Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[Robert Roaldi]

An article from Michael Moore worth consideration.

https://www.michaelmoore.com/Now, We Crush Trump: 100 Days to a Better World

As I Write This, Election Day is 100 Days Away. Does Trump Even Know What Happened This Past Week? Welcome to the New American Majority, Mr. Trump. Here’s How Your Next 100 Days Are Going to Look…

Michael Moore — JUL 29, 2024

I found the stats about gun ownership and gun control in that article interesting. Moore didn't supply sources but I have seen similar numbers in other places. This was especially interesting to me because I saw a report (cannot remember where, sorry) that US gun sales went up after the attempted Trump assassination.

I have heard/read that statement so often now that I am starting to not believe it anymore. It sounds like marketing to me, not reporting. This is just my personal opinion mind, I have no expertise. However, in a country with more guns than population already and a known high percentage of people who do not own guns, a legitimate question arises. Who is buying these "extra" guns every time some event hits the news, a mass shooting, an assassination, a mention of gun control by a politician, etc. This does not sound real to me, it sounds too pat.

The stats imply that people who own guns own more than one. Guns tend not to wear out much, so there isn't a functional need to keep buying more of them. A collector may want more than one for obvious collection reasons. I can see a hunter wanting different weapons for different game, shotgun vs rifle. Selling new guns cannot be easy in what might be a saturated market.

For these reasons I am very suspicious when "reports" tell me that gun sales went up. Is it really possible that reliable surveys of gun sales are conducted and reported on mere days after a precipitating event? On the surface this does not seem plausible. Who is providing reporters with this data so rapidly?

[digitaldog]

Federal law requires licensed firearms dealers to maintain records of gun sales until their business or licensed activity is discontinued, including information about the firearm(s) being purchased, as well as the purchaser. Federal law prohibits the federal government from collecting firearm sales records in a central repository, however. WWithout a central repository of all firearm sales records, gun tracing is a slow,cumbersome process.

However, in order for law enforcement to have complete information about gun ownership, Congress would need to close the private sale loophole, which allows guns to be sold by individuals who are not licensed firearms dealers
https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/gun-sales/maintaining-records

[marvpelkey]

Although not even close to America's gun problem, I found out the other day that my mechanic (Greater Vancouver, BC area) has 12 handguns. He is not a "collector", just an average guy who likes to target shoot (hobby level, once or twice a month) and likes guns. And he's not even paranoid, anti-authority/government etc etc etc.

So, if an average Canadian can have 12 guns, it is not so unbelievable that many Americans have way more than a single firearm.

[digitaldog]

Canada’s rate of 22 percent of households owning firearms was in the middle range of the nine countries (Ibidem).
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/jsp-sjp/wd98_4-dt98_4/p2.html#:~:text=Canada's%20rate%20of%2022%20percent,than%2012%20percent%20owned%20handguns.

The average American owns between one and five firearms.
Gun ownership in America increased 28% from 1994 to 2023.
Based on NICS background data and manufacturing records, it is estimated that there are 393 million civilian-owned firearms in the U.S.
Only 6.06 million firearms are registered in America (NFA registrations and states with permits to purchase)
https://ammo.com/articles/how-many-gun-owners-in-america#:~:text=The%20average%20American%20owns%20between,have%20a%20handgun%20or%20pistol.

[marvpelkey]

I wonder how many of those numbers, both for Canada and the U.S., represent hunting rifles and handguns owned by citizens who reside in/near wilderness areas (hunting/defence from wild animals), as opposed to handguns and high powered military-style long guns owned by residents near/in more densely populated areas? The mechanic I mentioned in my previous post lives in the most populated area of BC and sure doesn't use them for wilderness activities.

[digitaldog]

I wonder how many of those numbers, both for Canada and the U.S., represent hunting rifles and handguns owned by citizens who reside in/near wilderness areas (hunting/defence from wild animals), as opposed to handguns and high powered military-style long guns owned by residents near/in more densely populated areas?

And I wonder how many of them actually hunt or have ever used them for "defense from wild animals". Not that most US citizens need an excuse to buy multiple guns.
Full transparency: I still own a 22 rifle my dad bought me as a boy in the early 1960s. We would go target shooting at a local range, and it hasn't been fired in at least 50+ years. No idea if it even works anymore.

[digitaldog]

A great businessman. Wait!

The value of Trump’s stake in the corporate owner of Truth Social has dropped by $800 million since Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race for the White House on July 21. Trump Media & Technology Group’s share price has tumbled by about 20% since then.
The value of Trump’s dominant stake in the conservative social media company stood at just over $4 billion as of July 19, the final trading day before President Joe Biden exited the race and endorsed Harris. It has since dropped to about $3.2 billion.

[digitaldog]

The old, fat guy running for president loses it again. Dementia?

Donald Trump made a gaffe at a campaign rally on Wednesday, referring to the Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate David McCormick as the state's "future governor."

He craps the bed again! As we see on the Lula carpet here so often. 💩

[Robert Roaldi]

It just never ends with Trump. I just saw this about the Egyptian angle from the 2016 campaign https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FJXoWobi6o&t=193s.

"He's a great guy" Trump said about the Egyptian leader. What kind of down-home dumbass statement is that to make on the world stage? Low-rent pathetic from start to finish. How can people fall for anyone so unpersuasive.

Btw, does anyone know if any of those Trump sneaker pre-orders from a few months ago were ever fulfilled?  If I remember, deliveries were supposed to happen in July or August. Has anyone received their Trump bible yet?

