victim mentalityQuote:
Originally Posted by Beanz
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victim mentalityQuote:
Originally Posted by Beanz
For more than four decades before Donald Trump assumed the presidency, the FBI director was a position above politics. A new president might choose a political ally as attorney general, but the FBI director was different. An FBI director appointed by Richard Nixon also served under Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Carter’s choice remained on the job deep into Reagan’s second term, when Reagan moved him to head the CIA. Reagan’s FBI appointee served through the George H. W. Bush presidency and into the Bill Clinton administration. Clinton fired the inherited official—the first time a president ever fired an FBI director—only because the outgoing Bush administration had left behind a Department of Justice report accusing the director of ethical lapses. (Clinton tried to coax the tainted director into resigning of his own volition. Only after the coaxing failed did Clinton act.)
And so it continued into the 21st century. Except in a single case of serious scandal, Senate-confirmed FBI directors stayed in their post until they quit or until their 10-year term expired. Never, never, never was a Senate-confirmed FBI director fired so that the president could replace him with a loyalist. Republicans and Democrats alike agreed that there must be no return to the days when J. Edgar Hoover did special favors for presidents who perpetuated his power.
Even Donald Trump grudgingly submitted to this rule during his first term, as the Mueller Report later detailed. Trump wanted to fire FBI Director James Comey to shut down the investigation of Trump’s ties to Russia. Trump’s advisers convinced Trump that admitting his true motive would spark an enormous scandal. Instead, the new administration inveigled the deputy attorney general to write a letter offering a more neutral-seeming explanation: that Comey had mishandled the bureau’s investigation of Hillary Clinton. That deceptive rationalization—the Mueller Report authoritatively disproved the cover story—did not calm the uproar over Trump’s scheme to install a henchman as FBI director. At the time, even Trump supporters still professed that the FBI director must be more than a presidential yes-man. Things were quieted only when Trump chose a politically independent candidate to replace Comey: Christopher Wray, who holds the job to this day, retained through all four years of the Biden administration.
Yesterday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he intended to fire Wray to replace him with Kash Patel, a person notorious for his cringing deference to Trump’s wishes. How bad a choice is Patel? My colleague Elaina Plott Calabro reported that when President Trump “entertained naming Patel deputy director of the FBI, Attorney General Bill Barr confronted the White House chief of staff and said, ‘Over my dead body.’”
But before getting to Patel’s demerits, we should stay for a minute longer on the ominous danger of Trump’s wish to fire Wray.
Read: The Kash Patel principle
FBI directors wield awesome powers over the liberties of Americans. The unwritten rule governing their appointment—no dismissal except for compelling cause—bulwarked American law and freedom for half a century. Even first-term Trump dared not openly defy it. But second-term Trump is opening with a bid to junk it altogether. Much of the reporting on Trump’s announcement reveals a society already bending to Trump’s will: Something that was regarded as outrageously unacceptable in 2017—treating an FBI director as just another Trump aide—has been semi-normalized even before President-Elect Trump takes office.
The firing of Wray is the real outrage. The obnoxious nomination of Patel slathers frosting and sprinkles on the outrage.
Maybe the Patel nomination will fail, as Trump’s attempt to install Matt Gaetz as attorney general failed. If Patel falters, maybe Trump will fall back on a somewhat more respectable candidate. That second candidate may be greeted with relief. But the essential harm will be done by the firing of Wray, not the hiring of Patel (or whoever ultimately gets the job). Already, not a month since the closest election by popular-vote margin in two generations, we are witnessing, throughout law-enforcement and the national-security agencies, a pattern of Trump’s trashing institutions and replacing them with whim. Trump is declaring his intention to reinvent the FBI as something it has never been before: an instrument of personal presidential power, which will investigate (or refrain from investigating) and lay charges (or refrain from laying charges) as the president wishes.
For secretary of defense, Trump has chosen an ideological crank whose own mother accused him in writing of repeatedly abusing women. (She subsequently disavowed the statements.) At the CIA, Trump wants a hyper-partisan who, as Trump’s first-term director of national intelligence, selectively declassified information to discredit Trump’s political opponents. For his second-term director of national intelligence, Trump wants a longtime apologist for Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
Merit, competence, integrity—none of that matters. Or rather, those good qualities seem to be active disqualifiers. Trump’s picks are selected for obedience only.
