Now that we have a new thread, in order to ensure that this thread continues to meet TL standards and follows the proper guidelines, we will be enforcing the rules in the OP more strictly. Be sure to give them a complete and thorough read before posting!
NOTE: When providing a source, please provide a very brief summary on what it's about and what purpose it adds to the discussion. The supporting statement should clearly explain why the subject is relevant and needs to be discussed. Please follow this rule especially for tweets.
Your supporting statement should always come BEFORE you provide the source.
On June 23 2026 14:56 Falling wrote: Very good to know that the Arab HUSSEIN Obama and Biden spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the reflecting pool, but he, Donald J Trump, has only spent $14 million (so far) on a no vid contract to donor and neighbour to Donald J Trump.
But if only there weren't so many vandals. Vandals and wreckers. Cutting 290, or 300 foot slit in the Reflecting Pool without anyone noticing. Amazing.
I have a pavlovian reflex to ask oblade what his thoughts on the reflecting pool controversy are ?
Is it A) Ninja vandals B) Obama left too much of a mess to fix the pool C) We don't have all the facts yet and oblade'll give his opinion on this when the official reports comes out in 2 years
Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
What do you mean government incompetence ? I'm assuming the government asked for a pool with no algae or peeling paint. It looks more like contractor incompetence. Or do you mean the government was incompetent because they chose the wrong contractor for the job ?
Oversight, no-bid contracting, the works. You still have submittals for the contract and it's on the government to review them. It's not like multiple competitive bids solves the problem of nobody at the helm reviewing them.
On June 23 2026 14:56 Falling wrote: Very good to know that the Arab HUSSEIN Obama and Biden spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the reflecting pool, but he, Donald J Trump, has only spent $14 million (so far) on a no vid contract to donor and neighbour to Donald J Trump.
But if only there weren't so many vandals. Vandals and wreckers. Cutting 290, or 300 foot slit in the Reflecting Pool without anyone noticing. Amazing.
I have a pavlovian reflex to ask oblade what his thoughts on the reflecting pool controversy are ?
Is it A) Ninja vandals B) Obama left too much of a mess to fix the pool C) We don't have all the facts yet and oblade'll give his opinion on this when the official reports comes out in 2 years
Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
Yeah the 5 arrested is the most interesting to me in the things said because it's the most concrete thing that was said. I imagine further information on that front makes Trump look stupid, but I also don't think it's impossible for someone to have suddenly made it look like people were arrested for cutting the pool lining with a knife.
Trump made the bare claim that there's a ~200ft, later changed to ~350ft, gash in the lining from vandals. That's just not believable. We'll see if anything believable comes up in the initial trial filings. I am expecting something like dropped charges for peeling off paint that's already coming off in strips and chunks.
On June 23 2026 14:56 Falling wrote: Very good to know that the Arab HUSSEIN Obama and Biden spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the reflecting pool, but he, Donald J Trump, has only spent $14 million (so far) on a no vid contract to donor and neighbour to Donald J Trump.
But if only there weren't so many vandals. Vandals and wreckers. Cutting 290, or 300 foot slit in the Reflecting Pool without anyone noticing. Amazing.
I have a pavlovian reflex to ask oblade what his thoughts on the reflecting pool controversy are ?
Is it A) Ninja vandals B) Obama left too much of a mess to fix the pool C) We don't have all the facts yet and oblade'll give his opinion on this when the official reports comes out in 2 years
Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
What do you mean government incompetence ? I'm assuming the government asked for a pool with no algae or peeling paint. It looks more like contractor incompetence. Or do you mean the government was incompetent because they chose the wrong contractor for the job ?
Oversight, no-bid contracting, the works. You still have submittals for the contract and it's on the government to review them. It's not like multiple competitive bids solves the problem of nobody at the helm reviewing them.
On June 23 2026 14:56 Falling wrote: Very good to know that the Arab HUSSEIN Obama and Biden spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the reflecting pool, but he, Donald J Trump, has only spent $14 million (so far) on a no vid contract to donor and neighbour to Donald J Trump.