[digitaldog]

Has anyone received their Trump bible yet?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/06/trump-bible-review
I bought Trump’s Bible – a blasphemous, sticky nightmare
This article is more than 2 months old
Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, and various Trump casinos have all failed – but has the ex-president finally found himself a winning product?

[digitaldog]

Cognitive Decline? Experts Find Evidence Trump’s Mind Is Slowing
New research found several compelling pieces of evidence that suggest that Trump is significantly less sharp than he was at the start of his presidency.
Hafiz Rashid
August 8, 2024
https://newrepublic.com/maz/post/184690/cognitive-decline-experts-find-evidence-trumps-mind-slowing
“I can’t tell you how staggering this is,” Pennebaker told STAT. “He does not think in a complex way at all.” 

[marvpelkey]

I wonder how much, if at all, this latest cognitive decline research will affect the opinion of the voters.

It might get a bit of play on CNN, MNSBC and others, but it will be spun as just more fake news, left wing conspiracies et al, by all his political supporters who have no choice now but to go all in.

And if all the things that have been said/written/reported about his many flaws/problems in the past have resulted in a literal 50-50 voter split between him and Harris, I doubt many will "see the light" now.

[digitaldog]

I wonder how much, if at all, this latest cognitive decline research will affect the opinion of the voters.

Those with equal or worse cognitive decline, those inside the bubble of misinformation, members of the cult, zero effect. 
If fifty million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.

[Robert Roaldi]

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And if all the things that have been said/written/reported about his many flaws/problems in the past have resulted in a literal 50-50 voter split between him and Harris, I doubt many will "see the light" now.

It's all very irrational, isn't it. A bit like "My daddy drove a Ford, so I drive a Ford," which implies a belief that the brand has real meaning, which it doesn't. The Ford corporation of 1955 has nothing to do with today's entity, only the name remains. It's a bit like rooting for a pro sports team. Following a sports team can be fun, but do people really believe a team has anything to do with the city it's in. If you've declared yourself to be MAGA, you're not allowed to veer from that, no matter what. To that extent, it's more show than real, which is sad.

I saw the other day that Trump revived the old story about Justin Trudeau being Fidel Castro's love child. Trump is in the middle of the election run of his life, why waste two minutes discussing Justin Trudeau at all, let alone in that silly context. Is it just some vague way to align himself with an anti-Cuba theme. It amuses me how obsessed Americans are with Cuba. I don't understand why they took it so hard when Fidel kicked out the organized crime run casinos in Havana. But the US has long had issues with other countries' right to self-determination. Ironic or what.

As for Trump's mind, he has been incoherent for years.

The funniest thing on the interweb these days has to be JD Vance's continued obsession with people who have not had children. Is that really what voters are concerned about?

[digitaldog]

I saw the other day that Trump revived the old story about Justin Trudeau being Fidel Castro's love child.

He's losing it bigly. Did you see his latest lie and massive brain fart from his meltdown yesterday?

Trump said he ‘went down’ in helicopter ‘emergency landing’ with former San Francisco mayor, who says it never happened
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/08/politics/trump-helicopter-story-willie-brown/index.html

“I know Willie Brown very well. In fact, I went down in a helicopter with him. We thought maybe this is the end. We were in a helicopter going to a certain location together, and there was an emergency landing,” Trump told reporters gathered at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for his first news conference since the Democratic ticket was announced.

“This was not a pleasant landing, and Willie was, he was a little concerned. So I know him, I know him pretty well. I mean, I haven’t seen him in years,” Trump continued.

Brown, however, rejected Trump’s account as “obviously wrong” during a phone call later Thursday with CNN, saying: “I’ve never been in a helicopter with him in my life.”

[digitaldog]

They are both Brown so what's the difference?

Trump appears to confuse former Mayor Willie Brown with former Gov. Jerry Brown
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-appears-confuse-willie-brown-jerry-brown-rcna165903
Oh wait, the difference is, he's still moving his lips so he's still lying:

A representative for Jerry Brown disputed Trump's account of the helicopter ride, saying, “There was no emergency landing and no discussion of Kamala Harris.”

A spokesperson for Newsom confirmed to NBC News that Newsom was aboard the helicopter but said that there was no emergency landing and that they had not been endangered. The governor and former governor first denied Trump's account in comments to The New York Times.

OLD man Trump can't handle this!

[Robert Roaldi]

He's losing it bigly.
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Not a long trip in his case.

[PeterAit]

I love this!

[Robert Roaldi]

Imo he always tended that way, but has Trump turned into a caricature of himself? I could never sit through his "speeches" but the snippets I see online now just seem to be endless repetitions of the same inane memes and clichés.

The verbal ticks "crooked Joe Biden", "evil so-and-so" were catchy when new but they are just childish name-calling now. How can even a true believer listen to that tripe and not feel insulted at being spoken to like a child. It's not pleasant being condescended to, especially by a huckster. It's a bit like listening to an aging Hollywood star on a late night show using the same old lines from the good ole days. People applaud politely but it's not what they came to see.

[marvpelkey]

You are giving most of his cult followers way too much credit. Over the years they have become so committed to him that it is now impossible for them to recognize the truth when it comes to anything to do with him.

I used to question "How the heck can they not see that?" but not anymore.

When I was on the job (policing), I regularly witnessed situations where someone just would not believe the one they adored could/did commit some heinous stuff, regardless of the hard evidence.

Although I do see some coming to their senses and leaving the fold, I also see those who sit behind him at rallies wildly cheering whenever he makes one of his bizarre statements. And, the ones that I have the most distain for are those politicians who know in their heart that he is a dangerous nut bar but support and praise him for their own selfish reasons.