Read: The man who will do anything for Trump
Now comes the great test: Is the American constitutional system as fragile as Trump hopes? Will Wray meekly accept termination or will he defend the bureau from Trump’s second and bolder attempt to pervert it? Will Senate Republicans ratify Trump’s attack on the separation of law enforcement from politics? Will federal courts grant warrants to an FBI that seeks warrants and makes arrests because the president told it to? Will the tiny Republican majority in the House endorse or resist Trump’s attempt to create a personal police force? Does enough of an independent press survive outside the control of Trump-friendly oligarchs to explain what is happening and why it matters? Will enough of the public care? Will enough of the public react?
The American people voted for cheaper eggs. They’re going to get only noise, conflict, and chaos. What Trump is trying will, if successful, be a constitutional scandal far greater than Watergate. If he succeeds, the seizure of power he unsuccessfully attempted in 2021 could be under way in 2025.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...-patel/680840/
Would be nice if this mult-trillion dollar question pitting tax breaks for high-income households versus discounted insurance premiums for the middle class had figured in coverage of the 2024 election:
https://x.com/mattyglesias/status/1862637377904136638
Wall Street Journal reports that corporate executives are buying Trump’s cryptocurrency to curry favor with him.
https://twitter.com/ArjSingh92/statu...71606168518975
WASHINGTON, Nov 25 (Reuters) - U.S. farm industry groups want President-elect Donald Trump to spare their sector from his promise of mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain heavily dependent on immigrants in the United States illegally.
So far Trump officials have not committed to any exemptions, according to interviews with farm and worker groups and Trump's incoming "border czar" Tom Homan.
Nearly half of the nation's approximately 2 million farm workers lack legal status, according to the departments of Labor and Agriculture, as well as many dairy and meatpacking workers.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...on-2024-11-25/
Clear signals President-elect Donald Trump plans to make good on his campaign pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants in his second term has sparked concerns among some in Texas' business and economic sectors who say mass deportations could upend some of the state's major industries that rely on undocumented labor, chief among them the booming construction industry.
"It would devastate our industry, we wouldn't finish our highways, we wouldn't finish our schools," said Stan Marek, CEO of Marek, a Houston-based commercial and residential construction giant. "Housing would disappear. I think they'd lose half their labor."
https://www.npr.org/2024/11/23/g-s1-...order-security
Two seemingly unrelated behind-the-scenes Mar-a-Lago dramas capture the shock soon to pound Washington:
- Elon Musk, the most powerful and persistent voice in President-elect Trump's ear, has been relentless in pushing "radical reform" of, well, almost everything. As he sits next to Trump discussing administration picks, Musk often asks if the person embodies "radical reform" — massive cuts and blow-it-up-to-rebuild instincts.
- Trump has been telling friends he denied Robert Lighthizer — his pro-tariff, China-hawk U.S. trade representative in the first term — a Cabinet role because he's "too scared to go big." He's loyal but too timid to take big, risky swings, Trump contends.
Why it matters: Trump advisers are running out of words to describe what's coming in January. They say he feels empowered and emboldened, vindicated and validated, and eager to stretch the boundaries of power.
- He's egged on by Musk and others — and picking trusted brawlers for the toughest, most controversial tasks.
You got a big taste of this yesterday:
- Trump named real estate developer Charles Kushner — father of Trump's son-in-law, Jared — as ambassador to France. During the final month of his first term, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, who had served federal time after being prosecuted by Chris Christie for preparing false tax returns, witness retaliation and making false statements to the FEC.
- Less than six hours later, Trump announced he picked Kash Patel, one of the hardest of his first-term hardliners, as FBI director. That means the incumbent, Chris Wray, who's just over seven years into a 10-year term (so the job could transcend any one presidency), will resign or be fired. A transition insider told us the Patel pick is a "personal message to the left that was cheering on Jack Smith" — the special counsel who was prosecuting Trump, and plans to step down before Trump can fire him.