But if only there weren't so many vandals. Vandals and wreckers. Cutting 290, or 300 foot slit in the Reflecting Pool without anyone noticing. Amazing.
I have a pavlovian reflex to ask oblade what his thoughts on the reflecting pool controversy are ?
Is it A) Ninja vandals B) Obama left too much of a mess to fix the pool C) We don't have all the facts yet and oblade'll give his opinion on this when the official reports comes out in 2 years
Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
Yeah the 5 arrested is the most interesting to me in the things said because it's the most concrete thing that was said. I imagine further information on that front makes Trump look stupid, but I also don't think it's impossible for someone to have suddenly made it look like people were arrested for cutting the pool lining with a knife.
Trump made the bare claim that there's a ~200ft, later changed to ~350ft, gash in the lining from vandals. That's just not believable. We'll see if anything believable comes up in the initial trial filings. I am expecting something like dropped charges for peeling off paint that's already coming off in strips and chunks.
I have a pavlovian reflex to ask oblade what his thoughts on the reflecting pool controversy are ?
Is it A) Ninja vandals B) Obama left too much of a mess to fix the pool C) We don't have all the facts yet and oblade'll give his opinion on this when the official reports comes out in 2 years
Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
What do you mean government incompetence ? I'm assuming the government asked for a pool with no algae or peeling paint. It looks more like contractor incompetence. Or do you mean the government was incompetent because they chose the wrong contractor for the job ?
Oversight, no-bid contracting, the works. You still have submittals for the contract and it's on the government to review them. It's not like multiple competitive bids solves the problem of nobody at the helm reviewing them.
On June 24 2026 07:16 Fleetfeet wrote:
On June 24 2026 04:12 dyhb wrote:
On June 24 2026 01:00 Fleetfeet wrote:
On June 24 2026 00:10 Geiko wrote:
On June 23 2026 23:04 oBlade wrote:
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote:
On June 23 2026 19:44 oBlade wrote:
On June 23 2026 17:53 Geiko wrote: [quote]
I have a pavlovian reflex to ask oblade what his thoughts on the reflecting pool controversy are ?
Is it A) Ninja vandals B) Obama left too much of a mess to fix the pool C) We don't have all the facts yet and oblade'll give his opinion on this when the official reports comes out in 2 years
Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
Yeah the 5 arrested is the most interesting to me in the things said because it's the most concrete thing that was said. I imagine further information on that front makes Trump look stupid, but I also don't think it's impossible for someone to have suddenly made it look like people were arrested for cutting the pool lining with a knife.
Trump made the bare claim that there's a ~200ft, later changed to ~350ft, gash in the lining from vandals. That's just not believable. We'll see if anything believable comes up in the initial trial filings. I am expecting something like dropped charges for peeling off paint that's already coming off in strips and chunks.
The article says shoulder, not neck, so I fully expect you to be crucified for your bad faith shortly
Yes, the Guardian story says shoulder and I want to be fastidious and truthful for the people here inclined to pouncing. I was trying to read a variety of sources, including from earlier, andsaid neck, or into his shoulder and out of his neck. So please don't jump on me for being obviously in league with the Epstein class or fascism!
On June 23 2026 23:19 KwarK wrote: I think had Trump fixed the pool people would not make an issue out of it. What he has done is filled it with algae and lies at great taxpayer expense. Presenting this as “why would people be against fixing the pool” is a bit silly.
I disagree. I think whatever would happen with the pool, it still would became an issue. ( I mean, it is already quite hilarious that pool is an issue worth discussing on US politics thread). There is a reason, why some people on the right joke that Trump should say: "Breathing is good, may sure you keep breathing"
That reason is that they’re idiots.
It’s a stupid argument. “Your current grievance may be legitimate but in my imagination your non current imaginary grievance is illegitimate and therefore I imagine you as not really caring about whatever the legitimate grievance is and therefore I can disregard it”.
