think it’s more that they actually want an end to democracy. They want authoritarian fascism. Maybe some are simply blind, but I think many actively want this.
@Naglfar : the ancient greeks nailed it, by saying that Democracy is basically the form of government with the lowest ceiling but highest floor. An exceptional ruler can be handed absolute power and be able to do better than any democracy ; a bad ruler can crash and burn a country much more easily if he have absolute power.
Of course, starting a dictature with a visibly incompetent ruler is a strange way to do that. Maybe they hope a litteral angel will come from the sky to replace Trump ?