Between the lines: Many in Trump's inner circle are gleeful at the aggressiveness of the Cabinet picks — former Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth, a decorated Army veteran who now faces questions about his treatment of women, to lead the Pentagon ... RFK Jr. to head HHS ... and former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.
- All of them want to disrupt the organizations they've been picked to lead. Patel told podcaster Shawn Ryan: "I'd shut down the FBI Hoover Building on Day 1, and reopen the next day as a museum of the Deep State." Patel told MAGA podcast warrior Steve Bannon last year: "We're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We're going to come after you, whether it's criminally or civilly."
- The transition insider told us Trump "no longer listens to people, usually senators, who tell him 'that's not how it's done' or 'it doesn't work that way.' He no longer accepts that rationale."
"Every day is Christmas Day," Steve Bannon told us during an early flurry of announcements. "We are fixed bayonets on these nominations."
- Bannon called Patel, who sells pro-Trump merch with "K$H" logos, his "One AND Only!!" choice to lead the FBI.
- After yesterday's announcements, Bannon texted us, as if he were dictating old-school headlines: "Wildest Dreams — Now to Darkest Nightmare as the Established Order Goes Scorched Earth to Defeat the President During Confirmation ... MAGA Best @ Scorched Earth Battles."
Behind the scenes: Chemistry with Trump is a huge factor in the most controversial picks. "These are people that get him and understand him," a longtime Trump confidant told us. "Last time, there were lots of people who didn't understand the vision or buy into the vision."
- Another transition source tells us Patel was close to being named deputy FBI director, which would have been much less confrontational. But the former frontrunner for the job, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, flunked his Mar-a-Lago meeting with Trump. Bailey "looked the part" but "just didn't have the presence in the room," we're told.
The big picture: A tweet by Musk this past week captured the Mar-a-Lago vibe. "It's this time or never," he said about structural reform of the federal government.
- Musk, who said in 2018 that he was sleeping on a Tesla factory floor to stay on top of a production problem, has made Mar-a-Lago his new factory floor. He says the incoming administration is working "7 days a week."
- We're told Musk is pressing to instantly upend agencies by keeping the fewest possible people — like he did when he bought Twitter, now X.
What they're saying: Trump confidants tell us their plans are radical only compared to the status quo. "We're looking for a return to normalcy," the insider said. "Nothing radical. Used to be common sense in this country (and every country) that you take care of your people first before getting generous with others."
- "There are a million examples of things that need to be taken care of at home before we look past our shores, and we're gonna focus on those things," the insider added.
Reality check: Patel faces a potentially explosive Senate confirmation fight.
- "Current and former law enforcement officials," The New York Times notes, "have worried that a second Trump term would feature an assault on the independence and authority of the F.B.I. and the Justice Department, and for many of them, Mr. Patel's ascension to the director's role would confirm the worst of those fears."
https://www.axios.com/2024/12/01/tru...kash-patel-fbi
Kushner hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, recorded their sexual encounter, and sent the tape to his sister, all in retaliation for his brother-in-law's cooperation with a federal investigation into other crimes Kushner had committed.
https://twitter.com/stanveuger/statu...27276549066947
Personally... I'm experiencing a change in direction from most of the Trump haters that I know, both on this forum and outside of it.
While most of the nation, TV networks, political analysts, etc, continue to fret, wring their hands, and second-guess themselves and each other... I've settled into an "I told you so", resigned, calm-but-prepared, posture.
Seriously.
What GOOD does it do to continue all this haggling over everything and anything that Trump says or does?? The fukking election is over... and people made it abundantly clear they want this egotistical, racist, ignorant, tyrannical bozo to lead the country for another four years. What's done is done.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi...42e90f6ab98739
"Trump taps Kash Patel for FBI director, an ally who would aid in his effort to upend law enforcement"
Case in point.
This Patel guy has come out PUBLICLY telling political opponents and Trump detractors he's going to "COME AFTER THEM" once he's head of the FBI.
Can you believe this SHIT??!!??
