BearlySane88 said:

---

Anarchistbear said:

---

bearister said:

---

Aunburdened said:

---

sycasey said:

---

No lies detected.

Obama called Trump an ‘idiot’ and Don Jr a ‘f****** moron’ in call to Fauci, diaries reveal https://t.co/uf8VqSInLL

— Sigurdur Nordal (@essenviews) July 31, 2026

---

No lies detected

I know. That’s why it boggles the mind that news outlets are calling the diaries useless or a nothingburger. They’re damning https://t.co/sLM597Fy5s

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) July 31, 2026

---

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Trump had the understanding of "a fifth- or sixth-grader."

White House chief of staff John Kelly called Trump "an idiot" and said he thought the president was "unhinged."

Both Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former chief of staff Reince Priebus called Trump an "idiot."

Former economic adviser Gary Cohn said Trump was "dumb as sh@it," and former national security adviser H.R. McMaster said the president was a "dope."

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said in November 2017 that Trump was "like an 11-year-old child."

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in July 2017 called Trump a "moron."

---

One thing is certain: Trump is a lot smarter than this glee club of losers, all of whom thought they could change him and were fired or resigned

---

You've been the voice of reason a heck of a lot lately.

---

He always is. He's the closest thing we have to an honest liberal on this forum, though I doubt he would limit himself to that classification.

bearister said:

---

Aunburdened said:

---

sycasey said:

---

No lies detected.

Obama called Trump an ‘idiot’ and Don Jr a ‘f****** moron’ in call to Fauci, diaries reveal https://t.co/uf8VqSInLL

— Sigurdur Nordal (@essenviews) July 31, 2026

---

No lies detected

I know. That’s why it boggles the mind that news outlets are calling the diaries useless or a nothingburger. They’re damning https://t.co/sLM597Fy5s

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) July 31, 2026

---

[snip irrelevant copy/pasted tripe that has nothing to do with this thread]

---

The investment in maintaining Fauci's sainthood is impressive. Media in this country is just trash.

I underestimated how emotionally committed much of the press is to rallying around Anthony Fauci. His reputation is more important to them than anything - more important than preventing the next biodisaster. This is stronger than Muellermania

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) August 1, 2026

Aunburdened said:

---

sycasey said:

---

Big C said:

---

I was quite absorbed with the pandemic for about a year and a half, starting with whenever Cal88 started posting his updates with the British guy, through when everybody could get vaxxed...

What I recall about the "origins" was that we chose to overlook the considerable circumstantial evidence that indicated lab-leak because people were maybe gonna start blaming Americans of Chinese descent (and in fact, all Asians). The Japanese internment camps during WWII were being referenced as an example of what happens when a society, out of fear, jumps to conclusions.

As I look back now, sure, mistakes were made. It happens. I think about as many mistakes were made on one side as on the other (degree of societal restriction). We were flying by the seat of our pants.

---

I actually think it's probably still more likely that it was a zoonotic origin

---

OMG

---

Yeah, the dirty little truth is that most of the scientific studies (including those that could not have been influenced by Fauci or anyone else like him) still think the zoonotic origin is most likely, though of course none can be totally certain.

It's the intelligence agencies that thought the lab leak theory was of a higher likelihood, but that's down to their reading of Chinese communications and what information they appeared to be hiding moreso than an actual study of the virus itself. That COULD be evidence of a cover-up, or it could just be the Chinese government being super secretive about everything like they usually are.

But this is also why I think it was a mistake for the US government to try doing any kind of cover-up here; the mere fact that they did that has now convinced a majority of the public that it was in fact a lab leak. Just terrible understanding of how basic human psychology will behave in response to that, same as the early lies about the masks. I see it has happened for you too.

bearister said:

---

sycasey said:

---

Trump does have a strong political intelligence.

---

Does he? Consider the people that his "political intelligence" attracts. The same naive types he has been ripping off his whole life.
Did you ever buy Trump's schtick? I didn't. No one in my extended family did. None of my friends from my Cal days did. None of the lawyers in the law firm I worked in did. The only people I hung with that did were a couple of Evangelical Christians I played golf with for several years until I quit playing on Saturdays.

---

Obviously I can't stand Trump so I never bought his schtick. But I cannot deny that a whole lot of people have, and I also cannot deny that for a lot of them their level of belief is extremely "sticky" . . . like no matter what he does they will never leave him. Not enough to always constitute a national majority, of course, but definitely enough for him to maintain an iron grip on the Republican Party. There is something he's doing right.

sycasey said:

---

Aunburdened said:

---

sycasey said:

---

Big C said:

---

I was quite absorbed with the pandemic for about a year and a half, starting with whenever Cal88 started posting his updates with the British guy, through when everybody could get vaxxed...

What I recall about the "origins" was that we chose to overlook the considerable circumstantial evidence that indicated lab-leak because people were maybe gonna start blaming Americans of Chinese descent (and in fact, all Asians). The Japanese internment camps during WWII were being referenced as an example of what happens when a society, out of fear, jumps to conclusions.

As I look back now, sure, mistakes were made. It happens. I think about as many mistakes were made on one side as on the other (degree of societal restriction). We were flying by the seat of our pants.

---

I actually think it's probably still more likely that it was a zoonotic origin

---

OMG

---

Yeah, the dirty little truth is that most of the scientific studies (including those that could not have been influenced by Fauci or anyone else like him) still think the zoonotic origin is most likely, though of course none can be totally certain.

It's the intelligence agencies that thought the lab leak theory was of a higher likelihood, but that's down to their reading of Chinese communications and what information they appeared to be hiding moreso than an actual study of the virus itself. That COULD be evidence of a cover-up, or it could just be the Chinese government being super secretive about everything like they usually are.

But this is also why I think it was a mistake for the US government to try doing any kind of cover-up here; the mere fact that they did that has now convinced a majority of the public that it was in fact a lab leak. Just terrible understanding of how basic human psychology will behave in response to that, same as the early lies about the masks. I see it has happened for you too.

---

The Wuhan Lab is only 7 miles away from the wet market the competing natural origin theory indicates that COVID 19 spread from bats to humans. Wuhan was experimenting with coronaviruses on bats. The facts above in themselves are compelling. There is no logical stretch necessary to believe the lab leak theory. It takes a logical leap to believe in the crazy coincidence that COVID 19 happened to originate right next to Bancel's level 4 Lab, and Bancel's small biotech (in an existing partnership with the NIH ) could sequence COVID 19 so incredibly quickly that he could make billions on his vaccine.

SBGold said:

---

This Prez is an idiot:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/charges-dropped-against-ex-olympian-220738209.html

Charges dropped! Kudos to our heroic Olympian!

VOTE BLUE and VOTE GAVIN

---

Wrong thread. Please don't pirate.

Nah, this thread got some twists and turns. The post is right in line dawg

Vote Blue and Free Wags