1. Nobody has come out against breathing, even though Trump does it. 2. Even if people did have illegitimate grievances you do still need to address the legitimate ones.
It's hard to grasp for some maga americans but it's not about the pool, it's about the blatant corruption and then the tripling down on obvious lies.
Anywhere else in the civilized world Trump's political career would have ended with any one of the 100s of obvious corruption examples throughout his two mandates. In France for example a politician was forced into retirement because he gave a 10k€ no-bid contract to a company where his wife worked as an employee. In the USA giving 14M$ directly to your buddy only for him to screw up the job is just another tuesday. And then clowns like oblade will tell you "what controversy lol ?"
Don't get me wrong politicians will always find ways to get richer and I'm not claiming that Trump invented corruption. He's just taking it to never before seen levels and at least half of the USA just doesn't seem to care.
On June 23 2026 19:44 oBlade wrote: [quote] Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
What do you mean government incompetence ? I'm assuming the government asked for a pool with no algae or peeling paint. It looks more like contractor incompetence. Or do you mean the government was incompetent because they chose the wrong contractor for the job ?
Oversight, no-bid contracting, the works. You still have submittals for the contract and it's on the government to review them. It's not like multiple competitive bids solves the problem of nobody at the helm reviewing them.
On June 24 2026 07:16 Fleetfeet wrote:
On June 24 2026 04:12 dyhb wrote:
On June 24 2026 01:00 Fleetfeet wrote:
On June 24 2026 00:10 Geiko wrote:
On June 23 2026 23:04 oBlade wrote:
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote:
On June 23 2026 19:44 oBlade wrote: [quote] Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
Yeah the 5 arrested is the most interesting to me in the things said because it's the most concrete thing that was said. I imagine further information on that front makes Trump look stupid, but I also don't think it's impossible for someone to have suddenly made it look like people were arrested for cutting the pool lining with a knife.
Trump made the bare claim that there's a ~200ft, later changed to ~350ft, gash in the lining from vandals. That's just not believable. We'll see if anything believable comes up in the initial trial filings. I am expecting something like dropped charges for peeling off paint that's already coming off in strips and chunks.
The article says shoulder, not neck, so I fully expect you to be crucified for your bad faith shortly
Yes, the Guardian story says shoulder and I want to be fastidious and truthful for the people here inclined to pouncing. I was trying to read a variety of sources, including from earlier, andsaid neck, or into his shoulder and out of his neck. So please don't jump on me for being obviously in league with the Epstein class or fascism!
To stay somewhat on topic - those charges (100 years, 70 years etc) do seem wholly insane and politically motivated. Especially in the context of police (or just ICE) killing innocent people and... well, not getting 100 year prison sentences... and also mass pardons for Jan 6ers, someone getting consecutive sentencing totaling 100 years for not quite killing a police officer seems wild.
Not that I think they should be let go for free, but with America's gun laws / 'don't tread on me' etc I'd expect... I guess a government not trying to make an example of people who think they're fascist.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
What do you mean government incompetence ? I'm assuming the government asked for a pool with no algae or peeling paint. It looks more like contractor incompetence. Or do you mean the government was incompetent because they chose the wrong contractor for the job ?
Oversight, no-bid contracting, the works. You still have submittals for the contract and it's on the government to review them. It's not like multiple competitive bids solves the problem of nobody at the helm reviewing them.
On June 24 2026 07:16 Fleetfeet wrote:
On June 24 2026 04:12 dyhb wrote:
On June 24 2026 01:00 Fleetfeet wrote:
On June 24 2026 00:10 Geiko wrote:
On June 23 2026 23:04 oBlade wrote:
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: [quote]
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
Yeah the 5 arrested is the most interesting to me in the things said because it's the most concrete thing that was said. I imagine further information on that front makes Trump look stupid, but I also don't think it's impossible for someone to have suddenly made it look like people were arrested for cutting the pool lining with a knife.