He's not dressing it up... he's not beating around the bush... he's not leaving it up to anyone's imagination.
He's basically saying: "If you're against Trump... we're going to come after you."
IS ANYONE SURPRISED??!!??
So please... everyone spare us the crying, the hand-wringing, the second guessing. America had a chance to get rid of this "DICTATOR WANNABE" back on November 5th. They didn't do it.
Now buckle up... and STFU.
https://twitter.com/AshleySchapitl/s...95080655045054
So cutting government overreach extends to preventing the IRS going after people making millions a year who haven't filed tax returns for years.. This new America first GOP seems a lot like the old GOP on steroids.
Worth noting firing the IRS head and the FBI head without cause is illegal. You would think the liberal media might make something of this. Obama was referred to every day as a lawless president for the crime of issuing executive orders, something every president does. When a president is straight up breaking the law you would hope it would get a similar amount of coverage to the fake claims of law breaking, maybe even more.
The Democrats don't do outrage. The GOP do nothing but. There'll be more outrage and media coverage generated by whatever bullshit investigations the Trump administration start on their enemies than the fact that the government is going after their enemies with bullshit investigations. To the low/no information floating voters who decide elections now they'll just see this endless coverage of supposed illegality by the Democrats with the associated performative GOP outrage and decide there's something to it and the electorate in 2028 will probably on balance see the Democrats as the bad guys, the crooks. The Democrats need to learn how to do modern politics or it may be all over for democracy if it isn't already.
Some crypto/investing crook currently being prosecuted for various fraud counts just invested eighteen million in Trump's bullshit crypto coin. The Wall Street Journal is reporting various Wall Street Journal executives doing the same thing. Like I said, a seething mass of criminality and corruption from day one.
https://popular.info/p/a-chinese-national-charged-with-fraud
Related: https://bsky.app/profile/brianfung.m.../3lbxgbz6zl227
And this is just a hell of a read. First time I've seen the whole situation distilled into a readable article: So now I want you to imagine what happens if the U.S. and its allies get in a major war with China — as analysts say is increasingly possible. In the first few weeks, much the two countries’ stores of munitions — including drones and the batteries that power drones — will be used up. After that, as in Ukraine, it will come down to who can produce more munitions and get them to the battlefield in time.1 At that point, what will the U.S. do if neither we nor our allies can make munitions in large numbers? We will have to choose to either 1) escalate to nuclear war, or 2) lose the war to China. Those will be our only options. Either way, the U.S. and its allies will lose. Now realize that the U.S. and its allies aren’t just falling behind China in drone and battery manufacturing — we’re falling behind in all kinds of manufacturing. The chart at the top of this post comes a 2024 report by UNIDO, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Here, let me repost it so we can take a look:
Source: UNIDO In the year 2000, the United States and its allies in Asia, Europe, and Latin America accounted for the overwhelming majority of global industrial production, with China at just 6% even after two decades of rapid growth. Just thirty year later, UNIDO projects that China will account for 45% of all global manufacturing, singlehandedly matching or outmatching the U.S. and all of its allies. This is a level of manufacturing dominance by a single country seen only twice before in world history — by the UK at the start of the Industrial Revolution, and by the U.S. just after World War 2. It means that in an extended war of production, there is no guarantee that the entire world united could defeat China alone.
That is a very dangerous and unstable situation. If it comes to pass, it will mean that China is basically free to start any conventional conflict it wants, without worrying that it will be ganged up on — because there will be no possible gang big enough to beat it. The only thing they’ll have to fear is nuclear weapons. And of course other nations will know this in advance, so in any conflict that’s not absolutely existential, most of them will probably make the rational choice to give China whatever it wants without fighting.2 China wants to conquer Taiwan and claim the entire South China Sea? Fine, go ahead. China wants to take Arunachal Pradesh from India and Okinawa from Japan? All yours, sir. China wants to make Japan and Europe sign “unequal treaties” as revenge for the ones China was made to sign in the 19th century? Absolutely. China wants preferential access to the world’s minerals, fossil fuels, and food supplies? Go ahead. And so on......
https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/manufacturing-is-a-war-now
I searched the Congressional Record on tax or IRS related legislation & floor speeches by former Rep. Billy Long, who Trump has said he wants to be IRS director. Long repeatedly cosponsored legislation to abolish the IRS & replace the income tax with a national sales tax.
https://twitter.com/bresreports/status/1864498029677642085
A sales tax of course would be a massive upward redistribution of wealth.
The smart money is betting Trump won't do much of anything. Won't deport enough people to affect the economy or inflation, won't go crazy with tariffs and so on and the economy will just chug along nicely. There's a good chance that's what happens but there's also endless possibilities for things to go wrong.
Trump is not even president yet but everyone is preparing themselves for his onslaught from Biden pardoning his son to countries preparing for tariffs.
https://www.wabi.tv/2024/12/11/donal...s-person-year/
"Donald Trump expected to be named Time’s Person of the Year"
You know... I loathe Trump the person, and have never thought much of him as a leader of men. I believe he checks all the boxes on the type of personality you want to stay as far away from as possible.
Having said that, I've settled into the mindset where I actually hope he proves me (and a lot of other people) wrong. Makes no sense to wish him ill. As he goes, so does the country. The U.S. doesn't need any more shit on its plate.
But "Person of the Year"?? :vd:
That's like when he was being considered for the Nobel Peace Prize.
What in the FUKK is wrong with people today?
This is encouraging! From the Wall Street Journal:
The day before Thanksgiving, Zuckerberg, the billionaire CEO, dined with the president-elect on a patio at Mar-a-Lago. At one point, Zuckerberg and other attendees stood, hand over heart, as the club played a rendition of the national anthem sung by imprisoned defendants who are accused of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, according to people familiar with the matter.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/...?siteid=yhoof2
The Trump transition team has started to explore pathways to dramatically shrink, consolidate or even eliminate the top bank watchdogs in Washington.
In recent interviews with potential nominees to lead bank regulatory agencies, Trump advisers and officials from his newfound Department of Government Efficiency have, for example, asked whether the president-elect could abolish the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., people familiar with the matter said.
https://www.livemint.com/industry/ba...068221144.html
This seems worrying, but some on, how can you expect people to remember what happened seventeen years ago.
I'm sure every working American is thinking and hoping for a capital gains tax cut now that the tribune of the working classes is going to get another four years:
Trump hints at capital gains and dividend tax cut: CNBC: “And every working person who is watching would love to be able to see dividend tax, maybe capital gains tax much lower.” TRUMP: “We are going to be talking about that."
https://twitter.com/johnkartch/statu...38905449435270
The Republican party is still the Republican party in some respects:
https://twitter.com/Fritschner/statu...48552311083008
And last but not least:
From the New York Times:Trump’s Treasury Pick Is Poised to Test ‘Three Arrows’ Economic Strategy
Mr. Trump’s Treasury secretary pick, Scott Bessent, has mapped out a three-pronged approach to jump-starting a U.S. economy that has been saddled with inflation and sluggish output. The concept, which he billed during the campaign as his 3-3-3 plan, entails increasing growth to 3 percent, cutting the budget deficit to 3 percent of gross domestic product and raising U.S. energy production by three million barrels of oil per day, or the equivalent in other fuels.
This isn't a strategy. They aren't even tactics. These are just goals, and not very impressive ones. Growth is already averaging 3.04% during Biden's term. Cutting the budget deficit would be easy if Republicans would stop blowing holes in it with tax cuts for the rich. And oil production has increased by 4 billion barrels per day since Biden took office, so 3 billion is hardly a stretch as long as anyone wants to buy the stuff.
In other words, just keep doing what Biden is doing and let the TCJA lapse. Easy peasy, as long as you don't muck things up with a trade war or a bank crash after you stop regulating them.
https://jabberwocking.com/trumps-eco...well-as-biden/
I'm just scratching the surface of the past week or so here. Anybody seen the bit about getting the Treasury to buy a hundred billion dollars of bitcoin? Jesus it's going to be an interesting four years.