Trump made the bare claim that there's a ~200ft, later changed to ~350ft, gash in the lining from vandals. That's just not believable. We'll see if anything believable comes up in the initial trial filings. I am expecting something like dropped charges for peeling off paint that's already coming off in strips and chunks.
The article says shoulder, not neck, so I fully expect you to be crucified for your bad faith shortly
Yes, the Guardian story says shoulder and I want to be fastidious and truthful for the people here inclined to pouncing. I was trying to read a variety of sources, including from earlier, andsaid neck, or into his shoulder and out of his neck. So please don't jump on me for being obviously in league with the Epstein class or fascism!
To stay somewhat on topic - those charges (100 years, 70 years etc) do seem wholly insane and politically motivated. Especially in the context of police (or just ICE) killing innocent people and... well, not getting 100 year prison sentences... and also mass pardons for Jan 6ers, someone getting consecutive sentencing totaling 100 years for not quite killing a police officer seems wild.
Not that I think they should be let go for free, but with America's gun laws / 'don't tread on me' etc I'd expect... I guess a government not trying to make an example of people who think they're fascist.
Just like the January 6th rioters, the next president can pardon, commute, or partially commute these sentences.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
[quote] Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
[quote] Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
[quote] "Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
What do you mean government incompetence ? I'm assuming the government asked for a pool with no algae or peeling paint. It looks more like contractor incompetence. Or do you mean the government was incompetent because they chose the wrong contractor for the job ?
Oversight, no-bid contracting, the works. You still have submittals for the contract and it's on the government to review them. It's not like multiple competitive bids solves the problem of nobody at the helm reviewing them.
On June 24 2026 07:16 Fleetfeet wrote:
On June 24 2026 04:12 dyhb wrote:
On June 24 2026 01:00 Fleetfeet wrote:
On June 24 2026 00:10 Geiko wrote:
On June 23 2026 23:04 oBlade wrote: [quote] Dude.
The pool is broken.
[quote] Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
[quote] Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
[quote] Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
[quote] "Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
Yeah the 5 arrested is the most interesting to me in the things said because it's the most concrete thing that was said. I imagine further information on that front makes Trump look stupid, but I also don't think it's impossible for someone to have suddenly made it look like people were arrested for cutting the pool lining with a knife.
Trump made the bare claim that there's a ~200ft, later changed to ~350ft, gash in the lining from vandals. That's just not believable. We'll see if anything believable comes up in the initial trial filings. I am expecting something like dropped charges for peeling off paint that's already coming off in strips and chunks.
The article says shoulder, not neck, so I fully expect you to be crucified for your bad faith shortly
Yes, the Guardian story says shoulder and I want to be fastidious and truthful for the people here inclined to pouncing. I was trying to read a variety of sources, including from earlier, andsaid neck, or into his shoulder and out of his neck. So please don't jump on me for being obviously in league with the Epstein class or fascism!
To stay somewhat on topic - those charges (100 years, 70 years etc) do seem wholly insane and politically motivated. Especially in the context of police (or just ICE) killing innocent people and... well, not getting 100 year prison sentences... and also mass pardons for Jan 6ers, someone getting consecutive sentencing totaling 100 years for not quite killing a police officer seems wild.
Not that I think they should be let go for free, but with America's gun laws / 'don't tread on me' etc I'd expect... I guess a government not trying to make an example of people who think they're fascist.
Just like the January 6th rioters, the next president can pardon, commute, or partially commute these sentences.
I mean obviously that's not a solution and/or a good thing. The next president shouldn't have worry about pardoning someone who got sentenced 30 years for moving some digital files (If I understand correctly) just because it's the 'other side' that spite-sentenced them (or encouraged/enabled/celebrated it)
Longest Jan6er was 20something years anyhow. That seems long, but not "hurl the book at 'em, hard as you can" long.
On June 23 2026 14:56 Falling wrote: Very good to know that the Arab HUSSEIN Obama and Biden spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the reflecting pool, but he, Donald J Trump, has only spent $14 million (so far) on a no vid contract to donor and neighbour to Donald J Trump.