I’m in China till trump takes office. Biden created too much havoc in the world I didn’t feel safe in the US. Shit can’t I add pics I took some nice pics here today lots of Buddha’s
Quote:
Originally Posted by walrus
Hey dude. Long time no see. With both you and Brock gone, there was no one to argue with about Trump.
I suppose congrats are in order. The people chose the narcissistic, criminal, racist, egotistical blowhard over Kamala Harris.
No Kamala fan myself... so the Dems have no one to blame but themselves for this loss.
China, huh?
Did you bump into Brock over there? How 'bout Miles? These two do their share of traveling.
Me? I'm just chllin' over here... hoping for the best but resigned to whatever comes down the pipe.
Shock is a thing of the past. :D
Tbh I’m just here on vacation have some downtown and Wi-Fi in the AM and evenings. I find this site is running very slow almost impossible to use. Didn’t know Brock wasn’t around I hope everyone is alright. I did think the dems made a mistake dismissing those who supported trump as garbage etc but let’s face it, how much does the person sitting in the White House directly impact our lives?Quote:
Originally Posted by TitoFanQuote:
Originally Posted by walrus
Hey dude. Long time no see. With both you and Brock gone, there was no one to argue with about Trump.
I suppose congrats are in order. The people chose the narcissistic, criminal, racist, egotistical blowhard over Kamala Harris.
No Kamala fan myself... so the Dems have no one to blame but themselves for this loss.
China, huh?
Did you bump into Brock over there? How 'bout Miles? These two do their share of traveling.
Me? I'm just chllin' over here... hoping for the best but resigned to whatever comes down the pipe.
Shock is a thing of the past. :D
Now China is quite amazing. Haven’t been here since precovid the city I’m staying in has basically been rebuilt and I went to a grocery store yesterday a shitload of Russian products, candies snacks etc. fairly priced while the US goods were much more expensive and limited. Although there are a bunch of teslas around. Built here of course. China has a 20% adoption of EV’s. Rather impressive.
I can’t waste my time freaking out about politics. I will be interested to see how a Bitcoin reserve comes to pass. In my eyes we gotta try something different. 37 trillion in debt doesn’t make sense.
As punishment for their birther slander against Obama, the GOP is now stuck with a president who actually was born in Africa.
https://x.com/EricColumbus/status/1869748305556828406
The main argument for a Strategic BItcoin Reserve seems to be that Bitcoin holders worry about an impending shortage of greater fools and need the US government to act as the greatest fool of last resort.
https://x.com/davidfrum/status/1870564077535470079
Trump’s cabinet has 11 billionaires, each one of whom is richer than George Soros. Elon [not in the cabinet] is worth over a hundred times what Soros is worth
https://x.com/ArmandDoma/status/1870638681457135902
The probation system in Alabama, America's most godly state:
https://apnews.com/article/prison-to...source=Twitter
https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervie...62&FORM=VMSOVR
This clip is from one of my favorite sports movies of all time, Tin Cup.
Renee Russo embodies exactly how I feel about this past election regarding Trump. Fukk it. Let 'er rip.
Only difference is... chances are Trump doesn't get the hole-in-one, but splashes down in the pond again.
But the American people voted him in... so who gives a SHIT by now. :D :rasta: :goodvsevil: :wackomz4:
Merry Christmas to all. Couldn’t respond in China returned after a month abroad. I think perhaps some missed the point of my observation of Russian and US goods for sale in China. It was more the observation that trade between China and Russia has greatly accelerated since my last trip. There was a large building that had goods from Russia to sample and buy. (The Kursk area seems to be where most of the food comes from) Iran as well. Just noticed all the things from Russia and tbh their cookies are pretty good. Iran as well. Many goods from Iran available. Just interesting to note as I don’t see such things when I travel in Canada and South America.
Is this mostly for trump bashing still? No one has tired of it yet? I think I wrote two sentences about Biden on another forum both he and the bashing get old quick.
This thread has grown to appreciate Trump for the true genius that he is and that we were all wrong. He will own Greenland, Panama and Canada when he becomes emperor.Quote:
Originally Posted by walrus
Priceless.
;D
Babbling buffoon man off to a rousing start talking about taking over allied Countries and running repeats of previous military incursions. Saw that he appointed the ambassador to Panama, and it literally would not shock me if it's David Lee Roth.
https://i.imgur.com/eOyVTAY.jpeg
A MAGA civil war has erupted between Elon and the billionaire set and MAGA rank and file over Indians gettinf visas for tech jobs. Some highlights:Quote:
Originally Posted by Spicoli
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/mu...root-and-stem/
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/st...-war-rages-on/
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/brown-pe...-and-big-tech/
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/la...esident-trump/
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/ma...tough-reality/
Trump who nornally isn't shy about having his say on things hasn't said a word. He's happy to let Elon and his pet ferret Vivek be lightning rods for the MAGA anger when they keep letting the Indians in. Trump needs to do something to counteract Musk telling his base to fuck themselves in the face because they're retarded. So we'll get immigration raids in Democratic cities and family separations to drive the MAGA base wild and deflect from the policies they don't like like Indian visas. Most likely anyway.
A bit of genius from Trump getting the world's two most punchable faces to do this DOGE thing. They can take all the shit and Trump can skate under most of it. Look what Vivek had to say about white people. He was talking about them like whites talk about blacks and the whites did not like it:
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/vi...ings-ive-read/
Maybe we get a Trump Elon public split soon. Or maybe a fake public split. Or some other theatre to distract the base. It's all warming up nicely and the four years hasn't even started yet.
This Trump DEI hire demonstrates his knowledge of the job admirably in a few seconds:
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1879225023069659402
This is a guy who witnesses say has three gin and tonics for breakfast and has been fired from both his jobs managing other people for alcohol/sex reasons. He's now going to be running the DOD because he has one qualification and that's that when Trump tells him to order troops to shoot protestors he'll do it. And get rid of any officers who believe in the constitution too no doubt.
This lady is going to be, I kid you not, Director of National Intelligence. In charge of the CIA and a dozen other intelligence agencies. Needless to say she has zero intelligence experience and a history of political grift/moneymaking. What could possibly go wrong?
https://x.com/KareemRifai/status/1879008377524904212
It's actually good that Americans without a degree or a trade can live in a nondescript suburb and earn $100k+/yr driving for UPS or managing a restaurant.
https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1879280655865200865
I thought conservatives recognising the strength of the economy wouldn't start until Trump's inauguration but here we are. Looks like there's going to be a deluge of this stuff soon afterwards then. Coupled with the goldfish bowl memories out there it'll create a huge turnaround in consumer confidence numbers. Has already started to be fair. I wonder how long it'll take trump to start with it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beanz
This is EXACTLY right, and should be trumpeted far and wide. Trump (predictably, I might add) has chosen to: 1) criticize the firefighters for being "unable" to put out the fires, 2) rake the California governor over the coals (excuse the pun), 3) make asinine comments about how Norway supposedly keeps their forest floors clean and free of potentially combustible material (this one pegs out the Trump ridiculousness meter).
ANYTHING... other than offering to help in any way he can, and express sympathy to the many thousands who have lost their properties and livelihoods.
In fact... an old article (which I'll dredge up in due time) told how Trump in the past had threatened to cut off funding to firefighters in California for some dumbass reason, consistent with Trump's diabolical, nonsensical nature.
But once again... the PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES ELECTED THIS GUY.
What else can be said?
https://www.latimes.com/california/s...refighting-aid
"California firefighters’ union: Trump should ‘be ashamed’ over threat to withhold firefighting aid"
This is from September of last year. Look at what's happening now.