But if only there weren't so many vandals. Vandals and wreckers. Cutting 290, or 300 foot slit in the Reflecting Pool without anyone noticing. Amazing.
I have a pavlovian reflex to ask oblade what his thoughts on the reflecting pool controversy are ?
Is it A) Ninja vandals B) Obama left too much of a mess to fix the pool C) We don't have all the facts yet and oblade'll give his opinion on this when the official reports comes out in 2 years
Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
What do you mean government incompetence ? I'm assuming the government asked for a pool with no algae or peeling paint. It looks more like contractor incompetence. Or do you mean the government was incompetent because they chose the wrong contractor for the job ?
Oversight, no-bid contracting, the works. You still have submittals for the contract and it's on the government to review them. It's not like multiple competitive bids solves the problem of nobody at the helm reviewing them.
On June 23 2026 14:56 Falling wrote: Very good to know that the Arab HUSSEIN Obama and Biden spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the reflecting pool, but he, Donald J Trump, has only spent $14 million (so far) on a no vid contract to donor and neighbour to Donald J Trump.
But if only there weren't so many vandals. Vandals and wreckers. Cutting 290, or 300 foot slit in the Reflecting Pool without anyone noticing. Amazing.
I have a pavlovian reflex to ask oblade what his thoughts on the reflecting pool controversy are ?
Is it A) Ninja vandals B) Obama left too much of a mess to fix the pool C) We don't have all the facts yet and oblade'll give his opinion on this when the official reports comes out in 2 years
Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
Yeah the 5 arrested is the most interesting to me in the things said because it's the most concrete thing that was said. I imagine further information on that front makes Trump look stupid, but I also don't think it's impossible for someone to have suddenly made it look like people were arrested for cutting the pool lining with a knife.
Trump made the bare claim that there's a ~200ft, later changed to ~350ft, gash in the lining from vandals. That's just not believable. We'll see if anything believable comes up in the initial trial filings. I am expecting something like dropped charges for peeling off paint that's already coming off in strips and chunks.
They're just antifa, if you don't support their valiant efforts to shoot police officers it must be because you're pro fascism. It's literally in the name "antifa."
I have a pavlovian reflex to ask oblade what his thoughts on the reflecting pool controversy are ?
Is it A) Ninja vandals B) Obama left too much of a mess to fix the pool C) We don't have all the facts yet and oblade'll give his opinion on this when the official reports comes out in 2 years
Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
What do you mean government incompetence ? I'm assuming the government asked for a pool with no algae or peeling paint. It looks more like contractor incompetence. Or do you mean the government was incompetent because they chose the wrong contractor for the job ?
Oversight, no-bid contracting, the works. You still have submittals for the contract and it's on the government to review them. It's not like multiple competitive bids solves the problem of nobody at the helm reviewing them.
On June 24 2026 07:16 Fleetfeet wrote:
On June 24 2026 04:12 dyhb wrote:
On June 24 2026 01:00 Fleetfeet wrote:
On June 24 2026 00:10 Geiko wrote:
On June 23 2026 23:04 oBlade wrote:
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote:
On June 23 2026 19:44 oBlade wrote:
On June 23 2026 17:53 Geiko wrote: [quote]
I have a pavlovian reflex to ask oblade what his thoughts on the reflecting pool controversy are ?
Is it A) Ninja vandals B) Obama left too much of a mess to fix the pool C) We don't have all the facts yet and oblade'll give his opinion on this when the official reports comes out in 2 years
Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
Yeah the 5 arrested is the most interesting to me in the things said because it's the most concrete thing that was said. I imagine further information on that front makes Trump look stupid, but I also don't think it's impossible for someone to have suddenly made it look like people were arrested for cutting the pool lining with a knife.
Trump made the bare claim that there's a ~200ft, later changed to ~350ft, gash in the lining from vandals. That's just not believable. We'll see if anything believable comes up in the initial trial filings. I am expecting something like dropped charges for peeling off paint that's already coming off in strips and chunks.