By the way, it was Austria, not Norway. ;D
Doesn't make Trump any less of an idiot. A dangerous one, at that.
la & maui had smart city programs, i wonder if any of the land involved in these fires will be used for those initiatives
https://ita.lacity.gov/smartla2028
https://social-innovation.hitachi/en...tmaui-project/
It will be interesting to see how Los Angeles recovers and deals with these staggering losses. Forty thousand acres of land is a hell of a lot. Homes, businesses, and others. I would think the first order of business is to somehow rehouse all these displaced residents, many of whom lost everything they had. This, compounded by the fact that not long ago many of them had their home insurance policies suspended. Not sure how any of that (rebuilding) is going to look like. It seems highly probable that the population distribution will look very different than what it used to be. That's where the land use comes in. Smart city concepts sound pretty exciting, with lots of potential benefits... and sounds like something that will be better defined and implemented moving forward. Yeah, who knows. Maybe LA would be more inclined to look in that direction now, given the circumstances. The whole idea sounds pretty good. Can't wait to see if my favorite TV channel, Curiosity, puts together a series on that, like they've done with other areas of technology.
https://jabberwocking.com/cbs-is-mul...-donald-trump/
Forty million for a worthless documentary from Bezos and now who knows how much from CBS to get a merger OKd. This is straight up corruption. The GOP banged on for for years aut a bunch of Hunter Biden bullshit. Hunter is a garbage human being and was selling the illusion of access to his dad like Neil Bush did with George W and Roger Clinton did and so on. It's not illegal. And all of the Hunter stuff happened from 2017 onwards, a period when Joe Biden was out of office and retired and somebody else was president.
If the Democrats don't crank up the outrage to Republican levels over this stuff it'll become normalised. There's actually something new here, a level of corruption never seen before in America and don't forget the Supreme Court has now legalised bribery. Trump is going to do it anyway but low/no information voters need to be made aware of it otherwise the country will just be a huge kleptocracy by net election and the kleptocrats will be so terrified of a rule of law government returning they'll fix future elections. This stuff is not difficult to predict, it's happened every single time a country anywhere in history has backslid from democracy.
In soon to be relevant news when the tax cut coverage starts:
https://jabberwocking.com/do-we-have...venue-problem/
A slight fall in government spending from 1980 to the start of the pandemic but a big change in revenue.
https://i.ibb.co/88wFg1W/Screenshot-...gle-Search.png
You'd think he could afford a decent tailor.
Should have got Hugo Boss to make him a new whistle.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirkland Laing
https://apnews.com/article/capitol-j...af85ac7b969606
"Trump grants sweeping pardon of Jan. 6 defendants, including rioters who violently attacked police"
Trump did what??!!??
Well... I'm absolutely SHOCKED.
Shocked I tell ya.
Absolutely didn't see this coming.
https://i.imgflip.com/9hhszl.jpg
Quote:
Originally Posted by BeanzShould have got Hugo Boss to make him a new whistle.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirkland Laing
Early contender for post of the year. ;)
Also.
https://x.com/TomDreisbach/status/1881431757553324230
One of the people who served jail time for taking part in the US Capitol riot four years ago has refused a pardon from President Donald Trump, saying: "We were wrong that day."
Pamela Hemphill, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 days in prison, told the BBC that there should be no pardons for the riot on 6 January 2021.
"Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law and, of course, our nation," she said.
"I pleaded guilty because I was guilty, and accepting a pardon also would serve to contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative."
Hemphill, who was nicknamed the "Maga granny" by social media users - in reference to Trump's "make America great again" slogan - said she saw the Trump government as trying to "rewrite history and I don't want to be part of that".
"We were wrong that day, we broke the law - there should be no pardons," she told the BBC World Service's Newsday programme.
Senator Thom Tillis, from North Carolina, said he "just can't agree" with the move, adding that it "raises legitimate safety issues on Capitol Hill".
Another Republican US senator, James Lankford from Oklahoma, told CNN: "I think we need to continue to say we are a party of law and order."
He added: "I think if you attack a police officer, that's a very serious issue and they should pay a price for that."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvged988377o
that is a lot of landQuote:
Originally Posted by TitoFan
hopefully they can keep their land
convenient timing to suspend their insurances
many will be forced to sell their land now. the smart city concept sounds terrible to me, that's how to suck you in, by presenting things to you as a benefit or convenience to you
did anyone see don out there adjusting mics, patting people on the back, shaking hands et cetera?
politics is an incessant marketing campaign that strategies' on how best to manipulate the minds of the masses
this was great marketing optics whether they were genuine or not