They're just antifa, if you don't support their valiant efforts to shoot police officers it must be because you're pro fascism. It's literally in the name "antifa."
On June 23 2026 19:44 oBlade wrote: [quote] Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
What do you mean government incompetence ? I'm assuming the government asked for a pool with no algae or peeling paint. It looks more like contractor incompetence. Or do you mean the government was incompetent because they chose the wrong contractor for the job ?
Oversight, no-bid contracting, the works. You still have submittals for the contract and it's on the government to review them. It's not like multiple competitive bids solves the problem of nobody at the helm reviewing them.
On June 24 2026 07:16 Fleetfeet wrote:
On June 24 2026 04:12 dyhb wrote:
On June 24 2026 01:00 Fleetfeet wrote:
On June 24 2026 00:10 Geiko wrote:
On June 23 2026 23:04 oBlade wrote:
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote:
On June 23 2026 19:44 oBlade wrote: [quote] Controversy lol.
I feel, based on your two-word answer, like you don't understand why there would be a controversy, or if there is, that it's a meaningless or unimportant one.
So let me break it down in some more specific questions:
A) How do you feel about no-bid contracts being given out by washington for Millions of tax-payer dollars to possibly friends and donors ? Is it ok for the president/government to hand these out ?
Dude.
The pool is broken.
In the 4th Century, Aristotle wrote: For it is a characteristic of an educated man to look for as much precision in each subject as the nature of a particular area of enquiry admits.
Fix the pool.
Millions of dollars is exactly correct. It's not a $200 job and it's not a billion dollar job.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: B) How do you feel about the president unilaterally deciding on renovations, major changes to landmarks (reflecting pool, white house) without approval from the responsible federal authorities? Are you generally fine with the president bypassing all legal process to get things moving faster ?
Today you learned, to your chagrin, that as actually elected president, whether you like it or not, Trump is the top figure in the entire government and has valid and significant legal authorities that the, let's say, "hall monitor" class of "real government" that you imagine he reports to, does not overrule.
You also learned that no-bid contracts are EXPLICITLY allowed by statute SPECIFICALLY because of urgency, like for example my beautiful country's upcoming 250th birthday.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: C) What is your opinion on the cause of the new-reflecting pool being filled with algae and the coating being damaged ? If the answer is not "Vandals", are you generally fine with the president blatantly lying about it on TV ? If the answer is "Vandals", could you provide a quick and plausible explanation on how the vandals managed to to pull this off with guards and cctv around ?
Refer to A: The pool is broken.
This can be because it's a 2,000 foot long pool that has been subsiding for decades.
It can be because of vandals.
It can be because of both.
The answer is: Fix the pool.
You do not know DC. I've seen people smoking weed in gazebos* on the grounds of the Capitol.
Your faux skepticism outrage worldview of "How could the people who did this without being arrested or identified possibly do anything to the reflecting pool? Why would any mentally ill person exist who wants to vandalize something they see as being connected to Blumpf?" lacks persuasive merit.
Was there a vandal who did something to the reflecting pool? Certainly plausible. Is that the single and main and but-for cause of the pool needing more work? Answer:Fix the pool.
If today's the day you want to pretend to be a pool expert also I'll entertain your good-faith detailed theories so long as France will agree to foot the bill for the Statue of Liberty's centennial renovations.
On June 23 2026 21:20 Geiko wrote: Thank you for your attention to this matter.
"Even my personality and speech is being assimilated into the person I'm obsessed with"
I never said we shouldn't fix the pool ? Why are you repeating "fix the pool !" ?
I understand your argument is "There was urgency for ´fixing' the pool before July 4th, therefore a no-bid contract is acceptable and legal.". My questions to you: 1) Couldn't this have been forseen since the 250th birthday is not a surprise ? 2) If one is forced to do a no-bid contract, in a normal presidency, wouldn't they want to chose a company that they do not have any links to ? Wouldn't one also want to chose a company that has experience in the sort of works that are required ? I'm asking for your personal opinion, I'm not asking you to tell me "Trump did it, he's the authority and therefore it's legal"
Regarding your answer to B), are you saying that congress (and the people that congress have given power to) are mere "hallway monitors" and the president can disregard the law when he sees fit ?
If I understood correctly, your answer to C) is you don't know why the pool is full of algae with paint pealing off. (And also "fix the pool!"). I agree with you the pool must be fixed. With that out of the way, here is my theory as to why the pool is broken today. Trump gave away a multi-million no-bid contract to his friends and donors who had no prior experience working on a structure of this scale. The team made mistakes, applied an improper coating and didn't take into account temperature rises that come from painting something a darker color. Now Trump os lying about it to protect his friends saying vandals did this. This seems very unlikely seeing that the paint is pealing off over 300feet. That's my theory regarding why a pool that's just been fixed for millions of dollars is still broken today. I'm not saying it's the absolute truth, I'm just saying that that is what makes the most sense to me currently.
Can you give me your reasonable explanation for why the pool is still broken a week after it has been repaired ?
This seems reasonable, but have you considered the counterpoint:
Ninjas with boxcutters and a hatred of pool linings.
Occam's razor is likely the tool they used to slice the pool lining undetected.
The peeling paint and algae looks like government incompetence. If there's anything to the intentional vandalism arrests, the government will have to show the evidence in court. I saw 5 arrested.
Yeah the 5 arrested is the most interesting to me in the things said because it's the most concrete thing that was said. I imagine further information on that front makes Trump look stupid, but I also don't think it's impossible for someone to have suddenly made it look like people were arrested for cutting the pool lining with a knife.
Trump made the bare claim that there's a ~200ft, later changed to ~350ft, gash in the lining from vandals. That's just not believable. We'll see if anything believable comes up in the initial trial filings. I am expecting something like dropped charges for peeling off paint that's already coming off in strips and chunks.
They're just antifa, if you don't support their valiant efforts to shoot police officers it must be because you're pro fascism. It's literally in the name "antifa."
how many police had been shot by antifa?
You don't understand.
He is imagining antifa shooting at police, that made him scared, so it's only fair to put them in prison for hundreds of years.
I mean, as far as i understand it, the dude went to an ICE facility, armed, with a bunch of his buddies and intended to provoke law enforcement there. When law enforcement drew their weapon he shot one of them in the back. To me he obviously deserves jail time. The fact that his buddies got 50year sentences just for going along with the idea of bringing weapons seems excessive.
On June 24 2026 14:19 Geiko wrote: It's hard to grasp for some maga americans but it's not about the pool, it's about the blatant corruption and then the tripling down on obvious lies.
Anywhere else in the civilized world Trump's political career would have ended with any one of the 100s of obvious corruption examples throughout his two mandates. In France for example a politician was forced into retirement because he gave a 10k€ no-bid contract to a company where his wife worked as an employee. In the USA giving 14M$ directly to your buddy only for him to screw up the job is just another tuesday. And then clowns like oblade will tell you "what controversy lol ?"
Don't get me wrong politicians will always find ways to get richer and I'm not claiming that Trump invented corruption. He's just taking it to never before seen levels and at least half of the USA just doesn't seem to care.
Mona Sahlin, who was deputy prime minister of Sweden and the prospective next prime minister had to resign in the « Toblerone Gate » because she had used her professional credit card to make groceries (including some toblerone).
I think most Americans don’t even understand what the word corruption means and that you are never, under any circumstances, supposed to use office for your personal financial gains.
The fact that people demand absolutely no standard of honesty and integrity to their leaders is the main reason the US is such a disfunctional and broken democracy.
On June 24 2026 20:31 Vivax wrote: Having to resign for groceries is silly, she could have just paid it back out of her own pocket afterwards. That‘s just pedantry at some point.
But yeah, the US is on another level of that kind of stuff, especially when it comes to financial ramifications.
Your boss gives you the company credit card to buy a work computer, you go out and buy your personal groceries with it. He finds out. Would you then expect to be able to say "fine here's the 50$ back" and expect not to be fired ?
Politicians work for the people. Using public funds on yourself or friends is like stealing from your boss.
By that I mean, do it if you want but you should expect severe consequences if you get caught. It seems currently there are no more negative consequences in the USA for this behaviour.
On June 24 2026 20:31 Vivax wrote: Having to resign for groceries is silly, she could have just paid it back out of her own pocket afterwards. That‘s just pedantry at some point.
But yeah, the US is on another level of that kind of stuff, especially when it comes to financial ramifications.
Your boss gives you the company credit card to buy a work computer, you go out and buy your personal groceries with it. He finds out. Would you then expect to be able to say "fine here's the 50$ back" and expect not to be fired ?
Politicians work for the people. Using public funds on yourself or friends is like stealing from your boss.
By that I mean, do it if you want but you should expect severe consequences if you get caught. It seems currently there are no more negative consequences in the USA for this behaviour.
It's different if he hands you cash to buy the work computer. He'd notice you paid more than expected so you'd tell him anyway and pay it back, but it wouldn't show up as a problematic transaction for the company. Yeah, cash is also an obvious source of problems for this reason. Someone fencing stolen goods can hardly do it over the counter.
Now, not all companies can just give out cash for sending their employees out to buy stuff without it looking odd, but several of them can work together to make it possible.
On June 24 2026 20:31 Vivax wrote: Having to resign for groceries is silly, she could have just paid it back out of her own pocket afterwards. That‘s just pedantry at some point.
But yeah, the US is on another level of that kind of stuff, especially when it comes to financial ramifications.
Your boss gives you the company credit card to buy a work computer, you go out and buy your personal groceries with it. He finds out. Would you then expect to be able to say "fine here's the 50$ back" and expect not to be fired ?
Politicians work for the people. Using public funds on yourself or friends is like stealing from your boss.
By that I mean, do it if you want but you should expect severe consequences if you get caught. It seems currently there are no more negative consequences in the USA for this behaviour.
On June 24 2026 14:19 Geiko wrote: It's hard to grasp for some maga americans but it's not about the pool, it's about the blatant corruption and then the tripling down on obvious lies.
Anywhere else in the civilized world Trump's political career would have ended with any one of the 100s of obvious corruption examples throughout his two mandates. In France for example a politician was forced into retirement because he gave a 10k€ no-bid contract to a company where his wife worked as an employee. In the USA giving 14M$ directly to your buddy only for him to screw up the job is just another tuesday. And then clowns like oblade will tell you "what controversy lol ?"
Don't get me wrong politicians will always find ways to get richer and I'm not claiming that Trump invented corruption. He's just taking it to never before seen levels and at least half of the USA just doesn't seem to care.
It’s worse and stupider than not caring. They love it because somehow they have convinced themselves that it’s owning the libs. Which some how has become their one and only concern.
Speaking of owning the libs. Camp Mystic, the Texas nondenominational Christian summer camp where 28 people died in a flood last year because Kerr County Republicans declined an updated flood warning & monitoring system paid for by the Democrat-passed American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, just filed for bankruptcy. They reportedly already had kids enrolled for a program this year.
On June 25 2026 00:17 LightSpectra wrote: Speaking of owning the libs. Camp Mystic, the Texas nondenominational Christian summer camp where 28 people died in a flood last year because Kerr County Republicans declined an updated flood warning & monitoring system paid for by the Democrat-passed American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, just filed for bankruptcy. They reportedly already had kids enrolled for a program this year.
Obviously people enrolled their children there, because that is the safest place to put your children. It is statistically extremely unlikely that a bunch of children would drown there in two subsequent years.
EPT![[image loading]](https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/7718f15f-6b39-4edc-b773-e1ed17255dda/dc-8647-1-rt-gmh-260611_1781209424805_hpMain.jpg)
